Cooler then hot then Chilly

A Bumblebee collecting pollen. Notice the flower on the left has already been cleaned. There was a flurry of Bee activity last week with all my Sunflowers.

The weather has been, well, weird. Cooler, then hot, then chilly. But I think the days of "hot" (90'+) are fast coming to an end for the year. Fall is on its way in! While I am thankful for the cooler weather.....I really don't want to deal with Winter. (Ah I know I say that every year!)

Pat and I butchered the two biggest turkeys a week ago Sunday. The Tom weighed 24 1/2 pounds (dressed--meaning minus feathers, head, feet and guts--I think they should call it UNdressed! HA) and the biggest hen was 21 pounds. Yikes! Glad I had room in the freezer, the Tom took up lots of space! We 'vacuum sealed' them with a big plastic bag and the vacuum cleaner. :)

Nessa is 4 months old today. (already)I bought her a pretty blue halter. (Pat wanted hot pink--I said no--HA) I have yet to get a photo with her wearing it.

Kyle has been working lots (the photo of him a couple of posts back was on his 18th birthday, stupid blog wouldn't let me change it after I posted). I worked all last week and have a couple of (needed) days off.

Pat has been helping the niece with her electricity and water heater to get things squared away before winter comes. Talking about winter preps--I had a 'talk' with the propane guy last week....I like to treat customers as all the same: no matter what their lifestyle/finances are, its None Of My Business, period. They are still human beings with feelings. Back to the propane people; I think they are a bit too snoopy and judgemental to be honest. They live in a different (privileged) world than me. Good for them, but leave me out of your office conversations (when I'm not there)! :( I don't think he thought I'd show up to his place of business to ask a few questions about what the driver said to me (at MY work). SURPRISE!! :)

Back to my "Stock Market"--I have two turkey hens and several roosters that need to go into the stockpot and/or freezer. I have a steer lined up (from my younger brother) but am still waiting for the flooded Missouri River to go down and roads fixed so I can get over to my Big Brothers' (where Little Brothers' bovines are).
The eggs keep a'coming, my hatched-this-summer young hens should start laying soon. I'm going to corral and pen two older hens whom I don't think are laying. I don't want to feed them if they aren't laying. (Ha ha spoken from someone who has a Pasture-Ornament [non-productive] Cow: Dolly!) ;) Y'all can laugh heartily now! Giggle!

Temp Flux

Here is a wonky lid (from the factory--center front) on some hot pepper relish we canned. I'd never seen one like this, Pat said it came out of the box "as is". I didn't notice it until we were done canning, it sealed ok. This particular jar is at my in-laws refrigerator as you read. :)

The temps have been wild....one day in the high 90's (heat index of 108) and then the next night 57! Three days ago I sweated and sweated working on fence, it was HOT--upper 90's again! This morning I get up, it's 52!

We have been doing more canning and freezing ('tis the season ya know!), one large Zucchini will yield about 6-7 cups shredded (I've lost count how many bags we've got in the freezer). Zucchini bread is a favorite around here in the winter time.

I'll write more later in the week, today is supposed to be turkey butcher day....we'll see how that goes! ;)