I'm so sorry it's been so long. I was hoping to be better at keeping up with my blogging - but that's just not going to happen at the moment. We are enjoying having my parents & Granny here at Sunnyside & have lots of fun & exciting excursions planned. My Granny grew up 2 hours from here, so we are hoping to go back & look at the farming area she grew up in - I am so excited to have this opportunity to look at it "through her eyes". Needless to say I will be a slack blogger for a little bit longer. 
Lamby - poo when we first got him! (with Whitey of course)
The 3.2kg roast currently in the oven.... smells good!
Today I'm sitting here feeling completely exhausted, but very thankful for the blessings God has given us! This morning Dave, Zai & I were up early & headed over to our neighbours place for......
the inaugural butchering of two of our sheep!!!!
(No gross pictures - I promise)
Producing our own meat has long been a dream of ours, but because we didn't know how to cut it up ( & quite frankly just following the directions in Carla Emery's " An encyclopedia of country living" made us nervous) we decided to get someone who know what they're doing show us! Well our neighbour said yesterday to choose our lambs out & he would show us how.
Lamby - poo when we first got him! (with Whitey of course)Dave went over yesterday to help with the killing. No, he didn't faint - LOL - he did say it isn't nice - although I guess when he's eating the beautiful, grass-fed roast tonight he won't be thinking about it!
So this morning was the cutting up! I have always enjoyed being there as the butcher cuts up a beast - I like to say "yes, that's the size I want" or "I want more roasts/chops etc. from this one". I also like to pack exactly the right amount for our family in each bag. It was an early start - but one of those jobs that you're so excited about it isn't a job to get out of bed (just difficult by this time of the afternoon to stay awake).
The 3.2kg roast currently in the oven.... smells good!
We are so thankful for a freezer full of beautiful hogget (older than lamb - it's the way they like it out here in the country (no, not as old as mutton)). The roast in the oven is from "lamby-poo" - our first lamb. The other one we cut up was Cocoa - he was also one of our original wethers. Thankfully they weren't attached to us, so no one was upset (I did warn the neighbour that he was not under any circumstances to touch any of my girls though!)
I just need to get rid of the smell of meat from my hands.... (any hints??)
Have a happy day!
Renata :)
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13 comments:
Narn this is very distressing!!! We don't want you to come here and eat Rachy!!! Little boo is very upset over cocoa, that you would eat him...
well, enjoy your visitors (don't eat them)!!!
luv and tears,
sel
Butchering. Not pleasant what so ever. But having a freezer full of goodness is great!!
It would be most difficult to have to butcher one of our own...but it is what it is. And...you know exactly what was fed your lambs and that they were treated in a humane manner. It is the least we can do. How great would it be to have a freezer full of our very own grass fed beef or lamb? VERY great!
That's great that you had a neighbor that could teach you! Providing food for your family is a wonderful skill to learn. Yes it's hard to do, and that's normal. BUT its a very good skill to learn.
Try lemon juice and vinegar on the hands for the smell. You'll smell like vinegar for a while, but it's better than meat, IMO. :-)
I could never butcher. I like to eat the meat, and I don't mind cooking it, but that's as far as I'll go. I was looking at the picture of your lamb, and thinking about how he's being cooked now, and I got a big lump in my throat!
I'm a big baby.
I hope your roast tasted wonderful. I think butchering would be easier if you didn't know the animal's name. Maybe it will get easier as you go along. I know the couple of times we ate some of our chickens, it was a lot of work defeathering and gutting, but we weren't attached to the chicken emotionally.
Enjoy your holiday with your family.
I think what I love most about this is you know exactly what was fed to your lambs before it is fed to your family.
What an awesome blessing!
ps I couldn't butcher it myself, but I could certainly eat it :)
What a HUGE & bountiful blessing for your family! I just love that you know exactly what is going into the lamb before you feed it to your family.
Just awesome!
Well, Narn, I have to say that your grass fed roast meat tasted absolutely delicious!! Thanks for letting us share your first meal. Lots of love, Mum xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Hi there Renata! I hope your having a great day and enjoying the time with your family visiting! As a child my dad would butcher a sheep for meat for our family every few months or so.. and I LOVED watching him cut it up and checking out the insides etc!! Fascinating stuff for kids :)
Love lots, Martine
I admire you. I don't htink I could eat meat from one of our animals. Crazy I know.. but i just would think about it too much.
Hi Renata! I've jumped all over your blog reading this morning... what a joyous life you have! Your family is beautiful, what a blessing they are for you. So glad to have found you.
I had to laugh about your comment on learning to butcher from Carla Emory's Encyclopedia of Country Living! That is exactly who I learned to butcher from, since there was noone more experienced on hand to teach me!
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