Bacon and Sausage

 Appointment Set for Bacon and Sausage. Our first experience raising pigs has been mostly successful. We are still learning and will make some changes next year. 

Pigs are VERY destructive. We have not been able to construct a temporary shelter that they have not torn down. They also eat WAY more than we expected so the cost of feed is an issue. I did some research on pig feed and found that much of it is medicated. We have been careful to use a feed that is not but we will likely be more careful next year in what we choose to feed. 





A friend who has experience raising pigs estimates them above the 200 LB level, meaning at the end of the month, they should be perfect size for butchering. 

Pigs refuse to leave anything alone. Next year, we will need to construct a watering system that they can not tip over.

 Because we live in an old farmhouse, we have to purchase oil in order to heat this house. We have stocked up on wood to try to save on heating costs. Last time we filled the oil tank it was over $700.

Times of unemployment, although stressful, allow for more cuddles, reflection and home projects ( ; Mike is back to work now running the truck crane. 

One of our long term goals is to purchase a truck so that we can be owner/operators. This would allow us more freedom as a family.

 Family game night is now scheduled for every Sunday night (when football playoffs are over). Our first game choice was Monopoly. This is a learning game on so many levels. Sierra is working on money in her studies so she was nominated "banker." I hired Maddie as realtor and property manager. She had to sound out the names of the properties in order to hand out the correct card. Ty was in charge of rolling the dice for me and counting the dots.

I'm not sure Mike is a big fan of the "no cable TV experience" when it comes to Bronco Football games. But if it were on a big screen TV, it wouldn't be an experience right?

Overall 2014 began with many changes for us but we are rolling with these and trying to think of them as new opportunities ( :