A Freezer Full of Lamb
Last Sunday a mobile butcher came and killed six of our sheep (3 boys and 3 girls) and three of a neighbour's sheep, skinned & gutted them and hung them in a mobile coolroom left on our property until today.
(I decided to only kill six sheep because Boots was given a reprieve and I have decided not to name lambs ever again - unless they are girls and I intend to keep them.)
Today at six o'clock (yes 6am) the butcher returned and started sawing up our lambs. Steve took the meat from the butcher and put in on a little table, I packed it in plastic bags and Lucy (Steve's girlfriend) tied on the wire ties. I then took the packed meat on a large metal tray up to the freezer in the shed. That went on for almost three hours. Then our neighbour came and I helped him pack his three sheep for almost two hours. Then we watched with fascination as the butcher made sausages from the offcuts and then we packed the sausages into plastic bags. It was all over (including the cleaning) by about 12pm. So for $344 we now have a freezer full of lamb (including 12 lamb roasts!). We still have some beef left, so we can mix it up a bit. I have included a photo of one of our sheep hanging before it went into the coolroom (apologies for the blurry focus). I was going to take a photo of chopping and packing the meat but we were so busy I didn't even think of photos until it was all over ... oh, well.

There is another part of the story I almost forgot to tell. Before the butcher killed the sheep Steve and I had to actually use the sheep yards and separate the lambs from the ewes. After chasing them and Bobby around the paddock for way too long we put up an electric netting to funnel them into the yards. Then came the fun job of getting them into the run. We allowed only a few in at a time and closed the gate, so we could make sure we separated the right ones. Originally I had Steve manning the gate to separate them and I was going to 'shoo' them down the end but once the end gate was closed they all put their heads down facing away from the separating gate at the other end and stubbornly refused to move. So I had to man the gate (at least I knew which ones I wanted to get butchered) and Steve had the job of pushing them towards the gate. After we had done this a few times Steve said, 'Hey, this is fun.' That made all the effort worthwhile - he was away from his computer and he was actually enjoying himself - and helping as well! We separated five lambs born last year plus a whether from the year before and they stayed in the small yard until the following day for the butcher. After we let the ewes (including a few girl 'lambs') back into the paddock we went to open the gate for Bobby and to our amazement from standing he leaped gazelle-like over the sheep yard fence, clearing it by at least 10cm, to join the ewes. Steve and I looked at each other, 'Did you see that?' We won't have to separate the sheep or get them butchered again for a while, but we know we can do it now.

In other news, I bought a second hand car yesterday. I took out a personal loan and bought a white 1994 Commodore VR Series II though a private sale. Our old Cressida will sit in the garage until I can organise (summon up the courage) to sell it. Why do I get so attached to cars when other people can sell their cars every two years or so? Hopefully I'll be able to sell it to a mechanic or someone who can fix it for less than I was quoted. It is a shame, it is such a lovely car.