Sunday sparring, Sunday jarring

At chore time this morning, Blake and his half-brother Browning were too busy to eat. I couldn't determine if Browning was defending himself from a ram in rut, or if both boys were punchy. You wouldn't think hormones would have an effect on wethers, but Benny has been mounting his half-brother Barbados lately. The ewes haven't started acting hormonal . . . yet.

I've been planning to put together my breeding group this coming Sunday, but with several sheep still for sale, I'm a little nervous about taking steps to increase the size of my flock even more. I only have so much room, hay, and as I've mentioned before, husbandly goodwill. Still, my breeding plans this year could result in some significant steps forward in my flock goals. What to do? Trust me; I'm praying for guidance.

In the meantime, there is still plenty of preserving to be done. I thought I was going to get my very ripe pears sauced today, but Friday Rick scored a load of grapes, and getting them juiced took all day.

We did some in our steamer-juicer (then canned), and some pressed fresh (then frozen). The steamed juice is a great way to utilize those recycled jars, since they aren't subjected to the stress of the water bath canner (shhhh; don't tell the FDA). I lost track of how much we got all told, but it will be tasty additions to future meals.

Looks like I'll be saucing pears tomorrow at . . .