I am just sitting here drawing blanks. I came in with the intention of writing one of several thoughts, and lo and behold, I sit down and my mind goes blank.

Let's see.............. chickens all dead! Hooray!! Yeah! I know, don't be shocked. When the "universal mortality" is scheduled, it's a good thing! Last weekend was very busy, getting everything ready for the catch. I had several repairs that had to be done. A couple of cables had to be replaced on the feedline hoists, and Ian and I removed the garage style door on one of the houses, after a new rolling door had been put in. A couple of basic electric problems to fix. Some minor waterline issues to deal with, etc. Fairly standard, except that this is really the first time that these types of repairs were done completely without Bob's help.

Those would all have been a very "mild" saturday, except we spent Saturday morning butchering Bambi. Sorry, I shouldn't be so casual about it. I have never been particularly squeamish about where my food comes from. Dad, Mom, I think I should thank you for that. I don't take great pleasure in the process, but I am grateful that I have access, and knowledge to do the job.

Cousin Herman (related to Bob) loves to hunt, and really hates to eat game. He got a really nice 12 point buck, and called Bob and asked if they would like to have it. This was a really good looking deer. And he had been eating well. Fatter than we have seen in a long time. Bob offered to split with us, if we would help dress it. He is having more and more trouble with breathing, so some activities are just too much for him, and the dusty chicken houses are just flat out of the question right now.

So I got to help him skin, and butcher the big buck. I don't think I have ever seen such a huge neck roast on a whitetail, and we got two huge roasts. I am just guessing, but based on the hams, I would guess "Bambi" dressed out probably 70-90 lbs. I may be way low, or way high. I actually don't know what a big buck should weigh, but I have cooked some neck roasts in the last 10 years, and these were big by comparison.

Now if Ian and Ben can just get us a couple more. They have been very frustrated. The two times they went out on Saturday (youth hunt), we heard shots all around us, but the boys didn't see any of the deer that normally come around our place. Maybe this week.

I was going to write some thoughts on Monday about the anniversary of the Berlin Wall opening up, but we sold birds Tuesday a.m. and the prep is really a 24 hour process, so I really didn't have the time, assuming sleep was part of the plan. We have to work the feedlines empty starting 12-13 hours prior to catch, and get the feed completely away from the birds 8 hrs prior, so that they are completely empty when the trucks come. With 4 houses, this means every 2 hours, up until the catch begins. By the time catchers are gone, it will have been a 24 hr. process.

The catch started at 6 am, so I had to get feeders going at 6, which was almost exactly when I got home from school. Then, every 2 hours, some series of steps had to be done, so I ended up with a few hours of sleep between 2:30-5a.m. and the 2 hr. intervals to that point were broken up with short naps.

Anyway, birds gone, houses empty, now we get to start the process of preparing for the next flock. Bob still runs the tractor to clean out the litter, since he can run into the windtunnel created by the big fans. It pulls all the dust away from him, and the new tractor does not wear him out like the old one. (old... standard hard clutch. New.... hydrostatic transmission, much like yard and lawn tractors.) Then, I will go in with the kids (hopefully) and we will set water and feed lines, clean things, make minor repairs that crop up during the clean-out, and set trays and lines for the new flock.

This is the flock that requires a lot of prep. We try to tighten up the houses for the cold months, and that involves going through and tightening draw cables on the 100+ louvre covers, checking inlet curtains for holes and damage, tightening up fan shrouds, and setting double curtain materials in the oldest house. We may even be replacing a heating system, but Bob and I have not settled that one for sure.

I am sure none of this is terribly interesting to you, but I had some time to kill, and The video game to my right was not a "productive" kill. At least blogging serves a purpose to keep you all better informed about how we are doing, and sometimes allows me to express some creative thought.

Oh, and by the way, Justin must be doing either so well that he has no stand-out thoughts to send us, or he is struggling so hard that he can't find time or thoughts to fill beyond a 3 line e-mail. I love my son....I wish you could see the wry smile, as I type this. I know my son, and we will have to keep hounding him to get more info out of him. Maybe we will have to hold presents and goodies hostage. He can get packages filled with as much "loot" as he sends info. OOOOOHH! that was a great idea. I should write that down.........oh, I guess I just did! Nevermind!!!:)