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“If people let government decide what foods they eat and what medicines they take, their bodies will soon be in as sorry a state as are the souls of those who live under tyranny.” Thomas Jefferson

Thursday, November 26, 2009

George Washington's Thanksgiving Proclamation

Since today is thanksgiving, I thought it appropriate to post Washington's Thanksgiving Proclamation. Enjoy!

By the President of the United States of America, a Proclamation.

Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor-- and whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.

Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be-- That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks--for his kind care and protection of the People of this Country previous to their becoming a Nation--for the signal and manifold mercies, and the favorable interpositions of his Providence which we experienced in the course and conclusion of the late war--for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed--for the peaceable and rational manner, in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national One now lately instituted--for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed; and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and in general for all the great and various favors which he hath been pleased to confer upon us.

and also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech him to pardon our national and other transgressions-- to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually--to render our national government a blessing to all the people, by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed--to protect and guide all Sovereigns and Nations (especially such as have shewn kindness unto us) and to bless them with good government, peace, and concord--To promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the encrease of science among them and us--and generally to grant unto all Mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best.

Given under my hand at the City of New York the third day of October in the year of our Lord 1789.

Go: Washington

Happy Thanksgiving!

What a glorious day that the Lord hath made, let us rejoice and be glad in it! What a wonderful Thanksgiving morning! I pray that this day is a blessing and joy to you all. Happy Thanksgiving folks and may God bless you today with good food, good friends and good family!

Harvest 2009

I have elected to remove the 2009 harvest list from the side bar. I apologize for feeling the need for doing this. As the economy worsens there are now new things to be cautious about and one of those is having your home broken into and all your food stolen. I have observed several reports coming in from around the country from homesteaders that have experienced this very thing. Nothing else stolen, just the food (all of it). I think that it is no longer prudent or wise to publish what my food stores might possibly look like on the internet. I simply cannot abide thievery! It makes me so angry. Should someone knock on my door or stop in my driveway and tell me that they are hungry, I would gladly share what I have. I cannot stand for someone to think that they are entitled to it simply because it is there, though. So understand that this is happening across the country. It may not be happening often in the grand scheme of things, but as the dollar continues its downward spiral and increasing numbers of people become hungry for whatever reason this will become more common. May God bless you all!

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

God's Order and the Seasons

God has placed an order and timing into everything. That order can be seen in the seasons as well. God commanded that we rest on the 7th day and the 7th year. But what about all those days, weeks, months and years in between? Don't we get a break sometime? Why yes, Virginia, we most certainly do. Let's take a look at nature and God's seasons to find that break from our toiling and our labor. Now remember I also look at everything from an agricultural standpoint because well....that is our life. In the Spring it is time to plant and reawaken the earth from it's winter slumber. Spring is full of planting and cleaning up from the winter winds. Spring is also a time of birth on the farm seeing the birth of calves, lambs, kids and what have you. So spring is a busy season in the expectation of the fall harvest. It is a time for cleaning up and making new again what once looked so desolate and dead. Then we move into summer which is a time of maintenance on our farm at least. Maintain the garden, repair buildings, maintain fences and pastures. It is also a time to begin to think about winter once again as we cut trees to be used for firewood. So with spring and summer time is busy and we bustle about as the harvest begins to roll in with late summer and we begin to think of winter coming once again. Like the ant our days are not spent lazing about, but in hard labor and preparation for the season that is to come. As we move into fall our labor picks up pace with the cooler weather, the harvest full on, and the threat of a bitter winter wind looming in our minds. There is usually much to be done on a farm in the fall. Projects to be finished and put away, feed and bedding for the animals to be put away and things to be done to make sure that they survive the coming winter cold in some comfort. Our livestock is the backbone of their lives and their needs are met before ours. It is a vast responsibility that a stockman carries on his shoulders. The animals give their lives into our hands completely much in the same way that we give our lives to God's hands completely. Their needs come before ours and we must see to their needs, their care, and their well being in much the same way that God Almighty sees to ours. Notice, I said "needs", for there is a vast difference between needs and wants. I am sure that my goats would love me forever if I gave them unlimited access to their grain barrel, however their needs are truly much smaller and healthier for them. So in fall we are busy seeing that our animals needs will be met when nature closes her buffet line and old man winter is whistling across the fields and into the barn. The animals have food to last the winter and warm bedding to snuggle down into. Then winter rolls in with a cold biting wind and guess what, it is our season of rest. It is a time to hunker down and wait for the first signs of spring. Winter is our 7th day and 7th year rolled into each full year so that we can rest our weary bodies and our minds from the labors of the year. There is a song that we sing with our children and the first line of the song is "Be still and know that I am God". Well, winter is our time to be still and know that He is God and He is Glorious. There is nothing that we can accomplish without His hand being on it, in it and around it. As I reach into the cupboard to get that can of apples that I so lovingly put up, it has His hand stamped all over it for without God's grace that apple tree would not have grown. We can do nothing without Him. it is by His grace that He has given us creatures to provide our needs for nutrition, clothing, transportation and companionship. So this winter, I plan to "Be still" for a bit and get to know my Lord and Saviour a bit more. It will be a time to wonder at the Glory of it all and a time for thanksgiving that He has given us all that He has given so freely. The time is coming for a break from our labors (a much needed one I must say), a time for quiet activities and time to be still and know our God. God bless!

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Taking Care of Your Tools

Well, it is that time of year. The last of the harvest has been picked and the big garden is done for the year. Now, is the fun time...putting away all those tools until next season. So let's talk about those gardening tools. I use a lot of hand tools for several reasons, 1) they don't cost anything to run, 2) they can in places that other tools would be awkward, and 3)I get lots of great exercise using them. I buy good quality tools from places that sell good quality tools. I used to buy those cheap 10.00 hoes and shovels at the big box stores, only to have them break, bend and generally fall apart before the garden season was over. Now, I come off some money and buy tools that will last. For this very reason I find it just as important in caring for your tools before you put them away for the season. So, gather up all your gardening stuff and get out there and let's get it clean. First you need to take a good stiff brush and some water. Scrub, scrub, scrub away all dirt and junk that has accumulated over the gardening season. Then dry your tool making sure that there is no water in all the little nooks and crannies which would cause rust to build up over the winter. I usually take an old towel, dry the tool as best I can and then set it upside down against the garden fence to make sure there is no water stuck right around the handle connection. After I make sure the tool is well dried, then I oil the tool. This is about the only thing that I use vegetable oil for and I have found that it works well. I take a rag and simply rub the oil all over the metal part of the tool. If the tool has a wooden handle then I make sure and oil that also because it will keep the wood from becoming too dry and brittle and make wooden handles last longer. Then I hang my pretty, shiney, and clean tools up in the tool shed until next spring. So, the moral of the story is to buy good quality tools to start with and then take care of them each season. Happy Cleaning!

Monday, November 23, 2009

A Rare Treat

Aaaahhhh! What a glorious treat I am enjoying and just thought I would share. What is that treat you say? Why it is the treat of silence. A quiet house with nothing but the crackle of the fire to break the stillness of this evening. A cup of hot chocolate perfectly rounds off this rare treat. My oldest daughter had ice skating lessons tonight and so my husband took both of the children with him. I am left home alone.....Even though we mothers love our children and spouses dearly, we need some time every now and then to simply be still. In fact our dear Lord and Father teaches us that we need to be still. It is in the stillness that we can feel his peace completely. So ladies, take a little bit of time to be still and just be. Have a blessed evening.

Saturday, November 21, 2009

A Fireplace Story

Since one of my readers mentioned how much she loved fireplaces, I have a humorous story to tell that involves a fireplace and Christmas. One year when I was much younger than I am now we were going to have Christmas dinner at my aunt and uncle's house. It was an unseasonably warm year with the outside temps in the mid 70s. Those of you who live in snowland would have thought summer had arrived. As for us we were wondering when winter would ever come. My aunt was extremely frustrated because of the warm weather because it would mean the first Christmas that she would not have a fire in the fireplace. Well, it simply couldn't be Christmas without a fire in the fireplace. So she decided to fix it....She turned her air condition on as low as she could possibly get it to go. You could have hung a side of beef in her house. Then she proceeded to direct my uncle in building the fire in the fireplace. Well, outside it was warm and sunshiney, but inside cold as Maine in February complete with a roaring fire in the fireplace. I don't remember my presents that year, but I sure do remember turning on the air condition for the fireplace. My aunt was happy, but to be honest it was cold in that house!

Friday, November 20, 2009

The Old Man Lost His Status

Well, it is something that I expected. Our old man finally lost his status to his son. Thunder our stallion is 26 years old and I had been expecting his son to take the lead for some time. Even with his advanced age Thunder is still spunky, but not like he once was. We have to really watch Thunder because he doesn't keep weight on like he used to. We feed the boys in their pasture and there has never been the issue of BC challenging his dad for his food. However, this past month or so we did notice that Thunder looked like he was dropping some weight. We wormed everyone since they were getting about due and still he didn't seem to pick up weight. So we started watching and because of his age, he eats much slower than he used to. Because of his age his feed is specially made to be easier to chew and easier to digest than the younger critters get. So anyway, as we were keeping as eye we finally saw it....the younger steal the older's food. So we have switched the horses around and Thunder is now in the goat pasture with the goats. We weren't real sure how he would take being the only horse in a pasture, having been a herd stallion all his life with a herd of young boys to boss around (even when it was just one). He has however, adjusted nicely and seems to be quite content to be with the goats or even on his own when they are out in the yard. Hopefully, we can get him back up to weight before the winter grasses stop growing. He has such a hard time in the winter when there is only hay to eat as he doesn't chew very well. We do make sure that he gets alfalfa chaff and that does help especially during the winter months because it is broken down into more manageable pieces and no tough stems. We don't know how much longer the old boy will be with us and are facing the fact that we may one day have to put him down. We have had him for 14 years, so that will be tough. He has been a royal pain in the neck too. He is willful, stubborn and proud. However, as far as stallions go he is also one of the most kind and gentle I have ever known. The young boys could always be turned out with him and he would fully take them under his wing and teach them the ways of being a horse. He never was ugly or vicious with any of the younger ones and even when some of them challenged him, he patiently explained that he was not ready to step down as herd boss. With the ladies he was always a gentleman and to him...no meant no. Then there was the time we were going to move him to a new place and he decided he didn't like the trailer that we were going to use. For three days we tried to get him on that trailer and for three days he flat out refused. So my husband walked him 18 miles to the new barn. Both of them were totally exhausted by the time they arrived. The next time we needed to take him somewhere he hopped on the trailer. Everything with Thunder has been his way or no way, always. Like I said stubborn willful and proud. If he wanted to do what you asked (and yes you had better ask politely as there was no telling him)then he willingly did it. If he didn't want to and you insisted, then he would insist that you dismount immediately! So, for now we just make sure that his retirement continues to be easygoing. We don't look forward to the day that he leaves us. It is just kinda sad that the old man has had to step down from his perch as leader of the herd.

Cheap Bedding for the Critters

Ok, folks, you know I am cheap and always looking for ways in which to provide our own needs rather than purchase what I need from someone else. Well, I have in the past used wood shavings (gotten free for the hauling from a local carpenter) and straw purchased from a local farm. Well, our truck is broken down and so hauling the wood shavings is out since they have to be dumped into my truck from an overhead bin. If my station wagon had a sunroof, it is possible that I would attempt that but it is probably a good thing that it doesn't. I can't imagine what it would be like to drive home sitting in a huge pile of wood shavings. As to the straw, well I wanted something a little on the cheaper end and again don't really want to haul that much straw in my station wagon. So.....The chickens are bedded with a combination of pine straw and oak leaves. The seem very happy and I imagine by the end of winter I will have a nice compost from the combination to go in the garden, pasture or wherever I decide to use it. I through some grain out daily (not much as they still graze and get kitchen scraps)so that they will scratch around in their leaves. The goats now have winter bedding as well in the form of....you guessed it pine straw and leaves. This will be tossed around in their one stall that they all sleep in and then changed once monthly where it will all go in the compost pile next to the barn. I add more leaves and straw after I toss it, so that older stuff is tossed to the bottom. This will give them some warmth during the winter and will speed the composting process although not on the same level as the chickens. The horses come in and out of the barns at will and so we don't really need bedding for them as they simply don't stay in the barn much. We do have some wheat straw on hand if the nights get so very cold that we must put them inside. However, even the old man of the herd doesn't like to be cooped up in the barn and hollers to be let out. So get out there and check out what you could possibly use to bed down your critters for the winter. It is easier than you think, just make sure that it isn't something that will make them sick if they eat it. Oak leaves and pine straw are perfectly safe in the even that my goats decide to taste some of it. I don't think I have to worry about the chickens, but that combination is not something I would use for the rabbits. So they simply get hay that was cut from my mother's pasture/yard this summer and we dried it, raked it and saved it. Hope this helps you keep your critters warm and toasty this winter.

Energy Savings this Winter

Wow, what a couple of weeks it has been! I had a ton of baking to do for the church bazaar and then I am involved in a Christmas swap with some friends and so had 15 gifts to make. I won't say what I made because there are quite a number of those ladies that read this blog and I don't want to spoil the surprise for them. So then once all of that was finished I got to the business of getting the house ready for the winter. Our home is old and drafty, the windows are ancient and do nothing but slow down the cold air rather than keeping it out. I also had a few other projects in mind to take advantage of passive solar energy for heating. So my oldest daughter and I are building a passive solar like this one only modified a little bit with aluminum cans to capture more heat. I will show pics of it when we are finished and give details on how we built it. Right now we are a t a standstill because I ran out of adhesive for the cans. We will finish it this weekend and hopefully this will provide heat to her bedroom during the day and at night she has an electric blanket. We do primarily heat our home with the two fireplaces. One fireplace has a wonderful insert with a blower. The flu on that one is adjustable to control the amount of heat that goes up the chimney or stays in the room. During the winter this fireplace goes almost non-stop because we spend most of our time in the den and attached playroom and it is these two rooms that it heats best. The other fireplace is in the living room and we would love to get an insert to put in there, however because of the age of the fireplace and its dimensions we will have to have one custom built which is simply too costly right now. So it doesn't heat as well as I would like but still puts out quite a bit of heat and we have a portable blower on it that helps when it is really cold. Something new we have done is turn the front porch (south facing) into a greenhouse. I will show pics later today, hopefully of how we have done that. It is actually working quite well and by building a solar can heater that will stand alone will be really warm. Yesterday the outside temperature was around 63, but the inside temp on the porch was 71. By opening the front door it made the room temp of the living room quite comfortable. So this might help cut down on some of the propane bill in our really, really cold months of January and February when we have the propane heaters and the fireplaces going. Now on to those really leaky single pane glass windows. Last year we used shower curtains taped over the windows and this did a really good job of slowing down even more cold air and keeping the house warmer. So this year we stepped that up a notch. I have placed bubble wrap on the window panes themselves to add insulation value to the glass, then I am placing the plastic curtains taped again (with painter's tape) from frame to frame. So the glass is insulated and the curtain will stop the cold air from flowing into the house. Hopefully all of this effort will mean a lower propane bill and a more comfortable temp in the house. We do have electric heat in the den and playroom and propane in the other half of the house. We had a fuel oil furnace, but it became harder to get the fuel oil and more expensive to run. The furnace also was always breaking down and there is only one person in our area that knows how to work on it. So since it was a 40 year old furnace we decided it needed to be retired. We put in the propane heaters, but still don't like to use them much except on really really cold days and nights. The electric central heat in the newer portion of the house uses a lot of energy, just like in the summer with the air condition going, so we don't like to use it. No, I am not really doing all of this to be green although that is an after effect. I do this because I am cheap and don't like giving the utility companies anymore money than absolutely necessary. We plan to enclosed the side porch with polyurethane also which will block some of the wind from that side of the house and create an insulating air pocket also. Even though that side doesn't get much sun, blocking the wind will be worth it. I hope some of these ideas can help all of you save a little money this winter also. God bless.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Beware......Hawks!


Well, just want to send a warning to everyone.....the hawks are migrating and are particularly dangerous this time of year. And yes, I write this warning because....Egghead has disappeared. I haven't seen the hawk yet, but I am pretty sure that Egghead met his demise while giving the girls a chance to get to cover. Yesterday afternoon, the hens were all in there coop and Egghead was gone. It is very unusual for the girls to go back to their house on their own as they savor every moment of freedom that they can. However, there they were on the farthest roost from the door all huddled together. Egghead has never left his girls alone, ever. He is an awesome rooster. I am pretty sure a hawk got him and all of nature seems nervous this morning. I have been out looking and will continue looking for the rest of the day for signs of a hawk. Even the rabbits are quiet and pensive. My husband thinks that it happened right behind the goat barn (where the rabbits are located)because he saw chickens running out of there like mad yesterday afternoon and didn't think anything about it. So keep an eye on your chickens and pay attention to the song birds.

How we keep our Rabbits

I started out keeping our rabbits in wire cages. They were a pain to clean because fur and poo would get stuck in the joints and was hard to scrub. I also got super filthy trying to scrub all that wire. It wasn't too bad when we had them in the old chicken coop that we thought would make a good rabbitry. We found out that it was too small and the mosquitoes really loved that shady spot. Also because of the tree beside the door, it was hard to get the wheelbarrow in to clean out the droppings below the cages, which attracted a multitude of insects. We decided to move the rabbits to the center aisle of the goat barn. In the summer they will get great ventilation and there are fewer bugs. We also have electricity in the goat barn for a fan in the summer time. The issue was the droppings from the wire cages as two of our goats like to rest beneath the cages. Not the healthiest environment and we certainly did not want babies playing under there. We also needed more cages and were wondering where to hang them all. Well, I came across a video from the French Angora industry and how they cared for their rabbits. They used kennels with solid bottoms. Each day they add more hay/straw and the rabbits use what they don't eat for bedding. This method of course costs more than just letting the waste drop through the cage floors. I liked the idea though and we built kennel type cages. They have a solid floor and a solid roof. Three sides of the kennels are wire for summer ventilation and in the winter we have a heavy rubber tarp that covers the wire sides and back of the kennels to preserve body heat and warmth. We are using the deep bedding method and have had wonderful results. This is how we are handling this. When we set up the cage we put down about a 1 inch layer of Dry-Stall (a natural absorbant clay product that we use in the horse stalls to absorb urine and keep the stall floors dry. Then we added another 2 inches of straw. Each day we give the bunnies a generous portion of hay and they eat what they want and spread out the rest. Their activity causes the droppings to fall into the bottom layer of the straw. They tend to use one corner as their bathroom area so we make sure that a layer of straw or hay gets into that corner to keep absorbing moisture. Each day we checked for too strong a smell, dirty bunny feet or any other problems with not changing the bedding daily. We planned to keep the deep bedding system going for a month. It is a success. The bunnies are happy and healthy, there is less smell than there was with the old rabbitry, and fewer insects as well. When we cleaned out all the bedding at the end of October there was very little moisture on the wood floor as the dry stall and straw/hay had absorbed all that was in the potty corner. Our rabbits seem much happier as they jump and leap and zoom around their new digs. They can see more too which I think they like. They stayed clean the whole month. October was a pretty warm month for us so it will give us an idea of what we might expect next summer. The cages were much easier to clean as everything was swept out into the wheelbarrow to head to the compost, and then a mild bleach solution used to scrub out the entire floor of the cage. It was then allowed to air dry and then new bedding added. Summer might present some issues and we will just have to adjust as summer gets here. Cages may have to be cleaned more often in the summer. One of my concerns was that if the bunnies got to warm the straw would present an issue. However, this does not seem to be the case as our buck demonstrated. He simply pushed all of the straw away from one of the sides and plopped his big self right down on the cooler wood floor on a couple of really warm days this past month. My big issue is being as efficient time wise as I can around the farm, this definitely helps in that goal. Of course, we are still in the experimental stage because we have not had to go through an entire year of seasons doing this, so we will see by the end of next summer whether this will work or not. Right now, it is a great way to keep rabbits even if a little more expensive. God bless.

Just a little update

Sorry I haven't posted in a few days. As I reported earlier, i started cleaning out my closet. I now have one garbage sack of business clothes that I no longer use to go to my sister who does use them and another bag of semi-business/dressy casual to go to a local charity that helps families get back on their feet. I have two rods in my walk in closet and now one of those rods is half empty. I love it. I also have one of the shelves above the rods completely empty. Yippeeee! And 2 of the smaller shelves on the side are empty! Yippeeeee, again! I absolutely love getting rid of stuff that I simply don't and won't use anymore. It is a real challenge for me to do this because I am one of those people who thinks I might "need" something and would hate to have to go and buy something I once had. I don't know if that is a hoarder type mentality or just frugal or maybe a little bit of both. I do know that it is freeing to get rid of stuff. our society is so focused on having more and more "stuff" that we are emotionally and spiritually smothered by our "stuff". Some "stuff" is easier for me to get rid of than other stuff. Obviously, broken or damaged is easy to toss in the garbage. Books are another easy thing because we use a book trader and simply trade them for more books. We do keep an extensive library and have tons of books in our home, but I do find it easy a couple of times a year to weed out the ones that will not be read again. The kids toys are easy to get rid of also and this is next on the list of downsizing our "stuff". Each little area that gets downsized, is a little more spiritually freeing. Sometimes, the first time through it is hard to be really tough in getting rid of things. Each time you go through something it gets easier. I love shoes, so my shoes are also a tough issue for me. I have some that are absolutely worn out, but I like them so much and find it hard to toss them out. However, shoes are coming soon. I will spend the winter getting rid of what i do not need or do not use. I plan to be harsher in my judgement than I have ever been. We still have tons of boxes of "stuff" that came from my mother in laws house when she passed away. Some of it I plan to use, but it never made it out of the boxes because we had no place to put it. The bad thing is that most of our "stuff" are family heirlooms. Most of our furniture belonged to grandparents, great grandparents etc. We have very few things that we bought for ourselves. So we have to be extra harsh on the little stuff that we have bought or were given that is not an heirloom so that we don't get overwhelmed. I love our heirlooms and they will one day go to our children when they begin to set up their own home. i don't really know what to do about my artwork. I have a art gallery at home and more artwork than I can hang on the walls. I am an artist, my grandmother was an artist, and my mother in law was an art collector and so was my mother. Most everything in the house is an original and they all have a story behind them. There is nothing that is tremendously valuable monetarily (especially with this economy), but my grandmother's paintings are as valuable to me as if they were a Renoir or a Monet. I was an art dealer in another life and artists that came through my gallery became friends. I have some of their work and it too holds a special place in my heart and home because of the face and story attached to each piece. I guess my artwork will always be an issue until the children grow up and much of it can be gifted to them. My oldest is showing an affinity for being an artist, so she may one day wind up where I am.....too much artwork. Much of my own work that has not sold, I will donate to charity auctions so that does help thin out the overstock. I have not painted in awhile. I am sure the bug will strike again one day when things settle down a bit. It is hard to be motivated when so many things are going on. When I am painting it is an all encompassing obsession. I get tunnel vision for however long the craving lasts, sometimes a few weeks sometimes a few months. So for now, I am just too scattered about with things to do to have that tunnel vision. Anyway, cleaning out unused and no longer needed items is great! i love the freedom that comes with letting go of "stuff". Slowly, but surely things are getting to be more efficient and organized. Yes, i am a bit obsessed with being efficient and organized. The closet is finished despite this nasty cold and i now vow to not start another project until others that I started are finished. Now let's see how long I can keep that vow! Have a blessed day!