Fresh Chickens

Diane's father-in-law decided he wanted to have some chickens about four years ago so he and Diane's husband built a chicken house at Diane & Todd's house and bought some chicks.  They just had chickens for egg laying for a couple years.  Then the past two years they also raised some for butchering.  Yesterday was the day for butchering the current group.  It was a perfect sunny, cool Fall day for this job which involved the whole family.  I was very impressed with their equipment and how clean they kept everything.   It was a much "nicer" process than I remember seeing at both Grandmas' houses years ago.  They've invited me to help next time. 

Papa Dallas caught the chickens.

The chickens were put into these cones - I won't explain what else happens here.

Then they were put into boiling water.

Diane's brother-in-law has the de-feathering job.

Diane's husband did the gutting and trimming.

They had this sink to clean up after each one.  All were wearing gloves.

At this table, any parts of feathers left were plucked out with tweezers.

Into an ice water bath and then into big Ziploc bags.

Into the house where Diane dumped out any liquid and pressed out the air.  She uses a lot of bleach keeping things clean and safe when they do chickens.

Into the freezer.  They ended up with 48.

The kids had fun playing in the leaves.  This is a cousin.

 

Busy Week

Last night I was out in the last field ripping until about 9:00.  (Bill is ripping now)  This morning I put a roast with potatoes & carrots in the crock pot  and headed over to babysit Diane's girls while she delivered mail.  Came home and started baking some things to take to our landlady's family.  Enid's visitation is tomorrow and the funeral is Mon.  I made a cake, pumpkin bread and cream cheese cupcakes.  Waiting for everything to cool now so that I can cut the bread and then deliver and head back out to the field.  Peggy made sandwiches, Bette Jo did a relish tray and another friend is taking them chili and corn bread for their lunch and supper tomorrow.  Everyone lives out of town, and we think they'll be at the farm house all day tomorrow.  

This is a picture of Enid and her daughter sitting under a tree watching her corn being combined for the last time.  

 

Good News - Bad News

The good news is that we got done with combining Wed. evening.  Just have the last field to finish ripping.  The last day was a beautiful Fall day that was sunny and 77.  The next day was to be 55 and windy and the same for a few days.  This is the third harvest in a row that we've gotten to do it all in nice, warm, dry weather with almost no rain.  This year we just had a couple of short delays after sprinkles.  We've still only had about 2" since sometime in the spring.  We sure need rain.

The bad news is that another one of our landladies passed away.  This is the lady where the big tree branch fell where I mow.  She was really looking forward to seeing her field being harvested.  She got to see all of the equipment show up and get started but had to be taken by ambulance to the hospital that day.  Her funeral is Mon.  She was 95.

Here are some pictures from Wed.  

I drove this for a while in the morning.  I'm still in training with this job.

The corn trash left on the ground.

Bill combining the last rows in the last field.

Bill and Pam dumping the last corn into the semi.

Everything is parked and ready to be moved to Tim's yard.

Another year's harvest done just at sunset on a record early date - Oct. 3rd.

      

One More Field

We're combing our last field today and tomorrow.  Today the weather is going to be beautiful with a high around 80.  Tomorrow high of 50.  Good timing Mother Nature!

This morning I'm going to be doing Pam's job for a little while - driving the tractor with grain cart alongside the combine (husband in combine!).  Wish me luck!  Hope I don't have any stories to tell about that tomorrow!

Still Combining

Bill tells me tonight that we have right at 200 acres of corn left to combine and then we'll be done with that.  Jim was home for a long weekend and did my ripping job so today I made lunch for everybody.  We had grilled pork chops, green beans, sweet potato casserole (Jim's favorite), rolls, peaches and pecan pie.  He's going home tomorrow so I'll be back to ripping but plan to put lunch in the crock pot in the morning.  I'm sending the leftover sweet potato casserole home with him.  Tomorrow Lacey gets to come out and ride with Aunt Cindy after school.   

The weather has been beautiful - still no rain.  We're supposed to have two more real nice days and then it's going to be highs in the 40's and lows in the low 30's.  Brrrr.    The trees here have been at their peak color and have been the prettiest I've seen them in the five years I've lived here.  I noticed that this year, even the asparagus plants in the ditches all over have turned a bright yellow and so have lots of weeds along the road.  They say that this has been an exceptional year for pumpkins and gourds so the drought must be good for something.

I'm just going to post several pictures of the trees and harvest.

The trail is pretty right now - it's just down the road from our house.

The park in town where our Farmers' Market is. 

Our town's main street - some big, pretty trees.

Asparagus' fall color - Bill says some years it turns yellow and some it just dies.

Jim doing the ripping.  The trees around the house in the distance are colorful.

Matthew going from riding with Pam in the tractor & cart back to the combine with Uncle Bill.

The trees in front of our house. 

 

Look What Happened!

Remember this spring when I was saying that it's kind of scary to cut the grass at one of the farms under the HUGE trees that are in the yard and especially around the one that is mostly rotten?!?  Look what has happened!!  Another one of the branches has fallen, narrowly missing the house!

Bill says this is a cottonwood tree and that they never completely die.

Tim and Bill have farmed for this lady for many years.  She is in her 90's and is just here at home part time now.  Most of the time she and her daughter are at her daughter's house in the Des Moines area.  They are here now and hope to be around when the beans and corn are combined from her fields.