And the Winners Are...

JP and I processed chickens on Monday.  We had 8 healthy roosters from the 15 eggs that hatched this spring and they were causing significant strife amongst the rest of the flock, fighting with each other and terrorizing the hens, especially the old ladies.  We decided to keep 2 roosters (an extra in case one was a dud.)  The winners are...

Rusty - he appears to be full blooded
Buff Orpington

Barnaby - (as in "Listen Barnaby..."from WallE) 
who is big and beautiful

The roasters went in the freezer and the old chickens were canned.  The backs went in the crock pot with some veg and herbs and I canned chicken stock the following day.  I had some major fails when canning the chicken, one jar broke in the canner, and one didn't seal.

I hate the whole processing part, but am always grateful to have the meat available for later.  This is one of the parts of living on a farm that is NOT a barrel full of fun.

Falling

Once again, it's been awhile since I last posted.

I have cleaned all the plants out of the garden.  We still need to put leaves and then straw on for the winter.  I pickled the jalapenos, made some enchilada sauce out of the last of the tomatoes, and made a bunch of pesto out of the basil (I freeze this in ice cube trays and add them to hot pasta for a quick meal.)  JP ran out of his favorite sweet relish, and we were almost out of applesauce, but I had to buy produce to make those.

J came home from the city for a day in early October, so we used the tiny pumpkins that we grew in the garden to make mini Jack-o-Lanterns.

I also made a lego Jack-o-Lantern, complete with lights!

We have done some dressing up as well.  J won a costume contest dressed as "2D" from the band "Gorillaz."  I dressed as a Hockey Player to take my mom for testing at the hospital on Halloween day.  L and I dressed as "Lord Gray" for a "Clue" themed Murder Mystery Tea at the Tea Shoppe.

In the meantime, JP has finished working at the location that he has been for the past 7 or 8 years (I can't keep up!)  He will start his new position (which does not require the 45 min commute) in Dec.  My parents have just returned from a week long trip to TX to visit my brother.  They travelled separately - my mother by plane, and my dad by train...it's a long story!  My mother recently had an MRI of her brain as part of a dementia work up, and may have an aneurysm, she has another test scheduled this coming week to confirm.

It's almost Thanksgiving and I'm trying not to fall apart!