Frustratedearthmother's Journaling Journey

[frustratedearthmother]

I think I have psycho pigs! I've never seen such frantic piggies. They don't do anything half-way. They're getting much more friendly - or at least have figured out that I'm the grocery bag. (not a nice thing to say about myself, huh!) So, I'm sitting on a bucket in their pen, tossing 'em boiled eggs and they're trying to get every crumb out of the grass. They're focused enough on the eggs that they'll let me touch 'em and scratch their backs. So, they seem to be getting friendlier and friendlier and starting to investigate. They start sniffing on my feet when one of 'em decides to see if I taste good. I mean, really???? Stinkin' little ankle biter! DH got a big kick out of that.

I've been frantically trying to get some paperwork together for a goat that I sold a few weeks ago. The folks want to take the little doeling to a show in mid-October and I don't even have her sire and dam registered yet. Can we say procrastination? I have to get this done tomorrow or they'll miss being able to show the little doe. I will not procrastinate, I will not procrastinate....

Is it Friday yet?

 

[Denim Deb]

Almost, not quite.

As for the piggies, you're going to be eating them, right? So you'll get your revenge.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Oh yes I will! I will enjoy every bite of them, lol.

Got a call from the company that's supposed to install our new septic sytem. I guess they will be starting this mucho expensive project soon. We went out this evening and took down a few sections of the privacy fence so they could get their equipment into the yard area. We started this process with an estimate about 6 or 7 months ago - geeze! But it will be nice to get it taken care of. I'll plan on taking some time off when they start - I kind of like to be around when I've got folks working at the house.

I've decided that before the short vacation on Grand Cayman Island in January, that I'll dry up the two does that I'm milking now. I should have two more does deliver at the end of January and will start milking them a few weeks after that. Hopefully, I'll be sure that they are actually bred before I dry up the other two.

I guess starting in December I'll cut the gals down to one milking a day for a couple weeks and then hope that they dry up without much fuss.

The local grocery has a good sale on meat this week. I picked up a few things that I'll try to can this weekend or whenever I have a day or two off.

The space shuttle did some fly-overs in the Houston area today and landed at Ellington Field for the night. DH fought the crowds on his way home from work this evening and got some great close-up photos. It has been a hard blow to those of us in this area that we didn't get a shuttle of our very own when they were retired. The Clear Lake area (a Houston suburb) has been the home of Nasa 4-EVER and we didnt' get a shuttle? What is wrong with this picture? Lots and lots of really hard feelings over that decision....

Woo hoo - gotta go - we're gonna hop in the hot tub for the first time this season!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Everyday is a blessing! But, today was just a blah day. Went to work, came home, fed, milked, gathered eggs, cooked chili for dinner, have cajeta on the stove reducing and ..... will be up all night stirring it. It's worth it though - that cajeta is yumalicious!

The plan was to cook up a big pot of chili and can it up.... we ate it instead Might be enough left to do up a few pints. Hey - wanna know what makes my chili the fav of all my relatives? Cocoa powder is my official secret ingredient.

Septic re-do is set to start on Monday. What a bunch of ....

Red is only giving me about a quart per milking lately. The pigs really upset the milkers and it's evident in their output or it's just time for their production to wane.

On a brighter note - Lil Bit and Spooky are looking suspiciously 'wide' even though its only been a couple weeks since their breeding escapades with Short Stuff. Really hoping they've settled cuz it was such a pain trying to get 'em bred.

Time to stir the cajeta.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

TGIF!!!

Thought Friday would never get there this week. Helps that I only worked a half day today. Course I came home and started working... Better here than there though.

Had to drop kick one of the piggies yesterday. I don't know how many more ways I can convice them that I am NOT EDIBLE! I think they finally 'get it' now. I was able to sit in their pen after that and while they would come up and sniff me, and allow me to scratch them - no teeth were involved. In fact, this morning they were downright respectable - same thing a little bit ago when I was out there. They stood back at a decent distance and watched me walk right through their pen. I've gotta go through their pen to access a back pen where chickens are. Thank goodness this won't be their permanent pen, so in a couple weeks I won't have that issue.

I'm going to have to relocate every critter on the place by Monday when they start on the new septic system. The septic lines will run out into the pasture and I can't have guys going in and out of the gates with the animals out there. Is it just MY animals that think an open gate is an open invitation to cause chaos and commotion? It doesn't matter how green the grass is in their pasture - they always wanna sample the other side...geeze.

I didn't finish up the cajeta last night...ahem...had a couple grasses of fermented grape juice and hit the hay early and slept like a baby until it was time to go milk this morning. Soooo, I put it in the fridge overnight and started it again when I got home a bit ago.

I spiced up a brisket earlier today too. It'll go in the oven tonight - low and slow - and at least part of it will be canned tomorrow.

Marathon mowing will start in a couple hours. I can tell the seasons are changing because I don't have to mow every 5 days anymore.

Okay, break time is over - time to get busy.

 

[Denim Deb]

Nope, it's not just your animals. Don't know how many times I've had to round up horses either because someone left a gate opened, or a horse took the fence apart when there was really good hay/grass in w/them and nothing any better or different outside of their pasture.

 

[Wannabefree]

Mine don't even worry about gates they just go through them, or over the fence. I had about 50 chicks in the FRONT yard this morning...and a pig still MIA.....*sigh*

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Deb, my horses are pretty bad, but my goats are worse! They can see an open gate from a mile away, behind a stand of trees, in the middle of the night, with no moon...

WBF, so sorry your pig is still AWOL - but maybe, just maybe she did you a favor! She sounds like pure evil, lol. And, chickens - let's not even talk about chickens....geeze. I had caught about 30 of 'em a few weeks ago and penned em up in a small pen within a larger pen. I thought after a week or so in the inside pen that I could turn 'em out and they'd stay in the larger pen - NOT! I mean, really - what was I thinkin'? So, I caught em again. And yesterday, I didnt' latch the gate tight enough - so tomorrow I'll catch em.....again. I should do it tonight, but my feet hurt from standing in the kitchen for hour upon hour stirring the cajeta.

Cooked a gallon of milk down and got 5 half-pints of pure caramel deliciousness. Also processed 5 half pints of velveeta cheese -that was close to being expired - just to see how it would turn out. Had the canner going anyway..... so why not? I've got a brisket in the oven to cook all night and I'll can some of it tomorrow. Not sure why I'm on a canning spree - but I'm pretty sure it's Moolie and Mickey328s fault. I even want to try to can some bacon. Anybody tried that?

Got lots of things to do this wekend. DH wants to cover another chicken run so I can move the bachelor roos out of a small garden spot where they are awaiting their fate. I need the space to try to get in a little bit of a fall garden. Can't do it in the regular garden spot cuz the pigs are gonna go in there in a week or so.

Better go help DH - he's trying to make dinner! But I love him for trying!

 

[SSDreamin]

FEM-
I am waaaay behind in reading journals, so I'm going to combine a bunch of your posts and comment

I love canned pork! I prefer to can all the 'tougher' cuts of pork and beef - if it will take forever to make tender, it gets canned!
I can bacon whenever I can get it at a decent price! I have 7 1/2 # of it off the half pig we got, waiting for me in the freezer (along with leaf lard, shoulder and a whole bunch of other stuff that makes me feel like a total slacker lately ). I really need to at least do up a batch or two of carnitas (OK, technically it's pork adovada, but my guys can't remember that name!) before too long!
All my bacon is canned using the Enola Gay method. I like to use it as strips, so that method works well for me. What she DIDN'T say, but I learned through trial and error, is that you need to precook the bacon to at least half way first! Once I figured that out, I am extremely happy with the canned bacon! I may try some canned loose/raw, to use as bits and pieces, once our pigs are processed.

Does cocoa powder make for more of a mole taste to the chili? I want to try it, but would have to make a small batch first, as DH is the pickiest eater I've ever met I swear, if he sniffs my food, with a wrinkled nose, when I make something new, again - I'm pretty sure I'm gonna see to it he won't HAVE a nose to sniff with ever again!

So, pigs like boiled eggs?! I have scrambled up some 'questionable' ones for mine - they went nuts for them! Gonna have to try boiling - although they may have to fight DH for them

How did your velveeta turn out? My first batch is now called 'cooking cheese' - I had been canning up cheddar, and used the same time for velveeta. Uh, not good Cut the time in half, and they came out perfect. Sealed fine, and not a weird brown color! Oh well, I've used two jars of the cooking cheese in recipes, with no noticeable flavor change, so it won't go to waste.

What is cajeta? Is it the caramel you canned? I've never heard of it before.

I would love to go to the Grand Caymans in January! I am extremely afraid to fly though, so I may end up stranded there (oh, what a horrible punishment!).

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Hey SS! Thanks for the tip on canning bacon - its on my list of things to do tomorrow. I'm new to canning meat - been doing veggies for years so I decided to branch out. Carnitas = yum! I'll have to put that on my list of things to learn.

No one has EVER been able to pick out the taste of the cocoa powder in the chili. (Maybe the 1/2 bottle of red wine covers it up, lol!) In a regular sized batch (dutch oven insted of canning kettle) I will probably put about 2 Tablespoons. It just gives it a little more depth of flavor.

I've only had these piglets about a week, but they learned all about boiled eggs their first day here. In fact, I've learned not to wear my
white(ish) tennis out there, cuz I guess in the grass the front of my shoe looks like an egg....and they've tried to bite my shoe more than once time - stupid pigs!

The cajeta is one and the same as the caramel I referred to. I cooked this batch with a cinnamon stick - I 'bout killed myself cleaning up the pan.....couldn't get my face all the way to the bottom of it to lick it clean!

Haven't tried the cheese yet, but I'm gonna pop a top a jar here in a minute. So, stay tuned...

I"m soooo excited about the Grand Cayman trip! Whoop! But, I might have the same problem that you'd have. I don't like flying - but I can probably screw up enough courage to make the first leg of the trip....coming home might be another problem. (thanks for the suggestion!)