Another Year Gone By

Today I turn 33.  I'm sure to my parents it is unfathomable that their baby is so grown up.  I doubt they ever imagined me gaining gray hairs, dealing with morning stiffness, or drinking coffee before my own kids awake.

I remember once my mother remarking that she didn't really feel that she was getting older until she noticed her hands looking more like grandma's, and that grandma had said something along those same lines.  I think I've been curious about the aging process after that comment and I've paid closer attention to what growing older has looked like for me.  The body aches are more pronounced, my skin takes longer to heal and has issues with dryness that I didn't in my twenties.  My hands hurt most days in a way that makes me wonder if I'll have arthritis like most lovely grandmothers I've met.  The gray hair doesn't bother me at all.  In fact I find it fun to watch my hair change, mostly because I'm just glad to still have it!

Thirty two was a good year, and I'm glad that it was.  For no logical reason, 32 is my favorite number, so I was looking forward to what it brought.  In the last year I did some (what I consider) amazing things.  I had my first big year of canning.  Oddly enough I never counted just how many jars of yummy foods I put up, but it was easily over fifty.  I butchered chickens on my own, thanks to our dog getting a few.  Experienced dying fabrics with a friend.  Learned some new knitting techniques.  Had the easiest pregnancy with Finn, and his first five months have been pretty chill too.  Thirty two also saw our first full year of homeschooling all of the kids.  Grew a pig, and put her in the freezer ourselves.  We upped our gardening from an approximately 10x10 organic plot to a 50x90 heirloom organic field.  The garden has a larger footprint than our house, which I find amusing.  It has been a lot of hard work, especially with a baby, but we are reaping the rewards daily.  Currently harvesting and putting up the produce is taking up about 2-4 hours a day!  I am blown away daily with how much God is blessing us despite the weeds that I haven't been able to keep at bay (key word for next year--mulch!), the grasshoppers that are in abundance and the vine borers that have attacked my winter squashes.

Had a few adventures, which are always notable to this scheduled personality.  Glenwood springs with Phil in January via amtrak was so relaxing.  Soaking in the outdoor pool was pretty awesome too!  In June my sister and I ventured to Kansas City, we had a blast shopping until we dropped, as I introduced her to the loveliness that is Ikea.

In the last few weeks, I determined that I need to grow myself more.  I'm starting small with listening to Ted Talks on youtube while doing kitchen work.  One of the speakers taught me that you can learn any new skill if you dedicate just 20 hours into it.  Since I've missed having a piano around, and I refused Phil's offer of an electric keyboard (it's just not the same so please don't try and convince me otherwise!), I decided I'm going to learn how to play the ukulele.  It also is appeasing my desire to learn how to play the guitar, which is fantastic.  I'm less than one hour into learning (when you only get twenty minutes at a time it adds up slowly), but I'm thrilled with the progress I'm making!  I'm telling the world so they will hold me accountable to learning.  My goal song is Somewhere Over The Rainbow, it is so pretty when played by a ukulele.

It feels sad that I can sum up a whole entire year of my life with just a few paragraphs.  I guess though that since I love routine and crave doing the same things day in and day out with few exceptions it stands to reason that I can do just that.

Goodbye thirty two, you treated me well.  Hello thirty three, what do you have in store for me?!!?

Bacon by the numbers

After a very exhausting two days of slaughter and butchering, church camp, and family visiting, we finally got around to weighing our final products!  Without further Adieu, may I present to you Bacon by the numbers.

185 lb  Hanging Weight (after draining blood)
3.8 lb  back fat to be used for making sausage
22 lb  bacon
16.7 lb  ribs
63.10 lb  ground pork
4 lb  pork chops
______________
109.9 lbs

these numbers don't include the organ meats, soup bones, or cooked scraps (a whole meals worth!) that we got off of the non soup bones

All websites we read through said to expect an at best yield of 49%, so I am quite blown away that we got 19 pounds more!  Phil says this is the benefit of doing our own butchering, and since he enjoys it so much, I won't mention again about having someone else do it for us.

Phil is already talking about having at least two if not three next year, but the idea leaves me weary.  However, I'm sure it will be like gardening--after a huge harvest I want nothing to do with gardening until the dead of winter.  I have a feeling that next years catch phrase from my mouth will be 'hog panels' as we discuss our homestead plans!