Fall is not over but we are getting a taste of winter.

I've not posted in ages so I figured I'd leave a picture of the snow.

Making Summer Sausage

This week my daughter and son in law came to visit and for a project they made Summer Sausage with dad. Weve always wanted to make sausage and have talked about it often but never get to it. While grocery shopping I spotted a kit made by Hi-Country. It contained the spices , cure , caseings and directions.
The directions called for 15 pounds of game and 15 pounds of lean pork. Not having 15 pounds of lean pork we used 25 pounds game and 5 pounds ground pork suett. The game and suett were ground using a course grind. The cure and seasoning were added to water and then added and mixed by hand into the sausage mixture. The sausage mixture was allowed to rest an hour this provides time for the cure to begin breaking down the protiens in the meat.
Mean while the caseings were soaking in cool water to make them soft. Each caseing had a pre-tied end which made them nice to work with. After the meat was done resting they stuffed the caseings using a LEM sausage stuffer. The sausage was then brought and placed in an 150 degree oven. We placed the sausages directly on the racks and used cookies sheets on a rack below to catch the grease drippings. They were in the oven aprox. 2 hours then they were taken and rinsed in cool water for a quick cool down and then placed in the refridgerator over for final cooling. The kit made 7 big sausages with a little spare which I fried into pattys for breakfast.
It turned out great tasting and tangy, will make nice snacks or yummy sandwiches.

Santas Sleigh and 3 Reindeer Diecut

Guess its been awhile since Ive posted . Been busy with my crafting and selling @ yardsellr . Ive always loved to do crafts it seems to go in cycles but winter is my favorite time to work on my projests. Today I made this Sleigh and Reindeer it turned out cute.
Santas Sleigh and 3 Reindeer Diecut

We have snow. About 5 inches right now and expect more tonight. The temperature is 0 and its freezing, far to cold. My chickens are all locked in the coop and have a light to keep them toasty warm. I worry about them getting frost bite on their combs.

His and Her's Chores

Sissy & Panda

Around here we split up the animal chores, his cows and my chickens. But since May he has a job that interferes with him doing his chores so I feed his cows. Now, Im not complaining I've really gotten to enjoy the cows and hanging out in the barn each day.

But when I first started feeding the cows it wasnt fun. I wondered where was the joy in this? Using a pitch fork was a hard way to get hay off a round bale. The bales were to large for me to roll some hay off. My arms hurt, my back hurt. It made me sweat and it was itchy.

Over the course of time Ive gotten stronger and figured out how to use that pitch fork and how to roll the hay. Often I find my self whistling a tune as I do the hay. Its know longer a hard chore to do and hay I kinda enjoy it!

Gifts from the heart

Yesterday I received a gift from a special friend . Shes been my friend for the past 28 years. Shes stood by me thru all the years. Yes theres been many years at times we havent stayed in touch and then we reconnect . Its like we never skipped a beat. Im so grateful to have her for my friend. So I will share this picture of the yummy goodness she sent me. Salsa, blackberry jam and our favorite snack to share Cheetos. She sent me other cute goodies to. So Thank You to my friend (you know who you are!). You are a Blessing to me.

Turkey Lurkey

There has not been much new going on here. With Fall, it brings rain and I turn my attention to more indoor things . This morning the Turkeys came to visit, this flock been around all summer. They cross our property every few days eating bugs , seeds and grasses.

So today I was able to get a few pictures of them. Even the cows are curious about them.

Dusky Grouse

Left the ranch today. Somedays you just dont want to leave this place
and most days I dont. But the dogs needed food so off I went to get it.
In the road was a spotted bird , so I stopped. It was slow to move off.
Thinking about the bird my first thought was it was a quail, no it was to big.
Well maybe it was Ptarmigan. They say we have Ptarmigan but Ive never seen
one.
When I got back home and to my computer it was time to figure out just what
kind of bird it was. My first search was for Ptarmigan and there it was a picture
that looked just like the bird I saw. So I clicked on it. It said Willow Ptarmigan,
no longer thought to exist in Montana. Ok back to square one. Searched Grouse.
and found the Dusky Grouse and it looked similiar to the bird but the legs looked
different. Guess it was a Grouse.
Well that was my excitment for the day. Im glad I got out and saw a grouse.