I couldn't sleep last night thinking about the little ones leaving. Their parents, Eric and Annie, are coming to get them and will arrive late tonight. They are flying into Baltimore from Las Vegas and will drive up to CNY in a rental car. What a long trip. I have to get this madhouse into some kind of shape today. Eric never quite understood the animal thing...and he HATES flies. There are no flies in Las Vegas. Yes, we have flies in Central New York. Not the biting flies they have in New England, just the flies that land on you and sit there a while. I bought some Deep Woods Off with the high percentage of DEET to spray on him. We are going to the Pig Farmer's wedding at 2 in Brookfield. Rain is in the forecast. I haven't met the bride yet but young Will delivered hay to me last summer and fall. He bought the little house across the road and up the hill - nice little gem he got for a song. I tried to get Jan to buy it. Not long after Will bought it a fire started in the basement chimney and gutted the living room above. He got twice as much from fire insurance as he paid for it and is doing a big renovation. Will keeps his pigs and cows at his sister's farm on the other side of me, so he is twice my neighbor. Sister Grace is his auntie. Wow, Aunt Sister Grace. The other day I drove by the farm and saw one of the calves that used to run playfully around the field hanging from the tractor bucket by his hind feet, gutted from stem to stern, right by the road for all to see. I gasped and turned my head...life on the farm. My mother came from a long line of hog farmers and watched that sort of thing all the time. Will's sister has three little kids who have to see that stuff...yikes! The wedding should be interesting. We go to the First Baptist Church for Christmas. Last summer Hannah and Luke went to the vacation bible school but they will miss it this year. I thought Hannah would like to see the bridal party in their pretty dresses. I am looking forward to seeing what Will looks like in a suit as I've only seen him in barn clothes. This is the first wedding I've been invited to since Eric and Annie were married in Louisville years ago. Makes me feel part of the neighborhood.
Hi Maggie,
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a kid on the farm, we regularly butchered our own meat. Two pigs and a cow was enough to feed our family for the whole year. It seems a little odd to me to be butchering at this time of year, since there are so many flies out in summer, and the heat makes the meat spoil quickly. We always butchered in January, when it was too cold for bugs and most birds.
It's not really that bad of a thing, when you're raised with it. And it makes you stop and think about life and how precious it is, especially when you see that pig you raised from a baby give its life so your family can eat. We all had to participate in dressing out the animal and cutting and wrapping, and for a few days afterwards, we didn't eat any meat.
Have the hats arrived yet?
No I didn't get the hats yet, and I will let you know as soon as I do. Thanks so much for knitting and sending them, I bet they're wonderful.
ReplyDeleteI had to eat my own rabbits while growing up, and whatever my brothers shot or trapped. I never got used to it.