6.2.24
There is something quite rewarding about getting the last batch of cured meat in the smoker following recently dispatching three pigs. After resting comfortably in the cooler for a few a days, the lovely looking sides of pork were soon disassembled and reduced to an abundance of little white packages that now are residing in a somewhat chillier environment! Out of the three porkers there was a tad over 200 pounds of meat that was turned into hams, hocks and slabs of streaky bacon. The last of which, the hams, was just placed in the smoker where it will stay for the next several hours. Yes, it is good to be almost done.
As you may recall, after over 30 years of raising pigs from birth to butcher, I decided to sell our breeding stock, cut way back on our pork production and just raise three pigs a year for us. Actually, it was nice just dispatching three porkers, knowing there were no more in the butcher pen awaiting their turn. I must be getting old! I still thoroughly enjoy procuring and processing meat for our freezer as I could not imagine having to buy sausage, pork chops, roasts and such! No, nothing beats having fresh homemade bacon, sausage and hams in one’s freezer. Yet it is nice to just raise a few pigs now, a far cry from the 12 or so we used to raise and process!
There really is something to be said for cutting back and slowing down. Of late, Darrell and I have taken to adopting a morning ritual that both of us look forward to, the simple one of sitting on the front porch and sipping a fancy coffee. I am not usually a coffee drinker but when we go to town, we always pass through a little coffee shop and pick up a fancy coffee as I call it. A decaf latte made with skim milk for Darrell and a latte breve for me, regular coffee in my cup of course! Here at home, we have our own little espresso coffee maker that used to sit in the bunkhouse for when we would have guests staying up there. I brought it to the house a while ago and our little ritual began.
After the morning’s milk from Heidi has cooled, been put away in glass jars then popped into the milk fridge, we usually have a bit of breakfast before heading out to do a spot of gardening or tend to other chores. Around 10 o’clock, we head back to the house where I make each of us a fancy coffee. With the dogs at our feet, we sit in the sun on the front porch with our respective beverages and just enjoy the peace and quiet that surrounds us. Maybe we will talk about upcoming projects, maybe just sit in companionable silence, but we enjoy the moment.
For too long I have been saying I will start to slow down, to cut back. A very easy thing to say but quite a hard thing to do! Some folks will chuckle, some of you may actually laugh out loud and say, “Rose! Where are you slowing down? Where are you cutting back? Doesn’t look like it to me!” Ah, but I know I am! I want to and need to. It is time to do things at a slower pace. Spend more time with Darrell pottering in the garden – I will pay more attention to weeding this year! Not worry so much about this or that needing to get done but plant more flowers around the house instead. Most importantly, just spend time sitting on the front porch with my dearest.
A part of my mind still tends to form a list a mile long of things I want to accomplish when I get up in the morning but the realistic side of me tailors that list back to a more doable size. Then all those thoughts go out the window. Right now, as I look across at the man sitting beside me, I know nothing is more important than to quietly sit here, sipping the cup of tea he made me. He always times it perfectly so it is ready when I return to the house after milking. I will pop up to the butcher shop in a minute to replenish wood in the smoker then come back to the house and get ready to prepare our Sunday morning breakfast… hashbrowns and sausage gravy!
Later, when breakfast is finished and Heidi and Lass have been turned out to munch the abundant green grass in their paddock, it will be time for our fancy coffee. With frothy cups in hand, we will sit on the front porch, watching as the clouds build and hint at a promise of rain. There truly is nothing more important on today’s agenda than this. I will reach over and squeeze my dearest’s hand, as we sit there side by side. Each day with him is special. Each day is precious. I cherish every moment and am thankful.
