Curing and smoking meat, new rescue puppy

Jimmy and I are officially the proud owners of a rescue puppy.  Tea cup chiuaua/ Min Pin.   Yea ...I know...... but this one is different.  He doesn't yap.  When I say he  doesn't yap, I mean this is the quietest dog on the planet except when he is giving an alert.  He has integrated into the household quickly.  He figured out by day 2 that I don't want the chickens  on the top side of the house and he herds them into the back.  He's working on his relationship with Mickey , the newest  cat and has seen fit to avoid Drusilla  the 14 year old cat who is about as cranky as cats come.   Its a good choice on his part.  I once watched her take on a black lab and send it yelping home to its embarrassed owner.   He's quiet , affectionate and well trained.   So far, no accidents in the house.    Jimmy and I had to talk long and hard about it before we took on the commitment.   The deciding factor was the food bill.  Its gonna cost  about $5 a month to feed him!
And now for the next exciting news.  My smoker should be here any day now.  I've been waiting for over 6 months to get this.  I  waited until the smoker I wanted went on sale  AND I had a %30 off coupon.  The timing had to be perfect. 
You all know that  Jimmy and I have been working towards being more self sufficient.  I learned to cook  everything from scratch.  Then we  learned how to grow our own food.   When you start growing your own food it becomes necessary to learn how to  preserve your own food.  I spent time learning how to can, pickle,  dry and make preserves.    I've done a good job  at getting down  the fundamentals of each  form of food preservation.  I only  have two left to learn, curing and smoking.   (I've left these two for last because they are  the scariest and have the greatest potential for disaster.)
Baby Sis  loaned me her meat grinder attachment for the kitchen aid so I can try my hand at summer sausages.   Yes, I could use my  hand grinder but its 2014 ,I have electricity so I'm going to use it.
All my herbs from last season are long dried  and sitting in jars so I'll be using my herb drying corner to hang sausages! 
I'm so excited to be trying something new.
After  curing and smoking..... my next new adventure will be cheese making!

Need a logger, brooding hen, million dollar idea, high tech digital incubator

Must....blog....now...
The equinox has happened!  All kinds of spring things are happening at my house.   Jimmy  toted a few hundred pounds of chicken manure compost up the hill and spread it in the garden beds. One of my hens is brooding . I started 7 eggs in the high tech incubator that DD gave me  and the whole flock has been cleaning out the grass and weeds in the raspberry bed for me.  We moved the upcycled table and chairs out on the deck along with the  refurbed perfection  kerosene oil stove.
I'm starting to see cohesion in our new space and a semblance of routine.  Little buds are popping out everywhere. I expect a bumper crop of salmon berries this year  because of our vigilance with the hedger.  Its starting to look less and less like ma and pa Kettle live here.  Not sure the neighbors agree.   We have a couple of spaces in the yard that are covered with cardboard and several piles of brush that are waiting to be chipped.
I'm hoping that if we make it scruffy enough the general public will stop thinking that they have some rights  to the  property.  One cranky old guy with his 5 year old granddaughter came by with a bag of bread to  feed my chickens.  When I explained to him that the girls were  otherwise occupied, he got pissy with me and informed me  in his best haughty voice that 'SHE' wants to feed the chickens'.   Not really knowing how to respond to  his  attitude of entitlement.... I just walked off.  If I hadn't I would have yelled at him   "1. What makes you think its ok to feed MY chickens. 2. I don't care what your speshul snowflake angel wants... and you cant MAKE me care!"  
But the incident did remind me that I'm sitting on a million dollar idea.  Well....ok...50 or 60 dollars a month (enough to pay for chicken feed).  I need one of those  candy dispensers to put out by the fence line to put  scratch in .  That way all those folks who want to feed the chickens can give me 25 cents a tablespoon  to help with costs.  My general attitude is that if I have to put up with your crap...it will cost you money.  I found  one on amazon that I think would work.    So, if anyone has  one or more of these  tucked away in an attic or closet and you would be willing to  sell it to me cheap... please let me know.  I would also be willing to trade a basket of eggs, homemade jam, homemade soap, a hand made scarf or two....And if you are old enough ... a bottle of neglected fruit!   http://www.amazon.com/Candy-Gumball-Machine-Double-Stand/dp/B001AVJQ80/ref=pd_sbs_gro_9?ie=UTF8&refRID=07Q7HRHR13C5KAKPB35K


I'm also looking for  some strapping  logger to cut down a really old cherry tree over my garden beds  .  It no longer  produces viable fruit and just  creates a canopy  over the garden beds that block out much needed sunlight.  Oh and if  the logger  enjoys smoking meats they can keep what they cut down.  There will, of course,  be some payment of services involved  (I don't expect anyone to do it for free).
So, that is pretty much where I am in my spring process.     Lots of work to do  but it is starting to be fun again.