To Everything There Is A Season

July 14, Morning

            I woke up feeling rested. I checked my pocket watch to see what time it was. It was my usually wake up time. I hoped I'd woken up early enough to get my work started before the men woke. It was time for me to start pulling my weight again. I got myself ready for the morning and headed downstairs to find the kitchen dark and empty. I breathed out a sigh of relief. This was exactly what I needed.

I checked the stove and realised that I hadn't cleaned it out in the last few days. It would need to be cleaned before I could cook in it. I quickly cleaned the ash out of the stove and set the ash bucket aside. I'd sort the large charcoal lumps out of it later before adding the clean ash to the lye leaching barrel. I got the fire started and noted that wood would need to be chopped later today as the pile was starting to run low.

Washing my hands, I pulled out the makings for bread and got started on my first task for the morning. The house was still quiet when I covered the dough for its first rise. I headed out to the barn to feed the animals, milk the cows and goats and collect eggs.

The barn was as spotless as a barn could get. I was happily surprised. Mr. Nathan had done a fantastic job of keeping it clean over the last couple days. I got started checking water levels and feeding the various animals housed in the barn. I also checked on the pigs that had been selected for today's butchering. It wasn't the ideal time of year for butchering animals, but we didn't have a choice. It was either butcher a couple animals out of season or go without meat for the next few months. The men had picked well. Two large hogs sat in a separate pen not too far from where they would be killed and drained. 

After feeding the animals, I collected the eggs. The chickens were producing well. I found a nest that had a couple eggs in it hidden away from the nesting boxes. Looked like one of my hens liked to hide her eggs. I took the eggs over to the outdoor table before heading back into the barn and starting the milking. I quickly worked my way through the cows and goats before releasing the mamas and their babies out to the corral. I had to smile at the sight of all the mamas and babies behind the barn. It was almost time to release the sows and piglets into the orchard. The calves and kids would be ready to go back to the pasture in a few more weeks. I wonder if Dr. Sean would be able to castrate the little bull. There were already two mature bulls in the pasture a third wasn't really needed yet.

Once the milk was in my dairy, I went back out to bring the eggs into the house. Washing my hands once more, I punched down and formed my bread into loaves and set them aside to rise. The house was still quiet, as I got breakfast started. It was going to be a busy day so a big meal would be helpful to keep us all going. While breakfast cooked, I tried to write out a list of the day's tasks. It wouldn't take all ten of us to butcher the two hogs, at least not initially. Mr. North was sensitive to blood so I would need to keep him busy this morning. There was fruit that needed to be picked and yesterday's yarn would need to be rinsed and hung to dry, there was also the honey from yesterday that needed to be decanted into jars. So, a number of tasks that weren't hard just time consuming. Maybe I could get Mr. North to pick the apples for me, and Mr. Gabriel to help with the yarn and honey. I would ask Mr. Kota and Mr. Owen if that would work. The afternoon would be when all the really hard work would occur. The smoker would need to be lit and the drying salt would need to be brought out of the cellar. The lard crock would be full this evening.

Maybe fried pork chops, apple sauce, potatoes and maybe a pie would be a good way to end the day. Meal prep on butchering days was always easy. Fresh meat was such a treat. I was actually kind of excited to see how the men reacted to the meal tonight. We'd been eating what Jed and I had put up during the late winter and early spring but tonight would be fresh meat not smoked or salted cuts.

"You're up early Miss Sang. Do you need a hand getting breakfast on the table?" Mr. Owen asked startling me from my thoughts.

"Oh, yes please if you could set the table. We'll be ready to eat as soon as everyone else is up. I'm almost done cooking breakfast." I answered stirring the food.