Ozark Wizard
Well-known member
- Joined
- Oct 11, 2014
- Messages
- 6,587
- Reaction score
- 85
Wow.......
Rollercoaster weather has been driving forces these last few weeks, but just in the last few days, a dear neighbor of mine, (the first person I met driving out with the van and got stuck because of a fallen tree in the road. I got out and brought forth a chainsaw so we could cut it up and helped him load his truck. Then got to ask him where I was and how to get to the old Barum Homestead,((where I was moving to)) and he led me here), passed away from a gunshot wound. Some folks think it was his wife that did the deed, there is an investigation under way. Sad thing is, I heard the shot echo from the other side of the valley and his flock of Guinness (birds like Peacocks) freak out from the report. So, talking to the law, caring for his horses, cattle, dogs, and of course the birds. I walked a couple of llamas down to his place to watch over his zoo while I'm away..... The memorial is this Saturday at his Jehovah Witness church. They want me to speak. I will have to brush up on my understanding of their particular faith, because if it is possible to say the wrong thing, I will find it without looking, guaranteed....
Somehow, three cords of firewood wandered off the property, so I had to move the remainder closer to the barns, and then go wood hunting to replace that which had fled. My trusty chainsaw finally wore out the drive sprocket, so I've been using a Dewalt cordless sawsall with long pruning blades to cut logs 6 feet long and haul them home to be cut down with an old chop saw. Sigh...
For a while now I had noticed that something seemed to be digging holes around the place, and chickens missing. The raised beds for the garden looked tilled. Finally, a couple of nights ago the dogs woke me up and so I went out to see what had them so worked up. Turned out to be a black Razorback sow. Only about five feet long, (dressed out weight is a couple of hundered pounds. Shot the thing about 04:00 and in the daylight used the truck and block and tackle to hang it in a tree until today, when I finally skinned her and got the portions worked out for the freezer. I salted the hide and have it laying out on an old table now. Sautéed the fletch with some onions, soy sauce and brown rice, but could still taste the 'game' to the meat. Almost lamb, but not. Though the bulk of it is in the freezer now, I went ahead and made a salt water brine for a big chunk for supper to soak in. With luck, it will be more like the pork you usually find wrapped in Styrofoam at the market.
Making tobacco blends in the evenings, and finally ran out my stock of 2012 Virginia. On to the 2013 totes for the next rounds.
Got my first piece of briar last week, and am fiddling with it a bit each day. Two sections of rod stock laugh at me in a large coffee mug I use to hold bits, stems and Sharpies. "C'mon," they mock. "Give us another go, chicken!" I may.......
Oh, oh, had a clog in the grey water line, and my 50 foot snake wasn't long enough for the task, so used a hundred foot thick walled garden hose as one. Got the drain unplugged, but the hose is fracking gross. Guess I should stop complaining and go grab a bucket and suds and wash it up before it freezes the day after tomorrow.
The sunrises have been beautiful, the sunsets gorgeous, meals heartily eaten, and the bed a welcome cloud of blissful subconscious dancing.
Whew!
Rollercoaster weather has been driving forces these last few weeks, but just in the last few days, a dear neighbor of mine, (the first person I met driving out with the van and got stuck because of a fallen tree in the road. I got out and brought forth a chainsaw so we could cut it up and helped him load his truck. Then got to ask him where I was and how to get to the old Barum Homestead,((where I was moving to)) and he led me here), passed away from a gunshot wound. Some folks think it was his wife that did the deed, there is an investigation under way. Sad thing is, I heard the shot echo from the other side of the valley and his flock of Guinness (birds like Peacocks) freak out from the report. So, talking to the law, caring for his horses, cattle, dogs, and of course the birds. I walked a couple of llamas down to his place to watch over his zoo while I'm away..... The memorial is this Saturday at his Jehovah Witness church. They want me to speak. I will have to brush up on my understanding of their particular faith, because if it is possible to say the wrong thing, I will find it without looking, guaranteed....
Somehow, three cords of firewood wandered off the property, so I had to move the remainder closer to the barns, and then go wood hunting to replace that which had fled. My trusty chainsaw finally wore out the drive sprocket, so I've been using a Dewalt cordless sawsall with long pruning blades to cut logs 6 feet long and haul them home to be cut down with an old chop saw. Sigh...
For a while now I had noticed that something seemed to be digging holes around the place, and chickens missing. The raised beds for the garden looked tilled. Finally, a couple of nights ago the dogs woke me up and so I went out to see what had them so worked up. Turned out to be a black Razorback sow. Only about five feet long, (dressed out weight is a couple of hundered pounds. Shot the thing about 04:00 and in the daylight used the truck and block and tackle to hang it in a tree until today, when I finally skinned her and got the portions worked out for the freezer. I salted the hide and have it laying out on an old table now. Sautéed the fletch with some onions, soy sauce and brown rice, but could still taste the 'game' to the meat. Almost lamb, but not. Though the bulk of it is in the freezer now, I went ahead and made a salt water brine for a big chunk for supper to soak in. With luck, it will be more like the pork you usually find wrapped in Styrofoam at the market.
Making tobacco blends in the evenings, and finally ran out my stock of 2012 Virginia. On to the 2013 totes for the next rounds.
Got my first piece of briar last week, and am fiddling with it a bit each day. Two sections of rod stock laugh at me in a large coffee mug I use to hold bits, stems and Sharpies. "C'mon," they mock. "Give us another go, chicken!" I may.......
Oh, oh, had a clog in the grey water line, and my 50 foot snake wasn't long enough for the task, so used a hundred foot thick walled garden hose as one. Got the drain unplugged, but the hose is fracking gross. Guess I should stop complaining and go grab a bucket and suds and wash it up before it freezes the day after tomorrow.
The sunrises have been beautiful, the sunsets gorgeous, meals heartily eaten, and the bed a welcome cloud of blissful subconscious dancing.
Whew!