Tin Palace Update

August 8, 2011 @ 07:57

What can I say, like everybody else I've been amazed by the fantastic summer. It's made time at the tin palace very enjoyable to say the least.

May and June sucked, but as soon as Canada Day hit she went the other way and I've got the empties to prove it.

I don't know what the difference is between being at home and being at the tin palace, but it seems returning empties on a regular basis is a lot easier in Brampton. At the trailer I have to take them to one of those satellite return depots and if you don't have to wait for the guy, then he doesn't have empty boxes to put your loose bottles in.

That's another problem when you have a tiki bar that acts as the focal point of the park.

People bring bottles in their cooler bags and then leave them. It means at any given moment I have way more bottles than I do cases. Oh yea, it might put a few more bucks in my pocket, but handling the bottles is a pain the ass.

And speaking of pains in the ass, all is good on the rodent front. Over the past few years I've written about the mink that decided to take-up residence in my boat. He'd eat shell fish at one end and then shit at the other. It made for a terrible mess and left me looking for ways to get rid of the bastard.

It seems cayenne pepper does the trick. Put some along the back transom and when the little prick tries to lift himself into the boat he takes a full nose full.

Last week I mentioned Mr. Bold. It's a young raccoon that's been frequenting my end of the part lately and he doesn't give a shit about anything. If he wants something he just comes and gets it. Last week we're were literally pushing him away with a broom as he tried to get at a bowl of peanuts that were on the tiki bar.

This week we didn't seem him. I know it sounds awful but maybe there are others in the park that aren't as tolerant. Maybe he ended up with a bullet between his eyes.

Oh well.

A few years ago the raccoon problem in the park became so bad that the park manager performed a culling in the fall. Apparently it was a massacre, but it sure as hell made life easier for a couple of years.

Other stuff - as usual the trailer comes with some emotional attachments every year.

We're a pretty tight group up there and have grown into one big family, so when somebody leaves or somebody's kid gets married it becomes quite emotional.

We've had both this year. First of all, my buddy Bruce, he was at the park before I got there and we've become very good friends. At the end of last year, for a number of reasons, he decided that his time was done and he moved out.

His site is still vacant and it bugs the crap out of me. I still can't even walk by his site because it makes me so heavy hearted. He's a good and generous fella who hosted many a good time at his place.

I had more than one perfect steak off his barbeque.

Marriage? Young Ryan Kimber got married back on July 9th. This has particular significance for us because all through the 90's and the early part of the new millennium Ryan and my son Danny were best buds.

They spent all their summers together, inseparable and free as birds.

But there we were a few weeks ago watching Ryan walk down the aisle with his beautiful bride missy. It just couldn't be. Where does the time go?

Last weekend we all had our hearts in our throats again as both Ryan and Danny came up for the weekend and they did a couple of the things they did when they were kids.

Most notably go to the "jumping rock" where they spent many hours not so many years ago.

Our friends Pete and Sylvia had a fish boil one night and that was fantastic. I did a huge beef tenderloin on the barbeque another night and that was superb and I've finally perfected boneless chicken breasts on the barbeque.

They cook so fast and if the heat is too high you dry them out in no time. Here's a tip, throw them on the grill medium heat for a couple of minutes on each side until they have that barbeque look. Then put them on the top shelf to bake. Take them off as soon as the pink disappears.

Juicy.

That's it for now. I don't want to go on too long. From now on, instead of waiting so long before entries and I'll update you more frequently.

That's if you give a shit