We’ve got another batch of hogs going to be butchered on April 16, so if anyone missed out last time and wants to get in on it this time, contact me or leave a comment as soon as possible.  We still have a couple halves available, and the next batch probably won’t go until mid-May.  It went pretty well last time, and we learned some things.  We’ve decided to charge by the “rail weight” (the weight of the carcass when it’s hanging and ready to be cut up) from now on instead of the live (walking around grunting) weight, since the rail weight is right there on the ticket from Kabricks’.  We’re hoping that eliminates some of the confusion we had between the live weight and butchered weight last time.  Using a couple of our past hogs as examples, we converted the price from live to rail and found that $0.92/pound on the rail weight comes out to the same total, so that’s how we’ll be figuring it from now on.

We also discovered that the mild sausage seasoning I love and have been eating for years has MSG in it.  It wasn’t a secret or anything; it’s right there on the package in big clear lettering, but I’d never looked before.  I guess I always assumed any standard seasoning would probably have something unfortunate in it, and I didn’t really want to know.  So we’ll have to find out what other seasonings they have before we get our next hog.  I’d hate to give up that great flavor, but MSG is hard on the brain, and mine has taken enough punishment already.

Blogging has been tough lately.  I just haven’t been able to think of much I felt like writing about.  Naturally, traffic has been up; that always seems to happen if I don’t write for a couple days.  As the weather gets nicer, there should be more to talk about.  Garden growth is slow right now; I’m itching to get more stuff planted, but it’s just too soon.  Our chickens are all still alive and growing, but Angel’s got that covered on her blog.

I’m still forgetting to Tweet most of the time, and gradually increasing my following anyway.  I really need to start using that more, and not just accidentally like the other day.  I happened to get my IM windows mixed up, and typed “no” into the Twitter window when I thought I was talking to a client.  I hope none of my followers spent too much time trying to figure out what deep meaning that held.

Holy Week starts tomorrow at St. Rose with Palm Sunday, then lots of special observances as the week goes on.  I hope to get there for some of them during the week—more than I have during this Lent so far, anyway.  I’ve only been to one Good Friday liturgy (there is no Mass on Good Friday or Holy Saturday, so they are replaced with liturgical celebrations), and it wasn’t the Extraordinary Form, so I’m guessing this will be much different.  I’ve never been to a Maundy Thursday or Holy Saturday, and looking at them in my missal, there’s a lot going on there.

I’m starting to realize that when you only go on Sundays and holy days like most people, you miss out on a lot.  Almost six-sevenths of the liturgy, in fact.  The weekday Masses and other observances sort of tie the liturgical calendar together into a more coherent whole, especially in the run-up to a major feast like Easter, so the Sundays don’t feel as self-contained.  Now I just have to get off my butt and get there more often to take advantage of that.