Jim came over this morning and the two of them killed, skinned, and gutted the calf. I was not out there when all this was happening as I was dutifully watching the children inside so I don't know all the details of how it went but we now have two beef halves hanging in our grainery to cure out. In ten days to two weeks I'm told the calf will go over to the other place and Marianne is going to can beef. Marion isn't sure but thought maybe they could get a few steaks out of it but I guess that will be up to whomever cuts the meat up.
If you are wondering how this came about, there was a calf that broke its leg a while back and it never really healed right. The calf just couldn't get around and they didn't think it could gain enough weight to be worth while to take to Kensington to get butchered. After some discussion Jim and Marion decided to butcher it themselves.
Marion was extremely excited about the idea of participating in butchering a calf...you know how he is with home grown/done things! He tried to get me caught up in the process but I had to remind him that I was just the hamburger grinder girl back in my day of butchering. I did not partake in the actual butchering or cutting of the meat back then.
So, welcome to the farm...we had an exciting day!
PS...okay so Marion is begging me to go out and take a picture so we have PROOF that he participated in the process of butchering a calf...I'll try to warn those of you who have queasy stomachs before we post the picture.
