empty nest and gratitude

Are they having fun, or what?

Taking a moment to show my appreciation. He does have the hardest job - he has to kill everything.

Jen was our happy organ sorter and here she is cleaning gizzards.

The result of our hard, hard work.

This is how exhausted I was at the end of the day.

I'm grateful for so much right now.

Even though butchering all of our turkeys is not the most fun job in the world, especially since they were our friends (*sigh*), the process could not have been any smoother. I can't believe how lucky we were with the weather which could have been awful and instead was just BEAUTIFUL. I can't believe how lucky we were with the overwhelming amount of QUALITY help with butchering. I mean, who knew so many people would not only want to help but would enjoy it so much. We really did have some fun.

We were pleasantly surprised with how smooth the selling process went too. Turkey sizes are really a gamble as we have no idea how they'll turn out until the moment we plop them on the scale. This isn't a factory farm that pumps out exact sizes year after year. Over the last 3 years we've played around with things to try to get the most desired sizes and they turned out just perfect this year.

I can't tell you how much we appreciate our customers. Especially those who are so grateful just to get one of our birds that they don't care what size it is. We had folks drive all the way from Ohio and Virginia just to pick up turkeys. Today we've been getting calls and emails telling us how good they were and really, what could be better than that?

This whole process is incredibly stressful which is why I haven't written in a while. Making enough ice in advance, checking, cleaning and setting up the equipment just right, chill tanks, hoses, knives, coordinating the helpers, cooking for the helpers, training the helpers, hoping and praying that everyone does a good job and that we don't end up with too many messed up, un-sellable birds, trying to make customers happy with the right sizes, really, it's overwhelming. I cannot express how grateful I am to have help from such amazing and understanding people. Nate and I have done this alone for the past 2 years and it's been hard. We didn't have to carry the weight of all of that alone this time though. Now, we have our own little farm family and we help each other out because we're all in it together. And it's a beautiful thing. I think there were many moments these last few days for both Nate and I where we thought to ourselves that we are, without a doubt, in the right place.

So now, there's a little hole in our hearts that those birds once filled but we're honored to have raised them and to have passed them along to others to grace their tables and nourish their families. And now, a much needed break is in store and time for new projects which I can't wait to tell you about. . .

More photos of turkey butchering 2010 can be found here:
http://s499.photobucket.com/albums/rr359/n8johanson/Turkey%20Butchering%20Nov%202010/