Ignition

Baptism is the gateway Sacrament. 

           https://youtu.be/vr3tOkz2TWA         

 

Sharp Side

With the dust settling on this years butchering, it's fun to reflect on what all we've learned. I've found some new cuts and gotten more proficient with my time. But I've really gotten an education on sharpening knives.  

You've got to have good quality and sharp knives if you want to be safe and effecinet in cutting meat. I've been running mainly Victorinox inside the shop. By far the sharpest knives I've ever owned. 

Here's where it gets interesting. So much can be said about putting a good edge on a knife. Most knives in the kitchen have a 15 degree angle to them. The ones I use in the field are 30. I've found that when you are sharpening you are really not removing metal from the blade, as much as you are straightening out what's called the wire edge. The wire edge is the very tip of the blade edge. From cutting it can start to roll over to one side or the other. The point of a stone is to straighten it back out and even remove it. For a long time I wasn't being aggressive enough with the stone. You have to put the tip of that edge right on the stone, and cut the stone, as I like to say. In other words, keep tipping it until you see bits of stone start to come up with the oil. Anther tip I learned, is to make one pass forward on the left side, moving the blade across the stone as you push it along, followed by the same procedure with the right side. It's best to go back and forth, one side and then the other, in order to get an even edge. 

A steel is then used to keep the wire edge straight while you are cutting. Most are actually not intended to sharpen. The concept is basically the same, consistent angle, one side at a time, and often. 

This is my favorite boning knife: 8 inch blade and I use it for everything. 

This 10" steaker is only used for clean cutting, mainly for steaks. With a deep curved blade you easily push through the fattest of meats. 

This little 5 inch is great for fine tune cutting. Being small, it is easier to control.

Most of the time. These knives are made for cutting flesh and it doesn't matter who's. 

Done.

It really has been a good and fun butchering year. 12 cows were purchased in the spring. And 12 have now made their way to the freezer. Hard to say how many cows worth of beef is here, but should be enough to get us to the summer when we start all over again. I'm tired. I think I'll go to Hawaii for a break.  

Shady Side

 Welcome everyone as Christ.

           https://youtu.be/jfyfYsLKoLI         

Love vs. Fear

 Perfect love casts out all fear.

           https://youtu.be/OfjfpCbydn0         

Compassionate Heart

 Love one another.

           https://youtu.be/LyNPSMz1nwU         

Jesus

 There is power in the Holy Name of Jesus. 

           https://youtu.be/yF0nX4Dog9I         

Seek the Lord

... through wisdom and humility.

           https://youtu.be/phNRedp1kPc         

2021

A year of fun. 

           https://youtu.be/xcF-C90HKhM         

Tom and Jerry

Growing up Grandpa always made Tom and Jerry's for Christmas. We'd have them as kids and when we grew up we’d get to have the rum in them. Anyway, this Christmas I thought I'd try my hand at Grandpa's tradition. 

This is actually Grandpa's sister Mollie's recipe. They were German sugar beet farmers so I shouldn't be surprised that it called for 1.5 pounds of powdered sugar. Sure is sweet though. 

It's not too tough to make and is super good. To make the actual drink, I'd fill a quarter of the cup up with the batter, add a shot of rum, then fill the rest up with boiling water, stirring it up good. The nutmeg sprinkled on top is the final touch. I can still hear Grandpa yell across the kitchen to Grandma, Ruth, where are the givetz?(German for nutmeg, so we think) 

A perfect holiday drink for family and friends.

So fun. We've been celebrating hard this Christmas Octave. One more day to go in 2021. Might as well make the best of it. 

Too Full

Fast helps us think clearly.

           https://youtu.be/_ZuLQzPebOw         

 

Darkness

Open the door and let the light of Christ in.

           https://youtu.be/mJT3pL1L6B8         

 

Christmas Bales

One thing on my bucket list has always been to bale hay in December. Some people like to say they've water skied in December. I want to say that I've baled hay in December. Well, my dream came true during the Christmas Octave. 

The weather started off perfect. It has been unseasonably warm. So I borrowed Bill and Joanne Fields' baler and headed to our feed yard. 

She fit just right behind Johnny. 

The deal was to re-bale these big grass square bales. I just couldn't feed them efficiently. Little squares are more my style. 

It took a little playing, but what we found to work was to grab a bale with the bucket, flake it off with a pitchfork into a fluffy windrow, and then just craw along. It's amazing how much hay is in a 3x4x8.

Slowly but surely we'd kick them out. The 4570 Hesston didn't miss a lick. Out of each big bale we were able to get about 15 little bales.

Much better.

It probably would have been easier to just go buy new hay. But it wouldn't have been nearly as fun. I love all things ranch. Baling and feeding hay ranks right at the top. Our Lord became incarnate in the Christmas story. He loves humanity and so do I. Men were made to work. The more we live out of our human nature, the more we discover the hidden divine nature that Christ came to give us.