Friday, November 10, 2017

Shutting Down in November? Ha!

I'm not sure where our plans went awry, but so far this month has been busier than ever.

This past Tuesday, we finally made a trip to the Big City.  We hadn't been since last June!  Needless to say, it didn't take us long to fill the back of the Suburban with all the miscellaneous supplies needed.  Our list was long but we made our stops efficiently and were home before dark which takes a bit of planning since the time change this past weekend!

It's deer season here and early Wednesday our good neighbors' son shot a deer with what should have been a quick, efficient kill.  Unfortunately, the deer got up and ran across their property and headed for our woods.  We joined the search party (there were seven of us) and tromped the woods for hours, but sadly, were never able to find the buck.  The son is a very conscientious hunter and was quite upset.  Not because he didn't "get his deer" but because he had caused suffering to the animal.  He had to leave for his home near the Twin Cities that same day to be at work the next morning.

Wednesday afternoon Chicken Mama, Gilligan, Papa Pea and I loaded up our truck and flatbed trailer to go get some birch wood we were offered that was piled on a building site that had been cleared this fall.  The wood had been limbed but was still in tree lengths.  We cut and loaded long lengths of the smaller trees taking close to a third of the pile.



 Do you know how heavy that chunk of wood
 is that Chicken Mama's carrying?
We raised one strong girl!


Back home we unloaded the wood in our back yard wood working area.

Yesterday, we had company in the morning from out of the area.  We visited and had lunch before he left to go hunting at other friends' house several miles from here.



The afternoon found us back at the birch wood site to bring home another load.  This time Papa Pea cut the bigger trees up into chunks which Gilligan and I loaded onto the trailer.  Chicken Mama was unavailable as she was cleaning the rental cabin she manages.  

We think we can finish up the wood cutting and hauling in two more loads, one of which is scheduled for this afternoon.

This morning I'm getting ready to head into town to make a pick-up at the library and make a stop at our food co-op to collect a few supplies and a special order I have waiting there.

Perhaps Saturday (which seems free and clear so far) we can finish hauling the last of the wood from the building site.

Sunday we're doing our last (hallelujah!) chicken/duck butchering of the season.  Never, ever will we let the birds hatch out so many eggs again!  Granted, this year was a trial period to see which of the birds would be good setters and mothers, but now that we know that, we'll definitely limit the number of eggs we let them hatch out next year.

After that, let's hope the activity around here does slow and we can begin our winter down time.  I'm ready.

19 comments:

tpals said...

I envy your sources of nearby wood.

Michelle said...

You are storing up wood and food like good little squirrels! The thought of POSSIBLY causing that kind of suffering with my actions would keep me from ever being a hunter, even if I ate meat.... Glad to hear, though, that the man felt badly about causing it.

Mama Pea said...

tpals - That's one thing we do have in abundance up here in northern Minnesota . . . trees as a wood supply. Now black garden soil? Not so much! ;o)

Mama Pea said...

Michelle - Oh, I understand totally where you're coming from regarding hunting. I'm not sure I could actually pull the trigger in order to harvest venison. If I could be guaranteed it would drop the deer immediately and we really needed the meat, possibly. But there always exists the chance that what happened to our neighbors' son might exist. I can assure you he did feel awful. All the hunters we know are truly conscientious and get no pleasure from inflicting unnecessary pain, but it does happen.

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

We have wood, I just lack the help. Now with the time change we have very little time to do it in the evenings.

Mama Pea said...

Kristina - I can totally relate to your situation! I remember doing a lot of wood working in the dark, and weekends were spent getting necessary tasks done with very little time off. No fun, but ya gotta do what ya gotta do!

Lisa said...

Yes, you did raise one strong, smart, hard-working daughter who clearly loves her parents very much!! And what great wood! We have downed oak trees and no one wants the wood. We don't burn wood anymore but find it's incredulous we cannot give it away for the hauling. :(

coffeeontheporchwithme said...

That's what keeps you so young! That is a lot of wood. Good thing you did have help. About your trip to the Big City, I agree that it does get dark early now. We had our first snow. It is still on the ground. -Jenn

Mama Pea said...

Lisa - Oak wood you can't get anyone to take? We'll be there this afternoon! ;o}

Mama Pea said...

Jenn - We had quite cold weather all last week (1 degree above zeroF only yesterday morning!) but now we're in a warming trend for this coming week. Crazy! 33 degrees now and rain/snow coming down. Not nice!

Rain said...

Hi Mama Pea :) You guys have a lot of heavy duty chores ahead. I'm hibernating, it's freezing here sigh...took me quite by surprise this year. The snow pants are out, it's eye-lash-freezing weather lol...oh how nice that you only have to hit the big city a few times a year! I would love to get to that stage!!! Chicken Mama is very strong! I don't think I could lift that log!!!

Sandy Livesay said...

Mama Pea,

It's rut season for the male bucks here, and they've turn a bit aggressive. You really have to watch out, Bulldog Man was almost charged at. I'm sorry to hear your neighbor didn't find the deer he shot. The young man did the right thing checking all around.
Chicken Mama sure can hold her own when it comes to work around the homestead. Bless her!!! She's gorgeous and one strong woman.

Hugs and love to you and your family.
Sandy

Leigh said...

I love seeing those birches. That's one tree I miss living in the South. No birches. And no snow, which occasionally I miss until we get some. And I had to smile at your "never ever .... so many eggs again" comment. We have come to the same conclusion!

MrsDuncanMahogany said...

Now that is one heavy duty work weekend!! Isn't a nice pile of wood comforting? :)

Mama Pea said...

Rain - Last week our temps were really cold, too. But we're having a warm-up this week. Also, very gray and drippy. Ish. I'm ready for a good covering of snow!

Mama Pea said...

Sandy - Our bucks don't go into rut for a while yet. I haven't heard of anyone around here being charged by a buck deer but it's quite common if you encounter a moose that's in a bad mood!

Hope all is well with you and yours.

Mama Pea said...

Leigh - Yes, I love birch for heating. Hubby used to like maple best, but we've found it makes so many more ashes that we're going to almost exclusively birch now.

We would complain if the ducks weren't laying and hatching out eggs, now we do the same because they do too many! ;o) Guess it's up to us to control the situation better, huh?

Mama Pea said...

MrsDM - Also burns lots of calories . . . so we can eat more! And, yes, having a good supply of wood is a wonderful feeling.

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