What an Amazing Lady! Susan Boyle

Wow, this woman is truly amazing and an inspiration to our young daughters as well as ourselves. Let her voice speak for her. Ladies meet Miss Susan Boyle:

Susan Boyle on Britain's Got Talent
by dwarthy

Blackberries are ripening!

It is blackberry season. One of my favorite seasons of the year. I think of all the berries out there I love blackberries the most. We always wait to bushhog the large pasture until after the blackberries are finished producing. The are wild and unculitvated and grow rapidly. They are just beginning to ripen and yesterday we picked enough to get a good amount of jam made today. The trick is in getting the ripe berries before all of the wild birds do. Of course, there is plenty for all of us. I just like to be able to leave the ones that we cannot reach for them and we can have the rest. Kinda like the fig trees. Most people keep their fig trees short so that they can reach all of the fruit. We let our get as big as they want and then the birds can have the fruit in the top of the tree that we can't reach. I just love blackberry season. With more ripening everyday we might have a cobbler tonight or tomorrow for desert, oh what a treat!

Watering the Garden

This year our garden is much larger than years past so we have been presented with a problem in irrigating it. We traditionally water the garden from the rain barrels or the pond. As the garden has been planted this has presented a problem, watering takes up a lot of time. Currently with both my daughter and it watering it takes about 45 minutes to get everything watered and we are still planting. So what are we to do? We still want to use the pond water and rain barrels until we absolutely have to use county water. Well, we have a huge supply of bamboo. In fact I built new tomato cages (still building) with it. The great thing about bamboo is that if hollowed out with a piece of rebar while green it makes a fabulous tube. We can use the bamboo to water the garden! We will take about a 3 foot piece of hollowed out bamboo and in each row will stake pieces about 2 feet apart. Then we can simply fill up the tube of bamboo with water and the water will seep into the ground near the roots where it is needed instead of running all over the top before it seeps into the dirt. We can use the old milk jugs to simply keep the bamboo tubes filled with rain water. I hope it works and will update you with our success or failure. I think this will greatly conserve our water supply while delivering valuable water to the roots of our veggies. It should also cut down tremendously on our time watering also. I sure hope this works!

How Did They Live Without Airconditioning?

You know in the days before electricity our ancestors lived without air conditioning. My Grandparent's farm did not have electricity at all until the 1950s and even then it was only for lights. So how did they do it? Most of us nowadays cannot imagine summertime with no AC. Well, by remembering my grandparents routines and how we have managed to cut it out for all but 2 months out of the year I may have an answer. The key is in scheduling your daily routine and chores around the heat. My grandfather was an early riser. He ate breakfast before daylight and at daybreak he was in the barn or in the field. There he stayed until dinnertime (lunch for those living outside of the south). He came in ate dinner and laid down for a 2 hour nap, everyone did. Even any hired hands found a good shade tree to take a snooze under. This served two purposes according to my grandfather; one was to let his food digest because dinnertime was the biggest meal of the day and two was to pass away the hottest part of the day staying as cool as possible. I also remember that my grandparents' house was loaded with windows and during the summer every window was open. The screened in porch ran the length of one side of the house (the eastern side) and those doors were left open in the summer. Essentially homes were built for natural air conditioning and designed to catch cross breezes. After my grandfather's nap everyone returned to their duties and the men went back into the fields. Grandaddy worked until sundown and then he came in to supper which usually was a light meal or leftovers from dinner. Living in harmony with the hot days of summer and coordinating their lives with the extremes of the day's temperatures. It also meant that they took life slower and there were no rat races to be run. For the past couple of years our family has been trying to cut down and cut out our AC. It is not easy and at times just downright miserable. However, each year we have turned it on later and then turned it back off earlier. Last year it did not get turned on until July 4th weekend and was turned off the first week of September. This year we wonder how long we can go without it and still live comfortably. It helps to have ceiling fans in the house, but we only have them in a couple of the rooms. We seem to be falling into the old pattern of life, like my grandparents did. We eat early, get outside chores done early while it is still cool and after lunch take a nap or at least lay down in the coolest part of the house. It is a good time for reading, talking, resting, and other quiet pursuits. Then we are back to more intensive chores after our rest and the hottest part of the day has passed. So how did they live without AC? The answer is simple. They simply lived in harmony and coordinated their lives with nature instead of trying to work against God's creation they took the time to go with the flow. We will see how long we can go this year, our goal is July 15th before turning it on. Just one more item to become less dependent on.

The Children of Caesar

This morning I have been reading some of my favorite blogs (see blog list). I came across these videos over at A Wise Woman Builds Her Home. It is truly awesome for those of us that homeschool and truly full of information. This man is brilliant. Enjoy and ladies I highly suggest this blog.

Update on Swine Flu

Well, this flu has made it into the US. Specifically California, Texas, Kansas, and New York have confirmed cases of the flu. Folks I highly recommend the following website, Watchmen Bible Study Site, with its links and video for more information on this and the possible dangers of the treatment. Take care and God bless. Buckle down the hatches, cause ill winds are blowing. Also check out this article from Survival Blog and Spanish Flu Survivors Remember

It's a Start

I hate television. That being said, yes there are certain shows that I do like to watch on occasion. However, I still hate television and really would not mind at all if we didn't even own one. However, I married a man who loves television and my oldest daughter sometimes is so addicted to it that the stupid idiot box can create quite a bit of strife in our home. My husband and I recently discussed this and we both agree that the influence has too big of a hold on our 11 year old and will have the same on our little one if we don't stop it now. So this past week we have started breaking that hold on our children. We implemented a day without television and hope to expand that day into more days. It is good for our well-being as well as the children's well-being. I have to say it was really nice. My husband did not mind quite so much, but our daughter was stroking out and coming too after supper and there was no television. She will adjust and adapt, all children do eventually, but for right now she does not look forward to Wednesdays. It is a journey that we feel we must take for the sake of our children and ourselves. There are so many more wonderful things to do and partake of, a family joined around the television is not joined as there is so little interaction. A family joined around a board game, or talking or reading or sewing is much more joined and bound together as a unit. We won't even go into the filth on television nowadays, even commercials are just downright filthy and offensive. Well, for now we have one day and maybe in the future we could rid ourselves of it altogether. I can only hope!

Attitude and the Superiority Complex

Many times as a Christian it becomes very easy to fall into a trap. What is this trap? It is the trap of a superiority complex, especially against our own faith. I know I have fallen into this trap myself. It is the trap in which we become judgemental, placing ourselves in the position reserved for God almighty instead of being the humble servants that we should be. It has become very easy in this world to judge the sinners of the world. Remember, I said sinners not sins. It is the sins of the world that we should judge and stand against, but the only way we can do this is to humbly teach the sinners. Instead, we tend to judge both the sin and the sinner and forget to teach the sinner why/how they are sinning and what the repercussions are. We must remember that we have one simple role, to serve the will of God. Our role and our place is not to judge others for their wrongdoings but to teach them about the will of God. This goes for other Christians as well. We must remember that everyone is on their own path with God and in their own stage of learning about His will and His word. Some don't know it at all, some are just hearing it, others are into the milk of the Word and yet others have bitten off a good chunk of meat. Not all of us are at the same stage and point. Our purpose is to learn and grow and share our learning and growth with others...ie. serve the will of God. So, I challenge us all to examine ourselves against the Word of God, reproach ourselves with the word of God, stop judging, and start teaching. The world hates Christianity for two reasons: it requires them to change and sacrifice, and because of the hateful judgementalism trap that many of us fall into. Don't fall into that trap because to take the place of God as the Judge is to condemn ourselves to the same fate as those who reject Him. Becoming the judge is the golden calf for this generation of the house of Israel. That is the end of my lecture for the morning, but I did feel the need to say this because I have seen it more and more lately. May God be with you today on your journey.

Swine Flu

Apparently, Mexico is having a problem with a swine flu outbreak which is heading into the United States. This is certainly not something to be taken lightly, but neither is it a reason to panic. Panic doesn't lead to any sort of reasonable judgement on anyone's part. However, there are things that folks should do to protect themselves from this particluarly nasty strain of flu, just like any other flu. The absolute first thing that one must do is to ask God for good health and trust with your whole heart that He will. After that you should do the following. First, do take this seriously and cut down your possible exposure. Keep your home, person, and car clean. If you must go out in public then take some baby wipes for those disease ridden shopping cart handles. Second, eat healthy good food and get plenty of excercise and free clean air. And thirdly, check out the recipe's over at the Never Done Farm for Four Thieves Vinegar and Elderberry Tincture. Make them, keep them on hand, and keep ingredients to make more. The recipes are in the second blog post down on that page, the one titled "Are you Prepared For...". The recipes are easy and provide for some serious immune system boosters. These three things will keep the average person healthy. I am not a doctor, but I have always believed that God designed us with a perfect immune system. Unfortunately we very rarely give our immune systems a chance to do its job any longer in society. Instead we rush to the nearest drug store to pop our body full of chemicals that shouldn't be there. It is the chemicals that we consistently subject ourselves to in our food, daily lives, environment, and medicine that makes our populations so terribly weak and things like swine flu becomes terrifying. I know our media blows these things out of proportion, just like they did with the avian flu several years back. They had the whole world sequestered in their homes living in complete and total fear of their neighbors. They will do the same with this. Now I am not saying that there will not or might not be a pandemic at some point. In fact, as a Bible believing Christian woman I do believe that there will be. We will have to wait and see whether this swine flu outbreak is it. However, I do know that being prepared spiritually with Jesus Christ alone (there is no other way folks, He is it), and physically living a clean life without chemicals definitely gives God's beautiful immune system to do its job. The stronger our immune systems the better and these tinctures will definitely help. Even unpasteurized apple cider vinegar will help boost your immune system. So live healthy, trust in God, and have a wonderful day!

News links:
Article 1
http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE53M63F20090424

Angry Women

I was catching up on my reading at Ladies against Feminism this morning (you can click on the widget in the right hand column to go there) and it got me to thinking. I run into many women who are feminists because they have been deceived into thinking that it is a noble cause. Recently, I was with one such woman on an outing who is a dear person to me. We were talking about a particular event that was relegated to men only and she got very upset that women were not allowed to participate. While it does not bother me that there are activites and venues for men only, because I have been liberated by the grace of God Almighty from the idea of having to do everything a man does, she was visibly angry and upset. So it made me think (I know this tends to be dangerous). Women who have bought into the feminism lie are angry much of the time. They live their lives in a state of anger because they can't play too. Is it so terrible that men have their own activites where they can just be men and not have to worry about "ladies being present"? Do these women enjoy being angry so much? Personally, I find it nice that there are a few things that men can do that they can just be men and socialize as men. My husband has one activity that is male only. Everywhere else in his life he is drowning in the deep end of the estrogen pool. So should I be angry that he has this one small tiny bit of time to be with other men and just be a man? Absolutely not, this is just another ridiculous sentiment of socialist feminism and its attempt at castrating the male population. Women need to stop being angry all the time about what they are not allowed to participate in and celebrate what they can participate in. Ladies, it is a blessing to be a lady and we should be delighted in that and we should delight that our husbands wish and desire to be men.

Health Insurance

Unfortunately in today's world health insurance is a necessity, a catch 22 type of necessity. However, making sure you have the right insurance for your family and the best value for your dollar is something most families don't think about too terribly often. Most health insurance policies are obtained as part of a group plan with a company. We are led to believe that health insurance without these group plans is un obtainable for many and terribly expensive. However, this is not necessarily the truth. Recently, my husband's company change their group policy. This new policy stinks, the old policy wasn't much better but it stank a little less. I liken the first policy to the dead skunk smell outside your home, while the new one is like a skunk died in your living room. So we traded one stink for another one. We also pay out hefty insurance premiums for insurance that never pays anything. However, I have seen the medical bills and without insurance the billings are tremendous. At least now when we pay the medical bills out of pocket, along with our insurance premium, that we get to pay the insured rate versus the non-insured rate. Thus saving money while being fleeced (yes that was a touch of sarcasm). So I have ventured uot and been looking for new medical insurance on our own. What I have found is that I can get very good health insurance, non group insurance, for half of our current premiums. I can also get this insurance from a top notch company that actually does pay the medical bills that one would incur. So folks, don't be fleeced by the health insurance lie that you must automatically accept whatever insurance is thrown at you by your company because you can't otherwise afford it. We will be saving just over 200.00 a month with our new health insurance and have much better coverage. Do some research and see if you might be able to save money also.

Where have I Been?

Well, I know some of you have wondered where I have been the past several days so I will let you know. My computer did a very strange thing. Actually it was my antivirus that did a very strange thing. My antivirus essentially shut down all internet connection. Anytime I would try to access a website or get online my antivirus would block access. So my computer had to go to the doctor and get fixed. My computer guy is wonderful and can't wait for his box of veggies from the garden. So as of last night I am back online. I will try to get some great stuff posted this weekend. Thanks, Wendell for all your hard work!

New Blog Updates

I have added and updated a few sections of my blog. On the daily duty list you will now see a date. I tend to get busy these days and don't update that list as often as I should, so the date is listed along with the day of the week. I have also added on that list the sermon that I listen to that morning. While I drink my coffee, read the news and write on my blog I also listen to a sermon, usually one of John Weaver's from Freedom Ministries. The Freedom Ministries link is located in the Bible Study section for anyone interested in listening as well. I have added some more links for homeschoolers under favorite links and now list my reading material under our Homeschooling Curricula. Education never stops, even when formal schooling is over and I strive everyday to educate myself to something new and keep my mind fresh and bright. So take a look around you might find something that interests you. God bless and have a wonderful day.

Update on Spring Projects

Well, things have been really busy around here lately. The goat pasture is in and happily contains 5 goats and 1 horse. The 3 babies however, spend their days mowing the yard. Why just the babies? Well, because they come when called and stick close to the house. They have become my gardners and lawn mowers. They are fun and adorable and frequently come to see what we are doing when we are outside. The garden is about finished with planting. We planted corn yesterday, pencil cob corn and yellow trucker's corn. We still have the potatoes and the sunflowers, so we are doing pretty good. It is a large garden and everybit of it has been worked by hand. We will be working on the summer beds once the potatoes and sunflowers are in. Our chickens are quite happy and producing eggs like crazy, we fixed the flooding problem with the chicken house and now no more problems when it rains. We have 12 chickens and would like to have a few more, but that is for the future. Our two remaining guineas have developed a happy little routine and our guinea hen is laying. She will not sit on her nest so the eggs are fed to the chickens. They refuse to return to the chicken house, but roost in the tree at night above the chicken house. They greet me at the feed room door morning and evening for their feed and spend the day eating bugs and grass. I know many people talk about how guineas are wonderful for pest control in the garden, but I am not sure I would recommend that now that I have a pair. Mine have destroyed uite a few seedlings because they like to take a dust bath in my nice dirt in the beds. We have had to replant several tomatoes this week because of them. The tilapia are not in the pond yet because the weather and water are still quite cold. Our pond is an old swimming pool, so the concrete keeps the water cooler than a typical pond. We have designed a system for irrigating our garden this year which will reduce water waste and allow us to more purposely use our water with minimum effort than a sprinkler or a hose. We will be installing that soon. I will explain in another post about that. The rabbit house is fixed with the exception of a small hole in the roof that we have not repaired yet. We have not repaired it because it is housing a small bird and her nest. When she and her babies, that hatched this week, leave then that hole will be fixed. She uses the hole in the roof to enter and leave the building so we didn't want to disturb her too much. Our rabbit is on the dry end of the building and doesn't seem to mind the extra ventilation. I suppose the worms are happy, they haven't tried to excape their bins and the bits of produce seem to disappear. I cant wait to be able to use some of my worm compost. The horses are happy. We do worry about our old stallion though. We wonder how many more winters he will make it through. He is 23 years old and the winter is hard on him. He is happier now that he has a good amount of fresh spring grass. His son is starting to challenge him for dominance in the pasture so we know that age is getting to him. He moves a lot slower, but still manages the furious mad dash from the far side of the pasture at feed time. The mad dash is a little slower. He has done a wonderful job of training us and we will miss him terribly when he is gone. However, that is a story for another time. We seem to be on schedule with our spring projects and sometimes even though it seems as if we have accomplished nothing because there is still so much we wish to do, we look around and have accomplished quite a bit. The days have been long and the work has been hard. We love every minute of it and know that each project is one more step toward self-sufficiency and independance. We pray that God blesses our journey each and every day.

Feeding Critters on the Farm

I have said before that total self-sufficiency means that you produce all of your needs or as many as possible right on your land. This means producing your own livestock feed as well. This is one reason that we chose to to have goats rather than cows. It is much easier to produce feed for goats than it is to feed cows on a small acreage. But there are other animals around here that need feed as well. This year we have a large main garden and several smaller gardens. The smaller gardens are specifically for producing animal feed. I have already gone over how you can feed your chickens for practically nothing from the homestead, but I will go over how we are feeding others on the farm as well. For our rabbits we have a small garden that grows a variety of grasses and grains, such as oats, wheat, millet, bermuda, and flax. We also feed our rabbits fruit scraps from the kitchen. One must be cautious about introducing these things to a newly purchased rabbit that has had nothing but hay and pellets. They can develop diarrhea which is deadly to a rabbit. we cut fresh from this garden daily to feed the rabbits, and we are build some rabbit runs in the old garden that surrounds the rabbit house. The rabbits will have time outside and be able to browse the grasses growing there for them. In other words our rabbits free range as much as a domestic rabbit can be allowed to free range. With the addition of these fresh greens and fruit scraps our rabbits are eating very little amounts of pellets. They are still offered a complete pellet until we make sure that all of their nutritional needs are met by what we grow. We have noticed that the amount of pellets consumed has been steadily going down and now most of their diet is made up of what we grow right here specifically for them. There wasn't much to planting the rabbit garden or the rabbit yard, just some extra left over seed from other projects. However, this tiny investment has led us one step closer to total self-sufficiency. Now, onto the goats. Goats browse and we have lots for them to browse. This also is a benefit because they are not competing with the horses for the grass in the pasture. They browse the wild roses, blackberries, poison ivy, and small pine trees while the horses graze the grass. Have two different livestock in the same space drastically cuts down on feed costs. We are growing extra corn this year to supplement feed this winter. We also had some areas on the farm that were simply grass and not used for much of anything except running the lawnmower, those areas are now planted in oats for feed also. We will harvest the mature oats, and then prepare the left over oat grass for winter silage. The goats will also eat extras from the garden which we have intentionally planted.Many of the leftover garden plants will be chopped and prepared for winter silage as well. We have an abundance of pecans and many of these will be stored for animal feed as well for the winter. This winter we plan to greatly reduce our dependance on the feed store. The only caution I have to this is to do your research, introduce new items slowly and make sure that your are providing a complete nutrition before totally cutting out regular feed. Check out what the main ingredients in the feed are and grow those things. Don't compromise the health and nutrition of your livestock to save money, but do look for ways that you can provide the nutritional needs on your own.

The advantages of Vermiculture for the Homestead

When we homesteaders are planning our homestead and what type of livestock we are going to have we rarely think of worms, yes worms. However, raising earthworms has many advantages for the homesteader and is such a cheap investment it should be strongly considered. Earthworms provide awesome compost and fertilizer. For those of us that are growing organically we are always looking for the most natural means to fertilize our crops and pastures. This compost has the added benefit of being practically free and totally self produced. Self production is important for those seeking to live self-sufficiently because if one is dependant on the feed store or hardware store, then self-sufficiency is defeated. Earthworms are probably the cheapest livestock investment a homesteader can make and they reproduce at a fairly rapid rate. They typically double their numbers every 60-90 days depending on the variety. Earthworms thrive on things that normally would have no other use such as shredded paper, cardboard, kitchen scraps, yard clippings, and manure. They increase the composting rate of these things as well. You can build your own worm bins or use old containers around the farm to raise your worms in. The worm castings (worm poo) is highly nutritious for your vegetable garden and any surplus of worms can entice the worm farmer to take a day and go fishing. Extra worms can also be placed directly in the garden to not only fertilize the soil, but keep it loose and airated as well. With a large surplus of worms and for the serious grower then worm sales can bring in a little extra income. It isn't that hard to find a local bait shop that would rather buy your worms than pay to have them shipped in. The investment to start your worms is as cheap as a 3.00 cup of worms from the bait shop. If you want to get a larger amount of worms then there are worm farmers specializing in certain types of worms that you can order your worms from. Of course with any livestock, there are "breed" considerations. Most worm farmers in our state either raise nightcrawlers or red wigglers. I am not real sure what the difference is except the price. However, I am not an avid fisherman and I do know that fisherman usually have their breed that they swear by. So if you are planning on raising worms for bait you might want to take into consideration what most fishermen in your area tend to like. I know that red wigglers are more expensive, the average being around 40.00 a pound. So like any other livestock do your research on what you want to raise if you plan to seriously raise and sell these critters. For those of us that just want to take another step toward being completely self-sufficient then a cheap cup of bait shop worms will be perfectly sufficient to start our own fertilizer production factory. Worms are a great asset to any homestead. They are a cheap investment, a livestock that eats for free and adds a much needed and valuable commodity to the rest of the farm. So grab that 5 gallon bucket put some good dirt in it and go grab some worms.

Baby Bunny Update

Well, this was not a good start on our bunnies. All of the babies have died. I think this was mama's first litter and she just was not real sure about things. She did not use the nesting box and wound up killing several because she trampled them. She also was either scooting them out of the cage or they were wiggling out of the cage. Each day we would find a couple of them on the floor of the rabbit house. As sad as this is, it is part of the territory of farming. Sometimes, babies die. We will of course breed her again and hope that things turn out better next time. Some rabbits just don't make good mothers and that is always a possibility, but we hope that this was just inexperience. We will see with the next litter. We have also lost one of our chicks in the past couple of days. Apparently we miscounted baby chicks when locking the chicks up for the night and it got left out in a terrible storm. It was dead in the yard in the morning, so now we are much more careful in our count at night to make sure everybody is safe in the hen house. Otherwise, they are growing like little weeds and becoming quite the adventurers. It was quite a site I am sure watching my 2 year old and I round up baby chickens last night for feeding time. They had discovered the feed room and the cracked corn that my little one had spilled. Needless to say they did not want to leave the feed room and their new found "candy". Took awhile to round them all up and get them to the hen house. There is nothing like the adventures of living on a homestead! Life is certainly never dull and mundane.

Busy, Busy, Busy

I apologize for not blogging much lately, but things are so busy around here. So many outside projects are running behind because of the rain we have had the past few weeks. Then my husband hurt his back which leaves me to do the heavy work and frankly, I am out of shape and slow. So, I just keep steadily at it and things will get done. So try to bear with me and I will get back to blogging more often. I will however, at least try to update once a day. God bless you all in your journey.

Baby Bunnies

Well, our rabbit surprised me yesterday morning with her new litter of babies! I have been expecting them, but wasn't sure exactly when since we werent' told exactly when she was bred when we bought her. She had 10, but 2 did not survive. We had a bit of a problem when she decided to "clean up" after birthing her litter and accidently scooted 3 babies right out of the cage. Not realy sure how she got them all the way out, but she did. The were ok though because she has been scooting her hay out of the cage for several days which provided a nice cushion for the babies to land on. Rabbits are funny about their babies and they will abandon or eat them if they smell like a human, so my dilemma was to get the babies back in the nest without offending mama. I rubbed her real good to dilute my scent on my hand, and then took some of the fur from her nest that she had cleaned out. With the fur actually touching the babies, I hope to not transfer too much of my smell which hopefully was diluted by rubbing and scratching mama. I picked the babies up by the scruff of the neck and popped them back in the nest. I checked on them later to make sure that she wasn't purging weak babies from the litter and that this was a mistake. Mama and babies were all happily curled up together in the nest. When she hopped out of the nest to see if I had brought any treats (or because the flashlight spooked her)all 8 babies were lined up perfectly and contentedly sleeping. So all the more reason to get the rabbit runs and rabbit yard finished so these babies will have a place to graze and play when they are ready to do so. One or two of the females will go back into the breeding population while the other 6 will go in the freezer. So Mama bunny has already earned back her cost. I admit it won't be easy to butcher these babies, they really are adorable, but at least we will have the satisfaction of knowing that our babies have had a happy life with lots of love and care. Up until that day we can enjoy their cuteness and the antics that always come with watching baby bunnies.

Working on an ebook

Ladies I am working on my first ebook. It is about basic self sufficiency for the new homesteader. I am putting a good amount of effort into it and trying to keep it simple and straightforward. I look forward to having it finished and in the country store, which has gotten a bit neglected, soon.

Buy me a cup of Coffee

If you enjoy my blog and feel led to do so you may use the donate button. It is not necessary but would be greatly appreciated. I do put quite a bit of time into the blog and this will help keep me blogging. Thanks!

Being a Proverbs 31 Wife: Part 3

Let's continue with our Proverbs 31 study.

Prov. 31:21 She is not afraid of the snow for her household: for all her household are clothed with scarlet.

Ladies, it is our duty as keepers of the home to see that our home is prepared for whatever might come. In this verse God uses inclement weather, but the event could be anything. In today's economic times it could very well be job loss. Let me use ourselves for example. My husband recently hurt his back and at his return to the doctor Monday and attempt to go back to work he was told that he is out of work for the next month until his back has fully healed and he can return to his regular duties at work. Now, his employer does have a policy that will pay him a portion of his wages while he is out of work, but this portion will cover our health insurance premiums and not much else. We have food and the living expenses are paid. I have a small nest egg that I keep for emergencies. If I had not planned for this then my children would not eat or I would have to go to family and friends for food. Are you prepared for something like this? As a proverbs 31 wife you should be, it is your duty.

vs.22 She maketh herself coverings of tapestry; her clothing is silk and purple.

Ladies this verse is about appropriate dress and dressing nicely. Husbands don't like to come home to women who haven't even gotten out of their pajamas or always run around in sloppy sweats. Dress like a woman, dress modestly, and look nice for your husband. No I am not saying that you have to look like a movie star, but at least fix your hair in the morning and dress neat and tidy. It will go a long way toward your husband (who is very visual in nature) enjoying coming home to his wife.

vs.23 Her husband is known in the gates, when he sitteth among the elders of the land.

I know this verse is more about our husbands. God here is talking about men who behave and act with honor. An honorable woman should not be unequally yoked to a man without honor and respect. Does your husband behave with honor, do you help to guide him? Is he respected as a man in the community? Many women find frustration in their marriage and this can often be attributed to the fact that they have been unequally yoked with a man who does not gain this respect or level of honor. Be wise in your choice of husband ladies, and be wise in your guidance of him.

vs. 24 She maketh fine linen, and selleth it; and delivereth girdles unto the merchant.

So for those who say that the Bible is anti working women, that is not so. A Proverbs 31 wife indeed works, but she works with her hands and contributes to the family in earnings that way. Women of days past often had their "butter and egg" money saved away to help in hard times. Butter and eggs were usually what women had extra that they could sell. Women in days past also did some things such as sewing for the community. So ladies yes you can work and earn your own money, but your main duty is to the family. The working comes from things made yourself or extras that your self-sufficient lifestyle produces.

vs. 25 Strength and honour are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come.

Women of the south have always been known for their strength of character, their ability to get through whatever life can throw at them and to land on their feet without losing their honor and grace. Very often when life's tribulations hit is the strength of the woman that will strengthen the family. Our husbands need our strength because when tragedy strikes they often feel helpless and less of a man. Our strength gives them the courage that they need to make it through tough times. Our children need our strength to know that their lives are not going to fall apart and that they are secure in their home and family. The honour of a woman will see that the morals and values according to God are not compromised and that the family no matter what life throws at them will continue to live in a godly manner. Ladies live their lives with strength and honour and support their family with those traits.

vs. 26 She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness.

Ladies, think before you speak. Are you speaking from the wisdom of God or the beliefs of the world? Are you teaching your children in the ways of the Lord or the ways of the world? Do we speak with a kind tongue or do we rip apart with our words. Be cautious of how you speak and what you say. The Lord is watching.

vs. 27 She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness.

Ladies, another verse about taking care of our household. We are to prepare for what might happen and care for daily needs. The old saying that a woman's work is never done certainly applies and a woman properly taking care of her home and family has no worry about idle hands. Being a stay at home wife and mother does not mean that you have time to sit on the computer all day or watch television all day. There is much to be done in the care of the family. Idle hands are the devil's playground so make sure that your hands are not idle.

That will be all for today. I will continue and finish up soon. God bless you all in your journey.

Whew!!! Another birthday passed

Yesterday was my oldest daughter's birthday and we made it through without a glitch or bump. That can be a tough one with my oldest as she is an extremely emotional child and really you just never know what might set her off. Also, she is growing so fast and it is becoming increasingly more difficult to understand what she enjoys. She is getting to that stage where she doesn't divulge much about her likes and dislikes these days to us. You know we are old fogies who just don't understand! I remember being there myself and now I understand how my mother felt left out. I am feeling left out. My little girl used to talk to me about everything, and now talks to me about very little that is important to her. She is growing so fast and these birthdays come sooner and sooner every year it seems. I pray that each year our bonds grow stronger and our love grows deeper. I pray that while she is gaining her independance and her sense of self, that she doesn't forget the lessons taught here at home and that she doesn't forget that I am always here for her. Another birthday passed with a few bittersweet feelings from Mama. Ugghhh! This growing up is hard to do!

The Farmer's Alamanac and When to Plant the Garden

Both of my grandaddies had one rule that they never broke when it came to planting their gardens...you never plant before Good Friday. This rule stood the test of time with both of them. It is very easy to get carried away with those first signs of spring and those first warm days and get out their and plant the garden. Then what happens? That last freeze of the year comes along and kills all your hard work. There is always a late freeze or cold spell. For those living far north of the Mason Dixon line you might even need to wait longer than Good Friday to plant because your winter months last longer. This week I have been glad that I have followed this rule of thumb because this week has been bitterly cold and while it did not freeze the cold wind would have killed by little plants had I planted earlier. Corn is something that must wait until after good Friday, so keep that in mind. The soil must be very warm for corn to germinate. Seed is a precious commodity so don't waste it. I would also like to recommend following the Farmer's Almanac to schedule your planting. It also has stood the test of time and served farmers well over many many years. So many people focus on what to plant and soil amendment and such that they forget that proper timing is just as important as the rest. Don't jump the gun with timing your garden or you will see all your effort wasted. Take the time for planning, make a list, keep a calendar...whatever you need to do to control that earge at the first sign of warm weather to jump the gun and plant early. Good Friday is approaching and my garden is ready, but I am waiting just a few more days. God bless.

More Rain!

Yes folks, more rain! It rained again yesterday and is supposed to rain some more today and through the weekend. It is getting increasingly hard to be motivated with all of this rain. I am ready to put in my garden, but the garden is a sloppy mess and not ready for me. I try to do what I can but the rain is thwarting my efforts. I love the rain, but it does make me lazy.This is something that I have to fight against. I can fully understand how so many people up north suffer from Seasonal depression during the winter. I love sunshine and find it so motivating and energizing. I don't think I would do well during the long winter months in the north without much sunshine. So those of you who do, I feel for you and truly do sympathize. These past few weeks, I find it harder and harder to motivate myself on these rainy days to get things accomplished and keep our little homestead running smoothly. This too shall pass, and the seering sun of summer will be here before we know it. Then I will be begging and pleading for rain! Oh well, I will do what I can.

What to do with those old clothes

I have a tremendous amount of clothes these days. I would say most of them I don't wear. I am really bad about getting rid of clothes that I no longer wear, that is one of my weaknesses and one area that I tend to neglect on a regular basis. I have people that gfive me clothes that they can no longer wear and I hang them up along with everything else. Some of my clothes are tremendously out of date, and some I keep saying that I am going to repair and never do. So what to do with those old clothes?! Well, I have noticed that one of the latest trends in children's clothing is patchwork clothing. So.......all of those clothes that need repairs and are not fit to be worn otherwise are going to be turned into some patchwork summer dresses for my two girls. The rest I have found a wonderful charity, helping people to get on their feet that I will donate the clothing to. I need to purge my closets and get rid of all that stuff that clutters my closets. I don't need them, I don't wear them and they need to find a new home or a new purpose. So next week, I am purging my clothing. Wish me luck. This is an area that I struggle with because it is hard to get rid of perfectly good clothing, even those that need repairs those repairs are minor and still if performed the clothes would be fine. I think I will also make some patchwork skirts for myself or a dress for myself. I am going to use them to make something new. I do wish that I had more skirts or dresses to wear around the house. I do love dresses and skirts, especially in the hot summer time. So we shall see what I can come up with.