Destiny Dawn Marie

I ate raccoon for the first time the other evening for dinner. After the raccoon was cleaned it was boiled for a couple of hours with several whole onions. After the fat was removed it was slow cooked in a roaster for about 2 more hours with gravy and served with mashed potatoes and greens.

The nice sections of meat on the hind legs was pretty good, but I didn’t like the hassle of the little bones and stringy unknown stuff that ran through the meat. It was awfully messy and took a great deal of “picking” to get the meat away from the bone. The meat itself is a very dark purple. It resembled roast beef both in texture and flavor.

Because we are able to get raccoon meat free we are going to look into better ways to cook it. I’m thinking it would make good BBQ for sandwiches.

Anyone have any experience to share cooking raccoon?

One step closer to being self sufficient out here on the ranch. This is a big step for my city girl ways .. no more McDonalds for me unless they serve McDeer and McCoon sandwiches in the near future.

Good morning night owls, it is 3:43 AM and I feel pretty good after a long night of work and will soon be off to spend a few minute playing bejeweled before heading to bed before the sun comes up.

Lots of changes this time of year for every one, I know for us we have been facing some serious financial problems out here on the farm which is never a good thing as you head into the winter months.  The farm has never looked more neglected since I have lived here than it does right now.  The lawn tractor needs tires, the water system at the old house is still not functional, and we still have many small trees downed from the windstorm that have not been dealt with.

As we move into the colder season, online sales will rise.  This time of year is always on the upswing for sales on Amazon.com, eBay.com, and other e-commerce mediums. Books and other indoor or related hobby items become more in demand as people find themselves stuck in the house with less sunshine and lower temperatures.

I am still working on my book storage areas, it has turned into a more complex project then expected.  But doesn’t everything?  For some reason this stuff will not move itself around without me physically getting away from the computer and doing it.  I have read many books about the applications of the “Law of attraction”, about how we as humans control our reality through our thought processes, and I believed the saying “mind over matter”.  But no matter how much I sit here and think about ways to get this project done, it’s still going to take a little muscle and a whole lot of action to get it in gear.

As far as my marketing efforts, this year has been spent testing, researching, and trying different social media marketing methods.  I’ve come to a huge realization that like many other areas of life — the best processes start with GIVING.  By giving others comments, feedback, and recognition of their content you can effectively produce some energy inside of your own profiles.  Otherwise you just end up with a bunch of profiles on the web of yourself telling others more about yourself, while most generally nobody cares about you because they are too busy working on their own profiles.  So make sure that you spend some time checking everybody else out if you want to be checked out to.

Although the temperatures have been awesome this week with highs in the 70s (for November in Ohio!), I have still managed to get more done in the last week online than I have most of the summer.  It is a combination of farm living, physical health, and the struggle to survive 16 miles from civilization with gas prices over four dollars a gallon.

As the cold weather approaches I know that I must get my book selling business back in operation.  I am going to try to boost sales this winter with a little social media marketing. I am not sure what all I will come up with, I guess you’ll just have to watch and find out!

I am OUT THERE!

If you know Bill this will be even funnier … if you do not know Bill .. you are about to meet him.

Bill has been doing my yard work out on the farm.  In his rush to get the yard mowed he throws the tractor in third gear and tries to pull a Amish Speed Racer or something. He don’t know my yard that well yet and he isn’t the quickest thinker either. But for all it’s worth I was damn thankful it was Bill out there in the 90 degree sun getting the yard cut. The grass got behind while the tractor was broke down and was nearly knee high in spots.

So it’s early in the afternoon and I am on the phone talking business when I hear him holler something, I figure he is yelling at Devin to move a toy or get out of the way.  I glance out the side door and do not see anything and walk back to the office, phone on ear, and sit down in front of the fan.

From my office window I can see, Vickie up by her house talking to a neighbor who had stopped by. As I am sitting there smoking a cigg movement in the yard catches my eye. I look up in time to see Vickie, the neighbor and Devin all running down the hill with very worried expressions on their faces.

In a split second I remember that holler I heard earlier and I think .. wait a second, I do not hear the tractor running.

My heart skips a beat as I run to the back door in the direction of everyone else.

As I get to the door way, I can see tire tracks on the fresh wet cut grass and muddy ruts leading to the edge of the hill. On the other side of this drop off is a very steep 30 yard drop.

That’s when the top of Devins’ head flew open and he started to scream bloody murder. All sorts of terribly gruesome images went through my head of the damage that mower could do if it hit a person .. and I couldn’t see over that edge of that hill. Vickie and the neighbor start down over the hill and I run to Devin to try and sooth his shrieks of terror.

Devin clutches on to me .. sobbing uncontrollably and then he says it …

he says ——– Oh no no no no …… he broke our tractor ..I love that tractor!

I looked down the hill and the tractor was just 10 foot from the top leading against a tree, Bill had got flung off on down the hill and was walking back up the hill grumbling about all the thorns and burrs down the path he had been tossed.

Vickie almost called an ambulance, but it wasn’t’t for Bill, it was for me from laughing so hard.

Bill was happy the tree saved his life, Devin was happy that the tractor wasn’t broke and I am just happy that it didn’t happen to me ..

So my funny little story comes to a happy ending on the Do Duh’ Ranch!

If your a farmer this might not be such a big deal.

For me, an internet marketer enjoying my second summer on the farm - this is a big deal!

We don’t even own a hoe! —->yet

The second photo is taken from the hillside out the homestead. The tall house on the left is where I live, the home on the right is where my girlfriend Vickie lives. I took this photo while up on the hill mushroom hunting. Didn’t find a darn mushroom anywhere … will be going hunting again tomorrow.

Will keep ya’all updated.