I had a good weekend for getting work done around the homestead.  The weather has really cooled off and is what I would call “brisk” in the mornings.  I had every intention of getting up early and getting going but that extra cup of coffee was just too inviting to pass up.  Finally around 9:00 I was out the door getting the chores done.

I may have mentioned before that my tractor had to get some work done to it but it is back and running okay.  The guy who fixed the PTO clutch said it was running low on power and probably just needed a tune-up.  I decided to take Sarah with me into town to buy some spark plugs, some building supplies at Home Depot and feed at the Co-Op.  I knew I wanted to be back before 1:00 since our football team was playing a tournament game at home and it was likely the last game of the season for me.  After stopping at the co-op for turkey and chick feed I decided to just buy everything in our home town.  The guy that fixed my tractor also sell spark plugs and the local hardware store had everything I needed to insulate the brooder box.  I was able to save an hour in travel time and helped support the local economy.  I am sure the local merchants appreciate it since the times are getting tough in our neck of the woods.

By the time we got home, put stuff away and ate lunch it was close to 1:00 so I took Sarah to the football game.  She really likes to go to the game but finds herself torn between sitting with me and running around with her friends.  I let her choose for herself and she ends up going back and forth.  Well the Owls put a shellacking on the Hutchinson Trinity team and ended up winning 56-14.  They still have to win 3 more games to retain their title as state champions.  It will be interesting to see if they can do it but they will have to work hard since the competition is definitely better this year.

When I got home I decided to keep Sarah outside and away from the TV.  I just want to see if keeping her from the TV helps her out.  She is not having any problems in particular but she needs to be stimulated with things other than Hannah Montana and Jake & Josh.  If we have to tighten our belts financially the first thing to go will be the satellite dish. 

Together we moved the chicken pen to the back patio.  I decided to move it there to shield it from the harsh winter weather and to make it easier to tend to the chickens.  The chickens are now safely up for the winter and have plenty of hay to keep them warm on the concrete slab.  We will see how traumatic the mood was and if it affects egg production.  I accidentally injured one of the hens by running over her leg.  It does not appear to be broken but she is still hobbling around.  I also installed a light in the coop since we are now so close to the house.  In an effort to save money and to keep things as green as possible I am using a compact florescent bulb in my shop light.  I think the wattage is about 15 but puts out the light of a 60 watt incandescent bulb.  It puts out very little heat but hopefully it will help keep up the egg production now that the days are getting so much shorter.  The lamp is connected to a timer in the garage and it comes on at 3:30 am and off at 7:00.  It is only 3 ½ hours but keeps the total light at around 15 hours.  I will adjust it as necessary to maintain that amount of light while minimizing the total amount of electricity being used.

I also began construction of my $6 chicken plucker.  I got this plan off of a post on HomesteadingToday.com.  It really is ingenious and will be used when we butcher the turkeys in 2 weeks.  Basically the plucker is made from a pvc end cap and pieces of rubber bungees.  The plucker spins by connecting it to my electric drill and running the scalded bird over the spinning fingers.  The discussion and pictures can be seen at the following link by clicking here.  I got most of the project done but came up short on my bungees.  I am going to stop by Home Depot during my lunch break to pick one more up.  The video shows it working pretty well and as far as I am concerned plucking is the worst part of poultry.  If it works as good as advertised then the $6 is worth every penny.  I will report back my findings.

By the time that project was done it was getting too cold to work outside as the sun was starting to set.  To the chagrin of Spencer I really did not want to bundle him up so he could run around outside.  I promised him he could help me cut the grass and ride the tractor on Sunday after Church.  He accepted it and kept reminding me of my commitment to him.

Dinner on Saturday night was some store bought steaks that really left us yearning for some of our tastier freezer steaks from a local beef rancher.  The taste is just so much better and about the same price, if not cheaper.  We just don’t have enough room in our freezer right now for a side of beef.  I am hoping in the spring we can order a cow.

Sunday morning we had pancakes and sausage.  The kids really love that and it was pretty good to me also.  We headed off to Church and Sunday School where we had a good discussion about traveling down the narrow path as opposed to the wide road that most of us tend to do.  It really invoked a lot of thought on my part and gave me something to ponder and pray about.  After Church we celebrated Pastor Appreciation Day with a small reception to thank Pastors John, Christopher, and Jim.  They really do work hard to make Goddard UMC a nice place to attend.

After Church I fulfilled my promise to Spencer to help out with the yard work.  He climbed on the tractor with me and helped me steer around the yard to get that final cutting in for the year.  He really had fun and stuck with me for about 2/3’s of the work.  He was getting cold and wanted to go inside.  Sarah helped by moving a pile of tree trimmings to our brush pile.  She got done with that at about the same time that Spencer wanted to go inside.  She jumped back on the tractor and helped me finish the job.  The yard now looks nice and won’t drive me nuts by looking at grass stalks sticking up through the snow all winter.  I also put all of the hoses up for the winter, put the swimming pool in the basement and generally cleaned out the garage so the cars could be parked in there now. 

During the late afternoon I watched the end of the NASCAR race and saw Jimmy Johnson put on a show by outclassing the rest of the field.  As much as I like Tony Stewart and wished he was going to be the champion I have to tip my hat to the Rick Hendrick team.  They just have it going on again this year.

This week I head to Colorado Springs Co for another state ag aviation convention.  I will be gone for 3 days so I pray for Susie’s sanity while she holds down the fort by herself in my absence.