Rooster Killing Time!

Daisy guarding the first one to go! We killed and cleaned 6 of 11 roosters for the supper table last weekend. Everything went smoothly...and the first one was very yummy!

The dogs were very interested!..but they behaved!

Scalding the chicken in very hot water for about 15 seconds makes the feathers MUCH easier to pluck.

Plucking...

Some random ongoings....

Daddy found a new way to hold Carter, and he loves it! ...although in the photo he appears a little dazed!

The new "holding position" gives Daddy a workout :) Carter now weighs over 14lbs!

In the last week Carter has been able to fairly consistently find his thumb to suck! I thought I'd be against this, but it just means he can sooth himself better! We'll deal with getting him to stop later! He deserves to suck it after weeks of working towards this goal!

Daddy lulls Carter to sleep in the glider!

Albemarle County Fair!

Carter in his cute robe! He LOVES bath time! ...really, I think he loves water, period.

Carter has started "playing" with things...grabbing and talking to his toys!!! It is so fun! This is his turtle.

David (Aaron's co-worker) meets Carter!

Carter Goes to the Beach!

We went to North Topsail Beach in NC with Aaron's family in August! This was Carter's first beach trip...first trip out of the state...first road trip! He did great and had a nice time! I think the photos speak for themselves...











Sleepy after a trip to the beach!

Taking it easy on vacation!

Zoe and Carter became good friends! Here's Carter sleeping on her lap!

A Family Get Together!

The following are photos taken at our family get together at my parents house. My cousins from Oregon, California, and Chicago along with their parents , and my great Aunts and Uncles all from my Mom's side were at the gathering. These photos are just the ones I was on the ball enough to catch! Sorry to those of you I didn't get :(

First Cousin Once Removed (abbreviated "O.R." from now on!), Virginia! FYI, for those of you who might not know, 1st cousin O.R. means she's my cousin, so she is once removed from Carter. Another FYI, if/when she has children, her children and mine would be 2nd cousins.

Sleeping with Uncle Larry!

Uncle John and 1st Cousin O.R., Brent!

1st Cousin O.R., Tara!

Great Aunt Cathe and 1st Cousin O.R., Tara making me smile!

1st Cousin O.R., Rhys!

First Cousin O.R., Brent!

Great Aunt Cathe and Great-Great Aunt Beth!

My Dad!

Michael T. (brother) cooked up the BBQ chicken, hamburgers, and hotdogs for our meal!

Other Ongoings...

Although the garden has been neglected, we're still getting all we need!

Lots of tomatoes!

I planted 6 Roma tomato plants to put towards ketchup! In the past I've gotten all the ketchup made and canned in an afternoon and this year it took me 3 days because of Carter related interruptions!...not a good idea to mess with boiling liquids with a baby on your hip!! I put 50 lbs of tomatoes towards this ketchup recipe and got 24 pints!! This will (hopefully) last 2 years. It might seem like a lot of ketchup, but we always end up rationing in the end! I can't even use store bought ketchup anymore! Making ketchup was my main goal for this year's garden. Next year I'd like to plant corn for the first time!

Our first eggs from the hens!! We're starting to get eggs more regularly! I LOVE going in the hen house and finding these little gifts!! This morning we fried up a double yoker!!! We get a range of light to dark brown and even some green eggs! Our first real "farm" venture has thus far been successful! In the next couple weeks we'll be culling out some of the ornery rooster for the supper table :) This fall I'll be getting some Buff Orpington chicks...probably 10 chickens and one rooster. By the time late spring rolls around we'll be getting eggs from the new chicks and we'll probably cull some of the original hens. My plan is to have all B.O. chickens so I can create a self-sustainable flock of pure-breds. I might even put some in the fair next year!..why not?! Anyway, we're getting a lot of pleasure from our first "farming" venture!

This is Callum (my brother) in our field with my Grandfather's horses. He had 4 mares, then plus a stallion, then minus a stallion, and then 4 foals (2 fillies and 2 colts), one mare died after delivering her colt and the colt was given to a deserving family, then 2 mares and 2 foals were given away, and the mare and filly in this photo were the last to go just yesterday. What a busy year of horses for my Grandfather!
Callum needed a photo of himself for the cover of the book of poetry he published! The photo did not have the horses in it, but it wasn't for a lack of them trying!

Two Months Old!!!

Checking out the yard.



2 months old.


Playing with his eye!


Laying on Mommy's lap.


Sitting on the couch.


Looking out the window again.


Smilin!

Funny tummy-time perspective.

Canning green beans from the garden!!