WRONG PLACE, WRONG TIME

Once upon a time there was a groundhog/woodchuck living under my house. He chose the wrong place and time to investigate the trap box. He is no more. He is now in my pressure cooker. Yes, I am cooking that poor unfortunate garden raider. When I came home from shopping Chuck had already dispatched him and had him skinned out. It took me about an hour to eviscerate Woody. He was so fat and the liver was almost as big as my hand. Now Harry will get his fur for fly tying.

A Woodchuck is a very clean animal and I don't know why more people don't go after them as a meat producing animal. Most of the meat is on the shoulders, forelegs and back legs. They cook up like chicken or rabbit. I tried to entice the chickens with the entrails, but they wanted nothing to do with the leavings. They even tried to scratch dirt over the stuff. Smart little chickens.

I did go out to the store this afternoon. I got bread, hamburger rolls, 3 dozen eggs, and found bacon on sale for $1.39. I guess piggies were not selling well for the past few weeks. The bacon was the only item that didn't cost .79 cents. Also, canned fruit was on sale for .79 cents a can. I got what I could carry. Some thing things are still in the van and I will bring those items in on the marrow.

I brought a jug of home made wine out of the back room and tasted it last night. I can not tell the potency. It was a bit sweet, but has a nice flavor and warm in the tummy. It is from the grapes in the backyard picked from last year. It has been mellowing out since last fall. Now it needs to be strained and bottled. I am hoping to make a batch of pear and plumb wine. The winds came up last night and blew a lot of plums right of the tree.

Chuck took my lawnmower home to work on it. It just stopped in the middle of mowing. He stays busy all the time, I guess. He even fed the chickens while I was out. I think the chickens eat too much. I think I have another rooster coming along. This bird has a flat crown and is starting to grow wattles. The hens are starting to cluck. They keep me busy.

Gas is now $2.22 if you pump it yourself. The other day it was $2.25. I think the high prices and manipulation of the gas supply was the start of the recession. My Ford stock just tumbled again after a short rise. This was to be my cushion for my old age. Ha! Well, so much for that. I'll just have to avoid getting any older.

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