Just wanted to let everyone know I was still around and checking in as posssible. The fall, especialy when we get that first frost to remind me of all the winter preps we havent made yet, is always a busy time for me. The boss has actualy been up for working about 5 out of the last 7 days which as a lot of you have heard me complain is truely rare lately then with trying to finish our steer, build a hanging frame that will hold him for butchering, split the fire wood thats gathered and lay in more fire wood, cann up the late stuff from the garden, buy our bulk flour and sugar (just got 100 lbs of each the other day) and seasonings for the winter and get it stored..... we just have tons of stuff that iether couldnt be done untill now or that just alwayse seems like you have tons of time to do later untill that first frost but needs to be done for us to be ready for winter. So if any of you were wondering why I hadnt been in as much the last week or so thats whats up and will probably last another week or 2 but should start calming down soon and should be able to be back more often soon.
I wondered where you were...thanks for letting us know... I suppose one day I will have to learn to "winterize" when I move to the mountains.... Now , I just get the long sleeve shirts and jeans instead of capri's out...
Its kind of a seasonal ritual for us, not so much that we get snowed in. Have to get the fire wood done as its our only heat other than space heaters that I HATE, other than that its that the freezers get low by now and the temps start to drop to make for better butchering to refill them and we generaly stock up on staples about 3 or 4 times a year by going to an amish bulk grocery store in the next town and get 50-100 lbs each of flour and sugar then a ton of seasonings, go to Aldis and buy a ton of canned goods and so on then just pick up odds and ends at the store the rest of the time. Looks like this time we can skip the canned goods as my uncle went to a group home and we got SEVERAL boxes of home canned veggies this week then yesterday my dad came down to help me build my gallows (explained below) and brought 2 big boxes of canned goods and such from his shelves in the basement (he has shelves floor to ceiling covering one whole wall of his basement filled with canned goods, shampoo, and everything he would buy at the store...wonder if that could be where I get some of the habit lol ). Just got done building my 'gallows' today. We had an old mobile home frame setting in the pasture and so my dad came down yesterday to help with the tourch work and such (my tourch is out of commision) and we cut up the frame to make 2 vertical legs 14 feet tall with a 6 foot piece of channel steel over a 5 inch diameter pipe thats sticks out both vertical legs. We got it up while he was here and 4 guy chains to hold it, it sticks about 1 foot into the ground and has little feet to keep it from sinking more. Today I went and got some cable and hardware and attached it and the other chains so it now has a total of 10 guy lines and with the chain hoist I can pick up one end of the truck from it with no problem. We put it up so that I would have a better and easier way to hang stock we Im butchering. Have to admit though, its visible from the road and it is hidious, but should work well. lol Well, now after I get the pool drained, a couple cords of wood split, a few hundred pounds of meat butchered and in the freezers and the new roof put on the house then things SHOULD start to calm down a bit....oh and maybe while Im at it I will finaly get the fence across this place put up. Oh well, once the snow flies I probably wont have to do much untill the spring hecticness begins... the other time of year thats nuts around here.
