We're in the middle of a "cold snap" right now.
(Why "snap?" I don't know. We need to "snap" the heck out of it, pronto.)
Anywho.
The temperature is minus holymothertruckingcold outside right now, which is about 5 degrees warmer than it was this morning. We're pretty sure the temperatures dipped down into the minus 30's (celsius) last night. If the number of layers I needed to wear to bed is any indication, it was extreme cold.
It has come to our attention that our house is woefully inadequately insulated. WOEFULLY. WHOA-FULLY INADEQUATE.
And when its holymothertruckingcold outside? Well then it only slightly less than holymothertruckingcold inside too.
Our poor little propane fireplaces have been running non-stop for three days, and not once have we actually got up to the temperature that the thermostat is set to (a paltry 67 F...I am aiming low...and still not getting there.) The propane bill this month is going to make me weep frozen tears of sadness into my cup of tea, oh yes it will.
But we soldier on. Blankets. Hot chocolate (with Baileys, of course.) Toques in the house. Hot water bottles in the bed.
Tonight I kicked Corben out of his room to the trundle bed in G's room,
so Steve and I can sleep in his bed (on the upper floor, where the little heat that there is rises to) because I'm tired of seeing my gawd damn breath as I lay in bed.
I always said I wanted to live like a pioneer.
Be careful what you wish for internets, be oh so very careful! ;)
Stay toasty, my friends! Send warm thoughts!
xoxo
Showing posts with label country living. Show all posts
Showing posts with label country living. Show all posts
Friday, January 3, 2014
Sunday, November 24, 2013
Adventures in Roadkill
Our valley runs along side a river. Steep sloping hills up one side, and the other, and a river that rushes its way noisily through the middle of it. And the road, our road, that follows the river, with thick bush abutting the road for most of the trek.
On Monday morning, as Steve was driving home from dropping Corben off at daycare, a deer on her way from one place to another bound out of those bushes at a most unfortunate time, and met with the front bumper of Steve's car, sending her flying up and over the car and landing in the ditch beside the road.
When Steve stopped the car, and got out to check on the car and the deer, she was lying in the ditch, still alive, but clearly injured as she wasn't able to move. Since deer that are shot often bolt, and run for miles on the adrenaline of their injuries, it was clearly bad.
He quickly came home to try and find a friend (with a gun) to put this poor thing out of her misery. A few phone calls later and we discovered that we couldn't actually shoot the deer, we needed to call the OPP to do it. (Otherwise any schmuck with a gun, outside hunting season, could claim to just be "putting the deer out of it's misery" for one excuse or another. It would be considered poaching if they were caught.)
To make a long story short, about a half hour later Steve came home, our friend Dan following behind him with an expired deer in the back of his truck.
Despite her unfortunate, untimely end, we weren't about to let her go to waste.
So all of a sudden we had a deer in our back yard that needed to be dealt with. Gutted and hung. And me? I've processed one rabbit in my life. One. But one more phone call and we had an experienced hunter in our back yard, showing us the ins and outs of gutting a deer.
Hardly the Monday morning any of us had anticipated.
A short time later, we had a gutted deer hanging in our yard.
On Friday night, with an impeding snow storm approaching, it was time to get the deer down from her perch, and deal with processing her.
Now, we live in an incredible community. When we needed to haul a dead deer from the side of the road, and gut it, there were a half a dozen people that we could have called to help us, and they would have come. At the same time, if you've got a deer hanging in your yard, and you want to keep it for your freezer, then the mentality is you best get to work figuring out how to take care of that. There are lots of folks here happy to provide guidance and even a helping hand, but nobody is going to do it FOR you. Put on your big girl Carharts, and do it yourself.
The job of butchering in this family seems to have fallen to me.
And because we wanted to keep the deer, not to mention the pelt, on Friday night I skinned and quartered* a deer, in our neighbour Kyle's garage (of course) for the first, but likely not last time. (*I'm not sure why the call it quartering, because it's more like 6 pieces, but maybe that's too much math.)
It was seriously cool.
Luckily for me, this "road kill" deer was a good practice deer. Her pelvis was so completely shattered that the meat on the inside was pretty much a write off, so it was pretty hard for me to screw it up.
But I did it. And it was awesome. It's so wonderfully cool to see the inside workings of such an amazing creature. How bone comes together, and how muscles run along the body. Learning about cuts of meat and where they come from and why some are better than others. Not to mention walking away with a decent sized pelt.
Now, scraping and tanning the pelt is an adventure all of it's own, and a shitpile of work, a pile that I've decided to put off until the spring. In the meantime the hide is rolled and bagged and frozen until I can give up a weekend to just sit and scrape. I'm looking forward to that too, it's going to take a ton of work and patience, but I have dreams ofditching giving the kids to the loving arms of their grandparents for the weekend, and sitting beside a smouldering fire for three days; cooking shit on the fire, drinking wine, and sinking my teeth into this beautiful piece of fur. (It's good to have a dream.)
So now, with a self-satisfied pat on the back, I can say that I know how to gut, skin, and quarter a deer. Put that shit on my resume, shall I? Thanks to my excellent teacher, Neighbour Jim, who only skinned his first deer winter. But then he skinned his second. And third. Gifts from the Valley.
Who knew I, we, any of us was such a redneck?
And to the Mama deer, who was in such an unfortunate place at an unfortunate time, we are grateful for her - the lessons she brings, and the meat, and the fur, and we promise we won't let any of them go to waste.
Self sufficiency. Living off the land. Organic, free range venison at it's finest. These are all very, very good things that I've been dreaming of for a while.
xoxox
On Monday morning, as Steve was driving home from dropping Corben off at daycare, a deer on her way from one place to another bound out of those bushes at a most unfortunate time, and met with the front bumper of Steve's car, sending her flying up and over the car and landing in the ditch beside the road.
When Steve stopped the car, and got out to check on the car and the deer, she was lying in the ditch, still alive, but clearly injured as she wasn't able to move. Since deer that are shot often bolt, and run for miles on the adrenaline of their injuries, it was clearly bad.
He quickly came home to try and find a friend (with a gun) to put this poor thing out of her misery. A few phone calls later and we discovered that we couldn't actually shoot the deer, we needed to call the OPP to do it. (Otherwise any schmuck with a gun, outside hunting season, could claim to just be "putting the deer out of it's misery" for one excuse or another. It would be considered poaching if they were caught.)
To make a long story short, about a half hour later Steve came home, our friend Dan following behind him with an expired deer in the back of his truck.
Despite her unfortunate, untimely end, we weren't about to let her go to waste.
So all of a sudden we had a deer in our back yard that needed to be dealt with. Gutted and hung. And me? I've processed one rabbit in my life. One. But one more phone call and we had an experienced hunter in our back yard, showing us the ins and outs of gutting a deer.
Hardly the Monday morning any of us had anticipated.
A short time later, we had a gutted deer hanging in our yard.
On Friday night, with an impeding snow storm approaching, it was time to get the deer down from her perch, and deal with processing her.
Now, we live in an incredible community. When we needed to haul a dead deer from the side of the road, and gut it, there were a half a dozen people that we could have called to help us, and they would have come. At the same time, if you've got a deer hanging in your yard, and you want to keep it for your freezer, then the mentality is you best get to work figuring out how to take care of that. There are lots of folks here happy to provide guidance and even a helping hand, but nobody is going to do it FOR you. Put on your big girl Carharts, and do it yourself.
The job of butchering in this family seems to have fallen to me.
And because we wanted to keep the deer, not to mention the pelt, on Friday night I skinned and quartered* a deer, in our neighbour Kyle's garage (of course) for the first, but likely not last time. (*I'm not sure why the call it quartering, because it's more like 6 pieces, but maybe that's too much math.)
It was seriously cool.
Luckily for me, this "road kill" deer was a good practice deer. Her pelvis was so completely shattered that the meat on the inside was pretty much a write off, so it was pretty hard for me to screw it up.
But I did it. And it was awesome. It's so wonderfully cool to see the inside workings of such an amazing creature. How bone comes together, and how muscles run along the body. Learning about cuts of meat and where they come from and why some are better than others. Not to mention walking away with a decent sized pelt.
Now, scraping and tanning the pelt is an adventure all of it's own, and a shitpile of work, a pile that I've decided to put off until the spring. In the meantime the hide is rolled and bagged and frozen until I can give up a weekend to just sit and scrape. I'm looking forward to that too, it's going to take a ton of work and patience, but I have dreams of
So now, with a self-satisfied pat on the back, I can say that I know how to gut, skin, and quarter a deer. Put that shit on my resume, shall I? Thanks to my excellent teacher, Neighbour Jim, who only skinned his first deer winter. But then he skinned his second. And third. Gifts from the Valley.
Who knew I, we, any of us was such a redneck?
And to the Mama deer, who was in such an unfortunate place at an unfortunate time, we are grateful for her - the lessons she brings, and the meat, and the fur, and we promise we won't let any of them go to waste.
Self sufficiency. Living off the land. Organic, free range venison at it's finest. These are all very, very good things that I've been dreaming of for a while.
xoxox
Saturday, October 5, 2013
Trials and Tribulations of raising Rabbits.
It's been a disappointing few days in the Rabbit Raising department here in the Valley. On Thursday afternoon, I suspected the babies weren't being fed, but I really had no idea if that was true or not. The kits were still pretty active, peeping like only kits can do (baby bunnies make cute little squeaky noises) and since they only usually get fed once a day, it was quite likely that I was being a paranoid first time rabbit mom.
But by Friday morning, when I found one of them barely alive, and the rest pretty chilly, we knew that things weren't going so well.
First time Mama rabbits are pretty famous for screwing things up. Never expect anything from a first litter, is what I've been told. They don't have the babies in the nest (in which case they die from cold) or they don't feed them. Or they just plain eat them.
Makes me feel not so bad for all the silly things that I did my first time around!
Yesterday afternoon, me and our new roomie Jess went about getting the kits to feed. Feed from their Mama, who we picked up, snuggled on her back, and let the kits roam around her belly. We did the first go-round outside, and didn't have much luck getting any of them to do anything. They were cold and listless and not interested in much. I decided to leave the heating pad under their next box, so they could concentrate on just living, instead of having to stay warm too.
Later in the evening, we moved the whole operation inside, and gave a real college try to get the kits to feed.
Three of them were too far gone, so we sadly gave up on them.
Four of them gave a go at eating, some a little harder than the others.
This morning we were down to two, which honestly, is two more than I thought there would be.
Oh, who would have thought that this would all be so very difficult!
It was late this evening (in the dark) when we got around to feeding them again. We were thrilled to find two warm and active kits in the nest box! Mama wasn't too interested in being caught for her daily ritual, but relaxed right into it when we got down to business. The two kits scurried and rooted, and found their Mama's milk, and got down to filling their bellies, which they were quite successful at in the end! We put two satiated kits back in their nest and will cross our fingers till morning.
One of the reasons we decided to raise rabbits was that it was purported to be SO easy. SO easy, that is, when everything goes right. But when things go wrong, it's not terribly easy at all. Nor do I think it will be terribly easy when the time comes to send these little ones off to the freezer, after working so hard to save their lives.
However, its that working hard that makes me feel good about all this. What sort of treatment do you think these kits and this mother may have had in a high-output operation? Likely not what happened in the past 48 hours! We're doing our best to give these animals the greatest shot we can at a decent life. Knowing that we gave them that make me ok with it all. Makes me root for these little fighters just that little bit harder.
Go, bunny babies, go!
But by Friday morning, when I found one of them barely alive, and the rest pretty chilly, we knew that things weren't going so well.
First time Mama rabbits are pretty famous for screwing things up. Never expect anything from a first litter, is what I've been told. They don't have the babies in the nest (in which case they die from cold) or they don't feed them. Or they just plain eat them.
Makes me feel not so bad for all the silly things that I did my first time around!
Yesterday afternoon, me and our new roomie Jess went about getting the kits to feed. Feed from their Mama, who we picked up, snuggled on her back, and let the kits roam around her belly. We did the first go-round outside, and didn't have much luck getting any of them to do anything. They were cold and listless and not interested in much. I decided to leave the heating pad under their next box, so they could concentrate on just living, instead of having to stay warm too.
Later in the evening, we moved the whole operation inside, and gave a real college try to get the kits to feed.
Three of them were too far gone, so we sadly gave up on them.
Four of them gave a go at eating, some a little harder than the others.
This morning we were down to two, which honestly, is two more than I thought there would be.
Oh, who would have thought that this would all be so very difficult!
It was late this evening (in the dark) when we got around to feeding them again. We were thrilled to find two warm and active kits in the nest box! Mama wasn't too interested in being caught for her daily ritual, but relaxed right into it when we got down to business. The two kits scurried and rooted, and found their Mama's milk, and got down to filling their bellies, which they were quite successful at in the end! We put two satiated kits back in their nest and will cross our fingers till morning.
One of the reasons we decided to raise rabbits was that it was purported to be SO easy. SO easy, that is, when everything goes right. But when things go wrong, it's not terribly easy at all. Nor do I think it will be terribly easy when the time comes to send these little ones off to the freezer, after working so hard to save their lives.
However, its that working hard that makes me feel good about all this. What sort of treatment do you think these kits and this mother may have had in a high-output operation? Likely not what happened in the past 48 hours! We're doing our best to give these animals the greatest shot we can at a decent life. Knowing that we gave them that make me ok with it all. Makes me root for these little fighters just that little bit harder.
Go, bunny babies, go!
Wednesday, October 2, 2013
This Moment
This moment happened this morning, when I opened up our bunny cage, not really expecting to see anything. But instead, I saw this:
Baby rabbits. 7 of them. (There were 10 total, but three of them didn't make it.)
I might have squealed. OK, I totally did.
And then I ran inside and squealed to the children.
Is it odd to be so darn proud of a rabbit?
Baby rabbits. 7 of them. (There were 10 total, but three of them didn't make it.)
I might have squealed. OK, I totally did.
And then I ran inside and squealed to the children.
Is it odd to be so darn proud of a rabbit?
Sunday, September 29, 2013
Passive Solar Greenhouse Design. (Or, How I spent my weekend.)
I scrounged up most of the material for this little project. The windows are are recycled from here there and everywhere, and the wood siding came from an old fence that got demolished. We're still on the hunt for some roofing, and likely a bit more wood for siding (please, universe, send some my way!) Grand total, $100 for 2 by 4, and $20 worth of screws. The rest was salvaged, or we had on hand. (I can't tell you how happy that makes me!)
The greenhouse isn't a traditional greenhouse - it's a passive solar design. Most greenhouses are to effing hot to do anything with in the summer) and everything in them melts or is destroyed by the sun. Not this one. Designed (by Steve) for maximum light in the winter, and minimum light in the summer (it all has to do with roof angles and overhangs) and some cross-breeze action, we're hoping this beauty will be good to us all year round.
We also put a great counter on the south side. Potting bench on top, wood storage underneath. Oh, and butchering table too...
In the spring there may be cedar shingles attached, or not. There will be a roof of sorts before the snow flies. And some form of white twinkly lights, to light up our fire pit. On Thanksgiving weekend, we will put a match to all the scraps in the fire pit just in front of it, and christen it with a fire, and thank the universe for all the kind things it delivers us - windows, and wood, and food to eat, and fire to cook it over, and friends to share it with.
What more could you ask for?
xoxo
Monday, September 16, 2013
Week of Birthdays
September 16th, and we have just closed the door on the "week of Birthdays" (which is really 11 days of birthdays) for the year. Griffin turned 7, and then a week later Steve turned 47, and yesterday I hit the big 38.
And what a fun 11 days it has been!
We celebrated with Griffin's friends last weekend, a delight of a time that included a lego theme, dancing, "Pin the tail on the Griffin", cake, presents, and all the other fun birthday stuffs.
We celebrated Steve's birthday mid-week, with a new pair of jeans, some yummy dinner, and some apple crumble - perfection!
Friday night we invited our neighbours for a little bonfire action. It was the coldest evening so far this fall, with the temperatures dipping down to near freezing for the first time (the first official frost warning for the season.) I was a bit worried about getting the fire lit, since it had rained all day, but the boys managed just fine. We had a GREAT evening, it was one of those nights where suddenly it's 1:30 in the morning and you realize that maybe you should go to bed...but everyone was just having too much fun to notice.
We also received an excellent birthday treat from our friend Jim - a special hollowed out log that he threw on the fire, that burned bright and hot and quite beautifully for a good chunk of the evening. So much fun!
The second best part about the fire were the potatoes that we decided to throw on it as we went to bed at 1:30am...the next morning they got turned into homefries. Best campfire homefries ever.
Yesterday it was my turn - my day began with a Corben-imposed sleep in (he came to snuggle with me in the morning, and promptly fell back asleep on top of me, forcing me to stay in bed!) A lazy morning ensued, followed by a deliciously long hot shower, and some puttering in the yard and the house. We moved a few things around in the living room, and got a few things checked off the "before the snow flies" list. I got a flower delivery from my neighbours mid afternoon, I managed to get a few things picked out of the garden myself to put up for the winter.
I got the most delicious dinner last night, with cake and ice cream too.
It was a delight of a day, a perfectly excellent weekend, and altogether, a wonderful week!
We celebrated with Griffin's friends last weekend, a delight of a time that included a lego theme, dancing, "Pin the tail on the Griffin", cake, presents, and all the other fun birthday stuffs.
Friday night we invited our neighbours for a little bonfire action. It was the coldest evening so far this fall, with the temperatures dipping down to near freezing for the first time (the first official frost warning for the season.) I was a bit worried about getting the fire lit, since it had rained all day, but the boys managed just fine. We had a GREAT evening, it was one of those nights where suddenly it's 1:30 in the morning and you realize that maybe you should go to bed...but everyone was just having too much fun to notice.
Yesterday it was my turn - my day began with a Corben-imposed sleep in (he came to snuggle with me in the morning, and promptly fell back asleep on top of me, forcing me to stay in bed!) A lazy morning ensued, followed by a deliciously long hot shower, and some puttering in the yard and the house. We moved a few things around in the living room, and got a few things checked off the "before the snow flies" list. I got a flower delivery from my neighbours mid afternoon, I managed to get a few things picked out of the garden myself to put up for the winter.
It was a delight of a day, a perfectly excellent weekend, and altogether, a wonderful week!
Thursday, August 8, 2013
Providing.
When we decided to raise meat rabbits, rather suddenly, about a month ago, I was feeling all butch about it.
"Who is going to butcher them?" was a common question I got from curious folk.
"Oh, I will." I said with (false) confidence.
I commented earlier (on Facebook, of course) that tonight was time to "put my money (or my bunny, as the case may be) where my mouth is," and see if I was really made of the country girl fibres that I thought I was.
We got a few "practice rabbits" tonight. We were just going to buy processed ones, and cook them up so that the kids could have a taste (we realized they've never actually eaten rabbit) but they were cheaper to buy UN-processed, and there was no time to learn like the present.
As I was getting ready to leave the house tonight (I was staring at my closet, and wondering "what the hell does one wear to butcher a rabbit?" I wasn't sure how messy the job was going to be. I settled on camo pants, a black t-shirt, and my Bludstones, in case you're wondering. I brought an apron...and my coveralls along...just in case. Truly, I had no idea.) Steve pointed out to me as I was getting dressed that I had never intentionally killed anything larger than an earwig. (Which is not true, I've had my fair share of mice battles in my life...but I've never done anything like this before.) I had no idea if I could truly pull this off.
But I did.
I watched and learned the first time around, and did it on my own the second time. From start to finish, I processed the rabbit. Slowly, and not so gracefully, but I did it.
There are improvements to be made for the next time around - I look forward to getting a proper butcher block of some sort, and a good knife of my own, but all in all, I think I did pretty good.
It didn't hurt that I had two excellent teachers.
Two of my neighbours (one a chef, and one a wood carver) have some serious butchering time on their resume. They answered my questions, let me try stuff that I had read about. And just having someone there that's done it made it so much easier! I don't think either one of them thought I was going to do as well as I did, and I'm always glad to exceed expectations.
I'm proud of me too.
I'm happy and excited that this can be a viable food source for us, and now I know that I can raise my own meat from start to finish. I feel grateful for the opportunity. I feel a little chuffed. I feel a little butch. And I feel like I can provide.
Provide for my family, that's all that I've ever wanted to do. In a healthy, sustainable, loving way.
"Who is going to butcher them?" was a common question I got from curious folk.
"Oh, I will." I said with (false) confidence.
I commented earlier (on Facebook, of course) that tonight was time to "put my money (or my bunny, as the case may be) where my mouth is," and see if I was really made of the country girl fibres that I thought I was.
We got a few "practice rabbits" tonight. We were just going to buy processed ones, and cook them up so that the kids could have a taste (we realized they've never actually eaten rabbit) but they were cheaper to buy UN-processed, and there was no time to learn like the present.
As I was getting ready to leave the house tonight (I was staring at my closet, and wondering "what the hell does one wear to butcher a rabbit?" I wasn't sure how messy the job was going to be. I settled on camo pants, a black t-shirt, and my Bludstones, in case you're wondering. I brought an apron...and my coveralls along...just in case. Truly, I had no idea.) Steve pointed out to me as I was getting dressed that I had never intentionally killed anything larger than an earwig. (Which is not true, I've had my fair share of mice battles in my life...but I've never done anything like this before.) I had no idea if I could truly pull this off.
But I did.
I watched and learned the first time around, and did it on my own the second time. From start to finish, I processed the rabbit. Slowly, and not so gracefully, but I did it.
There are improvements to be made for the next time around - I look forward to getting a proper butcher block of some sort, and a good knife of my own, but all in all, I think I did pretty good.
It didn't hurt that I had two excellent teachers.
Two of my neighbours (one a chef, and one a wood carver) have some serious butchering time on their resume. They answered my questions, let me try stuff that I had read about. And just having someone there that's done it made it so much easier! I don't think either one of them thought I was going to do as well as I did, and I'm always glad to exceed expectations.
I'm proud of me too.
I'm happy and excited that this can be a viable food source for us, and now I know that I can raise my own meat from start to finish. I feel grateful for the opportunity. I feel a little chuffed. I feel a little butch. And I feel like I can provide.
Provide for my family, that's all that I've ever wanted to do. In a healthy, sustainable, loving way.
Friday, July 5, 2013
Raising Meat Rabbits
If you follow me on instagram, or we're friends on Facebook (or in real life) you'll know that we have had a few new additions to our family.
This is Chester, our Buck.
And Rosemary and Pepper, our Does. (Yes, rabbits are called Bucks and Does.)
These guys are a New Zealand White crossed with Flemish Giants. This mix is a very popular cross to breed for meat rabbits.
With our income being cut pretty much in half in the past year, since my decision to stay home more for the kids, we have been looking for ways to become more sustainable. We've talked about raising chickens (and may still talk some more) but Steve is not keen on the idea. (Plus, raising chickens for meat is really not that cost effective.) We have no room for cows, pigs, or lambs. So rabbits was the answer.
I grew up eating rabbit meat, as our next door neighbour raised rabbits. We would have rabbit at least twice a year, usually on Christmas and Easter (we used to make jokes about eating the Easter Bunny, and thought we were very clever!) Rabbit are one of the cheapest and easiest meats to raise. Not only that, but rabbit meat is incredibly good for you. It's low in cholersterol, low in calories, low in saturated fats, high in protein, low in sodium, all white meat, and has 100% of the RDA for B12.
We made the decision rather quickly, found some rabbits, and boom, we're raising rabbits!
We've built one "rabbit tractor," which is a portable cage that moves around the backyard, fertilizing the ground and the soil that I plan to till up and turn into more veggie gardens next spring. Steve will be building a second one for Chester this weekend, and we'll need to build one more for when the does are pregnant so we can separate them and they can have their litters in their own cage. We'll also likely need a few more cages for growing out the litters in, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. We plan to breed the rabbits in about a month, when they're 4 months old.
The woman that I got the rabbits from has a pretty decent sized operation that keeps their family in rabbit meat all year round. She also does the butchering herself, and I'll be heading over there to watch her slaughter and clean a round of them the next time she does it, so we can learn how to do it on our own. I'm also excited about having a whole slew of rabbit pelts, and am reading up on how to tan them. We'll also use the bones to make stock, likely replacing our usual chicken stock with rabbit stock from here on in.
Aside from the sustainability aspect, knowing where our meat comes from is important to us as well. Knowing that these rabbits will have a good life, be respected and treated well, and then killed in a humane way, and every last bit of them put to good use. A lot of people have problems with eating rabbit meat, but I find that it's only because they're so damn cute. You can imagine eating a massive cow, or a slippery smelly pig, but somehow rabbits make people squeamish. Not me though! (And not the kids either, they're very much on board!)
We're excited about this little venture, and hope it will be a fun and prosperous little endeavor!
This is Chester, our Buck.
With our income being cut pretty much in half in the past year, since my decision to stay home more for the kids, we have been looking for ways to become more sustainable. We've talked about raising chickens (and may still talk some more) but Steve is not keen on the idea. (Plus, raising chickens for meat is really not that cost effective.) We have no room for cows, pigs, or lambs. So rabbits was the answer.
I grew up eating rabbit meat, as our next door neighbour raised rabbits. We would have rabbit at least twice a year, usually on Christmas and Easter (we used to make jokes about eating the Easter Bunny, and thought we were very clever!) Rabbit are one of the cheapest and easiest meats to raise. Not only that, but rabbit meat is incredibly good for you. It's low in cholersterol, low in calories, low in saturated fats, high in protein, low in sodium, all white meat, and has 100% of the RDA for B12.
We made the decision rather quickly, found some rabbits, and boom, we're raising rabbits!
We've built one "rabbit tractor," which is a portable cage that moves around the backyard, fertilizing the ground and the soil that I plan to till up and turn into more veggie gardens next spring. Steve will be building a second one for Chester this weekend, and we'll need to build one more for when the does are pregnant so we can separate them and they can have their litters in their own cage. We'll also likely need a few more cages for growing out the litters in, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. We plan to breed the rabbits in about a month, when they're 4 months old.
The woman that I got the rabbits from has a pretty decent sized operation that keeps their family in rabbit meat all year round. She also does the butchering herself, and I'll be heading over there to watch her slaughter and clean a round of them the next time she does it, so we can learn how to do it on our own. I'm also excited about having a whole slew of rabbit pelts, and am reading up on how to tan them. We'll also use the bones to make stock, likely replacing our usual chicken stock with rabbit stock from here on in.
Aside from the sustainability aspect, knowing where our meat comes from is important to us as well. Knowing that these rabbits will have a good life, be respected and treated well, and then killed in a humane way, and every last bit of them put to good use. A lot of people have problems with eating rabbit meat, but I find that it's only because they're so damn cute. You can imagine eating a massive cow, or a slippery smelly pig, but somehow rabbits make people squeamish. Not me though! (And not the kids either, they're very much on board!)
We're excited about this little venture, and hope it will be a fun and prosperous little endeavor!
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
It takes a village
I'm certain that I've mentioned before just how amazing our community is. It was proven to me AGAIN this weekend.
A few months back I got this idea in my head. You see, our friends have this AMAZING pond that they share with all of us. We swim in it in the summer, skate on it in the winter, it's a real gathering place for all of us. The only trouble with it, is that in the summer, there is NO place to hide to get out of the sun. Many a portable tent has been blown away in the strong winds that rip through there. It needed something permanent.
So we gathered the troops, bought some wood, and did this:
(Piggies, new members of the extended family, thrown in for good measure!)
A few months back I got this idea in my head. You see, our friends have this AMAZING pond that they share with all of us. We swim in it in the summer, skate on it in the winter, it's a real gathering place for all of us. The only trouble with it, is that in the summer, there is NO place to hide to get out of the sun. Many a portable tent has been blown away in the strong winds that rip through there. It needed something permanent.
Nearly EVERY. SINGLE. PERSON. in our community showed up at one point or another to pitch in. Some swung hammers, some made lunch, but everyone came together to make this happen like it only could have in the best of my dreams.
It takes a village to do a lot of things. Raise a family, organize a village garage sale, or build a pergola it would seem.
Oh my heck do I love this place!
Monday, May 13, 2013
Weekend of Bliss
We have this "event" here in the Valley called the Crawl. It's EXACTLY what it sounds like...we travel from house to house to house, having a drink (or three) at each house, and then crawl home... eventually.
It. Was. Awesome.
We actually were one of the host houses, which necessitated one key factor - getting rid of the kids for the weekend. So off they went to be spoiled beyond beleif at Grandma and Grandpa's house. They had a blast!
And we took advantage of every. single. kidfree moment that we had.
After a Friday night of copious amounts of drinking and dancing, we enjoyed a sleep in of EPIC proportions. It was all kinds of heaven. We then decided to take the pup for a walk, and low and behold if our friends were starting to gather again, for a hangover-curing deep fry fest in a neighbors driveway. Their stop the night before included an English Pub theme (yes, each house has a theme) and they busted out one of those "driveway deepfryers" for some pub-style fish and chips. Saturday morning we polished off the leftovers, and then some, after the fryer running for three solid hours! It was the best cure for a hangover ever!
We hung out with our friends all day, never once having to worry about what sorts of shenanagins the kids were getting into. I love them to death, but a curious three year old and a 6 year old with ASD doesn't make for a lot of restful moments. The kids came home yesterday afternoon, showered me with homemade gifts for Mother's Day, and then back to hang with friends and watch the hockey game.
It was restful, rejuvinating, and exactly what Steve and I both needed.
Thank you Grandma and Grandpa for taking the kids. Thank you Steve for hanging out with me all weekend. And thank you Valley for being as awesome as you are...which is truly, remarkably, beyond everything I ever could have imagined.
It. Was. Awesome.
We actually were one of the host houses, which necessitated one key factor - getting rid of the kids for the weekend. So off they went to be spoiled beyond beleif at Grandma and Grandpa's house. They had a blast!
And we took advantage of every. single. kidfree moment that we had.
After a Friday night of copious amounts of drinking and dancing, we enjoyed a sleep in of EPIC proportions. It was all kinds of heaven. We then decided to take the pup for a walk, and low and behold if our friends were starting to gather again, for a hangover-curing deep fry fest in a neighbors driveway. Their stop the night before included an English Pub theme (yes, each house has a theme) and they busted out one of those "driveway deepfryers" for some pub-style fish and chips. Saturday morning we polished off the leftovers, and then some, after the fryer running for three solid hours! It was the best cure for a hangover ever!
We hung out with our friends all day, never once having to worry about what sorts of shenanagins the kids were getting into. I love them to death, but a curious three year old and a 6 year old with ASD doesn't make for a lot of restful moments. The kids came home yesterday afternoon, showered me with homemade gifts for Mother's Day, and then back to hang with friends and watch the hockey game.
Thank you Grandma and Grandpa for taking the kids. Thank you Steve for hanging out with me all weekend. And thank you Valley for being as awesome as you are...which is truly, remarkably, beyond everything I ever could have imagined.
Monday, April 1, 2013
Happy April
It's been a crazy few weeks, and I am happy to be saying goodbye to March. March was very full of long work days for Steve, many of them away from home. Its what must be done, but that doesn't mean I necessarily have to like it. We have grown to rely on each other so much and function so well as a team, that I find it terribly difficult to be on my own. But that's over for now, so I won't dwell!
As we say hello to April, we're also saying hello to Autism Awareness Month.
I have to admit, my desire to post lately has been strong, but much of it is related to our struggles with Aspergers. When I moved to this blog, I decided I was going to make it a positive place to be, and for the most part I've stuck to that. But the truth is, a lot of our days are filled with struggles, and I miss this place as a spot to talk some of them out.
I'm also torn as Griffin starts to get a bit older, with protecting his privacy a bit. I feel like I don't want to post anything here that he may go back on some day and be upset about. However, with some careful crafting of my words, I think I can stay true to all the things I feel this blog should be - a place for our pleasant memories, as well as a spot to record those lessons that may not be so pleasant in the making, but are important lessons none the less.
And, the kicker - if writing about our struggles help someone else in the process, then I've done a good thing.
My hope is that one day Griffin CAN look back on this blog, and read what I've written about him and our family, and realize just how far we've come. I'm hoping to use these next 30 days to find that voice - the right place between "sunshine and roses", and "temper tantrums and outbursts", plus a little bit (ok, a lot) of my sarcastic wit, and some pictures of my ever-so-adorable children, and we should be running at full speed around here before you know it!
Thanks for sticking around!
xoxox
(If you're visiting for the first time, I'd love to hear from you - who are you, and what brought you here? Are you here for the soap? The scarcastic wit? Aspergers shenanagins? Cute Kids? Cause we got it all!) (If you're visiting for the 81st time, feel free to say hello too!) <3
As we say hello to April, we're also saying hello to Autism Awareness Month.
I have to admit, my desire to post lately has been strong, but much of it is related to our struggles with Aspergers. When I moved to this blog, I decided I was going to make it a positive place to be, and for the most part I've stuck to that. But the truth is, a lot of our days are filled with struggles, and I miss this place as a spot to talk some of them out.
I'm also torn as Griffin starts to get a bit older, with protecting his privacy a bit. I feel like I don't want to post anything here that he may go back on some day and be upset about. However, with some careful crafting of my words, I think I can stay true to all the things I feel this blog should be - a place for our pleasant memories, as well as a spot to record those lessons that may not be so pleasant in the making, but are important lessons none the less.
And, the kicker - if writing about our struggles help someone else in the process, then I've done a good thing.
My hope is that one day Griffin CAN look back on this blog, and read what I've written about him and our family, and realize just how far we've come. I'm hoping to use these next 30 days to find that voice - the right place between "sunshine and roses", and "temper tantrums and outbursts", plus a little bit (ok, a lot) of my sarcastic wit, and some pictures of my ever-so-adorable children, and we should be running at full speed around here before you know it!
Thanks for sticking around!
xoxox
(If you're visiting for the first time, I'd love to hear from you - who are you, and what brought you here? Are you here for the soap? The scarcastic wit? Aspergers shenanagins? Cute Kids? Cause we got it all!) (If you're visiting for the 81st time, feel free to say hello too!) <3
Friday, February 22, 2013
Winter fun
In all my years of living out of the city, I have never enjoyed winter like we are enjoying this one.
I don't want to wish away a single day of this beautiful season (however...a little dirt under the fingernails, and a few less layers will be more than welcome in a few short weeks.)
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