Margaret's Goose

Canada Geese are a very common sight where we live.  Margaret has never eaten one and asked a friend if he knew a hunter who would be willing to give her one to cook.  It wasn't many days before she got a phone call that there was a goose waiting for us in a cooler on our front porch.

The bird was almost as long as Margaret is tall!  It weighed 11 lbs 8 oz at this point.

I'm a city boy. My meat comes wrapped on styrofoam trays from the grocery store. When Margaret said she had to dress the goose, I expected her to get her sewing machine out.  Instead, our friend Jim Tracy volunteered to help her get the bird ready.

This is what we ended up with. It should be good eatin' this weekend!

In His name,
Chaplain Sam Houchins

New Neighbors

The weather was mild Saturday morning so I opened most of the windows at home to air out our house.  Early in the afternoon, Margaret motioned me to quietly come to the doorway of our spare room.  When there, she pointed to the open window.  In the sand berry bush, just outside the window, was a mother robin sitting on her nest.

I had seen the nest when I opened the window that morning but there was no bird sitting in it then.  The bush is still bare and it didn't occur to me that the nest could be in use.

The flowers in the lower right are part of an arrangement of artificial flowers in a basket inside the window.
We probably wont be able to see the nest once the bush blooms.

In His name,
Chaplain Sam Houchins