Making memories....teaching lessons...

What a great weekend. We had company for the weekend. Our youngest son, his son, and 2 of our son's friends came in from Oklahoma. This is the son that is always on the move, always doing "something" and wearing me down. Haha. They pulled in the drive around noon, and by 1 pm, we were butchering 5 roosters. This was a first time experience for our son Jason, and grandson Iziah. I wasn't sure how Iziah was going to handle it and at first I thought he was going to have a melt down, and we would have to have grandpa take him and keep him busy. Iziah is 8 years old, and all boy, but the first time can be a bit hard, for anyone. As we gathered the first 2 roosters up, he had a few tears...I asked him why he was upset and he replied...I don't want them to die. I pulled him aside,and explained why we process the extra roosters,how I do it humanely and that they don't suffer and how they will feed us, and we will be thankful. By the time I dispatched them, he was getting excited to get busy with plucking. He did great.

It didn't take us too long and we were cleaning up with 5 roosters in the cooler. I was so glad to have the help and we now have 7 meals in the freezer. Once the temps cool down, I will pull the backs out of the freezer and can them and make chicken broth. After standing bent over that table for a few hours, I was spent. I wanted to sit down and just enjoy the short time we had with them here, however, Jason was NOT ready to sit. *sigh* We took Iziah over to the small pond where Jason saw that the pond weeds were thick and we couldn't see the fish. He decided that needed to come out. He grabbed the leaf rake and went in. Iziah and I got the lawn tractor and wagon.

As Jason raked it out to the edge, Iziah would pick through it removing any life he found....crawdads, small perch, tadpoles, frogs, lizards....so much fun for a boy!

Even Jason's friend got in on the "fun" looking for critters.

The guys took the pond weeds over to the geese, chickens and pigs. They said the pigs were the happiest upon getting their treat. I retreated to the house to get cleaned up and get dinner started. I made Izsiah's favorite dinner. Fried chicken, mashed "taters" green beans and gravy. As we all gathered around the table, pausing to give thanks, I couldn't help but smile as I watched these 4 men and young man....dive in with gusto. Passing dishes, making comments like "that smells great" and "you better get what you want now because once I get it there won't be any left" We all laughed and enjoyed a great meal. Iziah was eating, and already asking what was for breakfast. He knew grandma was going to make a big breakfast for him. Bacon, eggs, biscuits and gravy. He talked about breakfast all night. The men all retired around a bon fire. I, after getting a shower, retired to my chair. One worn out grandma! LOL After breakfast, they gathered all of their things up and hit the road, back to Oklahoma. Life keeps us all so busy, visits are short and only a few times a year, so we treasure every minute we get with them. Today, we are back to the regular grind....farm chores, work, and later I will do some canning. Tomato's and green beans will go in the pantry. Our harvest is meek, but we are thankful for any that we get to help keep us fed through the winter.