February

It takes several more days of butchering and delivering beef before we are done 'paying' for our hay.  It's all been carted back to our place though, so we should be set until spring.

Delivering beef to folks in the area turned out to be extremely rewarding.  We now know all of the neighbours, who has what types of supplies, and things they'd be willing to trade.  Everyone is looking forward to spring and gardening, and fresh veggies.  There's talk of another seed exchange for those who missed the first one.

We met people with all sorts of poultry.  I manage to make several trades, and have increased my flock to 30 chickens, 7 turkeys, and 10 ducks.  10 of the chickens are banties, so I have hope they'll hatch eggs for me in the spring.

We got lucky and met some people with a small dairy.  They've been trading and butchering their herd.  We arrange to trade them one of our beef cows for one of their jerseys.  Driving Mindy to their house takes four people and a full day.  She's not halter broke and doesn't like being cut out of the herd.  We manage to get her there by blocking the crossroads and walking behind her with a whip.  The trip home with Mildred goes much smoother.  She is halter broke, and walks behind the sleigh quite agreeably.

The new birds bring new concerns.  The coop is not big enough for all of them, and it's not safe to let the banties 'free range' to nest.  We decide to turn the add a room into a new chicken coop.  We have enough lumber left to frame it in, and we take wire off the hay lean-to to separate pens.

The men take turns going ice fishing and cutting firewood every other day.  They've made a trail back to one of the lakes in the bush where the fishing is better, bringing home at least three a day.  The fish are essential for chicken feed.  I boil all of the skins, bones and guts in the doggy stew pot, along with a potato, any table scraps, and a few leaves of assorted dried weeds.  The pot feeds the dogs, cat, and birds.

The wood shed is filling slowly.  The fishermen cut down a few trees each day with the axe, bringing them home in lengths in the sleigh.  We're trying to conserve fuel, so they're using hand saws to cut the wood into pieces.  They alternate cutting firewood for each of our 'houses', building everyone's wood supply.

We continue to eat simple stews, and soups, and are lucky to have eggs each day for breakfast.

I keep busy through the long, cold days, patching clothing, blankets, and sewing new underwear.  Sil has become proficient at knitting socks.  We are on the lookout for old wool sweaters when we got to town.  Lisa and Nira also sew and knit.  Sometimes we stay home alone to work, sometimes we gather at one another's houses.  Mom joins to visit, and knits a bit.  We keep busy, and wait for spring.

Day 114- Scary Travels

The Bigs have been out ice fishing every few days.  They managed to get a trail broke with the sleigh back to one of the lakes on crown land.  It's a little closer than the highway lakes, and surprisingly they've caught a few fish.  They set snares along the way and caught a couple of rabbits and a fox as well.  The fox went to the chickens, along with some pine branches. 

The fish bones and guts went into the doggy stew pot.  The rice is gone now.  The stew is mostly gravy- thickened with flour, with meat and veggies.  We're feeding them twice as much as we used to, but they're already losing weight.  I'm trying to keep them from getting hungry enough to harm the livestock.

Husband met up with one of our old hay farmers, Ray.  He had large round bales but no way to load or haul them.  Husband rigged up the stone boat to the back of the sleigh, and with the Bigs help they were able to push one of the bales onto the stone boat and haul it home.  They've been back a few times, only able to transport one bale at a time.  In trade the farmer has asked for help butchering and selling his cattle.  He had 300 head going in to winter, sold and ate about 50.  He wants to get all of his open cattle butchered and sold before spring.

We head over to his place with knives and sharpening stones early in the morning.  The Littles stay home.  Ray and his sons have divided the herd when we get there.  He has 40 head that he wants butchered.  The store in town is taking orders for beef for them.  Ten have been 'sold' so far- in exchange for labour in the spring.  After the first cow is shot, gutted and hung, #2 and I get to work butchering with Ray and his sons.  Husband and #1 continue shooting and gutting, with Ray's sons helping to get them hung up.  Ray has enough room in part of his barn to hang 20 head, so they keep working on that through the day.  The rest of us manage to get 5 cows butchered by late afternoon. 

Our sleigh is loaded with beef wrapped in feed bags.  They're not very sanitary, but they're plentiful.  He wants us to take the load south, stopping at the towns along the way to Southern City, trading for whatever we can.  He wants help to get his crops planted in the spring, and hay harvested mid summer most of all, but he'll take anything we can get.  He needs the herd thinned out before spring. 

The next day Husband and I head south with the meat.  Husband rigs the stone boat to the back of the sleigh, and takes lots of baler twine along to tie things on.  The highway is fairly well packed from other travellers, so the ride south is fairly smooth.

I take a notebook to write down the names and addresses of those who are willing to work, and draw maps to Ray's place.  All along the highway people come out of their homes to see what we've got.  Most don't have much left to trade with, but some seem eager to trade for labour.  One guy even offers to come and help butcher the next day.

Folks in Littletown are happy to trade, though most don't think they'll be able to travel that far to work in the spring.  We trade beef for pots and pans, blankets, clothing, tools, and tires.  The sleigh and stone boat are overloaded.

Few in Hutterite Village are interested in trading.  They have a plentiful supply of meat of their own. 

We get to Southern City and slowly drive the horses down the main street.  No one seems to be around.  We decide to try the side streets in the residential areas and see if anyone comes out.  The first street we turn onto has a small convenience store on the corner with a couple of people hanging around outside.  We stop and chat.  They tell us to go back to the mall and wait in the parking lot while they tell people why we're there.

It seems a little strange, sitting in this deserted little city waiting for people to arrive.  I have both hands wrapped around my gun.  Husband keeps telling me to relax, but I notice he's holding on to his too.  We wait for about twenty minutes, and then see some men come around the corner headed towards us.  There are eight of them, and they all have guns.  I think we're going to die. 

They walk up calmly, maybe a little too friendly.  The 'sheriff' introduces himself.  They're all very chatty, and all eye balling the sleigh.  We tell them Ray's plan, to trade the meat now for labour later.  They keep smiling and nodding.  They tell us to pull the sleigh up beside the doors to the former grocery store.  Husband moves the sleigh slowly, and I can see on his face he's debating whether to make a run for it.  I whisper, "We'll get shot."  He pulls the sleigh up to the doors.

The men start unloading the beef.  Husband asks what they're going to trade for it.  The sheriff says, "I'm sure we can work something out".  He invites us in to the store once the meat is unloaded.  I decide to stay out with the sleigh.  I sit there waiting nervously for over half an hour, until finally, Husband comes out with the other men.  They have three sacks of potatoes and I can tell they come from the potato man.  Some of them are carrying garbage bags, one has a basket of turnips.  They help load the sleigh and stone boat and tie everything down.  Husband says, "Ok, we'll see you next time then," and jumps back on the sleigh. 

The sheriff hollers, "Hold on a minute".  I still think these strange men are going to kill us.  He walks over to us with some papers in his hand.  "A couple of letters headed north".  We smile and thank him and head out of town.

I ask Husband what went on inside.  He explains that the old grocery store is still being used as a grocery store, but the sheriff and his men are in charge.  They'll sell or trade off the beef with the townsfolk rather than us trading with any individuals.  They did agree to make a list of people who would be willing to come and work for Ray for next time we come down.  They've got a make shift jail cell with three prisoners inside too.  He doesn't think they'd take 'no deal' for an answer if we didn't like their trade items.  Husband says next time I have to stay home.  He'll bring Brother or Diego with him instead.

We go to the store in the Hutterite Village, where people seem nice, normal, and civilized.  Husband mentions what happened in Southern City, and the workers smile.  "Best to stay away from them English".

I trade some of the goods we've collected for a couple of jars of honey.  We head back home.

The boys bring the potatoes and honey in the house.  We'll take them to Ray's tomorrow after another day of butchering.  We eat our stew for supper and spend the evening sharpening knives.

Day 24- Another Butcher Day

Everyone is up early this morning.  It's cold in the house.  The temperature must have really dropped last night.  #2 makes pancakes, coffee and tea.  #1 lights a fire in the basement.

I get the bowl of fat from the fridge outside.  After lifting it from the bowl and dusting off the crumbs, it goes in the old coffee pot on the stove to melt.  I wipe the bowl out and drain more fat from the rendering pot.  A lot of the cracklings are dry and crispy, ready to be taken out.  I offer some to the boys to try, but don't find any fans.  I put them in an ice cream bucket to go in the doggy stew pot later. 

I take the bowl of rendered fat back outside and grab the pan of baked beans.  I scoop some into a stock pot and start adding onions, peppers, chili powder, garlic, and tomato sauce.  A nice pot of chili for supper tonight.  I was going to reheat and can the rest of the beans, but I think it'll be just as simple to make it all into chili, and then can the excess.   I pour the rest of the beans into the pot, add more onions, peppers and spices, and put the whole thing on the stove.  I get a baggy of squash from the freezer and put it in as well.  It won't be noticeable once cooked in.

I clean out the cast iron pan and start cooking two packages of ground beef- about 4 pounds.  #1 already has his nose in the chili pot, sampling and adding more spices.  I shoo him away before he makes it burn your face off hot. 

Husband and the Bigs go out to do chores and work the horses.  The Littles get started on their work books.

I boil water, wash dishes, tidy the kitchen, and start a batch of bread.  The cooked ground beef is strained and added to the chili pot.  I add water to the soup pot, more weeds, and a handful of noodles.  It goes back on the stove for lunch.  I clean the cast iron pan, bowl and utensils for breakfast tomorrow and put them in their place on the counter.  I go out and pick more weeds, add a bunch to the doggy stew pot, along with the cracklings, rice and flour.


It's too late in the season to leave the bear hanging for long, the outer edges are nearly frozen already.  I start trimming off all of the visible fat.  Dad arrives and sees what's left of his bear.  He's not too happy with me giving half of it away yesterday without asking.  Not that he hadn't planned to share it with Brother and Sil, but still, I should have asked.  I ask Mom if she wants to render the fat, and she says no, I can have it.  Dad and I get busy butchering while Mom puts the Littles to work tidying the yard and putting things away.

Dad takes all of the steaks, the tenderloins, some stew meat and a few roasts.  He tells me to split the rest with Brother and Sil.  I tuck it away in the freezer for now.  I take the fat in the house and add it to the rendering pot.

Mom and Dad join us for a late lunch, soup and turkey salad sandwiches, then head back to their place.

The chili has been simmering on the stove all morning, so it's ready to can.  I sterilize 6 quart jars and put the canner on to boil. 

The boys and Husband are not too ambitious this afternoon, so we set up a game of Risk.

When the canner's ready, I fill 6 jars of chili and pop them in to process.  I roll out the bread when it's not my turn. 

We enjoy a quiet afternoon at home, break for supper and chores, then play another round while the bread bakes.  We go to bed late, after I take over the world, mwahahaha!!!

Day 23- Bear and Market

Everyone's up early this morning.  I'm sure I heard something, but I'm not sure what.  Smitty was growling softly when I woke.  Maybe he heard it too.  Nobody else remembers hearing anything.  They're just awake early.  It's still dark out, but the dogs have been out and they didn't seem to have noticed anything out of place out there.

Pancakes, coffee, and tea for breakfast.  #2 is my resident pancake chef.  He's a morning person.  I drain the bear fat into the metal bowl and take it out to sit on the freezer.  I grab the bowl of chopped turkey, take out a handful, and toss it in the soup pot for lunch.  I drain the beans, reserving the water.  I pour some of it into the soup pot and put it on the stove.

I put the beans in a roasting pan, add catsup, onions, garlic, molasses and a bit of bear fat.  They go back on the stove to bake.

After the boys do chores and feed the dogs I add a couple cups of rice and some weeds to the doggy stew pot.  They grab a bone package and I toss it in.  It'll sit on the counter until tonight.

Husband and the Bigs go out to work the horses.

The Littles get out their work books and do a couple of pages while I tidy the kitchen.  I clean out the breakfast pan, bowl, and utensils and set them in their place on the counter.  Organization makes things easier.

Husband and the Bigs have Samson hooked to the cart when the Littles and I come out to pick weeds.  We decide to go visit Mom and Dad, and take them some bread.

We find a dead bear just off the deck when we get there.  I knew I heard something this morning.  The bear had come looking for food around their grill.  Dad shot him.  Now he'll be food.  Excellent.  Dad tells us to take it home and hang it in the garage.  He'll come over to help butcher tomorrow. 

We visit for a bit, Samson trims their lawn, we load the bear and head home.  We stop and gut it on the side of the road.

Samson refuses to back the cart up to the garage so we can hang the bear.  It's too big to carry, so we use the quad to move it inside and hook it to the come-a-long.  #2 and I start skinning.  Husband and #1 take Samson to practice backing up for a bit, then put him away.

When the bear is skinned we hang it on the wall of the garage.  We're developing quite a collection there.  I give the beef hide and the first bear hide a quick scrape, then salt all three.

Soup for lunch with turkey salad sandwiches.  I even open a jar of mayo.  It's cold enough now that we can just set it outside.  The freezer is getting kind of crowded though, with the assortment of things to keep cool.

Husband and the Bigs hook Tori to the cart.  Her leg is better now.  They use the cart to move our old fridge, which has been sitting beside the work shop, up to the house.  I had planned to use it for storage, but there wasn't much in it.  They set it beside the entrance way door outside.  Right now it will be perfect as a fridge, just a bigger cooler with shelves and no ice required.  In another month everything in it will freeze.  It'll keep the dogs out of things though, and take the clutter off the freezer.

#2 saws the bear carcass in half and we cut a hind quarter down.  I wrap it in a garbage bag and he loads it on the cart.  We grab some bread and a jar of cattail flour and go to Brother and Sil's.

Brother heard the gunshot this morning too.  They're happy for the meat and bread.  I tell them to try the flour.  If they like it they still have time to dig more cattails. 

Their cabin is quite cozy now, with the closet and shelves up, and walls framed in around the girls' room.  They don't plan to put in solid walls, but continue with the sheets hanging instead so the heat will move through freely.  They've built a bench for more seating around the table, and another small table for crafts and cards. 

Sil and the girls have gathered and dried an impressive collection of weeds.  They want to go to the flea market/feed store to see if Marsha has any jars for sale.  I have boxes of old pickle/pasta sauce/cheese whiz jars stored, so they can take some of those, but they'll need more jars for canning next summer. 

Husband figures #1 will be fine to drive, so Sil and I head out with him in the cart.  We stop at home and cut a shoulder off of the bear to trade with.  I grab a handful of change as well, just in case.

The market seems to be doing a bustling business these days, and much like the store in town, has an odd selection of things to trade.  Animal feed is long gone, but the trailers it had been kept in are now loaded with clothing, blankets, assorted building supplies and other odds and ends.  There's a shelf on one wall with food.  I'm surprised by the amount of meat- bear, moose, beef, chicken, partridge and rabbit.  It seems that everyone can hunt and butcher, but vegetables are in short supply. 

There's a list on the wall of people hoping to trade animals they can no longer feed- mostly horses, dogs and cats- but also goats, cattle, rabbits, chickens, ducks and geese.  I get directions from Marsha to a couple of the people who've listed chickens.

Sil finds a couple boxes of jars, some extra dishes, utensils, blankets, and clothing.  I ask Marsha what the bear shoulder is worth to her.  She says we can take all of that and a bit more.  I add all of the jeans I can find and a couple of blankets.  We both figure it's a pretty good deal.  I ask if she's still taking cash and she says no.  I ask about coins.  She hesitates, but still says no.  I expected coins to hold some value over paper, easier to carry than household goods, and they can always be melted down for the metal.  Not yet, it seems.

We drop off my blankets and jeans at our house, load a couple of boxes of jars onto the cart, then go back to Brother and Sil's camp to unload.

The girls get busy jarring up the dried weeds while Sil and I put away the other supplies and cut up the bear.  Husband and Brother load the cart with barrels and buckets.  They go to Sanya and Roam's for water.

By the time they come back and get the water unloaded it's already dark.  We go home, do chores, have baked beans for supper, drain more fat from the rendering pot, and put the doggy stew on to cook overnight.  The fat bowl and baked beans go in the fridge outside overnight.

The boys look through the pile of jeans that I got from the flea market.  They take what will fit, but a lot of them are women's jeans and won't fit any of us.  I'm thinking ahead, of alterations to be made, or reusing the material.  What we have won't last forever.  The blankets get folded and put away in the chest upstairs.  Again, we don't really need them right now, but the time will come.

The boys start playing cards.  Husband reads.  I start writing out three lists of edible weeds- what to look for, which parts to use, how to eat them.  When finished I head to bed.

Day 21- Turkeys

My foot is tender this morning, still red and blotchy, but no longer throbbing.  I get up, make coffee and tea, stir the cattail starch.  It's dry now, and somewhat fluffy.  I decide to put it in it's own jars rather than mixing it into the flour bin.  I get 5 quarts.  Not exactly a great yield.

It's been three weeks without power.  There's been no news of if or when the power will be restored.  Of course, where we live, we'll probably have power before we'll have news.  Who knows if the radios will even work when the power comes back on.  Or anything else for that matter.

I sit and drink my tea, looking around the kitchen at all of the now useless appliances and gadgets.  Packing up the microwave and some of the small appliances would give me more counter space, more room to work.  I'd have space to let the bread rise, set up the doggy stew pot, and things to cook without cluttering up the table.

Husband and the boys get up.  They drink coffee.  Nobody's really saying anything, but there's a grumpy vibe in the room.  I ask what they want to do today.  They aren't very committed to any plans.  I suggest we butcher turkeys, before we lose any more.  They don't look impressed with that idea, but they know it needs to be done.  It won't take long, with only 7 birds left.

I ask the Littles to get me some boxes from the basement and I start clearing things off the counter;  the electric bread knife, electric can opener, crockpot, deep fryer, doggy stew burner.  I get the Bigs to take the boxes and the microwave to the basement.  It can all sit down there for now.  The kitchen seems much roomier.

The boys eat their breakfast.  The Littles start fighting with each other.  Poor #3 is suffering major computer withdrawals.  He's been a pretty good sport so far, but three weeks is a long time.  Of course it doesn't help to be walking past the computers every time we walk through the living room.  If we cleared the laptops off the desk it would give the boys more room to set up and play board games.  I look around the living room and decide to clear off the top of one of the book shelves.  The lap tops can sit up there for now.  The desk tops can stay on the desk against the wall.  Not that they're any less depressing, I'm just not feeling that ambitious.

With the counters cleared off, the desks cleared off, breakfast eaten, and dishes washed, we decide to get started on the turkeys.  We build a big fire in the fire pit outside, then put a large wash tub over it to heat.  It takes a lot of water to fill the wash tub.  Too bad I didn't think of getting it out and filling it with water the other day when it was raining.  Husband gets the machete, the boys start catching the turkeys, and then it's off with their heads.  Everyone gets a turkey to pluck, with one to spare.  By the time they're all cleaned and gutted, it's well past lunch.

We put one bird in a roasting pan on the stove.  It won't be ready for supper tonight, but the fire's not too hot now, so it shouldn't burn.  I'll let it cook for the afternoon, then set it outside overnight and put it back on tomorrow.  The rest of the turkeys are tucked into the freezers, hopefully to freeze.  Everything else seems to be frozen solid, so we must be dropping below freezing at night.

I pull out a package of sausage for supper tonight.  It's the last one.  I should have done a better job planning meals, spreading out the few things there's some variety of.  The quick and easy meals are pretty much gone.  I have to remember to start things earlier in the day.

Husband and the Bigs go out to work the horses again, and get another load of logs with Samson.  That keeps them busy until supper is ready.  The Littles play Battleship on the desks for the rest of the afternoon.  They're getting along better now.

After supper we play cards for a couple of hours before calling it a day.

Day 15- The Return

Husband woke me early this morning.  They made it there and back ok.  The trip was relatively uneventful.  There were a couple of road blocks set up, but most people were friendly, just looking for goods to trade.  It seems everyone out and about has armed themselves.  We're now living in the wild, wild north.  They had a bit of trouble on the return trip, it seems the northerners are ok with people headed south, but not as kind to southerners headed north.  They had to explain several times where they were headed, but no gunshots were fired, so they consider it a good trip.  There were people out fishing at every lake and stream they passed, a few people with signs, 'Will work for Food', and plenty of hunters on the back roads.  The military is guarding the city of Barrie- probably for lack of anything better to do, but they were also friendly.  They just want visitors to know that no nonsense will be tolerated.

They stopped and refuelled from transport trucks in the middle of the road, and refilled all of our gas cans by siphoning fuel from abandoned cars.  We should be ok for quite awhile, so long as we're careful with it.


Husband goes to bed and I get up and make my tea.  I want to go and see the girls, but they're probably sleeping after their long trip.  I have more butchering to do today anyway.  It's warm already, and the sun hasn't risen yet.  I think I had better start canning while I butcher.  I'll do the ground beef and the stew as I cut today, and save the roasts and hope for a freeze.  I go downstairs to get a box of jars.  I don't have that many left.  If it doesn't freeze soon this could be a disaster.

#1 gets up and uses the outhouse.  He tells me we're out of toilet paper.  I send him out to the trailer to get what I have stored in there.  He finds two 24 packs- that's all there is.  Life is going to get very interesting in the next little while.  Luckily I'm the only girl here, so I decide to start using cloth for wet and keep the paper for the icky stuff.  As I dig through my material bin, I figure I better start on hankies too.  I'm not sure how many boxes of kleenex are left, but I better wean everybody off of them before bad colds send everyone scampering for kleenex by the foot.

The rest of the boys are up and eating breakfast- toast and jam.  That's the last of the bread again.  I get them to start two batches of bread while I cut the cloth.  It seems like we should be relaxing, the stress of getting the girls here is over, but there's just so much to do!

The boys do chores and find me a couple of small bins for my 'tissues' and 'wipes'.  The wipes go to the outhouse.  I leave the tissues in the bathroom, for lack of a better place to put them.

#1 gets the horse cart ready and goes to pick up Mom and her laundry.  I go down to the creek with them and show her what I've been doing.  I gather up my laundry from yesterday so the lines will be clear, but she'd rather use her own lines at home.  She also has plenty of soap still, so doesn't bother with the lye water.  I leave her there with #1 and walk back to the house, picking weeds as I go.

#2 and I get started on butchering.  We make good progress today, finishing the last two quarters and ground beef.  It's not perfect, and we leave more fat on than normal, but we're eager for this job to be done.  There's still tallow to render, and stock to be made, but the hard work is done.  We set up the smoker and put two small roasts in to smoke overnight.  I have no idea how these will turn out- I've never smoked a roast before.

I take frequent breaks from the garage to switch things up in the kitchen.  At the end of the day I have all of the stew meat and half of the ground beef canned.  The roast and steaks are spread out in the freezers, where things are still cool, but not as cool as they were when all of this started. 

#1 takes Mom home with her laundry to hang, then unloads our laundry in the house when he returns.

Husband gets up and we go to visit Brother, Sil, and the girls.  They're sitting around the fire pit when we get there, discussing what to do with themselves.  They have a good selection of supplies now, but they're still missing so much.  The trailer is nice as a vacation spot, but pretty cramped as semi permanent living quarters.  They need more food for winter, though Sil has a nice collection of weeds dried out as well as her canned goods.  They'll need meat.

The girls are in a bit of denial.  All they had been focused on was getting here.  Get here and they'd be fine.  Except now they're here and the world is still upside down.  They want to read, listen to music, play on computers, and shower.  Luxuries of the past, at least for the moment. 

We talk about the space issues first.  We decide to build a log cabin lean-to on the front of their trailer.  It'll mean ripping apart the current extension, but it'll give them more space and hopefully keep them warmer.

As evening approaches the temperature starts to drop and I hope for a freeze.  Even a few degrees below zero would help the freezers so much at this point.

We have a quick beef soup for supper and call it a day.  Everyone is tired all the time.

Day 14

I slept well for the first few hours, then tossed and turned the rest of the night.  I'm up before dawn, but I wasn't going back to sleep anyway, so what was the point of laying in bed?  I take the oven off the woodstove and check the jerky.  I think it's a little overdone.  Overdone is better than underdone though.  I make tea- no coffee today.  The dishes are really piling up again, especially with everything we used for butchering yesterday.  The rain barrels are getting low, so we'll have to haul water from the creek when we pick up the laundry.

The boys are up early too.  We're all stiff and sore, with several more days of butchering ahead of us.  I put a pot of water on to boil for the dishes, and another filled with bones for beef stock.  I chop a few carrots and throw in some chives.  At least this nice weather is keeping the herbs and weeds growing.  The beef stock and weeds will make soup, along with a few potatoes,  for lunch for the next few days.

We eat pancakes for breakfast, then the Bigs join me in the garage after chores.  #1 lights a fire under the smoker outside and leaves it to get hot.  We cut up one of the front quarters, dividing the shoulder into 12 roasts.  We start another tray for ground beef, cutting the brisket and meat off the ribs into it.  The Bigs work on grinding it up while i start trimming the fat off the roasts.  The fat goes in a bucket to be rendered into tallow later.

After packaging the meat and laying it out in the freezer, we break for a late lunch.  The soup won't be ready until tomorrow, so for today we just eat bread and jam.

After lunch I check the smoker.  It seems hot to me.  I add some cherry wood chips to the coals underneath, then layer the meat on the racks.  I close in the bottom of the smoker with gravel and dirt and hope for the best.

The Bigs get the horse cart ready.  This will be their first time driving without their father around.  They tie the other horses alongside so they can all graze at the back while we're there.  I fill two more ice cream buckets with ashes, nesting them inside of other buckets so there will be lots of lye water on my next laundry day.  I find another piece of PVC pipe to take for a water filter.  I'm not planning on using it for drinking water, so I'll fill it at the creek.  I take some material and elastics to put it together.  The Bigs strap one of the empty rain barrels onto the cart to bring water back to the house.

We go around by Sil's to see if she wants to come with us and do some laundry.  She loads a couple of baskets and adds them to the cart.  I notice she has weeds drying in their shed.  She brings a bucket to pick more.

At the creek we discover that something has gotten tangled in the clotheslines.  Laundry is knocked down everywhere.  Most of it is still clean and dry, but I have to rewash some of it.  I layer rocks, material and sand in the filter, then fasten material over the ends.  We scoop water by bucket into the filter and fill the bathtub for laundry.  The boys keep scooping water to fill the rain barrel while I wash.  It'll still need to be boiled and filtered at home, but at least it looks clean.  I dump the ashes out of the bucket that was already there, and refill it from the two I brought with me.  I cover all three with water and leave them inside the cabin.  Sil does her laundry.  The two of us ring out the bigger stuff- jeans and a blanket.  I still don't think it's worth the effort involved to ring it out. 

The boys fix the clotheslines and check the fence.  They can't see where anything would have gotten in, except through the creek.  Hopefully it won't happen again.  They add a few more small trees to the fence, starting a lower line on the fence.  If we can make it secure enough, we'll be able to bring the cows down instead of watering them if it doesn't rain soon.

We pack up the dry laundry and get ready to go.  The horses seem like they would like to stay awhile, but we drag them out anyway.  We'll bring them back tomorrow.  Sil and I walk beside the cart and pick weeds as we go.

The cart jerks to a stop and #2 grabs my .22.  I figure he's spotted a partridge, but to my surprise he shoots a fox.  Nice shot and good riddance!  Shiloh freaks out over the gunshot and breaks her lead as she rears.  Samson, the horse from the neighbour, looks shaky too.  We wait for Shiloh to stop running and calm down before #1 attempts to grab her.  She's not too disagreeable, because as much as she wants to run she also wants to be back with the other horses.  We'll have to start doing cap gun training with the two of them.

Back at the house the boys put the horses and cart away, then check the chickens to make sure they got the fox before it got lunch.  They bring in three eggs.  I am so happy with that!  Sil and I jar up the dried weeds and lay out the fresh ones.  The Littles put away the laundry.

The beef stock is ready to can, so I pull it off the stove and put my canner in it's place.  Sil pops empty jars into the pot of boiling water while I strain the stock from the bones.  I get another pot ready and pour a few inches of stock into it.  We pull the meat off the bones, along with the carrots, and put it into the second pot.  Sil tosses in two good handfulls of weeds.  The Littles peel a few potatoes and chop them up.  The soup will sit on one of the side grills overnight to keep warm.  Sil pulls the jars back out of the boiling water and I fill them.  We fill the canner and let it pressurize.

I check the meat in the smoker and it seems to be drying.  The smoker is still hot, so I don't disturb the fire.

We all walk over to Mom's to check on her.  She's kept herself busy stacking firewood most of the day.  The boys get her some water from the spring and she asks where we've been getting water from.  I tell her  we've been using rain water and getting water from the creek.  She wants to go with us to do some laundry tomorrow.

We all walk back to our house for supper.  Hamburgers tonight, with fresh ground beef.  I check the smoker again, and it's cooling off.  The meat looks to be about done anyway, so I take it in the house to cool.  I set the oven back on the woodstove and put in the last tray of meat to dry overnight.

We play cards for awhile, then Mom and Sil walk back to Mom's.  Sil will spend the night there.  We're all tired too, and decide to call it a night.

Day 13- Good News

It's a beautiful sunny day today.  It'll be perfect to do some laundry.  I'm sure everyone must be needing more socks and underwear by now.  I think I'll take the laundry to the creek rather than bringing water up to the house though.  I make coffee, tea, and relax with a book while I wait for everyone else to get up.

Once they're all up and about, I tell them my laundry plans.  If we take more baler twine down there, and move the tub closer to the creek it should make laundry much easier.  The boys gather up all of their dirty laundry.  It's a mountain.  As long as the cabin's empty at the back though, anything I don't get done today can be kept in there.  I load up Husband's & my own laundry.  I almost forget the plunger.  They gather up baler twine and grab a chainsaw.  They'll cut firewood while I do laundry.

Brother and Sil stop by.  They're headed into town to try phoning the girls again.  This time they're happy to hear that the girls and Friend made it to the cottage.  Friend is recovering from his bullet hole nicely, since his mother's a nurse and has managed to stitch him up.  They stop back at our place and tell us the news.  Brother, Husband and Dad will leave tonight to go and get them.

We have a quick breakfast of toast and jam, and then head for the creek.  Once the tub is moved it's a breeze to fill and plunge the clothes.  Getting them to the line is a bit more work, but thankfully the Bigs do the carrying for me.  They set up three more lines so I have lots of room to dry everything.  I will need to bring more ashes next time.  Towards the end I don't think there's much lye coming through in the water.  Still, everything is cleaner than it was before.  I think another water filter attached to the tub would be helpful too.  The creek can get pretty mucky at times.

Husband and the boys have filled the cart with firewood.  Tori is grazing happily.  The grass is fairly long here.  We had always meant to fence it, but hadn't got around to it.  We decide we might as well, to give the horses more room to graze.

Husband and the Littles take the firewood back to the house to unload while the Bigs cut smaller trees and straighten the treeline.  They come back with hammers and nails.  We use the small trees as poles and nail them in place.  The area is still open at the creek but I don't think the horses will try to cross it.  The entrance is open as well.  It'll need a gate.

We reload the cart and Husband let's #1 drive it back to the house.  #2 digs some post holes for the gate.  When Husband and #1 return the three of them drop fence posts in the holes and build a gate.  It looks pretty good to me.  The Littles and I reload the cart and then we all go back to the house.

After unhitching Tori the Bigs walk down with all of the horses and leave them in the new pasture.  They pick weeds as they walk back to the house.

We have soup for lunch, beef again, and then Husband goes for a nap.  It'll be a long night.  The boys and I start on butchering the cow.  The weather has me concerned.  It's been warming up, and we might get an Indian Summer after all.  That's great for working in, but not good for the hanging meat or the freezers.

#2 saws through the back half of the spine, and we get started on cutting the steaks.  #1 starts the generator to run them through the meat saw, rather than sawing by hand.   We cut all the meat off the ribs and run it through the grinder.  I don't usually make ground beef, figuring I can buy ground pretty cheap, and I prefer a good supply of stewing beef, but this year we won't be buying, so we need our own supply.  Grinding is much faster than trimming all of the fat off for stew anyway.

I cut 8 pounds of beef off the flanks for jerky and  mix up two different recipes.  The Bigs set up the smoker, which we've never used before.  I'll start some in the oven overnight as well.  We'll see which method works best.

Husband gets up and cooks us up some delicious rib steaks for supper, and I swear, this is the best beef I have ever tasted!  I have the urge to go out and give Dorie a big hug.  She does mighty fine work!  At the end of the day I lay the steaks and hamburg out across the top of the freezer, over other still frozen food.  I hope it'll freeze.  It's at least cold enough that I'll have a few days to decide if I need to can it.

Brother arrives and he and Husband walk over to Mom and Dad's to get the truck ready.  Mom has packed them some soup and sandwiches for the trip.  I send along some apples and cookies.  It's barely dark, but they expect the first part of the trip to be uneventful.

I am completely exhausted from a hard day's work.  I hope I'll be able to sleep rather than staying up worrying all night.

Day Seven

It's been a week without power.  We're doing ok, all things considered.  I'm not the first one up today.  I find #2 in the kitchen, with the stove warmed up and tea in the pot already.  He doesn't know how to make coffee, so I show him.  Husband gets up next, and then the rest of the boys.  I make pancakes again, and make them stick with blueberry sauce.  We can't have four open jars of jam with no fridge.

I check the water bottle I left outside the day before.  It's starting to freeze.  I take it down to the cold room and put it in the cooler.  I set out another bottle, so I'll be able to switch them every day.

Husband and the Bigs are going to work on the outhouse today.  They think there's enough press board for walls, and they'll use logs and 2X4s for the bench over the hole.  There might be enough tin for the roof.  I tell them to wrap the whole thing in plastic as well.  I'm glad I bought the roll for the hay shed that isn't finished yet.  I regret that we never made it to the lumber mill for another load of 2X6s.

The Littles start bringing in their toys.  I tell them to take them all up to their room and clean their room up as well.

I put the crabapple juice on the stove to boil, then set up my strainer to squeeze the pulp through.  I'm busy for awhile, chopping the last tomatoes, an onion, celery, etc.  This batch will be catsup.  By the time I get it on the stove to cook, everyone is in for lunch, and I mention hanging Casper.  They don't look thrilled about it, but agree that it'll cut down on hay consumption.  They make sandwiches.  I start three more batches of bread.  I'll take some to mom in the morning.  I take a couple of little hams out of the freezer and put them in a pot to boil.  I take the crabapple catsup off the stove and set it aside.  It can wait til tomorrow.

The Littles finish cleaning their room and bring down a mountain of laundry.  Oh joy.  Most of it can wait, but everyone probably needs some socks and underwear washed.  I send #3 out for a bucket.  I fill it half full of hot water from the stove, put it in the bathtub, and pour in a bit of laundry soap.  I use the plunger to suds it up a bit, then start sorting through the laundry hamper.  When the bucket is full of assorted underthings I start plunging it.  After about 5 minutes, I pull some out and look them over.  I think they look pretty good, so I yell for another bucket.  The wet things are transferred and  I start another batch while the water's still warm, and toss in a couple of t-shirts.  The water looks pretty rough when I'm done this batch, but I throw in one pair of jeans at a time, and do a pair for each of us.  I take them out to the clothesline and hang them up.  I don't bother ringing them out- they'll dry, they'll just take longer.

This washing doesn't make much of a dent in the laundry pile, but at least we'll have a few cleaner things to wear.

Husband goes to get the tractor after lunch.  I roll out the bread while he's gone.

The Bigs gather up chains and come-alongs, hatchet, hammer and knives.  We cut Casper out of the herd- they're all standing by the gate eating hay- and out into the yard.  He knows this is weird, we're usually chasing him back into the pasture, not the other way around.  Husband shoots him, and he drops on the spot.  I cut his throat.  We chain him up to the tractor and take him down the trail to our hanging trees.  #2 and I work on gutting him while Husband and #1 get the come-along hooked up between the trees.  Husband uses the hatchet and hammer to break through the pelvic bone.  They hoist him up and we finish pulling the guts through.  They lower him back to the ground, chain him back to the tractor, and into the garage he goes.

He's too big to hang in one piece, so we cut him in half from the third lowest rib, and hang each half.  Then we skin each half.  It's well past dark when we're done, and we're all cold, tired and hungry.  The hams are well done, but I didn't start any potatoes.  We decide to eat the ham with beets and call it a day.  I put the oven over the stove top and put in the first batch of bread before we eat.  I pull it out and put in the second batch after supper.  I sit and read while I wait for it to finish.  Finally the third batch is in.  Once it's done I go to bed, exhausted.