We had our first snow this last week. The snow hung on for a full week without melting but now temperatures are beginning to warm so the snow has been sliding off the roof with loud thumps and great crashes. Tootsie, who is an old hand at hearing these noises, ignores them for the most part, but the new wee kitty and Jiggs stare at the ceiling every time a great pile of snow comes crashing down. In the end, now that the snow is melting it is looking like Teapot will get the steps outside to the front veranda finished before the real snow comes that's the snow that stays all winter.
Poor Teapot. He is working hard in an effort to get everything done before the snow falls... I don't think he is going to get the tin on the roof of the electrical shed though. The steps are looking awesome but the electrical shed is still sitting with the twenty year old cedar shingles rotting on it. The tin is cut, the tin is sitting on the ground.... but it is not on the roof and that is one job I had hoped to have finished before autumn came, let alone, winter. This weekend will be another weekend of butchering sheep which means that the shed will have to wait once again. We have a lamb for Pops that should have been butchered a while ago. We have another two lambs that another friend wants for a party coming up. One lamb he wants halfed and the other that he wants whole since he will be cooking it on a spit. So that will be three more of our lambs gone.... which leaves more hay for the horse and sheep.
I still do not have enough hay. I have not been able to find anyone I can hire to bring in hay by truck for me from so far away. This means that if I don't get more hay soon, I will have to supplement the animals diet with feed from the feed store which is an expensive prospect for sure. We will see. I thought for a while that I was going to be alright with the amount of hay that I had verbally secured but it has definitely been a problem. I do not want to go through this again. I will slaughter every sheep I own if I have to, I will find a home for the wandering llama, and I will just keep the alpacas and the horse if necessary. That's the problem with not having enough land of your own to grow your own feed.
Meanwhile hunting season for deer begins on Monday. I will go and get my hunting license for the season. Teapot already has his license as he has been looking for moose and elk this year as well. He hasn't had much opportunity to hunt though with so many other jobs to do. Deer, however, is a pleasure to hunt since they walk around here on a regular basis. It means getting up early early in the morning and tramping through the bush quietly. It means standing for ages in the cold and damp. Also, it also means a lot of processing but the end result is great. Teapot and I are avid lovers of venison meat. We learned from the natives when we lived among them that hanging and aging your meat is totally unnecessary with deer. Teapot butchers the meat right away, saving the best roasts for the freezer, then everything else gets cut up and processed into bottles with a little pork fat. Preserved deer meat is delicious and makes for a great meal and very quick to cook too. Just open the top of the Mason jar, warm in a fry pan with a little teriyaki sauce or Hp sauce or whatever your favorite sauce is and serve over a bed of rice or with oven roast potatoes, some salad on the side and voila: a quick delicious meal. Of course, Teapot likes to set aside a little deer meat for jerky too. And it feels really good to look into the pantry and see rows of deer meat in neat bottles ready for the winter supply, and a freezer with neat packages full of jerky and wrapped roasts.
We only hunt for meat.... we do not hunt trophies. Trophy hunting is not our bag. I don't get that at all. Sorry if anyone reading this is into hunting for the joy of the kill, that's not us. Hunting is completely practical in this house. Recently, I have had to keep a vigilant eye on the hay bales since wandering deer seem to feel that hay bales are great for them too.
 |
| There are 6and 1/2 bales left of the 12 I bought, in August.... and there's the electrical shed in the background with the old shingles still on it. |
But I do not pay premium price for hay so that my animals will starve and the wild ones will eat! I'm sure our neighbour must think I'm nuts as I spent last Saturday morning out chasing off a deer from the bales. She really didn't want to take no for an answer and so I was going back and forth with a stick in an effort to run her off. I had a few choice swear words for her too and then I started yelling at her (this was my way of being a dreadful apponent... she wasn't getting it though). I kept saying I have a hunting license and I know how to use it..... this didn't seem to phase her at all! Hmmm.... that's when Teapot showed up with the dog. HA HA! That got the bu--er up and running. She hasn't been back... but it is a full time job keeping the deer away from the bales especially as the cold weather gets more severe. I don't think it will be hard to hunt a deer this year. Of course, we're not allowed to hunt near dwellings so we have to get the deer moving and usually we hunt in the forest that is adjacent to our property.
Well, I'm off, I'm still working on the bedroom from hell. I have a clock to put together and paint this morning...
No comments:
Post a Comment