Replenishing our meat supply..(Warning:: photos of dead animals and meat )

Every few months  as the level of meat in the freezer drops, and the full jars of canned meat  numbers also decline, we get in and  butcher a couple of lambs.
This time we did three, two of ours and one of the next door neighbours)

The one belonging to the neighbour was trussed up tighter as they were  taking it to have a spit roast
We hung them in the cool room for several days before processing them.

We had quite a few problems with the bandsaw this time, the blade kept slipping off but eventually hubby and our friend( who was having the 3rd sheep as a barter for work he helped with  here)   managed to  fix it and  were able to continue without any more major  issues.

We got   a whole heap of great  meat packaged up and into the freezer, but this time we decided to bone out the belly flaps  and the shoulders.

 We made up a stuffing mix(  albeit a prepackaged one, to which I added more herbs and garlic to),

and then spread a layer of this over the  rectangular flap meat.

I then rolled this up firmly into a neat roll.

we then  tied the stuffed rolls up with  butchers string and bagged them.

We then repeated this with  the shoulders which we  boned out as well.

The next day we  cooked one  of the stuffed flap rolls all day in the slow cooker,

We decided not to eat it hot  and refrigerated it overnight and ate it as cold meat the following day.

It was delicious !!, We definately will be keeping them  for this purpose always in the future, until now we had always cut up the flaps into smaller pieces  and kept them for doggie treats for our Old Blue Girl, but we will have to find other treats for her.

When we puchased our turkeys, we were on the understanding that we had 1 gobbler and 7 hens, but it turned out we had 5 gobblers and 3 hens.
This was a situation that couldn't remain so we decided to  process 4 gobblers.
We  bought a new metal garbage bin , 2/3 filled with water, added a little laundry powder and heated it on our outdoor gas burner.

Hubby did the deed and we dunked the birds into the  hot water to help with the feather removing  process.

We also hung the four  turkey carcasses in the cool room for several days before processing further.
We were very pleased with their dressed weight. We got  5.2 kgs,  6.1 kgs, 5.5kgs and 6.8 kgs.

We then  cut the birds into pieces  to suit our  desired cooking  methods, smaller  roasting pieces,( as we don't want to be roasting a whole turkey)  we also  got about 6 kilograms( 12 lbs) of sliced breast meat for stir frys and numerous  cuts for soup and stocks, most of which will be canned.

The next day I  made two pots of turkey/vegetable and chick pea soup, which I slow cooked on the old wood stove all day.

I then filled  14 quart jars with the soup, wiped the rims, placed caps on and pressure canned at 15 lbs pressure( for my altitude)  for 90 minutes.

After the allotted time , the canner was turned off , and when pressure  returned to zero, I took the lid  off and  removed the jars  out onto the bench to cool overnight.

So then this morning, I removed all the bands, washed  the jars , labeled them  and stored in the pantry. I will make a few more batches over the next week or two.
These are really handy ready meals to have on the pantry shelves, and are really delicious.
An old  friend  who had started to clean out her deceased Uncle and Aunts home, came across some preserving jars and thought I may  be interested in purchasing them, I was and we went and picked up  several boxes of really dirty jars and several of clean jars   from the home and after a heck of a lot of scrubbing the jars below are what we purchased from her.

These  are mainly Fowlers Vacola jars, with about 20 Agee Utility  mason jars  as well( the left hand jars in the top photo)
Since my last post on here We have had the pleasure of becoming grand parents for the fourth time, this time to a gorgeous baby girl who arrived about a week earlier than planned.
Below is a photo of my 90 year old mum holding her  great granddaughter for the first time.

While Mum and the new bub were in hospital, we had the pleasure of the company of Miss 2,
she and her Poppy had such a wonderful time together and she was such a big help to him.

She followed him around  like a little shadow, helping him get wood for the fire and wheeling it down,

and then helping Poppy to build a new swing set that we decided to  have here for the  grand kids to play on.

We had a wonderful visit with  this little munchkin, she is such a sweet heart and has now returned home with her Mum, Dad, and the baby  to resume her big sister duties.
We have had  a very  busy few weeks, between  building renovations, new babies, meat processing, and  just general everyday running of this small  acreage , but over all it  has been worth every hectic minute.
I hope we are able  catch up again soon,
Take care everyone,
Cheers,
Jane.

Slow and steady wins the race.....eventually !!!!

we are at a stage here at the moment where nothing seems to be moving, even though it is, things are constantly happening and on the go, but progress just seems so  pathetically slow
We  are trying to maintain what little vegetable garden we have, with the  renovation work and the small farm jobs that need to be done, and our  regular  stints of babysitting the grandkids  that involve  driving many hours , the time just seems to swallow up.

Brian picked his first cauliflower of the season and is  deservedly very proud, he has since picked two more around this size, and they have been delicious.
We also planted a small bed of broad beans, and some  purple top turnips.
small garden, but we are slowly increasing it, hope to be up and running properly by spring.
We have started to have our first frosts of the season, must have chosen correct  varieties and positions for the frost sensitive [lants as so far we haven't lost anything, but early days yet.

We  finally found a company that were prepared to travel here and install  built in wardrobes  for us  at a price we were prepared to pay, some of the quotes were totally ridiculous.
The "box room" which has been my 6 month nightmare,

and this photo was taken when it looked good, was transformed into a small but comfortable guest bedroom with the addition of this wonderful storage space. we are really pleased with the result.

The main bedroom, also had no storage, so we  filled in a deep recessed area with equal amounts of hanging and  shelving for Brian and I (  am sure I will steal some of his later down the track)

As you can see we still have a lot of boxes sitting around, but they will slowly absorb into the house as the renovations  are finished and  cupboards and bookcases ect go back into the rooms they belong in.
 Hubby has been a jack of all trades lately.
He has been a wood cutter and gatherer to keep our kitchen wood fire going,

He has learned  to repair holes in walls of which we had many from the previous owners,

Our builder taught him how to  tape and plaster sheet joints( which was a skill we have never needed until now.

We only have  a second plaster coat on one joint to go  and a small amount of sanding and this whole new area will be ready for me to get busy with the  undercoat/sealer, I can hardly wait.
We finally got our new screen door  fitted, (we waited until the last as it would have been a nuisance whilst bringing building materials in and out. )

The  need for decent grass for the sheep and just general pasture improvement is also a job that needs regular attention,  and Brian got in and worked another small area  and planted it with pasture mix, oats and field peas , and we have a lovely fall of about 25 mm( 1 inch) since he planted it so hopefully it will all come up well.

The previous  area  we planted is now grown beautifully, and the sheep are enjoying the lovely feed.

While we were down in Wollongong last weekend  spending time with  our gorgeous grandchildren, our daughter and granddaughter and I  attended a circus.

I hadn't been to a circus for many years, and was most impressed with the level of skill of the  acrobatic  performances, the trapeze and pole performers, the lighting was brilliant and the  clown( not traditional) and his stooges had us nearly crying in laughter.

The only animal performers were some beautiful ponies and  these larger  horses that were groomed immaculately and really appeared to adore their trainer and were constantly being rewarded with treats and love rather than  punishment and harsh commands, which used to be more common in the old days.

I am so glad that our granddaughters first experience with a circus has been such a positive one, I am sure she will remember this outing for years to come .
A friend of ours was attending an auction  the other day and saw this old railway clock on the listing, and knowing Brians' connection to the rail industry she rang to see if we would like to bid, we did ,and she did, and we  bought this gorgeous old timber framed wind up railway clock.

Once all the flooring and painting is complete  am sure this old girl will take pride of place  on one of the walls(  not sure which wall, as we have WAY too many clocks for this small house.)
We are living a bit rough at the moment, well not rough but messy. We have separated the kitchen from the rest of the house with a big woolen blanket, have put up a temporary shelf for  the TV , moved in a couple of comfy  cane chairs, and this is where we currently spend most of our evenings, toasty warm by the kitchen wood cook stove , while the rest of the house  feels like a refrigerator.

We will probably spend the bulk of the winter in here, as I really cannot see the renovation being complete  within another month or so, but there could be worse things in life eh.
I have just realized that as of this month that this blog has now been running for two full years, I look back and can't believe the changes that have taken place in that time,life rolls on and you just have to roll on with it or get left behind,
Take care everyone,
Catch you down the track,
Cheers,
Jane.