Another day of kayaking

I've got a backlog of photos to post! Last week, we went kayaking down on Lake St. Francis, which is part of the St. Lawrence Seaway. This is my new favourite place to kayak!

Note the "Navy" sticker on my hatch, a relic from my days as a musician in Royal Canadian Naval Reserve. This just might be the smallest boat in the Canadian Navy. I could also make a crack about it being the newest!

And my kayak is definitely one of the smallest vessels on the St. Lawrence Seaway! Lots of ships pass through here on a daily basis. If I kept kayaking east, I'd eventually end up in the Atlantic ocean.



Gordon and the girls gathered together to watch the ship pass by. It was far enough off that no discernible wake ever reached us.

We also paddled over to Cairn Island for an up-close look at the Glengarry Cairn.

This is a Canadian national historic site. The monument was erected in 1840. The island is not open to the public at this time. Here's the text on the stone plaque on the site:

This cairn was erected under the supervision of Lieut-Col. Lewis Carmichael of the Imperial Army, then stationed in this district on particular service, by the Highland Militia of Glengarry which had aided in the suppression of the Canadian Rebellion of 1837-38, to commemorate the services of that distinguished soldier Sir John Colborne, who was declared by the historian Napier to have been, 'A man of singular talent for war' and who commanded her majesty's forces in Canada at that critical period. He had previously served with conspicuous merit throughout the Peninsular War and elsewhere and had greatly distinguished himself at Waterloo when in command of the 52nd regiment. He was Lieut. Governor of Upper Canada from November 1828 to January 1836, Governor General of Canada in 1839, and afterwards became Field Marshall Lord Seaton G.C.B. The cairn was repaired and this tablet erected in 1905.

Gordon enjoyed cooling of under the shade of some trees on the island.

Anyone know what this water-flower is?

Some of our guests enjoyed fishing from a canoe, catching and releasing mostly perch and bass. A famous local delicacy is the Lancaster perch roll. You can watch a video about it here, and see some nice footage of the area we live in.

Meanwhile, a mother duck and her five children swam by.

Eventually it was time to go home. Here's Gordon coming in!

Rachel thoughtfully helped Gordon carry my kayak back to the car. A good time was had by all!


Should you wish to make your own Lancaster perch roll, here's a recipe I found on the web:

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LANCASTER PERCH ROLLS
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup flour
salt and pepper (to taste)
1/4 cup butter
1 lb Perch fillets

FOR THE SAUCE:
3/4 cup mayonnaise
2 tbsp prepared mustard
2 tbsp relish

Put the beaten eggs into a medium sized bowl and set aside. Mix flour, salt and pepper together and put into a plastic bag. Set aside also.

In a large frying pan (I use my electric one), melt the butter over medium heat. Watch your heat, lowering if necessary, to prevent butter from burning.

Take perch fillets and dip into egg, being sure to coat the fillet all over. (I dump the whole pound of perch into the bowl and stir to coat well.)

Adding about 4 to 5 pieces at a time, put the coated perch fillets into the flour bag and shake to coat with flour. (Like Shake 'n Bake.)

Place each piece into the butter. Continue until all perch has been coated and added to butter. Cook until tender and flaky.

Combine the ingredients for the sauce.

Place 3 to 5 of the cooked fillets on a hot dog bun and smother with sauce.

Note from source: This is a very popular recipe around here, due to the large number of perch caught locally. This is my own recipe, most people here just dip the fish in milk, but I use egg because it gives the cooked fish a really nice golden color. The first time I tried it, I had run out of milk!

Source: Deborah Leger, Cornwall, ON, Canada
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