Thanksgiving was fantastic, the best one I can remember in years. While I was doing my paltry bit to contribute to the meal, assembling the dressing and chopping the meanest onions ever, the men were building a giant chicken pen.
Men plural. There are several of them here now, Mr McBee, Kris, our quiet intern Luke, and the oldest McBee child. They chopped down trees, which mostly involved a lot of watching Mr. McBee work a chainsaw. I have never seen anyone chop down a giant tree and it was pretty impressive. I had to take pictures because I take my blogging job seriously.
Hmm it just occurred to me that Quiet Luke might only be quiet because he doesn't want to be featured in my blog. Smart man. I hear he's pretty funny when I am not around.
We feasted on a paleo friendly meal and it didn't feel like a substitute, it felt like real food. Speaking of which, I still eat a lot of boxed foods but they are starting to taste boxed. I have hopes that this will help me kick the boxed habit.
After dinner we went out to finish the chicken pen. I mostly watched and took pictures of my kid being adorable. She picked me a flower, my very first one so I was all misty and touched. Then she took it away and tried to give it to a chicken. I have great video of her chasing a poor chicken yelling, "here bawk bawk, flower bawk bawk." When it became obvious she didn't want my beautiful flower Lucy got mad and threw it on the ground. After a second she smiled sweetly, picked it up and gave it back to me. Heart melting and hilarious.
The highlight of the day was chasing chickens though. It sounded like work at first but the kids got me really excited about it. At sunset I strapped my baby on my back and joined the hunt. I assisted in the capture of several and caught one on my own. Then we pulled the eggmobile up to its winter home. As I write this the chickens are happily enjoying their fresh grass and fertilizing our garden for winter. Lucy might not remember much but it's a day I won't forget. Poor Kris, on the other hand is the only one who missed out because chicken catching takes place at milking time.
Upon proofreading I realize that I left the important parts of chicken catching out. Most of our chickens live in a large predator proof net behind an electric fence, for their safety of course. They do not stay there, the flock follows you around stalker style. Take a few steps turn around and boom they are right behind you but pretending they aren't following you. It is hilarious and slightly creepy. We also have a small flock of strays that lives down by the barn. They sleep in the hay barn, in the barn, and on top of the calf pens. They have been loose for a long time and they are laying eggs we couldn't sell. So that's the layout.
Here's what happens. We waited for dusk and then watch as everyone goes to roost. Marcie and Jason put a sheet up over the door so they're trapped and we move them. It should be easy, they roost in the eggmobile, so boom done. Except half of them roost under the eggmobile, which means two McBee kids have to dive under and try to catch them, which results in chickens running around while everyone tries to catch them. The younger McBee took me hunting for strays. She climbed right up a tractor and struggled for five minutes but caught one, over and over and handed them down to me. She is a hardcore nine year old. After that we went to the barn to hunt. I knew right where they live so I was excited to catch a handful of them. Sadly they only live there during the day so we actually did have to hunt for them. I grabbed one squawker and fought with him for a bit and then cradled him and carried him down. After that I just carried them. I am not a great chicken hunter and just wanted to catch one by myself to prove that I could.
I still haven't made it to a chicken processing but I have caught a chicken, woohoo. I am not hardcore.
In other news, we have a slew of baby kids. Three births since Saturday, resulting in four kids. I am contemplating stealing one. He is gorgeous, black and white with floppy ears, too much love. He is also whiney as heck. Baby goats sound like baby teradactyls in the middle of the night. That said, I am trying to gain custody of the black and white one or at least temporary guardianship. Somehow my promises of wearing him in a baby sling did not move Mr McBee.
So I am trying to think of something Lucy and I can raise on our own in the spring. Thoughts?
We also got a new working horse. No
idea what kind of horse he is but he is massive, beautiful, and sweet. He is going to pull our new wagon and cart. We will be using them for both work and parties. Speaking of which, Marcie does an amazing tour of the farm for groups of eight or more, it's three dollars a person and includes homemade ice cream or yogurt. My moms' group loved it, so think about it.
Pics of my kid on Thanksgiving, chasing a chicken, slacking off with the little McBee, and one of her daddy pushing her all the way to the field chickens in her car. The one of the single kid is just to show how beautiful it is, one of Monday's mom and babies, the new horse, and chopping down a tree.
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