December 11, 2010

Mark has his hands full with Daisy & Claudia	Ina Sue and I got inspired Sunday morning and got up and walked around the block before the children woke up. It was a chilly day. Mark preached about “Judging or Discerning”. We came home for a lunch of ribs, rice, corn, & cabbage salad. We had nice long naps then in the evening we were invited to Randy & Dianes for supper. Mark Hochstetlers, and Brent Heges were also there. Diane fixed us a delicious supper then we had fun playing a new game.
Cutting up the pig heads	It was very cold on Monday. 24 degrees in Olar. Since it was so cold Ina Sue used the dryer instead of the clothes line for the wash. I spent the day at work. When I got home Ina Sue had chicken enchiladas and salad waiting for supper. After the children were in bed I worked on typing up and laying out Ina Sue’s Christmas letter. After we had it all ready to go we had a special bednight snack of Triscuits with sharp cheddar cheese, Dijon mustard, and a thin slice of pear along with sparkling grape juice.
Carl, Josh with Uncle Enos giving tips.	Tuesday was our big butchering day in the South. Up until now we have always butchered with Ina Sue’s family in Virginia. This year Carl & Grace agreed to butcher along with us and Josh’s. Myron has put in a small butcher shop with all the needed accessories so we decided to do it there. Carolina Sue was at school and Mary Korver agreed to keep Savannah & Claudia for us. Somehow I got stuck cutting up our pig head under Uncle Enos’s supervision. That was a nasty job but we even got the brains out for him to fry up. Things improved from there. We got the pigs cut up and the bones all in the puddin pot by around 12:00. Then we mixed up and ground the sausage, went through the puddins and ground them up.
Things were a little tight for eight wanna-be butchers.	The ladies had all brought parts of a dinner for us. Chili soup, pimento cheese, fruit and bars. The ladies left around 2:30 while us guys finished frying up the puddins and cleaned up. We hung the sausage, ribs, and bacons up in Carl’s smoking shed. After supper Ina Sue worked on canning the tenderloin while I made up a big batch of ponhaus. We didn’t have time or the big pot to render out the lard so we left the fat in the freezer at Myrons.
Carl stuffing his link sausage.	Carolina Sue had her school pictures done on Wednesday. It was 19 degrees when we got up in the morning. I went in to work for the day. Ina Sue sewed and made cookies. She also went for a back adjustment in the evening while I kept the children. After supper I cut up and quick froze our four pans of ponhaus. We also wrapped up the sausage and ribs that Carl smoked. We fried up a bit of the sausage and were very happy with the smoked flavor. Carl did a great job on that. After we finished and got the children in bed I went back in to the shop for a while.
Going through the puddins.	On Thursday I went in to work. Ina Sue canned 9 pints of canned ham and iced her cookies. She also did several loads of laundry. In the evening she dropped the children off with Bethany then picked me up. We went to Vince’s in Barnwell for our company supper. It was a pretty small crowd this year without the children. We had a nice time eating and talking.
Janice & KayK with their boys.	This has been a busy week! I took off again on Friday. Helped Ina Sue make some cheeseburger soup with our new sausage then we worked together to clean and vacuum the house. Also cleaned out the car. We got everything packed up and after Carolina Sue got home from school we left for Hartwell. My family was getting together there for our Christmas celebration. We stopped at Checkers on the way up for supper and got to the Center around 7:30. Visited for a while then Grandma served us a snack of cheeseball and bars. I got the children and wife in bed then came down a played a great game of Rook.
Grandma gave the young boys all toolboxes.	We had a great relaxing day on Saturday. Nevin & I made up breakfast of French toast, bacon, and orange juice. (Mom had all the ingredients and the recipes all ready for us) Mom fixed us a feast of roast beef, mashed potatoes & gravy, vegetable casserole, cranberry salad, Italian cream cake & thickened peaches. In the afternoon we had a time of singing and giving gifts. Grandma & Grandpa gave all the children and grandchildren such nice thoughtful gifts. We had a variety of soups and sweets for supper. In the late afternoon and evening we all had brought favorite pictures and family videos along to share and Nevin put them on the projector for our viewing pleasure. After supper some of us watched a DVD performance of Handel’s Messiah.