Like many people on lockdown with the kids at home I have become referee, chef, barber, stylist, cleaner, rugby coach and now teacher. We are off to a flying start on the home schooling but it tends to be a little less academic and more life based.
The girl child is rapidly expanding her cooking skills, she can now butcher a chicken, cut meat and today she is making a guest appearance to the morning, grating potatoes for her Mc Hash Browns, squeezing the grated spud with a tea towel to dry it before adding some beaten egg and seasoning before shallow frying. She has also found out that you can dye hair with a solution made from boiled crepe paper so my hair is currently purple, well the bits that aren’t grey are purple. Yes I look like a character from Trollz.
The Galway Boi has learned how to read a tape measure, how to hold an Estwing claw hammer, how to load a staple gun, how to cut timber and wire, how to drill pilot holes and countersink screws and how to build a cage to keep animals. He has also learned how to use the alcohol measure to create the perfect gin and tonic and how to slice cucumber and lemon wafer thin.
They have learned how to propagate seeds and transfer seedlings then plant out the grown on plants. They have learned to identify common garden birds by their song. They have also learned their favourite alcopop flavours. I find it helps to keep them quiet.
This week we are ramping it up a little and they are both practicing sharpening bayonets and how to get the correct angle on the stone for perfect honing.
The eldest child has taught me how to navigate Netflix and that my haircutting repertoire is no longer restricted to a mohican in the bathroom mirror and it now runs to a mean skinfade with tramlines.
More importantly they have learned what is really important and how to get along, tolerance.
What more do kids need?
Boris is back in Number Ten and stating that we are now reaching the peak in the pandemic? I would love to believe him but when I am out on my bike riding up through forestry I know I am at the peak because there are no trees growing higher up, the tree line stops. How can they say the line of bodies has stopped ? Mondays statistics are always higher than the rest of the week because no-one counts the bodies on a Sunday. Lets just hope we are coming through the worst of it now.
Reels and rigs
The weather forecast for the week is gloomy and I am glad I saved the fishing stuff and did not do it on sunnier days. I have made a start by stripping all the line off the reels. Each one will need cleaning, lubricating and new line.
I am in a bit of a dilemma, and one for which I have paid the price before; I re-use rigs, I hang them up, clean them and dry them for further use. In my rational brain I want to empty my rig wallets and take down the rigs I have hanging on the racks in my workshop and throw them all away. This is what I know I should do. I have enough hooks, swivels line and beads to replace everything many times over but, and this is the thing- I am by nature a bit of a knacker (tinker) a magpie, I do not like throwing things away. Anything. I was looking through old fishing photos with herself and she was laughing saying “you still have that coat, T shirt, sweatshirt, jumper you tramp.” It is sadly true. I just don’t like throwing things away. She never says ‘you still have those old rods, why don’t you get yourself some new ones. To be fare she would not know one rod from another and if I wanted some new ones she would tell me to get them.
I am going to resist the temptation to break down all the rigs into components, check them, clean them and re-use them….it’s all going in the bin…… hopefully…. or should I just save them for the kids to use and lose when they come out?
Rigs for me could not be simpler, pennel pullies, 4/0 Varivas big mouth extras for most things 5/0’s for Blonde rays and big baits.
Three 80lb diamond round VMO swivels, two 5mm black beads to protect the knots, some clear 80lb rig body and hook length, two hooks and a VMO speed clip to hold the lead on. Thats it. It covers me for most of the bait fishing I do. I can add a wire trace and single 8/0 BMX for tope rigs or just stick to the running paternoster.
Cregg Bass
Just occasionally the marks that should produce do and I had a few bass out that day, all on local dug worm and heavy tackle. Other than that I recollect very little about today’s image. How much it weighed I don’t know, did I release it? I don’t know but most of the time if a bass would go back I tried to, if they turned upside down or bled badly I banged them on the head and took them for dinner.
I still have that coat and in deed wore it out this year. I resisted eating the seven year old white mars bar but did make use of the bait elastic in the pocket. The waders and hat are sadly long gone.
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