time to take a breath....

Well the holiday season has come and gone and Im ready to get on with the next half of the winter. The last couple months were very hectic. Once the freezing weather came, I had to turn off the outside taps, so hauling water to all the animals was abit of a pain. To add to my busy schedule, I booked a flight  to Vancouver for the middle of December.  I was lucky enough to be able to go back and see some good friends but it felt like bad timing with all I had on my plate.  It was actually enforced by a friendship contract a friend had me sign when I left Vancouver. I was allowed to miss the first Christmas but had to be back for my second Christmas away and every second one after that....a friendship contract is held very highly in the court of law you know....lol.   I am very happy I ended up full filling the contract, it was a much needed visit. But leading up to it was alot of preparation, and a bit of anxiety.
 As you have read, the turkeys had to taken in the end of November and then the pigs the 5th of December. That was alot of work but it surprisingly went very well, considering it was the first time I had to do such a task, and also that I was slightly emotional...lol.    The funny thing is, when I decided to take on the 2 little pigs in the spring, I hadn't really planned on how I would transport those now 200 lb pigs to the, shall we say, market. I didnt have a trailer that would contain the pigs, it certainly would not have worked in the makeshift trailer in which we took the turkeys in. So, resorting back to word of mouth, I started asking some of the ole farmers in the local saloon I work at, who might have a trailer and, possibly a few tricks up their sleeve, in which to load up a couple of pigs. Turns out, it didnt take long. I talked to a couple of guys, a father and son, who have farmed in the area for quite awhile, who had a trailer and who just happened to be looking for some free range pork in exchange. So the arrangements were set and the next Sunday afternoon, a very comfortable horse trailer with a bedding of straw pulled in, ready to load. It took about 2 and 1/2 hrs, alot of coaxing with food and a wild chase, after one of them slipped past the loading chute, but we managed to pull it off. I was alot more emotional about the pigs leaving then the turkeys,  I guess because I interacted with them more, but like Iv said before, I don't have the full farmer mentality yet...lol. But as long as there are people out there, wanting to eat meat, me included, I would rather contribute by raising free range, stress free, organic meat. At times its going to be tough but I feel better about what Im eating, and not to sound heartless, but them turkeys were good!!!