Farewell to Sassy….
The joys and sorrows of hosting a geriatric animal refuge…. such lovely creatures, but they do have a limited life-span. Our Scottish Highlander Cow, Sassy, passed away quietly last week, in her mound of hay, between rainstorms.
Sassy, February, 2024, 2 weeks before her passing.
It’s mid February, 2024, and rain is still prevalent. Sometimes in torrents… sometimes as mist. Despite, or because of, these lovely harbingers of spring….
Soup has been our preoccupation these past weeks…. 3 varieties each for 7 weeks. Some have been met with notability, plaudits and commendations….. some, we know we probably won’t put on the "let’s do that again!” list. This week we’re making two kinds of clam chowder… and already we’ve found that New England style supersedes Manhattan by a long shot. Our last soups will be delivered at the end of February, on the 29th. After that, we turn to burn piles, raking up branches in camp, more garden clean-up… and a few Foodie-type weekends. We’re offering a Whiskey Weekend over St. Patrick’s Day, and a Birding Brunch in April.
Crispin and Tamar, the owners and distillers at Mendocino Spirits, will be at Emandal to regale us with just how they manage to make such notable elixirs… and how well they pair with delicious Emandal dishes…. This picture was taken a couple of weeks ago, early February, at the Silver Bridge, Sanhedrin in the background.
Cousin Bill volunteered to help us with tuna in early February. The LAST time we canned tuna must have been 40 or so years ago… when our kids were young and impressionable. They all remember how horrible the task was…. It was done in the dark of night, late in the fall, out in the pasture, on slabs of plywood placed over the old hay wagon…. the fish were frozen, the air was nearly that…. pigs surrounded us, waiting for cast-offs…. Clive meant to start earlier, but didn’t. Flood lights were brought out so that we could see what we were doing, and be able to kick the pigs away when they got too close. NOONE appreciated the dozens of jars of tuna we were to have for the next couple of winters.
And because of that escapade, we haven’t done it since. BUT, this time, it was a DREAM! We had prepared and were ready! We semi-thawed the three fish Bill’s son Pat had brought us in November, so that they would be easy to fillet. The jars were washed. We built a fire in the wood stove in the kitchen so that WE wouldn’t freeze. In a half hour, the fish were filleted, cut, placed in jars, capped and ready for processing.
That’s when we finally figured out that the processing is what takes the longest! 100 minutes for each batch, at 10-11 pounds pressure. With only one canner, it would take 3 1/2 batches…. or 400+ minutes, 6 1/2 to 7 hours. We started the first processing at noon.
Kashaya suggested that we call around the neighborhood, to see if we could borrow a pressure canner. Boy, did we hit the jack-pot! A neighbor did indeed have a pot, and yes, we could come get it…. but no, they didn’t want it back! Merry Christmas, they said! We placed 18 jars in that canner, and another 10 in the first one, which was finally finished. By 4 pm, we were done!
Now that we know we don’t have to freeze our fingers or fend off hungry pigs, and have plenty of light to work, we’re ready to tackle it again this fall. The tuna is wonderful!
Our guard dogs doing their job of protecting our chickens. Ruby, the grande dame, on the left with greyish hair. Rosco, on the right, younger, whiter, with shorter hair. Both a bit muddy. Because they do their job so well, our chickens are thriving. The young hens, 6 months old now, are giving us some lovely little eggs. It’s about time, of course….. so much feed (expensive feed) to get them large enough to lay….
If you’re thinking about a summer visit to the farm, do be in touch. We have some space left, but not a lot.
Wishing you the rainbows that appear after the storm.