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Monday, June 13, 2016

Everyone into the pool!

My weekend started at 6A by packing the Nuggets into their travel crates.  This was done under an ominously slate-gray sky.  My friend, M, bravely volunteered to transport them to Base Nuggets (my neighbor's), where my 80+ year-old helpers awaited.  Sigh.  At many points, I was reminded of what it must feel like to herd cats.  While I appreciated their cheerful presence and enthusiastic attitude, there was a lot of redirecting, clarifying and more redirecting.  I finally took charge (I was born to take charge - just ask my poor sisters) and took matters in hand.  That did streamline the process a bit.  About one third of the way through the process, the skies opened and it poured.  With some fast-thinking (not mine...I was trying to keep the 'help' focused) a canopy was erected and we proceeded through all 28 birds.  I could not have done it without them - as slow and sort of scattered as they may have been, they never complained and never stopped.  I was also very thankful for the loan of the plucker (I so 'heart' it). 
 
It continued to rain in buckets and at some point you reach a saturation level that give you a devil-may-care attitude about walking around outside getting things done.  We sent the oldest of our team home with her Nuggets and my neighbor and I cleaned up the equipment, put things away and sorted out our Nuggets for an hour in driving rain.  When I finally walked through the front door - after a thorough Nose Scan by the dogs - I headed for a hot shower, dry clothes and wool socks! 

I "heart" this thing.
The skies cleared later that afternoon and the sun came out briefly - but I was too knackered to do much else.  I slogged around outside and found this: 
I "heart" this thing, too.
And spent way too long watching this:

The only ones enjoying the weather.
Sunday, I finished my garden under blustery, cold, damp skies - although I think I may have to replant the kale and chard, as the rains we have been getting are more like monsoons and I think my seeds may have gotten washed away.  The final raised bed was weeded, carrots are in (I swear this is my LAST try at growing carrots), a replanting of yellow beans went in, potatoes were hilled, strawberry flowers were plucked off.  Then I trooped inside and dealt with the Nuggets.  I have 15 whole, half, and parted birds in the freezer.  Some are going to my sister and parents and some will be used for bartering.

The chicklets were moved into the small coop and the laundry room-cum-brooder central was cleaned and readied for the Cayuga ducklings that I picked up Sunday morning.  After all, why let things get boring when you can complicate your life even more? 

I am way behind on my purging - I was thinking that, just last year I would get days behind, while this year those days have turned into weeks.  Another snag is that I have not been able to get to Goodwill, so I have a backlog that needs to go out the door before I add too much more to the pile.  However, I am determined to get things flowing again by the end of this coming weekend.  Heaven help me.




11 comments:

Mama Pea said...

Oh, what awful, awful weather for your chicken butchering! A not nice job even under the best of circumstances, but the downpour must have made it doubly unpleasant.

I have to ask . . . is my brain just not functioning (possible, possible) . . . what is the heart shaped object in the grass?

Susan said...

It's a heart-shaped stone! I'm taking it as an omen of Good...

Gail said...

Such joy.

Fiona said...

ahh freezer space taken up with your own home grown food! The smell of roast chicken will make the struggle worth it!
What do you do with the gizzards?

hoosier girl said...

I'm about to give up on carrots, too!

Susan said...

In the long run, it's all joy.

Susan said...

My neighbor is the gizzard guy. It worked out well - I took hearts and livers, he took the gizzards and L took the feet! The rest went to the resident bears. Nothing wasted but the feathers.

Susan said...

Thank goodness it's not just me!

Susan said...

I'm about to sow carrots for the fourth time, previous sowings have got me exactly eight carrots!!! I have covers over the seed beds which I put up at dusk to protect from the heavy rain at night and run out like a mad woman during the day to re-cover if one of the eight showers a day gets out of control-love having an extra chore-not.

Sandy Livesay said...

Sweet Susan,

Boy, did you have your hands full when chasing down and kenneling your chickens, and moving them to the make shift processing plant you and your 80+ year old friend and helpers. You need to give yourself credit for all that work. In fact, I think you need to count each chicken you processed as part of the purge.....this will of course increase your numbers (LOL). It's true, you gave several of the chickens away, so count them :P
I know I'm being silly, that's because I'm under the evil eye of my husband.....not to do any work :-( just relax and heal. Shhhhh.....little does he know, I've been playing out in the garden when he's not home hehehehehe..... As long as I'm not causing problems, it's okay. I'm just doing small stuff.

I'm sorry to hear you'll have to replant some of your seeds because of all the rain. Hopefully, the extreme rain will slow down and just give you a gentle rain every now and then. Ducks!!!! Did you say you're getting more ducks this weekend. Enjoy them, I think duck are the cats meow.
Hugs, and love,
Sandy

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

Goodwill got a huge deposit from me the other day. It felt great to unload it all too.