April rains

The wet season has come late this year, again. Nevertheless we are continuing work about the place as we can.
The meat pigeons, which had been doing so well suffered a serious setback when a local python discovered a way into their shed at night. Suddenly there were no more squabs to be had and even the eggs began to disappear. So after some discussion we decided the best way to solve this problem was to cement the floor of the shed and seal up all of the ways in. I doubt even a mouse could get into the pigeon loft now without a ladder. The shed was always designed to have a cement floor for this reason, we just had to move that project ahead on the list to make sure we can keep a steady supply of meat coming. Nests began to appear all over the shed once the floor went in! I counted eight nesting mothers this morning and we should be eating squab again in four weeks or so.

Last week I went over to a mates place to bring our meat steer back for slaughter. Loading him proved surprisingly easy for once. On Tuesday the slaughter man came in (yes, we still have not constructed the gambrel and frame we need for a full sized beast) and did the kill and quarter. I then carried each quarter into the waiting cold room to age for a couple of weeks. The quarters were heavy indeed! Or perhaps I am just getting old. Either way the steer, Timmy, was three and a half years old and in prime condition. We enjoyed a breakfast of devilled kidneys the next morning.