Leverton Blog

Early summer report

2007-06-16T03:12:00.000-07:00

I apologize for the long absence. These long early summer days keep rather busy it would seem. We've been getting a little hassled with the slow, dial up internet and it seems as if the blogger site is not designed for those with the slower internett access.

It's been a hot week here in the midwest and we could really use some rainfall. The garden is doing well, although I have been competing with the chickens a bit. Someone was not responsible enough to get a fence erected in time! I've scaled back a bit compared to other years because I have so much shop work to do.

The chickens are still doing well. Our batch from February are doing well and are achieving young adult status. The little roosters are starting crow and they look like they will be nice looking birds to show at the fair. The egg production is down a bit - I think the hens are thinking about molting, but I am not sure. We've had a fox in the yard several times causing a bit of mayhem, but he has not been seen for a week or so.

It seems as if the deer population is really growing. Rachel hit a deer with the van a couple months ago and it seems as if each week we are having close calls with deer. I also saw a rafter of turkeys just down the road. (who makes up these names for flocks of birds...I can understand a gaggle of geese, a parliament of owls, and a paddling of ducks, but what's with a rafter of turkeys?!)

I recent read a book by Eric Brende entitled "Better Off". He and his wife spent a year and a half shutting off the power while they learned to live off the land within an Amish (or perhaps a similar group) community. The book is an enjoyable and thought provoking read as a young couple used to the amenities that electricity provides learns to do without. After the experiment, he determines that they were better off.

We have always assumed that we would have a constant supply of cheap fuel resources and we have become very dependent upon electricity and crude oil. The recent spike in gasoline supplies have forced some of us to conserve, but as one who tends to lean toward the validity of the peak oil thoery, I don't really believe we will receive any meaningful reprieve from high prices. In fact, it is my thought that within the coming decades rising oil costs will significantly impact our lives.

I have some pictures to share, but I'll wait for a later time. Hopefully I'll be more faithful to contribute to this blog in the weeks ahead.

A time to plant

2007-04-30T04:29:00.000-07:00

It has finally warmed up to the point that I decided it was time to work up the garden and get some dirt under my fingernails. I let the boys do some of the manly work, mainly wrapping their hands around the handles of an old Montgomer Ward rototiller that does a fine job of tilling up the soil if you can handle the obnoxious thing. It weighs about a million pounds and is self propelled. Once the garden is worked up a little, it works well, but if you're working up sod or hard soil, it's debatable whether or not the actually tilling is done by the tiller or the two furrows made by your feet as you try to dig in to keep the the tiller from dragging you across the yard.

The girls helped do the planting, which thus far consisted of onions, beets, carrots, radishes, and potatoes. We'll wait a week or two before putting in the warm weather crops.

Some folks talk about the size of chicken brains and their knowledge to get in out of the rain. I couldn't help but observe that while we were laboring under the warm April sun, they managed to find a place in the shade to relax and watch.

April Update

2007-04-22T03:39:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile since I have contributed to the blog. We are all alive and well, eagerly anticipating the arrival of spring. We've had a few nice days in April, although the nice weather was interrupted by a snow storm and about 10 days of cold weather. Warm weather has returned and with it marked the beginning of the garden and mowing season. The grass was mowed a couple days ago and the garden is now tilled. I planted a few rows of onions and hope to soon contribute radishes and potatoes to the mix.

The kids are withing a couple weeks of completing their school assignments. The boys spent the dad with their grandpa - his job was to "work the living tar out of them"! They'll be busy here as well. I have a good bit of wood to cut and a neighbor nearby asked me to clean his timber up.

Our work schedule is filling up nicely. We have a few new projects to begin this month and the woodshop seems to be as busy as ever. I'll try to post a few pictures of recent projects soon.

I recently traveled to Holland, Michigan, to visit a friend of mine who has been struggling with his health. The trip began sluggishly as the transmission went out of our old van. I've found another van to replace it. The new van has high miles and we'll hope I picked one that has some life in it yet.

It seems like these days one can hardly miss a day without a horrific new story. There is a great need in this country for revival. In the same sense that as the apostle Paul prayed that his country men would be saved, I think it is time for those among us who profess the name of Christ to earnestly plead that God might show mercy upon this land and bring about revival through the working of His Spirit.

Of course, history reveals the constant rise and fall of civilizations. It could well be that God intends to bring this nation to her knees. We as a people have grown coveteous and have erected idols of our own making. Our society seems to frown on authentic Christianity and lawmakers pass laws that call good evil and evil good. I once heard a prominent Christian educator remark that our society is now for the most part biblically illiterate.

The saints of God must not lose hope. The weapons of our warfare our powerful and the gospel of Christ is well able to melt the hearts of the most wicked men. Saul of Tarsus was heading to Damascus to pillage and plunder the church of God and on the way the Spirit of God transformed his heart and he became the apostle Paul, planting churches rather than destroying them and writing Scriptures proclaiming the gospel of Christ rather than trying to eradicate those who confess Christ openly. May God do such work across this land.

March is here!

2007-03-04T04:41:00.000-08:00

Well, March is finally here, but really so you would notice. The first day of March held some indication of spring with a high temperature above freezing and some rainfall. Thunderstorms were near enough to hear thunder in the distance. Winter was not to be shoved aside so easily, as this first picture indicates. March 2 saw a day of snow and wind, with drifts closing some rural roads and making travel miserable. This morning, the temperature stands at only 7 degrees.

February was cold and snowy, in fact, it was the fifth coldest February on record and the third snowiest. Nearly half of the month so lows below 0. Cabin fever begins to set on because there was only so much you can tolerate to do outside when the wind chills are 40 below 0 and the snow is knee deep. The girl snuggle up on the couch to keep warm, trying to catch a little heat from the fireplace. Our woodstove does a nice job heating our house most of the time, but when it is below 10, the cold begins to creep in from the walls and the house heats rather unevenly.

The animals survive the best they can, sometimes casting a woeful glance into the house, wondering where the kids are and smelling the wholesome smells of supper cooking and bread baking. The eyes of this cat don't show up in this uploaded picture, but the little angry slits seemed to indicate an intense jealousy for those basking in the heat of the fire. I don't mind pets, but I can't tolerate them indoors. The chickens handled the cold quite well. We lost none and they continued to lay between 30-36 eggs each day.

After working the shop, I enjoy coming in and reading to the kids. Sometimes I will sit in my Amish hickory bent rocking chair, but if its chilly, I'll lay on the couch and get underneath a blanket. The kids pile on as listen as I read to them. In this case, I was reading one of the books in the Little House on the Prairie series. They are delightful stories and it had been a long time since I last read them. When I was a youngster, I was fascinated by the Old West and often dreamed that I had a nice little homestead somewhere. Maybe if I was honest, I would confess that I still do!

Given my past knowledge of March, I anticipate that one day it will warm up and the snow will begin to warm. I need to start thinking about pruning the apple trees and raspberry bushes. We have 20 new little chicks and I need to make a new pen for them when it gets a little warmer to keep them separate from the rest of the chickens. I've thought seriously about getting a hive of honey bees, but I haven't quite decided on that for sure. I love honey, but I am kind of afraid of bees - and I really hate being stung. I was reading an article on raising bees, I read that even a gentle bee keeper will "inevitably get stung." Hmmm.

Pa Ingalls went out into the big woods and loaded the buck board wagon with honey from the big honey tree. Upon cutting down the tree and scooping out the contents, he commented that "Bees never sting me." Well, Pa, if I get bees, I hope I am like you!

Brrr....

2007-02-07T05:17:00.000-08:00

It's been kind of an odd winter. After five weeks or so of very mild weather, it has turned cold and snowy. We've had temps below 0 now for the past week or so. Yesterday about 6" of fluffy snow fell. I don't mind the cold weather at all, but it is really hard on things. Our van's brakes seem to be awry and we've had some frozen water lines.

The critters around the house seem to handling the cold rather well. The hens are still laying. One decided to lay a rather enormous egg. Speaking of eggs, we took some to be incubated, but we have yet to hear how many of the eggs are fertile. One of the boys wants to have chickens for a 4-H project, so they need some chicks that are hatched fairly early in the year.

We finished building a covered roof over a cow lot for a farmer who had issues with the EPA after a heavy rain storm washed cow manure from the lot into ditch, which ultimately emptied itself into a yard on the edge of a small town at the bottom of the hill. It was pretty cold work, but at least the lot was frozen, so it wasn't too messy for working.

This week we framed up walls in a basment for some folks who wanted to finish their basement off. That project is waiting for the electrical and plumbing to be installed.

In the shop, I am working on a two piece desk and a kitchen island. I hope to conclude both projects within a week.

Journal Entry

2007-01-21T20:04:00.000-08:00

Winter has finally returned after about a month's absence. We received about 4" of snow last week and with it arrived colder weather. It continues to snow - there is a pretty decent snow cover now and with the deep snow cover on clear nights it has been below 0. We have a good supply of firewood and with the furnace heating the wood shop which is on the northwest of the house to 45 degrees , we haven't even had to use the house furnace yet.

The kids continue to read and do their school work, mingling in ample time to play in the snow. The boys finished reading a book on Davy Crockett and are now reading Up From Slavery. They get to pick their fictional reading, which I notice has been trending toward Louis L'Amour stories. Of course, each day they do their math assignment as well as a writing assignment.

I have been reading to them a book by Bruce Chadwick entitled "The First American Army". It is a good story on some of the men fighting under Washington. I was delighted to discover a new American hero named the Revered Ammi Robbins.

He was a Congregationalist pastor that pastored in Connecticut. I did a bit of research on him and I believe his family traveled across the ocean aboard the Mayflower. Many of the Robbins men were pastors and eventually held offices at various colleges. Rev. Robbins volunteered to serve as a chaplain, enlisting four different time in spite of the horrific things he endured as a chaplain. He was with Arnold's troops during the disastrous campaign to invade Canada. He labored among men dying of small pox and was sick several times himself. He was a very revered chaplain who went beyond the call of duty in comparison to most chaplains.

He left behind a journal which seems to no longer be in print. This book quotes the journal often and I would love to get a hold of a copy. He had a great love for the troops and at times was able to preach before crowds of thousands. He was often praised for his powerful preaching, to which he replied "May I be more concerned to please God and less to please men." He was advised to not reenlist due to his health, yet he was moved with compassion due to the plight of the men and their need for prayer. At a visit to the hospital at Ticonderoga, he remarked "Never was such a portrait of human misery as in these hospitals." He prayed with them and preach with them, urging them to "Be ye therefore sober and watch unto prayer."

Our hens continue to lay well. We are preparing to deliver some eggs to a neighbor that has an incubator. The neighbors 4-H projects require birds for showing at the fair this fall to be born this year. So we are going to take 3 dozen eggs and see if any birds hatch. This family has a lot of knowledge in raising birds and it sounds as if they were surprised to hear how well they were laying and how quickly they reached a nice butcher weight (for a dual purpose heavy breed.)

It's in the dead of winter, but I have started getting seed catalogues already. I love the cold and snow but I did notice that I was looking at the one of the spring catalogues the other night! Thinking of spring got me thinking about hunting for mushrooms. Mmm!

Wheat, flour, bread

2007-01-07T13:13:00.000-08:00

For thousands of years, bread has been a staple food product for people all over the world. Scores of different grains have been harvested and ground in some form or another to create a flour with which bread can be made. With the augment of the bakery evolving into the industrial food industry, the art of grinding whole wheat flour and baking fresh bread soon was lost, first to the wealthier class and finally to all but a few.

We recently purchased some different kinds of grains and a grain mill so that we could try to make our own breads and noodles. Rachel has tried a few different recipes, using different varietes of wheat, with some working well and others not working so well. I have yet to try my hand at making a loaf, although I hope too soon.

There are a lot of steps required to turn wheat into bread. It first has to be harvested and then the kernels need to taken from the stalk. The kernels then need to be ground into a flour. Our ancestors took a handful of stalks and beat them upon ground to separate the kernels from the head. The kernels were then ground by hand, simply by beating the wheat with a stone, which was first operated by hand until the stone mill was invented.

We chose a more modern method - we bought a Bosch Grain mill that utilizes an electric current! Some of the kneading can be done by the Kithcen Aid. After the dough is ready, we put it in an electric stove and bake it until its fragrance demands that we take it out! (Now that we can fancy ourselves to be fine agrarian bakers, we have to admit that our skills are made possible by the power lines outside!)

The kernel consists of three parts, the bran, the germ, and the endosperm. All three parts have a specific nutrient function. Bread available commercially typically uses white flour, which is made specifically of the endosperm. The governments mandatory enrichment program insists in adding back some of the nutrients that are lost, but there can be no denying that a loaf of bread made out of whole wheat flour is more nutritious and more flavorful. The dawning of the of commercial food production is actually a rather interesting study. We invented so many "helpful" techniques in commercializing the production of foods that it was noticed in the 20's and 30's that people were suffering from poor nutrition. The government finally determined that they had better step in an require certain food products, like flour and milk, to be enriched.

There was a time when bread baking was a staple part of the domestic life. It's fascinating to observe that in our age of knowledge and information that most of us have no idea how to turn a kernel of wheat into a loaf of bread. Most of us don't have the time to take to make it. We load up with bread from the super market, with its plastic wrapping and 100 ingredients that are difficult to pronounce.

Last Saturday, the house smelled of fresh bread. Three of the four loaves are pictured above. I fear that they have somehow mysteriously disappeared!

Football, anyone?

2006-12-23T19:17:00.000-08:00

As my father enjoyed football, we grew up watching football. While we all had our favorite teams (Bears, 49ers, Broncos, Titans), we were willing to watch any match up.

Usually this time of the year our family gets together for a meal and the 8 boys to hit the gridiron, although sometimes a cousin, neighbor, and now sons join in the fray.

The weather is immaterial - we play in mud, snow, grass, or whatever the day affords. We are older now. Some of us are slower and

smarter. Well, maybe slower anyway! The ladies question the smartness. Today we hit the field and after picking teams (picture one) we were underway. I shortly hit my brother Joe for a nice gain (picture 2) Before he blew out his knee (he can rotate his patella between his ankly and waist), he was truly an incredible athlete. Long ago in a game on a 5th down and the whole field to go, I hollered to the defense I was throwing to Joe rather than punting. Amidst quadruple coverage, he leaped up, tipped the ball to himself, and scored. The knee has slowed him a little, but he is still the favorite target.

We get a little too excited and rowdy and the young kids still are a little intimidated to get too close. We tried handing the ball off to Jesse and have him run behind us in an old "Flying Wedge" play, but he got scared and got sacked for a loss. Here we have him doing something (picture 3) I am not sure exactly what. Surely celebrating a splendid play by his father.

Picture four reveals a great defensive play on my part, in which I rushed in and sacked my brother Mike for a big loss. He "slipped" prior to the

sack, although I suspect he actually fell rather than face my furious rush. I gave him a nice slap on the hinder to accentuate my continued domination, even in my old age!

When will we quit playing? My wife has no sympathing for my aching back and sore knee. She seems to think that one day I should grow up and put away childish things. I have just too many fond memories playing with my brothers while we were growing up. If you throw in my sister (who plays like a girl) we grew up with enought for a baseball team. I have a lot of fond memories and even a few injuries left from an endless number of historic skirmishes. I suspect that 40 years from now we will be out with our canes and wheechairs arguing whether or not we tottered across the line. I doubt that we will have gained any sympathy from our wives yet at that point, but I sure hope they will come out and help us find our dentures after we are done!

There was a very grievous conclusion to the 2006 skirmish. Wishing to take a few photos of our athletic prowess, I set my digital camera on top of one my brother's vans. With a shock of dismay, I recalled my action right after they had left. Two miles down the road I located the camera, which was sadly worse for the wear. Evidently foreign camera makers cannot make a camera suitable to withstand the rigors of falling six feet at 60 miles an hour onto the blacktop.

As we opened up our Bibles for our evening Bible study, we read Proverbs 1 and in defining the words discretion and judgment I used my nearly four hundred dollar lapse of judgment as an example to define what good judgment and discretion mean. I knew better than to trust my absent minded brain to leave it there, but really, could I risk missing a play if I were to take the time to set it safely inside?! No way! "Hike!"

December update

2006-12-22T03:49:00.000-08:00

We survived the first midwest snowstorm, although the effects of that storm are now memory. A week of mild weather has melted the snow and now things are muddy mess.

Work has slowed down and I have ben spending more time in the shop. Soon I'll post a few pictures of some of our last projects.

The kids have been healthy and continue to work in their schooling. Since the aunts have been complaining about the pictures of bird, I though I'd better shape up and show a couple of the kids!

Now how did this get here?!

Finally, a decent snowfall!

2006-12-02T13:24:00.000-08:00

We managed to get clipped by the midwest snowstorm that made the news, although we were right on the edge. We managed to get 4" here, although 20 miles to the west there was nothing and just 10 miles east there was 8"

Following the snow were very cold temps - with the morning temperature only 7 degrees. A distant memory are the nice 55 degree days we enjoyed earlier this week!

The hens are tucked in their chicken house with care. I insulated the ceiling and have the water heater on. They are a little grumpy about not being let out to forage around the yard, but I am thinking they would not find much for now. With 42 hens, we've been getting about 3 dozen eggs a day.

From fall to winter

2006-11-30T03:50:00.000-08:00

The midwest has enjoyed an unusually warm stretch of weather which was accompanied by a good bit of rain. It was a nice rain to soak into the ground before the winter considering the fact that the fall has been quite dry. An arctic front pushed through yesterday dropping the temperatures and changing the rain to ice and sleet. Tonight's forecast suggest a significant snow by morning.

Over thanksgiving, I finished a few fall projects that I had not gotten around to. I spaded up my flower garden and separated some iris bulbs and planted some tulips and crocuses. I also put some insulation board on the ceiling of the hen house. The chickens have enjoyed the mild weather, scratching around to find some seeds, grass, and a few bugs that resurfaced during the recent warm spell. Our 42 hens are netting us between 30-36 eggs a day.

A friend of mine gave me a few books written by Eric Sloane, a New Englander who wrote about early AMerica in the 40's - 60's. He was a pilot/meteorologist who wrote fondly of past days and early American traditions. I detect in his writing an individual wired very much like myself. How could I help but to select "A Reverence for Wood" as the first one to read?

I was especially amused by these paragraphs on p 45: "During the period of the Civil War, the upheaval of American society resulted in much ugliness and some detioration of taste. Before that time, agriculture and the preservation of tradition were a cherished part of the good life, but from then on the philosophy of "change for the sake of change" became a dominant force in American thinking.

Hardly were the battles over when the iron factories, which had been making the hardwares of war, began seeking inventors and inviting them to set their sights on peacetime production. For a while there were born countless intricate machines devised to do any job faster and poorer. By 1865 there were four hundred and fifty two all metal apple-parers invented, yet the old timers preferred the paring knife. William Morris recognizes his age, remarking that the great achievement of those postbellum days was "the making of machines which were the wonders of invention, skill, and patience, used for the production of measureless quantities of worthless makeshifts."

Today we build additions and garages for people to store their measureless quantities of worthless makeshifts. People gather before store fronts hours before they open so that they can buy the latest round of electronics that are obsolete by the end of the year. Shopping carts are full of worthless goods that the buyers actually can't afford and end up purchasing on credit. There will be a flurry of gifts opened in a few weeks, to be looked at and discarded for something new in a few weeks. The credit cards will be maxed out but the closets will be full.

I like trinkets and gadgets. I just purchased Rachel a Kitchen Aid mixer with a dough hook and a pasta attachment so that we can make our own breads and pasta. I have also ordered a grain mill so that we can grind our own grains to make our flours and meals. Not only is there much nutritious value in preparing your own foods, there is something very enjoyable and wholesome in laboring with your hands to use God's creation to make something useful.

Let us not lose sight of the word "labor." It takes time to plant a garden and trees, to tend and nurture them, to preserve the food, to do the chores, gather the eggs, and butcher the meat. Yet there is a wholesome enjoyment in laboring with your hands, exercising dominion over God's creation by taking raw materials and transforming them into usable entities. It gives the kids an opportunity to do chores and to learn how to create.

A friend of mine who used to work in the grocery store industry told me once that at any given day, there exists on a two to three day supply of food on the shelves of the stores. Due to the conveniences of the modern age, we have become wholly dependent upon what we presume to be the immediate and exhaustive supply to the point that it is rare to find someone who stores goods for a rainy day. While the early American labored the whole summer to set food by for a long winter, we assume that nothing could possibly happen to our economy, our dollar, and our system of goods and services. If we were to wake up one morning and find the shelves at the store empty we would be in immediate trouble. We have placed a child like faith on the availability of electric power, available food, etc. As I consider our society, I am often reminded of the children of Babel. What would happen should God be pleased to visit our proud and defiant culture with the rod of adversity?

Projects

2006-11-17T04:25:00.000-08:00

Although it is nice to be able to work in new construction and nice rennovation projects, the rural area in which we reside requires us to be willing to do some not so glamorous projects in order to stay busy. This year in particular has seen a marked slowdown in new constructions and we have built several farm buildings and have done a lot of roofing to fill in the slack.

Yesterday, I finished a project yesterday that entailed building a shed out of second hand materials. This particular farmer has provided us with a lot of building projects over the years. He travels to auctions and buys seconds, leftovers, and damaged building products and stores them until he has enough on hand to put up a building.

Typically, the buildings are overbuilt and the mystery is unveiled when the finish siding products are brought out of the shed. Usually, they consist of a wagon load of industrial steel contained in a myriad of colors. This garage boasts around 15 different colors. And while the look might not be up to some folk's standards, the fact of the matter is that it will make a nice shed and the materials were purchased for pennies on the dollar!

While some carpenters hate working on the farm, I have never minded it. This particular place is about an hour from my house and is out in the middle of nowhere. It is a quiet place in which to work. The only curious bystanders are the mules and horses, who curiously wonder what we are up to as they contemplate being hitched up to the plow in the spring.

6 month report on raising chickens

2006-10-13T13:23:00.000-07:00

I've been asked a few times what I've learned in regard to raising chickens, so I thought I might share some of my musings here. I am not an expert and am learning as I go. My opinions are based mostly on what I have read and heard.

We have enjoyed our birds and I would recommend raising them if you are interested in raising your own food. Chickens do not require a large amount of space or time, so they may be a good starting point to work yourself into a "doing chores mode."

We purchased a straight run of Plymouth Barred Rocks from Cackle Hatchery toward the end of April. We purchased a 100 and we received 105 chicks. We lost four over the first couple days, but overall I was quite happy with the quality of the birds. We were able to obtain a wooden chicken coop, equipped with a wooden floor, two windows, and a row of wooden nesting boxes. There are a lot of ideas floating around as to the best structure for raising hens, but I have to confess that I think a permanent wooden structure is the way to go, especially if you live up north in the cold country or in the country where there are varmints looking for a warm chicken to eat.

I have a series of fenced off pens for grazing, although the first day I let them out a predator ran off a couple of birds. As I had all young birds, with no hens or rooster to protect the flock, I bought some plastic netting and put a "lid" over the pens so that I wouldn't have to worry about the predators. Now that they are approaching full grown size, they are able to forage on their own and we have not had any problems with predators.

We fed the birds an organic grain/mineral mix to supplement their foraging. There are those that advocate letting the birds just forage on their own, which I suppose is sufficient, but I think that supplementing is ideal for optimal growth. We were able to purchase an organic grain mix from some folks from our church that operate an organic farm. They are also a wonderful disposal device of left over garden plants and produce!

We found our first egg about three weeks ago. Now we are receving about a dozen eggs a day. Most of the first eggs were rather small, but now some are already "large" and we have found a few "extra large" that were double yoked. They lay brown eggs and I am impressed with how incredibly smooth the shells are.

After about 14 weeks, we started to butcher the roosters. At 14 weeks, they dressed between 3 and 4 pounds. At 17 weeks, they were between 4 and 5. The last batch I did averaged nearly five pounds. The Barred Rocks are a dual purpose bird. We have been happy with the quality of meat - the drumsticks are longer but the breasts are smaller than the hybrid meat birds.
We butchered 46 roosters, leaving three roosters with the flock.

The Barred Rocks are, in my opinion, a breed worth investigating. While i have no ability to compare and contrast, thus far I have no complaints. They grew just a little slower than I expected, but they also are a very calm and mild mannered breed. We had no trouble at all with pecking and fighting. From chick to adult, they are very nice looking breed.

Soon I will learn how they do during the winter! I plan to do a bit of insulating on the ceiling and I turn the light on around 5:30. I plan to plug in a heat lamp during the colder winter days. Check back in April and I will share what I learned!

Taste of Winter

2006-10-12T14:55:00.000-07:00

I was somewhat surprised to see the scattered flurries forecast for last night end up coating the ground nearly an inch early this morning. Today was early December cold, with afternoon highs reaching only the middle 30's and not even melting the snow in the shaded areas.

We gathered all the potatoes early in the week and everything was basically out of the garden and the fruit trees. I butchered the last 13 of our roosters a couple days ago. We left three roosters with the flock and the past two days we have gathered two dozen eggs.

This might be the earliest I can recall seeing the ground white with snow. I recall some snow on the ground a couple times near the end of October, but not this early.

I enjoy the fall and winter seasons very much. The wood stove is hot and the house is warm. The aroma of woodsmoke outside reminds me to rejoice in the blessings of winter.

It felt good to come in and stand next to the wood stove!

Thoughts on education

2006-10-07T04:08:00.000-07:00

We recently acquired about 30 DVD's worth of homeschooling DVD's that contains 150,000 written pages of reading materials. The DVD's were assembled by the Robinson family and the course of study, which emphasizes self teaching, is entitled "Robinson Self-Teaching Home School Curriculum." While we do not fully rely on the self teaching method of study, we are using the curriculum extensively. Not only have the three oldest children been reading from the book list, I have to confess that there is a lot on the disks that interest me! We also paid extra to purchase the G. A. Henty collection. Our evening reading consists of reading Henty's book on William Wallace and Robert the Bruce. (Now we are ready as good Scottsmen to repel the British!)

When I am out and about, I am often asked about my children and quickly the question seems to be asked "Where do your children go to school?" When I answer that my wife instructs them at home, sometimes I am greeted with a flood of question while others turn white and begin to cower and look for a place to hide. The questions that follow are often difficult to answer, particularly if you are speaking to an unsaved individual.

Homeschooling is becoming increasingly popular. While it is true that most homeschoolers tend to be religious in nature, there is an increasing number of families who are disgusted with their local options and opt for alternative opportunities other than the local government school. Many religious families will answer that they homeschool because of various issues they have public schools - sex education, thoery of evolution, bad habits of students. Other just prefer not to delegate the training of their children to others. While all these things can be rightly considered as things to ponder, our reasons for choosing to homeschool are, I believe, much more deeply rooted.

All of education, regardless of the philosophy implemented, is concerned about uncovering and unfolding three basic questions: what is true, what is good (moral, right conduct etc.), and what is beautiful (literature, art, etc.) It is impossible to establish a course of curriculum without attempting to answer and reveal the answers to these three questions. Even a course of curriculum that claims to be tolerant and embraces every system of faith or belief as a viable form of life expressions subtly teaches that that which is true, good, and beautiful cannot be truly known or expressed, rendering that such elements are defined only by the particular beliefs that an individual or a culture express.

As a Christian, I hold to an exclusive definition of what is good, true, and beautiful. While there is a segment of Christianity that is bothered by being accused of being intolerant and exclusive, we understand that Christ spoke an exclusive word in John 14:6: "I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man comes to the Father but by me." I consider the Christian Scriptures, the Bible, to be the authoritative rule for mankind. I believe the Bible to be the very Word of God, written by men who were inspired by the Spirit of God. The Scriptures for me are my rule of faith and practice.

Truth, goodness, and beauty are thus defined by what God has said. To dig even deeper into these things, it should be said that these three things exist only because God is. Truth, goodness, and beauty are not established by an aribitrary set of standards, but rather are established because they are defined by and flow through the very essence of God Himself. Because God is true, good, and beautiful and has been pleased to reveal Himself and His will to mankind, we can, as those who bear the image of God, attempt to define these three elements as we seek to live our our days on this earth.

King Solomon wrote "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge." While education certainly can and does help to establish a civilization, intrinsically an education apart from the fear of God is an empty and vain thing. "What does a profit a man if he should gain the whole world and lose his soul?" Knowledge is established and ultimately profitable only as the student begins his course of education by acknowledging that God exists and has set the standard as to what establishes truth, goodness, and beauty.

It is our desire to raise children that will love God and neighbor. It is our hope that we will leave behind a legacy of godly children that will marry godly spouses and raise up godly children of their own. We hope that they pattern their lives after the Word of God and that through them God will be pleased to confound the wisdom of the world. We pray that God might be merciful to us and pour out His grace upon our children and our children's children as we strive to be faithful to raise up our children in the way they should go.

Proverbs 23:24 "The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice: and he that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him. Thy father and thy mother shall be glad, and she that bare thee shall rejoice." When we turn old and gray, I imagine the glow of the temporal pursuits that we have labored over throughout our lives will begin to fade in importance and relevance. As a carpenter and craftsmen, I know that some of the things that I have made and built will outlast my lifetime. Yet all that these things that these hands of mine can produce ultimately will be destroyed. As I sit in my rocking chair, I am hopeful that I can rejoice greatly in watching my children raise their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. What point is there, ultimately, to leave behind a bunch of cabinets and a few houses? How will these things ultimately better my land and my countrymen? The answer is that they will not - what is of greater importance is that I leave behind sons and daughters that will work with their hands to the glory of God and will preach the gospel both in word and deed. I want them to grow up knowing that it is the fear of God that is beginning of knowledge.

As my children study history, they are going to understand these things not as the chance meanderings of the world of men, but rather as the unfolding of God's sovereign will as He unfolds His plan of redemptions and established a house for His name. They are going to be raised with the understanding that it is God who establishes and destroys both men and civilizations. They are going to understand the laws of science and mathematics are established becuase God exists and has made them and decreed them into existence. They are going to be taught that truth is established by the Word of God and that they should regard God as true and every man a liar. They need to be instructed how to live and how to formulate opinions as to the rightness of a situation by what the Scriptures declares. They need to establish beauty as it is defined by God himself. What makes a successful individual? What marks a beautiful woman? All of our works, even our poems and drawings, should be done to the glory of God.

"In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths." It is our belief that even our education, regardless of what it make look like in the details, should be grounded upon the fear of the Lord and acknowledge God as the creator and sustainer of the universe. Our edcuation should be steeped in the gospel of Christ. I have friends and relatives that choose not to educate their children themselves, preferring rather to make use of the public school system. It is not my desire to impugn their motives and desires for their children and I do not beat down their doors to complain about and mock their choices. Such a choice cannot be my own, however, for I cannot bear the thought of delegating the responsibility of shaping and training of my children to those who have no fear of God before their eyes, nor can I see any wisdom in rearing children within an educational system that is godless.

The souls of my children are precious to me and unfortunately, the parents of my children are weak and beggarly. There is much that we have yet to learn and we tremble before an Almighty God and earnestly enquire that He might guide and sustain us as we attempt to raise the children that He has given us for His glory. The shaping and nurturing of our children's heart belongs ultimately to God and I pray that as we are faithful to teach and preach Christ that God might be pleased with our efforts. We both fear God - and this is the beginning of knowledge.

Chicken butchering

2006-10-02T19:54:00.000-07:00

We found time to butcher about 35 roosters the past week or so. The boys selected the biggest of the roosters two at a time, which I inserted into the killing cones. Once inserted, I cut their throats and let them bleed out for a minute of so. Some folk just simply cut their heads off and let the headless birds flounder around, but I have read that cutting the vein produces a more effective bleed. I prefer having the blood all poured out into one place rather than having it scattered all over.

After the birds have bled, I scalded them in water heated in a large electric pot. 140 degrees does a good job of loosening the pores so that the feathers can be plucked off. I borrowed a plucker from a farmer that I worked for. The rubber fingers rotate and do a good job at removing the feathers. After removing the feathers, my neighbor (some of his boys are pictured) and I cut them up. I checked for any remaining feathers and cut off the head and feet while Art gutted the birds. We have consumed a couple of them now, one of them baked in the oven and another deep fried. Both of them were excellent!

We raised barred rocks, which are combination meat/egg bird. Most of the birds butchered weighed betwen 4-5 pounds dressed. We are gathering eggs now. Yesterday I found 5, which marks the most we have found thus far in a single day.

It is enjoyable to be able to tend some creatures and to use the land that God has given us to provide some of our food. I am elated that our kids have a chance to learn from these experiences that there is a reward for laboring with our hands.

Harvest Time

2006-09-02T14:41:00.000-07:00

We spent the day working around the house harvesting fruits and vegetables from the garden. This day is the first time in a long time that I recall devoting strictly to household chores.

I started the day running into town for some additional canning supplies. We have been busy this summer (Rachel more so than me) canning jelly, apple sauce, apple pie filling, and salsa. Our apple trees are loaded with nice apples and we have been working diligently to try to harvest

them.

We picked a bushel and a half of apples today and made cider for the first time. The kids picked the low apples and I set up a ladder and picked the high ones. Jesse dumped the barrels of apples into the cart.

We opted to can the cider rather than freezing to save on freezer space. At the end of the day, we had 21 quarts canned and a pitcher of cider in the fridge. It is very delicious.

The apple pie and suace is delicious as well. The kicthen has been a breeding ground for a myriad of tasty apple desserts. I turn up my nose at none of them! (My bellow tends to grow out though!)

I also picked another row of red pontiacs, which more than filled a 5 gallon pail. The onions are harvested and while the tomato vines are starting to thin, we have a lot of tomatoes yet to harvest. The pepper plants are still growing and healthy. The butternut squash is beginning to turn a nice pale brown color, so perhaps soon we will sample one.

We also, in addition to the cider, made about 10 pints of grape jelly. My brother has a nice supply of grapes and we traded a bucket of grapes for a bucket of apples.

I am very thankful for a bountiful harvest, as well as the opportunity that God has given to us to enable us to raise our kids in the country. I have always enjoyed an agrarian way of life and am pleased to have a spot on this earth to labor with my hands and to enjoy the fruits of that labor with my family. The kids love (ahem!) when I have a rare day home so I can put them to work!

You know, if I could be home all the time, we could grow enough meat and food on these three acres to sustain the needs of our family. It is a lot of work canning and preserving food. I have spent many evenings helping Rachel canning or freezing various things. Sometimes I calculate the actual cost of the canned goods and consider that their market value is far less than if I were to spend those hours working in my shop. Yet I believe there is something wholesome in laboring with your hands and working with your family to put some food in storage for the winter. It is an enjoyable and rewarding labor and I am pleased to be able to till this patch and to see God bless our labors. I hope that I can instill this same love for the land in the hearts of my children. They are a bit confused for now....I was in the garden digging potatoes with Mahaela and she when she saw some freshly dug carrots, she asked me, "What aisle are the carrots in?" I pointed to where I dug them and suggested that "We call them rows around here!"

Barn rennovation

2006-08-22T03:29:00.000-07:00

I showed a picture a month of ago of a barn we are rennovating. The first half of the crumbling foundation was removed and now a new concrete wall has been poured and a framed wall built on top to support the northside. This barn is attached on the east side of the Rilco Rafter barn. This barn is a post fram barn and is in dire need of work. This barn would be considered by most to be unworthy of the money required to restore.

The bottom picture shows the second phase of installing the new foundation. This was rather ambitious, for we tore out over half of the old foundation on the Rilco Rafter barn and a good part of the post form barn. The footing is poured and is awaiting the concrete walls to be poured.

The barn is supported by jacks and temporary posts. Up in the loft, three cables are installed to tie the rafters together so they do not spread on the bottom. I drilled holes in the concrete floor and tied cables to the wood plate at the bottom of the roofline to a pin inserted in the hole in the concrete.

We have not had any severe winds with the wall out, but the building has shifted a little while being suspended by the jacks. Hopefully the walls will be poured so that we can get the building supported on the new foundation.

The post form barn is going to take a lot of work to straighten. The west side of the wall has settled about six inches, causing the barn to lean to the west about the same amount. The top picture shows the east side of the structure and gives you an idea of how out of plumb the building is.

The heat and humidity have retreated to the south. We have had a nice string of warm days in the 70's and lows in low 50's. Nearly everything in the garden is ready for harvesting. Tomatoes are still being produced and my butternut squash vines are alive and produce some nice looking squash.

I was really pleased with the potatoe crop this year. I dug one row of red pontiacs and gleaned over a 5 gallon pail full of very nice sized potatoes. With the tomatoes we are making juice and salso. You couldn't knock the smile off my face with a 2x4 as we begin harvesting apples, pears, and plums from our fruit trees. Rachel has been making applie pies for the past couple weeks and last evening we made some apple jelly and some apple sauce. There is not a more tasty treats that fresh, warm apple sauce. Or maybe the applie pie with a hefty pile of vanilla ice cream! We are harvesting Macintosh apples now, but soon we will be dealing with a lot of Golden Delicious.

The chickens have yet to be sampled, but this shall not be the case for long!

Summer Update

2006-08-05T03:58:00.000-07:00

Well, summer has expanded into August already. It has been a rather hot summer here in the midwest, but unlike the previous couple years, we have had ample rainfall and it has been a good growing season. We have been harvesting sweetcorn, greenbeans, and summer squash. Soon we will be picking some tomatoes and digging potatoes. The trees are loaded with apples and we have a few pears and plums. I am looking forward to making some applesauce, jelly, and cider later this fall.

Our chickens are growing and soon we may butcher a few to sample the quality of the meat of the Barred Rock breed. They are beginning to fill up the brooder house when they come into roost! We have had good luck with them, loosing only a few as chicks and a couple to a predator. Hopefully, in a few weeks we will begin finding some eggs.

We found out in late April that Rachel was expecting. Unfortunately, a routine trip to the doctor revealed that the heartbeat was no longer present so she had a procedure to have the baby removed. She is nearly recovered from the surgery. Such things cause some disappointment, but we are both resolute in our belief that God works all things for our good.

I recently read a delightful little book entitled "Letters from a Confederate Soldier" which was compiled by Judy Inman. The letter provide some insight to the life of Isaac Yaokum, a young confederate soldier from Fannin County, Texas, who served in the 11th Texas Calvary. His father, Adam, settled in Texas in 1845.

The letters reveal his love for his family, their land, and the South. They detail his involvement in the Battle of Pea Ridge, the Siege of Corinth, and the Battle of Stones River in Murfeesboro, where he was twice wounded and later died. Most of the soldiers that left the Fannin County area did not return.

His family was deeply religious and a friend of Isaac who wrote his parents to report his death reported that he was a good soldier that was loved by his company and that he "was ready to die." He died with an optimistic view that the South would prevail against the invaders from the North.

Tractor days

2006-07-14T20:08:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago several farms get together and provide a forum for people to bring their tractors for display for people to look at. This year there was a fine collection of antique tractors with each farm hosting a particular manufacturer. The technology of the tractor has really advanced over time. A nearby neighbor recently bought a new combine and he went to attend a class so that he could understand how to utilize the computer technology!

Independence Day

2006-07-04T18:04:00.000-07:00

Last July 4th while sitting and watching the fireworks, I couldn't help but wonder how many believers were considering the state of the country while celebrating the anniversary of Independence Day.

In 1781 John Newton preached a sermon entitled "The Guilt and Danger of Such a nation as This" I read this sermon years ago and I still enjoy reading it from time to time. The exhortations that Newton delivered to his English congegration are well fitted to the saints of 2006 in this land. Sadly, many churches merely mimic the shallow patriotism of the world, contemplating nothing but their desire to see "God bless America" in spite of the fact that she insists in despising God. "Shall I not visit for these things, saith the Lord: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?"

These words were spoken by the prophet Jeremiah to a sinful, adulterous Israel. I believe that Jeremiah's words are a fit reminder of God's wrath toward sinfulness. These words are not merely to be applied Israel, but to any nation "such as this."

The nation of Israel was founded because of God's grace. He set His favor on Abram and told him that he would be the father of many nation and that through him all the world would be blessed. To the nation of Israel God gave His Word and through Israel He sent the redeemer. The nation of Israel tasted of God's grace and mercy and His mighty works were displayed as He removed their enemies from before them. They turned against God and chose rather to worship the gods of Canaan. Godly constantly chastened the nation until finally he destroyed it at the hand of the Romans.

Much like Israel, America has an advantage in every way. It was founded by men who had deep roots in the Christian faith. It is said that the Bible was the most quoted source in the writings of the founding fathers. While the founding of our nation is not without error, there is much to admire in our history and it is saddening to see how far we are removed from our moorings. The Scriptures openly warn the wicked that they will one day be overthrown. What has happened to the great empires of history? The SCriptures declare that the Lord reigns, that he does what he pleases in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. No wisdom, understanding, counsel, or power can prevail without his blessing. As righteousness exalts a nation, so sin is the reproah and will eventually be the ruin of any people.

I trust that we will be upon our knees praying that the gospel of Christ will be thundered from the pulpits of our churches. We need to pray that the saints will repent of their worldliness and beginning recognizing that they are peculiar people that have been bought with a great price. We must pray that if God be pleased that He would send forth revival throughout this land.

Barn jobs

2006-06-27T05:08:00.000-07:00

Our works is not always defined by new construction. We service several farm accounts, which, in this area, is necessary if you want to remain busy all of the time. This first picture reveals my brother Tom waiting for the last piece steel to conclude the upper portion of the barn roof. We nail 2x4's into the rafters to serve as a nailer to screw the metal roofing to.

The second picture show us in the process of replacing a crumbling foundation. We have to go inside and do some bracing and hope that the

building stands when the old foundation is ripped out. A new foundation will be poured (if the wind doesn't blow the thing over before hand!) and hopefully this old barn will last for a long time. We have done several of these projects and we have never lost one, but sometimes you feel like holding your breath until it finally sitting on the new foundation.

We have to feed our brother Josh every now and them and we sure hope his arms don't give out! I enjoy working on these old building, even though it is hard work and the old dust bothers my allergies. I think sometimes of those commuting into Chicago or working with the noise of the factory while I am working in the solitude of the country. The road next the barn getting the new roof is traveled maybe 15 times over the course of the day. The only sounds we hear, besides my singing from time to time, are the sheep and the goats lined up at the fence calling out to us, hoping we might be kind and feed them!

2006-06-15T18:19:00.000-07:00

\

My dad has long enjoyed the hobby of scouring the area barns and ditches for the vesitiges of yesterday's farming equipment. I spent many a winter afternoon as a young lad holed up in the shop or barn fixing up these relics so that they could embark upon yet another journey in this late stage of their life, heading out east to be purchased by Amish and Mennonite farmers who will revive these old tools into 21st century farming implements.

I have somewhat of a love-hate relationship with old equipment. I enjoy history and I like seeing and learning about this old, horsedrawn equipment. I sometimes wish that I lived back in a simpler time that saw the landscape dotted by small farmsteads that were ran by families laboring together to live off of the land. These were not simple days, no doubt, for to survive required the sweat of the brow and the blood from wounds that were the result of hard, rigorous labor. Yet I have heard the old farmers sit around the tables at the local eating cafes speaking of getting together for the purpose of harvesting crops and raising barns. These days one rarely feels the need to know his neighbor, unless, of course, it is for the purpose of suing him when his dog leaves a deposit in the freshly groomed yard.

Yet I have a certain hatred for this old equipment. When one looks at my dad's barn full of old farming equipment, a quick, straight forward glance reveals the nostalgic impression of farming days gone by. You can smell the vesitiges of deisel fuel and boiled linseed oil liberally applied to old rusty chains and weather wearied boards. The smells of old twine and equipement would bring back a smile to many an old time farmer. I know better, however, than to be fooled by the Norman Rockwell-like display of American nastalgia, for when you turn your back, the old implements turn into snarling demons. Grease, rust, and grime are awaiting to soil your new pair of work jeams. Sharp, jagged lances of rusty iron are glistening with the thought of ripping clothing assunder and tearing gaping wounds into the flesh. Rust and corruption are giggling at the thoughts of the torn and lacerated knuckles that would dare to remove old bolts. Then there is the weight of the iron itself.... there is no plastic on these relics! No aluminum, no styrofoam, no, nothing at all that is easy to lift. It is just back-breaking, muscle-straining, fiber tearing sheer masses of incredibly dense and heavy iron. Yes, I carry the scars and wounds of fighting with these old dinasours, my dad, brothers, and I doing the manual labor of loading these things - staggering weights that would make a modern crane stand proud at the thought of moiving.

The first picture is a picture of a very nice McCormick grain binder. Cyrus McCormick first developed the first reaper, which took the place of using a hand swung sickle to cut the grain. The reaper slowly evolved into the binder when components (rollers, chains, tying device) were added to tie the grain into bundles with twine and a carrier was added to stack 5 or 6 bundles until they could be dropped off to make a schocks. Shocks varied from 6-9 bundles and they sat into the fields waithing for the threshing machines to separate the grain from the stalk. The threshing machines were first powered by steam and then later powered by a large belt driven by a pully mounted on a tractor. The binder was pulled first by horses and later by a small tractor. A steel wheel meshed with a series of gears powered the binder as it moved across the field.

I'll not be dishonest. I like to travel quickly, I enjoy air conditioning, and I like my electric powered wood working tools. I also enjoy using the computer. Yet for me real joy is derived as
I sink my hoe into my garden. I like to sit back and smell the freshly turned earth and listen to the sound of the corn growing in the ros. enjoy sharpening a plane iron and testing its edge on a piece of oak, smiling to myself as the keen edge takes off a whisker-thin shaving. I enjoy taking my dovetail saw and cutting some hand sawn dovetails to put a drawer together. Yes, I have a router jig, a dovetail router bit, and a router and I use them nearly exclusively when I want to put together a dovetailed drawer. But sometimes I like to turn off the radio, unplug the router, and take off my hearing protectors, and listen to the grating sound of a sharp saw cutting wood. Oh yea, there is then the feeling of the sweat beading upon my brow and running down my temple. It's labor, and sometime it hurts, but it is part of our portion that God has given us as we live out our days under the sun. And it is glorious...

Book review.

2006-06-08T19:56:00.000-07:00

It has been several months now since I set up this blog. Even though I do not spend a lot of time on it, I have grown to enjoy sharing a few of my musings every now and then. Although my father in law prefers the pictures to my musings, I guess he will just have to endure this blog entry. No pictures!

I have thought I might add a couple of items for the benefit of those that take of their time to read this. The greater benefit of this blog, though, is that it serves somewhat as a journal. I have always enjoyed the concept of a journal, for it affords you the opportunity to go back and review your journey through life. I would like to share with you occasional book reviews, partly to inform you as to what I am reading and what I thought of it, but primarily to chronicle the shaping of my thinking in light of what I have read. ( I suppose I should print this blog off from time to time, and perhaps when my children grow older, I can send them to their room and make them read my journal as a form of severe punishment!)

The last book I finished was book written by S C. Mooney entitled "Usury - Destroyer of Nations. The consideration of a biblical view of economics has been something that I contemplated much the past couple years. While the content of this book was not so startling to me as I have pondered the issue of usury (or interest) the past couple years, I can honestly say that this book is far removed from what we see in our society.

Mooney discusses the topic of usury through the form of five chapters in this small paperback of 238 pages entitled: Definition of Usury, history of Usury, Survey of Biblical Texts, Popular Excuses for Usury, and Choose This Day Whom Ye Will Serve.

We live in a society that is established upon an economy that thrives upon debt and usury. I would suggest that most of us have borrowed money at one time or another and that many of us have opened up saving account that have netted us a small percentage of interest on our money. In other words, we have either paid or received interest. Loaning money for interest was a subject that I had never considered until recently. In fact, I am not sure that I have ever heard the subject brought up in any teaching session at church.

The Scriptures say much about usury, although all of the passages are negative. The children of Israel were commanded not to charge interest to one another. (Ex 22:25, Lev 25:35-37, Deut 23:19-20) In Psalm 15, David asks, "Who may abide in Thy tent? Who may dwell on Thy holy hill?" One of his answers: "He who does not put out his money at interest." Wise King Solomon instructed his son that "he who increases his wealth by interest and usury, gathers it for him who is gracious to the poor."

The children of Israel were greedy and decided at various times that they should charge a fee for the use of money. The prophets had stern words for them: "You have taken interest and profits, and have injured your neighbors for gain by oppression, and you have forgotten me." and "if he does not lend money on interest or take increase, if he keeps his hand form iniquity and executes true justice between man and man, he is righteous and will surely live." Ez 18 and 22.

Wow! This is some disturbing instruction, considering how even most of our churches probably have money stashed in interest bearing accounts. This has not always been the case. For centuries, the church has sharply spoken out against charging interest. In fact, a few early confessions actually list usury as one of the violations of of the commandment, "Thou shalt not steal."

I cannot in this place rewrite his book, but I commend the book as an interesting read and I personally agree with much within it. Mooney writes: "covetousness breeds usury. Covetousness is more than simple desire. For the righteous, the desire for good which he does not own is what motivates him to produce those goods, or to produce other goods which he may trade for the goods he desires. There is nothing wrong with such desires. Covetousness, however, is a desire for something that belongs to another, which one would acquire unilaterally - apart from any production or trade. It is the germ of thef. It is a lusting after that which one cannot lawfully obtain. Covetousness is conceived of evil motives. In the case of usury it emanates from a natural desire for wealth that is tormented by an antecedent despising of work. Wealth comes from work. Ultimately, all wealth comes from the hand of God. As it is His decree that we work in order to live, in our experience the wealth which we acquire in this life is gotten through someone's work. The usurer avoids work, for he is under the delusion that his "money" is working."

Hmm...strong words. I think this is a subject that the church desparately needs to explore.

2006-06-05T04:22:00.000-07:00

We have had some splendid weather these past few days, with pleasant highs in the 70's and lows in the 50's. The sun has been shining and the humidity is low - just perfect weather for getting some things accomplished around the house. I have taken a couple weeks off from the shop to get some outdoor chores accomplished.

The garden is now planted and many of the crops are beginnning to poke through the topsoil. We are still harvesting rhubarb and aspargus and soon we will have some radishes to eat. There is Basil to begin to harvest and dry, as well as chives.

The fruit trees are just loaded with fruit. Considering the past two years have seen killing frosts during the bloom, I have ceased being optomistic about the need of finding bushel baskets to store a robust crop, but now I am hopeful that we shall enjoy some fruit this fall.

The raspberries are blooming as well, and are, in fact, loaded with blossoms. Saturday morning I cut in a new door in the brooder house and allowed the flock to go out to pasture. Within two hours, a wild cat had managed to scale the 4' high fence and killed two birds. The flock had retreated to the indoors and were in the corners huddling together when I came up to check on them. I am not sure that there is any way to circumvent the wild critters that would enjoys a tasty chicken for lunch, so I believe that I will put up a poultry netting to serve as a "roof" to keep the unwanted varmints out. Eventually, we hope we will have some grown roosters and hens to serve as protectors. Having 100 chicks growing by themselves without any natural protectors means that they are rather defenseless on their own. They are growing quickly, as the picture can attest to.

Of course, summer now marks for more opportunity for fun and advntures for the kids. I have purchased a bow and a bb gun for the boys, although they can't use it apart from adult supervision. For some reason, good sense and reason are not easily attained by young creatures of the human male species. Each year they learn a little more....

One of our favorite stories from last year involved our youngest son, Jesse. He and the neighbor boy were outside hacking down tall grass when the neighbor boy pointed out some poison ivy. Jesse, skeptical of his friend's ability to identify possible danger, ginergly put forth a finger and touched a leaf. There was no lightning strike, no noise, no pain - nothing at all had happened.

Thus began an argument often heard among children (but occasionally among those discussing great theological truths): "Is not!" "Is too!" Jesse, his confidence in his botanical recongition skills bolstered by the unharmed finger, grabbed some leaves and rubbed them up and down his legs in a defiant show of evidence supporting his claim. Had he any prophetic skills to go along with his botanical skills, he may not have engaged in such a display of argumentation, for by morning he had one of the nastiest outbreaks of poison ivy on his legs that you have ever seen. I trust this year, he may be a bit more careful. But then again....