finished by mid-summer. If there is any spare time we will spend it on fencing and increasing the length of our woodland walking trails. Fall Harvest time! This year we will extract about 1,000 pounds of honey. All our children and grandchildren will be home for this process – a very busy and sticky event, but one we all like. Eleanor sells much of the honey in bulk form, but saves some for family and charitable events. The poultry need to be processed and we have this done in Little Falls. Sobanias Poultry takes the birds and returns them to us cleaned, shrink-wrapped and ready for the freezer. We sell some of these free-range birds and the family uses the rest. In late fall the lambs are butchered and sold. We process and tan the hides; we salt the hides and dry them on racks – when completely dry we send them to a tanner and then sell the sheepskins. We also send the sheared spring wool to a small mill in Wisconsin where it is washed, carded and spun. We all have “Irish” sweaters from our own wool. Finally, in November, we turn the ram in with the ewes and the cycle starts again. The gestation period for sheep is 150 days, so we will be lambing again in March/April. Winter With the exception of feeding stock, the outdoor work is done. This is the time of year when we repair equipment and my son-in-law and I spend a good deal of our time in the woodworking shop. We have been buying and seasoning cherry, walnut, and maple hardwoods and are now building furniture. Our projects have included bedroom and dining room suites as well as various tables, chairs and assorted furniture that Eleanor and my daughters want built. Of late, I am pleased to report, my grandchildren are beginning to build things with me in the shop. Having written this description, I’m not sure if what we’re doing qualifies as a “hobby” or not, but I do know that it provides Eleanor and me with a great sense of satisfaction. It also allows both of us to unwind from the sometimes stressful business of emergency medicine and administrative responsibilities. I also know that working with the animals and in the shop is a wonderful experience for my children and grandchildren and brings us all closer together. ✦
MetroDoctors
The Journal of the Hennepin and Ramsey Medical Societies
July/August 2001
13