8 Months!

The twins turned 8 months old two days ago!  Eileen is really into sitting, puking, reaching for and sucking on things.  She seriously throws up all the time.  She happily sits, supported with pillows, for over an hour playing with toys.  Ewan is backward crawling, rolling over, planking, bending his body, reaching for and licking things.  Anytime something comes close to Ewan’s mouth he sticks his tongue out trying to lick it (it’s absolutely adorable).  Ewan spends most of his time on his front side and Elieen spends most of her time sitting up.  Ewan is able to sit as well, he’s just prefers being on his front.  They both like sucking on their feet (and sometimes mine!).  Changing diapers is an adventure, they both want to roll over and grab anything on the changing table (including the dirty diaper), they either keep their legs completely straight or totally bent.  If you aren’t quick enough they grab the poop with their hands, and then you have a real mess to clean up.

Eileen sitting and Ewan on all fours
Eileen sitting and Ewan on all fours

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Making Sausage 2017

Last year our friend Levi showed me how to make sausage so this year Davis and I thought we would give it a shot on our own using the sausage stuffer that Janet bought me for my first father’s day.

Fortunately for us, Levi lent us his heavy duty grinder and mixing tub which definitely saved us some time and effort.

Step one was pulling 55 pounds of elk and whitetail deer trim and pork fat from the freezer to thaw.

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Thawing elk, whitetail and pork fat
Thawing elk, whitetail and pork fat

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Snowshoe Hare Stew (Lagos Stifatho)

On our 2017 hunting trip my brother Loren snared enough hares to share a couple with Dad and a couple with me.

Snowshoe Hares
Snowshoe Hares

Snowshoe hares are a little bit more flavourful and tougher than their cousins cotton tail rabbits, as such they are very well suited to stews and braises.

I decided to use the snowshoe hares that Loren snared and subsequently shared with me to make a hare stew inspired by Theo’s Restaurant in Penticton, British Columbia. Theo’s has long been a family favourite and every time we go I can’t help but order their Lagos Stifatho which is the most delicious Greek rabbit stew with lots of onions and tomatoes and cinnamon and the most incredible depth and complexity of flavour.

Lagos Stifatho (snowshoe hare stew)
Lagos Stifatho (snowshoe hare stew)

Below is a rough recipe;

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Visit From Grandpa Maclean and Grandma Martin

My parents came for a visit last week to spend some time with the twins. The weather was great and my mom was able to go out for a ski in the mountains and Janet was able to go for a small run and take the dogs for walks while grandma and grandpa watched the babies.

Grandma spent lots of time hanging out with the babies and helping Eileen practice sitting up.

Eileen sitting with Grandma
Eileen sitting with Grandma
Eileen and Ewan in their Christmas Sleepers
Eileen and Ewan in their Christmas Sleepers

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First Attempt at a Euro Mount

Trophies and antlers have never been the objective for us when hunting, in fact, even when we have shot an animal with a decent rack, we’ve never done anything more than take the skull plate and toss the antlers into a tree or perhaps the garage. For us, it’s all about filling the freezer, enjoying nature and time with each other, and the satisfaction that comes with hard work.

This year, Davis shot a whitetail buck with a fairly interesting rack with lots of broken tines and an abscess and I thought I would take the opportunity to learn how to turn it into a European/skull mount. Lucky for me my parents were in town for a visit and my dad was able to give me a hand.

I think it turned out really well for a first attempt and I definitely learned a few lessons to keep in mind for any future endeavours.

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Euro Mount of Davis' Whitetail
Euro Mount of Davis’ Whitetail

Sadly I don’t have any pictures of the process, but here’s what we did.

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Making Venison Bone Broth

In the interests of utilizing as much of our kills as possible, and because we love a good homemade stock, I decided to use the bones from our deer and elk this year to make bone broth. Dad used to do this when we were growing up but for whatever reason, it’s something I have never bothered with. I guess having dogs to give the bones to gave me an easy out but dogs can only chew so many bones and there are enough buried in the back yard as it is.

Step one (after removing most of the meat from the bones) was breaking down the bones into smaller pieces so that they could be tightly packed into a stock pot, especially the elk which is a large animal with large bones. This was accomplished by separating all of the joints with a knife, then using a reciprocating saw to cut the larger bones into smaller pieces and exposing the bone marrow.

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Two half sheets of deer and elk bones
Two half sheets of deer and elk bones

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Grandma and Grandpa Shivas visit

My parents were here for almost 2 weeks while Kyle was preparing for and out hunting. Time went by really quickly. We tackled some house projects (stripping and sealing the slate floors, painting doors, and hanging Xmas lights). I was also able to venture out on my own for a dentist appointment and lunch with a friend.

My parents soaked up as much baby love and snuggles as they possibly could! It was nice to give my body a break. As always my parents were extremely helpful with dinners, babies, laundry and other house stuff.

My parents brought the babies to the curling rink on Thursday to watch part of my game. Ewan was the hit of the lounge, he was smiling at everyone, especially the ladies.

Ewan was experiencing teething pain the last 5 days my parents were here, he wasn’t sleeping very much at night. It was nice for me to have extra support during these sleepless nights.

On our way to the airport to drop off Grandma and Grandpa Shivas.

Ewan’s many yoga poses

There is no doubt about it, Ewan is strong!! A couple days ago he learned plank pose and spent at least an hour yesterday afternoon planking. He has a strong cobra pose. Ive seen him in dolphin pose and a beginners bow pose (these are hard to capture on camera since he moves so quickly). It’s only a matter of time before he goes into downward facing dog.

And of course he knows happy baby pose!

Plank Pose
Plank Pose

Cobra Pose
Cobra Pose
Happy Baby Pose
Happy Baby Pose