I love oily fysh!
We also have Sanma, Saba, and Sprats from the Baltic.
Never had Bluefin herring, but it sounds good.
We got food, we got wine, and we got that golden light.
BTW, I’m not from here either.
We use to paddle with Chris Kulczycki years ago when he owned CLC. Now I get bike stuff from 'em at Velo Orange. I like Nick Schade’s boat too. His Nymph canoe is a great little boat for smaller adults and kids.
How neat is that? Chris got me started building small boats. I’d had enough of restoring bigger ones by that time. He’s a bad influence. 
I didn’t know about Velo-Orange though. So many good bike shops up this way.
Annapolis was a bit smaller and maybe more friendly then. But I’m thinking back to the days when Paul Reed Smith was just a small shop owner in town too. Things change.
And ditto on Nick Schade. How could I overlook him and Guillamot? Got his book and should commence work on a Great Auk sometime. The Nymph looks nice and somewhat similar to the McCarthy Wee Lassie. Thanks for the heads up.
Feadoggie
My wife comes from a white bread kind of family. The first time she saw my family share a jar of pickled herring, I thought she was going to hurl.
So do I, but it doesn’t love me. Makes me burp ripe fishy smells, and I wonder what people think. So I have to do it quietly in hopes that people won’t pin it on me. I also try to gauge the wind.
Needless to say I hold off on ordering the sanma until I just can’t help myself any more.
We get that too, even here. I’ve known born Scandasotans who cannot stand pickled herring. I don’t get that, but hey: all the more for me. 
Ben, I was so contented - living halfway between London and Brighton in a lovely old town, near open countryside, with lots of access to art and music.
But you have RAVENS. And you’re a lot nearer Wales than I am… Can I come and live with you?
Not that I’m trying to encourage you, or anything, but we have jackdaws in great numbers. They have a roosting site in an island in the middle of one of the gravel pits between Bourne End and Marlow. We also have Magpies, Red Kites, Yellowhammers and Wagtails. Now and they a Jay turns up. Last evening as I was checking the Support Tray at work I looked up to see a dozen or so Jackdaws taking position in the Larches opposite my window. They were on their way home as dusk was approaching, and they had stopped for a breather. It’s little things like that that make your day.
I’ll amend that: I actually have a 16’ canoe. Some day I will take it out again. Right now, it’s a safety issue with the person I’m in charge of.
There’s no denying, the Chesapeake Bay is a wonderful geographic feature, and it’s nice to be within a 2 hour drive of the ocean or mountains. I think I’m just a little cranky right now because of my aggravating dysthymic notion that I “belong” in a smaller college town, where housing’s a little less pricy, and the milieu is a bit crunchier. Looking out the back window though, the grass is overgrown and green. And I have lots of birds. Why am I fussing?
If somebody finds a retirement community with an organic garden, maybe some goats, and a hippie vibe though, let me know. I’m moving there in 20 years.
Mute’s story reminds me of the story my northern city-girl Mom (rest her soul) told of meeting my southern dad’s family (rest their souls) and my Grandad plopped down a bowl of 1/2 dozen raw oysters he just plucked and shucked out da crik. I think she really did hurl! Great first impressions all around, LOL!
There are a lot of things to love about where I live.
It’s a half hour to the beach and a half hour to the mountains, which do get snow in the winter, and the desert isn’t much farther. The weather is about as perfect as it gets just about all year round.
But the one thing I don’t think I could give up if I moved would be the food. The only place with equal or better Mexican food is the other side of the border, and I’ve never been anywhere else where you can get a California burrito.
It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a about to hurl than to open it and remove all doubt.-- Mark Twain
Or something like that.
Great little brewery. We regularly get their beers in at The Shoulder of Mutton here in Wantage.
What do I like about where I live? Great countryside (The Downs, The Ridgeway, Uffington White Horse) with great wildlife (Red Kites, Buzzards, Deer etc). Great pubs, great music, great friends, great neighbours, the quiet little road we live on close to the town centre.
Well, I have seen the fish in Michigan you speak of and more with it’s wild weather on the lakes and clams too. Been to ancient glaciers, Black bears, Deer and plentiful birds with challenge of isolation. At times, kind waters which one must time for passage with all the 45 locks and the big chute marine railway lock in Canada. Through the New York river way’s winding ways around small towns, somewhat sleepy and more lock systems. The Music festivals, wonderful food and flare of New England’s charm. Rocking to sleep on the Atlantic reminds me of home… NY City going through the Hells Gate & East River.. NOT in traffic other then the water taxis is a true treat! Anchoring behind Lady Liberty and the lights of Manhattan which seem to never sleep. Or stayed up way beyond I and woke me early morning. Onward,the Eastern USA seaboard gaining a taste of it’s ports down to Florida.. again.. Soon the Bahamas. Boat resting there while in Costa Rica. Have been to several SA places… Home,what I like? The freedom to hose off the anchor and go… My house is for sale w/ tenant, things in storage so where ever the boat can go is home. Some times.. once in awhile.. it catches up with me though. I left my gardens and sold my horse. My family, just fly or call on Skype but I get to thinking of (Digging) and perhaps..(my Twin) should be on solid grounds and settle down again? Just, have not found that new place, sooo,unlike Seamus pen, where ever the chart is, its home, till its not.
http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/seamus_heaney/poems/12699
grass isn’t always green… nor sea.. but sure is nice.
Mary
I come from Belfast,but have been living in Brazil for around three years now.We live about 1 hour away from a city called Belo Horizonte,Minas Gerais which is in the South east of the country.
Where we live is like a small town in the country and it’s great.The people are very friendly and the views of the surrounding mountains are fantastic.There is also a family of Toucans that sometimes sit on the trees in our garden,they really are spectacular birds and when you are close to them they are very large.
I also love the botecos,which are informal Brazilian pubs where everyone has a cold beer and some snacks after work.The food here is supposed to be the best in Brazil,Comida Mineira.They have wonderful cheeses and some fabulous meat dishes too.
The weather is also a plus,coming from Ireland to here I had never seen so much sun!
There are some great waterfalls in the mountains close to us which are good to spend a day at,and Rio de Janeiro is only a 50 minutes flight away if you fancy a wild weekend.
- Gobs of folk music
- Great local microbreweries
- It’s relatively warm but there are still distinct seasons
- 2 hours to the mountains or the coast, depending on which direction you drive
Really, the only way I could like it better is if I were a college basketball fan.
I hear ya. Wolves, devils and tar. I can never keep 'em straight.
We even got tars here in Virginia plus a spare.
been around a bit,
yeah, I live “in” the confluence of life and death… that existential stuff, womb-to-tomb, craddle-to-grave, but, happily close to water, Long Island Sound
boating anyone? http://www.thewoodenboatshow.com/
Not allowed.
oouch… but, I’m a newbie wannabee whistler!
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=tugboat+whistle&view=detail&id=CA14255C0F62EC8202EDDFF29E84ED989B44681B&first=0&qpvt=tugboat+whistle&FORM=IDFRIR