They will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their fruit.
Last week during lamb butchering I did something a little different. I harvested both kidneys with their fat caps. Not sure why, other than everything was going so smoothly, it seemed a pity to waste anything. (Don't worry, we still haven't attempted making haggis). But then, as often happens around here, we found ourselves with… Continue reading Steak and Kidney Pie
The last lamb we slaughtered was a difficult and frustrating process. The kill was quick and humane, but a single slip of the knife early in the dressing process resulted in slicing the achilles tendon and dropping the carcass, then a difficult skinning, which in turn delayed evisceration, resulting in the stomach falling and rupturing.… Continue reading Lamb slaughter and butchering, take 2
This was Edna last night. This is Edna today: Meet Cookie, our newest katahdin lamb. https://youtube.com/shorts/InosfwkAVck? Now, before anyone gets attached, remember she was sired by one of our twin rams, which means that she is technically the product of inbreeding so her destiny is for the table in about a year, not for future… Continue reading Meet Cookie
Saturday was the day we butchered and wrapped one of our katahdin rams. We started out by enjoying the hangar steak, the heart and part of the liver for breakfast. Stirfried with mushrooms and onions. Topped with havarti. That will stick to your ribs. And some of our ribs need more sticking than others. We… Continue reading Butchering a Ram
Busy runaround day, last Thursday. Seppi, Daddy and Winnie started out with a run to the dump to drop off trash. We managed to rub the sidewall of the tire up against something and rip a flap in it. We will need to change that this coming week. Seppi helped Daddy build a prop for… Continue reading Thursday
Iris is continuing to delay. She and her calf appear to be in no hurry. Her vulva is quite floppy (how's that for a sentence you never expected to read in a family blog!?) and there has been a little bit of mucus. She was a little slow getting up this morning for feeding, but… Continue reading Maternity Farm
Matilda is Winnie’s favorite sheep. https://youtube.com/shorts/lMtwrbF4qOM?feature=share Probably because she is the smallest of the sheep. https://youtube.com/shorts/KtzdBAf4sCQ?feature=share 
Cow salt and sheep salt are not the same. I don't know if you know this. You may have thought that we just salted our cow and our sheep with the same generic table salt, but you would be wrong. Sheep salt has to be granular, not blocked, because sheep have smooth tongues. They cannot… Continue reading Salt Boxes
Saturday was a run-around kind of day. The older three kids were all over the mountains with Deedee and Papa, picking apples, so Winnie got to be an only child for a day. She is very good at being an only child. Takes to it like the proverbial duck to water. Fortunately she only gets… Continue reading Garden Snacks (not just for people)
This has been a very busy week and a lot has gone on, so buckle up. It's time for a catch-up post. Literally. Mommy took Evie and Ellie to the fair last Wednesday. No, the other last Wednesday, the 6th of August. That's how far behind we are. They immediately started winning prizes. Ellie got… Continue reading Catch up post
Little Farm in the Big City 