Butcher - It finally happened. I've been anticipating and yet dreading this day for some time now. One of the key distinctions between life on the farm and life in the city is knowing the steps in your food chain.
In thie city most consumers think they are one step removed from their food. I go to the supermarket and I buy what I need. You know the old line about milk coming in cartons. In the country we are somewhat closert than this. We're growing many of our own vegetables, keeping chickens for eggs and we have sheep and chickens for meat.
A fortnight ago I butchered my first sheep. Now you'll notice that I said butchered and not killed. That's because Matt did the killing. But you'll be pleased to know that I was able to perform all the subsequent tasks necessary to put chops in plastic bags in the freezer. This included skinning, gutting and cutting up the carcass.
There are no pictures to accompany this story. I've also left out all the details of the procedure. I didn't want a whole bunch of weirdos book marking this site for carnal footage. Yuk.
It was a very intimate and exhausting process. I woke up the next morning unable to move. My whole back had seized up. That coupled with a little sunburn made the next two or three days a little painful. Probably a lot less painful than that experienced by the sheep though.
We had a roast lef of lamb the other night for dinner. It was very tasty, although it took real determination to focus on the meal...
10:54:38 AM 
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