Showing posts with label work. Show all posts
Showing posts with label work. Show all posts
Thursday, February 14, 2008
It is finished!
Really, this time it is completely done! Binding and all! Sewing starts Saturday (?), hopefully!!! Oh, finishing that is like a breath of fresh air (well, I usually get that feeling when I finish something, but this thing has been going on for three years)! I don't know when, or if, I'll get pictures up. Right now it really needs washing.
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
I am learning a new language....
.... or trying to anyway. Being the most "tech-savvy" person constantly at home (that's really not saying much, by the way), I got recruited to create various websites for the family. I can now read a tiny, little, itty-bitty amount of HTML code, which I guess is something. I am going to leap into style sheets soon, and hopefully I will conquer it. Maybe, in the next five or ten years, I will be able to put out a nice-looking, well-flowing website. By then there will be something much better. (You always have to close something computer/internet related with that statement. Nothing lasts very long in technology; at least, I haven't seen it if something has!)
It is only when they go wrong that machines remind you how powerful they are.
--- Clive James
Hardware: the parts of a computer that can be kicked.
--- Jeff Pesis
To err is human, but to really foul things up you need a computer.
--- Paul Ehrlich
Technology has the shelf life of a banana.
--- Scott McNealy
Just because something doesn't do what you planned it to do doesn't mean it's useless. [I've got to remember this one]
--- Thomas Alva Edison
Monday, January 21, 2008
Friday and Saturday
This past Friday and Saturday some of the wonderful folks from our church (plus a family from GA who are working on getting up here) came to our place and helped us slaughter and butcher the rest of our pigs. We could not have done it without them!!!! Thank y'all so much!!!
Friday afternoon Daddy, Kyle, Luke, Lingo men, and various members of the Fish family slaughtered the three pigs, and hung them in the smoke house. The walk-in cooler is currently out-of-commission, but it was cold enough to leave the halves outside overnight.
Little Smoky was the first to go (Daddy thought he might be smarter than the others and runaway after the first shot).
They had all three done by 4:30pm, at the latest!
Saturday morning Mama, Mrs. Evans, and Mrs. Fish started making a batch of soap, but I am not allowed to post any of the pictures Claire got of that process.
The men went out around 10:00am or so and started butchering.
A few of us were happily occupied inside, where it was warm!
Sausage-maker extraordinaires!
The packaging table was kept pretty busy most of the time.
Cuties!!!
Friday afternoon Daddy, Kyle, Luke, Lingo men, and various members of the Fish family slaughtered the three pigs, and hung them in the smoke house. The walk-in cooler is currently out-of-commission, but it was cold enough to leave the halves outside overnight.
Little Smoky was the first to go (Daddy thought he might be smarter than the others and runaway after the first shot).
They had all three done by 4:30pm, at the latest!Friday evening Mr. Draper, and the Evans' pulled in. After everyone had eaten, there was some conversation, and refreshed our butchering memories with the Meat Man (he could not only use someone to redo the videos, but the website too!) video.
Saturday morning Mama, Mrs. Evans, and Mrs. Fish started making a batch of soap, but I am not allowed to post any of the pictures Claire got of that process.
The men went out around 10:00am or so and started butchering.
A few of us were happily occupied inside, where it was warm!
Sausage-maker extraordinaires!
The packaging table was kept pretty busy most of the time.
Cuties!!!Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Pictures from Thanksgiving week
Our last turkeys.
Now, I don't know about any of y'all, but I think dessert is almost the most important aspect of Thanksgiving Day! Uncle Craig brought this cake.
Aunt Lou brought a caramel pie!!! Homemade crust and everything!
Pecan pie.
CUSTARD!!!!!
Can you believe they still had energy to wrestle?!!
Finishing one side!
Continuing another.
The view from inside.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Pig Slaughtering: Start to Finish
Okay, here it is. The pictures aren't very good, but I think they are good enough. I'm not going to comment on them much though; I usually wasn't actually in the process.
I don't what we'd do without the mule!
Luke got in there and helped a bit. You can just barely see him in this picture.
Again, the mule! This was way better than using the tractor. However, this made it necessary for them to skin and gut right behind the driveway!
Once Daddy and Kyle had skinned the underside of the pig, they pulled him up and skinned his backside.
Then they cut him open...
and dumped out the insides.
The pulley system.
Product #1. Quite good. Mild, though.
I don't what we'd do without the mule!
Luke got in there and helped a bit. You can just barely see him in this picture.
Again, the mule! This was way better than using the tractor. However, this made it necessary for them to skin and gut right behind the driveway!
Once Daddy and Kyle had skinned the underside of the pig, they pulled him up and skinned his backside.
Then they cut him open...
and dumped out the insides.
The pulley system.
Product #1. Quite good. Mild, though.Thursday, September 06, 2007
Yesterday
What a day we had yesterday!!! We took a couple of little steers from our neighbor to the Carpenters, but along the way we had quite the adventure!
Everything went wrong from the beginning (thankfully not all the way to the end!). Daddy didn't hardly sleep the night before, so he went into work around 3:00 am! Then, when he came home to get some sleep before we had to go to the Franklin/Leiper's Fork area, the phone rang more times! I think we got more calls that morning than we have all day today! After lunch Daddy, Kyle, Luke, and I went to load the steers into our neighbor's trailer. That was much harder and way longer than Daddy was expecting, but we did get them loaded! Once we went back to the house to pick up Mama and Claire we were off! Well, after a few more bathroom breaks.
We made it, without any stops, all the way onto the interstate. Luke was finally asleep, Mama and Daddy were conversing, Claire was working on math, and Kyle was reading. Suddenly a truck pulled up along side us and motioned for us to get over (he was quite panicked). He pulled over to tell us what happened. One of those little steers had leaped out of the trailer!!! We quickly scanned the area for something to block the other steer from getting out. We didn't find anything, so we had to use some straps that happened to be in the back of the suburban. Someone else also pulled over to tell us that he had "seen it all, and the cow was back at that T-Rex place."
Once we got the straps on as well as we could quickly we turned around. We made our first stop at the co-op, which happened to be at that exit. We switched trailers to one of the co-op's that happened to have a flat tire, so we switched to a different one. We left the remaining steer in the other trailer, and went to the T-Rex place.
When we got to that place we pulled out the camera a got a few shots of the community coming together in an emergency. A policeman and a constable were already there kind of guarding the little fella. The man who originally pulled us over came along and helped us; I don't think they could have done it without him. Anyway, after a while of chasing that steer through the field across the road, that man decided they needed a 4-wheeler! The constable took him to his house, and he brought the tool that quickly finished the job. That man was great!
There were no more problems for the rest of the way to the Carpenters! They were all very excited to get the little guys, although Kyle, Cole, and Logan had to lower a pile of dirt so the steers didn't jump over the fence! Mrs. Carpenter and Peyton fixed an excellent dinner, and we got a tour of their house. They have a lovely place! I believe we left around 9:00 pm.
Here are some pictures of our day:
Then there was today's experience. I don't particularly feel like going over it at the moment, but Mama posted about it fairly accurately and eloquently. Just ignore the "boring" part of it; I haven't said that in quite a while!
Everything went wrong from the beginning (thankfully not all the way to the end!). Daddy didn't hardly sleep the night before, so he went into work around 3:00 am! Then, when he came home to get some sleep before we had to go to the Franklin/Leiper's Fork area, the phone rang more times! I think we got more calls that morning than we have all day today! After lunch Daddy, Kyle, Luke, and I went to load the steers into our neighbor's trailer. That was much harder and way longer than Daddy was expecting, but we did get them loaded! Once we went back to the house to pick up Mama and Claire we were off! Well, after a few more bathroom breaks.
We made it, without any stops, all the way onto the interstate. Luke was finally asleep, Mama and Daddy were conversing, Claire was working on math, and Kyle was reading. Suddenly a truck pulled up along side us and motioned for us to get over (he was quite panicked). He pulled over to tell us what happened. One of those little steers had leaped out of the trailer!!! We quickly scanned the area for something to block the other steer from getting out. We didn't find anything, so we had to use some straps that happened to be in the back of the suburban. Someone else also pulled over to tell us that he had "seen it all, and the cow was back at that T-Rex place."
Once we got the straps on as well as we could quickly we turned around. We made our first stop at the co-op, which happened to be at that exit. We switched trailers to one of the co-op's that happened to have a flat tire, so we switched to a different one. We left the remaining steer in the other trailer, and went to the T-Rex place.
When we got to that place we pulled out the camera a got a few shots of the community coming together in an emergency. A policeman and a constable were already there kind of guarding the little fella. The man who originally pulled us over came along and helped us; I don't think they could have done it without him. Anyway, after a while of chasing that steer through the field across the road, that man decided they needed a 4-wheeler! The constable took him to his house, and he brought the tool that quickly finished the job. That man was great!
There were no more problems for the rest of the way to the Carpenters! They were all very excited to get the little guys, although Kyle, Cole, and Logan had to lower a pile of dirt so the steers didn't jump over the fence! Mrs. Carpenter and Peyton fixed an excellent dinner, and we got a tour of their house. They have a lovely place! I believe we left around 9:00 pm.
Here are some pictures of our day:
Then there was today's experience. I don't particularly feel like going over it at the moment, but Mama posted about it fairly accurately and eloquently. Just ignore the "boring" part of it; I haven't said that in quite a while!
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Processing Day
It wasn't too bad really. The birds were big, but we were done by lunch! Kyle caught and killed, I mean, processed. Claire ran the plucker. Mama, this being her first real experience, bagged and labeled. Daddy eviscerated. Luke wasn't much help this time, but he was there. I scalded. Everybody knew their parts, and everything went smoothly.
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Stanchion Pics
Here's some pictures of our milking stall. It's fairly straightforward, I think. We have made a few improvements as we've used it, and we will probably continue to do so.
On the right Daddy built a shelf into the side of the stall so we would have a place to set our buckets and anything else that we may need it for. Right now it's holding a great deal of junk. We'll have to change that before too long. We have a roll of paper towels, a bag of plastic cups, and more junk in the plastic box. The trash can holds oats that we let Clarabelle snack on while we're milking.
A close-up of the "stanchion" here. We had the sides of the stall in place before the stanchion was built, so all we had to do was take a few of the lower boards out to allow two milkers at once. We built in the opposite side. There is a piece of plywood with a hole in it for a (well, I think it was a chicken waterer at one time) feeder. It works quite well.
Claire got this picture with Kyle in the milking position. We could improve the milking stools. Let's see, where to start on this picture? Ummm... well, there is a hole with a heavy metal pipe to keep her from backing up. We've already changed that a little since we've started milking her again. All we did was move it closer to the 4x4 to push her closer. I'm not sure what to call the heavy kickboard/table we set the milk bucket on. It rests on the 1x6 (rough-sawn), and we put another pipe so Clarabelle won't kick or push it forward. The kick board thing (the plywood in back) works very well. She used to manage to stick her hooves into the milk bucket, and now whe can't really get her feet over. We've had to scoop out the middle of the plywood, now that she's calved, because her udder wouldn't go over the top of it if we hadn't.
I don't think I explained it very well, but I did the best I can for now. Little Chuck (Claire and Kyle kind of decided on that name for Clarabelle's calf) is doing very well, although he could be a bit better trained at the halter and bottle feeding. Not much going on around here. Everybody's a bit exhausted for one reason or another, mine is from having to get back on a schedule. I'm not forcing myself to get up at 5:00 am yet; 6:00 am is a bit of a stretch right now! We're getting very creamy milk right now, but it tastes very strong after many months off it. It will definitely take some getting used to again.
On the right Daddy built a shelf into the side of the stall so we would have a place to set our buckets and anything else that we may need it for. Right now it's holding a great deal of junk. We'll have to change that before too long. We have a roll of paper towels, a bag of plastic cups, and more junk in the plastic box. The trash can holds oats that we let Clarabelle snack on while we're milking.
A close-up of the "stanchion" here. We had the sides of the stall in place before the stanchion was built, so all we had to do was take a few of the lower boards out to allow two milkers at once. We built in the opposite side. There is a piece of plywood with a hole in it for a (well, I think it was a chicken waterer at one time) feeder. It works quite well.
Claire got this picture with Kyle in the milking position. We could improve the milking stools. Let's see, where to start on this picture? Ummm... well, there is a hole with a heavy metal pipe to keep her from backing up. We've already changed that a little since we've started milking her again. All we did was move it closer to the 4x4 to push her closer. I'm not sure what to call the heavy kickboard/table we set the milk bucket on. It rests on the 1x6 (rough-sawn), and we put another pipe so Clarabelle won't kick or push it forward. The kick board thing (the plywood in back) works very well. She used to manage to stick her hooves into the milk bucket, and now whe can't really get her feet over. We've had to scoop out the middle of the plywood, now that she's calved, because her udder wouldn't go over the top of it if we hadn't.I don't think I explained it very well, but I did the best I can for now. Little Chuck (Claire and Kyle kind of decided on that name for Clarabelle's calf) is doing very well, although he could be a bit better trained at the halter and bottle feeding. Not much going on around here. Everybody's a bit exhausted for one reason or another, mine is from having to get back on a schedule. I'm not forcing myself to get up at 5:00 am yet; 6:00 am is a bit of a stretch right now! We're getting very creamy milk right now, but it tastes very strong after many months off it. It will definitely take some getting used to again.
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Things
I don't know what to title this post. It's not going to be about anything in particular, so much as things that have been happening lately.
Saturday, we went to our cousins' birthday party. Kyle amused us all by picking out the tune to Psalm 25A on some mounted PVC pipes that you play with the sole of a flip-flop. It was hilarious!
Dug some of our potatoes the other evening. Well, I didn't, but the others did.
Sometime last week poor Teddy lost all his "only beauty", but, with that, none of his pride! He looks so funny strutting around with no tail! We, unfortunately, have no idea how this calamity happened, but right now it is the least of our worries!
The dark, wild-turkey-looking turkeys will probably have to be kil... umm, I mean processed soon. We'll probably put them in the freezer until this Thanksgiving.
I wish I had some pictures of the pigs to put up. They are getting huge!!! I don't know why, but just lately they seemed to have gotten much bigger. Perhaps I haven't been out to see them as much.
I was given dinner duties recently. I've been at it for almost a week now, and I am trying to adjust my thinking. I have to get meat out of the freezer in the morning, do any prep work that can be done beforehand, and get started so that dinner will be ready by 5:30 pm. So far I have not done too well. No burned dinners yet; no undercooked meat yet, but my timing isn't great. Still, I think I've had it ready by 6:00 or 6:30 pm; I did a bit better this evening. I have learned a bit already though. I've done fruit and veggie trays or arranged salads with almost every dinner, and they've gone over quite well I believe. It adds a nice touch to simple meals without too much hassle!
I'm being told to "hit the publish button". Better stop now.
Saturday, we went to our cousins' birthday party. Kyle amused us all by picking out the tune to Psalm 25A on some mounted PVC pipes that you play with the sole of a flip-flop. It was hilarious!
Dug some of our potatoes the other evening. Well, I didn't, but the others did.
Sometime last week poor Teddy lost all his "only beauty", but, with that, none of his pride! He looks so funny strutting around with no tail! We, unfortunately, have no idea how this calamity happened, but right now it is the least of our worries!
The dark, wild-turkey-looking turkeys will probably have to be kil... umm, I mean processed soon. We'll probably put them in the freezer until this Thanksgiving.I wish I had some pictures of the pigs to put up. They are getting huge!!! I don't know why, but just lately they seemed to have gotten much bigger. Perhaps I haven't been out to see them as much.
I was given dinner duties recently. I've been at it for almost a week now, and I am trying to adjust my thinking. I have to get meat out of the freezer in the morning, do any prep work that can be done beforehand, and get started so that dinner will be ready by 5:30 pm. So far I have not done too well. No burned dinners yet; no undercooked meat yet, but my timing isn't great. Still, I think I've had it ready by 6:00 or 6:30 pm; I did a bit better this evening. I have learned a bit already though. I've done fruit and veggie trays or arranged salads with almost every dinner, and they've gone over quite well I believe. It adds a nice touch to simple meals without too much hassle!
I'm being told to "hit the publish button". Better stop now.
Monday, July 02, 2007
Saturday
The Stouffer's came to our place Friday, and, on Saturday, we got a great deal of work done!!!
First thing Saturday morning we processed thirty, very small Cornish Cross birds.
I got the scalding job again. It was quite a hot job in the near-ninety degree weather.
See, I told you they were small! I don't think this was the smallest one either!
Gizzards and feet! We were requested to keep the gizzards out. We were not very sure how to clean all the grass and stuff out, so we left that up to the recipient!
Kyle and Daniel moved the younger chicks into the newly-emptied, larger chicken tractor. Still, I think we will have to make another one for when they get larger.
While they were putting the chicks in the chicken tractor, Daddy, Mr. Stouffer, and Chris started stringing the extension for the pig fence. We got it finished before dinner, but the pigs didn't go past the old fence line until well into the evening or the next day! We can't thank the Stouffer's enough for all the work they helped us with! They did so much yard work too! We can't wait for them to come back (we've got plenty more work to do to keep many people very busy!)!
First thing Saturday morning we processed thirty, very small Cornish Cross birds.
I got the scalding job again. It was quite a hot job in the near-ninety degree weather.
See, I told you they were small! I don't think this was the smallest one either!
Gizzards and feet! We were requested to keep the gizzards out. We were not very sure how to clean all the grass and stuff out, so we left that up to the recipient!
Kyle and Daniel moved the younger chicks into the newly-emptied, larger chicken tractor. Still, I think we will have to make another one for when they get larger.
While they were putting the chicks in the chicken tractor, Daddy, Mr. Stouffer, and Chris started stringing the extension for the pig fence. We got it finished before dinner, but the pigs didn't go past the old fence line until well into the evening or the next day! We can't thank the Stouffer's enough for all the work they helped us with! They did so much yard work too! We can't wait for them to come back (we've got plenty more work to do to keep many people very busy!)!
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