How we got 125 lb pig home

Because I wrote about Dolly (the cow) my husband said I needed to tell the world about Porky (the pig).
It all started when my son-in-law and daughter decided to move with their 4 kids from Missouri to Oklahoma. They had approximately a 125 lb. pig, uncut, and gentle as a lamb. They were going to try to sell it and I told them that we could keep him and raise some pigs, once we butchered the offspring we would bring them some pork (7 hours away). We know and they know it will take some time, because at this point we didn’t have a female. This was all well intended in theory.
Well from my previous post you can tell we do not have a trailer, this is where it gets fun. My husband has a jacked-up (9-inch lift) 4-wheel drive truck, so getting into the thing is a chore for me in itself. My daughter and son-in-law are not much taller and my daughter is pregnant.
The only thing we had to haul this little darling in was the truck and a large wire dog kennel. Now keep in mind that this pig is VERY gentle, until you try to load him in a jacked-up Chevy truck with a dog kennel in the back.
We put a piece of plywood from the gate to the back of the truck and we knew that this pig would walk right up the ramp and into the dog kennel with no problem at all because he was a sweetheart and followed you around like a puppy when you were in the pen. Guess What? Nope wasn’t happening.
The first attempt was not so bad we just knew he was going to need a little coaxing. So, my son-in-law got in the pen and wrapped a ratchet strap around him behind his front legs, put some feed in a bucket and started up the ramp, about halfway up that’s when the fun began. Porky started to slide and my pregnant daughter and I tried to calm him down but he FREAKED, ended up back in the pen with my son-in-law still holding the strap, also face down in the pig pen. After three of us stopped laughing (my son-in-law was not laughing) long enough to try to come up with a plan we decided to try it again. Got his front feet into the dog kennel and he was NOT having it. The dog kennel came apart and down went porky back in the pen. My son-in-law is not a wimp he is a pretty strong guy but when a 125 lb. pig decides he isn’t going to do something it isn’t going to happen. They say third time is a charm, well it wasn’t in this case.
The Fourth attemp went like this: We put the kennel back together, re-enforced it with some wire made sure it would not come apart and tried again. This time we connected another ratchet strap to the first one so it would be longer and ran it through the door and trough the back of the kennel so my son-in-law would be pulling straight. My husband was trying to hold the kennel and trying to help us push the pig up the “ramp” and into the kennel. My daughter, my husband, 2 granddaughters (9 and 12), and myself were trying to push this little piggy up the ramp by his rear end as my son-in-law was pulling with all his might. We finally got him in and he was NOT happy.
We got him to our little piece of heaven and we still needed to build the pen for him to go in, (we obviously didn’t think this trough). We had all the panels for the pen so we, AKA my son-in-law, made short work of building the pen of 32 ft x 16 ft. Once that was done and the feeder was in and the water was filled we needed to unload this little darlin. We analyzed the situation, cussed and discussed how we were going to do this seeing how we left the plywood back at their house.
We decided to back the truck up to the opening of the pen and see what happened we did have some THIN pieces of OSB and we doubled up and made a ramp hoping that he would just get on it and slide into the pen. That didn’t happen but we did witness that pigs really can fly, even if just a short distance. But at least he flew into the pen. Pulled the truck out and closed it up.
Remember how we said he was a sweet, gentle pig? Well he was mad at us for a couple days and would only show us his behind. He is back to his sweet self and loves to have his snout and back scratched. If he sees us outside and we don’t acknowledge him he makes all sorts of noise until we love on him a little, and to answer your question, no he isn’t spoiled at all.

Buying A Heifer (Dolly) At The Sale Barn

So this past weekend I accidentally ( hahahahahaha) bought a Holstein heifer at the sale barn. Well OK it wasn’t really an accident, but that’s  my story and I am sticking to it.

My husband and I went to see a friend that owns the sale barn and we like to go and watch the sale. Keep in mind I have never bought anything just sold some pigs and goats.  So we got there late and they are already on cattle, keep in mind we have only sold pigs and goats………..

They were selling all these cattle we thought we had it all figured out when this little (535 lb) heifer came through and she just came to the fence and stared at me. No one was bidding on her so I did, my husband just gave me the LOOK like “WHAT ARE YOU DOING?”

No one bid against me so we now have the prettiest heifer I named Dolly, but the story does not end there. I go back to where she is kept and she is such a sweet little thing, let me pet her and is calm as can be.

I went to pay for her and they told me the price, I about had a heart attack, did you know they sold cattle by the pound? Yep they do and I thought I was so smart. Turns out I’m not, and although my dear husband was not mad he just keeps giving me that same you bought a cow look. So we leave to find the money to pay for my Dolly girl and we did, thankfully, we came back and paid for her and now she is all mine, but still in a pen at the sale barn.

My husband looks at me with his sweet smile and says “how are we going to get her home?”  UMMMMMM I have no clue, in my head I was praying someone would volunteer. So smugly  I told him “I guess I’ll have to walk her,”  yeah that isn’t going to happen we live 30 miles away. Our good old reliable friend came to my rescue, he offered to bring her to us that evening. well that was taken care of……………

We went home checked the fence and while I was a little hesitant about how good our fence was after my son had his horses in there, my dear husband assured me it was fine, no repairs were needed. I was not convinced and told him so.

Fast forward a couple hours, my oldest son came to help us finish the hog pens due to getting 2 new pigs the next day for our big boy. Anyway, he brings his 6 kiddos to help ( there are 2 six year old’s, 2 seven year old’s and 2 nine year old’s, we call them the red neck Brady bunch haha) they are excited about the cow, and the pigs and the garden that they love to pick. Our friend arrives with Dolly, backs up to the pen, all the kids are standing around watching, he opens the trailer she shoots out like a cannon straight for the back of the fence and out she goes. What happened to my calm sweet Dolly? Well what the heck do we do now? My son grabs a bucket and starts through the brush looking for her. Finds her at our neighbors fence, the 6 kids and I are not brave enough to go through all that bramble so my husband brings the truck around we all climb in, the kids are excited to ride in the back,  and we head over. I had grabbed a bucket with feed, she would not come to me. Several people have voiced that I had lost my mind buying this crazy, high strung cow. We ended up putting her in the field with all the cows she wanted to be with for now. I said I will get her calmed down by next weekend and bring her home. Yep Everyone laughed at me.

Here is where every doubting Thomas’ in my friends and family are going to be proved wrong (I hope), the last 2 nights I have went over and she has been the first one to come to me ( just because I have a bucket with grain in it is NOT he point here), I pet her and rub on her and she lets me all the while she is eating out of the bucket. I am going to get her home this weekend you wait and see.

Stay tuned for Bringing Dolly home.

Hope everyone has a blessed day!

 

Life Has Happened

Hi Everyone, I’m so sorry  I have been gone for so long. Life has gotten in the way. We have had deaths, sickness, and all around bad luck. Our little homestead has been hit hard but things are looking up and I’m back to stay.

We had to sell all our live stock and now slowly getting some back.  We are not off grid but working hard towards that.

Thank you for all the support, new post coming soon.

 

been away

So sorry, for some reason I was unable to log in. Finally today I was able to so hopefully will have some new posts up soon.

Thank You for your support,

Lois

Old Ways

As I was looking through old family cookbooks, I came across the coolest books.

Now realize I have a ton of cookbooks and I did not necessarily forget I had these I just don’t look at them every day. I have not however taken the time to just sit and LOOK at them. I was not surprised how much times have changed. It is funny that as I went through these that I said to myself “how did they survive?” Some of the ideas are crazy; but then I came across something that was amazing and asked myself  “how did they know that?”

Living on a modern day “homestead” I try to do as much as I can the “old” way. I can cook on a wood stove,  I can garden, and preserve with the best of them. But with that said I do use modern conveniences, as I have said before I can do everything I do without all the modern stuff, but as long as I have it I will use it.

THE NEW HOUSEHOLD DISCOVERIES book was written by Sidney Morse and the last copyright was 1917. This book has interesting things; at the very beginning it has functions and uses for food.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The composition of food covers everything from ham to grapes and raisins it is amazing.

It has a page that lists what prices were then, I realize that pay sucked back then, much like it does today, but wow $.12 a pound for pork shoulder.

Another book “Rumford complete cookbook” by Lily Haxworth Wallace last copyright was 1918 by the Rumford Chemical Works in Providence, RI. In the table of contents the thing that stuck out was the recipes for the sick.

the first paragraph reads:

             “The food eaten by a sick person has in many cases as much to do with rapid recovery as have drugs. It must be remembered  that the palate is more sensitive in sickness than in health, both to seasonings and temperatures, so that less seasonings and more moderate degrees of heat and cold must be observed.”

It also says, I’m paraphrasing here, to give food in Recepticles other that those given with medicine so the patient won’t associate the food with drugs. Wow reverse psychology.

Some of the recipes for sick people include: Lemonade, Barley water,Toast water, Eggnog, Junket eggnog, Albumenized Milk, Wine whey, And the list goes on.

All these brought back some memories of family stories long ago but nothing like this one.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A handwritten and typed recipe book, and I had to giggle at the Stock Liniment and also wonder if it really works, Im afraid to try it on a cow, it might not give milk because of the smell, and it has to burn like fire.

The recipe:

Stock Liniment

2 tablespoons coal oil

1 tablespoon turpentine

1 teaspoon salt

1 egg well beaten

Vinegar to make a pint

Mix coal oil, turpentine, salt and vinegar, lastly add well beaten egg and shake well. For cuts and sprains.

Not sure I will ever try this but you never know desperate times call for desperate measures.

Thanks for reading and walking down memory lane with me.

 

 

 

 

Are We Homesteaders Or Preppers?

Are We Homesteaders Or Preppers?

We do not consider ourselves Preppers we are just living as green as we possibly can and being prepared for whatever life throws at us.

Homesteading in this day and age is a lot like prepping I guess, being raised the way I was it just seems to be a way of life. Not that I want something bad to happen but look around, you never know what GOD is going to throw at you, what trial HE is going to place in your way. It is our job to be prepared and gain knowledge to survive and help when a tragedy happens.

Take into consideration Joplin Missouri, on May 22, 2011 the deadliest tornado in history hit a Midwest town killing and injuring hundreds. This is close to my heart because we live 60 miles from the devastation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

People that had things stored may have lost it all, BUT there were some of us because we do what we do had extra to share. AND WE DID. If the tornado had hit anywhere else the people in Joplin that were prepared would have helped with what they had. It is just the way it is and the way we are. I am not saying EVERYONE is that way but the people we know are in fact that way.

That first weekend, my family and some friends joined forces with the office of human concern(OHC) in Rogers Arkansas. We worked hard and delivered 693 sandwiches, water, cookies, flashlights, and personal care items to the streets of Joplin.

There was such an outpouring of Love from all over the country it is hard to imagine unless you witnessed it.

Because of the lifestyle we live we were able to help. I cooked 7 turkeys that we and our friends had stored, an assembly line was set up in my kitchen with my sister-in-law, daughter, and I. The sandwiches were put together.

 

The first day we had 255 turkey salad, 138 ham and cheese, and 300 PB&J sandwiches (PB&J were put together by the volunteers at the OHC) totaling 693 sandwiches (along with ice cold water, and cookies); because of what we do and the way we live

The second day we passed out ice cold water (water was available but it was not cold) toilet paper, flashlights, batteries, and personal care items. Most of this came from OHC but some came from individuals and their personal storage.

We were there to let them cry on our shoulder or lend a helping hand and share what we had in our storage.  Storing food, necessities, and having knowledge of survival is not a weird or a bad thing. It is to help ourselves and our neighbors in a time of need.

This is in no way to pat myself or anyone else on the back it is just one example of the reasons why we store food and necessities.

If you want to call us preppers go ahead, but I do not feel like we are. We feel like GOD put us on this earth to serve, teach, and learn. And we do.

 

 

Free today on Kindle

Get your free copy of my book today and tomorrow only. Tell your friends.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=B0097EIUSO

If this does not take you right to it put Lois Rush or B0097EIUSO in the search bar in the Kindle library.

Thanks so Much

Lois

WHOLE WHEAT TRILOGY #3

WHOLE WHEAT TRILOGY #3

In my house we like cinnamon raisin toast at breakfast (or a midnight snack). It freezes well and keeps well in the refrigerator.

Filling: For two loaves, the bread recipe makes four loaves, so you can double this or spread it between the four loaves, I personally double it.

1 cup butter

½ cup brown sugar

½ cup white sugar

And ½ cup cinnamon

Mix these until it forms a paste

Raisins

You will need the bread dough from trilogy #1

After the bread has risen once, flour the counter or workspace and flatten the bread out like you would do for the regular loaves of bread. Make a rectangle (this should be almost as wide as two bread pans) about ½ inch thick. Make it into a square.

Cover with the cinnamon mixture

Add those yummy raisins, we like a good solid layer but once again that is a personal preference.

 

Roll it up into a log and make sure you don’t stretch it as you roll. It is easy to do.

 

You will have a seam and you do not want that, all the yumminess will fall out as you bake it. Like the bread, pinch the seam and roll it until smooth. (NOTE: I forgot to take a picture so this is from trilogy #1 just to show you how to pinch close the seam)

Cut the log in half and pinch both ends to seal. Very important step you want ALL the goodness inside the bread not on the outside. Place in a greased bread pan.

Let rise until double in bulk (about 30 minutes), bake in a 350 degree oven for 40 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pan to cooling rack and brush with butter.

Let cool and slice mmmmmmmm it is so good.

 

 

 

WHOLE WHEAT TRILOGY #2

WHOLE WHEAT TRILOGY #2

As I promised here is #2 of the whole wheat trilogy, we call these little bites. But here is the thing, I did cinnamon but you can put ANYTHING in these. The options are endless. We have used pizza sauce with cubed peperoni or ham and a little cheese. We have used just cheese, or ham and cheese. Chocolate chips or pie filling can be used. I have made cooked chicken with  celery, onions, and carrots, veggies need to be grated and sauted just a little, add a little cheese and you have a great snack.

As I said the possibilities are endless.

The bread recipe will make A LOT of these, I don’t know how many, I usually make some and make the rest into bread. When my 48 mini muffin tins are filled the rest goes to bread or something else.

 

Make the filling: I used ½ cup butter and ½ cup brown sugar and a ¼ cup cinnamon. This is really up to you and your taste; play with it until it is to your liking. My family LIKES cinnamon. You mix it together until it forms a paste, this will get soft as it sits out and that’s ok but if you prefer it stiff just keep it in the refrigerator until time to use it.

Here we go, you have the wheat bread recipe from trilogy #1, take a ball about the size of your hand, you can work in bigger groups but I prefer to do 4 or five at a time. You need to work quickly so if you have kids tie them to a chair and have them help. Just kidding, but if you can get help it goes much faster.  The dough won’t rise too much by the time you get the last group done.

Put a little flour on the counter and work the dough with your fingers until all air is out and is a flat rectangle about ¼ inch thick.

Cut into squares and add the filling to the center of each square.

 

Bring up all four corners until they meet and then pinch the side until completely sealed. Place in a greased mini muffin tin. You can make them bigger with more filling and use a regular size muffin tin if you prefer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Let rise slightly (about 10-15 minutes) Bake for 30 – 40 minutes until slightly brown, brush with butter and enjoy.

 

You can also sprinkle Parmesan cheese or powdered sugar, depending on your filling.

 

 

 

 

 

 

WHOLE WHEAT TRILOGY #1

WHOLE WHEAT TRILOGY #1

I did not intend to have another trilogy but when I got started I could not help myself. The first one will show you how to make the bread, #2 is what we call little bites, and the #3 is cinnamon raisin bread.

Whole wheat bread is more dense than white bread, you can do half wheat and half white flour but then you will not have the benefits of whole wheat. I like the denseness of the bread and the flavor cannot be beat by any bread you buy in the store.

This makes 4 loaves

You will need:

3 tablespoons yeast

2 tablespoons sugar

½ cup warm water

2 eggs

4 1/2 cups HOT water

2/3 cups honey

2/3 cups vegetable oil

2 tablespoons salt

1/2 cup dough enhancer (optional)

14 cups whole wheat flour (more or less)

 

To start with place your eggs in a bowl with really warm, not hot, water to bring them to room temperature. (Notice there are 3 eggs you only need 2)

 

Place the 5 cups hot water and 7 cups of wheat flour in a mixing bowl, mix until combined, then let sit for 10 min.

 

 

In a small bowl mix together the ½ cup warm water, 2 T. sugar, and 3 T yeast. Set aside until proofed (foamy looking).

 

 

Add yeast mixture, eggs, honey, oil, salt, and dough enhancer to the flour and water mix. And mix well.(Note: the enhancer is totally optional, the bread is good without it but it adds lightness. I use Blue Chip Dough Enhancer, I have a friend that ships it to me when I need it, the stores in my area do not carry it. Manufactured for blue chip group, I’m sure you can get it online)

Gradually add the remaining flour one cup at a time, this might get too big for your mixer and have to finish off kneading it on the counter. Because Whole Wheat is stiffer and harder on your machine, the last 4 cups or so I do on the counter. Pour the remaining flour on a clean counter and pour your dough onto it.

Knead the flour into the dough, adding more flour ½ cup at a time if needed. This you will learn with practice it may be more than the exact 14 cups but most the time the 14 cups are just about right.

You will know when your dough is a smooth elastic dough ball like the one here.

 

 

Grease a bowl and the dough well, place dough ball in the bowl, cover with a damp towel and let rise (30 min to an hour) until double in size.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now unlike white bread that you can just roll into a log with your hands and throw in the pans wheat bread is a little more work. You can certainly do it that way but it has a tendency to get big air pockets, so I will show you how I was taught, with practice it does not take that long.

Dust the counter with flour. Divide your dough into 2 sections (this will fill 2 pans) flatten with your fingers, work from the inside out, until all the air bubbles are out and shape into a rectangle. The width should be almost the same length as 2 bread pans.

 

 

Roll it up into a log; you will have a seam, pinch it together until the seam is sealed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gently roll the sealed log until smooth, but don’t roll it so much that it becomes longer. Cut the log in half.

 

 

 

 

Place both logs in a greased bread pan, repeat with the other dough ball.

 

 

 

Let rise until double in size (about 30 min), bake in a 350 degree preheated oven for 30 to 45 minutes. You will know if it is done when you thump on the top and it sounds hollow, if you do not hear that  hollow sound remove at 45 minutes.

 

 For a softer crust spread some butter on it while it is still hot. Slice and enjoy.

 We keep our wheat bread wrapped and in the refrigerator, I think it keeps better. This bread also freezes well.