Bart was here before 8 this morning and we got the steer butchered… dressed out over 500 pound hanging weight… 560 maybe…we get half and Tate and Kass get half… cooler with a south east breeze so it was chilly out there… I had sorted off the calves and went and let their bawling others in with them this morning and then when I fed I noticed that several of the little boogers had escaped some way and were back out with their mothers so I let the ones in the corral back out… only using the tank in the corral for water so it’s hard to keep cattle in different bunches… the horses are east and need a place to drink, oh sure they can get by on snow but I’d rather they had water, especially when it gets cold.. guess we will just have to sort the calves off again and blab the ones we are not going to sell… I did keep the fence crawler and a long toed cow of the boys in.. I think it’s one Chance bought but didn’t pay much attention… I had fresh liver and onions for breakfast and chunked up most of the rest to give to people who like liver… have to make a trip to New Underwood and drop off some liver and the heart I promised Slim and Darlene…
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Dennisranch 
Y’all butchered yourselves? The law pretty well stomped that down way back when I was a kid – I used to help with trimming for hamburger. Everyone got into trouble and just started hiring it out, which was the point in the first place…..
No, the guy who owns and runs the local processing plant comes, shoots and guts the beef and hauls it back to his shop.. I run the loader tractor… so “we” butchered… 😀
Growing up, my grandparents had a garden and always had a hog.
My aunt and uncle always had a garden and a couple milk cows and several beef cows.
My parents had fruit trees and couple years chickens and switched to rabbits a couple years. The ones w/gardens always tried to grow something different. So between the 3 families we all shared what we had. We all helped pick and butcher cows, chickens or rabbits and pigs! There was ale ways canning going on. And when stores came out w/frozen veggies, they tried their hands w/ that too. There was pickles & always preserves and jams. And plenty of “real” ice cream on the front porch of my grandmother in the summers. 4 to 5 going at the same time. Then when we visited my grandmother in Sheridan, Wyoming, we caught fish camping the Tetons. She had a big garden w/all kinds of winter squash and she made home baked bread ready for us the day we arrived by car. My step grandpa had 2 brothers who canned bear at their home in Idaho. Wasn’t too fond of canned bear. But every Christmas we got couple of canned bear. Just never remember anyone of us eating any of it after the first cans we received. But like the canned fruit cakes, we got our share of canned bear!
I really think we were all healthier back then w/our food. And we had long bars of peppermint candy at Christmas time. My dad chunked pieces if it off for us. One log lasted us thru the winter months. We never seemed to get sick a lot back during those days! Occasional chicken pix and measles but no flu or colds. Mind you if you did get a cold or suspected you might be coming down w/one, you could rest assured there were all kinds of home remmedies for any suspected illness they thought you might be coming down with.
Life wasn’t always easy back in the 40’s and 50’s but we didn’t mind. And we grew up actually knowing our cousins as not only our relatives but our playmates!
Lord, I’m old! As always, I love hearing about your lives up there!
Simpler times Betty, much the same as my memories…
Nothing like knowing you have beef in the freezer!
Amen!