Mudding And Charcuterie

This last week we bought a walk in freezer for $150. It's enormous. I think...we haven't assembled it yet, just carried it. :P

My husband found the listing on Craigslist. The lovely lady selling it asked if we had four wheel drive. Yes, we do. I didn't think about the implications of that.

It was about an hours drive, and we loaded it in about half an hour. We had driven over a slightly muddy area behind their house to get to it, but did not realize how heavy the freezer was. It took us two hours to get out. We were exhausted. But we have a freezer! Lol!!

Whenever we butcher a pig, we will have the option of making something like a honey ham, or a country ham or prosciutto. I want to do both, but either way we have to hang it somewhere. This freezer will work great because you can assemble and dissemble it wherever you are. We are renting, so we didn't want to build something stationary. Who knows how this will all turn out, but it's fun!! And heavy. ;)

Before We Kill And Eat You

Provocative title, eh? Actually it's a title from a missionary book I read as a teen. :D It's what I think when I watch my dogs catch and play with wildlife. Moles, mice, field mice, rabbits, and chickens. Grr.

My only problem with them, aside from targeting chickens, is that they don't eat what they kill. They play with it, chew the head off or not, and then leave dead things in my yard. This isn't cool. I mean, I could be paying less for dog food and they are killing willy nilly. They don't even sell the pelts on the black market. These aren't poacher dogs. They are morally corrupt hunting dogs.

I usually forgive them because they are cute and I feel no responsibility for their souls. Just revulsion. ;) Here is an item from yesterday. I think it's a field mouse. As big as my hand.

Poor little guy. Well, maybe the coyote population will diminish if all the mice are gone. :) As long as my dogs keep to mice we will be on good terms. If they keep attacking my chickens, all I can think of is that scripture quoted in Shawshank Redemption; Judgement cometh. :D

Backroad Rambling

I had to get out of the house today. I'm a homebody so it takes a while for cabin fever to set in, especially in the country. It's been cold the past week and although I thought spring was right around the corner, I'm being denied my chance to dig in the ground. There are signs of life though. It will be soon.

I took Eben and drove around the backroads around our house. Tahlequah is at the base of the Ozarks so there are both hills and plains, rocks and creeks. So much stuff to look at. I love the back roads here; farms and hillbillies and cemeteries and Baptist summer camps. I let Eben pick the direction at each crossroads. It was fun to explore. I'm also checking out routes for my bike rides.

There is a tree beside the house that is about to blossom. I think it's an oriental pear.

Here's a fun sight on a backroad; wonder if the farmer would let us have worship there. ;)

Stupid Chickens

We bought 103 chicks about seven weeks ago. Lost three the first week. I'm not sure how many are left...maybe 85? Because chickens are stoooopid.

The thing about domesticated animals is that humanity has bred out survival instincts so we can march right up to livestock and chop their heads off. They have no fear. My chickens flutter and squawk around me and it's relatively easy to grab one. Also, easy for the pigs and dogs to grab one.

We've moved the chicken area twice now, but one side of their fence is still shared with our pigs. We chose Durocs as the hog to start with. A duroc is a heritage breed that puts on weight efficiently and tastes great. Heritage breeds are interesting; the wild hasn't been bred out as much as you'd hope...

Our three pigs root under the fence and allow small openings. The little chickies see exposed dirt and HAVE to have it. They pop through the fence and CHOMP! Those unsuspecting birds never knew what hit them. Or maybe they did. Seems to take a pig about fifteen seconds to plow throw the bones and feathers before the squeaking ends.

I really hate this. I will and have brought death and destruction to my own livestock, but I like things in order. This is not my order. I feel that it's also my responsibility to protect my victimy chickens from predators, and I keep trying. But they are stoooopid.

Right now I hate my pigs. Evil pigs. Crunching on my chickies. They are rightfully mine to crunch on. I've told them this. They grunted. I felt demeaned. I told my husband that now, even now, I am plotting their end. I dislike butchering. I feel that I will enjoy it this time. I will start assembling my zombie weapon/pig killing weapons now. ;)

So far I've managed to wire down all the openings so I haven't lost a chicken in a few days. I've decided not to sell half which was my first intention. I will let them fatten up on grass and bugs, wait for the cocks to assert themselves and then fill up my freezer. I also can't wait for eggs. :D

In The Beginning

Six months ago in September, our family watched the moving truck drive away with all our stuff. Then we cried and kissed and hugged our friends, piled into our suv and drove away from our house of seven years for the last time.

Our first few months in Oklahoma hit all the highs and lows. Part of me wants to say it was the hardest of our lives, but it wasn't. We were drained of everything while simultaneously filled up again, and all in much different ways than we expected. Like wearing a piece of clothing never worn before. New and fun, yet stiff in uncomfortable places.

We found a trailer to rent on seven acres in a suburb of a small town. Not sure if that's a thing. LOL! It's very rural and people think we are in the boonies, but I say, if there's a Walmart seven miles away it's not the boonies. However, I have taken a gas tank with me at times because the nearest gas station is four miles away and I'm used to draining my tank to the dregs. ;)

The property we are renting is equipped with an ancient dairy barn, a three stall loafing shed and a lot of existent fencing. We were so anxious to fill it with something we drove three hours in the first month to pick up two goats to put in it. At the time the grass in the pen was six feet tall, but by December it looked mowed.

Since then we have accumulated three pigs, one hundred chicks and three dogs. In a month we are acquiring two more pigs, and at the end of this week we should have three baby goat bottle babies. More on all that in upcoming posts. :)

I'm learning to rest and to take care of myself, then to take care of my family. I think all I did most of last year was work on a house. I was exhausted and ready for, well, anything restful. And wonderful.

I realized yesterday that the key to an abundant life is joy. What does that mean practically? I know that Jesus should be my source...but then what? I realized how little of day to day life I enjoyed before. But I'm adding in little things that I really love doing; campfires, bike rides, raising livestock, brewing kombucha. A little sprinkled through out my day keeps my energy up, my joy tank full and overflowing. A little, all the time.