Sept. 25-Oct. 1, 2022

Weather | 9/25, 52°, 75° | 9/26, 45°, 66° | 9/27, 45°, 69° | 9/28, 34°, 64° | 9/29, 37°, 66° | 9/30, 39°, 69° | 10/1, 40°, 69° |

• Sunday, 9/25: Freezers Defrosted & Knives Sharpened
  
  • We let our young chickens out first thing in the morning. They squawked and ran for cover under tall ragweeds. Mary and I went back into the north chicken yard in time to see a sharp-shined hawk fly by, low. It was probably migrating through and dipped down to take a look at tasty chickens.
    
  • Mary defrosted our 2 big freezers. It's a big job, because all frozen contents go out onto blankets on the floor. Then the clock is ticking as hot water is applied to frost hunks on the freezer walls to melt them. Frozen items go back in an order so they can hopefully be found later in the year. Newer items frozen this year go on the bottom. Older items go on top to be used up, first. Most two-year old items are thrown out. Fortunately, we didn't have many throwaways this year. I helped Mary in the small way of handing her packages as she refilled the freezers. We now have room in the biggest freezer for new chicken meat.
    
  • I threw out old 60- and 75-watt incandescent bulbs we replaced when we first moved here in 2009. It took 13 years to figure out we don't need them, anymore!
    
  • I sharpened 6 knives, some that we'll use during chicken butchering. Knives grew very dull, due to my negligence. Consequently, a great deal of work went into putting a sharp edge on several knives.
    
  • I looked online and found a video instructing how to change firebricks on our woodstove, a project I need to complete, since we have several cracked and fragmented bricks in the burn area of our stove.
    
  • I hunted a squirrel, off and on, throughout the day. This one moved constantly, making for a tough target. A west to northwest strong wind made tree limbs bounce considerably. At sunset, I heard it in a newer pecan tree at the edge of the north yard. I stepped with small footsteps, waiting several seconds between each footfall and making sure I wasn't stepping on crackly branches or crunchy autumn leaves. I could see it moving, but not clearly. Finally, about 15 minutes after the sun set, I had a clear shot and got the squirrel. I had a major crick in my neck from looking up so long. I made a comment to Mary how squirrels don't notice you when they're going after pecan nuts, which is their form of crack. She said, "Hunting squirrels is your form of crack."
    
    
• Monday, 9/26: First Round of Butchering Chickens
  
  • Mary made some butterscotch cookies, that we ate as snacks with coffee while butchering chickens.
  • She also brought house plants inside, since lows are predicted in the 30s for upcoming mornings. In the process of bringing in plants, she repotted a couple aloe vera plants.
  • We enjoyed a tasty meal of venison on biscuits.
  • I mowed trails through long grass to areas we need to walk through tonight while butchering chickens. It makes for easier walking in the dark. After mowing around the compost bin, I moved concrete stepping stone blocks to the north and south sides around the new bin.
  • I set up inside the east end of the machine shed with lights and a meat hook hanging from the rafters. I also set buckets of water in strategic locations.
    
  • I sharpened more knives used while butchering.
    
  • We butchered 9 chickens, processing 3 at a time through the killing cone, to me skinning and gutting them, to Mary performing a thorough washing, cutting them into pieces, storing in zippered bags, and placing them in the freezer.
  • It was a starry night with the Milky Way shining very brightly. Jupiter rose in the east when we started at 8 p.m. Around midnight, Mars rose in the northeast. We saw several meteorites fall. Coyotes howled to the southwest of us on a regular basis and barred owls mouthed off constantly. I saw a couple mice scurrying across the machine shed floor.
  • Mary cut her finger on the third to the last slice of the final chicken. It took 45 minutes for her to stop the bleeding. Powdered cayenne pepper works really well at stopping bleeding. After baths, we got to bed at 4:30 a.m.
    
    
• Tuesday, 9/27: Fall Harvest Prior to Frost Advisory
  
  • Mary cut down garlic drying over the summer from the rafters of the machine shed, then sorted and stored the garlic bulbs. We now have garlic to plant the first week of November and about 2 2/3 big sacks to use.
    
  • I cleaned up chicken butchering items.
    
  • A frost advisory was issued for our area, so Mary and I picked 5 Diablo pumpkins, 13 New England pie pumpkins, and 53 acorn squash (see photo, below). We also picked a bunch of tomatoes, several peppers, and Mary collected some comfrey leaves to dry. I checked the green apples on the skinny apple tree south of the house. They're not ripe.
  • I covered my winter greens and the strawberry plants with blankets and sheets to protect them from any frost.
    
  • While dumping chicken feet in the north woods, I said something out loud and spooked a buck deer from the dry creek bed just down the hill from me. Mary had a deer snorting at her from near the Kieffer pear tree after dark. It means deer are moving in closer to our home, because people are hanging out of trees trying to twang them with archery equipment. Deer always move in closer when hunting pressure surrounds our property.

  

  Harvested acorn squash and pumpkins.

• Wednesday, 9/28: Chicken Butchering, Round 2
  
  • I sharpened all of the knives we use for butchering chickens, plus a paring knife used in the kitchen.
  • Mary froze green peppers recently picked from the garden.
  • I shot at a squirrel and missed a couple times. This one is wise and sneaky. It runs up and down trees and tree limbs on the opposite side from me.
  • We did chores and got butchering things ready earlier than normal.
  • We butchered another 9 chickens, starting at 7:45 p.m. Unlike Monday, when we took a break after 3 chickens, this night we completed a batch of 6, took a cookie/coffee break, then finished the final 3. They were all Rhode Island reds, tonight. They're super long-legged. An east breeze kicked up while I skinned the last 3 chickens, which at about 39°, meant I had to don an extra coat. We finished late, but without cut fingers. Though cool, the outside temperatures are perfect for handling fresh meat.
  • Coyotes howled a couple times. The normal barred owls talked to us through the night. I watched 2 mice chase one another. We saw a couple meteors. Mary looked it up and the Orionid Meteor Shower started on 9/26, so we're just at the beginning of it. The night sky is spectacular, at our location.
    
    
• Thursday, 9/29: Butchering Chickens: The End
  
  • I called Craig Dyk, Mid-Rivers' accountant who bought our home when we left Circle, MT. Monies to us from the Mid-Rivers pension did not show up this month, due to the change away from Mid-Rivers and to Mutual of Omaha. As Craig explained, it's because when we get paid on the 27th of every month, it's really for the next month. Now, the money will show up on the first of every month. Craig said roots from a lilac bush outside our old house worked through the basement walls, forcing a constant leak into the basement. They fixed it and turned the basement into a main bedroom. He really likes the house. His crippled up 76-year old father stayed with him and his wife for awhile. He's now in an assisted living home in Billings. Craig brought it up because he recently saw Mom and was amazed at how young she seems to act. He said Mid-Rivers is selling all cable TV systems next year. Subscriber numbers are dropping. Their main income is internet service through fiber to the home. They've dropped to about 90 employees. When I left in 2009, there were about 175.
  • Karen flew from Montana to her home in Georgia. She made it home late in the day.
  • I asked Karen how her daughter, Erin, was doing in Florida, with Hurricane Ian blowing through the state. Erin is fine. I asked my cousin Marjorie, how her brother, Johnny, who also lives in Florida, was faring. She said he's fine, since he lives on high ground.
    
  • I cleaned up butchering stuff and resharpened knives. Mary made flour tortillas and chimichangas with sliced fresh tomatoes.
  • We butchered the last 8 chickens. They were huge and tough to cut up. We started butchering the wrong varieties on Monday. We should have started with Barred Rock and large Rhode Island Reds and ended with Buff Orpingtons. Oh well...we'll know better next time. It's amazing how a tiny chick that fits into the palm of your hand grows into an 8-pound full-grown chicken in just 15-16 weeks. We are very happy to finish butchering chickens, which is never a fun task.
    
  • A barred owl was in a tree above the machine shed, where I was skinning chickens, and talked to me. I saw a bulge in the top of a plastic garbage bag near where I was working. Several minutes later, the head of an opossum looked out from behind that bag. After Mary took the last chicken inside, I delivered knives and a large stainless steel bowl inside. When I returned, there was the opossum looking into the bucket of chicken guts. It was tiny...only about 5 inches long. It ran off. 
  • The neighbor, who lives in the house across the gravel road from us, was calling his dog for about 2 hours. Coyotes howled about 3 times while he was hollering. I hope coyotes didn't kill his dog. Later, while cleaning up, a dog was barking at me from that house. I guess it returned home. We don't kick dogs out the door. When a dog is outside at our place, we're always with the pet. We know what kind of wildings live out there.
    
    
• Friday, 9/30: Quiet Day After Chicken Butchering
  
  • We opened the gate between the north and south areas of the chicken run and let the 4 newer barred rock pullets mingle with our 8 older hens and Leo, our rooster. There's some pecking of the younger birds, but they're getting along pretty well.
  • Mary and I removed the chicken coop wall that separated the chicks from the older birds.
    
  • Mary did some cross stitching.
  • I hunted squirrels for a bit in the evening. Two shots sent a couple squirrels running north. I didn't get any.
  • Katie informed us that she's back in Anchorage, soon to take a Montana trip. She plans on visiting her grandmother during that trip.
  • I cleaned up and put away all chicken butchering stuff.
    
  • We watched 2 movies. They were Practical Magic and Sabrina.
  • Mary noticed that the white-crowned sparrows came back for the winter. These birds breed in the arctic tundra and we're on the northern reach of their wintering grounds. Here is what they look like.
    
    
• Saturday, 10/1: Big Sweet Potato Year
  
  • Mary dug sweet potatoes. She filled 3 milk crates with them. Some are gigantic. This is the best sweet potato crop we've ever grown. Last year, we harvested just enough to partially fill one crate. There are still 4 hills to dig up. Several sweet potatoes were eaten by voles, so some were tossed. When you realize we didn't get all that grew, the sweet potatoes really did well.
  • I put the pieces of the wall we took down in the chicken coop away in the rafters of the machine shed.
  • I shot 2 squirrels. They just cannot keep their paws off the pecans.
    
  • Katie landed in Bozeman, MT, today.