Vegetarians beware!

Little did I think that I'd end my one day of chicken butchering with one less friend. I posted a bunch of pictures on facebook shortly after the crazy butchering day and the next day I have a message from one of my Whistler roommates (who is a vegetarian) that she didn't want to be friends with me! She couldn't understand how someone could ever do this to another living creature, then she called me a loser and said that she's done being my friend...so our epic three month 'friendship' is over. Sad, I know...but it actually makes me laugh. This was probably the most humane way to butcher chickens -- I don't want to know how they would do it on a massive scale!

Anyway, all this to say that, yes, some pictures can be quite disturbing and I can't believe my hand was 'up there' either...but it just has to be done if you want to eat farm fresh chicken.

On a typical chicken butchering day, they do about 400 birds. The night before, the chickens are caught from the pasture and caged but they only have so many cages so when those are full, the remaining 150-ish are put in a horse trailer until more cages are freed up from the butchering process. Being the rookie in the crowd, they got me to experience the catching and the gutting...don't worry, I couldn't believe I was doing it either!

The first reaction to sticking my hand up the bum of the chicken is, "ooooo, that's warm!"...but after about 5 hours and one has poop still in its system, the reaction is more like, "AH, ech, I'm going to gag!" My screams and mini wig-outs kept everyone entertained...especially when they kept throwing and threatening me with the ripped off chicken heads. Until, that is, one of Kendra's friends came down with a full chicken and encouraged me to pull the head and cut the feet off before gutting. And so I did it...while screaming...so it took me two pulls...and then I put the head on my finger, naturally!

He's smiling at me!

After all is said and done and the last chicken has been gutted, it's time for packaging. Some of the chickens are pieced into breasts and thighs and wings etc and some stay whole. Whatever pieces they are, they get shrink-wrapped and labeled and head straight for the freezer.

Kendra and I were just putting the last of the chicken wings in bags...and then, we had to head to the grocery store before heading home. Dressed as is, thank you very much! Haha...Kendra's shirt was still even splattered! Good times and great memories!

They call them 14ers

I'm heading to Colorado this Thursday with a few people from the church to go on a hiking and camping trip. I don't know all the details but I know that it will be close to an 8 hour drive to get there and then we'll be carrying all that we need on our backs up a 14, 000 foot peak. We'll be tenting for 3 nights...with no plumbing -- I guess I'll make room for a trowel. :)

Anywho...did I mention how high we'll be?! That's like, above the tree line! I'm so glad that Kendra and I have been running in the mornings to at least give me some kind of stamina...I'll just be carrying a 20lb pack for a few days while gaining altitude at a seemingly incredible rate. Just to practice, I packed Kendra's pack with some random contents for weight and wore it around the house while baking a cake and cleaning up.

It's going to be incredible and so worth the sore muscles but first things first...chicken butchering all day Monday!

When not to wear a white shirt

I learned yesterday the number one place to not wear a white shirt. Kendra, Mark, Daniel and I headed off to Hesston College to help Mark dismantle an old brick kiln that the college had no use for anymore. It was quite a project and we seemed quite fresh at the start of it while we were all piled in the truck (as seen here). Little did we know what we were in for...

It was a hot and windy day with lots of cotton flying though the air with added dust from nearby construction and age-old dust from inside the kiln room...plus ash and spiders. We piled brick on a little trailer and then into the back of Daniel's truck and then into the back of Mark's Dad's truck which also had a freezer on it that Mark and Kendra were taking back to Yoder. We were probably one straw hat short of the Hillbilly's!

Before...

During...

After...

And me...not looking as fresh!

I think I'm certainly earning my keep...at least I'm trying!

:)

Pizza making day

From making the dough to baking the bread, singeing my forearm on a baking tray and burning the tip of my finger during the packaging process...20ish three-cheese pizzas were made. We even made crackers and pretzels out of the left over dough!

It was quite an all day process and of course we bake on the hot days so it makes the barn that much more comfortable!

Our little helper, Greta, was back too!

The crust is baked and the home-made three cheeses are on...

And then it's time to package them. Note to self and all others: do not touch the hottest part of the machine no matter how curious you are! It's even coloured red which could arguably be recognized as the universal colour for HOT things!

All tolled, I survived and my finger will too...it's just like a piece of cooked meat, is all. Oh well.

Lilies of the garden

Just a little glimpse of what grows around here...

Amish 'I do's'

Saturday morning was a treat -- we were guests at an Amish wedding! Well, half-Amish, really. The guy used to be Amish and was marrying a non-Amish...but the Amish were in full attendance! My favourite moment was when we were just pulling up to the church (again, all decked out and cruising in the beat up '87 Ford Ranger...) when Kendra says, "I wonder how many horse buggies will be there...I bet 20!" I just about fell out of the truck! That is definitely one sentence I never ever thought I'd ever imagine hearing, let alone believing...and then SEEING! It BLEW my mind!

We entered the church and there they all were...it was so cool! I wish I took a picture inside but they said no flash photography and I was sitting there stunned anyways! The wedding was so simple -- nothing to it. And the colour was purple so just imagine tulle EVERYWHERE both purple and white. If you are picturing a wedding from 1994, you've got it. After the wedding, we were ushered out to the fellowship hall where there was a buffet with baked ham and beans and potato salad -- dessert was in one corner and the wedding cake in the middle. The crazy thing about weddings here is that there is no program at receptions! Everyone just sits wherever and eats whatever and whenever they want and then just leave. No speeches, no toasts, no cutting the cake...nothing!

One of the cool things however was how every Amish person was involved. Because the wedding colour was purple, all the women wore a different shade of purple dress and the shade depended on what service you offered during the reception. For instance, all the servers of the food had a certain shade, all the ladies cleaning up had a different shade and so on. So simple and so gracious. It was all really quite something and I was glad I could experience it!

Nice buns!

Even though they call them cinnamon 'rolls' here...I still like to say buns! Friday's task was to help Kendra with filling the freezer with 33 batches of whole wheat cinnamon buns! It was probably 95 degrees outside (and hotter in the barn!) but they worked out...and they rose in no time at all!

While the dough was rising the first time, we were happy to retreat to the a/c in the house where my friend Kendra never stops moving and decided to make some muffins for her guests at the Inn. From there, we went back out and dealt with the dough -- 7 rolls per pie plate times 33! She did the rolling and filling and I got the pans ready and passed the dough to her from the huge mixer.

This picture is of the buns in the oven with a cool reflection of Kendra at the sink.

I've got the runs...

What I mean to say is...Kendra and I have agreed to go for a run every morning that she doesn't have guest who needs breakfast. So, for two days in row, we're up and running by 6:45am -- and it almost has to be that early or else it gets too hot! The best part is that there are absolutely zero hills to worry about!

After our run today, we were off to the farm to pick strawberries and make fresh jam! If you haven't had your fresh strawberry of the year, you better get on it! They are soo sweet!

One of the 5000 plants with delicious goodness awaiting consumption!

Pure goodness...

We made 10 batches...can't wait for fresh biscuits tomorrow!

Flying by the seat of an '87 Ford Ranger!

Mark is gone this week helping set up a summer camp and he took the car so Kendra and I are cruising in his sweet ride! It's pretty great, actually -- a little mini version of the beloved 'Grey truck' that our family knows so well from the paving days!One of our first tasks was to take Cashew back to the farm and reacquaint him with his fellow kind. He has gotten SO big (well, bigger then before) and he had eaten almost all of Kendra's flowers and ground-cover so it was certainly time for him to go back! We drove onto the pasture to where the sheep were, took off his dog collar, and dropped him off but he wanted nothing of it and ran beside the truck! Poor guy didn't know what was going on! Daniel was right there to move the sheep in with the cows anyway so we maneuvered the truck out in time for the fences to be adjusted. Cashew just looked lost -- nothing looked familiar! He managed through the night though and the report from today was that he was hanging out with the chickens...which makes sense because he slept in the chicken coop here at the Inn with the chickens! Haha...at least he was with some friends that he could relate too! He'll be in good company with the calf I helped pull the last time I was here -- 'Knada'! Her ear tag says 'Knada' (sounds like Canada) and has 'eh' on the back! Love it!

That night we went to the 'Kid Jam' program at their church where they had been renovating a space for the last 3 months and it looks SO cool! I was really happy that I was able to help out too by painting primer on my first trip and this time we spent all of Tuesday there sewing and putting up curtains behind stage. It

is the cutest space ever! They've renovated a very very old church sanctuary into an amazing theatre space for their kids program! Sarah, Makenna, Ben and Peter would LOVE LOVE LOVE it! :)