It Feels Good

There is something terribly satisfying about sitting still on a squishy couch at the end of a long day of work.

Today I butchered a goat, planted celery, and harvested potatoes. The butchering of the goat deserves a blog post of its own, and perhaps I will do that later on in the week. But for now I am completely content to just sit. And rest. 

It feels good.

Exhausted

There's really no other way to put it: I am exhausted after my first day at work. 

I got up at 4:30 this morning so that I could get barn chores done in time; I had to be at the farm by 7:30! The following day was long, wet, windy, tiring, but fun. By lunch time the rains were coming down so hard that the term "monsoon" kept coming to mind. It was a fierce, hard driving rain that made us all get wet despite our rubber rain gear. I was soaked to the skin by 11am. Today's to-do list was for us workers to split up and harvest carrots, fingerlings (tiny potatoes), big potatoes, beets, turnips, brussel sprouts, and lettuce. I did all of that except the last two things. 

By 4pm, my energy was seriously flagging. I had been soaking wet for five hours, and I was tired... So tired. My boss, Casey, grinned at my slowness and shouted out, "Welcome to farming!" I laughed and shot back, "No, it's 'welcome to vegetables'!" I was dog tired after this day, but as I thought about it, it really was the veggies that did me in. To me, "farming" has always been milking animals, feeding animals, moving animals to new pasture, pounding fence posts, trimming hooves, slaughtering, and all that lifestyle entails. My body is used to that kind of exertion and is limber from years of livestock work. And then I started working with vegetables... As of today, I have realized that while I can work for hours on end working with animals, this whole veggie thing is going to take a few weeks to get used to. In short, it's a lot more physical. I have a very strong hunch that I am going to be sore tomorrow.

But despite the wet clothes and aching muscles (and aching head!), I really did enjoy the work. When we were finally done with everything, I came to the conclusion that this work is just far more satisfying to me that working in a store would be. We worked all day. In the rain. And wind. And mud. And flood water. But when we were done we had an amazing amount of food for people. I liked that. :) It was also really nice that a good friend of mine was working that day too. The first day of anything is hard; having a familiar face was an absolute boon and he really helped make my day easier. 

When I finally got home, I was given the awesome news that two of my Pumpkin Hulsey eggs had hatched during the day! I was ecstatic to hear this, and couldn't wait to see my two fuzz balls, but before I went and saw them, or did anything at all, I took a long, hot shower. After a day like today, I was filthy (I laughed at my own reflection when I saw myself in the mirror!), sopping wet, and freezing cold. I looked like I had been in a mud fight, and felt like an icicle. Once I was feeling human again (meaning clean, and in fresh clothes), I went upstairs and peeked in on my chickies. Oh dear me... They are so stinkin' cute! Okay, so yes they rather look like any ordinary chick, but they're still cute! I'll see about posting pictures tomorrow.

So now I'm tired. And my fingers are swollen from harvesting potatoes. And I will bet an acorn to an oak that I am going to be horrifically sore tomorrow. But I rather enjoyed today. After all, what's not to love about singing "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" in the rain, covered in mud, harvesting potatoes, with a good friend? (It's a long story)

So toodle pip and cheerio my dear friends. I'm off to crash and burn somewhere with a warm blanket.

The Equines Have Landed

Two of them, to be exact. They're quite small though. Much too small to be ridden, as they stand at a petite 2 hands high (1 "hand" = 4"). These two stable buddies are about to be sent off to Kentucky, but I thought I might first share some pictures of my latest creations. :)

The flashy black and white is a Tennessee Walking Horse named 'Spirit'...

And the sorrel is a handsome Quarter Horse who goes by the handle of 'Montoya'...

I have to admit that I'm a little pleased with how these two turned out. Spirit especially. These were both custom orders, and I had to use some pictures as my guide to their colors, markings and build. 

Now, back to making goats! LOL. 

Confession

Soooo, I have a little confession to make. Remember that spandy little job I landed last month? (click highlighted words to read the post about that) 

Well, I quit it. And I quit the day before Thanksgiving. And I'm only just now telling you guys! :-/ Apologies there... I just haven't wanted to talk about it at all. 

I still don't really want to talk about it, but in a nutshell I left because of the level of gutter talk and harassment (just voiced opinions. Nothing physical) from the other employees. 

Now, I realize that swearing and inappropriate language is something that one can't really get away from in this life, but when you spend six hours each day listening to it, and you can't get away from it, it's a whole 'nother story. 

The other employees don't know why I left. They all assumed I couldn't handle the work load, and smirked that they were correct in guessing I would only last two weeks. They were right in saying I would only last two weeks, but it sure wasn't due to the work. It was hard work, yes. But it was doable. 

But, if nothing else, I at least learned a lot of tricks to working faster, and it was a good experience seeing how professional processors do their work. And after doing a little over 500 turkeys, I would like to state here that I love Broad Breasted White turkeys. If I ever start raising large amounts of turkeys in the future, I will use those birds. I might do a few Bourbon Reds, but that's a big "might". We had all sorts of turkey breeds come in to be processed during that time, and we all groaned when someone pulled up with dark feathered birds, or ones that were under the age of 4 months. They're a nightmare to pluck, let me tell ya'.... However, turkeys (even the young and dark colored) are a cinch in comparison to ducks and geese. Ai, yi, yi.  I despise doing waterfowl... Someday I want to try their meat to see if it's really worth all the work that goes into plucking them. Chickens. Chickens are good. I like doing chickens. ;)

So that's the end of that adventure. 

Hi-Ho-Hi-Ho, It's Off to Work I Go!

Today, for the first time, I went to work. Actual work. 

 Yep, this farm girl got herself a job this week! Whoohoo! 

Some friends of mine run a small poultry processing business about 15 minutes away from me, and the wife was mentioning how shorthanded they were this year. Somehow, less than 10 minutes later, I was signed up for a job working for them! So today was the first day, and I know this is going to sound strange, but I enjoyed myself. :) I never in my life would have guessed that I would one day be butchering poultry as a day-to-day job, but I wanted to help my friends out, and it's a job that I'm already good at!

 Today was a quick day; hours are usually 8AM to 5PM, but this morning we just worked until noon. We all worked double time and got 400 chickens done in exactly two hours. We were expecting 100 ducks as well, but those got delayed until Friday...

It's a pretty nice gig, I have to say. I'm not an "employee", I'm a "contracted worker", so taxes are different (almost non-existent), I get to choose my own working days and times, I can take a day/week off at the drop of a hat, and I get to choose when I get paid. Not too shabby for a first job; I'm content with it. 

So right now, I'm in training to be an "over seer" (in a nice way; no, I don't have a whip. LOL). The area is split into two parts: one half is where the birds are dispatched, scalded, plucked and eviscerated. The second half is where the birds are looked over by hand, to make sure all the feathers are off, then they're chilled, cut if the customer wants it, bagged, sealed, weighed, labeled, and given back to the customer. The second half also does office work and takes orders. My job is making sure everything in the second half of the area is going smoothly, and helping where things need another set of hands. 

The wife was a little disappointed that I might be gone for the summer next year, as that's when they have the most business, and they need every hand they can get! But we decided that we'll worry about that when the time comes. 

All total, there are seven other workers. The husband and wife, of course, their 10 year old son (he puts my work to shame! Man, that little guy can go fast!), plus three other workers in the first half, and one more worker in my half. 

So now I'm home. I won't be going back to work until next Wednesday, but after that it should be pretty regular. It's a welcome bit of income right now; that's for sure. Since I'm not selling milk this winter, the job will help bring in money that I otherwise would be stressing about. 

Okey dokey, I'm off to go start some soap now!