Where's the Beef?

We have some chunks of beef in our freezer, and they got there in a rather unusual way.

Yesterday evening, Russell headed over to Iris' house for a visit. Before very long, Iris' grandmother hurried into the house, in a state of great excitement. She had just gotten word that one of her cows had fallen off a cliff and died. They needed to go and butcher the cow immediately, to salvage the meat.

Russell, of course, was happy to help, especially since only one of Iris' brothers was home at the time. The understanding was that the cow was a short walk down the river from the house, so even Iris and her mom tagged along for the stroll.

In fact, the cow was a looong walk from the house, and it was hard up and down walking over steep little mountains. Once they reached the cow, they butchered it on the spot, using the skin of the cow to keep the meat off the ground. Then, the menfolk, including Russell, all carried the meat back to the house. On the return trip, they took a longer route, which followed the river. The longer distance was offset by the lack of ups and downs. Carrying the loads of raw meat up and down the slopes seemed a bit too much, especially in the dark!

Much of the meat was immediately sold. Some was frozen, and we received a couple of bags of miscellaneous beef. I decided, under these circumstances, to boil all the meat for stews and soups, and freeze it. So now we have some mighty fresh beef in our freezer!