Income Tax Preparation:  A government enforced, taunting reminisce under an ocean of papers in order to affirm what my bank account has been telling me all along.  The only consolation during Income Tax Season, is the possibility of a small refund and the fact that it is Roll Up the Rim To Win time at Tim Horton's.  Each year I skip the ride on the New Year's Resolution bandwagon and save my ticket for Income Tax Time, when I solemnly vow and declare for the good of myself, my family and my government to stay on top of the seemingly endless array of receipts and paperwork.  My determination to be a more organised citizen typically lasts until the Tax Return is filed, at which point, I file away my resolve, until next year.

Signs of Spring have come to Misty Marsh Farms, it's not that there are any flowers blooming, nor song birds in the windows, the waves aren't rolling on the shore yet and we are still under a good covering of snow. The earliest sign of Spring here on the farm is our Donkey Pablo's annual metamorphoses from "Pablo The Herds Friendly Mascot" to "Romeo The Bulls Biggest Rival And The Herds Biggest Nemesis".  Not to be left out of Springtime Twitterpation, he makes the most of his lack of a "like partner" and has seemingly adopted the not so stereotypical approach, not being afraid to demonstrate his more "Bovinistic Side".  This always renders the bull furious and the cattle horrified and yesterday, produced a stampede of mass chaos which lasted for about 10 minutes but left the herd on guard for the day.  He very nearly found himself on the wrong side of the bulls temper, if not for the ice making it more difficult for poor Bully to protect his status.  Generally if Pablo persists in his Springtime Soirees he finds himself in isolation until his notions subside and he can be trusted to act as a civil herd member.

Our family seldom gets sick, but this year we've had a bumper crop of various illnesses, we just put the run to a cold or a flu and something else moves in.  Jamie has been bravely battling a particularly vicious cold for the last week or so, and, until last night, we've been counting our blessings that no one else in the house has caught it.  Miss Bethany was awake for 2 hours last night for reasons (in my 2:00am haze) it seemed, of just wanting to visit and have a small party.  She giggled, smiled and cuddled until I finally gave up and put her back to bed in hopes she'd fall asleep on her own, which she did fairly quickly. Only to wake us up 2 hours later, at which point I subtly squirmed, sighed, and finally "accidentally" kicked Jamie repeatedly until he came to and offered to go see what was up.  After I apologised for accidentally waking him, told him that I would go and check on Beth, but he was very sweet to offer, he stumbled, fumbled and mumbled his way to Bethany who by then was burning hot.  We gave her some Tylenol which she projectile vomited with all the force of an elite fire hose, all over Jamie, who then had to shower, which prompted Grace to come out for a visit, while I rocked Beth until Jamie took over and she fell asleep, then we all rolled back in for a couple more hours of shut eye.  She spent today clinging to me and whining miserably.  Grace spent the day playing at the neighbours and came home with similar symptoms, so we may be in for Round Two tonight.

We've had a flurry of cattle buyers around this past couple of days and sold a Simmental Bull yesterday as well as received an offer on some of our calves, encouraging proof of the improving cattle markets.  Jamie was trucking today for his off the farm job, and what started as a "short day" turned into a "double long day" and so now, at 9:00pm he is out bedding and feeding cattle, and as is his custom every time he takes on outside work, questioning his scruples.  It is hard to turn down extra income and we consider it a blessing, but it definitely adds extra hours to an already long day.


RECIPE:

Cake and Brown Sugar Pudding

My "go to" when I need or want something fast and low fuss, served warm with ice cream it is delicious!
You can also switch it up by adding chopped apples, blueberries, raisins, etc.,

1 1/1 cup Flour
2 tbsp White Sugar
1/2 tsp Salt
3 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 tsp Creme Tartar
2 tbsp Butter
1 Egg
Enough Buttermilk to bind ingredients

Mix and spread over the bottom of a 9 X 9 pan and set aside

then in a 2 cup measuring cup mix:

1 1/2 cups Brown Sugar
Fill the cup with water
3 tbsp Butter
1 tsp Vanilla

Heat the Brown Sugar and Water mixture in Microwave until sugar is dissolved and butter melted, then pour over the cake and sprinkle with 1/4 cup of Coconut.

Bake at 350 degrees for appx 1/2 an hour, until cake is cooked through and the sugar sauce has thickened.