Monday, June 6, 2011

Does it get this hot in Africa?

Really.  Does it? 
We’ve had some near 100 degree temperatures and that was just the first week of June.  We went right from Soggy Spring to Scorching Summer in like three weeks.
I’ve been meaning to clean out the kidding pen and chicken coop, but I just can’t manage to get up the courage to do it just yet.  I’m hoping that we’ll get some sort of break from the heat this week and I’ll get them cleaned out then.  I just can’t bear the thought of not only sweating like a pig in the 95 degree heat, but having all that chicken litter dust sticking to my sweat covered self and eventually dripping down into parts unmentionable.  Needed that visual, didn’t ya?  Sorry.
I suppose I could have done it early morning Sunday (when it was only 75 degrees), but we really needed to disbud Cloud’s doeling and it seemed better to do it that morning since it was cooler.  Everything went well and I was finally able to put the disbudding box and iron away for the season.  So the chicken coop and kidding pen remain un-cleaned.
We also said farewell to one of Annette’s kids.  Annette is still saying “goodbye” (imagine constant goat-bleating in the background, even with the doors and windows closed up). 

Her little buckling went to his new home to become a future herd sire.  What a sweet job, hugh?
This heat has also been making cooking anything inside almost unbearable.  We had defrosted one of the chickens several days ago and it really needed to be cooked, but I didn’t want to turn the oven on for an hour & a half. 
Smoker to the rescue!
Paul seasoned the bird, started a fire in the smoker and smoked the chicken for several hours.  We munched on right-outa-the-smoker chicken (before I could even get a picture of the whole bird) and had cold chicken the next day for lunch. 

I’m trying to plan meals that require little or no cooking indoors.  I have the grill and smoker at my disposal.  We just got beef from one of Paul’s co-workers last week so I defrosted a few t-bones (hey, who needs a holiday excuse to eat a fancy-pants cut of steak??) and a pack of burger for Sloppy Joes.  Throw in a few huge mixed salads with grilled chicken on top, some sort of pasta, pizza on the grill one night and I’ve got a week’s worth of suppers! 
I may even try baking a loaf of bread inside the grill.  Anyone ever try that?
PS – Still not ignoring y’all, I can comment on some blog pages, but not mine. :*(

5 comments:

  1. We had the same weather! It's been okay for the past few days, but is supposed to be up to 98 by Thursday. I have no excuse for not cleaning out the chicken coop this weekend, but I didn't. Now I have to the coming weekend. Joy. That chicken looks delish! I had the same problem with commenting but found the *solution*. I will send you an email.

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  2. It isn't that hot here but I have the same chores to finish - goat and sheep sheds to muck out from the winter. Nothing like the soothing call of the goats to set ones teeth on edge....

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  3. If you try baking bread on the grill, please let us know about it. I've been contemplating it myself. ...or baking a pizza on the grill.

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  4. We're not exactly next door neighbors but we're sharing the same heat! Only we've only gotten up to 98. I do know what you mean about working out in it. It's an energy zapper for sure. That aside, I love your smoker! DH would absolutely love one. We grill out almost every day in this kind of weather too.

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  5. Now is the time to use your crock pot or slow cooker.....I cook roasts, chicken, soups, stews and even a brisket in mine.

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