Fish cakes and the Mt. Arrowsmith Great iPod Rescue

Hi Y'all. Greeting from the funny farm.

It's nuts around here so here's brief review of the past 2 weeks for all those friends and family we've neglected calling.

Friday just work and work and chores

Saturday spent 3 hours running around the field in 30+ heat chasing the STUPID sheep trying to pen 3 rams who obviously knew their end was near and weren't going down without a fight. Meghan's birthday party and a friend sleeping over.

Sunday, the rams were caught the previous night, wined and dined on water and fresh barley, then went to meet their maker with very little problem. Figures eh? All 3 done and in the butchers nice refrigerated van before 9am. The Steve and Chris went up Mt. Arrowsmith with Lynne, John and a friend just before lunch. On the way down they stopped to feed the Whiskey Jacks (birds) and Chris somehow lost his new iPod, along with it's new skin and headphones. Needless to say a very grouchy teenager returned then told me what happened and retreated to his cave (bedroom). Lots of watering, it's still dry and dusty due to no rain.

Monday, a few jobs then picking up a new wwoofer. Watering....and a trip up the mountain again to see if by some miracle they can find an iPod in a black camo skin. Yeah right, like that's likely. Still, lots of prayers later they returned victorious. Yay! We all met up at Cameron Lake for a swim and picnic and had a nice relaxing time with Aki, our Japanese wwoofer and Vincent who is from Korea.

Tuesday, watering...and took Aki to the bus depot for her trip to Duncan to learn more about bees.More watering and feeding, the usual stuff you'd expect at a farm with animals. Oh, and a cow escaped but was returned home by our 12 year old Jordan.

Wednesday, gotta get caught up with paperwork and figure out taxes owing the gov't and how much they owe me back because they've frozen the bank account again. Nice eh? They owe you and they do nothing, you owe them...well watch out!! So I'm like a little accounting troll doing paperwork. And watering for breaks. Oh joy! And there's an activity for the boys tonight so us girls are staying home working and having girls night. Fish cakes fro dinner with rice and carrots. And Vicki has apparently a great zucchini recipe for pizza crust so we'll have to try it. We have a new wwoofer tomorrow also so getting clean bedding ready. We also have to get some more chickens sold to have a little cash. The lamb will be ready early next week and is getting close to being sold out so if you're interested please let me know ASAP.

The fish cakes turned out great, all gone and arguing over who gets the most. They were dead easy to make too and i think they'd be great for a meal while camping. Here's the recipe:

1 lb. Fish (any kind)
5 Large Potatoes
3 Tbsp. chopped onion
2 Eggs, beaten
1/2 c. Bread crumbs (optional)
1 Tbsp. water
Salt and Pepper to taste

Peel and chop potatoes. Place in pot along with fish and enough water to cover. Boil until potatoes are soft. Drain and mash together. Add eggs and other ingredients and mix well. Shape into patties and coat in bread crumbs if you wish. Fry in a well greased pan until browned, turn and fry the other side. Serve hot.

This recipe is flexible as to what spices you add and the type of fish you catch and use. I've heard of everything from salmon, to tilapia, to shark. I like to add garlic and lots of pepper to ours and I find the addition of some fine dry bread crumbs holds everything together quite nicely.

As you're frying the fish cakes you can use the pot to cook rice or veggies and be super efficient with your pots.

So does that give you incentive to go fishing? I think we're going to renew our fishing permits this year and head out for some nice relaxing fishing, especially if we ever get the boat finished. It basically needs a coat of marine paint and two seats put in it and then it's good to go. I see kids permits are now not needed so that's easier than getting them one, even if it was free. And now it can all be done online so that's easy too.

I've gotta go and get back to doing my books.

Elizabeth