Day 21- Turkeys

My foot is tender this morning, still red and blotchy, but no longer throbbing.  I get up, make coffee and tea, stir the cattail starch.  It's dry now, and somewhat fluffy.  I decide to put it in it's own jars rather than mixing it into the flour bin.  I get 5 quarts.  Not exactly a great yield.

It's been three weeks without power.  There's been no news of if or when the power will be restored.  Of course, where we live, we'll probably have power before we'll have news.  Who knows if the radios will even work when the power comes back on.  Or anything else for that matter.

I sit and drink my tea, looking around the kitchen at all of the now useless appliances and gadgets.  Packing up the microwave and some of the small appliances would give me more counter space, more room to work.  I'd have space to let the bread rise, set up the doggy stew pot, and things to cook without cluttering up the table.

Husband and the boys get up.  They drink coffee.  Nobody's really saying anything, but there's a grumpy vibe in the room.  I ask what they want to do today.  They aren't very committed to any plans.  I suggest we butcher turkeys, before we lose any more.  They don't look impressed with that idea, but they know it needs to be done.  It won't take long, with only 7 birds left.

I ask the Littles to get me some boxes from the basement and I start clearing things off the counter;  the electric bread knife, electric can opener, crockpot, deep fryer, doggy stew burner.  I get the Bigs to take the boxes and the microwave to the basement.  It can all sit down there for now.  The kitchen seems much roomier.

The boys eat their breakfast.  The Littles start fighting with each other.  Poor #3 is suffering major computer withdrawals.  He's been a pretty good sport so far, but three weeks is a long time.  Of course it doesn't help to be walking past the computers every time we walk through the living room.  If we cleared the laptops off the desk it would give the boys more room to set up and play board games.  I look around the living room and decide to clear off the top of one of the book shelves.  The lap tops can sit up there for now.  The desk tops can stay on the desk against the wall.  Not that they're any less depressing, I'm just not feeling that ambitious.

With the counters cleared off, the desks cleared off, breakfast eaten, and dishes washed, we decide to get started on the turkeys.  We build a big fire in the fire pit outside, then put a large wash tub over it to heat.  It takes a lot of water to fill the wash tub.  Too bad I didn't think of getting it out and filling it with water the other day when it was raining.  Husband gets the machete, the boys start catching the turkeys, and then it's off with their heads.  Everyone gets a turkey to pluck, with one to spare.  By the time they're all cleaned and gutted, it's well past lunch.

We put one bird in a roasting pan on the stove.  It won't be ready for supper tonight, but the fire's not too hot now, so it shouldn't burn.  I'll let it cook for the afternoon, then set it outside overnight and put it back on tomorrow.  The rest of the turkeys are tucked into the freezers, hopefully to freeze.  Everything else seems to be frozen solid, so we must be dropping below freezing at night.

I pull out a package of sausage for supper tonight.  It's the last one.  I should have done a better job planning meals, spreading out the few things there's some variety of.  The quick and easy meals are pretty much gone.  I have to remember to start things earlier in the day.

Husband and the Bigs go out to work the horses again, and get another load of logs with Samson.  That keeps them busy until supper is ready.  The Littles play Battleship on the desks for the rest of the afternoon.  They're getting along better now.

After supper we play cards for a couple of hours before calling it a day.