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Saturday, August 31, 2013

A Reprieve

Big Steve and I enjoyed sleeping a little late this morning, at least for us.  Actually 9 am is excruciatingly late for us, and that's exactly when Elsa and Pearl decided enough is enough and licked our faces till we laughed our hearts out and got up and got going.  It's so nice to start the day with doggie kisses.

We lazily went through our morning routines and then headed out to Argyle for an order of beef.  I can't say enough good things about Locust Grove Farms out in Argyle.  I have been buying meat from them for decades now.  The cows are pastured, grass eating beasts.  The gentleman owner who butchers them, Bill, is just that....a gentleman.  Many of you know how I feel about eating meat.  But it's the inhumanely, commercially raised meat that I have a problem with.  The animals at Locust Grove Farm are healthy, well cared for and happy....cows, pigs, chickens.  Bill is a truly kind and gentle man.  I have a good feeling about eating meat in this way.  When he calls you about your order (which doesn't happen instantly, he is very fussy about the beef he sells and picks out just the right beast for your wants and needs) he will tell you about the cow...details that only a concerned cattleman would know or care about.

They smoke their own bacon, ham, etc., make their own jerky, pies, candies, dressings and marinades, you name it.  It's a real treat to visit that smokehouse - I encourage you to take the drive if you have nothing to do on the weekend or in conjunction with an apple picking day - I almost guarantee you will come home with a car full of goodness.  Or a freezer full -- like this (don't be jealous, but there are THREE prime rib roasts in there):



I always feel so incredibly blessed when I fill up the freezer with this good beef.  We'll eat well all winter.  What a blessing!!!

At any rate, on the way out and on the way back, Big Steve and I had an opportunity to really talk.  I guess we have decided to wait till Spring to list the house.  Whew!  It's not that I don't want to move, I really do.  It's just that it was too soon.  And if we sold the house and the coop with it and left the chickens, I wouldn't have a really good feeling about rookie urban homesteaders (chicken parents) overwintering my babies.  I'm not sure we would leave the hens, but if someone wanted an established situation, we thought we might.

So the pressure is off.  We'll do more to prepare the house for the next family than we originally intended to do.  But we love this place.  We can't control what the next owner does or doesn't do, but we have to do it correctly, our way, on our terms.

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