Seeking The Old Paths
January 4, 2007
Self Talk

Posted in Homestead Happenings


I surely would have thought the days of women swooning were over. What with the 1960’s having done their upheaval and corsets, too, being a thing of the distant past, fainting was, in my humble opinion, only for the overly dramatic. Recent events however, have caused me to rethink my position.

Not having bounced back from this stomach virus quite as quickly or as well as Mr. Visionary and the children, my felt need was rest. Still quite dizzy upon standing, I was hoping to be horizontal most of yesterday, and school was conducted from Mom’s bed.  Queasiness was making the thought of preparing food less-than-delightful, so when our dear friend (who is now even dearer) Miss Elizabeth brought us soup for lunch, my gratefulness to her and the Lord abounded.

Lunch over, and naptime graciously looming on the horizon, a knock at the door alerted me that perhaps my plans were changing. Greeted by a large mass of raw-and-dripping meat, I learned that Old Mr. Clark had been hunting.  His I-come-bearing-gifts grin alerted me that perhaps I should delegate the ‘stroll on over to the back of the truck’ to the boys. Neighborliness having gotten the better of me, I helped him hang our gift-deer in the woodshed and managed to stomach a few instructions about how to proceed from here, all the while purposing to not look the thing in the mouth.

After watching the Flower Child scratch the horns and coochie-coo at this dangling dead deer, I knew I needed to call in reinforcements. A frantic plea to Mr. Visionary to get home speedily, a cold washcloth to my face, and a parenting-by-speaker-phone conference with Dad and the boys to “not talk about it to Mom” were stop-gap measures to tide me over until said help arrived. With instruction from Old Mr. Clark, Dad and the kids skinned the deer after dinner, but the rest (cutting, packing) was left until this morning. Before breakfast.

There’s been a lot of under-the-breath muttering in my house recently. When Mr. Clark left, I was reminding myself that ‘the blessings of the Lord, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it’.  When I pined for that nap that was not to be, I repeated, “…as thy days, so shall thy strength be”. Overheard just this morning: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me…I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me… I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me…all things. ..I can do this…I can do this…even (gulp) this…”

Before leaving, Old Mr. Clark mentioned one last thing,"If any strangers show up and leave you deer, I sent 'um. I told four or five of my buddies that y'all wanted venison".


Suddenly even those last nine pounds of pregnancy weight seem surmountable.



P.S. With strict instructions to not photograph anything gross, Literary Lady got a few cute shots I was going to post. Unfortunately, neither homestead nor homeschool blogger will allow it today. Go figure.

 



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Comments

January 4, 2007 - Untitled Comment

Posted by evenavapor


Wow wee, what a day! ;-)
...on a hunting trip with our neighbor, hubby bagged a deer right before Thanksgiving. We've been eating yummy venison ever since...it may not seem like it now, but later on you will be SO Thankful for all the free meat...our grocery bill has never been so low :-)
-Stephanie
http://musings-of-a-mountain-mama.blogspot.com/


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January 5, 2007 - Untitled Comment

Posted by Anonymous


Rats - I had commented but it didn't register.

I'm so sorry that you've all been sick. We have too...same thing. It was horrible, and has taken longer to recover from than I would have thought. I'm glad I didn't need to do a deer during this time!

I enjoyed your post regarding decluttering. I almost said "purging" but decided you might not know what I meant....purging as in "illness?" or...as in "decluttering." :) I can relate to the packing up of "things," to not using them, not missing them, and then wondering why I even have them? We DO need a lot less than we think - and it is freeing to realize that. I just sent three more bags to the thrift store this afternoon.

I've missed you!

Holly
www.seekingfaithfulness.wordpress.com


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January 6, 2007 - Untitled Comment

Posted by Anonymous


LOL-you poor thing! You sure paint a good word picture. I could just see this!

We deal with dead deer every year as my dh hunts and we butcher it ourselves. But, I can't look at the deer until my dh and son have skinned and quartered it. Then I can handle it since it doesn't look like a deer anymore.

I hope you feel better quickly! Two of my kids had the stomach bug this week and one had a cold. So far both have bypassed me.

Hang in there! Holly(applesofgold)


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January 27, 2007 - Venison

Posted by castlekids


My husband hunts so we eat venison too. I have a hard time looking at the dead deer and don't want to even imagine skinning and butchering it! Thankfully we take ours to a butcher who for $45 cuts and packages it all into roasts, stew meat, butterfly steaks, cutlets, and ground. Our favorite way to eat it is probably venison parmesean. This week I made a stew and chili with it. The crockpot is my friend!
Hope you are fully recovered from the yucky illness.

~Jenny


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