May 1, 2012

Outside Temp: 41 F (In the 50's most of the day, but really windy.  As long as you stayed out of the wind, it was beautiful!)

What I cooked today:
Burgers: I just had to use our new meat from Cascade.  It was delicious!  Although they packed it in 1 lb packets, instead of 1 1/2 lb. packs, which is going to be a problem.  I should have repacked them in 1 1/2 lb packs before putting them in the freezer, but oh well.  I'll make it work.  It actually worked out great today, since Allen had dinner with his track team, so it was only the 4 of us... 1/4 burgers, anyone?

Update:
It was a bittersweet day. 

The good news: Allen made his best times for both the 100m and the 200m.  The last few meets, he's been coming in 7th out of 8, consistently.  Today, he came in 4th and 5th out of 8... Awesome!  I am so proud of how hard he is trying and how much he has improved!

Also, Patrick was able to go out and mow our lawn.  Our lawn fills up most of our 1/2 ac. yard.  So, even with our new riding lawn mower, he was out there for about 2 hours, and only managed to mow about 1/3 of the lawn.  Granted, it hasn't been mowed since before we moved in, so he had to go back over the same spot a few times, each time lowering the blades.  But still, 6 hours to mow a lawn?  That's crazy. 

That being said, I am totally grateful that 1/3 of the lawn is mowed.  That section looks so much better!  I can't wait for it all to be done.

And the bad news: Ryan went out and played with the chicks this morning, and he forgot to close the gate.  We're not sure exactly what happened next, but one of the Cornish Roasters was taken (probably by a cat) and munched behind the shed.  Patrick went out there when we left for school, and found that the gate was open.  Then, he counted chicks and came up with one missing.  He didn't immediately see the carcass, so he thought it might have been a hawk.  But when Ryan and I got home from school (about 3 hours later), I found it. 

Patrick then added more chicken wire around the cage, and wired closed the gates, so Ryan won't be able to open them easily.

We also decided that the rest of the chickens were ready to head outside.  They were flying around the area inside, so he figured it was time.  The weather has been nice, and it's only supposed to get into the high 30's tonight.  Since the other chicks have been doing so well, we figured they'd probably be fine.  It's been 4 weeks.

When we went back out to check on the chicks later this evening, there was an orange cat sitting next to the cage, just watching.  We figure he was going back for seconds.  Patrick scared him off, but I'm seriously considering getting a dog. 

All the kids were upset, but mostly Katie.  She said it was her favorite, although I couldn't really tell the difference between them.  She has spent more time with them than anyone, so I'm not surprised that she's upset.  She probably would have handled us slaughtering them better, since she could have been prepared.  And we've told her that when we do it, it will be quick, with as little pain as possible.  I think she was envisioning it, and it scared her.  She made us check the cage again tonight, just in case. 

I know this is just part of having animals.  I'm more upset about the loss of the meat, but I can understand why the kids are taking it hard.  They have heard friends of theirs talk about losing livestock (just yesterday, there was a mare, who didn't survive birthing her foal, and a pig).  But, I think losing your first animal is hard for anyone.