New furniture!

Our friends are preparing to move to the mainland. They are selling their superfluous furniture. We scooped up a great little table. It has two storage sections that roll out to become quick-n-easy side tables or small seats, then tuck back in. We weren't sure where to put it, but found the perfect spot - our puppies love their new dining table! Easy on the back, and out of reach of those pesky ants!

I made my own salt scrub!

Well, yes, I ran out of the scented, purchased pot of stuff I rub on my feet in the shower to keep them from being rough and callous-like in between pedicures. (I can't stand having rough feet!) And it is getting harder and harder to find things in the store without fancy chemical names in them. So, I searched my beloved internet and found the recipe for Salt Scrub. VERY easy. And I tried it! Works wonderfully, and I like it better than the last one I bought. I made a vanilla-coconut scent. Peppermint for Christmas, maybe?

What's the recipe? Fill the jar half full of Hawaiian sea salt, then fill it almost full of oil (I used coconut oil). Add a few drops of essential oil or extract for scent. Mix. Tada!

Mother has her babies - 5 gorgeous piggies!

The next Saturday night Mother gave birth to five gorgeous little piggies, 3 girls and 2  boys. The black and white ones are boys and the rest are girls. We plan to keep two and sell 3 once they are weaned. Teeny tiny little boy pig. the brown one in the back with the belt is "Lucy". A keeper. The big black boy with a little white is also a keeper. And the other brown girl is already sold!

Then the dinners meet their inevitable fates.

Yes, our meatbirds became frozen dinners the very next day. Saturday, pork; Sunday, chicken. The last 8 birds made the long trip to the back... Uneventful, except for the rain, which drove us into the garage for the last few. All were over 4 lbs.; the largest was 5.25 lbs. Yummy!

Pork Chop becomes pork chops!

Catching up on my blogging. Three weeks ago, some of my guy-friends-who-happen-to-be-big-and-experienced-pig-butchers came over and "helped" us butcher Pork Chop. This was no surprise; we did name him Pork Chop. I say "helped" in quotes because we actually did the helping and they did the butchering!

Anyway, it went pretty smoothly, from the bullet in the head, to the sliced throat to drain the blood. Then they hoisted him up on our table and began the skinning. Here's where I helped.

Notice a few things in the photo. Nice sized pig. Two guys are skinning it. The rest of us are holding the dead pig in place. (?) Notice I am doing my part by holding up a leg. I also am the only one wearing gloves. No shame. If you know me, you know I have nail beauty to protect! Then the master deftly removed the private parts and the guts, all in one, similar to what we do with the chickens, cut off the head and feet, and all that was left was meat and bone! Note: this time around, we discarded head, feet, skin and innards, figuring we'd have plenty to deal with as it is!

They hung the carcass from the rafters in the garage, then cut it right in half with a sawzall!

Whole pig hanging...

Presto!

Two halves! Then the sawzall went to work on each half, cutting up chops, roasts, hunks of fat, dog food scraps, rib racks, chunks for grinding. And bagging and labeling. Guess who did the bagging and labeling?

Yip, that's me again! You can tell by the gloves! Over a hundred lbs. of meat, and, yes, I'm putting it in bags of 2 chops each. We are only 2 people, and if we have company, we can pull out more than one bag! Later that afternoon we ground 15 lbs of meat and fat and made two types of bulk sausage. Deeeelicious! Freezer full of pig.

My favorite time of day

Morning. I'm the only one up. Well, besides the chickens. Even the dogs don't really get up, because they know I'm not the one that feeds them. I love the peacefulness of the farm in the morning. No TV sounds. No people talking. Only birds chirping and roosters crowing. In the bathroom, there was a moth fluttering on the inside of the window and a bird trying to catch it on the outside of the window. Both were highly agitated, not really understanding windows. I debated opening the window, but the outcome was uncertain; therefore, I left them to their game. I can be very productive at this time, having no distractions. Alternatively, I can simply enjoy the peace and quiet, reading a book, or, like today, blogging. I usually have something I would like to blog about in a day, but don't find the time to do it. *sigh* Here I sit, with ten minutes to blog, and, well, I blog about blogging. Hopeless.

A flock update. The 24 meat birds are now lunches and they are outside in their nice big pen. They eat lots and drinks lots of water. Mini-me and his two Americaunas and the 4 juvenile hens are doing fine in their new pen; the Americaunas have finally started laying again. Not overly prolific, approximately 1 egg from the two of them every other day or so, but it's a start. Mama's baby, the exotic that came with the meat birds, is also outside, but in a hospital cage because she's still too small to join an existing flock. We still have Blondie, the mean-but-beautiful rooster, but our friend has promised to pick him up. He can't wait; the hospital cage is way small for a rooster of his stature! Tonto's pen has been very calm and peaceful since he has been the only rooster. And they have been consistently laying 3 brown, 2 olive, and 1 white daily. All fine and happy.

Pig update. We moved Mohawk to a new pen, away from Mother. He was always so agitated, and was very thin, and kept 'biting the hand that fed him." Literally. He is much calmer now, and may gain a little weight. We need to butcher Pork Chop. Just gathering tools and getting up the nerve. *sigh*

Well, time to go to my appointment. Another day begins.

Too busy! I must prioritize!

Yes, I am "retired". Which means no 40-hour per week job. But it doesn't mean no work! And, yes, I live on the laid-back island of Hawai'i. However, sometimes the list of things to do becomes so long it overwhelms! That's when it's time to prioritize, stop procrastinating, and get some of those hated things off the d*** list!

For example, our taxes, both business and personal, were due in February. (Just like every other American.) We got an extension to August. Which is fast approaching. In one week, actually. This must move to the top of the list.

My box of car envelops was empty yesterday and I needed more. I know I have more, with my scrapbooking stuff. Most of which is heaped in the spare room, which now resembles a huge messy closet. While searching, a box of Mahjongg chips fell open all oven some stuff and the floor. I had to step on things to search through other things, etc. Never did find them. Cleaning that room and organizing that stuff has got to move to number 2 on the list. There are also over 100 bags waiting to be sewn in that room! And thousands of photos to scrapbook!

Because cleaning, straightening, and organizing are my least favorite things to do, it takes me 10 times longer than the average human to accomplish the tasks, if I ever finish at all. I tend to become easily distracted, thus the likelihood of not completing the task is high.

Wish me luck.....