The Front Porch Swing

[Tomtommom]

If you buy a large frozen turkey at the grocery store, you can have the butcher at the store halve or quarter it for you.

That only works if you don't take it home first, only to realize it wont fit in your oven

Dangit, it was on sale. I can't raise a turkey for 35 cents a pound

(it was good too!)

You hang the deer by the neck, cape it down a little so you can fit a hammer head or a tennis ball under the cape, tie a rope to that knob and pull the skin off with the Jeep....slick as a whistle! I have pics if you want to see it......

That's ingenius!

Hahah ... the image I'm getting of a turkey fence! But you know what I meant. I hope.

I have a few siblings that cannot kill any animals for food, though they gladly partake of meat every day. That, to me, is the weirdest thing of all....being raised around those killing meat for food, eating the meat, but acting like they are just too traumatized to do the in between duties that come with eating meat, though they were taught how to do so.

Truly, I think they are just too lazy to do the work involved and use the "I just can't do it" excuse to get out of the work. Killing and processing is a dirty job and very often not easy, so I can see them opting out if there is an easier way for them... but I'd rather they just be truthful and say, "I'm too lazy to do it, but would still like to eat my meats anyway." instead of acting like the rest of us are committing murder in our backyards. They've actually said that, BTW...I've been called a "murderer" for killing and eating our chickens, by my own sibling.

 

[Beekissed]

Hey ya'll have to check out this video. I haven't tried it yet, but will keep it in mind when I made an Angel Food Cake!

Lisa

P.S. Any idea why I am not being notified of my messages for BYC?

That was so cool! Also viewed how to slice cherry tomatoes in 5 sec....very neat and I'm going to try this soon!

 

[Beekissed]

Well....just applied some heavy duty traction tape to three of the hen's backs tonight...just small strips in the most worked places. Will let you all know how those perform.

Moved the eternal broody back to the broody pen with two wooden eggs and a real one, trying to keep her sitting until my nest box hatch makes it out. Just 9 more days to hatch. Meanwhile she has the deluxe suite all to herself....I'll get pics tomorrow if I can, of the new pen with her ensconced. I hope to tweak this pen as I deconstruct my coop and make changes...hope to add my two nest boxes from the coop to this pen for broodies and breeders.

I also hope to cut out a small door so I can access the feeder without having to go in the pen....just something to make my chores easier. Will also add removable roosting so I can convert the pen at any given moment from a breeding pen into a chick brooder.

 

[bruceha2000]

It's possible your college student is absolutely exhausted right now. I remember how I used to feel at the end of finals ... I could have slept all summer.

If your student doesn't try to get back into some productive habits soon, it will be twice as shocking next school year.
----------------
That coop size restriction sounds really dumb ... as in not what's best for the birds. Though I can imagine what some people might come up with if there wasn't some kind of restriction.

Um, no but thanks for giving her the benefit of the doubt

Work?

We are managing to get her to SLOWLY weed the garden at the 'city' house, the one she wants to be at until she goes back to school. She's made it half way down the path that snakes through it. The entire space is 16' x 22'. Janet told her that the entire thing needs to be weeded before we head to Oregon in two weeks.

I've got this bad boy going again ...



We defrosted another of last Thanksgiving's turkeys in brine ... 48 lbs this time ...

I bet the only places that would have a set up large enough to roast a whole 50 lbs of turkey would be a commercial kitchen.

Did you look at that stove? It IS a commercial kitchen, just not commercial and in a nice house

That sucker is about half of the downstairs of the half of the farm house that was gutted and rebuilt.

Definitely would be nice. My handyman has turned surly. Doesn't want to work for a woman. Especially opinionated. In other words, not what HE wants to do.

Sounds like someone needs a NEW handyman.

That was so cool! Also viewed how to slice cherry tomatoes in 5 sec....very neat and I'm going to try this soon!

Gotta admit, both look like real time savers. Of course, I'll try the egg thing and find out it is as easy for the 'non professional' as the carney games at the fair. REAL easy when THEY do it.

 

[bruceha2000]

OK, finally finished fixing the drive bay in the barn before I put the new garden tractor in it. Took 5 days and I'm not talking work an hour then knock off for the day! Where was 'new daughter' Laura when I needed her?

I forgot to take a 'before' picture with the rotting plywood covering the right side of the floor.

Anyone see a problem here?


I had to move a few things


Filled the cart with dirt 3 times so none of the new stuff would be anywhere NEAR wood rotting dirt.



And chisel part of a HUGE stone in the foundation


The new joists and transverse supports



The inspectors came by. Note how as it seems to be in a lot of government things, there were WAY more inspectors than needed and most just hung around hunting eats.



New floor and gravel approach. New tractor and dump cart on a stable surface.

Today Echo (the inspector) visited while I tossed some more gravel on the approach. Then she decided it was good and time for a sun nap. Persephone (EE) came by and decided to join in, then Yue (Ancona) did the same:




Bruce

 

[Triple Willow]

Okay, I'm HUNGRY.

BCMaraniac check this out...

 

[Blooie]

The egg thing does work...when Little Diane lived here the last time (2012-13) we saw this and just had to try it. Of course, that was before I had chickens so now I'm even more determined to make it my regular way to separate eggs. Kendra hates eggs in any fashion, Evan likes the yolks and Katie just likes the whites. So one night when Jenny was in Salt Lake with Kendra and Evan and Katie were staying with us, Little Diane and I made a breakfast supper. That's the first time we did the separating with the bottle. Worked perfectly, and made prep fast.

Edited to add the following disclaimer: We did have to try it a couple of times until we got the hang of it.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

That's my turkey scalding pot. You should see the size of the turkey cone. It's parked in the driveway.

Even with the spine in two pieces, the bones were too big for the next smallest pot. :/

I have double wall ovens in the kitchen, which are the larger size of home ovens, but not big enough for a 50 lb bird. I got a 40 lb bird in, just barely. I am wondering about replacing them with a single commercial oven so I can cook jumbo turkeys in one piece.

The oven under the commercial range is wide and deep, with super sturdy racks, but not very tall. I could maybe butterfly a big bird to cook it in there if I had a big enough pan ... And could lift it at arms length so I don't burn myself ...

Right ... Nevermind. Just getting that bird into and out of the brine was a comedy show.

We never use the oven part of that range cuz it makes standing there to cook too hot.

 

[LindaB220]

Okay, I'm HUNGRY.

BCMaraniac check this out...

Here's another of the same dish. Fascinating what they do to prepare a chicken dish.

 

[Blooie]

OK, finally finished fixing the drive bay in the barn before I put the new garden tractor in it. Took 5 days and I'm not talking work an hour then knock off for the day! Where was 'new daughter' Laura when I needed her?

I forgot to take a 'before' picture with the rotting plywood covering the right side of the floor.

Anyone see a problem here?


I had to move a few things


Filled the cart with dirt 3 times so none of the new stuff would be anywhere NEAR wood rotting dirt.



And chisel part of a HUGE stone in the foundation


The new joists and transverse supports



The inspectors came by. Note how as it seems to be in a lot of government things, there were WAY more inspectors than needed and most just hung around hunting eats.



New floor and gravel approach. New tractor and dump cart on a stable surface.

Today Echo (the inspector) visited while I tossed some more gravel on the approach. Then she decided it was good and time for a sun nap. Persephone (EE) came by and decided to join in, then Yue (Ancona) did the same:




Bruce

So what did you do in your spare time? <ducking>