Poop and Mud Season

I am going to warn those faint of nose, this post is stinky.

Part of farm life is animal poop. It just is. A small farm like ours is really no exception. Most of the time the aggravations it can cause, like slipping in a bog of eternal stench (the pig area near the feeder after a long week of rain), are predictable and avoidable (mostly).

It is cold out right now so we don't really have to deal with smell.....but it is warming up. The unfortunate factor is that the snow cover has not thawed all winter and is now. This means layers and layers of dog, chicken, and horse poop (from visiting neighbors) are revealing themselves one sloppy disgusting strata at a time and mostly in the driveway by the back door.

Gross. There is not a lot to do about it either. Time and rain will wash it down and away. Until then we just have to (HAVE TO) take our boots off by the back door. We muck and mire through it. Today it was a lot better, but we had a lot of rain to get to this point. All that does though is cut the smell, the poop and mud just meld and melt together.

Just like when life is crappy. You can lay down in it, you can attempt to shovel it and move it, you can cover it up and pretend nothing ever poops, or you can just let nature takes it's course. Plant flowers, take off your boots. Life requires a little bit of all of these sometimes.

Blueberry Joy

Babywearing, a Short Reflection

I wear my babies. A lot. At least 6 hours a day now that I have the Calyx figured out. I hold my babies. I share my sleep with them. To me that is normal. It is certainly easier than anything else I've ever done, including trying to be a conventional parent.

Lil'Bug walked at 13 months, well within the range of normal. She was starting to talk at 9 and learning baby signs as well. Still within the range of normal. Babies have a lot to learn about being an upright communicating human, it is hard work.

The first nine months of Lil'Bug's life I worked full time, attended graduate school at night, served on three volunteer boards, and she was at a conventional at home day care that did not wear her. She was on the floor plenty.

Blueberry is too. She is on my back now when we go out, during some naptimes, while I do chores, while we hike, ect, but she also gets plenty of playtime on the floor. She may be an early or a late walker, but I carry her MORE. Babywearing does not harm the baby. There is certainly a lack of respect for children as human beings, as people, in a certain facet of our society and that seems to be the normal order of things. That is heartbreaking.

Yes, it was criticism that prompted this short ranting. I wonder sometimes if the critical actually understand how hurtful words can be, especially when said in front of the children. Perhaps, since children are not considered full members of society, that little detail didn't matter to the critic. Yes, that is me being snarky. 

Lamb Stew, an original recipe!

I started out with a lamb shank and thought that I had read a recipe online for a lamb stew using a shank and navy beans. Then....I couldn't find it. My beans had been shelled and soaked, the lamb thawed.

So I decided to just make a stew myself. I read a couple sites to get a feel for what seasoning typically get used for lamb, what veggies get added, and official temperatures and such.

As typical for me I read the package wrong and they were lamb leg STEAKS not shank. So it was. I had carrots on hand and onion too, but I was out of chicken stock. Hmmmm.

So here is the incredibly simple recipe that I put together this morning an set the oven before going to church. An amazing and nutritous lunch was ready when we came home four hours later. So easy, so good.

1-2 1b package of lamb meat.
3 carrots cut up, bite size
2 cups of, soaked overnight, beans. We used our own, varieties were Jacobs Cattle bean and Ying Yang bean. A seven bean mix like the kind sold for ham soup would work though.
1 medium yellow onion
1 T Rosemary
2 T French Thyme
some butter
about a teaspoon of course sea salt
enough water to fill the dutch oven after ingredients are added.

*optional, a slice of bacon leftover (or hidden for this purpose) from breakfast.  usually my family vetoes wasting bacon in such a manner! I used cottage bacon from "Eggs and Bacon" for the addition and the only way I managed it was making a whole pound of bacon and extra eggs, leaving one small slice back in the pan. Everyone ate and was full and unawares of the rebel slice. The hardest person to keep from eating it was me. Ha!

I melted the butter in the dutch oven and browned the lamb on both sides. Then I added everything else. Covered and set in the oven at 400 for 30 minutes. Then I turned it down to 200. That was at 8:45 am and at 12:30 it was done and AMAZING. I'll add pictures in a bit.

Dearest said it was the best soup I have EVER made, possibly the best meal ever too. He really likes lamb. Both girls finished their bowls. I served, as a side, crusty 5MAD bread with butter.

I was nervous to use seasoning other than cayenne. The joke is around here that I don't know how to make anything without it. Ha! Well, it is kind of true actually. Even my cinnamon rolls and sugar cookies get kicked up a notch. What can I say? I really like Thyme though and since I was out of chicken broth to use as a soup base, the herbs really played an important roll in creating a good broth.