Britesea - Living the good life in rural Oregon

[Britesea]

We went to the annual Lion's club Steak and Mountain Oyster Fundraiser dinner on Friday. It's the first time DH has been able to attend, because he just happened to be on vacation this last week. We had a lot of fun, ate more than we should have, and DH won one of the raffle items (a folding chair with an attached soft-pack cooler). Lots of fun, and the proceeds go to college scholarships for local kids. I was able to keep my blood sugar under control, but I simply couldn't resist eating every bite of my 8 oz steak, lol. Oh well... the occasional backslide is something I can live with; I just got right back on my diet the next day.

We have a couple lightning strike fires burning to the west of us, encompassing over 9000 acres now. We are in no danger (yet!) but the smoke is pretty bad, and it looks like we'll have that for the rest of the month anyway. I'm planning on buying a couple of air filters to replace the old one we have-- I figure one for the bedroom and one for the living room, where the air conditioners are bringing in smoke from outside.

The ducks are slowing down on eggs lately. I'm not sure if they are getting ready to molt, or if it's the smoke in the air, but I only got 3 eggs out of 8 hens.

At the Farmers' Market yesterday, the fellow that was selling strawberries was having problems; the heat was making all his berries get soft and overripe too quickly. He ended up offering me over 20 pounds of berries for $10, which offer I accepted. The berries were still good, just a tad soft and overripe. I hulled and froze the lot yesterday. There were enough berries that still had pectin that I think I can make some decent jam; the rest will go for shortcakes, pancake syrup, and sorbet.

Today is DH's last day home on vacation; I'm hoping he and DS can get the second shelf unit set up in the utlity room so I can get the buckets etc out of the dining room and get things better organized.

 

[Denim Deb]

My hens don't lay the greatest when it's really hot out.

 

[Britesea]

It could be the heat, yeah... it's been very hot. Humid too, with the thunder bumpers

 

[creativetwinszoo]

Our ducks stopped too, but their molting right now
Awesome deal on the berries!

 

[goatgurl]

on the strawberrys. I'd a been on that like ugly on a duck. good for you. and yea for the continued weight loss. I'm proud of you 'cause i know how hard it is and that 8 oz of steak is a lot better for you then 8 oz of cheese cake ya know. protein is your friend

 

[Britesea]

I made some strawberry sorbet with some of the berries- incredibly good!
The ducks continue to lay fewer eggs, but I'm still able to supply my regular customers; I just don't get as many eggs for myself.

The diet continues... but the weight has been waffling between 280 and 279 for most of the week. I think (hope) what's happening is that I'm growing more lean muscle because of the physical therapy.
The blood sugar has slowly been dropping in the morning. It appears my best strategy is to eat more protein and very little carbs at night, as opposed to what my diabetic friends advised.

I found out about a nutritional supplement that may help with my diabetes, and possibly the blood pressure and cholesterol as well. The woman that was telling me about it has seen her blood sugar drop quite a bit since she started taking it a couple of months ago; the woman she buys it from was able to completely get off her insulin and meds after about 4 months. I entertain some hope, but I'm not gonna get dragged into being a distributor unless I can see real changes in my health within 6 months. I'm not a salesperson, but if I really believed in a product I might be able to talk to people about it. The money would be nice, but it's not important to me; we have enough money to meet our needs. I'm more interested in the product itself.

Tomorrow morning I'm picking up a hind quarter of grass-fed beef. I'm excited about finally getting something healthy instead of relying on what the grocery store has. I'm also trying to talk my friend L into growing a couple of pigs- one for us and one for them, because she has a lot more room than we do. We only have 1/2 acre-- no place to put a couple of pigs and keep the smell out of our living room!
She seems to like the idea, but her DH isn't thrilled. He only like beef so he sees no point in growing some pork. dang!

 

[Denim Deb]

I would love to be able to get some good pork and beef as well. I'm going to have to start doing something w/my young roos. Hubby thinks I should just sell them. I think he's nuts.

 

[goatgurl]

i am so blessed! i have beef, pork, lamb and goat that i have raised myself plus deer from my friend. i know what they eat and therefore what i eat. i never have to buy meat at the store. @Britesea you could put a smaller type pig on the down wind side of the backside of your property.

 

[creativetwinszoo]

Someday Twinnie and I hope to be able to raise goats for milk and meat.
Twinnie also wants cows and pigs too, though I'm not too sure on those lol

 

[Britesea]

@goatgurl I don't think I could fit a pig anywhere, the way the property is set up. The only place where the wind wouldn't blow the smell into our house is right where the garden is, and it is situated there because that is the only spot that gets at least 6 hours of sunlight (oh, the joys of living in a pine forest). Believe me, I've tried to figure out how to shoehorn an animal somewhere. We have the well and the ducks on one side of the driveway, leach field on the other, garden in front and house in back. DH is dead set against it.

We're going to the 4H auction next Sunday at the fair to hopefully buy half a pig, or maybe a meat goat. Then, next month or so, I have a line on receiving 50 pounds of salmon to freeze and can. Then I will finally feel like we have enough to get through the winter (and maybe next summer as well)