Eating Roosters

Last night, I cooked some of our chicken for dinner.  I put legs (thighs and lower legs still attached together) on a baking sheet and sprinkled them with salt and pepper for the kids.  For Nathaniel and me, I took the bone-in breasts and cut slits in them to stuff with cream cheese, then topped with bacon.  Mmmmm.  It's probably my favorite way to bake chicken.  Anyway, I cooked- and probably overcooked- it all to make sure it was done.  Then I made a pasta salad with the kalamata olive tapenade Nathaniel made this weekend, and I made homemade apple sauce from the apples Lydia and Malachi picked.  So it was a rather special dinner. 

And then we all sat down to pray and eat.  The kids love chicken, and they were really digging in when Malachi asked, "Are these our roosters?"

I wasn't sure what to respond, so I said, "What do you think?"

"No, they're too big.  Our roosters were littler than this."

Then Nathaniel answered (while I cringed), "Actually, these are our roosters."

I didn't have to wonder for long if that would ruin their dinner.  Elijah said, "I knew they were our roosters all the time."  Lydia ate and ate.  Malachi had 3 legs.  All three kids decided that our roosters tasted great.

Nathaniel was so amazed at how juicy the chicken was, he suggested that next year maybe we should consider raising meat birds.  Believe it or not, I didn't think he was crazy.

So I guess we handled eating meat we had raised pretty well, even me.  I prefer not to think about (or talk about) chickens while eating it, but it was really good.  That's a good thing, because we have more in the freezer, and there are 2 more roosters in our flock that will eventually need butchering.  Yes, the morning after the big rooster harvest, 2 of our chickens that we had hoped were hens came out crowing.  So now we have 11 pullets and 3 cockerels, and we're only keeping one rooster, so in a few weeks, Nathaniel will have to kill the other two.

And then there were 14...

This is a fond farewell to 7 cockerels.  The upper one is a Rhode Island Red, while the lower is a Sussex.  Nathaniel and his uncle butchered the 7 today.  (Aunt Darlene, Lydia, Malachi, and I went to pick apples, a much happier way to get food.  Elijah was playing with the neighbor.)  So now we have chicken cooling in ice water, and only 14 chickens left in the yard.  (One pullet got killed by a hawk on Friday.) 

It's a good thing her eyes aren't blue...

because we'd have a heck of a time telling her apart from Malachi in the monkey costume pictures!

They've grown!

As you can see, the chickens have grown quite a bit.

The second picture gives you a good idea of how small Penguin is compared to the others.  Elijah's decided that she looks more like a snowy owl now than a penguin, but the name doesn't change.  We still have 22, and will for about another week and a half.  Then Nathaniel and his uncle are going to cull roosters, at least some of them.  But we are thinking of keeping one, and the barred rock is the current favorite.

Baby Shoes

Some good friends of ours are having a baby soon, so I decided to use a pattern I had bought on etsy a while back to make reversible baby shoes.  They are so cute!  I made the 3-6 month size for our friends, then I decided to play with the newborn pattern and see if I could make them for dolls to sell in my shop. 

These pictures are the two doll pairs I've made so far (the third picture is the "other side" of the first two).  I think they're so cute.  The ones I made for the real baby are just like the pink polka dot ones.  I plan on making more soon.  They really are fun for me, and fairly quick to make.

Lego Creations

The boys are happy that they will go to Lego club at the library this month.  It's free, but you have to sign up, and spots are limited.  I remembered to call the first day you could, so they're in!

Elijah worked really hard on this.  It is a computer with Lego Star Wars on the screen.  The second picture is a close-up of the "keyboard", which he copied painstakingly from our real keyboard.  He figured out how to do it all by himself, including the words on the "screen".

And here is Lydia booing chickens.  Unfortunately, when Mamaw and Papaw were here Tuesday evening, the chickens didn't cooperate.  Most were already in the coop, and the three that weren't were hiding in the bushes and wouldn't come out.  I cut back the bushes, and last night Lydia was booing them as usual.

Actually, I really messed up when Mamaw and Papaw were here.  I had cut up a cantaloupe (the second from the garden!) and completely forgot to serve it to them!  The kids and I finished it off yesterday, and today another is ripe.  Yum.  I also forgot to send home some tomatoes.  I forget that they don't have a garden now.   But we had a really nice visit.

Nathaniel gave us a great surprise and came home early from the conference.  He wasn't supposed to be in until today, but work wanted him back here for meetings today, so he changed his flight and came home yesterday evening.   

It's going to be a busy weekend.  My inlaws are coming tomorrow, and Nathaniel's friend is coming Saturday.