Watch out 2019, You're Gonna Get Owned

Wow.  It's been quite a while since I've blogged and I apologize for that!   What has happened since I last wrote??

Well, I tried a new butcher that was out of town in October because the local guys were booked.  They did ok.  I'll probably use them again in a pinch, but probably not on a regular basis.  They seemed to get a little overwhelmed with having four different animals and keeping track of what was what.   I also had one oddity with weights that didn't add up. I still don't know what happened there, but I sleep easy knowing that if there was anybody that got screwed, it was me and not my customer, so I'm ok with that.

I butchered three young steers and a cow that didn't breed back.   I split the cow with my parents.  She has excellent flavor but isn't quite as tender as her younger counterparts.   

I have been very blessed to have sold one whole animal (the oddity), and the two other steers already and I've sold a few pounds of burger off the cow and we also started eating her.  Reviews have been positive, thus far!

My fiance and I will get to enjoy the rest of the cow as a married couple as we're trying the knot in a week!  And yes, if you're curious, if you bought meat from me these last few weeks, you're directly helping us fund the wedding and honeymoon, so thank you very much!!  Words cannot express how excited I am to be marrying my beautiful bride later this week.  People have been incredibly kind and generous to me and my fiance.  I get a little overwhelmed just stopping to think about how God has blessed us through so many people around us.

 I do feel a bit bad that I didn't invite most all of my friends back east, but realistically, y'all do not want to come to Montana in the dead of winter.  These last few days have been awful weather.   Like, my eyes hurt because the corners of them start to freeze a little from the wind kind of awful weather.   

That said, I also started building a house for us as it seemed like the biblical thing to do.  That, and the rent is too damn high.  Local folks have driven up the rental market with vacation rentals and most of the local jobs don't allow you to get ahead enough to save up for a down payment.  Tough real estate world over here right now.  So, my Instagram is mostly house building photos right now, so head over there if you're curious!  

 I took two more steers to Lower Valley Meats here in Kalispell and I was super impressed with them.  They were crazy fast, packaged everything in shrink wrapped plastic, and had everything bagged up in large plastic bags so I didn't have to worry about boxes breaking!   So cool!  They weren't the cheapest game in town, but I'll definitely use them again. 

I did sell one steer but I have a couple split quarters left of a mostly antibiotic free (I had to treat him for a sore hoof last spring) animal if anybody is looking for some quality locally grown, grass finished beef!  

The other local butcher I used told me to bring my own boxes when I picked up my burger bull.  They were the most expensive in the valley and had the worst customer service.  I may use them again someday, but only if they promise to give me a few boxes after I spend a grand getting my beef butchered there.

 Oh well.

On that note, the night is not getting any younger.  But 2019 is shaping up to be quite the year!! 

Be blessed!

-Kenny

Lewis, my herd bull.   Poor guy hurt himself last week but hopefully, he's on the mend!