Making Memories :)

My Mom made all our bread and buns when I was a child.. at least that's how I remember it :) I remember she had this HUGE bowl and she'd put in on a chair in the kitchen and put sugar, warm water, and yeast in it. Then she'd leave it until it bubbled!! Then a lucky someone got to stir while she added oil, salt, eggs, and flour.. A LOT of flour!! My sister Maria recently made Moms recipe and she informed me it makes 8 doz buns, and a loaf!! That's a LOT of great eating. I remember that us stirrers would get bigger the more flour my Mom added. First us smaller crew, Maria and I, then our older (and stronger) sisters Ang and Susan, and finally the tough guys Danny and Tom, if they were around.. if not Mom would take up the spoon and beat that dough into while dough!! Then she'd get her her hands in there and pretty soon there would be a very well mannered bowl full of dough that she'd run oil on top of, cover with a plastic sheet and then a towel and leave to rise. I say well mannered because several years later, after Papa and I were married, I tried making dough just like that.. it's not a easy thing to get it the right consistency. Not too sticky and not to hard or lumpy!! After a while one of us kids would be sent to 'look in on the dough' if it was over flowing the bowl we rushed back to tell Mom and she'd come beat it into the bowl, cover it with oil again, then the plastic sheet and finally the towel. She normally let it rise twice. Then we'd get busy!! It was a production I assure you. Mom would slick the counter down with oil, plop the dough down in the middle, grab a knife and start cutting off bun sized chunks. Before you could say bun dough there was little pieces of dough everywhere!! Us girls would slick up our hands from the counter top and start rolling!! Pans moved I tell you. We were awesome!! What I remember most though is the days when it was raining or snowed in or just a good day to stay inside Mom would tell us all to sit at the counter and hand us each a plop of dough. Or days when she had too much dough. She'd put a tray in front of us and tell us to 'go to' and we did!! We made cinnamon buns, hot dogs buns fulled with chocolate chips and all sorts of creations.We had some little rolling pins and some butter knifes and we created!! In fact one of my very favorite snacks came from these creations. A fresh bun with a handful of chocolate chips melted into the center!! YUM!!! These memories warm my heart and I want my kids to have the same memories with me. They had a absolute blast!!  The only difference being that I don't ever remember 'creating' in my Pj's :)

Chicken Butchering Day :) (Pictures)

After our little birds last year Papa decided that we were not butchering at a certain age this year but at a finished state. Makes sense right?? Well it worked great and the birds were FABULOUS!! I have no idea what they weighted in at as we did not weigh a single bird but at 12 weeks they were the healthiest birds we've ever had and a very good size. I guess that is what a diet of grass, milk and grains will do!! Even though it was wet all spring and they stayed inside longer then we've ever kept birds these birds did amazing!! We did have a few road runners as we did get unsexed birds and some of them did revert back to the Cornish game hen side of their ancestral parents. We did have a bit of a hard time planning chicken butchering day as we were not sure WHEN it would be but it all worked out in the end and we had quite a crew on the actual day. BONUS, it only rained for about 30 minutes in the afternoon when we were already totally soaking wet and we didn't even have to stop production :) The forecast had been for thunder showers all morning and rain all afternoon. I think the Lord knew our plight and whisked those rain clouds away before they dumped their load :) Thanks Lord!!

Here are the birds out on pasture a week or so before butchering day. The clover was over their heads and they did a great job of eating it down. They ate the leaves even off the ground after the clover had been walked over. Amazing job!!

These boys start the whole process. They are the bird catchers. This year we used some wire panels to keep the birds in a small area and away from food over night and to make catching them for butchering MUCH easier and it WORKED!! :) They weren't the only kids who took a turn!! 

My Uncle Ray.. as far as I'm concerned he has the worst job.. He gets the birds from the catching kids, puts the birds head down in a killing cone (behind him you can see the legs of a bird out the top of a killing cone) slits the vein in the throat and when the bird is done passes the bird on to Mr. B.

Mr. B takes the birds from Uncle Ray puts their legs in the cool leg holders on the board and dunks them up and down, up and down into 145 degree water for about 60 seconds or until the wing feathers pull out nicely. This is a stinky job, or at least it is if you are me and pregnant :) The water is heated from the bottom by a propane torch. Cold water is added if needed. Mr B also takes care of the plucking. We rented a drum plucker for the day and this little girl was in charge of the water hose to rinse the birds off while they plucked. Mr. B places the hot birds out of the scalder into the plucker and turns it on. This little girl sprayed them off while they go around and around. This plucker is amazing and saves us hours of time. Totally worth the $20.00 we rent it for. Papa and I dream of having our very own plucker and scalder!! 

I like this next picture as it shows a lot. The girl is spraying into the plucker, the kids in the background are catching birds or watching outside the fence. The boy standing by the table cuts the legs and heads off the birds before they go to Papa to be eviscerated. The buckets on the tables are for hearts and livers. 

A better picture of Papa eviscerating.. or gutting!! He is pretty quick and can do a bird in about 30 seconds.. consistently. He had a great teacher.. Joel Salatin :) http://polyfacefarms.com/

Then the bird goes to US!! Yes us cleaning girls, and sometimes children and men!! We look each bird over, cut off the tails (we prefer them gone), take extra fat off  (that's what is in the bucket), pick pin feathers, clean out insides and generally get the birds in TIP TOP shape for the freezer. Papa rigged up the water system which is SO nice and we have running water the whole time. As I'm the only one of the bunch who's done A LOT of birds and as most of the birds are mine :) I'm at the very end of the line. I check every bird that goes through! Actually that's not true!! I did have a little helper on this day and she took my all done, nice clean birds and placed them in the cooling tanks for me!! Saving me extra steps and boy I was grateful as these boys kept us pretty busy!! 

Here is a pretty good over view picture!! BTW THANK YOU VANESSA for taking pictures. I'm normally much too busy to even think of them!! The kids helped clean birds and the stack of pallets with the bucket on it is where they could stand to reach the table. Mr. B also did help with the cleaning whenever he wasn't busy which really helped some of the boys with the idea that only girls clean birds. 

Awesome picture of some of the little helpers babysitting and keeping little Miss Miller happy watching the boys catch birds :) 

The chill tanks :) After the birds have chilled we start bagging and cutting up. Cutting a bird into pieces is no fun alone but as a group it can be a fun activity!! We cut up about 90 birds after butchering on this day. The most we've ever done. Chicken butchering helpers receive birds for helping, as did my mom for babysitting through out the year and on butchering day. It sure was nice not to have to be a parent and head cleaner at the same time!!  Our wonderful neighbors who gave us the wire panels that made our lives VERY MUCH EASIER also got some birds :) 

After the last bird is bagged it's time to clean up the mess!! Because we do our butchering on grass there isn't as much mess as there could be. Working in mud is no fun!! And after the cleanup.... PIZZA!!!! Thanks everyone who helped make chicken butchering 2011 a great day!!  Oh and total birds done.. 176 in about 5 hours!!

Speaking of...

Feast or famine.. that pretty much sums up my blogging lately :) I've been working on getting house stuff done that really needed doing and now that we only have computer I can no longer blog or go online while the kids are watching movies. So I've been reading more during their movie times. Just as a general update we've had MUCH more rain then sun this summer so far. We are getting some sun this week and farmers are cutting hay like mad trying to get it down, dry and in before it starts raining again. So far our SUMMER high has been 25C which is about 78F!! Yeah if it hits 20C we are pretty excited and spend hours outside. The pool has stayed under the porch, the hose is pretty much unnecessary, and the grass is AMAZING!!!

This piece of grass is from OUR OWN place!! It's taller then Papa!! We found some in PG for Papa's citizenship ceremony that was a good foot taller then Papa!! We've had FLOWERS here taller then E!!

I found the kids one mostly sunny day all staying dry under a table outside!! They had a blast!! 

Another day it was showering on and off and whenever it was 'off' I kicked them outside to play on the trampoline.. even though Maggie was 'mowing' the yard that weekend. They didn't care and neither did Maggie!! 

We've also started school work about 2 weeks ago now. We're starting slow with just Math and now one day of the reading program. The kids are enjoying it so far and L is pretty impressed that he will be reading before the baby comes. I'm having fun with R doing 'school' with her while the other kids do school. One day R's "school' was learning how to draw a happy face. She was totally impressed!! She was also the 1st one to the door to show Papa her 'school' that evening :) It's the little things that count!

Now that we are getting some sunshine we're going to be spending some time out and about having fun in it! 

Broilers are done for the year, pigs have a couple of weeks before farrowing, work on the house is coming along and Maggie is pretty happy with the abundance of grass this year. The beans and peas in the garden are flowering and the corn is tasseling. The tomatoes in the greenhouse are surprising me with their growth.. though the cukes, and zucchini  are not doing well at all. Laundry is finally actually drying on the line (its even under a roof!!) without taking 2+ days to do so!! And other then a royally needed dusting from our latest project the house is looking pretty good. Papa is back to work and we are getting used to the longer, odder, hours and odd days off again. Baby G is growing and making herself known in the normal belly stretching/bouncing way. All and All

  Life is Looking Pretty Good!! :) 

Weston and Baby J!! Two peas in a Pod!!

Beautiful Ladies, cute kids :) 

Baby J was REALLY unsure about Weston sharing and wouldn't even touch his own food until J gave him a bite and then they shoved it in by the fist fulls. 

Weston, such a little camera ham!! 

But it was MY zebra!! Note the second zebra behind Weston's arm. They were 'sharing' and doing pretty good!! 

Weston is almost a full month, or was it just over a month?, older then Baby J and the two of them have great fun together. His Mom Rita, Mrs B and I had been getting together for girls nights for the several months both Mrs. B and Rita are in town. Both couples are away for months of the year guiding for game up in the North so it's feast and famine. We also try to get together during the daytime so the kids can play. On this day I made mac and cheese with sausage and corn in it and the two little boys 'shared' off  Baby J's tray.... even though Weston had just eaten a bowl full!! I told Rita to bring him over anytime if she needed to fatten him up!  She told me she's never seen him eat so much!!

Driveway Hockey!!

Papa and the kids played some hockey this early summer.. they had a BLAST!! They had to do it right in the middle of the driveway as it was the only area that did NOT have puddles. Yes the girls are wearing sweaters!

Baby J is ONE!!!

It truly is amazing how fast they grow up :) Our little one year old all decked out in Summer gear for our non summer weather.. that's what happens when your older brother (L) picks your clothes.. 'because I LIKE muscle shirts!!' 

The older 4 helped make his birthday cake and cupcakes while he looks on. J is holding the recipe which he read out for me as we measured and mixed. He was officially in charge of making sure we did not forget anything :) 

The day of the PARTY!!! He loved his blue balloons :)  

Papa and Baby J opening the gifts from us and the kids. His little buddy Weston looking on! 

 Papa, Baby J, Weston and cousin KC checking out the gifts. 

The Tradition!! Papa and I started it when J was little when we blew out his 1st birthday candle. J got to blow out L's candle, L blew out E's, E blew out R's and R got to blow out Baby J's. She did it so fast we almost missed it!!

She did stick around to watch him taste his cake!! YUM!!

The cake has been completely inspected, tasted from all areas, mashed, squished, and battered. LOL. There were 3 little chocolate eggs on the top and I think he checked the whole cake over to make sure he got every egg!!Thanks Grandma for getting the smile out of him!! 

Baby J watching Weston play with a new toy! Weston and Baby J enjoy 'sharing' off Baby J's tray and competing to see who can eat the most the fastest!! 

We had a great party!!