The Hangover.

I didn't post yesterday because the day was positively crammed.  It was a good kind of crammed that kept me on my toes from start to finish.  Sadly, today is a major hangover kind of day where I clean up the aftermath of the previous day.  (No, I don't have an actual hangover.)

The family woke up early and shuffled out the door in time to meet family friends for breakfast at their lovely farm.  After enjoying the fellowship at the breakfast table, we made our way out to their coop to dispatch their rooster, Cowboy, who has been terrorizing their family for the last month.  With a towel and some fancy footwork, we caught him and made clumsy work of his demise.  His neck feathers were thick, he fought the whole time, and then stubbornly refused to die after the mortal wound was made.  It was AWFUL.  Our only comfort was that he was a complete terror to the family and we were doing everyone a favor, no matter how he met his end.

Then we went back to gather a hen who wasn't laying so that she might prove more useful post-mortem: in a crock pot.  She was MUCH easier to dispatch.  She was calm and went very peacefully.  I'm glad our botched job with Cowboy helped to prepare we (us?) newbies to make her passing much better.

The children from both families watched the process and they were amazing about it.  They were incredibly curious about the farm-to-table reality of food, and really excited that they knew how happy the chickens lived so that they'd "taste happy" when that time came.  Kid #1 loved their feet the most.  "They're just like T-Rex feet, almost," he'd say.  Smarty pants!

The scalding and plucking was a breeze.  Gutting and disemboweling will take some practice.  Continuing to be a complete pain in the patootey, even in death, Cowboy's opening to his chest cavity was about the size of a golf ball.  Getting a hand in there to get everything out was a nightmare, so we ended up splitting open his breast bone and finishing up his processing.  He's now bagged and in the garage fridge of our friends' home.

And, once again, the hen was a breeze.  Her processing was much quicker and easier.  What was neat about her was that she was full of yolks.  No eggs, no shell-less eggs, but just yolks of all shapes and sizes.  I'm not sure why that is, but I'll be researching that later today.  She's bagged and in our fridge as a "thank you" from our hosts for researching, facilitating, and aiding in their first-ever slaughter.  That's a pretty awesome gift!

We got home in time to shower and assemble a couple of sides for a July 4th cookout.  We got to reconnect with a family we hadn't seen in some time, meet their German au pair (she's very sweet!), and enjoy even more friends and food.

Sadly, as the evening progressed, Kid #4 developed a fever and we had to hightail it home.  John lit off some fireworks with the older three kids while Kid #4 and I cozied up on the couch and snuggled away.  Poor guy was so talkative and enamored with the sounds and lights coming from outside, but he didn't want to be out of my arms for a moment.  I tried putting him to bed, but I have no idea if I was successful or not, as I fell asleep almost immediately.  Boom.

So today begins.  It began hours and hours ago with our neighbor ringing the doorbell at 6 a.m. to borrow our mower.  He mowed our lawn after mowing his own, which was pretty awesome!  Then breakfast happened, and coffee, and now a sink full of dishes, a couch full of clean laundry, and a washer full of dirty clothes cry out to be addressed.  This is on top of the kitchen floor needing serious attention, a yard screaming for some weeding, carpets needing some vacuuming, and a baby who is still sporting a low grade fever.

So, naturally, I'm blogging. ;-)