Revisiting an Old Skill

Back in high school I was an avid fan of taxidermy.  In fact for my science project my junior year I mounted a beautiful Cedar Wax wing (it had been hit by a car and I found it freshly killed on the road).  It turned out great, I even made a box with a scene including a tree (cork for the bark) and a branch on which to mount the bird.  I got an A on the project. 

A few years later I began learning to tan hides.  Bob did a lot of hunting back then, and we raised meat rabbits....so it seemed like a waste to just toss the hides.  I did a number of small pelts, but never attempted anything really large.  I really love being able to use every part of the animal, it seems like such a waste to throw away any part of a creature that died to feed the family. 

Knowing that we will probably have some butcher kids this year, I've decided that I want to be able to use every part once again.  A friend of mine had a ram processed this week, and last night she brought me the hide.  This will be my first tanning attempt in 20 years so it should be interesting.  I really do not expect it to come out right, but it gives me a practice run and a learning experience. 

She brought it late last night, so I opened it up, laying it as flat as possible....and salted it with 3# of non-iodized salt.  This will start the drying process as it pulls moisture from the flesh.  Once salted, I folded it up and put it in the middle of the table, hoping that nothing would haul it off in the night.

And it's still here this morning!  Once the sun comes up, I'll open it up and lay it out flat again....and salt it more.  For a few days it will be a matter of salting and scraping to remove all the flesh from the hide.  I'll try to remember to get pictures of the entire process, which will take at least a couple of weeks.  I'll also record my mistakes (I'm sure there will be more than a few) and the finished project when it's done.  I'm hoping for a beautiful wool rug....that's my goal anyway. 

Daydream's Babies!

I'd LOVE to show you pictures of Daydream's kids.....unfortunately they still look like this...

And she's still not talking...

Kidding Countdown and a Big Surprise!

We've had beautiful weather for nearly a week. Temps have been in the high 60's and 70's....even got to 81 one day this week. Do you think Dreamy would kid on one of those warm days? HECK NO!

Now it's a chilly 42º, a cold front is moving in ..... do you think she'll kid today? HECK NO!

Friday night we're expecting temps in the 20's and rain. I'm expecting Christmas day kids. The kids have dropped, her ligaments are mushy soft.....and the belly is growing....

She has stayed so lopsided this time....I'm hoping for triplet girls....but I guess that's just being greedy. No matter what she has, I hope and pray for a fast and safe delivery for her and her kids....I can't even imagine my backyard without this dreamy face....

And now for the big surprise! I've noticed that the turkeys have been breeding lately.....we found a nest that held 17 eggs! We've put 15 of them into the incubator since none of the hens are setting and we're expecting freezing temps.

The odd egg in the upper left is a mystery.  I'm thinking it came from one of my RIR/Americana pullets....
Please ignore the filthy dirty incubator.  All I can say is that it works...and works well.   :)

Big Bellies and the Name Game Begins

This is an F year for our goats.....and we've had a ball coming up with suggestions for names.  Daydream should freshen first again this year.  She's due Dec 27...but of course that is +/- 5 days.  I've already moved her to the goatie day spa for her daily herbs, snacks, treats, and rubdowns.  Check out that belly!

This is Daydream's 3rd freshening, she's never had a buckling...I'm praying that she'll continue that trend this year!  She's the dam of Eve...the doe that placed 19th in the senior kids class at the ADGA Nationals this year.  Her other 2010 daughter Lexi is just as beautiful, but doesn't like to show...so she's busy gestating here with her mother.....

She's not due until Jan, but this being her first freshening she's already huge.  At 10 months she weighed 120 pounds....she's a big girl!
And our oldest doe, Happy, is in the running of the big bellies too.....She will be 10 years old when she freshens this year!  I have to closely watch her condition, she's lost a few teeth.....but she's on strong feet and legs and birthed a set of triplets in Jan in 15 minutes flat!

None of the other girls compare to these bellies....of course some of these are June babies that will stay open until 2011....

Well, I guess showing the bellies wouldn't be right without showing the boyz.....Here's Pete in full rut looking like a big gorrilla....pardon the bald spot on his face-he found that rubbing the corner of the barn scratches that itch just fine....and the piece of straw stuck to his face....he's not looking his best these last few days of rut....

And don't let that sheepish shy look fool you...Ditto here makes some very nice babies and is good with the ladies....

But back to Daydream.....

If she kids on Christmas Day, I think we'll name one Frankincense.  If she's off her due date by much we might name one of them Faux Paus.  Then we have twin names such as Fife & Fiddle and Footloose & Fancy Free.  I never know for sure until I see them.  The relief of an easy kidding, uncomplicated delivery, and healthy kids comes before the naming.

6 Chickens and a Dozen Pineapple...

Although I had planned to keep some of our newest meat birds for breeding, the roos have become intolerable....so I selected 6 nice large birds to prepare for butchering.

They averaged 4 pounds each dressed out....it's nice to have fresh chicken in the freezer again.  Just over 24# total...

This week Kroger had pineapple on sale for $1 each....I bought 12....

They are in various stages of ripeness, so we're drying them as they ripen.  To dry them, first I cut the top off....leaving enough so that we can grow the top for another pineapple....

Next I use the pineapple slicer to remove the skin & core...and slice it....

This is one of the best kitchen gadgets we've ever bought....got it on sale for $1 and it is SO great!  The slicer looks like this when you're done...

You make one cut straight down with the knife and it cuts the long spiral into individual slices....

And a few hours after being in the food dryer.....we've got yummy dehydrated pineapple!

Back in the grind...

I've been busy getting Christmas gifts made...making gifts, sewing, and thinking about our blessings really lightens my heart. 

We made it a whole year without buying meat (other than the exceptions:  chicken tenders for the kids' birthdays, beef [because we don't have enough room to grow beef cattle], and the "country style" pork ribs.  Other than those exceptions, we made it through 12 months growing our own or using what we'd preserved!

Now that year is over and I've been taking advantage of all the sales!   Turkeys are on sale for .29/pound locally.  Our home grown turkeys cost about $2900 each.  At this point, I don't care what kind of turkey it is, it is meat that will feed my family for the next year.  I've got 8 in the freezer so far.

Pork butt roast is on sale as well.  Pork butt is actually cut from the shoulder, not from the...ham.  These are .99/pound.  I bought nearly 40 pounds for sausaging.  This leaves our home grown pork for chops, ribs, BACON, and loin.  In this case it's not the low cost of the meat (we grow it ourselves for about the same cost), but the fact that our home grown pork is so good, I hate to turn any of it into sausage.

Out in the milkroom we found out we had a mouse.

And we cleaned out this horrendous kid barn.  ICK

I'll be back to normal soon.  Whatever THAT is!

I Lost My Little Princess Today....

We always called her the "Beautiful Princess"....much like you would call a Great Dane "Tiny".  She was full of...fire and opinion....and by golly she was right.  If you don't believe it, just watch her stomp her feet and bark in protest.  She was an itty bitty bit of ferocious and atrocious.  Her feet never touched the ground.  She looked from above at her "peasants"....with a caring eye and barking commands at us mere servants. 

She had a back injury a few years ago that left her paralyzed from the shoulders down.  With us working her legs and a number of other techniques, she regained use of her back legs, her bladder, and her bowels.  She inspired me to start a group for folks that have small animals that are paralyzed.  Her tail never again curled over her back...but she still watched over her domain with a kindness and concern that any good Princess would have.

She had a stroke on our bed this afternoon.  The vet didn't call it a stroke...but called it a "major neurological event". 

I held her in my arms as she took her last breath.  There is no way to explain the impact this little dog made in my life.  I will miss her....forever.

Apricot Update and Sleepy Turkey

The apricots have dried beautifully, and I've done 6 cans now.  I hope to get back to the store to get another 6 cans or so.  These are great snacks plus they'll be great for holiday baking.

Late last night I had to go out to the milk room for some paperwork, and look what I found on the gatepost!

Rex was snoozing away.....I guess he can rest easy knowing he's not on the menu for Thanksgiving!

Experiment in Drying Apricots

Our local Kroger has their canned fruit on sale this week.  I am trying an experiment.  We love dried apricots, and use a lot of them over the holidays....so I bought a few cans of canned apricots and am trying a drying experiment!

First I drained the fruit completely....

With the help of my faithful assistant of course....I don't know why Gracie felt like she had to help me....

I sprayed the tray with no-stick spray....just as I do anytime I'm drying fruit....

And we'll know in a few hours how it works!  There were 13 apricot halves in the can...not bad.  I got them for 50 cents a can!

First Frost of 2010 Tonight!

They've been saying it all week....and tonight it's really supposed to happen!  Today I'll be putting out bedding hay, picking peppers, pruning herbs, and putting a heat lamp on the chicks to get ready for the first frost of the year.

7 Dollars, 1 hour, a Year's Worth of Onions

Yellow onions are on sale at the grocery store here for .33/pound. This kind of sale happens about once a year, otherwise the onions usually run about triple that. So this morning I bought 21 pounds of onions....for 7 bucks.

Most of these I will chop and freeze...I start by cutting off the ends and peeling them...

Next I run them through the food processor to roughly chop them...I use the snack sized zippy bags to package them....1/2 cup in each bag is about 1 large onion...

Then I seal the small bags and place 25 of them into a larger bag, and mark the contents before putting them into the freezer...

75 packages in all...which should pretty much be a year's supply of chopped onions.  Of course I buy fresh if I need slices, but this is a huge time & money saver!

Crazy Fall Garden

Just when I think it's all done but the lettuce......we've had a major growth spurt in the garden with all this rain! Our broccoli is finally looking like it might survive after all.....and then yesterday I see these little garlic plants poking their heads up through the soil everywhere!!

The horseradish is really looking good now that the bugs aren't attacking it anymore...

The whole garden has exploded with growth...

Of course there are leaves everywhere since the nights have been cool....

Drying up and getting wet...

Oh how I miss these days!!

Days when we had so much milk we carefully canned any excess.  We had plenty of milk for feeding the baby goats, making cheese, feeding pigs, and still plenty for the house!  But that was months ago.  Now we are in the process of drying up the does...only milking 2 of them now, and one is a first freshener.

Then this week we got rain.  Lots of rain!  3 days of rain, coupled with cooler weather, unhappy girlie goaties with muddy feet being stuck in the barn ... all that adds up to nearly no milk. 

Thankfully it's just a few weeks until we have does freshen and the milk will be flowing again.

Am I being greedy?

I am torn.  I am a firm believer in doing things to your whole ability.  If there is something that I need to do, I find out how to do it and do it with everything I've got.  This is especially important for homesteaders.....you trust God and do your best.

Well, I just can not seem to get hams right.  We cure & smoke a very fine venison ham. 
We make outstanding bacon. 
But when it comes to raising our own hog and turning that big thigh into a nice ham....I have failed time and time again. 

Today I took the long ham from the pig we butchered last month....and I roasted it.  No curing, no brine, no smoke.  I just rubbed it good with salt, pepper, and garlic salt....and cut a few slits into the meat and shoved garlic cloves into the slits. 

It is scrumptious.  I will be putting this pork up in the freezer for tamales, enchaladas, bbq....and just really good pork sandwiches.  This is home grown pork... fed little more than milk from our goats and eggs from our chickens, and kitchen scraps.

But I am very disappointed with myself.  It is not ham. 

Meet Rex

We call him T-Rex because he is very dino-like.  We lost our last tom turkey a couple of weeks ago.....and called on some friends to purchase another.

He's a bourbon red....about 6 months old.  We kept him in the little brooding area overnight....and turned him loose this afternoon. 

Of course Faith had to be in the middle to find out what all the commotion was about. She quickly examined him and walked away....

The girl turkeyz quickly came in to survey the new dude....

The new wore off quickly and they began looking for something else to eat...

Maybe, perhaps?!?! Lord willin!  Maybe some baby turkeys in spring???

Turkeys have been a blessing, and a burden.  I will NEVER again take for granted that beautiful roasted bird served on the day of Thanks...or any other day!

Fall Broilers Part 3....another Chixperiment post

Our fall broilers began hatching around the first of September....with 2 very neat blue birds, 9 regular white or white with black flecks.  I am going to try to breed some blue broilers...we'll see what happens.  Anyway, the big birds are now free ranging and holding their own with the turkeys.  We are planning to pick up a tom turkey this week, we'll see how they manage after that!  Their growth rate is fantastic and they are foraging well.

It looks like the 2 blue birds are hens, if that proves to be true I'll be crossing them back to my original black roo, Angus.  If we manage to breed the blue birds and maintain their growth and health.....we may have a really cool Blue Broiler!!

Keep in mind, these are the 2 & 3rd generation of our chixperiment So I'm thinking that crossing them back to the original roo should help repeat the color.  The down side is that the original roo is not the growth rate contributor.  We'll see.  We call this a chixperiment for a reason!
Since the Sept hatching, we've had 2 other batches hatch out.  The #2 hatch was 5 healthy live chicks...growing quickly and nearly ready to move outside....

And now another round!

With only 4 more eggs in the bator...I'm not holding out for any more blues.....but I sure am thankful that we'll have meat!  The broilers have been on-and-off laying....and they are back in their off time. Meanwhile...the "security detail" watches on from the roof the the milking room!