Cleaning, trimming, grilling, processing

Mama and I were up early on the 1^st. I got out to feed right after we did our morning Bible reading and while I was feeding, Mama made breakfast. Mama is studying an anti-inflammatory diet which we will adopt for a few weeks. It is not an onerous diet, but it does eliminate some of the foods that are typically in our diet. None of which we need to be eating anyway. A quick meal of steel cut oats and toasted homemade bread and we were both out the door to clean the coop. It was in dire need of cleaning. I should have worn a dust mask for that chore, but I did not think to get a mask as we exited the house. That cleaning took us over an hour to complete. Two full wheelbarrow loads of chicken manure were added to the compost pile that morning.

I was planning to finish cleaning the pig building next, but I needed a few minutes rest, so I got a saw and cut a couple drooping tree branches that have been in our way between the coop and the pig building. Just cutting away those two branches opened up the area more than I had imagined. I will need to repeat the process throughout the entire farm this Spring. A huge task. By the time we had finished the coop and trimmed the branches, my watch was telling me I already had 6,000 steps in.

Once I rested a few minutes and got a drink, I went to the pig building. With the work I had done recently, I was able to finish the cleaning in about an hour. There was less dirt left than I had thought. One full wheelbarrow was all it took to get the last of the accumulated, dried mud off the floor. I wore a dust mask through the scraping and shoveling operation but still ended up getting a slight cough from the dust that was stirred up. Once I generously limed and strawed the cleaned floor I let the three weanlings into the building proper. We had them in the little entry way up to that point. They were curious and excited about the increased room and all the hay I had put in there for them to bed down in. All that was done before noon.

Having that chore finally behind me, I fired up the pellet grill to get started on Victoria’s recent purchases of foods to be grilled. Several different types of sausages, shrimp we marinated overnight were the first on the agenda. There is are lot more items to get cooked on the grill, but I was running out of time to get it all done. I baked the stuffed peppers Mama had made for Victoria just before we left for church. Victoria actually met me and Mama as we were on our road. She was coming home, and we were headed to church. Today I will finish the requested grilling with asparagus and stuffed jalapenos being prepared on the pellet grill. I asked about returning the grill last night at church, but Bro. Zach said to keep it unless it was in the way. If he needed it, he would come and get it. That suited me and Mama.

I did not get all the grilling done in the afternoon because Brittany Wycoff was scheduled to come by at 3 pm to help with the chickens. I spent a little time getting things set up for her and I to work on the chickens before she got there. She was thankful for the table I had set up in the shop. It was windy outside and a little too cool to set up out there anyway. Most times they do the processing on the ground. Yuk. While she got started on the first chicken, I killed the remaining birds. There were four in total, but one died of a heart attack, literally, before I could kill it. I put it in the creek for the coyotes and opossums to eat. The other three we dressed out, washed them thoroughly and tried to put them in gallon freezer bags. All of them were too large to fit in the bags, so I wrapped the chickens in the unsealed bags in aluminum foil and set them in the fridge. They will go in the freezer Sunday afternoon. Brittany’s help allowed us to get the processing done in about forty minutes. Praise the Lord!

By the time Mama and I were ready for church I had registered 19,000 steps for the day.

When I looked at my phone this morning. I saw a text from our realtor. He sent a picture of a bathroom sink cabinet and mirror he bought for our house in Lawton. It will be installed today.

Wow!