A great life with one bad day

How did I spend the last day of my 4-day Memorial Day weekend? I butchered 4 chickens and a turkey. P did the killing because I'm just not able to bring myself to do that yet, but I pretty much did all the rest. It was supposed to be a joint effort. He brought over the headless chickens, I dunked them in scalding water and defeathered them, then the plan was to skin and gut them together. P was having trouble with his first chicken (I was still defeathering a turkey outside so wasn't there to help quite yet) and when I went in to get started on mine, he was getting increasingly frustrated. Then he tells me he's feeling queasy so he leaves the room for a bit. Next thing I know, he is going to the house to check on the kiddo. The man has great timing because he came back hours later, just as I was finishing the last one.

So back to the butchering....it is gross at first, but it really is neat seeing all the stuff that a chicken is made of. The most fascinating thing are the eggs. You can see every egg the chicken will ever lay. They go from the size of the tip of a pen, up to normal egg sized. I found a shelled egg in the turkey and one hen that, if they hadn't had such a rotten day, would have been laid that day.  The hard part of gutting a chicken is trying not to perforate the bowel. If it is perforated, it is a gross stinky mess, although it can be washed out. The first chicken I nicked but got it out before it became a problem. The next two I managed to keep intact, but the 4th one it pretty much went everywhere. I cannot even tell you how gross it is.  I had to stop mid-stream and rinse the chicken out before continuing on. I skinned all of the chickens because plucking is a pain (it starts out easily enough because a little hot water makes the feathers come right out) since the pin feathers and guard hairs don't come out easily.

It is messy business and after all that hard work, the chickens looked so scrawny. They were a couple years old and they were free range, so I am sure they are quite tough. I am planning on making coq au vin, which is traditionally made from tough old roosters. The turkey, on the other hand was just a year old and had lots of meat on her. I swear, even gutted, she weighed 30 lbs. P came back just in time to rinse the chickens and put them in the freezer.  The turkey required both of us to into a large garbage bag and into the freezer. She is so big that our family can eat off of her for a week, but since it is the first time we have butchered a turkey, we are hesitant to share because we are worried she might be tough or taste bad. But I supposed we can always order pizza if the turkey is a flop. So I guess I'd better get all our families ready for a turkey (or pizza) feed.

After spending two hours on five birds, my back and arms were killing me. I strongly believe that the people who do this for a living should make a lot more money.

Many people think it is horrible that we would butcher our own chickens. But really, I know where that chicken has been, what it's eaten, how it's treated....how can that be bad? They have a great life until that one really bad day.....


~T

Garden progress

Back in February, we started clearing space for our garden. It turns out the perfect place for the garden was also the area previous owners filled with gravel. In some places the gravel is tiny and you can dig through it to the soil below. Some places are just pure soil while others have large gravel that cannot be dug through. Needless to say, creating our 1800 square foot garden required scraping off the grass and rock and then bringing in 20+ yards of soil.  After seeing the mess the scraping created, I thought it would never look like the nice garden I'd envisioned.

Tractor ruts, piles of sod, clay, gravel and a lovely pile of garden soil. How in the world would I ever get this to look like a garden:?

Fast forward a month and there is improvement. The lovely soil has been raked into place and the piles of clay, sod and gravel are mostly gone. That was some back breaking work that I tackled mostly on my own since P was busy with other projects (not to mention that most of his time at home is either sleeping in the daylight or it's dark out so he deals with indoor projects). Using the trailer attached to our lawn tractor, I drove loads of sod over to the septic tank that we'd had to unearth earlier this year. The sod made for instant grass over the top of the existing mud so I felt like there was immediate progress in that area of the yard. The gravel I scooped into wheelbarrows and put in the muddy areas of the driveway. The clay was a different story. Not so good for planting and it was super heavy so I couldn't really take it anywhere with the lawn tractor. So I ended up throwing it by shovelfuls and handfuls in some cases, over the fence into the low spot in the sheep field. Let me tell you, my back and arms were sore for the many days it took to deplete that pile.

And finally, it is beginning to look like a garden!!!!

I've spent hours raking and hoeing rows for planting. Normally I wouldn't mound my rows, but it turns out that the garden is now lower than the surrounding area so water pools in it. Literally, there was a lake on the end closest in the photo above. Some of my garlic actually drowned. To combat that, I mounded my rows and during the next rain I saw that it was working as I'd hoped it would - the rows were happily above the water. And now, after some lovely warm weather, there are lettuces, brassicas, beets, spinach and peas sprouting. Mother Nature has been very kind lately and the warm sunny days have been on the weekends and the rain arrives during the week. So this weekend I did some more planting in the sun and Monday morning the rain returned to water my seeds. I may have actually gotten a little sunburn!

This was one of the hardest jobs I've ever done (P got the relatively easy job of using the backhoe to create the space). But the joy I feel at looking out my kitchen window at this gigantic garden that I put together mostly by hand is so worth the work. I am looking forward to that first salad that I get out of my first garden at my new house on my own land.

~T

Spring has sprung

I had to go on a trip to Portland, OR for work. The weather was lousy. Rained the entire 3 hour drive down and most of the 3 hour drive back. Actually, that is putting it mildly....it POURED.

When I returned, the weather wasn't too bad. The sun was peeking out so I did some work in the garden. I heard what I thought was my youngest goat in the barn. Didn't think much of it. For some reason I went into the barn when I was done in the garden to check on things. I didn't have any need to go it. When I looked in the sheep stall, here is what I found....

Our ewe had two lambs!

One boy and one girl. They were all dried off and walking and nursing. She had them sometime between noon and 5pm. We thought she was pregnant (when we bought her they said she was probably due in January, but that was not the case). She was looking fairly wide but I was having trouble determining if that was wool or pregnancy. One of the kids said "I know wool and I know pregnancy and that is pregnancy." She was sure right!

The older offspring of the sheep is (was) a ram of around a year old. He was none too pleased that his parents were busy with two new siblings and spent much of his time trying to ram them into the wall. Keep in mind that Jacob's sheep have a pretty good set of horns on the, so you can understand that this was not a good thing. I put the young ram in with the goats and neither of them was happy about the situation but I knew the goats could hold their own against him. Then I called the butcher and made an appointment. Took him in a week later and should soon have lamb to put in my freezer.

This is our first time raising sheep. I did a lot of research and found that Jacob's sheep are very hardy and lamb easily.  Turns out to be very true. The lambs are very strong and healthy and the ewe is no worse for the experience. Having only experienced goats kidding, I am quite impressed by the ease of raising sheep. All I have had to do so far is dip their umbilical cords in iodine the first day. At not even two weeks old, they are already eating grass beside their parents all day long. Unlike goats, they get down to business right away. I rarely see them playing. They spend their days eating grass, nursing and napping.

If I needed to simplify my life, I would think about raising sheep and not goats. But goats are much friendlier and we love the milk they provide so I don't see changing over to sheep only any time soon.

I am excited for spring and the new life it brings. Up next....baby goats in a week or so!

~T

Great way to start the day

The sunrises from our land are amazing. To the east I can see the tops of the Cascade Mountains peeking over the hills. And when conditions are right, we get sunrises like this one:

Being able to stand outside in the freezing cold 27 degree morning with a view like this is something I always dreamed of. MY barn. MY land. MY sunrise.

What a beautiful start to the day.

But alas, I am brought back to reality. The septic system seems to be backing up. Stinky sewage is bubbling up near the tank. Today is the day the septic guy comes out to tell us what needs to be done and how much it will cost. The tank was pumped and the system inspected when I before the house in August. It all checked out so I went ahead with the purchase. But that was during the dry season. All is not well now. I had been hoping to have enough $ to put in a wood or gas burning fireplace insert, but really it is cosmetic, whereas a functioning septic system is NOT cosmetic and has to be addressed now.

Later on, when I am feeling overwhelmed by the price and scope of the septic repair, I am going to remember this morning....

~T

Reflections....

I am sitting here on my first day of being 37, thinking about where my life is and comparing that to my dreams and expectations from 20 years ago. I can't believe that I can refer to "20 years ago." At 17 I was still in the midst of teen angst and boyfriends and insecurity and driving and trying to stand out. I did not know what my future held, nor did I really have any goals. I just knew that it was expected that I go to college. So I did. But at that age, no one really knows what they want to do for the rest of their lives and I ended up with a degree in theater. Once I graduated, that was pretty much the end of my theater career. I still did not know what to do with my life so I got a job in a Dr's office. From then on out,  I made smart career choices, which finally led me to the job I have now at a fantastic company. I could never have predicted that I would not work in theater but would instead be an administrative assistant/office manager. It is not the most challenging job in the world and I feel like I am overpaid, but the people I work with appreciate me and I do not dread each day.

20 years ago I did not know that I would pass through a marriage and come out the side relatively unscarred (I attribute that to my ability to dodge bullets), have one child and the most amazing birth experience possible, find my soul mate (something I always thought was a myth), buy a house (all by myself ) with acreage to realize my dream of a mini-farm and be utterly content.

I could have made different choices and ended up somewhere completely different. Or I could have made different choices and still ended up here. Life really is a choose your own adventure. As much as I fear nearing the end of my 30's which has been the best decade of my life, I see that the possibilities are endless. There are so many things that I still have time to do. Out of the last 20 years, I spent over a decade not living the life that I wanted to. I had adventures and experiences, yes, but they were not of my choosing. Now I can live MY life, with a partner who stands beside me and is so much my equal that I never doubt that he has the same wants/desires/goals that I do.

Instead of seeing my life as a glass half full, I am going to see it as a glass half empty and I plan to fill it to the brim!

~T

So much to do, so little light

Wow, has it really been over a month since we last posted? There is just so much to do and the light is fading so fast. I get home from work and if I'm lucky have a couple hours of daylight to pack outdoor chores into.

The last month has seen the yard transform from a jumble of clutter to a tidy yard. We brought all the plants over from the old place, which entailed LOTS of digging. P spent most of his week long vacation digging up plants. Most of them are now in the ground, except for berries (which we need to find a space for) and dahlias (which need to overwinter in the barn) and a few odds and ends.

We got our heat pump fixed, so we finally have heat. No longer do we need to wear coats in the house.

We got two new kittens. There are plenty of mice for them to catch, but they seem to be happy to be house cats. They go outside for a while but are very happy to be inside, which is more than I can say for the other two cats who whine and complain if they don't get to go outside whenever they want.

Still waiting for the goats to go into heat. I'm starting to wonder if they are planning on taking a year off. If they do I will NOT be pleased and may have to buy MORE goats so I have milk in the spring. I'll cross that bridge if I come to it.

Things are starting to slow down for winter, something I am really looking forward to.

~T

Why do we do this?

That is the burning question. It isn't easy. In fact it is HARD WORK! Up at 6:30, feed kids, feed animals, milk goats, off to work, slog through traffic there and back, feed kids again, do laundry, feed animals, milk goats, collect eggs, pasteurize milk, wash eggs, make bread, collapse in to bed at 10:30 which is way past bedtime.

So I wonder....is it worth it? It certainly doesn't make life any easier and it definitely isn't saving us any money.  But the thought of giving it up is out of the question. Having fresh goat milk = fresh feta, yogurt, chevre. Fresh eggs = lots of yummy breakfasts and no last minute trips to the store because I forgot eggs for the cake I am baking. Dog = joy for the kids (when she's not chewing up her toys). Cats = something to cuddle with when P is working late (I can forget the occasional puke on the floor). Kids = life and energy and imagination and fun (when they aren't whining or fighting). 

We have to make sacrifices. No cable TV - mainly because we don't have time and don't want the expense, but also because it is too easy to get sucked in to hours on the couch being unproductive. Hardly any time for reading. No spontaneous trips. Have to arrange our evening outings around the milking schedule.

I think it is especially hard right now because we are still in the aftermath of moving. And since we are working opposing schedules we are on our own for organizing and repairing. It is always so much easier doing those things with help and at the very least, company.

In the end though, it is worth it. We get to be more self sufficient than most people. And we get the sense of accomplishment that goes along with making and raising our own food. Hopefully we are healthier by eating off our land as much as possible and avoiding processed foods. And the kids have amazing imaginations because they use their minds instead of sitting in front of the tv eating after school.

Though sometimes at the end of the day when I collapse in to bed sore and tired I question why. The answer always is the same - because it's the way I want to live my life. So I drift off to sleep planning out the new garden in my head....