Pretend this photo goes with the last post, will you?
I swear, blogger is really annoying sometimes!
Monday, October 30, 2006
Pumpkin Picture
Pretend this photo goes with the last post, will you?
I swear, blogger is really annoying sometimes!
Mushy Insides
Pumpkin carving and chicken butchering: how are these two similar?
Discuss!
Yes, the very fingers that are typing these words also encountered some mushy “insides” of two different sorts this weekend. I am not implying that killing a chicken and cleaning a pumpkin are in the same category, really, but a definite similarity came to mind as I stuck my hand inside both….
So, the deed is done, at least for a few weeks. WF solemnly selected 3 unlucky hens who had not re-grown their back feathers after last winter’s over-roosterage event. We suspected one of them may have been laying fairly well, but we thought it cruel to try to get her through a -20 F winter without feathers or heat in the coop.
WF did the actual dispatching, and I tried my hand at plucking for the first time. Last time we tried to avoid plucking by skinning, but it didn’t work that well. This time, we even used a thermometer in the scalding water and it was surprisingly easy, considering the age of these hens. Turns out that one WAS indeed laying, as evidenced by some proto-eggs inside. Sad, but interesting from an anatomy standpoint. Also proved that she wasn’t going to grow any more feathers, as she was done molting and still bare.
So, they now rest in our refrigerator. One went with us to a pumpkin carving potluck last night. The flavor is good, not too tough after pressure cooking. It somehow amazes me how much like CHICKEN these chickens taste. It reminds me that this “chicken” substance I’ve eaten a million times comes from living creatures with personality, much like these hens in our yard. I remember all the other times I’ve mindlessly eaten chicken at restaurants or events and more fully realize that those were once living creatures, too. I don’t plan to give up eating meat, but it makes me more adamant about eating GOOD meat, where the animal had a good life, a humane death and proper, clean processing.
I DO dread the butchering task (don’t like thinking about the next time, when a rooster needs to go), but once the bird is dead, I can be very practical and business-like: dunk, pluck, cut, draw, clean, cool. After all the work we’ve done to raise them and the sacrifice of their lives, I want to make the most use of the meat as possible, appreciating and thanking the chicken lives (and hard human work) which make our chicken dinners possible!
Discuss!
Yes, the very fingers that are typing these words also encountered some mushy “insides” of two different sorts this weekend. I am not implying that killing a chicken and cleaning a pumpkin are in the same category, really, but a definite similarity came to mind as I stuck my hand inside both….
So, the deed is done, at least for a few weeks. WF solemnly selected 3 unlucky hens who had not re-grown their back feathers after last winter’s over-roosterage event. We suspected one of them may have been laying fairly well, but we thought it cruel to try to get her through a -20 F winter without feathers or heat in the coop.
WF did the actual dispatching, and I tried my hand at plucking for the first time. Last time we tried to avoid plucking by skinning, but it didn’t work that well. This time, we even used a thermometer in the scalding water and it was surprisingly easy, considering the age of these hens. Turns out that one WAS indeed laying, as evidenced by some proto-eggs inside. Sad, but interesting from an anatomy standpoint. Also proved that she wasn’t going to grow any more feathers, as she was done molting and still bare.
So, they now rest in our refrigerator. One went with us to a pumpkin carving potluck last night. The flavor is good, not too tough after pressure cooking. It somehow amazes me how much like CHICKEN these chickens taste. It reminds me that this “chicken” substance I’ve eaten a million times comes from living creatures with personality, much like these hens in our yard. I remember all the other times I’ve mindlessly eaten chicken at restaurants or events and more fully realize that those were once living creatures, too. I don’t plan to give up eating meat, but it makes me more adamant about eating GOOD meat, where the animal had a good life, a humane death and proper, clean processing.
I DO dread the butchering task (don’t like thinking about the next time, when a rooster needs to go), but once the bird is dead, I can be very practical and business-like: dunk, pluck, cut, draw, clean, cool. After all the work we’ve done to raise them and the sacrifice of their lives, I want to make the most use of the meat as possible, appreciating and thanking the chicken lives (and hard human work) which make our chicken dinners possible!
Friday, October 27, 2006
Stats Sarcasm
So how do the multitudes of new readers (ha) first find this site? By searching for chickens, gardens, solar power or Minnesota?
No, by searching “flippy hairstyle” on msn.com. I’m currently #4 on that search. I’m so proud! (????). Maybe a new tagline is needed?
“Raising Frolic: It’s all about the Hair!”
No, by searching “flippy hairstyle” on msn.com. I’m currently #4 on that search. I’m so proud! (????). Maybe a new tagline is needed?
“Raising Frolic: It’s all about the Hair!”
Thursday, October 26, 2006
The good, the bad and the overthinking
There WILL be a post today, goshdarnit, even if it has to be haphazard:
Wearing Hats indoors:
GOOD
(but Nordic hats with strings make for dangerous cuddling with pounce-prone cats)
Custom sized windows and cost of replacements thereof:
BAD
The realization that custom-sized hats for oversized heads can be sewn out of polar-fleece in a fraction of the time it takes to knit them:
GOOD
(Especially good for those of us prone to loss or destruction of winter wear)
Difficulty in finding time to squeeze sewing (or knitting for that matter) into daily schedule:
BAD
The ability to eat and purchase fleece due to paycheck from job:
GOOD
The guilt that polar fleece is an unsustainable petroleum product:
BAD
(but manageable at this time)
The worry that WF will therefore disdain said hats.
Sigh... (see time crunch, above)
The time spent wondering if the “positive environmental points” scored by keeping thermostat set low (and necessitating frequent indoor hat-wearing) outweigh the "negative environmental points" scored by using a petrochemical fabric:
Overthinking: Eeeeeeek!
edited later to add: some brands of polarfleece are made from recycled pop bottles, so perhaps the nameless remnants I purchased are not so bad, afterall!
Wearing Hats indoors:
GOOD
(but Nordic hats with strings make for dangerous cuddling with pounce-prone cats)
Custom sized windows and cost of replacements thereof:
BAD
The realization that custom-sized hats for oversized heads can be sewn out of polar-fleece in a fraction of the time it takes to knit them:
GOOD
(Especially good for those of us prone to loss or destruction of winter wear)
Difficulty in finding time to squeeze sewing (or knitting for that matter) into daily schedule:
BAD
The ability to eat and purchase fleece due to paycheck from job:
GOOD
The guilt that polar fleece is an unsustainable petroleum product:
BAD
(but manageable at this time)
The worry that WF will therefore disdain said hats.
Sigh... (see time crunch, above)
The time spent wondering if the “positive environmental points” scored by keeping thermostat set low (and necessitating frequent indoor hat-wearing) outweigh the "negative environmental points" scored by using a petrochemical fabric:
Overthinking: Eeeeeeek!
edited later to add: some brands of polarfleece are made from recycled pop bottles, so perhaps the nameless remnants I purchased are not so bad, afterall!
Monday, October 23, 2006
Rooster Redistribution!
A rooster reprieve! The group of 8 young chickens is about to become 7, but not through, ah, meal planning. Seeing the 2 roosters grow so fast into nice, cocky young specimens, I again started hoping to find a new home for at least one. I started calling around to the local “chicken people” and right away, someone said, “Sure!” I almost fell out of my chair. Wow, really?
Then I got a bit silly, hoping he will have a good life with her mixed hens, in a new coop, etc. The 8 "young ones" stick together so much still, now... My mother-hen instincts (he was raised here from an egg!) seem a bit mis-guided, however, considering his other fate was the stewpot! This way, his fine Buff Orpington genes can help perpetuate another flock, if all goes well. The breeding experiment continues. Lucky rooster!
Young rooster, 16 weeks
Sunday, October 22, 2006
4 degrees and a breeze
Warning: privileged whining ahead-
So, it’s getting chilly and we’re into the days of our ultra-virtuous but darn uncomfortable propane rationing. Our house is off-the-grid as far as electricity, but we’re dependent upon a big tank of propane for our house boiler. The house was built (by someone else, not us) to be heated with propane, with a largely decorative fireplace (more about that later).
I know it’s good for saving money and for reducing CO2 emissions, but setting the thermostat at 58-62 degrees F is not terribly comfortable for me. Hats and thick sweaters only work so well indoors (what about the hands?!?). I think my circulation is getting wimpier- I never used to get so cold. And it’s only October! I’m not sure if I can take 5 more months of this… it’s only going to get colder before it gets warmer!!
So, last year we set about attempting to make our house a bit less dependent on outside fuel and got an insert stove put into the (fake rock) fireplace. It’s lovely and does put out a bit of heat. Problem solved, right?
Ah, if only. The other day I was home for a good part of a cold, dreary day, and decided to try to make the place comfy with the stove. Never mind that the stove points away from the rest of the house, in it’s own room (with vaulted ceilings, ahem); maybe I could be toasty there! Last year we didn’t try to keep the stove going continuously because we didn’t have that much dry wood. This year: plenty. Yeah!
So, I merrily burned that stove pretty darn hot for most of the day. In that time, I was rewarded by a 4 degree increase in the closest thermostat, with nothing in other parts of the house (bedroom was sitting at a brisk 60 F) Sitting on the couch 4 feet from the stove, I still had cold hands and could feel a BREEZE! Insane. So, instead of enjoying my cozy fire, I commenced fretting over the crazy, inefficient shape of this “fancy” house and pondering new windows. Windows (and ridiculous sliding glass doors) have come a long way since 1982, right?
So, I’m investigating new windows and possibly a ceiling fan to get the heat out of the peak before it can sneak out the (inefficient) window in the apex. We’re bracing ourselves for a bit of a nasty price jolt, but I am looking forward to no more breeze in the stove-heated room. I also won’t feel so frivolous “wasting” wood for the experience of the fire when the heat is negligible. I will miss the great airdraw, though: I never have to blow on the fire- it’s like having a room-sized bellows!
I am grateful to live in a spacious house when so many people struggle to pay rent or yearn for a place like this. But neither WF nor I would have designed the house to be like this: it just happened to be on this piece of fairly-close-to-town property. And he just happened to own it when I married him. So, I really have to practice gratitude… and find some fingerless gloves for my computer time!
So, it’s getting chilly and we’re into the days of our ultra-virtuous but darn uncomfortable propane rationing. Our house is off-the-grid as far as electricity, but we’re dependent upon a big tank of propane for our house boiler. The house was built (by someone else, not us) to be heated with propane, with a largely decorative fireplace (more about that later).
I know it’s good for saving money and for reducing CO2 emissions, but setting the thermostat at 58-62 degrees F is not terribly comfortable for me. Hats and thick sweaters only work so well indoors (what about the hands?!?). I think my circulation is getting wimpier- I never used to get so cold. And it’s only October! I’m not sure if I can take 5 more months of this… it’s only going to get colder before it gets warmer!!
So, last year we set about attempting to make our house a bit less dependent on outside fuel and got an insert stove put into the (fake rock) fireplace. It’s lovely and does put out a bit of heat. Problem solved, right?
Ah, if only. The other day I was home for a good part of a cold, dreary day, and decided to try to make the place comfy with the stove. Never mind that the stove points away from the rest of the house, in it’s own room (with vaulted ceilings, ahem); maybe I could be toasty there! Last year we didn’t try to keep the stove going continuously because we didn’t have that much dry wood. This year: plenty. Yeah!
So, I merrily burned that stove pretty darn hot for most of the day. In that time, I was rewarded by a 4 degree increase in the closest thermostat, with nothing in other parts of the house (bedroom was sitting at a brisk 60 F) Sitting on the couch 4 feet from the stove, I still had cold hands and could feel a BREEZE! Insane. So, instead of enjoying my cozy fire, I commenced fretting over the crazy, inefficient shape of this “fancy” house and pondering new windows. Windows (and ridiculous sliding glass doors) have come a long way since 1982, right?
So, I’m investigating new windows and possibly a ceiling fan to get the heat out of the peak before it can sneak out the (inefficient) window in the apex. We’re bracing ourselves for a bit of a nasty price jolt, but I am looking forward to no more breeze in the stove-heated room. I also won’t feel so frivolous “wasting” wood for the experience of the fire when the heat is negligible. I will miss the great airdraw, though: I never have to blow on the fire- it’s like having a room-sized bellows!
I am grateful to live in a spacious house when so many people struggle to pay rent or yearn for a place like this. But neither WF nor I would have designed the house to be like this: it just happened to be on this piece of fairly-close-to-town property. And he just happened to own it when I married him. So, I really have to practice gratitude… and find some fingerless gloves for my computer time!
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