CrabGrassAcres

WOW, Pigzilla! That's a lot! I'm rendering fat for lard today. It'll go in canning jars, but then in the freezer.

7 more qts of chicken! It sure seems I should be seeing a dent in the rooster population by now, as hard as I've been going at this, but I'd swear there are more down there now than when I started. LOL

7 qts of dark chicken meat on the bone. 26 1/2pts of boneless skinless breast meat.

Torch won't get hot enough. I used to put mine in the wood stove to burn them off. To season, use animal fat, not veggie oil. The oil can make a sticky residue.

It isn't a dumb question at all. I had to go back and look at my post, and it was a bit ambiguous. I meant to use a pressure cooker on a regular stove if you are conserving fuel or to cook with a regular pot in a solar cooker. I can't see that it would be easy to keep a pressure cooker regulated in a solar oven. I always treated the solar oven like a slow cooker.

Wanted to add, don't put new ductwork in. You lose a lot of heat thru it and it is vulnerable to damage. Don't use standard mobile home skirting. It is pretty for the showroom, but doesn't last.

Guess I'm an "expert" on mobile home living! LOL, I've had new ones used ones, and near about falling apart ones. 7 in all! My advice is to get the cheaper 16X80. Get it up to your place and pull out the vents and ductwork since wildlife of all sorts love it. Pull out the insulation underneath for the same reason. It is usually shot pretty fast anyhow. Go thru and put new plywood subfloor over the old. Take out carpet first, linoleum can stay and be covered. Pull all the tubs/showers/ sink cupboards etc. so you can cover ALL the holes. When they build mobiles they leave huge gaping holes around the plumbing. Pull all the plumbing out. It is not expensive to replace with PVC and will be much more satisfactory. Now go under and spray foam insulation over the entire underside of the floor, being sure to cover all the pipes. Give it two or three layers if possible. If the inside is paneled, you can cover it with sheet foam insulation and Sheetrock. The foam is twice the insulation value of batt insulation. Put down sheet vinyl or tile or wood laminate. I have sheet vinyl. All this is what was just done to my tin mansion. It is MUCH nicer now than a new one. It sounds like a lot, but if you have two mobiles, camp in one and repair the other then move into the repaired one and do the second. It took 2 1/2 months 3-4 days a week with half a dozen people working most days to do mine and paint inside and out, plus repair and paint and reroof my barn and build decks, ramp and steps. Mice and snakes and other critters like possums and raccoons no longer have access to my home! For heat, if you have electricity, put in baseboard heaters for backup and/or normal use. If you want a wood heater, be sure to put the appropriate shielding behind and under it and run the pipe out the wall, not thru the roof.

When nothing in the freezer "counts" towards supplies until it is canned or dried.

I have one! When there is an ad on CL for a free horse and you check to see how much meat is on it. LOL Rather eat a horse than a weiner dog.

I've done this before. It is really a good way to keep the tomatoes going. I've had tomatoes all thru the winter (in Colorado even) and plants ready to go in spring. If you have a couple of plants in 5 gal containers all winter, you will have more than enough to take cuttings for your entire garden.

The ear lobe is the fleshy area around the ear canal. Most white egg layers have white deposits over the red flesh. Most brown egg layers will have red flesh around the ear, similar to the comb and wattles. Brown egger. The white is a tuft of feathers which is not the ear lobe. White egger. There are exceptions, but I'm too sleepy to think of them right now.

LOL, you're gonna need LOTS of help with that one. Probably about as bad as "Bell".

Do you crack the bones first? How? Some recipes call for cracking them. Do I hit them with a hammer? LOL Is it worth the extra work? Do you boil the chicken feet in your broth?

Good!More the merrier! Where is Arby?

Glad for a day or two "off"! I've had a splitting headache all day and my neck feels stiff. (Not menengitis stiff! Arthritis stiff.) I finally got it to pop and it feels much better. I'm more than ready to hit the hay! G'nite.

AH, sure glad that you two are hanging in with us!

A happy birthday to you, a happy birthday to you, every day of the year, may you find Jesus near, a happy birthday to you a happy birthday to you and the best year you've ever had!

I'm also an RN, MtRider. I've specialized in maternal/child health, but have also worked a good bit in general nursing. I gave my doe a booster rabies vax. Our dogs are all up to date. I hope everybody else have their animals vaccinated already. Is anybody checking on Sharon and making sure she eats and gets what she needs? Maybe somebody can go drive her wagon. I'm sure that leg is agonous. I'll break out canned meat for lunch. I have a huge stack of pancakes for sandwiches. Sure glad I cooked a bunch. Anybody that is hungry, give a holler. I only got about 3 hrs sleep and am really zingy today. (IRL too, the Pyrs barked at the coyotes all night.) I'm not letting chickens or ducks range till we get "there". The geese and turkeys are getting to stretch their legs on quiet evenings and the geese are to be penned on grass each night. They are graziers and really need the grass. Mother, if you have spare milk, I'd love to have some for the doelings. That will save the replacer for another day. Daughter and I and my sister & family can't drink cow milk so we are guzzling goat milk. Means not enough goat milk for mine and sis's doelings that we brought.

I fed the leftover chili and cornbread to the dogs and they lapped it down and looked around for more. I gave the Pyrs some chicken feed to fill the corners and got the poultry fed and settled. Neices and Nephew did all the milking and helped their parents to care for the rest of the livestock. I set some whole oats to soaking for tomorrow's oatmeal and cooked up some more cornbread. While I was doing that, I decided to bake a large cake and more pancakes for tomorrow's lunch. Started some white beans to soak for tomorrow's dinner. Daughter and I showered while stuff was baking and I tucked her in bed. Sis and her family took their showers and sis and the kids turned in. BIL carried a camp chair over where the livestock are grazing and took first watch. Being too keyed up to sleep, I kept making pancakes. Guess I know what the pups are eating tomorrow. Gordon was, as usual, doing perimeter patrol. The younger Pyrs were taking turns with him or hanging out under the wagon with the goats. All of a sudden Gordon went ballistic, making everybody jump. I grabbed my high powered flash light and shown it beyond him. Just a coon! He took off running pretty fast. I was glad, since I was reluctant to let off a shot. Still, folks were sticking their heads out of the wagons and tents. "Just a coon," I called and they all nodded and disappeared. Finally, about 1 I turned in, leaving the night watch to the men folk.

WOW! I am so impressed! I reckon that young fellow has a right to be proud of himself!

Excellent idea, AH! Especially for families to help the children to learn. This is how I normally cook and eat. I also have no dishwasher or washing machine. I'm going to pass on the floor sleeping since I've done more than my fair share of that in a lifetime. LOL I've also cooked a lot on campfires and hobo stoves. Lived off grid and with no running water for years at a stretch. Expect we'll have to do it again sometime. In fact, I wish this were a "reality" instead of "un-reality"!

Glad to see y'all made it, Stephanie! Well the doe is looking ok. I cleaned the wounds and put more pine salve on them. Made a big pot of oatmeal for breakfast again. My neices didn't want it so I had them do a huge stack of pancakes. The extras will be used for lunch sandwiches. I got out a jar of meat to make sandwiches. Had my nephew fill the jugs and strap them on the wagon for baths tonight. Makinge a big pot of chili for supper. Soaked the beans overnight then put them in the pressure cooker this morning. Let them cook 10 min then set them in the fireless cooker. I took some beef out of the freezer to thaw and I'll put that in the pressure cooker with onions and seasonings then mix with the beans in a big stock pot. While that cooks, I'll make a pan of cornbread. Glad I was able to send to town for some dry ice. Actually, my BIL and nephew went. They rode a couple of the horses. My nephew stayed outside and watched the horses while my BIL went in to get the ice. He said there wasn't much in the store by way of groceries. There was a big sign near the registers saying "no food sold without ration book". Looks like they are rationing locally now. He said there was no dog food even. He was wanting some for their dogs. I said I'd make extra cornbread. We stocked up on deer corn before leaving Texas. BIL had fussed about how much corn I insisted on. Now he is glad I brought it.

I was sitting on the wagon, hanging on to the oxen for dear life. I am NOT accustomed to handling large animals. Next time we go thru a big town, I'd appreciate someone more experienced or at least stronger handling my wagon. I'd have done better walking and keeping my goats and dogs under control. I did take the precaution of putting my youngest 2 does in the cage with the doelings. Also two of the young Pyrs were tied inside my wagon. Fortunately the one doe is not severely injured. I put pine salve on the cuts and they should heal ok. Ann, those eggs are from pastured hens. They will help your cholesterol, not harm it. We can probably squeeze some more into the freezers if we move the frozen jugs to the ice chests. I want to run back to town for dry ice too. It will keep us from running the generator. I feel the quieter we are, right now, the better. I strapped a couple of water jugs to the outside of my wagon so the sun is hitting them. They will be nice and hot for baths tonight. Glad I put tonight's dinner in the fireless cooker so it will be ready as soon as we are thru getting the camp set up and animals taken care of. I need a BIG mug of coffee! I didn't hear the fake rooster. I'm so used to roosters crowing all hours, I don't pay much attention.

Supposed to be clear and sunny today. Here's a dozen eggs. I packed a bunch in the grain barrels and the hens are still laying.

3 goats milked and 5 doelings and all the poultry, Pyrs AND daughter and myself fed. I'm ready to go back to bed! My nephew and neices are going to take over the milking and doeling feeding and help with the poultry. They will be taking care of their goats and critters too. Sis and hubby will be hitching up all 3 wagons. I'll feed the dogs and fix the meals. Plenty of milk for everyone to drink their fill! I made oatmeal for breakfast and cooked it in milk instead of water. More milk to wash it down. That should stay with us a while.