Badin Lake Kayaking

This past Saturday the weather here was beautiful! So I had the kayak loaded up the night before and all ready to go on Saturday. I ended up not leaving the house until almost 10:00 but it worked out well because it's still getting down in the 30's at night here. The closest place for me to put in is about 30-40min up Hwy 49 near the Uwharrie Nation Forest. The flat water that makes up Badin Lake is caused by several dams along the Yadkin River, which is just to the north east of Charlotte, N.C. I really enjoy going up here because it is real hilly, almost like small mountains, and there is not as much boat traffic as many of the other lakes around here. It was so peaceful and relaxing to get out and be on the water again. (I must say that I've been looking forward to warmer weather this year like a kid looks forward to getting out of school for the summer.) I paddled up stream for a few hours until it was about time to stop and eat some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches I brought. So I wedged myself up against a tree limb so I wouldn't float away and propped my feet up on top of the boat. The whole time I was on the water I was constantly surrounded by Great Blue Herons, Osprey, and Anhingas. I don't think I could have had a much better day to go.


More Pics - http://s307.photobucket.com/albums/nn288/nathanhouse82/badin%20lake/

WHAT IS THIS?!!

Okay, I've been seeing this happen in our ice trays at work and could not figure out how this happens!!! It's been driving me nuts for weeks now! A few days ago I was here at the house and grabbed an ice tray and guess what... there this thing was on our ice at the house too. All it is is a spear of ice coming straight out of the cube. As you can tell it's not always straight up and down but often at an angle. At first I was sure there was water dripping from somewhere but the freezer at work doesn't even have water run to it. If anyone has a reason for this I would love to
hear it, because I have no idea...

weird!

Rainy Saturday Dinner

This past weekend was a rainy one but I did get out to go some friends of mine wedding Saturday afternoon. While I was on that side of town I figured I'd better stop by The Fresh Market, other wise I'd wish I had. I have been wanting to make tuna steaks for a while now but for whatever reason just haven't done it. So... that's what I did Saturday evening, dinner for one! I also picked up some snow peas (probably on my top 10 foods) and some couscous. I rubbed a little oil on the tuna then added salt, pepper and thyme. I seared the tuna and added fresh lemon juice. I've posted about snow peas in the past so this will be short. The snow peas were cooked the way I usually do, oil in a pan and salt. I must say that I did have a smile on my face as I looked at my empty plate and crashed on the couch for a while...beer in hand.

Rare is the way to go with this fish!!