Welcoming Autumn 2011

It's amazing how you can smell Autumn in the air. The leaves are getting crisp and you can find the men gearing up for hunting season. Even with the option of running to the store if we run out of an item, it's instinctual to prepare to make it through the year. I love the challenge and also the tradition.

Butchering was done early September. We have a freezer full of beef now, and by the looks we may need another freezer by the end of hunting season. This year we butchered a Holstein and split it in half with my folks. A half beef seems to be plenty for my young family of 5.

Cost to have a half cow butchered

Cow purchased :approx. 300.00.    150.00 for half

100% grass fed, and free hay:         50.00 diesel/ beer

Butchering cost:                              346.00



My father always gifts my family the cow for our birthday/ anniversary gift which are all during this time of year. Late August- late September. We also hay our fields for merely the cost of diesel and beer. All we pay is the butchering costs of 346.00

                                                        Other Meats:

Chicken:  also buy Foster Farms chicken breast from Costco approx. every 3 months at approx. 22.00 per bag
Fish, clam digging, crabbing:
 Salmon and sturgeon are basically free due to access to fishing. License and cost associated with fishing and clam digging are considered entertainment/hobby costs.

Total monthly meat cost approx. = 35.00 per month

The Slow Life

My Moment of Reflection

Taking a moment to reflect on this past year I can honestly say, I never once felt like time passed me by. My youngest will be two in February, and I received many comments such as "already?" Or, " Wow, that just flew by."  People always look funny at me when I respond "not really." But I have come to realize I accomplished my last year goal of slowing down life.

 I have also come to appreciate my commitment to becoming a stay at home mother. Because honestly,  I haven't always praised the decision. I have had my moments of insecurities. I have always worked, and had good jobs too. I have felt more attached to dirty dishes and laundry than the outside world. I have had my fears. Afraid that others may look down upon my choice referring to it as "doing nothing", "lazy", or "spoiled."  With the rolling movements of women of the 80's and 90's, being a stay at Home Mother's hasn't been quite at the top of achievements. However, I have come to appreciate it, and now refer to it as an opportunity.

 I am also very grateful to my husband for providing for us financially so we are capable of providing this slower paced lifestyle. I am fortunate to have a husband of good work ethic and traditional morals. He and I both had mother's who stayed at home with us when we were young. And, I have come to respect that.

I love being a mother and I take my place in the circle of life very seriously. From every inch of pregnancy to the hours of labor, to the very moment of birth, from nursing to humming lullabies. I embrace it all whole heartily and very tenderly.
 There couldn't be another possible thing on earth other than motherhood that could bring a human so in touch to nature. To feel intertwined with Mother Earth and God our creator.

The face of a newborn- kissed by the angels. The scent of a new babe- a hint of that of heaven. The love of a child- a reminder of the love of God. Tender, pure, natural, real.
I am apart of the ever evolving circle of life. From the mother wolf to her pups, from the eagle in her nest.

We are created to reproduce, programmed to survive, and privileged to think, express, and feel. Beyond our cultural differences we are yet very much the same. We create life, we die. And all that which is in between; we live.  At the very core we have yet ever inch in common. We are all that of the human race.

Genesis 3:19

"By the sweat of your brow
      will you have food to eat
   until you return to the ground
      from which you were made.
   For you were made from dust,
      and to dust you will return.”