Butchering...

Birds ready to butcher!!

This fall we raised 300 business birds so we spent three Saturdays in October butchering. The birds were all about 8 1/2 weeks old (usually we only let them go for 6-7 weeks before butchering!) so they were big birds. Usually our average bird weighs about 3 pounds- this fall our average was 4 1/2!!! The biggest bird we ended up was 7 pounds- with a couple 6 pounders too!!

Our first Saturday was rather discouraging-- we were supposed to start at 8am, but is poured elephants and hippos (it was way past cats and dogs!!) during the early morning and on until about 10am. When the rain did let up, we had to move all the equipment out of the car port--there was about 7 inches of standing water where we had set everything up!! When we finally got everything moved to a dryer spot and corralled everybody to start at 11, we had a electrical problem with the scalder.....to make a long story short, we eventually did get started about 2:30, and managed to do almost 70 birds before the day was over.

Our second Saturday was much more successfull- it didn't rain, there were no problems with the scalder and we got 136 birds in the freezer! Plus when everything was cleaned up, we got to watch the Wildcats (our favorite college team!) play a great football game- and win-so all things considered- it was a great day!! :)

Our last Saturday presented a few challenges as we had another round of scalder troubles, but after a few miutes of work, Dad was able to fix the wiring and get us back in running order!! Lydia ran the scalder that day, and we emptied the last pen- butchering our last bird!!

Moses has the dirtiest job of all- removing the heads!!

Seth got home from work early one Saturday and he pitched right in and helped!

Thanks, Seth!!

Micah brings the ready-to-pluck birds to the scalder for Scott.

Scott takes the birds and scalds them before running them through the plucker- truly a life-saver!! We used to be able to butcher about 50 birds in one day when we were hand-plucking. With Scott's plucker we did 135 birds in about 6 hours.

I get them next for the 'fine-tuning'- making sure every little feather has been removed!!
I'm glad for the plucker which makes my job so much faster!!

Esther does the least pleasant job with a smile!!!!

Tabitha finishes the process by doing the final check-over, bagging and wrapping them, then labeling them for the freezer- she's indispensable!!

With all the business birds in the freezer, we only have a few birds left- we'll be butchering the remaining 150 this coming weekend!!

October at the Ulmers!!

For the past two months the postings have been very irregular here on the Ulmer blogspot, but you can look forward to regular posts in these future months- we have a operating computer at last!! Yay!!

For now I'll try to give you a brief glimpse of how our our past month has gone- October was a full month with birthdays, school, butchering, new horses, two week-end trips, and a host of other activities!!

Enjoy these snapshots from our month!!

Uncle Silas and Paul are best buds!!

Esther, Silas, Tabitha and Phoebe enjoy a buggy ride during a festival in Seneca!

One of our laying hens!

Charity with our new dog- Gypsy!!

Silas requested "awfuls" for his birthday-- and no, they have not gained their nick-name because of their taste!!

Silas loves finger jello!!

And his siblings enjoyed looking through the playmobile catalog!! :)

Silas got two little men for his birthday that he holds especially dear. He takes them with him when he takes his nap. One day Mom checked on him while he was asleep and found him 'eating' his beloved man!!

Haylie and Charity on Ginger!!

We were blessed to spend a afternoon and evening with the Meyer and Strahm families- including horse-back-riding, volleyball and a bon-fire!!! We had a wonderful day together with special fellowship!!

Marcus with his Grandpa!!

Phoebe, Cole and Aubrey!

We didn't get a hard freeze until just this past week and we still have some beautiful snap-dragons!!

After we finished butchering the last of the business birds, Charity helped me wash the many feeders and waters!!

Micah helping clean up a mess in the yard!!

Papa gives Phoebe and Paul a tractor ride!!!

Charity practicing her horse-back-riding.

After a blonde-moment filled day, this seemed rather fitting!! :)

Noah and his filly-Honey-she fell asleep leaning up against him!!

This month has brought some significant changes for our hard-working brother!! This summer he worked for two dairys- a total of about 60 hours a week- and he recently felt that the Lord was directing him to resign from both jobs. His last day at both jobs was Saturday, he was sad to leave his employers- both of whom he enjoyed very much, but he is excited to see where the Lord leads him now!! Please keep him in your prayers as he hears from the Lord for further direction in this chapter in his life!

Tabitha gives Phoebe and Silas a ride in our fantastic Daddy-built cart!

With twelve people in our home, we've collected quite a stack of winter clothing-- a coat per person (or maybe two, if they have outside chores during the winter), snow-pants or coveralls, scarves, gloves, stocking hats, boots- the list goes on!! When you add the fact that we have three hunters in the family, you also add a large pile of extra coveralls, insulated hiking boots and plenty of orange gear. It takes several hours to get the nessesary clothing assigned to each person, then it's finding a place to put it all!!

Charity working studiously on her school work!!

Playing trains!!

Charity made beautiful cupcakes for her birthday!!

Some of the last produce from our garden- Noah grows delicious peppers!

Oh-- we love it when Esther makes granola--mmm!!

Tabitha forking some hay for our hungry horses!

Visiting Aliisa.

Enjoying seven-week old Jacob- what a cutie!!

The first week-end in October found the Anson family heading east for Tony's Wedding, I got to go along to help with the boys (Oh, the joys of being a Aunt!!! Especially to such cute little men!!) and then spend the week-end with my dear friend Ali in WI. The Klahn family lives about 2 hours away from Chicago, so Ali drove down to meet us and brought me back to her house for two very wonderful days!! We celebrated Mrs. Klahn's birthday, took their family and Ali's senior pictures, went square dancing, played lots of games and of course, I spent a fair amount of time holding sweet little Jacob! Last summer when I visited, Anja was 7 weeks old, but did NOT like me to hold her- thankfully Jacob was a lot more friendly with me (and Anja too!)!!

Ali's Senior pictures turned out so well--she's so photogenic!!

Another favorite!
(To view her other senior pictures, go here!!)

Playing "Like-Minds"-

Ali and Elizabeth against Aleks and Ike---

I think Ali and I won!! :)

The whole Klahn crew.

Thank-you, Klahns for having me- I enjoyed my visit!!!

Sorghum Molasses!

It was a crisp fall day- perfect for making sorghum molasses! While Esther and Elizabeth hit the Seneca garage sales with Lydia (it was a perfect day for garage sales too!!) Mom and the rest of the crew helped a friend make sorghum molasses!!

Moses and Gabe loading the truck.

Taylor and Moses.


Mom helped too!

Haylie helped carry it to the truck.

One loaded truck!

Moses did a excellent job of running the cane through the press.

Tabitha skimmed the boiling liquid.

The cane stalks after they are run through the press.

So now we've been enjoying delicious sorghum in granola, banana bread, and drizzled over hot cornbread; Mm-mm!!!

Happy Birthday, Silas!!

Our boy is Three!!!

Silas is a special delight in our lives- we are ever grateful to the Lord for sending us this precious little man!! Silas is a blessing in our home- quick to help, quick to make you laugh and quick to say thank-you. He has a cute little grin that is almost always on his face, it is a rare sight to see him grumpy!!

Silas loves being Uncle to his nephews. He is very careful to make sure the toys that are too little for the boys are put away, and generously shares his larger toys with them (Although it hasn't always been this way. When Paul was little, he was only allowed to be in the living room when he came to visit Papa and Nana. Lydia told Silas that if he had a toy he'd rather not share with Paul right then, to take it into the school-room. The next thing she knew the toy shelf was nearly empty and there was a huge pile of toys in the school room.)
Happy Birthday, Silas!!
We Love You!!

Silas's Lastest Cute Quote.

Last week we had Andrew and Rebecca up for a visit. Silas had a blast playing with Justice-- they are good buddies. Sunday morning Andrew brought Justice downstairs to play- Silas was already playing in the living room. When Silas saw Justice he rushed over to him and declared; "Justice, it's Uncle ME!!"

Ulmer Random-ness!!

The last few weeks here on the farm have been busy, so you need not believe that the post shortage has been because we have nothing post-worthy. Our computer has been down for nearly a month now, which limits our computer access, and we have tried not to overload Noah's laptop by uploading tons of pictures on there. We're investigating different options for a computer to replace the one that just crashed, but our posting may continue to be somewhat irregular for the next couple of weeks.
The following are some snapshots from our past weeks. We would have more but they are all on the camera still (our 400+ memory card is nearly full!!)! Stay tuned, we'll tried to add more pictures later this week!!

Hiking in the pasture!!

Uncle Silas reading with Paul.

Moses gives Phoebe a piggy-back ride one afternoon.

We were fortunate to find a farm that had surplus watermelons we were able to buy---yum!!!

Moses came to the rescue after a sweet brown-haired girl got accidently got our tractor stuck in some deep mud.

Piano Lessons.

Shooting (at) clay pigeons!!

I think she shoots best with both eyes closed!! :)

Happy Birthday!!

Happy 9th Birthday, Charity!!

Can our Charity-Bug be nine already?

Our special blessing girl- what a joy she is to our lives!!
Charity is our faithful helper here at home- the first to volunteer whenever we're working on a project around the house. Charity is the one who leaves us those thoughtfull little notes to brighten our day, who helps us make special treats. Who faithfully feeds our chickens every morning and evening and sometimes feeds mine to surprise me!!

Happy Birthday, Charity!

We Love You!