NEW YEARS DAY TRADITIONS

Woke up late this morning,not a good way to start off the new year! I put the pork shoulder in to cook,it will take about 3 1/2 hrs , so that'll be just right.Sun is shining brightly this morning but it is cold about 22, but starting tomorrow the highs during the day aren't going to be much better than this,so we'll enjoy the 30's today.
Hubbie walked down to check on the tree in the creek to see if the beavers are making any progress while I finished up the laundry from last night.We had soaked black-eyed peas overnight and they were ready to cook. This is a southern tradition which now is widely followed.Eating black eyed peas on the first day of the new year will bring luck. Some say it is necessary to eat 365 peas,1 for each day or risk having bad luck on some days,but most say eating at least 1 pea will do the trick for the whole year.
Another tradition is collard greens, eating these brings wealth in the new year. The more you eat the more money you will make.I bought a huge bunch so everyone could eat as much as they wanted!! We complete our meal with a pork shoulder,the tradition is hog jowls for good health,but I've never cooked these and don't think I'll start now!
MMMMM!!!! I don't know about the reasoning behind this meal but I do know it was delicious! I baked a big pan of apples with butter,brown sugar and cinnamon for dessert. Everyone was here and ate their share of luck,wealth and good health.
Hubbie and #1 son went over to a near by farm after lunch and bought a load of hay.We are running low and with the messy weather the cattle are eating more hay because snow still covers some of the pasture. It was not really good quality but it was close and cheap so they get what they get! They hauled in 1 load of 12 rolls and we got them all in the barn with the help of #2 son's strong back, as he had to roll them from where #1 son dropped them with the skid steer to the back of the barn. Hopefully this will be enough,we'll see how it goes,I have a feeling we'll need more.These round rolls of hay sure make handling hay easier, when we first started cattle farming years ago we had a square baler,which was an extreme amount of work.I remember once I was pulling a trailer behind the baler,picking up the bales and loading them on it,I made the turn at the end of the field with almost a full load and all the bales fell off the trailer,by myself I re-loaded the trailer.We bought a round roll baler the next year! All the work is done with a tractor and we cut and baled our own hay for about 15 years. All 3 kids learned to drive the tractors and rake hay. Then when they all got jobs and it was back to being just hubbie and I , it was to much for us at our older ages,so we sold our hay equipment and most of our cattle. We gave up all the land we had been renting and now just keep a few cattle on our home property.We have been buying in the spring and selling in the fall so we didn't have to buy hay, but this year was a bit different as we bought in early spring and sold all those in May,bought more in June and decided to keep them until spring because the price was so bad last fall,depending on how much money we have to spend on hay this winter,we'll see if that was a wise decision. It is sure nice to have the boys around to help.
After everyone left hubbie and I went to finish work at church. We were looking to take down the Christmas decorations tonight but no one else showed up to help.
We came home and built fires in both woodstoves upstairs and downstairs.Temps are already in the teens at 10:00.Seems funny that tomorrow is Saturday,after the kids were all here today.That's one thing I don't like about the holidays,the days get all mixed up with different activity. The older I get the more set in my ways I seem to get and don't like change! Each morning I have to think okay what day is this and what do I need to do today.
I'm looking forward to getting back to a normal routine next week.It has been a loooooong!! time since I had normal around here. The construction is finished,I don't have to wake to hammering men outside my bedroom window anymore,the holidays are over,decorating,shopping,cooking, man what will I do!!!!! I'm sure I'll think of something!!!!!
Thank God for family and all the blessings of life with them. Good Night and God Bless.