killin' time

eight of our larger cockerels have gone to chicken heaven. they dressed out at a minimum of nine pounds and look so tasty i can't wait for our first roast chicken dinner. it is always a learning experience when killing a grip of chickens. i sliced their neck on the last few and they seemed to bleed out better. i also tried a new method of cutting them open that leaves a self trussing piece of skin for the legs. we like most of our chicken left whole for roasting. i greatly dislike eviscerating them but is seems to be my job. we set up a whole station out in the front yard--outside the red fence. this way we could keep an eye on the kids, on the occasion they'd be outside, and still enforce the red fence barrier.
the kids were amazingly well behaved. we left them to their own devices for the better part of four hours. the children's library was strewn across the bathroom floor and that was about the most mischievous thing that occurred.
this afternoon we harvested about thirty pounds of garden produce; squash, beans, and cucumbers. it started to rain while we were in the bean arch. it was magical. tabitha is now making pickles, dill spears. i like a good dill pickle. she is going to add some of our fresh garlic. i am making a russian cucumber salad. i had a salad almost everyday my last trip to st. petersburg. it was during the white nights and summer harvest. i was there a month and i was awake most of the time. when the sun doesn't really set i don't feel like sleeping too much.
i dug a big hole for the chicken entrails, i put it next to the road on the other side of the wood pile hoping that the cars would scare any industrious varmets from digging it back up. digging a deep hole here i the ozarks is quite a feat. i use a five gallon bucket of water to loosen the clay and rocks from each other.
tristan is getting very excited for his birthday. it was really hard on him to watch kassi have hers, blow out the candles and open presents. we plan a trip to silver dollar city for his big day. the kids have gained the ability to argue. they seem to innately know which button will be the most effective at this moment. although, the kids love each other and are so cute and generally concerned about the others happiness. kassi was just crying and tristan said "kassi i'll make you happy" and ran to the other room and got her a surprise. it was just her pink ball but she seemed to perk up. everyday we agree that it is the best thing we can do for our child is to give them a sibling. kassi is so loved by both parents but the love that tristan and kassi share is deep beyond anything we as parents can understand. seeing the true empathy come pouring out of either child when the other is hurt is a sight to behold. it makes me choke-up every time.
our neighbor is celebrating the fourth in true ozark fashion. he spent his last three pay checks on fire works and has a strict regime of making sure at least one explosion occurs every three minutes. our cow hates him.