Mussels and Clams

So….I’ve been realizing this blogging thing is a little more difficult than I first anticipated.  Not because it’s hard to write about what I’ve been up to, mostly because I’m having a hard time actually sitting down and typing it out.  So here is finally installment 2 of Adventures in teaching (and babysitting). 

I went mussel picking, clam digging and berry picking.  Now I totally realize the irony here. I left PEI, home of what are probably the most famous mussels around, and a place where clams can be dug (albeit illegally) while your spending the day at the beach as long as the tide is out.).  So I went with a teacher friend of Tyler’s.  She is Inuit and her and her family were taking a canoe to an island where they are building a summer cabin and then on to her late mothers favourite berry picking spot and their favourite clam digging shore.

It was pretty great! I have pictures to speak for me so I don’t actually have to write a huge long blog like the last one.  But I will say, it was cold.  At one point I was wearing, cotton socks, wool socks, and wool booties in rubber boots, I had jeans and snowpants on along with a t-shirt a fleece sweater, a down filled winter jacket, a rain coat over that and a huge rain proof pancho on the way home (to help keep the wind from freezing me), a hat and mittens. On the way home my teeth were still chattering, but it was fun and I’m glad I got to go.  Without further ado here are the photos.

Here we are heading out to sea, or at least out of the bay.

 This is the beginning of the cabin (in the backround) and the tent where they stay while working on the cabin.  There were really high winds earlier in the week so we were there to clean up a bit and take some camping gear back to town since it will soon be too cold to camp out there.

This is where we docked the boat for berry picking.

This is what I climbed up to get to the berry picking spot.

And this is what I climbed down.  At this point I feel I should explain that Reed was safely back in town being babysat by the teachers sister.  I also should mention after climbing all the way up there, the geese had eaten all the berries and we left pretty much empty handed.

That in the distance is rain coming towards us, by the time it got to us it was snow but we were heading back anyway so we didn't get snowed on much.

This is where we were clam digging and you can't see them but there are mussels everywhere just lying in the shallow water.

Same place different angle.

This is the teacher's niece and the fish she caught.  These fish do get eaten but when I asked the teacher if her niece was going keep it an eat it she said "no, it's just a toy now." When she was done playing with she let him go.

Same fish.

And here are the clams, I really didn't dig that many, mostly because I don't like clams, so I was really just digging them for Tyler and they are hard work to dig so enough for a taste was plenty.

 Here is Tyler pulling them apart, they are different from the clams in PEI and you can't just boil them you have to pull off this skin like stuff first.

They also don't have 'tongues' as we call them in PEI they have a different protrusion, the Inuit call them penises.  (in inutittut of course but I can't remember what that word it right now.)

And here they are just before we boiled them.  I should mention that here in Northern Quebec, they don't cook them, they just eat 'em raw.  Since I don't like clams in the first place I couldn't muster the stomach to try them raw.  Maybe next time :(

It was a fun filled day, and I didn't even get motion sick.