Friday, August 22, 2014

Good morning from the mountain, flat tire and all...

Good Morning from the mountain, I awoke to a flat tire, not that I went anywhere yesterday, but there it is staring at me from the front porch.  It seemed quite alarming to me when Michael pointed it out.  No less is my pain than to see it is one of the better tires, that has caused me this grief and of course it must be fixed this morning and dealt with in an appropriate way or it will grief me for the entirety of this upcoming week end.  I will have Michael put the spare on for now and I will try and make the best of it, till such a time as I can find more time to drive to town and get it fixed.

I had friend call yesterday me asking about tags on goats, so she could take her goats to the auction. Come to find out the tags are quite worthless as they are not running the health test that I was told was required to use the tags. Yet, another empty promise of safety, offered by those who deem with loud rhetoric that they are protecting our food supply. Fine job lads, fine job…

I hate the auctions, they are cruel to the animals and so many sick animals come through them that buying there is less safe than the bed of a town prostitute.  I am sure the prostitute at least washes herself up to at least look presentable.  By similar token the auction house does not even attempt to hide its filth or mistreatment of said animals, rather it states that it is all business. I am sure they feel that way, the heartless brutes, but farming is also about family and kindness, so I leave them to their folly of fools.

To make matters worse I had asked another person of the rules which by lead them to think that I was taking my animals there and it did not go well.  No good deed goes unpunished, more money to the bad.  I cannot put good money after bad, there is just not enough money to go around, it has become more practical to sell the goats for now and buy cow milk from an Amish farmer who I befriended some years back.  At four dollars a gallon I can buy five gallons of milk for $20.00, two for drinking and three for yogurt and cheese making. I will also have more time to tend to other farm matters. That said the goats will go into the freezer long before I would consider the auction house. 


The cow I am taking to get made in to meat, I will have to study the cuts and have him leave it in the larger cuts, which means more work for me, but also more meat for us.  I watched Otto on, “Alaska The Last Frontier”, and he was cutting up a smaller cow than the last one I had done and the number of steaks he got far exceeded what I returned home with.  I am not saying that anyone is stealing from me; I just want to keep an honest man honest. This will also afford me the luxury of packing the meat the way I want. I need to get back to doing this anyway and in truth if it were closer to winter I might have gone and butchered her myself.  I will for sure do the goats myself, as it is not cost effective not too.  The money saved from butchering them can be used in the new hydroponic system or solar panels.

The gardens survive for the moment, though the heat is very hard on them and I just keep hoping and praying that I can keep the larger parts alive for a little long till cool weather flows though.  So far no green beans are put up, no okra, and only a quarter of the tomatoes we will need to make it through the long winter months that are coming.  I am deeply disappointed and I hope that the hydroponics will help get us through.  Yesterday I received the last parts from Amazon and I am elated to get started.

The boys and are reading, “Mark Twain’s Life on the Mississippi”, in part for research for ,”ABIGAIL”, and in part just as it is such a joy to revisit the works of Mark Twain.  I encourage you all to review his books as they are wonderful and revenant even all these years later. 
Barge on the Ohio river at Cave in rock park

One of the bluffs at Cave in Rock park and my two sweet boys and husband.


Well back to the farm chores and school….
Be Blessed dear ones
Shekhinah

No comments:

Post a Comment