Good morning. The last week or so has been busy. First we butchered our first rooster! He was getting aggressive. He was an all around pain. My husband and my first time butchering anything. We watched a lot of you tube videos to learn what to do. It wasn't a hard process. I didn't even cry. I baked it that night and it was nasty! I mean really bad tasting. We couldn't eat it. I have done some research on why it tasted so bad and it is either because stress on the animal before death, piece of organ left inside, gall bladder breakage, or scent gland not fully removed. We are not sure. We thought we did a good job gutting and cutting the tail/scent gland off but we are newbies so we are not sure. I hope that if we do decide to butcher again it works out better.
The day after butchering the rooster we got out first egg. Our Easter Egger hen, Carmel, layed her first egg while sitting on the roost and it broke when it hit the ground. Her eggs are the color of cement, a greenish colored tiny egg. She is the third smallest hen that we have. I have no idea why she was the one to start laying first. The next day Emma, our big Rhode Island Red hen from the original group, layed her first egg. A medium sized brown egg. The are kind of on a schedule, Carmel lays every day and Emma lays every other day. We have two more hens yet to lay eggs, Cloe is the sister to Emma but she was the one to be attacked by the coon so I figured she would be slightly delayed and then there is the baby, Jelly Knife, she is so small though she is the same age as Carmel. I can't imagine her laying an egg anytime soon if she does it would have to be the size of a robin egg.
I ordered four trees last month and they finally arrived. Two Granny Smith apple trees(good for making pie) and two Elberta peach trees. We got them planted and had to remove a couple trees from the back yard, good thing I bought that chainsaw last year. They are so small, they look like sticks sticking out of the ground, so it will be several years before we get any fruit. But I am glad we got them.
The Salem Apple Butter Festival was last week. I entered the apple pie contest, I hadn't entered in a couple years. I got honorable mention. I use the jarred apple pie filling that I had canned recently. It wasn't the best pie I had ever made but my husband enjoyed it. My sister H got first place on both of her pies! Next year I won't use canned apple pie filling.
Saturday was the festival parade. We go every year. I took Mom. It was rainy and very cold. Thankfully my sister A went and got my car and backed it in where we usually stand so Mom and I could sit inside while the parade went by. It was a nice time and Mom seemed to enjoy the high school marching bands.
Mom has been doing fair. Her hip bothers her. I think the change in the weather is not helping any. She had a moment of sort of clarity the other day and asked where her daughter A, my sissy, was. I told my sister about it and told her that it was nice that Mom thought of her while having a moment of clarity. Mom never remembers that she even has daughters so for her to remember her by name was awesome. It made my sister sad. I told her that even if Mom doesn't seem remember us she still does love us. The disease is keeping her memory locked away. Honestly I was a little jealous that it wasn't me she thought of.
Well I need to go. Have a good day.
April Whitehair
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