This year we're thankful for. . .

Yes, I know Thanksgiving is over. Close enough.

1) Turkey (s)

 Our turkeys dressed out to about 20 lbs each this year, we weren't about to make the 37 lb bird mistake twice.

 Even so, we had plenty of leftovers after celebrating Thanksgiving x 2 on Thursday and Friday.

 A little green to balance out the carbs.

A little more green.

2) Leftovers

We finished the last of Big Bird tonight. We have a 4 day-in-a-row turkey limit.

Also thankful for leftover hollandaise sauce from breakfast. Perfect for livening up out of season asparagus.

 3) Goats

Bonner was a welcome addition this year. Even though he is only 6 months old his 'enthusiastic' and 'hyperactive' nature helped to get all of our young goats bred. 

Except Luna. She was bred and re-bred 3 times before we finally threw in the towel. She will be taking the year off, as a result and will get a little hormone boost next Fall.

The last of our young goats was bred this week. Barring any complications or repeated heat cycles, my season as goat matchmaker / driver are over!

4) Bacon

The pigs served us well this year. We ate our first pack of bacon within 24 hours of picking up the pork at the butcher shop.

5) The Pressure Canner

We kept the garden waste to a minimum this year, the only casualty being a bowl of banana peppers I didn't get to in time. 

Picking up 300 lbs of pork meant prioritizing freezer space. I pulled out about 30 lbs of random goat meat chunks and slow roasted them all day with the intent of canning 'meat' for the first time. 

Ugh. It looks really gross. Do they make opaque canning jars? Ended up with 7 full quarts of shredded goat meat. 

6) A Giant Snow Thrower

I was excited that the freshly repaired baler was moved out of my garage parking space today. It was quickly replaced with a giant snow thrower for the tractor. Now that we have the most effective and appropriate type of equipment for our ridiculous driveway, it will never snow in Ohio again. For this all of you should be thankful as well. 

7) My kiln

I never thought I had an addictive personality until now. I need another hobby like I need hole in my head. Instead of shoes the Amazon gods are bringing boxes of glass every day.

8) The pizza oven

An early Christmas gift from my parents. A gas-fired dome gets us homemade stone fired pizza in 3 minutes.  No more shitty delivery out in the boonies for us!

We're most thankful that the goats are dried off for the season. Chores are quicker, messes are smaller. Now to stock up on hay and start our winter maintenance and repairs...