I can't believe I didn't blog once during the month of September. A lot has changed since my last post.
The pigs are gone. Well, I guess not really "gone," more like frozen. We butchered them at the very beginning of September, and we got the meat back on September 19th. The day they left, I wasn't sad at all really. They had a great life and it was time for them to go. Those three little pigs sure gave us a hard time loading them into the livestock trailer though. They didn't want to get in that trailer for anything! The pig loading crew consisted of Luke, Austin, a volunteer, and me! The pigs didn't want to go gently, and they needed a little persuasion to get in the trailer. It wasn't helpful that we had two women present who thought you could "call" them into the trailer with little sayings like "here, pig, here girl," and then making little clicking noises. Luke's method wasn't working either, simply because our pathway to the trailer was too big so the pigs kept turning around. Ultimately, with a little help from an experienced pig farmer, we got them loaded, but it took a little over two hours.
Now that the meat is back - well, they are delicious! Mmm, I love digging into the bacon! I believe we've tried the deli ham, pork chops, and bacon now. All delicious! And how awesome, knowing exactly where your food is coming from. With the addition of the pork and the chicken, we can easily make a meal entirely raised by us. Actually, we have to much meat from killing the pigs and butchering our second batch of chickens that we had to buy another chest freezer! Chives Restaurant also bought one pig, and we were honored to hear that their menu is now featuring a "Twin Elm Gardens Pork Chop." I believe it is paired with our own potatoes and greens as well. It really is a wonderful feeling to know you are contributing to a local food movement! :)
I also don't think I blogged about the rabid dog incident....but that should really be its own post....so maybe I'll try to do to that tomorrow.
Luke and I are officially homeowners, which is very exciting. We bought the farmhouse from Luke's parents, so it is now officially our homestead. Of course, the second we because homeowners, we instantly started renovations, but that is okay - and fun! We are putting in a wood burner, and tearing out the carpet in the living room. Because wood will now be our main source of heat, Luke has been spending a lot of time chopping wood to get ready for the winter.
Making firewood has a strong foothold in my memories. Growing up, firewood was the main source of heat in my own home as well. I can remember splitting wood with my dad - he would hold the big stumps in place, and I had the very difficult job of pushing the hydraulic lever - forward and back, over and over. But what a great memory to have with my dad. That was always my job - my dad usually babied me, so not too often did I have to haul the wood - just work the wood splitter, which I loved. We also would have to get the wood in our basement, and that was a whole family experience.
My parents would load up the trailer of wood and then pull in front of the storm windows. My brother, sister, and I would all head outside and help toss wood into the basement. I have many, many memories of doing this. I don't know why I got away from it so much since I grew older.
But as of late, all the word working experiences of my past have come back to me! I was home alone about a week ago, and I saw Luke's grandparents unloading a massive trailer of kindling, piece by piece, into their basement. I couldn't very well let them do that by themselves, so I bundled up, hopped on the trailer, and pushed all the wood down the storm window. It got a little dicey when Butch tried to use a pitch fork to push the wood. I alternated between pushing wood and jumping out of the way of the pitchfork spikes...but we made it without any serious injury.
Then today, it was so beautiful outside, that after the Packer game, I decided to play with Tobshu a little. I don't know what came over me, but when I saw Luke splitting wood, I just got the urge to help. So I put on my flannel, boots, and deer-skin gloves, and headed outside. Luke had a shocked smile on his face when he saw me. He would split the wood (with a splitting mall), and I would pick it up and stack it in! We quickly got through the pile, and Luke decided that since he had my help, we would do another load. With that, we hopped on the four-wheeler and headed out to the wood pile in the woods.
What was most adorable was Tobshu, running right in front of the 4-wheeler, just trotting along with a toy in his mouth. Luke said it is always their routine - I couldn't believe it - Tobshu led us all the way to the wood pile! We worked for about an hour, and it was fun and refreshing. I somehow forgot how enjoyable some time in the woods, working among the leaves and with your family, can be.
