Putting Up.

When Papa and I first got married we had some language problems. We were raised about 15 hours apart in two separate country's and you really would not think that the languages would be SO different. But in some perverse way they are quite different. Besides Between and betwixt, creek and crick, and several other obviously ones there was also some confusing about the phrase 'putting up'. Putting up where I grew up is to litterly put the object on to a top shelf or closet or actually UP. Putting up in Papa's country means to put away or to preserve or otherwise deal with. For example they 'put up the laundry' after it's been folded. Where we would "put away the laundry". You see?? It seems fairly simple now that I'm writing about it and not living it but at the time 10 years ago as a newly married bride it was a bit confusing. These days my family members look at me funny when ever I use the phrase.


Anyway rabbit trails aside I've been putting up lately. Papa went down to his Dr.s appointment 9 hours south of us and brought us back a load of peaches, apricots, blueberries, cherries and a couple of watermelon. He left here at 2am drove 22 hours with a quick stop to see the doc and a quick stop to get fruit and went through 22 construction sites and at one point sat in the HOT black car for 1 and 1/2 hours traveling very slowly over 7km. At 36C. Or about 100F!!! He got home, walked in and fell into bed. Slept 9 hours and felt alive again. I was very glad we had not all gone!! It's done though. I'll have to update you about his knee while he's here. I'm not sure whats happening with it.


Anyway, rabbit trails again aside, the kids and I dried, canned and jammed a LOT of fruit in the last week. Ha you say. How can the kids help with all that. Well. They de-stemed 2 boxes of cherries, took the dried fruit out of the dehydrator, brought me jars from the back room, and were generally good kids while I worked. We've had temps in the 30's C, 90's F, for the last several weeks. Which makes canning in a trailer a very hot affair. So I filled jars and jars all day long and filled my fridge with ready to can jars. I set up my dehydrator outside and put 5 loads through it's 10 racks. 1 of apricots and 4 of peaches. I still have another load to do but the peaches are still not all ripe. In the evening I'd start up my 2 pots I use as canners and put the 2nd set for each canner in a sink full of HOT water to prepare them for the canner. Then when the 1st load was done I'd take the jars out and let the water cool for some time then refill and keep going. One night I did 5 canner loads!!! As I can do 7 jars in one pot and 5 in the other I got a TON done in just a few short hours. I also made Peach pit Jelly. Which we love!! Thanks Mike and Janice!! It's super easy and helps to use the entire fruit and it's awesome jelly!! I had to ration it all winter!! Here's what you do!!


Peach Pit Jelly.


Peel your peaches and put the peel and the stones in a clean container. Can or use your peaches like normal. (last year I hot water peeled 1/2 my peaches and hand peeled the other half for this recipe. This year I hand peeled them all. To make more Jelly and keep the house cooler. It didn't take that much longer and the jelly is SO worth it!!) Take you peels and pits and put them in a pot and cover them with water. Boil the mixture for a minute and then let it sit over night.
The next morning drain the juice out but DON'T squeeze it!! I let mine drip for about a hour. Then you take this juice and follow your pectin recipe for Jelly. Be sure to measure your juice. It makes an amazing mild yummy jelly that everyone raves over. Good eating!!!


I took the easy way out with the blueberries and some cherries and froze them for later use. My friend T uses frozen cherries for ice cubes in drinks which is a great way to have a special treat in your drink and keep it cool. The blueberries I froze in 1 cup, 2 cup and 4 cup bags. For fresh eating, pancakes, later Jam making!! We've already enjoyed them in pancakes and fruit salad and R loves them anytime!! Her little bum was stained BLUE for several days, quite a shocker when you first open up the diaper!! She also love the cherries, pits and all!! Eek.


I'm done with the canning but still have jam to make. Unfortunately I ran out of pectin today so I've been stalled til I can get to town. The raspberries are producing quite well and the boys have had the great idea that they need to make a batch of jam themselves and have been picking for 2 days trying to get enough to make their own batch of freezer jam. I think they would have had enough berries if they hadn't eaten half of them. :) They have about 7 cups between them. They need one more. Hopefully they'll get it tomorrow and we can finish this project. They both love freezer jam and can't wait to 'make our own!!'


The beans are also producing!! WAHOOO this will be the first year I have gotten a decent crop and I love my new white row covers as they are the only reason I'm getting one this year. Then I get to *GASP* figure out my pressure canner. Oh the joys!!


The corn is almost as tall as I am and tasseling. Hopefully we will get some this year. The greenhouse is doing great. I have a BUNCH of peppers and tomatoes coming. One hot pepper is about 5 inches long. I've already picked a red tomato and there are more coming. I've also picked two cukes and several zucchini.


The raised beds have been too dry and the radishes went to seed but the potatoes and peas are blooming and the lettuce is just about big enough to eat. Not bad considering they were planted so late.


The giant pumpkins we planted are taking over the garden but the fruit is small and I doubt we'll get more then a few little pumpkins. Disappointing but expected really.

The Circus Came To Town!!

And no I don't mean everyday life at the Griggs household. I mean the talented actors and actresses and animals that make up a real fun time. We went with the T family and the adults watched the kids faces filled with awe and the kids watched the circus. There was preforming elephants, dogs and bears. Motor and peddle bike tricks. Clowns and games, high preforming people doing tricks and balance acts on the ceiling. Juggling and lots and lots of fun. The kids were super overwhelmed and actually I think the adults were too. It was SUPER HOT in the building and everyone was sticky with sweat and deaf from the noise. But it was FUN!!!

Theater!!

Papa and I took the kids to see their 1st ever movie in a theater!! And we didn't tell them what we were doing so when the movie came on all eyes where bugged out and super excited!! We traveled to the 'city' this last Sunday afternoon to take the kids to see ICE AGE 3. E had been in a movie theater as a tiny infant but of course has no memory of that. Papa went to buy tickets while the kids and I walked through a nearby store. So when we walked into the multi plex eyes were enormous and J was chattering nervously. We all sat down and J figured it out pretty quick. People were talking about the movie behind us so I think that's how he knew. Then the previews came on and J, L and E were HOOKED!! LOL. R took a quick look and buried her face in my neck. It took her a bit but then she was fine and into the story as well. We have Ice Age 1 and 2 and the kids love them so we thought this would be a great 'starter' movie for them to see. But we had forgotten the previews. There were several and, as we never watch them at home, we noticed they got worse with each one!! By the last one I was trying to figure out how to watch the movies but skip the previews. Thankfully the kids took it well and so far we've not had any negative response to it. The movie was good. J loved the character BUCK who saves the day with his eye patch and craziness and, I think, has a new hero. E just sat stock still through most of it, and I put her on my lap part way through thinking that she was scared but she says she wasn't. L was up there in the movie I think!!! LOL. He fought battles and giggled and talked through the whole thing. He loved it and I kept my arm around him just to make sure he wasn't going to try and run up to the screen!! It was a bit scary as the fight off a couple of 'pop out at you' Dino's but all the kids said it wasn't 'too scary' and they all want to buy it when it comes out. We had a great time but I don't think we'll be doing it very often. What with the hour drive, previews and $37 just to get in!! After the movie we headed out shopping for a bit and then out for supper. Pizza!! What a treat as they all love pizza. All the kids ate really well with E quickly shoving the rest of her salad in her mouth so she could consume bread sticks!! J had at least 3 pieces alone!! With bread sticks and salad!! Yup that boys growing again. R cleaned off her plate several times and even L had 2 pieces his favorite pepperoni pizza. One strange thing that happened at the Pizza place was we heard a man call out J's name while we were eating!! Turns out there was another J there!! How strange is that. That is the 1st time we've ever met another J in this area!! The couple had 5 children and I think they were tourists which might explain it. We get a lot of tourists here in the summer. Papa meets some at work almost, if not, every day. Other then a little Travelall quirk in the parking lot and the extreme heat the day was perfect for a family outing.

While Papa was driving us home I sat looking out with the wind blowing my hair, that which had escaped, around my head and feeling the heat, it's been pretty warm the last bit and there is a fire ban on everywhere, and watching the side of the road for animals and smelling the clover, which is blooming everywhere, while listening to the kids giggle and play behind me and I thought what a great way to spend a day. Then I took little R's foot in my hand and undid her sandal and pulled off her sock and she giggled and so after I bared her other tiny foot I watched her as she gleefully grabbed her toes and swung them this way and that. Feeling the breeze on her hot little toes. Soon there where socks and shoes everywhere. Papa was the only one who kept his on. And amazingly the Travelall didn't feel quite so hot, even with the windows all down, and the shade felt so much more cool when we drove peacefully through it and the clover smelled some how so much more sweeter and stronger and more wonderful. The roadside was filled with wild flowers, pink, red, purple, yellow and white. And I thought.. "Now this is summer and how wonderful it is!!" Our family all together, happy, the wind blowing to cool us a bit, the sun shining, the land green with grasses, trees and bush and silly little giggles overwhelming the back seat and taking over the front. Oh happy summer days. Here again. Never to be forgotten!!

Laundry

After going camping for 3 days I just completed a TON of laundry. And as I've been meaning to blog about how we do laundry I figured now was a good time.

We do laundry like a lot of people with very few differences. I have a washer and dryer (which both work at the moment!!!) but I don't use boxes of laundry soap or bottles of liquid soap. I make my own laundry soap as I find it's cheaper and it works better. I mix it in a 3 gallon bucket and keep under a chair in the entrance where my washer and dryer are at. A bucket full lasts me about 5 or 6 months and cost me about $30. I actually got the recipe off the Internet ant love it. It's simple and works great. 1 box of Borax and 1 box of soap powder. Mix in equal amounts. Then I buy sunlight soap bars (very pure soap) and either grate them into the bucket with my salad shooter or grate some into each load as I do laundry. Papa grated this batch but normally I just grate with a small knife into the laundry if needed. Not all loads need the extra. I do use a stain remover called Spray and Wash on the tough stuff. But I could just rub bar soap into it. I'm too lazy and there are other things I'd rather be doing. So I add a little spray and wash into the washer with the soap and only spot remove if 2 washings don't remove the stain. It works for me. I do use color safe bleach when I can find it which is rarely these days. I only use it on really nasty stuff. ( like Camping stuff) I also do use regular bleach on my whites and rinse them 2 or more times so that E doesn't break out in a rash after wearing them.


I have a trunk in our bedroom which is Laundry Central. I put totes or laundry baskets of different shapes and sizes. For example I have a short white laundry basket that is only for whites. Large blue totes are for darks and the green large laundry basket is for colors. I need one more really for lighter colors but now I just do some of the darks first and then re-sort the colors into that tote and the green basket. What I need before another colored laundry basket is more room for it. This color system makes it really easy for the kids to put dirty laundry away and also pre-sorts it and saves me time on laundry day.

I know people who are totally convinced that the only way to do laundry is to do a little bit every day. That drives me crazy!! Really. Then I ALWAYS have laundry EVERYWHERE!! And I don't have a 'laundry room' so it's on the couch, on the beds and everywhere in between!! So I do mine all in one day. Or if I'm not on the ball in 2 days. I start early when I get up and throw a load in. By the time I'm done chores it's washed it goes in the dryer. Load 2 goes in and when it's washed and if it's summer and I have a laundry line it goes on the line. My washer takes half the time of my dryer and I can really only hang dry about 1.5 loads at a time. (we are working on ideas for a longer line) So every second load goes on the line. And if it's nice enough the 1st load is dry on the line when the 3rd load goes up. If not the washer sits for a bit while we catch up. I can do a lot of laundry this way. Even with forgetting to start a load or turn on the dryer which happens often enough. By early evening I've done 5 or 6 or 7 loads (in the last 2 days I did about 10 and I was done folding by 5ish.) and after supper when the tables cleared we fold. This time because of camping and doing sheets and some camping blankets I had closer to 10 loads. What a lot of laundry. Sheets in my house do not get folded. They get taken off in the morning or after naps and are back on beds before naps or bedtime. What ever works for that day.


Folding. I like folding laundry. It's very satisfying.. No really. This nasty dirty stuff is now clean and folded and put away!! DONE for another week. Normally laundry day is Monday or Friday. Sometimes both and sometimes neither depending on what's going on and how much there is. Oh and I don't iron anything. Nothing. I don't even own an iron. I hang up anything I don't want wrinkled as it comes out of the dryer. There is very little I hang. I'm allergic to some fabrics and these are often the wrinkly kinds so it works. Anyway back to folding. So I have 4 large full laundry baskets or totes in a pile stacked 2 high. I clear off the table and wipe it. The I pull out my armless chair. It has to be armless to fit the basket. Then I grab a basket and start to fold the big stuff. J, L and E have another basket. They take out all the socks and put them in the whites basket. They also take out jackets, bibs and washcloths. Bibs go on R's chair, jackets go in the entrance in the box, and J folds the washcloths and puts them away. I fold the rest like a mad woman as E and R and L bring me 'fold able' stuff. J and L put clothes the right way out as I fold. R loves to fold laundry and packs this here and that there until I barely know whats going on. She is good help though if you can get her to focus. When everything is folded we sort socks and the boys put them in pairs and I or J fold them together. L or E put the laundry baskets back and R puts Papa's socks in his trunk just to keep her out of the socks we are trying to fold. I put my different piles in the same place every time I fold laundry so it's almost automatic when I fold. Papa's has by far the lest amount of laundry so his pile is farthest away from me at the back of the table. Mine laundry goes beside his but closer in but also at the back of the table. J's goes in front of Papa's on the side of the table I'm standing on, then L's and E's and finally R's. Socks and underwear go in the middle of the table along with small towels. Big towels go on Papa's chair and so do his over shirts. Extra blankets and things go on top of the towels or on another chair.

Putting away. L or J runs to their bedroom and opens the 3 drawers under E's bed and then the rush is ON!! J, L and E run back and forth putting laundry away and R puts more of Papa's laundry away. Handy that he likes trunks so much. She just has to chuck it in :) I put towels and my laundry away before helping the kids with the last of their stuff and helping to close the drawers. All of L's clothes go in the drawers and some of J's. E and J share the old change table shelves with J's shirts and PJ's. Everyone has a small box or basket to put underwear/socks and in R's case PJ's in. And laundry is done again for another week.

Family Campout.

It rained one afternoon and the kids watched a few movies in Grandma's trailer. Left to Right is.. Justin, Luke, Jed, Rose, Levi, Emmaline, Ashley, Oakley, Alex and Mackenzie!! 10 of the 15 grand kids.

Luke, Justin and Grandma rolling out dough for lunch. They loved helping.

I'm told it was the 6th annual Fehr Family Rainout this last weekend. I think I missed the 1st one because I don't remember it. (Actually it would have been the year before we moved up :) Anyway it was our 5th. As the family has been growing it gets crazier and crazier. This year because of Grandma and the new baby Kyle we ended up changing plans at the last minute and camping closer to town then normal and no one went fishing at all. We went to a local lake that has a campground and bathrooms and a beach and playground but no showers. The kids had a great time. And we were all there. Though we did not get pictures with all of us. So we had Mom and Dad Fehr in their travel trailer, T&D Fehr and their 3 children, Luke, Alex (a girl) and Kyle (Aged 7, 5 and 4 days) sleeping on their boat (D took Kyle and Alex home for 2 of the nights ), S&D Thiessen and their children Justin and Ashley (the oldest grandchildren at 11 and 9) in a tent trailer, D&A Fehr and their 2 children Oakley (almost 3) and Kirsten (7 months)in her uncles travel trailer, A&K Martens and girls Mackenzie (3) and Courtney (5 months) in their motor home, Us with our 4 kids in out camper on the trailer, And M&D Campbell with their 2 children Kacey (1.5) and Ruger (3months) in their camper. And I must say it was a bit weird to be one of two of the girls that did not have a baby or newborn!! All in all we make 29!! Mom and Dad are 2, children and in laws are 12 and grand kids number 15!! 12 of the 15 grand kids are 5 and under!! 4 of the grand kids are under a year! Needless to say there was a lot of baby passing and strollers and kid fun stuff going on!! The older kids brought their bikes and ball gloves. The younger ones played on the playground and grass but mostly the sand that was everywhere by the end of the weekend. It did rain and we put up a huge blue tarp to 'live' under and our large 12 man tent for the kids. We also had 2 little shade tents that were great here and there and everywhere. There is 3 birthdays in a row in July and this weekend hit them all!! So we sang and ate cake and ice cream. Actually last week was Mom and Dads anniversary too (36 years!!). And Kyle's birthday too. So all in all there are 5 birthdays and a anniversary in 10 days in July!! Crazy days. There are 7 boy grandchildren and 8 girl grandchildren. The 1st several went boy girl boy girl but starting with our E there was 5 girls in a row so it's nice now that Ruger and Kyle have come to help balance it out. I told Papa that we should have a boy next too to help equal out all that girl power!!
We always do a treasure hunt for the kids and J turned out to be very quick with the clues. Good job J!! They all loved the small toy snack and water pistols they found at the end and we had a great water fight with anyone who could pull the triggers!! We were all very soaking wet and had a great time. Some of the men played rounds and rounds and rounds of horseshoes until their fingers were blistered but had a great time. I didn't cook a single meal all weekend and loved it. Papa is a great cook and it was awesome!! Thank you Papa!!! The kids took a bit of getting used to sleeping all together in the camper without their normal noisy fan but by the last night we all slept great and all the way through the night!! They are still tired though without naps for so many days and are catching up!! E went up to grandmas blanket on the beach one afternoon and layed herself down and napped!! Fell asleep in her life jacket and slept for over an hour. Other then that nap R was the only one who napped all weekend. Oh and Papa napped too.
We came home tired and weary and ABSOLUTELY FILTHY!!! So we checked the critters (Bindy was at the neighbors and had given him a bit of a run. Sorry Mike), unpacked the food stuff before showering everyone and sitting eating supper in our PJ's in the living room watching movies till bedtime. The next day was to tackle the dishes and laundry !! 4 kids + 2 adults + sand + smoke (the fire under the tarp smoked us all) + rain + mud + living outside for 3 days = a TON of laundry!!

Death and Life!!

Kay Wiebe

My Mom's Mom Kay died of pancreatic cancer on July 7th. She was sick for about 5 weeks and in a lot of pain. She insisted that she wanted to die at home and did with all her kids and husband around her. Most of the in laws where there as well as a few cousins. Kay believed in Jesus and that he died for her sins and that he rose again and is alive and I'm excited to see her in Heaven someday. She will be greatly missed. She was greatly loved. She was 76 years old and left behind 8 children, 8 in laws, 29 grandchildren, 17 grandchildren in law, and 35 great grandchildren. Add the few people in long term relationships with grand kids and the 2 babies due in the next few months and the clan will be up to over 100 people. We buried her on July 13th and we were almost all there. My cousin Walter and his wife and children were the only ones missing. But they had a great excuse. They had a baby boy that afternoon and named him Darren James. My oldest brother Tom and his wife Dana were at the funeral which surprised many of us as she ended up delivering their baby boy Kyle James at 2:30am on the 14th. Life and Death meeting together in one family on the same day. Needless to say it was a emotional day for the whole family.

Kyle James

THEY LIVE!!!

Haha. My goldfish that I put in the pond are ALIVE!! I thought for sure that pair of ducks had finished them off and haven't even been down to see in ages. But this morning I had to go move Bindy on her picket line and was close by so I went to have a peek!! And there they were!! Swimming happily on the top layer of the water. 6 beautiful colored goldfish. If you recall I put all the brown ones in the lagoon :) There may be more then six but six is all that were out this morning. I'm going to take the children out later to see if we can see them. How exciting!!

Fast Work!!

Papa got a call this morning about his knee. He has an appointment for the end of the month!! Thank You LORD!!!

Update.June 09

Papa hurt his knee about 18months ago and then several times in between then and now. He recently got an appointment with our family Doc and found out that they wanted him to do a CAT scan on it 18 months ago when he 1st went in. No one from the clinic had called us so we didn't even know!! Anyway yesterday he went in for a CAT scan and he has a referral to a knee doctor in a town about 6ish hours from here. If he waits for the doctors in the 'City' he'll have to wait up to 2 years just to be seen!! With this other doctor he should be seen very soon and possibly even have surgery this summer!! They want to do a scope surgery to see what is happening inside the knee. Our family Doc was very impressed at how tight and strong his knee was. His hurt knee was tighter then his none hurt knee. Now that Papa is mechanic-ing his knee is bothering him more and interfering with his work. Papa is also getting geared up to go back to school. His 1st 6 week schooling season starts late Sept. He'll be driving to school in 'the city' everyday! It's only about 45 minutes from our house.



J, 5, is growing up!! He constantly surprises me. He loves to help and has started doing things for others with out being asked or in secret!! The other day while I was busy with something outside he set the table for supper with out even being asked!! He still loves his bike and yesterday we took the training wheels off... tried it without and put them back on. He simply isn't ready. The balance he needs is not there. Also his back tire has a wobble and it isn't helping.



L, 4, is talking more and more and getting IDEAS!! ACK. The other day he asked if we could have 'cut up apples and banana's and marshmallows with liquid chocolate!!' He's had chocolate fondue once but it sure made an impression!! He is also doing well on his bike. He went up and down the driveway at least 8 times yesterday!! Mostly though we find him in the sand box!! When ever I ask him to do something he always comes back and asks if there is something else he can do. What a great helper.



E, 2, is on a Beautiful kick. Everything is Beautiful!! Everything. Or she'll fall down and say, "Oh I almost fell down.' When really she did fall down. She also loves to be outside and hates to stay in with R when the boys are out. She can get herself totally dressed now and loves to pick her own clothes. Whenever I tell the boys to do anything E says "what about ME, what can I do!!" So I give her little chores to do to and she loves it.



R, 1, is talking more and more. She can say Mama, Papa, moooo, baaaa, please, more, nite nite, bye, love you, and lots more things that she just mimics. She is a climber and just climbed on the chair to see Bindy who is grazing out there. She is a little doll and everyone loves her and wants to hold her. We recently went to a wedding and she charmed everyone she met. She loves to put things, mostly diapers, in the garbage. She holds out her hands and asks for them and then proudly walks to the kitchen and, after some one opens the door, puts them in the garbage!!



Forrest our Black sheep died the other day. We are not sure why. He was tied to a truck and we found a dead chicken under the truck but could not find any anti freeze or anything that would have killed them. He did look a bit like the cat we lost to anti freeze so I did give him some vodka mixed with water which is suppose to take the anti freeze out of their kidneys but he still died. Papa and I hate having anti freeze around and have searched every thing and can not find any. So we really don't know what killed him. The boys barely blinked an eye but still want me to get some more sheep. We'll see. I think if we do it will be a grown ewe and maybe we can keep it alive!



I am still waiting for my kidney stones to pass. It's been months now and I have a appointment soon to see what else we can do about them. They don't bother me much but they are still there and they will bother me again when we decide to get pregnant again. I'm also looking into a herbal remedy for them but so far have not managed to start one. I'm really looking forward to butchering day and being almost chore less for a few weeks. My green house is growing well and soon I will have enough to do with out several sets of chores.



Our weather goes from sunny and windy to cooler and still. We've not had very many nice days were we can go play in the water somewhere. Hopefully we will yet. We've had several thunderstorms and one night we all sat on the couch and watched the lightning while Papa read to us. The boys loved 'catching' the lightning and then counting to see how far away it was. When it rains it rains at night which is also nice.



My raised beds got planted late but at least they got planted. Papa never did have time to bring the bobcat home and empty the manure stall and fill them in so I mixed up, by hand, nine large wheel barrows full of peat moss, manure and sand and put a 6 inch layer of this in each raised bed before planting it. It worked great but my shoulders are still sore!! I have peas, potatoes, lettuce, spinach, dill, radishes, turnips, and beets in the raised beds. Corn, potatoes, beans, broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage in the garden (planted on time). And tomatoes, peppers, cukes, and some herbs in the green house. Oh and I have carrots and several zucchini in big pots here and there. We also ate our 1st strawberries of the year at Papa's birthday party!! Yummy!

Have a wonderful God blessed day!!

That time of year again.

The meat birds are 7 weeks old and we've started planning butchering day. Papa and I think these are the nicest birds we have ever had!! They are beautiful!! LOL. Well sort of. No really they are. They are healthy, active, large breasted, clean and alert. They have been out on pasture for the last 3 weeks. Moved to a new spot daily and are great grazers!! They love being moved and rush out and gobble up the new grass. They chase bugs and scratch at the earth and are generally happy little critters. So far the loss count is about 14 out of 218. Not super wonderful but not bad either considering they are all cockerals. (which grow faster and often have worse heart problems because of their fast growth.) They are still getting milk daily and gorge themselves on it. Lately the milk has just been offered in rubber maid 4 inch tubs, instead of being mixed as wet feed as several were hogging the wet feed and getting it all every day. I called these my 'milk babies' and they would follow me around and beg for milk every time I went in the pen. Now more of the birds are getting milk even though we are still giving them the same amount. Butchering day will be a bit of a turning point here this year as the cow is dry and the meat birds will be gone and all we'll have left is the pigs, and layers. It's perfect timing as my side of the family's "Camp out" also called the "Fehr Family Rain Out" is coming up in July and we'll be able to feed everyone and leave for the weekend without worrying about getting some one to feed and tend all the meat birds or milk the cow. How sweet will that be!!

Anyway back to butchering day. We're going to try and get as many as possible done in one day and what ever is left the next day. We also bought 6 'clean' garbage cans, I wrote CLEAN on them, for cooling tanks so we now should be able to fit most if not all of the birds in cooling tanks. This has been a space problem for several years and limits us to how many birds we could do in one day. We wanted to do 100 one day and 100 the next but everyone can only come the one day so we are going to try and get most done that day!! So now I got to make my 'to do before butchering list" and work to get it done before everyone shows up. Butchering around here is a bit different every year. One year we had the use of a 6 bird tub plucker which was lovely and a 6 bird rotating scalder.. also lovely. But the last 2 years we've been using a old hooded chicken plucker, borrowed from a friend, and a maul gropen or a large round tub that you put a tiger torch under to heat the water for a scalder. One year we scalded in the maul gropen and plucked totally by hand. I sat and plucked and cleaned and Papa did everything else. So all in all a plucker AND a scalder is really easy. Really it is. I don't mind chicken butchering days so long as we don't plan for more then we can handle. This year we have had 6 couples offer to help and so far 3 are for sure coming. One couple has a teenage son who loves to be our catcher!! With him there will be 9 adults. :) That is a big help. Last year J helped and loved it. I'm sure he'll want to help again this year. Maybe he'll be a chicken catcher 'helper' this year. Once we get everything set up and working the day flows by pretty smoothly. Papa and I have been butchering chickens together for years and have a pretty good system worked out. The hardest part of the whole process is trying to get the helpers to fit into our system. But I think we'll find that easier this year as we've butchered with some of these people a few years in a row. Several of the couples, both or just one of them, have NOT ever butchered chickens before. Or have not done it in 15 or more years. Thankfully they all are willing and able to take directions. One couple wants to help butcher just so that they can say they have done it. That's fine with us!! They are a younger couple and she is very interested in how we raise our birds and would like to raise her own some day. The T family has their own birds this year and we are planing on trading with them. They'll help us and we'll help them. We'll all use the same equipment!

Part of my 'to do' list is done. I sorted through and cleaned out the 3 freezers and am feeding some of the old (2006, 07, there was NO 08:) stuff to the pigs. Boy do they love that. I also rendered lard yesterday in the 'mual gropen' or big cook pot outside. I got 39 quarts of lard and 8 of cracklings!! A good days work!! The T family is bringing lunch for butchering day and I still have some pies left over from Sunday so all I have to figure out is supper. I think I'll do a roast on the BBQ and potatoes and a salad. And if I can hide some eggs from Papa maybe I'll be able to make some chocolate chip cookies. He has a habit of using every egg in the house when ever he cooks. But I do love it when he cooks.

The kids are all excited about butchering day too. J and L are on count down. Counting down how many sleeps til butchering day. They are also looking forward to the T's coming over for the day. The 7 of them have a blast!!

Anyway I'll let you know how it went and I'll try and post some pictures later. We are still having Internet problems and it has slowed me down some.