Clancy's

It'll be right there on the corner on the right hand side as you pull into town.  You can't miss it. 

It says, "Clancy's" in big red letters across the top of a white garage.  There are two pumps right out front.  Used to stick out like a sore thumb when it was new, but that's the place to fuel up or fix a tire.  Clancy's always been pretty handy that way.  He can fix just about anything with wheels, even wagons.  Most folks knew better than to ask him though, and he'd help folks if need be, but he'd mostly send 'em down the road to the livery.  See, his dad Virgil owned the livery so Clancy grew up fixin' things with wheels.  

It was rough on both of 'em when Clancy decided to open the garage.  Like any father/son operation, Virgil had hoped to one day hand the reigns over to his son.  Thing is, Virgil was still goin' strong, and Clancy was beyond the age when most fellas spring the nest.  The other thing both noticed but neither spoke of was the increasing number of auto-carriages about.  It took its toll on the value of the livery though Virgil kept the business side to himself.  

After workin' together from the time Clancy was old enough to recognize the tools asked for, going to work a couple blocks apart seemed like miles for both of 'em.  Neither wished the other any ill will; it 'as the opposite actually.  Each wanted the other to do well and 'as cautions not to take work from him you see.  The remarkable part 'as regardless uh how difficult it 'as for Virgil and Clancy to adjust, it worked out purty good for the town folks.  The wagons 'ud make their way to one end of the town and the auto-cars 'ud keep to the other so that horses weren't spooked near as much as in towns where the wagons and auto-cars were tryin' to get to the same place.  Oh there 'as the occasional foreigner who'd race through and stir up some havoc, but I s'poze that gave folks somethin' to talk about.

Why one time after Clancy had been open for a few years, it was Halloween.  Back then oft' times the young folks 'ud pull pranks on Halloween.  I don't hear uh that 'nymore.  Well those kids, they took a car that was parked at Clancy's and sat it right across the entry to the livery, and took a wagon and parked it right in front of the pumps so Clancy couldn't sell no gas, huh.  It was the darndest thing watchin' the folks who had to wait at both places.  Virgil and Clancy just kinda shook their heads and went to work to set it to right.  See the car, it didn't run, and the wagon was broken so it all took some doin'.  They ended up gettin' Hank Morton's big feed sled and team and was able to push the car up on it.  They got it back down to the garage, but gettin' that broken wagon up on the sled was a bit more of a challenge.  After a lot of work and pullin' uh ropes though, they managed.  How those kids did it in one night, I'll never know.  That seems like just yesterday.  I can still see 'em all plain as day just like they were.  Only most of 'ems gone now.  

The livery burnt down years ago.  Clancy's still there though, but doesn't work on many cars no more.  I should go see him.  I used to stop in when he got that machine.  You could put your coins in it and get a Coca-Cola straight from the machine cold as could be.  There were a few of us who'd stop by and visit while he was workin' on a car - or help if he needed.  Then in the winter, he always kept a pot uh coffee goin'.  He had him this empty coffee can and cut a slit in the top like so, and we'd all add to the can so he could keep makin' us coffee, huh huh.  

He's alright that Clancy.  If you stop in, you tell him I say Hi. 

(You should be able to click on the picture and be directed to the source.)

How to Cook Elk (and Other Game)

Yay!

I got my first elk ever. 

(This is just a Pinterest pix from our area.)
He was a spike so should be good eatin’.

Honestly, it was weird. 

I never like seeing a critter die. 

Something I just realized I do is apologize to the animal then

follow it with a prayer of thanks. 

This fella was about 3 miles (mostly vertical!) from the rig. 

It took us two days to pack out all the meat. 

We lucked out in that we made it back to the rig with the last load

just before the rain started. 

We were just below the snow line so it wasn’t one of those nice warm rains either. 

We were pretty sore by that third morning. 

We looked like acrobats just trying to get out of bed that morning. 

I told MrLB “I wonder if this is what it will be like when we’re 80.”

Since we boned it out on the mountain,

we didn’t get to wait for hang time in order to process it

so went straight to work at cleaning and cutting and wrapping. 

We got the bulk of it done in one day but did have a couple hours the following morning in order to finish up. 

We are keeping it in the refrigerator for a couple days to cure

before transferring it to the freezer. 

MrLB is picking up beef fat today so we can get the burger and sausage ground. 

We ended up with right about 200 lbs. of meat. 

I can’t tell you how many people have asked if I’m making jerky.  

To me, that’s like going out and spending $1000 on dress shoes to wear through the mud or making creme brûlée and feeding it to the hogs!

Then it dawned on me,

most people don’t know how to cook game. 

Me being the curious person I am have researched various tidbits 

about not just wild game, but grass fed livestock in general. 

There is a ton of scientific information behind it,

but I will paraphrase ~

Grain (plus mystery substance) fed animals grow abnormally fast. 

Yes abnormally- as in not natural. 

Of course that’s the whole reason they are fed what they are fed. 

Grass fed (or leaves and other wild vegetation) animals

grow at a natural rate which is much slower than industry acceptance. 

The tissues/fibers of a grain fed animal grow so rapidly that they aren’t very strong. 

Those that eat a natural diet grow strong healthy tissues and fibers. 

That grain fed tissue is so weak, it can be cooked up in no time. 

Throw those steaks on the barbie and you’re eating 15 minutes later. 

That’s not the case with game meat or meat from a naturally raised animal. 

These fibers take longer to break down so

if you try to cook it like store bought meat,

it will be tough and you’ll be disappointed. 

The other thing to be aware of is salting the meat. Game should be salted in the final stages of cooking rather than right when it’s subjected to heat. 
Go ahead and add any other herbs or spices at the beginning of cooking,
but save the salt until last.
If you do those two things, you should enjoy your seeing that game meat
on the table and not just in the snack bin as jerky.

Elk Season 2018

Yesterday was opening day.

Isn't it peculiar how we can be surrounded by people

and feel all alone?

Or be here and feel complete.

(No elk yet.)

Awe-tumn!

Well Howdy folks~

I do hope you’ve had a fantastic summer.

We have recently built our first fire and received our first real rain since June.

They should be opening the forests, if they haven’t already, 

so we can go get firewood.

That’s something we usually like to do in spring, and we do have some 

but not enough to make it through the winter.

You are probably wondering what we’ve been up to these past few months

- or even if you aren’t wondering, I’m still gonna tell 'cause I'm ornery that way.

The garden did reasonably well this year in the way of green beans and tomatoes so canning those to help carry us through winter was a priority.

In addition to canning, the dehydrators have been busily humming along

with apricots, plums, strawberries, blackberries, and apples.

We’ve processed one bear so far (wouldn’t mind another.)

In addition to the meat, we rendered 1 gallon of incredibly delicious lard 

and for the first time bone broth.

Mr LB surprised me with this amazing cauldron.

I had been wanting one for some time. He’s such a sweetie!

We were able to process all of the bones in one go 

and ended up with several gallons (in quart and pint jars) of broth.

Aside from our jobs, that’s what has consumed most of our time.

About the plans and projects I alluded to in my last post,

well they are still in progress.

Believe it or not, I have been trying to work on them, 

but as often happens life gets in the way.

I’ve been blogging for ten years now and over that span, 

there have been many changes -

Both in myself and in the land of blogs.

Is it just me or did they used to be more personable?

Once I was about a month into the break,

(probably while chopping tomatoes- great thinks get thunk while chopping)

I realized I was no longer thinking of my life in the form of blog posts.
It was a refreshing realization.

We went out of town for a wedding and a visit to friends this past weekend, and

I think it was the first time I took pictures in two months.

Somewhere between boiling bear bones and slicing apples,

I decided to just take it easy in the way of blogging.

I will post occasionally but not on a regular basis.

As I do finalize some of the things I’m working on

(though turtle pace it may be)

I will be sharing them with you

It always makes me wonder when a blog just stops 

or doesn’t post for several months, if everything is okay at the other end.  

(Am I the only one who wonders such things?)

So I just wanted to let you know

that even if I don’t post regularly, I’m here.

Here working, here living, and here moving through the seasons.
I'm here.

As always, I love to hear from you 

so feel free to drop me a line and harass me a bit.

Finding Home

I've been thinking of Christmas lately.  
I know, weird.  

But do you remember the feeling of Christmas, being home, 
and that feeling that was just as present as another being.  
A comfort of sorts - in the smell of the cookies baking, or the sugary frosting, or the lights playing peek-a-boo from behind the boughs of the tree, 
or the simple prospect of a hug from a loved one.  
That feeling void of global turmoil, political correctness, or weight of expectations. 
 I've been craving that feeling like one craves a specific flavor.  
It's a certain kind of peace - not naivety or ignorance, but a knowledge that "it is well."  Whatever "it" is, there is peace in its wellness.  
So I've been trying to figure out how to satisfy that craving, and it's proving a challenging feat, but that's my quest at the moment.

Each of us has our own level of comfort and what we can handle before we go crazy.  
One of the things for me is having some form of order in our home.  
I'm not sure how, but paper clutter has been breeding like crazy.  
I have stacks to sort through.  
It's also canning season.  

I canned the first batch of green beans last week and just picked our first ripe tomato.  
I have set up a makeshift "summer kitchen" out in our shop so we don't heat up the house.  We've had a few weeks of triple-digit weather 
and aren't expecting a break until the middle of next week.  
That has created more shuffling of items and more 'stuff' to go through.  
I thought I'd gone through it all, but alas I was wrong.  
I've found two  more years of taxes that can be burned (when it cools down,) 
even more papers to go through - sort, file, pitch, 
and various things that are just the result of living in one place for nearly 20 years. 

My goal is functionality. 
 I think I've always been a function over fashion sort of person.  
How our home needs to function in order to meet our lifestyle changes over time 
so it needs to be altered or adapted to how we live.  

I used to can some jellies here and there but baked quite a bit.  
Now, I can a significant portion of our veggies and we eat very few grains/sweets.  
The equipment and supplies used for each is different.  
The kitchen still seems geared towards baking but there is a shift so in reality, 
it's not really convenient for baking or canning - go figure. 
 It's getting a going-through.  
Soap making supplies can go out to the summer kitchen 
as well as fiber dying materials and supplies.  

It's really a big rearranging of stuff.  
Buuuuuutt.... all of this rearranging kinda creates a chaotic scene 
which makes me walk with a bit of a twitch.
Our fruit trees, berry bushes and garden are loaded, 
and that produce needs tending or soon will.
With a full time job, a 'spare' job, and tending to our winter's food supply,
I feel like I'm running in mud.

With that, I've decided to take a couple months off from the blog and Etsy shoppe.  
I will still be 'here,' but it's such a busy time,  
I need to focus on home and family and try to make our home function 
for us rather than against us.  

I hope you will understand. 
 I will return the beginning of October as the leaves begin to fall ~ a beautiful time. 
I'm hoping to take this opportunity to update and clean up a few things
on the blog and in the shoppe as well as our home. 
I want to thank each of you reading this.  
I appreciate your time and your comments, and hope you have a superb summer.

I also hope you are able to find a relaxing spot to enjoy a cup of something cold
and appreciate the season we are in.

PS~ These pictures are just some of the produce growing in our yard/garden as of this morning.

  

100 Years Too Late

Have you ever been told you were born a hundred years too late?

Or maybe you just feel like you were...
I know I do at times.

There are some things that can help bring a sense of yesteryear

into your today though.

(Hubby's anvil.)

I'm sharing these things as much as a reminder to myself as I am for you.

June was pretty rough around here.

I could throw a fabulous pity-party for one,

but I like to say, "What you seek, you will find."

That said, I'd like to gear my focus towards something more positive.

Sometimes we just need to re-center ourselves and proceed.

So let's proceed~

(Queen Ann's lace.)

The first thing we can do is Stop.

Just stop. 
Stop trying to change the unchangeable.

Take a breath.

Regardless of the romanticism, people had jobs 100 years ago.

They had to be to work on time just like we do.

So why does it seem so hectic today?

Distractions are one thing, but really, it's the willingness 

to accept what we cannot change.  

If it takes 20 minutes to get to work, and you are leaving 5 minutes late,

don't attempt to make it to work in 15 minutes.

You might not make it at all.

Accept that you will be late and 

make every effort so that it doesn't happen again tomorrow.

This is counter to the message that we are told today

"Power at your fingertips, control with the push of a button, etc."

We can neither change nor control time, period, end of story, fin.

Accept. Move on.

(Rip eyeing a good stick.)

Thing Two is children.

When did parents' lives begin catering to children?

About 100 years ago, the average number of children per household was 9!

Can you imagine if all 9 were going in separate directions?

I'm not saying don't let Billy play soccer, but maybe it should be 

an exception rather than a "right."  

A child needing his/her own calendar is crazy.

Children should aspire to be adults rather than 

adults aspiring to live like children.

My kids are now grown (though munchkins forever in my eyes:).

But I see this in frazzled friends and co-workers.

They are merely a shuttle service to and from their children's activities.

Prioritize.

Family should come first.

(Yum.)

Next, Cook.

I know this sounds almost cliche, but there's more to it.

The act of handling your food renders it more respected.

And yes, food can be respected.

Get the family involved.

If a child mashes the potatoes, he's more apt to eat them.

There will be more reluctance to waste food and best of all,

it's far healthier for you.

I won't dwell here, but will say the act of sharing the preparation,

the cooking, the eating, and cleaning up from a meal

is strengthening in many ways.

(Just a weed.)

(((electronics)))

I tried to type that quietly so I don't get e-flogged.

I'm not going to tell you to go without or shut them off completely.

I get it.

They are part of our lives.

The thing is, they are tools.

Don't let a device control you.

Weather it's a phone or TV or computer, put it in its place.

A phone is a tool to communicate.

A computer is a research tool.

And a television is a tool to entertain.

Here's a personal example:

I used to check my email, blog, etc. in the mornings before work.

 Of course, it's easy to be lured to this or that just by clicking.

"They" know that and do it on purpose.

Once it dawned on me that nothing that comes via email (etc.) is urgent,

I decided to wait until I had a break at work to check.

This has done two things for me - 

it gave me more morning time and

it put a limit on my browsing time.

(Hubby's post-leg vise.)

Also, Maintain.

By maintaining your items, you'll save money 
by not having to repurchase them.
We live in a throw-away society, 
designed specifically to separate you from your money.
Weather it's shoes and shelves or lawn mowers and laundry baskets,
before tossing something, ask yourself if it can be repaired.
Then even if you spend $10 to repair a $100 item, look at it as saving $90.

(Corner of the cabinet.) And lastly ~ Make ~ 
Make something or find a hobby.
The possibilities are endless.
My mom is known as the local cookie lady.
She makes cookies for just about any "special" event in town.
You could make a garden, make a car, make a quilt, make a cabinet.
There are plenty of studies indicating that people who seem to live only for their work tend to die shortly into retirement.
Nobody wants to be that person.

(Sitting on a rock by the river.) All in all, these are very doable tasks.
You don't have to jump in with both feet.
For that matter, you don't have to jump at all.
But if you'd like a bit more peace and a little less chaos,
maybe pick one or two points and work towards them.
It's not a test, nor is it a race.
There's no winner or loser, but with any luck,
you'll (I'll) be more at ease, have clearer thoughts, and feel better overall.

Like I said, June was a rough month.
Feeling off kilter and going 100 mph is a wreck waiting to happen.
I needed to find my center.
Home is my "center."  
In the past week, I've been concentrating on seeing what is important to me and trying to rid myself of those things that aren't that somehow 
finagled their way into my life.
For me, having home in order (or at least somewhat) is grounding.
I think that's a part of the past that we long for.
You could count on dinner at dinner time.
Grandma always grew daffodils.
Uncle Joe could fix anything on wheels.
It's how it was ~ dependable.
When things change gradually, it can be difficult to spot the changes.
Once we figure out just where we are and where we want to be,
it is easier to find the way.
Sometimes, it's necessary to back-track a bit to get back on course.
It works the same for time as it does for road maps.  
Sometimes, looking to the past is the way forward.

Were you born 100 years too late?

Cost = Free ~ Part II

The other thing I found recently was this amazing table and chairs.

(This is the picture from the ad that I responded to.)

The folks had just moved and it didn't fit in their new house so it had to go.

She said there were multiple calls between the time I called and made arrangements to pick it up 

and when I arrived.

The cool thing about the table is it has two leaves but no seam down the middle.

(Before I got the cabinet in.)

See~

Our old table worked but was an old one my grandmother had 

that we gorilla glued back together multiple times.

The chairs were recently recovered and I love the color, but they must have changed them when they did so.
I think there should be a plywood form as well.
As is when you sit in the chair, you feel like you’re falling into a big toilet seat.
There is no support so you actually sink into the chair.
I need to pull one apart and make a pattern of sorts.
From there, I can do them one at a time just to make sure one size fits all.
In addition to not having much time lately, 
I haven’t been super excited to get to this,
because it involves pulling staples.
If you’ve never pulled staples on this sort of thing,
Come on over - I’ll learn ya how 😉
It will be nice to have them done, and I do have plywood for the job,
Now it’s just that time thing.  

Cost = Free ~ Part I

There is a tip I'd like to share with you folks.

It's called Craigslist.

It's kinda funny how things work out sometimes.

Several months ago, I found an old "baker's cabinet" listed for free.

It had been in the garage, and he was clearing it out.

It was filthy but I liked the size and shape so inquired.

It was 2 hours away near my hometown 
which I thought might make a good reason to go visit.

(This is the ad photo I responded to.)

Upon inquiring, I couldn't go get it on a weekend.

It had to be Tuesday mornings or Thursday evenings 
or some silly thing like that.

(Linoleum covered work surface which probably saved it in many respects.)

(No paper? No problem! Just write it on the cabinet - really!?!)

(Need more hooks? Just use nails.)

*Sorry for the odd lack of quality on the last couple photos.  My camera settings somehow got switched, and I couldn't undo my work to get more 'before' pictures.

I told him I worked during the week but would see if I could get ahold of a friend to pick it up for me.

By the time I was able to get ahold of my friend and explain what I needed,

the post was gone so I figured I missed it.

Nearly 2 months later, it reappeared.

Evidently, the first time "it fell through," and he lost the phone numbers.

Needless to say, I was able to just text my friend and ask if it was still okay.

He made arrangements and went and picked it up, 

then I got to go down on the weekend and pick it up from them.

It worked out wonderfully.

I made thank you chocolates to take with me.

The cabinet is from the 40s/50s as the original paint was still on the doors.

(The original colors - inside of cabinet doors.)
It's a homemade job as the pencil lines for the shelves 
showed on the back as I was sanding.
The other neat part is it was probably made from "local lumber" as it was a lumber community.  I sure miss the smell of lumber mills running.

After day one~

 I had two different sanders I was using.
This little one got back into the corners better
but wasn't as powerful as the belt sander.

I'm not sure why, but I like leaving a little of the paint in the grain of the wood.
Maybe it's because it reflects its past a bit.  Who knows?

After day two~

Finished sanding and stained/sealed.
I wanted it "just wood colored" and tested a couple different choices 
on the bottom.  I didn't like any of them as was.
Clear was too bright, cherry too orange/yellow, others too dark, etc.
I ended up mixing 'cherry' and 'old American' to get the right tone. 

I don't have the doors done yet but was able to get it in the house 
and out of the shop.

The doors are smaller and much easier to set aside.
I will have to make bottom doors, 
but the hinges were still on the cabinet so I have them.
I love that I have a place to keep my huge bowls.
I will be putting my beeswax/candle making items on the bottom 
but want to wait until I get the doors made so it doesn't get dirty.
I will try to scrub the inside of the upper doors.
If they clean up okay, I think I will leave the inside original
just for a bit of whimsey and surprise.

The only cost was a visit to some friends and a bit of elbow grease.
It's pretty primitive for our home, but I love the functionality of it.

As the saying goes, "One man's trash..."

Hand Forged Hasp & Hinges

Just have to brag on that sweet man of mine.

Mr. LB forged a set of hinges and a hasp for Hucklebunny Hideaway.

She approves, and I got to tell him she loves him 
almost as much as he loves her.

He really does like her.  
It's kinda cute, but don't tell him I said that.

He won his first blacksmithing competition a couple weeks ago

so that was pretty exciting.

(Never mind the bunny fluff on the hinge.)
Knives are popular due to a show on TV,

 but Mr. LB prefers making tools and mechanical technical sorts of things.

He already has the math skills and metallurgy from his "real" profession

as a metal fabricator so that helps.

We have been gone every weekend for the past month,
 so I'm looking forward to staying home

and catching up on things ~ will be sharing more soon.