Fruits of my Labour

Mom had company Friday so I started canning the fish by myself. It went really well and soon I had 15 jars of salmon in the pressure canner....10lbs pressure for 90 minutes. By the time Mom's company left, I had them all done. Here's a picture after the jars had cooled and I'd washed the jars and took the rings off...ready to put in the canning room until we get hungry.

When my Grandmother filletted fish she always scraped the excess flesh off the bones and made fish cakes. I don't have Grandma's fishcake recipe but I scraped the bones, put some onion and the fish in the food processor then added a couple of eggs and bread crumbs. Made patties and fried them...yummy!!

Wonderful Blessings

Yesterday B and I wanted to go to Bellingham Wal-Mart to return some stuff but the border lineups were long so we waited till dinnertime and headed down. It was great. Only a 20 minute wait...not 2 hours like earlier today. As we drove across the Fraser River we could see all the boats out fishing. They haven't had an opening on the River for a couple of years so it's really great to see the boats out there again!

Got to Bellingham, did what we had to then stopped at Jack-in-the-Box because I had a 2 for 1 coupon. Ended up being less expensive to order their double chicken burger meal with curly fries and a drink. It was so good. Also stopped at the casino for awhile, had fun and came out a couple of dollars ahead.

On the way back home it was a beautiful full moon and we could see the fishing boats on the river and the lights reflecting on the water. Reminded me of when my sister and I used to go fishing with Dad. I always had the job of sitting in the wheel house and watching the net during the night and I always really enjoyed the peace and beauty of the lights reflecting on the water!

Got thinking that I hadn't canned any sockeye for ages. This morning B went down to see someone we know who fishes and by this afternoon we had 10 sockeye to clean and can. Mom said she wanted to come and help me. She brought over her boots, apron and her "special" knives. She was in her glory and kept saying, "Haven't done this in a long time. It's so much fun!!!" I kept telling her to take it easy but she managed to clean 4 fish before she finally sat down. She was tired but so happy no one would believe she's 85 and terminal. Tomorrow she wants to help me fill the jars and can them. I've got the jars all washed and sterilized so we're set to go!!! It should be another very special day!!

46 years

Today we've been married 46 years....no way!!!...that can't be true...but if you do the math it is. 2010 -1964=46 Where does the time go????

Other than having a knee that's so sore I can't walk, it was a very nice day. Yesterday #1 daughter stopped in and had lunch with us. Today we went to church then this afternoon #2 daughter, son-in-law and 4 grandkids stopped in with a lovely framed picture for us...they also came to raid the garden of beans, zuchinni, blueberries and blackberries and pick up the jars of beans I'd canned for them. The kids were out picking the berries and eating the apples that had fallen off the tree...they had great fun! Our son and grandson also stopped in. Poor little guy was quite overwhelmed by everyone being here!!!

Nip in the Air

There's a definate nip in the air these days. When it decided to cool down it seems it got downright chilly, I've had to close windows and the skylights. Even the pumpkins in my garden are starting to turn orange!! The peas are finished and the leaves on the beans are beginning to dry up and turn yellow. Fall is on it's way! This evening I also picked some blackberries...they taste so sweet and yummy!!!

Even Stephen

Saturday night was the 226th night of the year so we've been away 113 nights and at home 113 nights...now we're working at being home more than we were away!!

It's been so hot here lately so we've been doing whatever we can to try and stay cool....things like picking blueberries in the evening and picking beans early in the morning. Last night our friends G&D came down to tell us about their cruise to Iceland and Norway so we picked blueberries and talked. Came in and I made root beer floats for the guys and a pink lemonade slushie for D and I...sure do like that new blender the kids got me!!!

Today we went and got the new glasses we ordered and when I got home from shopping I decided to defrost the old fridge we have downstairs...pretty easy...all I did was unplug it and the heat defrosted it in a few hours. Then all I had to do was remove the ice and wipe it down.

Thank You Gifts

B & C were so thankful for us letting them stay at the house that they bought us a new food processor/blender combination, a new had mixer and the Avatar DVD. It was so hot yesterday I made hubby and I a orange juice slushy...the blender worked really well and the drink was cool and refreshing!

The House is a LOT of WORK!!!

Been so busy getting settled back into our house that I haven't had time to blog! I figured that before we move in totally we should get the carpet and couches cleaned so I put all the small movable stuff out on the sundeck and into my sewing room to make the job easier for them. Wow! Everything looks clean now, but I put my back out doing it. It's been 2 months since we were at the chiropractor (we usually go every month) so phoned and he got us both in right away. Last night I had trouble sleeping because of the heat so got up, of course I didn't turn on any lights...I never do...and wouldn't you know it....I stubbed my toe...ouch!!!! Now my back hurts AND my toe is sore!!!

Between picking veggies out of the garden, picking blueberries, doing laundry and chatching up with our friends and relatives and having a party to celebrate Mom's 85th birthday...getting organized is taking longer than I thought it would. B.C. Day was Monday and the local casino was offering a free breakfast of 2 pancakes, hash browns, 1 piece of bacon and 1 sausage, coffee or tea from 6am to 11am...so we got up early and went! It was nice to take some time off and enjoy ourselves and we won a bit on the slots, so that was even better!!!