What eight year old rams taste like

I was originally going to write this about the new kitten we got.  See "Knight" looks exactly like Toothless, even acts like him, but Marcus insists we stick with Knight.  He is solid black save about 15 white or grey hairs under his chin that you really have to look for to see.  He was perfectly fine the night we got him, but the next day, his eye started getting gooey.  The next day it was obviously gooey, and he felt like he had a fever.  The next day he was lethargic and would not open his eye.  The vet gave us some meds, and believe it or not, the eye dropper of Amoxicillin is far harder to get down him than the antibiotic ointment going into his painful eye.  Yeah, mornings are a real blast now.

SO...anyway...he must be feeling much better as last night I woke up screaming for Arlis to help me.  The kitten had embedded itself in my hair and was eating my brains, at least that's what it felt like.  It was difficult to remove, especially for a sleep deprived husband.  We had already been awoken to computer wires being played with and a kitten climbing my husband's clothes in the closet only to get stuck at the top of the hangers and mew until someone got him down.  The next occurrence was when Arlis woke up with a yell.  He raised his left arm only to find a kitten with all four sets of claws fully embedded and wrapped around his tricep.  His skin was being pulled away from his body by little pointy kitten teeth.

He hates cats.

Now, the reason I'm writing today is b/c we decided to eat some of Buck's chops.  Buck was probably around 8 years old.  In fact, he was turning grey just in the last month.  Most people just sell them for dog food at this time, but we wanted to try it.  We have a meat grinder, so we kept some of the cuts whole, like chops and shoulders and such.  We sold the lamb, assuming it would be much better, at $2/pound live weight.  We got less than 40% return.  Buck never sold, and he got 49% return, or something like that.  That's REALLY good.  

FYI
Holstein (dairy)- expect a 30% return of the hoof weight.
beef (Red was a beef steer)-expect more than 30%, but less than 40%
sheep and goats-expect around 42%

Some people will try to tell you more like 60% or 70%.  They are more than likely talking dressage weight or hanging weight.  Hanging weight is where they remove the hoof, head, entrails, and skin, and hang it.  Of course you're going to get a larger return from hanging than hoof.  Don't let the seller fool you.  Presley was a Holstein, and although better than store bought-rocks are better than store bought-he was tough and grisly and pitiful looking.  Shaun was a haired sheep, not a wool sheep.  He was confined and grain fed b4 we bought him.  He was extremely tender, but also full of so much fat you threw away half of what you got.  Buck was pasture raised and fed and old.  He weighed in at 162 pounds.  We had Buck chops tonight seasoned very lightly with rosemary and salt and fried without oil.  It was some of the best meat I've ever had.  It was also very tender.  In fact, he looks better than that lamb we sold.

Shear happiness was on us all!!

yay!!!

Things are starting to look up now.  We are starting to sell things, and starting to almost break even on a few things.  Our goal is to make a profit of at least $1000 this year or the next and apply for farm tax.  That looks possible now and I, for one, am very excited about it!