Weather changes and life changes...

The past few days have been very cold and icy.  We had sleet on Sunday/Monday and below freezing temperatures.  Then it snowed.  And so, we've spent the past week indoors.  Today the weather turned warmer and the 3 inches of frozen yuck started to thaw. 

When Cricket and I went for our walk this morning, the driveway (and all the world around us) was totally frozen.  I walked down the driveway on the ice sheet, and my feet didn't even leave a footprint!  The ice didn't crack... not a sound.  Very strange.  We walked down to our little "seep" area.  And all the little pools were full of frozen water from what little melting we had yesterday.

By the time the mail came at 3PM today, most of the driveway was ice free.  Now it's all mud!  I went to town to do some banking and came right back home.  By morning the drive will probably be frozen again. 



One of our friends, Chris, advertised a steer he had for sale.  Another friend, Julie, and I bought him and he was taken to the processor last Saturday (2/28).  The processor called on Tuesday and said our meat is ready for pick-up.  Julie and her girls picked it up this morning.  She was so nice and picked ours up too and brought it over!  Thanks Julie!! You're the greatest!

Josh and I then spent about an hour trying to find freezer space for it all.  We ended up putting some of the ground beef in our friend Jennifer's freezer, next door.  I called Jennifer to make sure that was OK.  We left a package of steak in her freezer as payment for the space.  That tickled her!

John thought that half a cow was too much meat for our storage space, and he was correct.  We have it all stored for now.  We shouldn't need to buy any beef for several months now.  That's a good thing.  I like it.

I also like the fact that I know how this steer was raised.  I know what it ate.  And I know how it was treated.  He had a good life, eating grass in a real field.  No toxic chemicals.  I like that.

Chris also told us he's going to have milk for sale once his cow has her calf.  I told him I want to be a regular milk customer.  I really LIKE raw milk.  I like to make cheese and butter.  I like to make fresh custard.  And I love drinking cream in my tea and coffee.

I haven't started any seeds yet.  I need to decide what to grow this year.  In the past, we've had a fairly good number of tomato, potato, pepper, squash,  and cucumber plants.  Last year I planted more melons.  They did OK.  Not great, but OK.  The carrots were OK too, but not as good as the previous year.  I didn't plant any collards last year.  I might this year.... Last year, our best surprise was the Candy Roaster squash.  It grew VERY well, tasted great and stored very well.  I will definitely be growing more of those!

Josh burnt off the weeds in the garden last Saturday.  It was a beautiful day, it got up to 70F.  And then it started with the freezing rain on Sunday... by Monday morning it was a winter wonderland again... But I've already talked about that.

I decided to close my Facebook account.  I took this step for several reasons.  First, Facebook is VERY anti-guns.  I own several pistols and a .22 Henry rifle and a .410 shotgun.  John and Josh each own several rifles, pistols and shotguns.  We live in the country.  We have poisonous snakes in our yard and woods.  We have predators who try to eat our chickens.  A raccoon  chased our cat right onto the front porch.  And if I hadn't turned on the light and chased it away, it would have eaten Rusty for dinner!  And it's now been confirmed there are cougars, black bears and wild hogs in this local area.  I need a gun when I go for walks in the woods!

So, the owners of Facebook might not like guns.  That's their right.  But it's my right to have a gun.  And I do!

Facebook is just a company, after all.  It's nice to think of it as a cool, friendly virtual place to share pictures and thoughts with my friends.  Look at things for sale, or learn about activities other's are attending.  Collaborative learning.  Sharing my knitting and crochet with my cousin's wife.  Swap recipes. Look at the neighbor's goat pictures. I will miss those.

But I won't miss the snarky people.  The easily offended, politically correct people.  I kept in touch with my friends, traded recipes and pictures, and crochet patterns... before Facebook ever came into existence.  And I will still be doing those things when Facebook has lost it's glitter.

I'm just feeling the need to be more in control of what and whom I correspond with.  Who I let into my little world.  Who I spend my time with.  Online or in real-to-goodness life.

If you're feeling like you're missing my witty Facebook posts, send me an email.  I can be just as witty, one on one.