PotterVilla Academy

Republic or Democracy?

2010-08-10T22:00:00.002-04:00

Democracy is rule of the commoners (greek et. http://bit.ly/blCquw ), Republic is the rule of a body or council of representatives (latin Res Publica http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Res_publica ). The founders desired neither: America is supposed to be ruled by law.

John Adams, in his influential book, Thoughts on Government, said:
"As good government, is an empire of laws, how shall your laws be made? In a large society, inhabiting an extensive country, it is impossible that the whole should assemble, to make laws: The first necessary step then, is, to depute power from the many, to a few of the most wise and good." ( http://bit.ly/b3G6D6 )

Thomas Payne, in Common Sense, says this: "If the colony continue increasing, it will become necessary to augment the number of representatives, and that the interest of every part of the colony may be attended to, it will be found best to divide the whole into convenient parts, each part sending its proper number: and that the elected might never form to themselves an interest separate from the electors, prudence will point out the propriety of having elections often: because as the elected might by that means return and mix again with the general body of the electors in a few months, their fidelity to the public will be secured by the prudent reflection of not making a rod for themselves. And as this frequent interchange will establish a common interest with every part of the community, they will mutually and naturally support each other, and on this, (not on the unmeaning name of king,) depends the strength of government, and the happiness of the governed."

For an exegesis on the authority of Government, see Lex Rex by Rev. Samuel Rutherford.

The founders engineered a system which attempted to correctly delegate the God-given authority of government. The Declaration of Independence states their intent: "whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness." The authority of government lies with the people.

So, what form of government seemed most likely to be successful to the founders? The Constitution states: "All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives." Throughout the constitution, the rule of law is enforced over the several governing bodies. By essence of the legislative body being representative as opposed to committee of the whole, we are a republic. But, the elected, representative nature of that body insures that it remains accountable to the people, and through the people, the law.

History shows us an example of true democracy: the French Revolution. Americans operated under the authority of law, the French under the authority of the people. Any authority other than that of the people was condemned. Things stabilized only when Napoleon Bonaparte returned the country essentially to a monarchy.

So whether you want to call it a 'Democratic Republic', a 'Representative Republic', a 'Constitutional Republic', a 'representative federation of sovereign states' or a combination thereof, if you recognize the rule of law, the representative nature of congress, and the (obvious) delegated nature of our government, you're at least in general agreement with the founders.

I believe the correct terminology would be "constitutional representative republic", but the continental congress never adopted specific nomenclature.

The constitution and founders recognize that the authority of government comes through the people, ultimately from God. It makes provisions for the people to use their authority to change the laws. When a judge denies the will of the people, he's overstepping his authority. Constitutionally, a judge is supposed to enforce the rule of law and uphold the authority of the commoners against the tyranny of the few. Where the people are in support of their law, and it conforms to ratified federal law, no federal branch is justified in questioning it.

Now, I'm not a constitutional attorney--this is my unofficial understanding of history, literature (some of which is still on my 'to read:' list) and law. I'm not infallible. :-)

I am, however, now a precinct delegate in my township, the lowest elected position available. My first County Convention is on Thursday.

May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

The God of peace be with you all.

In Christ, Fidem Servate,

Jonathan

Mail from North Dakota

2010-04-18T13:17:00.007-04:00

Today's is just a quick update--I don't quite have the ambition (or desire) to get you up to speed on everything that has happened since our last real update in February. However, I will attempt to inform you about our current circumstances.

I had applied for an internship in March (a four month affair with the Vision Forum in Texas), and only ascertained last Tuesday (April 13) that I will indeed be staying in Michigan. I was therefore unable to concretely form any plans at home for the next few months; however, the days have been filling quickly.

This Morning (Sunday, April 18), I directed the congregational singing at church. This was my third (and last for the present) Sunday of leading the music. Coincidentally, my first was Easter morning! I was directing the choir, which was accompanying most of the music, and it worked out for me to do the rest, also. Next Sunday, I will be playing the piano while our regular pianist visits a friend out of state. Mom and I also played a duet for the offertory today.

Matthew has been to Alpena again, and his hard study has paid off: he passed both a computer and a math class with scores of 92/100. He only has two more classes to test out of, but those are CLEP examinations and can be taken locally. Also, God has provided a family that he can stay with during his tenure at the school.

On the home front, Matthew has bought some sheep (Finn/Corriedale cross), and they are lambing over at the W. farm. Shortly, four of the ewes (he has seven: four older ewes and three yearlings.) will be coming to stay on his rented acre of pasture across the road.

This is #1, "Abagail" (so christened by an ecstatic great-grand shepherd [Mom]). She had quadruplets (only three are in this picture), and is raising all of them. She was the second to lamb.

"Abby"

This picture is of #3 "Sarah", one of Abby's lambs:

"Sarah"

This is #295, "Elizabeth". She only had twins, but was the first to lamb.

"Elly"

Next up is #8 (unchristened as of yet): She was the third and most recent to lamb, and had twins.

This is the great-grand shepherd with the shepherd, holding #3, Sarah:

Matthew, "Sarah" and Mom

These are the other girls:

Clockwise, from left: #79, #159 MI "Deborah", #84 & #281, "Lumpy"

Lumpy (so named because of a lump on her side) may or may not lamb this year. #79 & #84 are the yearlings.

These are the neighbors (I don't have a picture of the neighbors in the building, which are hogs):
This is the view south from a grain bin near the barn (Matthew's sheep are in the south-most three pens in the barn that juts into this shot):

And now, to the cover story of this post:

I reciently won a contest celebrating Andrew Bornemann's first year of blogging. Friday, the prize arrived in the mail:

A wooden milk can, apparently hand made.

Two shiny new state quarters, one North Dakota 2006 D and a 2004 Michigan D.

The milk can has a removable lid.

And Andrew's initials burned on the bottom.

It will take a place in my desk drawer next to my stress removal tool of choice, a lump of dimethyl siloxane.

I had hoped to offer you a picture of Matthew's new tractor, as well as that of the new and improved (read: more than twice as long with a wood stove and better plastic) greenhouse, the freshly plowed garden at the farm (the rented property across the road), and possibly some of our flowers, but I am unable to find the pictures already taken, and am running out of time before the evening meeting.

"You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you." - Isaiah 26:3

In Christ, Fidem Servate,

Jonathan Potter

Was Milton an Agrarian?

2010-04-01T22:29:00.004-04:00

I've been reading Milton's Paradise Lost (written in 1667), and came across an interesting comparison.

Satan has escaped from hell and is spying out Eden to find opportunity to deceive Eve. Beginning at Book IX Line 444:

"Much he the place admir'd, the person more.
As one who long in populous city pent,
Where houses thick and sewers annoy the air.
Forth issuing on a summer's morn, to breathe
Among the pleasant villages and farms
Adjoin'd, from each thing met conceives delight;
The smell of grain, or tedded grass, or kine,
Or dairy, each rural sight, each rural sound; "

Almost as if to compare cities to hell and rural country to eden. I'm not saying that's correct, I'm just saying. :-)

Blessings,

Jonathan Potter

News Flash--More Signs of Spring

2010-03-11T10:18:00.003-05:00

This just in:

In the semi-sheltered world of the hoop house there is green grass growing!

The garlic has also poked its head above the mulch and one lone onion (which I obviously missed harvesting last year) is bravely daring Spring's sometimes wild and wacky weather.

Now back to studying... :-(

Matthew

Spring's Slow Spread

2010-03-09T10:16:00.004-05:00

The wonderful thing about the seasons is that they follow each other so faithfully. Each has its allotted time, and when it passes the next phase of nature begins to blend into the last.

So it is with this spring. The snow is beginning to melt and the driveway is finally down to the lime chips. Bird song fills the air and we've seen red wing black birds at the bird feeders. We've even caught a glimpse of this fine fellow:He eluded me yesterday, but I this morning I managed to nab his photo. (Hint: It's a Robin one of those rare birds that herald the coming of spring!)

Sometime soon I hope to relate more, but for now I've got to get back to the grindstone...

Matthew

More Lovely White Stuff

2010-02-13T10:46:00.003-05:00

Now that winter is almost over, and the days for cold and snow are rather on the limited side, we actually have some! [snow that is :-) ] Although our totals aren't nearly as impressive as D.C. (32" I beleive) we've gotten enough to make snowshoes worthwhile on my hikes with the dog. [or squirrel hunting ;-) ] The totals vary to quite a bit in our area, the last big storm we got about 8" on average; but just 9 mi away, at the W. farm they probably got closer to ten or eleven inches.

The flakes are once again falling this morning, which probably means my clothes aren't getting very dry--something to do with the warmer temps and precipitation I think! Ah well, they can always finish in the house. (I'm a very firm believer in hanging clothes outside to dry--as you may remember)

I guess that other places have gotten snow too--Texas for instance. I even hear rumor that the global warming talks, after being postponed three times, were canceled because of all the snow in D.C. You don't suppose that God is "meddling" again, do you? "Global Warming--Ha! I can make it snow in Texas and Florida." Whatever the case it does show that we serve and omnipotent God!

The snow is also making the garden hoop house project drag along a little more slowly than I'd anticipated. Actually, it's mostly the frozen ground. I can usually pound a fence post in (using a regular manual post driver) in about 10 hits or so--no more that 20. The well-pipe stakes I'm trying to pound in now are taking me a lot closer to 200 hits than 100. Admittedly they are rather taller than the fence posts mentioned earlier, but after pounding in two or three of them I'm about sore enough to quite for a few a hours anyway. Hard on your shoulders and hands. Six down eight to go (I think)...

Then I need to get some nine gauge wire to tie the well-pipe hoops to the other 3 ft. stakes I've already pounded in to the ground to support the hoops. The plan was to have everything done by last weekend. Maybe I'll be close by next weekend :-) I do have the blocks for the stove wall in place, but those tall stakes (mentioned above) to hold the blocks in place (for some reason mortar doesn't cure too well at 15 and 20 degrees...) are really holding up progress.

Additionally, I've been trying to put in at least an hour or two in at the great studying. Yippee! (insert extreme sarcasm into that one!) But to accomplish my goal I've got to keep plugging away at it. And we figure better here and now, than later at Alpena where I've got to keep at the slow, expensive, mundane pace they prescribe. Not to mention that if I can conquer this stuff now, when I get up there I should be able to get the A.S.S. degree in one year. Which would be good.

It's a excellent plan, I just need to (by the grace of God) muster up enough fortitude to trudge, march, or somehow, get through it.

So with that in mind I guess I'd better back to something slightly more productive. (although this provides a nice break)

Matthew

South Carolina H4509

2010-02-08T12:43:00.007-05:00

This is one of the most exciting thing I've read in politics this year: South Carolina has introduced a bill to nullify gun registration. If this bill gets passed, this will be the most exciting thing in politics this year. Get the scoop at Campaign for Liberty: http://campaignforliberty.com/article.php?view=591.

In local news, the sun is shining (temp was 22F earlier), Matthew is out working on expanding his hoop greenhouse, Mom's birthday is on Wednesday (celebration to be held from Tomorrow [cake and steak] through whenever the presents arrive), and I'm working on a website for the local CEF chapter.

In blogging news, I'm mulling over a post on Bible translation and representative theology, but as I don't have anything committed to paper yet, there are no guarantees. This morning, I was reading Malachi. As it seems to really apply to our current national situation, I'm also (very) tentatively considering doing a mini-series on that book. What do you think?

"Then those who feared the LORD talked with each other, and the LORD listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the LORD and honored his name. "They will be mine," says the LORD Almighty, "in the day when I make up my treasured possession. I will spare them, just as in compassion a man spares his son who serves him. And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not." - Malachi 3:16-18

"See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse." - Malachi 4:5-6

In Christ,

Jonathan

A Rainy Day

2010-01-24T08:35:00.005-05:00

It's raining. This is January, last I checked, and it's not supposed to be raining. (typically not anyway) There was even thunder in the night... What ever happened to the good old days where it was cold in January?

This winter has been rather disappointing in my opinion--not very many cold days and not much snow. Must be that darn global warming committee is having another meeting--all the big wigs traveling really heat things up....That or it's one of those natural cycles that are sooooo improbable....

Well lately I've kept rather busy with a sort of new, kinda old "project" that's been in the works for a few months now. The plan is that in August (this summer) I'm heading up to Alpena Community College (ACC) to attend their Trade School to become an electrical linesman (like for a local electric co-op). Since we firmly believe that the government has no place in supporting education, and we obviously won't be accepting any govt. funding, I've been working on filling our a couple of independent scholarship applications. ACC is still technically a govt. supported school, but unfortunately it's the only school in the state that has the hands on part of the course work integrated into daily activities. It is also the very best around, by the several accounts we've heard from people we know.

Currently we're (using the term loosely--mostly it's Research Central [Mom]) investigating the possibility of combining ACC's two years into one year and several "examinations for credit". These are tests that the college will accept in lieu of taking (and paying) for the actual classes--saving both time and money. That way I could earn an Associates in applied Science Degree in the time I'm will to waste (uh, that would be spend) in learning the trade before I start working full time. Otherwise I think that I'll just stick to the basic Certificate, and get on with life.

My plan, Lord willing, is to spend this fall and the next spring semesters in obtaining the degree and then get a job with a local utility and work through the 3 1/2 to 4 year apprenticeship until I'm a qualified journeyman linesman. Meanwhile putting in all the hours I can, and saving at least half of what ever income. After 4 years we'll see what happens as far as advancement within the company, or employment with a contractor or something; still working and saving as much as possible.

After 5-7 years of working I hope to be able to have enough saved to purchase a farm. Several people have suggested that I buy one as soon as I have enough for a down payment--but I have an extremely high aversion to debt. About the only possibility I might consider is getting a place if I had at least 70% down--but only if everything was exactly right. That way I could get a few years head start on the orchards, and wood lots. I firmly believe that good things come to those who wait.

In the meantime I'm doing some experimenting....I was able to rent about an acre and a half across the road this year, and I've got a half acre reserved for a garden (frost seeded to oats for a green manure crop) and the other acre is for pasture for the chickens and other animals... Hopefully, I will be able to rustle up some sheep, from one of the farms I've been working on to graze ahead of the chickens and provide some fertilizer. Also I'd like to attempt raising some PotterVilla Pasture Pigs in addition to the Pastured Poultry--we'll see how that goes.

The Chickens I've kinda got figured out, the sheep are simple--give 'em some water and a little salt, and they graze, but the pigs...now that will be completely new. I've worked with swine a fair amount but never on pasture, I'm not sure how it will really work out. I know that Mr. Jeffries in VT does well with them, but he's got a lot more acreage than I do to work with. And the occasional load of peanut butter from Ben and Jerry's!

There will be a few new things in the garden but for the most part, that should be fairly basic too. Keeping the weeds in submission shouldn't be too hard because I have a super duper Planet Whizbang Wheel Hoe! And I've got a garden cart too--they'll get a workout this summer.

I'm also going to attempt a heated greenhouse this year too. I just need to get the hoops up and the stove in place and build the wall for the stove and put the plastic on and not forget (like I actually did...) that I planted some two hundred and thirty cloves of garlic in there somewhere!

Hopefully I'll be able to do a little bit of the Farmer's Market thing, but unfortunately, I'll be in Alpena when the vast majority of the fall crops are ready. I could come home on the weekends, but it would cost an average of 75 bucks in fuel every time, which doesn't make that a very viable option.

Another interesting project I've recently completed is rebuilding a trailer. I bought a frame (axle with electric brakes and basic steel supporting beams) which used to be a camper, and then purchased extra steel and substantially beefed it up before putting a 2x6 deck on the thing and wiring it for lights. I've since carefully inspected a commercially built trailer, and I think I may have over built mine a smidgeon ;-) Ah, well. Now I've got a excellent wood cart, if only I can get the spring on the truck replaced. (They're shot and since the trailer is only a single axle there tends to be a little tongue weight)

The other exciting news is that Grandpa is giving me his old Farmall M. He has it all painted up nicely, and running well. I believe that he said that he's got a plow to go with it as well. That will really make the garden work a lot easier, if I only have to borrow tillage equipment rather than a tractor too. I may even take it out to the W. farm to rake hay with. That would be fun.

Well that's all I can think of for now,

Matthew

Adventures Arising from Attempting to Obtain a New(er) Truck

2010-01-14T21:26:00.003-05:00

First let me acquaint you with the circumstances surrounding this series of events.

To begin with the old truck was dead. There can be no doubt about that fact. Did we know that the old truck was dead? Of course we did. We were the ones who hauled it home. We were the ones who tore it apart. We were the ones who declared its life finished.

There is no doubt that the old truck is dead. This must be definitely and distinctly understood, or nothing special can come of the tale I'm about to tell....

Once upon a time--early on a cold December morning, of all days ([Jonathan]: Dec. 08?)--a young man was headed off to work on the farm when a deer suddenly dashed out in front of him...I took my foot of the accelerator pedal and the truck quit. Attempting vainly to restart the engine, I tried everything I could think of, but to no avail. So I trekked home (only about a half mile) and called my friend (Daniel) from the farm to come to the rescue. At first I thought it might just be a dead battery but when we tried to jump it we were completely unsuccessful. After numerous frustrating, failing attempts to figure something out I said: "Forget it. Tow me home!" (or something very similar to the same effect.) So he did. The interesting part came in when you factor in the fact that home was in the direction directly opposite the way I was facing--that and there was absolutely no way to turn around (especially with out power steering). Thus Dan hauled me for about a half-mile-- backwards. If you don't think that trying to steer backwards looking in your mirrors is difficult, you aught to try it some day...did I mention that I had no power steering?

So there you have a brief description of "the death of the truck." You now understand why we are looking for a new(er) truck. Shortly thereafter the W. family (with the farm) graciously volunteered to let me use their farm truck for transportation. For a while we were not completely sure that the truck had died, so for a period of time (while Dad took the tappet covers off to look at the lifters and the oil pan off to examine the bearings and pistons) we were suspended in action (in limbo so to speak).

But although no one really wanted to admit it we all knew the sad truth. The poor old truck was dead.

And so we began the search for a new(er) truck. Hours turned to days, days turned to weeks, weeks turned to months...

We search the papers, talked to friends and local salesmen, got hooked on craigslist (You need it? They've got it!), and generally searched the internet (fortunately, Mom is the consummate researcher--we call her "Research Central" :-) ). As the weeks dragged on, we did find several trucks that met our long list of qualifications. One day we went to Lansing and visited several area dealerships--we discovered some useful information (the price on that sort of vehicle is often negotiable even up to 25% or thereabouts) and another interesting fact--used car salesmen have the wimpiest handshakes imaginable. Its about like shaking a damp dishrag. Actually, the dishrag may have a firmer grip!

But we failed to locate anything that seemed worthy of pursuing. Until...Fletcher found something new to do! (Oh, sorry...relapse to one of our favorite stories when we were little--"Pirates Ahoy!" by Hans Wilhelm) That is until Mom found a likely truck in Lansing, and one in South Haven, and one in Grand Rapids! Since she was having trouble keeping track of them all by sheer memorization (after all she isn't really intimately familiar with all the engine numbers and model numbers between Ford GMC and Chevy, let alone remembering minute details like color, box length, etc.) we referred to them by the name of the owner/salesman.

For instance the truck in Lansing was Sam's truck--a shiny red '98 3-door extended cab F150, short box with topper, 4 wheel drive with a standard transmission. Salesman Bob's truck was in Grand Rapids: a green '96 extended cab F150, short box, 4x4. But my favorite of all the ones we'd found to date was in South Haven--the salesman's name was Sandy. Sandy's truck was white with a red strip, '95 extended cab F150, long box with topper, 4x4, automatic transmission and bucket seats.

First we went and took Sam's truck for a test drive--the main problem was I didn't fit in it very well. And with stick shifts you kinda need plenty of room.

Bob's truck sold before we could get up there to look at it.

Then we made plans to journey down to South Haven to look at Sandy's truck. Just as we were about to walk out the door, the phone rang--"'this is Sandy, at blank, blank blank,' we can't find the truck you are coming to look at." He asked if we could go out for lunch or something while they looked for it. We mentioned that South Haven is a long ways from Charlotte and that if they didn't have the truck on the lot we didn't feel we could justify making such a long trip. (To put it mildly!) To make a long story slightly shorter, we did finally go down and look at the truck a couple of weekends later. Apparently, the owner took the truck to let his dad borrow to use to haul diesel fuel to a job site. Unfortunately, when we went to test drive the truck the battery was dead. So evidently, since the owners dad had just been using the truck, the battery was no good. The salesman offered an interesting excuse: the high voltage lines running over the parking lot had drained the juice from the battery. (Too bad he didn't know he was talking to an electrical engineer!)

The truck was kinda rusty, but I liked it, it was in good mechanical condition and so we moved onto the bargaining. To make a long story really short, we seemed to have a few irreconcilable differences--about 800 of them to be exact. ($1 each :-) )

Also on that trip we were discussing the pros and cons of another truck, located in Howe Indiana.
It was a 1997 F150, 4x4, extended cab, long box, decent mileage, excellent price, with one major problem: a rebuilt salvage title. Which means that it had been in at least a couple of accidents--totaled in one or more, and repaired up to par with what the state required. It sounded pretty good except for the last part...and we decided that we didn't care to open that can of worms.

Some time later, we found a 1996 F150 (do you see a theme here? We really were considering Chevy's and GMC's) 4x4, extended cab, North Woods edition. I think that one was down south somewhere too. (South of Bellevue, MI anyway) They had a video tour of that one, and it was only a short box, so we kinda left it by the wayside.

But then Fletcher, I mean Mom, found one on craigslist or somewhere, in Lansing. It was almost exactly like the one in wherever it was. (with the video) 1996 F150, 4x4, extended cab, short box, topper, power windows, manual seats (I can actually run them [as opposed to the automatic ones with all the buttons] ), the old style of Ford mirrors--the ones that are big enough you can actually see something in, and pretty decent mileage. It was owned by a very small rescue mission type organization in Lansing.

So we set up a meeting with Mr. Mark, who was the head honcho at the mission. As we neared the corner parking lot where we were supposed to meet him we heard this dull roaring sound getting louder and louder. In fact it was getting so noisy that it was rather unsettling. When we finally arrived at the corner the noise was almost deafening. Then we found out what was making all the commotion. The construction crews on the nearby street had broken a gas main, and it was rushing out of the fissure and causing all the racket. It was also causing evacuations, and news crews were beginning to show up.

However the wost part of it all was that the truck we had come to see was parked in a garage less than a block away from the broken pipe, and we couldn't get to it. I mean come on, just because they're evacuating people, why would that stop anything? We had driven a long ways--maybe 20 minutes or so!

So anyways Mr. Mark agreed to not sell the truck before we could get a chance to look at it. He even offered to meet us half way at Potterville. One afternoon not too long after that Mom and I went over and looked at the truck and took it to a mechanic friend. Who gave us the bad news. (yes I know that is a fragment and not a sentence, but I don't have to turn this in for a grade!) There was a seven dollar seal on the rear end that wasn't replaced quite quick enough. Which meant that the bearings were bad, and could possible mean that more that that was ruined. Which could run about three to four hundred dollars. Which wasn't really that good. The other minor problem was that the rear springs were shot. With no load the box was riding on the overload springs.

But on the plus side the front end had been almost completely replaced--new tie rods and ends, one new suspension arm, new brakes, new front tires. According to Mr. Mark he had intended to keep the truck--and so had sent the truck to the shop and had the front end completely gone over with a fine tooth comb--but unfortunately the financial situation wasn't favorable to that. Mr. Roger the mechanic, said that the repairs to the front end were probably worth around $1600. Thus it could be a good start to having a very nice truck.

And my friend Dan, of the farm and pulling me home (backwards) fame, had an old truck that had also died (well actually he killed it, but he's much easier on vehicles now) a couple of years ago but that he'd kept for parts etc. and which had practically brand new tires that would fit on that truck, and which he'd give to me. (that might be classed as a run-on sentence)

And it would be very nice just to be done. Done looking at every single truck on the face of the earth in the five state area. Done, until you search for a truck for as long as we did, you'll never know the sense of relief that came when we were finally...Done.

So we took the truck home to show to Dad and Jonathan. It passed their initial inspection--"wow, I really like how the topper exactly matches the truck..." (or something very similar to the same effect.) (No names as to which of them actually said that...)

Over dinner we discussed what to do. Finally we decided to see if Mr. Mark could come down on his price at all. We'd give him the sad story about the seven dollar seal...

Later at the corner gas station we met Mr. Mark with the truck. We told him about the repairs that would be necessary etc. He said "well I'm glad you had a chance to look at the truck." and started to walk away...Mom then asked if he couldn't come down any. Apparently, he thought that we weren't interested at all. But he was willing to come down what we asked and so.........

On September 29, 2009 (one day after my birthday) we became the proud owners of a New(er) Truck!!!!!

Praise the Lord, Hallelujah, Amen.

Or something very similar to the same effect. ;-)

Thus I now have a very nice truck in which to haul around my vast accumulation of junk! Which is why I wanted the extended cab in the first place.

And so ends my tale, and now you can see why it was important for you realize that the old truck was dead.

Learning More About the Power of Prayer

2009-12-14T00:26:00.002-05:00

Prayer is something one can always learn more about.

Recently, my parents went to visit an elderly couple from our church who are now in an assisted living facility. One summer day several years ago, we had this couple over for dinner (in part of an unfinished campaign to entertain all of our church family). Other than the fact that we were eating outdoors under a tree (with a table and chairs, of course), there was one specific thing I remember--the gentleman's blessing of the food. He prayed like he knew God, and I could tell he spent a lot of time on his knees. He spent around five minutes blessing our food and addressing the various needs of our families, church, area and nation. It made an impression on me. I've always aspired to pray like that--it seems to be a taste of the way Jesus prayed--intimately knowing the Father, and never uncomfortable or rushed. Their visit reminded me of his prayer, and exhorted me again to a higher level of prayer.

I have been very nervous about this past weekend for some time. Saturday morning was our first practice of the Christmas Pageant I wrote, followed closely by a piano recital with my new teacher (Mr. Cook). Then on Sunday, the Choir (which I'm leading) was performing the hardest piece of the season. In the evening, I directed the Instrumental Ensemble (playing my music) and instead of directing the choir like I usually do (Mom stepped in, thankfully), I played the piano (our regular pianist was at a concert at the Wharton Center).

If you knew me the way God knows me, you would know that when I get nervous, I start praying (like I should have been doing before I started the whole project). Any number of things could have gone wrong. However, after almost everybody arrived on Saturday morning, and we started reading through the script, I could feel God's hand on the production. We have three narrators who have the first two pages of reading. As they were reading through the scriptures and my responses, it was awe inspiring.

"In the beginning was the Word, and the word was with God, and the word was God...
The Word of the Lord came against the serpent...
The Word of the Lord came to Noah...
The Word of the Lord came to Abram...
The Word of the Lord came to David...
The Word of the Lord came to Isaiah...
The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us..."

The reader's voices were exactly what I had envisioned, and did a beautiful job on their first time reading together. Another highlight was the choreographed falling of the shepherds around a mic. The light (the glory of the lord) flipped on and they fell like dominoes (not into each other, though!).

I admit, I was pretty enthused as we rushed home, right up until I started practicing for the recital (which was in less than an hour). My music was still fairly rough, and I knew it. Nervousness started setting in for the second time that day. But, that didn't stop the rush to the recital. I was the last to play, so I got to sit through stunning performances by three of Mr. Cook's other students. Even as Noah was playing soothingly, my heart was pumping faster and faster. Now, I've performed in front of people before--a lot. This was a new kind of music for me, and a crowd I mostly didn't know (and some people I knew and wanted to make a good impression on, like the Mayor of Charlotte), but that shouldn't have been a big deal for me. Praise the Lord that it was, though. Did I mention I had to give a speech (albeit short) about what I was going to play? Anyway, Noah couldn't play forever. Then it was my turn. I gave it all to God, and I reiterated my Key Word Outline more conversationally than I had done before, and played my pieces better than I've ever played them. Did you know that Jesus is a spectacular pianist?

Today, the choir performed their most difficult piece of the season. We started practice a little early, and nailed the hardest spot the first time. Did I mention I was nervous about this? During the performance later in the service, one of the sopranos and I (Mrs. Carrie) were cracking up at each other, which in turn kept a smile on most of choir's faces. (Choirs sing better in tune when they're all smiling, it emphasizes the words, and certainly makes the carols sound funner). We sang it the best we've ever done. The guys even (mostly) sang their part on 'Joy to the World'! Did I mention I pray when I'm nervous?

Then this afternoon, (I was coming off my praise/adrenalin high), we were looking for a light to help do a scene in the Christmas Pageant and couldn't find it. The scene is a silhouette--the first of three nativity scenes. I went out to the work bench, and when I couldn't find the desired lamp, I reevaluated my objectives. Did I want to do the scene because it'd be really cool, or because it would bring people closer to God? Once I got my priorities right I prayed, looked up, and there was the light hiding on the peg board.

It reminded me of the time (another prayer that really made an impression on me) when Mr. Butler (conductor of HSMA's symphonic band) prayed a simple request over a broken CD player, and within the second it started working.

On the radio this morning, the meteorologist was calling for freezing rain before and during my last Instrumental Ensemble practice. I got up and was reading in Mark where Jesus calms the wind and the waves--so I asked that he would calm the freezing rain. Within the minute, Mom came to tell me that the computer (including a verifiable radar map) said that the freezing rain had already passed earlier in the morning.

I think God's trying to tell me something. My guess is He either wants me to be nervous more often, or to do more praying when I'm experiencing other emotions.

Thank you, Father, for caring enough about me to teach me. Give me grace to learn from your lessons. But most of all, thank you for caring enough about me to send your Son to earth--that the communication lines with heaven could be open.

May God bless all of you as you prepare for this Christmas season.

In Christ,

Jonathan

November Already. Make That December Already.

2009-12-11T00:30:00.003-05:00

To the dear and faithful readers who still peruse this blog on occasion, here's some of the recent (Editor: or not so recent) happenings at our place.

Matthew has a new (Editor: or not so new) truck! It's a dark green 1996 Ford F150 North Woods limited edition (#364 of 2500) in excellent shape. Therefore, he was able to return the old, rusty, beat up (not that any of those things are necessarily bad in a farm vehicle) brown truck to the W. family. The new truck's primary purpose will be transporting Matthew to Alpena and back (for linesman training next year--have we told you about that?), and accordingly gets better gas mileage than the brown truck. (Editor: he's got a post started about his journey to North Woods #364--knowing us, it might get published some time in the next decade)

Contrary to the assumed weather (from the last post), the weather has been quite balmy so far this season (yesterday it pushed 70!) (Editor: or at least it was...), though the sun hasn't been as prominent as we would like. Farmers here are just finishing soy bean harvest (usually done a month ago), and Matthew has planted garlic for next year.

Speaking of planting, I should mention that Matthew has secured (rented) the ~1.5 acre plot across the road for his garden and chickens next year, so we aught to be able to grow a fair amount of produce.

Have we told you that Matthew now has a part time (paying) job (Editor: we just asked you that question on the last post)? Actually, the farm he's working on is less than a half mile from our house, but since the road doesn't go through at this mile, he has to travel about 3 mi. to get there. Not bad, considering how far he travels to get to the W. family farm. He's actually working with another sheep farmer, and has learned how to shear.

In my news, I'm pretty much in charge of Christmas music at church this year. So, I have organized an instrumental ensemble (13 pieces, including pretty much every possible skill level [while we don't have a real professional musician, we've got some pro-sumer's :-) ]), and written the music for it. I called my arrangement of Angels We Have Heard on High, While Shepherds Watch Their Flocks By Night and We Three Kings with Joy to the World and the Hallelujah Chorus (the latter two as motifs): 'Joyful Visitors Cry, "Hallelujah!"' Also, I'm writing a piece for our kid's choir (Do you hear what I hear, the Birthday of a King & Go Tell It On The Mountain) which I'm calling 'Have You Heard It's The Birthday Of A King?' On top of that, I'm directing our Christmas choir and (apparently) chairing a committee of 3 who are organizing our Christmas play. This on top of two piano recitals, our Homeschool band concert, and all my regular work.

That was as far as I got in November (it was approximately the 15th). Life intervened, and now it's December 9th--deep in the heart of Christmas season. And the weather finally looks like it!

I actually ended up getting the piece for kid's choir done too late to perform this year, so it's being postponed. To make up for it, however, I had to write the Christmas Pageant script, which I finished on Sunday. Our first practice is on Saturday (the 13th), then we practice next Saturday (the 19th) and perform in the morning (the 2oth).

Here's the choir arrangement for your enjoyment:

My first piano recital was canceled--it was supposed to be at the local Medical Care Facility, but due to the H1N1 pantophobia no one under 18 was allowed into the building (which includes all mom's student's but me). The second recital (with my new teacher) is scheduled for this Saturday at 1:00. That gives me about an hour to switch gears from Christmas Pageant director to pianist.

Our Instrumental Ensemble is coming along quite well, and we definitely make a joyful noise unto the Lord! Conducting is more of a challenge than I had anticipated (Mr. Butler [who conducts the homeschool band] makes it look so easy!), but I'm getting better. We will be performing on the 20th (same day as the Christmas Pageant), which means we only have one more practice.

This video is of the computer playing the arrangement. I expect the live version to sound much more realistic and also much worse. :-)

The Choir performed their first piece last Sunday, and did very well. We had a really good turnout of guys this year, and even though most of them aren't very good musicians (in their own words), they make us sound a lot better. The hardest piece of the season is scheduled for this week (the 13th), so we should be home free at our practice on Sunday night. On the 27th, we'll be leading congregational singing for the entire service. On the 20th (the same day as the Instrumental Ensemble and the Christmas Pageant), we'll be performing a medley of angel carols (Angels From The Realms of Glory, Angels We Have Heard on High, and Hark! The Herald Angels Sing), and leading the congregation in a new song that we want them to learn. The other congregational carols are all interspersed between things that I'll be directing, so I'm just going to direct that music, too.

Winter preparations are in full swing on the home front, as well. This afternoon, we're canning some carrots. Matthew has yet to bag a deer, but he only recently discovered that his sights were off about 2 feet at 100 yards. After re-sighting the gun, getting a deer shouldn't be a problem. We've moved the old, dead red Chevy out of the garage (and cleaned that side of the garage, which was a 5-day, ~15 man hour project) so we can move the second van inside. Across the road, we have ~10 cords of wood stacked, ready to be incrementally moved into the basement. While that's not enough to keep us supplied all winter, there's plenty more where it came from.

We returned home from cutting wood under a sterling blue sky (Editor: this paragraph was written on Nov. 14 after the said wood cutting)--around 4:30 the clouds began to roll in, like gold capped chariots leading an solid front of blue warriors. The energy source of life split into pastel rays passing through the atmosphere, and moved behind the clouds to light another day elsewhere. Heedlessly, the work in the field progressed. After the sun's full retreat, when only the light of the headlights from the trucks and skid-steer illumined our labors, we estimated that the stake truck bore a solid 9 cords of split wood into the barn. Additionally, many piles of unsplit wood destined for other wood burners remained in the pasture. The genial farmer (from whom we were getting the wood) and his family finished the day with us by indulging in chili and warm conversation--then it was to home. A good day. A productive day. A day of hard work. And we will appreciate our stockpile in the cold of winter (if it comes [Please Lord!!!], maybe with snow?), when a warm fire in the furnace will warm our weary bodies and sooth our battered souls. Then, we will praise the Lord and his provision.

About a week ago, Mom took really sick. It was an unusual bug, because it only immobilized her with crippling dizziness and mild nausea. Nothing major unless you had planned to do anything during the 5 day duration of the sickness. However, during her incarceration she watched a cooking show that inspired her to make a large meal tonight (Editor: 'tonight' being today, December 9). The meat is a bottom round roast, seared in a cast iron pan and slow roasted in a elevated rack to seal in the natural juices. This is accompanied with mashed potatoes, carrots, raisin brown bread, and a strained broth gravy cooked with mushrooms and vegetables. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

I have big plans for January, in the way of entrepreneurship. My piano teacher (who happened to be a vice president for Family Christian Bookstores for 30 years) and his business partner (who happens to be the current mayor of Charlotte, MI) have offered to help me get a business plan, figure out financial strategy, etc., pro bono! However, I'm waiting till January because of everything I'd already committed to for the Christmas season.

(Editor: time passes, 'today' becomes December 10)(Editor: and more time passes while I'm still working, and it becomes December 11)

Of course, other things are happening, too. Both at home, at work, and at play. And, as usual, we have opinions on many, many topics of which we have only scraped the surface of here on the blog. But, I think that's most of the major things that are happening here (none of us are running for office, yet). And, since (Editor: at the time of writing) you haven't even heard the things I've enumerated above, I'm going to wrap up this post.

Thank you for your patient endurance.

"Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee." - Isaiah 26:3 [KJV]

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
He was with God in the beginning.
Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.
In him was life, and that life was the light of men.
The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.
(John 1:1-5)

God blessed male and female, and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; But you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die."
(Gen 1:28, 2:17)
But at the prompting of the Serpent (Satan), Adam and Eve ate of the tree from which the Lord had commanded them not to eat. And the world was cursed.

The word of the LORD came against the Serpent:
"I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel."
(Gen 3:15)
God promised redemption.

The word of the LORD came to Noah:
" I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. But I will establish my covenant with you."
(Gen 6:13,18)
The flood waters came, but Noah and his family were safe in the ark.

The word of the LORD came to Abram:
"Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."
(Gen 12:1,3)
God established his covenant with Israel through Abraham.

The word of the LORD came to David:
"When your days are over and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish His kingdom. Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.' "
(2 Samuel 7:12,16)
The Messiah would come from the line of David, a king after God's own heart.

The word of the LORD came to Isaiah:
"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulders: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end,
He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.
(Isaiah 9:6-7a [KJV], 7b [NIV])
" The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him-- the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD--and he will delight in the fear of the LORD.
(Isaiah 11:2,3 [KJV])

The word of the LORD came to Noah:
The word of the LORD came to Abram:
The word of the LORD came to David:
The word of the LORD came to Isaiah:
"The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."
(John 1:14)

[And Christ Jesus], being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
(Phil 2:6,7)
He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.
Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God--
(John 1:11-13)
And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death--
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
(Philippians 2:6-11)

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.
This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.
(John 3:16 [KJV], 17-19 [NIV])

The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.
(Isaiah 9:2)

(Editor: the beginning and end of my Christmas Pageant, verses from NIV unless noted)

And now for some quick housekeeping:
As a rule, I don't participate in various pyramid information notes (as in tagged questionnaires, etc.). I was recently tagged in one such post---while I'm not going to participate, I will, however, return the referral: Man of Courage.

While I'm recommending blogs, checkout John Moore's online abode: Life, by John. He doesn't post much anymore (must have more important things to do, like Life [along with being the director of an nationally acclaimed independent film {The Widow's Might}, and trying to produce a follow-up]!). However, some of his recent archives are well worth reading.

Speaking of bloggers who post sporadically, I would like to suggest that the easiest way to keep up with PotterVilla Academy is to use an RSS reader: just look for the link about 1/4th of the way down the sidebar. I would recommend the Google Reader, as it's the only one I've had experience with. Or, you can use Blogger's built-in "follow" functionality.

We have recently started being spammed! (that means that something found us on the search engines!) In the interest of not having to spend more time deleting comments than we spend writing posts, I have disabled "do follow" (Editor: that was enabled a while back to encourage commenting). So posting a comment will no longer get you an SEO hit from our blog. However, we still like hearing back from the thoughtful people who appreciate our work (or even anybody who reads our work!). The comment section is still down there for discussion and response, and moderation is still disabled.

In Christ, Fidem Servate, Ad maiorem e Solem Dei gloriam,

Jonathan

Winter?!?

2009-09-24T07:39:00.002-04:00

I just look at the weather report and it looks like I'd better get busy pretty darn quick!

Mon
Sep 28

Few Showers / Wind

High 59°
Low 41°

Tue
Sep 29

Partly Cloudy

High 57°
Low 30° There's the problem!

Wed
Sep 30

Sunny

High 61°
Low 42°

I think I need to get those hoops up over the garden, and cover them with plastic presto. For Tuesday though I can probably just lay plastic over the plants...I thought that frost wasn't supposed to come till, like, the middle of October....

Things headed to the top of the to-do list:

Cover Garden -- Hoops up/stove in place

(First I need to pull up some stuff, knock down the corn and do a little tilling)

Cut wood -- it looks like a looong coold winter...

Find those Long Johns...

Hoping for more fall than we've had,

Matthew

The ability to vote "NO" on the next millage

2009-09-18T11:12:00.005-04:00

(Edit: this post was laying on my computer for ~4 months after the ~2 months the card was!)

I finally got my voter registration turned in (the paperwork had been sitting [filled out] on my desk for ~2 months, just needed to mail it)! Our township clerk was very prompt sending out the ID card:Now, if we only had some good people to vote for...

On an agrarian note, today (Edit: 'today' when I wrote this, not today, December 9) ( is chicken butchering day! Matthew, Mom and a couple of his farming friends are processing 50 roosters out back. I'm staying in the house to man the phones. As much as philosophically I'd like to be helping them, I still can't stomach seeing the innards ripped out of something that was alive several minutes ago. The Whizbang Chicken Plucker is impressive, though.

On a monetary note, Matthew has a new paying job with another area sheep farmer. If you ask nicely, maybe he'll divulge some details. ;-)

On a technology note, I now have my computer tower setup in the office:

Well, that's all for today (Edit: 'today' being September 18. Today, December 9, I'm currently processing a post from November ~15).

God bless and keep, Fidem Servate,

Jonathan Potter

Fall

2009-08-18T17:01:00.002-04:00

I was out minding my own business, mowing the lawn and it hit me. It wasn't all that painful (unlike the branch that left a sizable welt across my chest from the same mowing job) but it was a rather startling realization none the less.

Fall is here.

You see, I can tell because the light has changed. It is no longer the harsh broiling light of summer. The light has taken on a softer, cooler tint; its not the merry blush light of spring, no this is definitely an autumnal light. Which, when combined with the cooler temperatures (at least at night) begins to bring the rush of fall activity.

You might make something of a study of light at different times of the year. There are certainly days that are exceptions to the general condition of the light during the seasons, but there is something of a different quality to the light of each season--look for it if you don't already, you might be amazed at the spectrum.

But wait--you might say (as indeed, I myself d0) my tomatoes aren’t even beginning to ripen yet! However for all our wishes the fact remains...fall is here. Many farmers around here are praying for a delayed fall this year--due the the cooler summer temps and rain-delayed planting, a lot of soybeans are nearly a month behind their usual maturity. An early frost could spell disaster for many. It would not be the first time though, if we had frost in early to mid September....

Soon the holidays will be upon us--Deer Season, Thanksgiving, Christmas... Winter, with her howling winds and (hopefully) deep snows when the light will change yet again, to a pale wane glimmer. Yet the story of changing life does not end there--it has been promised that for "as long as the earth shall endure, Seedtime and Harvest, Cold and Heat, Summer and Winter, Day and Night shall never cease."

Matthew

What you might miss by taking the freeway through life: Part 4, A Multi-Generational Dream

2009-07-29T18:30:00.003-04:00

This series is titled (obviously), what you might miss by taking the freeway through life. The freeway is the easier way, but there is a richness in God's country just like what you miss by jetting through God's life in the fast lane.

A Multi-Generational Dream

In the context of a Church where the retention rate of our youth is nearing 10%, let me tell you a story (this story has the added benefit of being true!). Recently, an elderly gentleman died, had a funeral, and was buried. Nothing was special about his death or burial. At his funeral, however, there was an extraordinary sight. This man was fairly prolific, between his children, grand kids, and great grand decedents. But that wasn't what was special. Every man, woman, child, great grand kid or son was a bible believing Christian. In the section marked 'reserved', maybe 50 human beings sat who all knew where they were going when they got to dad/grampa/great-grampa's current position. Somehow, I don't think that was a coincidence. Others wondered too, some of those who were actually at the funeral.

The man's elderly widow explained: every morning since the day they were married, her husband had prayed for all those kids. They weren't even born yet, and he prayed for them! Every day, without fail, her husband would rise early in the morning, and pray for his kids, grand kids, and great grand kids, usually for an hour. I don't know how old this man was, but say he was 85, and he got married at 20. For 65 years, he spent 1 hour each day praying for his family, and for their salvation. That's 1 hour per day X 360.25 days in a year (including leap year) X 65, which works out to 23416 hours, 1950 days @ 12 hours a day, or 3 years of praying 24/7. Per capita, that's only 468 hours, 39 days @ 12 hours a day, or just a little over a month. Which I consider a pretty good return: 475 hours to bring a soul to eternity with God. Just 23500 easy payments of 59:95!

However, heaven isn't for sale. I mock the shopping channel gimmick purely to put our selfishness and shortsightedness in prospective. Salvation is by faith alone, not by works that any man should boast. See, by God's grace are you saved, through faith. Faith that God sent his one and only Son, the Word that was with God in the beginning, into the world not to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him. Many people today are destined to destruction--their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame, just like it was 2000 years ago when Paul wrote Philippians, 3000 years ago when Solomon wrote 'there is nothing new under the sun', and 4000 years ago when the earth was so filled with filth that God power washed the whole thing down with a global flood. Someday in the future, He'll have to get out his flame thrower. I certainly want to be as refined as possible before that happens! In the mean time, God uses things like funerals to remind us of the real meaning of life.

My point is this: the Church is falling apart, and the remnant wants to fix it. Seeker Sensitive churches cater to the crowds, and draw 6-figure attendance, but spiritually it's like chaff in the wind. Not what would hold up in that flame thrower. Fundamentalists keep doing what they've done for the past 50 years and expect a different result, with fewer and fewer people attending every year. I've come to believe that multigenerationalism could be the solution to our problem.

See, multigenerational thinking considers effects not only you in the present, in considers you in the future, your family, and future generations. Multigenerationalism takes the golden rule to the extreme, applying it to neighbors who don't even exist yet. Multigenerationalism is what inspired the founding fathers to create a society of freedom, even though it cost them terribly. The ultimate example is Christ, who paid the ultimate price for succeeding generations. Too many individuals live for the moment, plan for pleasure, and ignore the needs of the rest of the world and the example set by their forefathers. High on the list of engraved commandments, God promises to show love to a thousand generations of those who keep His word!

Faith without action is dead, according to the apostle James. If you want good things for your future generations, but still put your own interests ahead of theirs, it does no good. For example, You can be thinking all the right multigenerational things, but if you send your kids away from your influence 8-10 hours (school + work), 8 hours of sleep and 6 hours of TV, your kids are going to inherit the (almost completely) negative legacy of TV, their peers and their school curriculum. 'But wait', you might say. 'My kids have Christian teachers!' Right. In a system which bans public prayer, Bible reading and Christian ideas while promoting materialism, evolution and disregard for God, teachers are hogtied by curriculum, regulations, and federal money. Let's face it folks, the cards are stacked against Christian kids in the public schools.

From a philosophical standpoint, these school systems were designed to mass educate for the sole purpose of manning mass-production facilities. We have robots that can perform repetitive tasks now, we really don't need humans who are capable only of doing that. What happens to individuality when you program 30 things the exact same way, and 100,000,000 things using the same method? (Sorry to keep referencing programing, but it's what I do: PotterVilla Applied Technology!) How can a personal faith with a living God flourish when it's processed by a spiritual meat grinder? God (as usual) knew what He was talking about when he told parents to educate their children, and to impress the scriptures on their minds--education by proxy just isn't cutting it.

If you're responsible for someone being in that system, consider this a challenge. If you're a kid in the system, know that I, and others, are praying for you. Know that God won't give you more than you can bear. Keep the Faith, look beyond the world and today's challenges, and God will help you. "Come near to God and he will come near to you." (James 4:8)

I'm not here to offer discouragement over the state of our world though; 10,000 news outlets exist to do that. There's a Hope--not just hope for the afterlife, but Hope for living out. I'm speaking primarily to my generation, but old dogs can still learn new tricks. We've been given a torch that's burning out. By the grace of God, we can fan it back into full flame! We can rebuild our hills and throw off our bowls! We can setup a legacy of blessing that will last for 1000 generations!

Temptation says we are alone. That's what Elijah thought. "Yet I [God] reserve seven thousand in Israel--all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and all whose mouths have not kissed him." Here are a few bloggers of the 7,000 in America (I'm linking to good posts, so if this struck a nerve with you, read them! If this didn't, read them!): Promised Land, and a longer post I need to read again from Promised Land, resources at Down On The Farm, an agrarian experience from TN Farmgirl, God's provision at ND Homekeeper, and celebrating independence day at her son's blog Adventures of a Turtle Mtn. Hillbilly. As far as I'm concerned, these are the finest posts and blogs on the net.

This is my dream. I have a dream that one day my children will rise up and live as men and women of God. I have a dream that one day in these amber waves of grain, sons, fathers and grandfathers will sit together at the Christian table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the purple mountain tops will be transformed into an oasis of Godliness. I have a dream that four generations after me will live together in a nation where the character remains intact through multiple generations. I have a dream today! 'I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be maid plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; "and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together."' This is our hope, and this is the faith that I live for.

Now to Him who is able to keep you from falling, to the only God our Savior; to Him who can do immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine; to Him who was raised from the dead so that we might bear fruit to God; to Him who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see; to Him who all things are from and whose power is at work within us; To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father; to Him be glory in the Church, majesty, power, authority, honor and might for ever and ever! Amen.

"Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the King." "Prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed." (1 Peter 2:17, 1:13)

"Make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love." (2 Peter 1:5-7)

Ever in His Peace,

Jonathan

P.S. Thanks for reading.

What you might miss by taking the freeway through life: Part 3, A Fallen World

2009-07-28T16:30:00.003-04:00

This series is titled (obviously), what you might miss by taking the freeway through life. The freeway is the easier way, but there is a richness in God's country just like what you miss by jetting through God's life in the fast lane.

Ruminations on a fallen world

Everywhere you look while traveling those back roads, evidence of the curse abounds. An apparently pristine forest is overflowing with mosquitoes. And anyone who doesn't think that mosquitoes are results of the curse (or were horribly disfigured and terribly re-purposed after the curse) must live on the moon. Yet, they are still marvelously designed! A recent article in Answers magazine discussed poisonous snakes, and the amazing design behind them (I'd link to the article, but it's not unlocked yet). Satan doesn't have that kind of creativity. So, God must have designed animals, at some point, to kill other animals and people. Which begets the bigger question, did God create man with the intent that he could kill other men? I've thought long and hard about that question, but can only answer that God knows what he's doing. He knows best. After all, He knew enough to create everything! :-)

A corn field is withering from drought. Why does God hold back rain when He knows it will hurt a farmer (or rather a farmer's bottom line)? Come to think of it, why does God reserve control of the weather to himself? Just imagine how thrilled Al Gore would be to have the universe's thermostat (or at least earth's) handed to him! Or how enthusiastic old folks would be if they could have their yard at 85 and let the neighbor kids play in the snow at 30 degrees? But, what would happen if everyone decided they wanted 77 degree weather for a couple of months? chances are, much life on earth would die. See, the air flow depends on temperature differences (By the laws of thermodynamics, heat travels from hot to cold, and thus moves air, which then creates low and high pressure systems, which is how meteorologists predict the weather), and Humans depend on fresh air. If air stopped moving, it would grow stagnant and polluted. It would be like living inside a sealed box--our own carbon-dioxide would kill us.

Ok, you say, scientists know about that, and they wouldn't let temperatures be the same worldwide. But, wouldn't it be great to stop global warming with the turn of a dial? Um, no. If you live in the lower Michigan area, you are currently experiencing one of the coldest Julys we've had in ages. If scientists turned down the temperature another 5-10 degrees, I would be looking for my coat and snow shovel. Global warming proponents say that the poles are melting. But if that were true, why are we still getting hit with some very strong hurricanes (Katrina) in the past few years? Hurricanes and strong winds are caused by temperature differences between the equator and the poles. If the poles are getting warmer (and the equator is not getting proportionately warmer, which would mean basically unbearable temperatures at sea level), the heat transfer should be slowing down, not speeding up.

After Noah's flood, if you agree with most scientists (those who believe in Noah's flood, of course), the earth is coming out of an ice age that happened some few (~4500) thousand years ago. And there's a good chance that we're still recovering from that. Have you seen a picture of Greenland recently? Apparently, when the name was given the land was actually green. Now, it's basically a big sheet of ice. I do feel really bad for the people who live in cities built below sea level (New Orleans?), but think of all the land that's uninhabitable because of cold and ice! There would more new land gained than old land lost. Antarctica could become the new New World! Pilgrims could sail/fly there and start a new country! We could be free of American oppression! Oops, someone already tried that, which is why we have America. :-) At any rate, I think it's very fundamentalist and extremist (let's see, what other names do they call us?) to say that the lay of the land can't change. After all, isn't that the new rallying cry of the century, change? Besides, God knows what He's doing. It's very presumptuous to claim that humans have changed the climate when we can't even predict tomorrow's precipitation correctly.

I'm a big fan of lower emissions--like many environmentalist worried about climate control--but not because of their effect on the earth, because of their effect on humanity. People have died from living too close to a poultry factory farm (another reason to buy PotterVilla Pastured Poultry: they cause no waste problems! Environmentally friendly! Fresh! Local! Tasty!) God has called us to be good stewards of His creation, which is another good reason not to pollute. Creation includes other humans, though. We can't completely neglect them while being over cautious about trees or endangered hamsters or something.

Another result of the curse: as we traveled along the back road, two young men (quite young, and apparently brothers) were quarreling. Not a fight, yet (at least that I could tell). One of the first examples of the curse the Bible gives us is a story about two young men by the names of Cain and Abel. They had a small argument that turned into a big argument, which turned into an outright war, which ended with one brother dead and the other a murderer. One of the saddest things things in the world today is how families split apart and their members declare war on each other. You only have one family, you should take care of it! I see so many sons estranged from their fathers, who live to regret the trivial arguments that began the separation. The relationship between a father and son can be the most rewarding that a man can ever have (I haven't spoken of female relationships simply because I'm not a woman. [A Jew would thank God for the fact right now because of the supposed inferiority of that gender, but I'll just thank Him because that's how he made me and He knows what He's doing!]). Particularly the relationship with our Father in heaven, which is the real relationship that Cain was ignoring.

Another highly disregarded relationship is the one between a man and his wife. Not enough value is placed on the other party, and the single party that they both have become. Once divorced, both the man and the woman go through the rest of their lives missing parts of their selves. How different could our society be if we took care of our relationships? With both God and other people? I'm not talking about the whole citizenry of the world (though that would be amazing!!!!), just the citizens of heaven, who should know better! How can the Church be a lamp on a stand, a city on a hill, if we tune our light to the same frequencies the world uses? When we're supposed to be bright white visible light, why are we on invisible, radio active X ray channels?

The Church needs to wake up, look up and stand tall, instead of groveling in the world's filth. But back to the disputing brothers. No one taught these guys how to fight. Or at least, how to get on each other's nerves. It's been in every boy's system since the first parents sinned--it's an inheritance. Of a bad sort. And girls aren't exempt (I do know that much about them!). It's an inheritance from the first man, Adam. But there's another inheritance, from the Last Adam, that we can give to our children, and grand children and great-grand children: Salvation.

Which brings me to my next major subject, multigenerationalism. [For those who are wondering, I transliterated that before I inscripturated it. :-)]

Part 4: A Multi-Generational Dream, coming Wednesday @ 6:30 p.m.!

What you might miss by taking the freeway through life: Part 2, housing architecture

2009-07-27T14:30:00.002-04:00

This series is titled (obviously), what you might miss by taking the freeway through life. The freeway is the easier way, but there is a richness in God's country just like what you miss by jetting through God's life in the fast lane.

Ruminations from examining housing architecture

You can also see God's hand in the work of his creatures; after all, man was created in the image of God. There is one particular house off road a ways that always catches my attention. It's built on a hill. Coming from the north, it appears to be three stories tall, but I think it's really only two stories tall with a walk-out basement. If you look at the roof of this building, there must be three or four sections, with valleys and ridges all over the place--it's quite pleasing to the eye. Unless you're planning on replacing the shingles on it, that is. Another feature of this house is a lovely wrap-around porch. Over all, I find it very charming.

It's empty. There's a for-sale sign by the drive. This gorgeous house (on the outside) is barren, lonely, and lifeless on the inside, waiting for people to fill it. Which is just like many of the structures built by God, the image that the house builders are based on. Humans, no matter how gorgeous, lively or fulfilled their lives appear from the outside, all have a dark chasm on the inside that howls for God whenever the wind blows, and aches for him when things are still. A chasm, that is, until God comes into the building and gives life--and life to the fullest.

Many people try to fill that chasm with things and activities and friends, which does about as much good as filling a house with dust, spiders and mice--maybe a family or two of squirrels. Nothing will really fill the chasm except a personal, faith and grace based relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

The home of the family that hosted us for the evening was around 5 years old. An A-frame log cabin type home, it utilized a ton of engineering tricks to get a real log feel with the convenience of a modern home. For example, the log exterior was logs cut in half, but the ends were left whole. Inside, 1/4 logs lined the walls--you couldn't tell there was wood and concrete inside them. A plastic chicken wire net keeps the barn swallows out from under the eaves. A valley runs up to one side of the house for a nearly hidden walk out basement, letting the unfinished level can be used for equipment storage. It has a first floor laundry with a shoot from the upstairs bedroom, and a roller clothes line 10 feet from the washer. And that's just a sample of the clever conveniences. Inside, the walls are tastefully lined with trophy turkeys, deer, pheasant, and fox. A real woodsman's palace.

Their home is a simple example of architectural ingenuity and creativity, which in turn is an example of the creativity and ingenuity of their Creator. God created man (people) in His image. He created them to create, like their Creator. And to create creatively! But even creativity can't contain the chasm that creaks and groans for it's Creator.

Our world is fallen, in need of a Savior.

As always, comments are welcome and encouraged.

Part 3: Ruminations on a fallen world, coming Tuesday @ 4:30 p.m.!

What you might miss by taking the freeway through life: Part 1, Leaves Blowing in the Wind

2009-07-26T12:30:00.003-04:00

This series is titled (obviously), what you might miss by taking the freeway through life. The freeway is the easier way, but there is a richness in God's country just like what you miss by jetting through God's life in the fast lane.

We went to a church event down in Calhoun county two weeks ago on a Sunday evening (when I started this behemoth). Instead of taking the freeway--which was all of one minute faster--we took a parallel road (Old US 27).

On the way, I was looking around at all the scenery and noticing the evidences of creation. And not only that, but the results of the curse--and what I can do about it.

It was worth going cross-country. As Charles Kuralt said, "The interstate highway system is a wonderful thing. It makes it possible to go from coast to coast without seeing anything or meeting anybody."

Ruminations from watching leaves blow in the wind

Allow me to begin with an interesting example of God's ingenuity. Place two green objects outside in the sun and rain (not both elements simultaneously, of course [although the resulting apparition is quite pleasing if you mix them at the correct angle {think Noah and ark}]): a piece of cloth and a small maple tree. Now, after setting in the sun for a sufficient period of time (it varies depending on how hot the sun is) the cloth will have turned a light, bleached green. However, the tree will be a darker green. Flip one of the maple leaves over, and it's a lighter color. Being in the sun increased the vibrancy of the leaf.

Consider the technological implications: what if clothes could be made that got brighter in the sun, instead of bleached? What if fabric became stronger as well as cleaner when subjected to water? What if a tear could repair itself? I can hear most of you, at least, saying that's never going to happen until Christ returns.

But, that's what the maple tree does! It gets stronger when it gets dirty and wet, and the summer sun makes its color brighter. What an amazing designer God is!

Look at the green color in plants--most of it is from Chlorophyll (some of us drink that stuff because it's so good for the body). Chlorophyll is what plants use to produce energy from the sun in the process called photosynthesis. So, more of the green stuff is needed where the energy is at than on the underside of the leaf, where there isn't as much sun. And, look at the design: the underside of the leaf isn't as green! The plant can recognize where it needs the chlorophyll and concentrate it there!

From an aspiring AI [artificial intelligence] coder's perspective, plants are extremely complicated. From the same perspective, even the simplest animal is nearly impossible to duplicate electronically. You can imagine my point by trying to predict where that annoying fly that's buzzing around your head is going to land next. You're right, it's basically impossible, as the still annoying fly can attest to. Then, consider your pet dog or cat or rabbit or hamster or ferret: try to imagine what decisions they are making right now (or the last time they were awake, in the case of our aging 18 year old cat who sleeps 16 hours a day and meows the remaining 8). It is nearly impossible for our brains to comprehend the millions of electrical signals that are received, processed, cataloged and sent in an animal's brain in just a few seconds.

Take it up another level. To the next kingdom. To those created in the image of God. Look at humans. Can you imagine a computer just managing all your sensory inputs? Let's start with graphics: a nice $200 point & shoot digital camera takes pictures at about 10 MPs. A $600 video camera can take 30 two MPs pictures in a second. That's pretty much what high-end computers display. One Megapixel (Mp) is 1,000,000 pixels, which are dots of color. Each dot of color has 256 bits (a zero or one) of information in it. So, a 10 MP digital image has 256,000,000 0's or 1's describing it.

The human eye has a resolution of approximately 600 MP ( http://www.clarkvision.com/imagedetail/eye-resolution.html ). Adding color and assuming 30 frames per second, our hypothetical computer would need to process 4,608,000,000,000 bits of data [a 0 or 1] every second. That works out to 576 Gigabytes of data every second (8 bits in a Byte). In 2 seconds, you would have run out of space on one of the biggest hard drive available (1 Terabyte). To record one minute of what your eyes see, you'd need 17 hard drives, which would run you about $3,400. It would take about 15 days (you couldn't even record in real time!) to transfer that data to the hard drives on a modern system. And that's going to be the cheapest part of our computer.

That's solely to process what our eyes see. Then you have to process millions and billions of touch sensors (think a swimming pool filled with tablet PC's, all wired to our hypothetical mainframe), audio, taste, and smell (taste and smell can't be captured to current computer systems, you'd have to design something specifically). Then, figure out a system to make this thing self sustaining and self replicating.

Even after you get a computer that is up to thinking like a human (forget all the other stuff, and I still can't see this happening in the next two centuries [Moore's Law--it's a computer chip speed prediction], and that's banking on the world continuing in its current semi-peaceful state), you've got to program it. Now if you gave me unlimited funds and our super-computer to work with, I'd still need about 4,000-8,000 experienced software engineers and about 40 years to get the thinking processes ready for this behemoth. In all of this, I'm neglecting the spirit of a human, because I don't have enough information to even consider how it is created--and I doubt if we could mess with that kind of stuff even if we did understand it. Ever get one of those 401 'Authentication Required' errors, where you need permission to access a web page? It's like that.

And after all that, consider that God designed his creation to run off plentiful resources. Consider that a woman (with a little jump start from her husband) can create a new one of these machines in 9 months.

And here's the kicker: evolutionists believe that this incredibly complex machine that we're replicating exists because of some mistakes in the programming. Which wasn't really programmed by anybody. And nobody designed and programed this thing without a pattern, like we had. It all just happened when nobody blew nothing up. It kind of begins to sound like the universe wasn't really made that way, doesn't it? :-)

Part 2: Ruminations from examining housing architecture coming Monday@ 2:30 p.m.!

Update and Announcing "What You Might Miss by Taking The Freeway Through Life"

2009-07-25T19:27:00.000-04:00

Dear Visitors, Readers and Fellow Bloggers,

Thank you for your support and encouragement through this time of my graduation and birthday. I appreciate all of you immensely. I know that God will richly bless me in the coming months and years.

Love,

Jonathan

(The above is a modified transcript of my thank-you cards that some of you may or may not have recieved, and I believe the current record holder for the most formal language on this blog. :-)_)

And now, for what I've been doing all these months away from the blogosphere:

I've graduated. But you knew that. I had an 18th birthday, but you knew that too. Those are the major life events that have happened.

At the end of June, I went on tour with our band/orchestra/choir, and had a marvelous time. We played at some really neat places, stayed and a family's house (all 53 of us, in their old high school) for two nights, had a van (pulling our trailer of stuff) break down, had some very generous people fix it, made some new friends, learned a few new musical tricks, and encouraged a bunch of people who listened to us. Some of our contacts beforehand were quite worried that we wouldn't play very well, but by the end they were completely blown away and requested that we come back next year. Which would be a ton of fun. :-) On the bus ride, we were entertained at the microphone with various re-arrangements of songs, tales of valor and of stupor in various events from the last half hour (the time since the teller was last speaking) from all attendees, and my personal favorite, stories written by the entire bus. Once we got home, I typed them up (which was fun)(all 11 of them that I had, two more came through cyberspace later, and one is still at large). Here's a quick sample:

"Once upon a time, a DXS (Department of External Services) agent was flying an F-16 fighter jet through the starlit skies of Pakistan. Then Timothy was released from the plane to attack. He landed in a coma. When he woke up, he went to save Joseph (of the shattering violin) from Ruth, but she hit Timothy with the pillow, sending him into another coma." (names changed to protect privacy, but if you were on tour you know the real names!)

In other news, my businesses have been doing quite nicely since their inception at my graduation. Of course, printed literature is a must for a graduation, as well as for business. Thus, making friends with you local do anything printer (Carrie at Allegra Printing in Charlotte, MI) is a good idea. However, I was caught completely off guard when she offered to put an 11x17 advertisement for me on her wall. For free. All I need to do is design the flier, which means I need a logo. I have some ideas, and may use y'all as a sounding board. :-)

For anyone who is wondering what I do at PotterVilla Applied Technology and PotterVilla Accoustics, let me elaborate.

PotterVilla Technology specializes in helping you "get" technology. We can repair, replace, program, upgrade, basically whatever you need done on your computer. Websites are a specialty--check out aingerbible.org for an example. Soon, we hope to offer data archival services, like converting VHS, VHS-C, Hi-8, Cassette Tapes, LP's and other records, Slide film and printed pictures to digital files.

PotterVilla Acoustics is here to help with all your musical needs. We can rearrange a song to fit your specific group, play for your special event (including Taps at veteran's services, funerals and weddings), or sooth and encourage with recorded music.

Sometimes, both businesses work together, like in a musical slideshow. :-)

I have started taking piano lessons from a guy who actually knows how to play the piano. He's got me working on some really cool arraingements, like Jesu, Joy of Mans Desiring with 'Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus, and Jesus Loves Me with Clair De Lune. Hopefully, I'll be playing real Gosple style hymns soon. :-)

This morning, Mom and I went to a technology sale down to one of the local public school districts, where I purchased: 3 Computers (running Windows XP Pro, and including free 17" monitors, keyboards and mice), 2 VCR's, 2 Cassette Decks, 3 Wireless access cards, 1 Wireless access point, 1 Overhead projector, and 1 automatic boundary mic, all for only $128, about the price of a new copy of Windows XP Professional Edition. Most of that will be used for my business, with some for the church.

Why this school district had the capital to purchase ~400 computers to use then sell at $25 each is a topic for another day. As is the current economic system, and why college shouldn't be necessary. As is the KJV and NIV Bible issue. As is decentralization (which I'm in favor of, by the way, just call me a independent agrarian anti-federalist). And on and on--you get my picture. Subjects abound, time does not.

The other main thing I've been doing over the past two weeks is writing a blog post. A really long one (for me). It's about 4500 words, 8 pages. It all started when we took an alternate route along the back roads (which Matthew tells me is really a main drag [It's not as main as the freeway, which we didn't take {it still used to be a major US transit, though}])...

Stay tuned: the first post in this four part series is set to publish at 12:30 p.m. tomorrow!

A Short Sunday Something

2009-07-19T16:15:00.002-04:00

So it's not much of a title but at least it's a triple :-) (kinda an inside IEW writing joke, sorry)

Our "regular" Sunday School teacher is busy being the Swine Superintendent at the Fair this week so our Pastor filled in for him this morning. Then for the morning message he preached on Christian Baptism--appropriate since there's a baptism scheduled for this afternoon at Five. It might be in the rain, (it's raining now) since the forecast calls for a 75% chance of rain at 6pm. Although the official (constitutional) church belief is in immersion, it appears that the candidates may also be sprinkled! [One thing Pastor emphasized is that we should have a spirit of humility in presenting our beliefs, since not only are we commanded to love one another, but also that ultimately, there is only one faith and one baptism (Eph 4:5).]

I would also like to share a snippet from one of the songs:
Tho my heart grows weary,
I never will despair
which I thought was a good reminder to 'keep on keeping on.' For after all He Lives!

On another note: A few of my chickens have turned broody. And at least one downright mean. She tried to destroy my flashlight--pecked it so hard I'm surprised it didn't break the lens. Before I could reach right under no problem--seems she's a might protective now though.... So any how we've decided to let the hens be and see what happens, all we'll be out is a few eggs, and we might get some chicks. We'll have to see how it turns out.

Well in keeping with the promise of "Short" I'll sign off now,
Matthew

P.S. Jonathan's 18th birthday is tomorrow, so drown him in birthday comments!

Time for more Chicks

2009-07-11T13:39:00.002-04:00

Yesterday was butchering day. The day that the broilers went from pen to freezer.

Thanks to my Whizbang Chicken Plucker (from Mr. Kimball's (over at the Deliberate Agrarian) plans) and a sharp knife processing is pretty much a breeze. Kind of a messy, slightly bloody breeze, but a breeze none the less. It gets easier once you've done a few hundred or so too.

But all that is now done. Finished. For this time.

Now I'm ready to start all over again with a new batch of chicks. So if you are in the area and would like some tasty, homegrown chicken (rather than that nasty, "plain gross" chicken from the store) please try some of our PotterVilla Pastured Poultry.

For more on the chickens check out the link above, or visit our website pottervilla.net where we also have info about all of our other PotterVilla Associates services.

I guess you could say that this has been more or less of a infomercial post :-) [Brought to you by PotterVilla Associates!]

'Till next time,

Matthew
(PotterVilla Pastured Poultry)

A Graduation, A New Job, and Some Other Stuff

2009-06-28T16:54:00.000-04:00

It seems like I always start out by saying that it's been awhile since I've posted....So I'm not gonna do that this time :-)

Instead I'm going to jump straight to the headlined news....

Jonathan has now officially graduated, and is planning on doing some Interesting Things. (For further details you'll have to beg him to post)
As you might be able to tell we had a very formal graduation ceremony! ;-) The place was packed out. It was just about standing room only--the camera man (that's me. Well actually I was substituting for the real camera man--he was graduating, and the real video camera man--he's the principle; which left only me to run both cameras. Quite dangerous really.) did get a chair, which was awfully handy because I needed all the stability I could get to keep the camera still. And I guess the dog did lay down through most of the proceedings. So it wasn't quite standing room only....

Now that I think about it there were fewer people there than at my graduation. (Grama was here for his open house (I managed to avoid that horrendus experience where droves of people decend on you like a swarm of bees [the difference being that, as I understand swarming bees {honey bees anyway} don't sting]) but had to leave before the official ceramony, where she was here for mine)

Our other big piece of newsworthy news is that Dad is officially employed again after ten months of being off work! We are thanking the Lord for this encouraging turn of events. He's had several interviews that didn't pay off, but then he had one through a certain recruiting agency (what it's called I don't remember, and it doesn't matter in the least) and the next morning they called up with a job offer. Yesterday was his first day. So far so good. {he's now been there for a week. Still so far so good. }
It is classified as an "indefinite contract position" which means, in practical terms (money) that he is an hourly employee with no benefits--however there isn't a time limit on employment. It's a very different situation than what any of us are used to. The company--Tenneco--is "one of the world's leading designers, manufacturers and distributors of emission control and ride control products and systems for the automotive original equipment market and the aftermarket."-from the tenneco website http://www.tenneco.com/Overview/ The plants Dad will be working at are in Jackson and Grass Lake, about an hours drive from here. But all and all, it seems to be something that will work, for now at the very least. The company does sometimes hire the contract workers to work directly for them.

In "Other Stuff" news....

The Chickens are doing well, they survived my method of overwintering them (portable coop with a couple of extra layers of plastic and a heat lamp for the coldest of nights) on the garden and are now happily ranging over part of the backyard. I put up a (fairly short, 39" I think) woven wire fence with a few hog panels for a gate, and that has kept them in with a very few exceptions--for which we have Baxter! We have not had to clip wings or anything. They are just happy staying in. Perhaps it's because they know Bax will get them if the get out. I had one die of unknown cause and one that needs to be butchered but were still averaging 7 eggs a day out of 9 hens (not counting the one to be stewed).
This is their current home:
I am also in the process of raising a small batch of broiler chickens. They're currently just over five weeks old. Since I was getting quite tired of filling their one gallon fount over and over and over again I bit the bullet and payed out the 4o bucks for a bell-matic poultry waterer. Those things are pretty slick. Plus it helps ensure that the birds always have a supply of water.

The garden is doing quite well these days, we've had quite a bit of rain and warm temps--not so good for the lettuce, but the corn and tomatoes are gobbling it up. The corn (which I got planted none too early) is up even to Jonathan's knees (he's 6'5") [ It's now about 4 days later and the corn has shot up to roughly waist high]. I was really late planting this year, for reasons I don't clearly remember, but it's been a fairly cool year too. Or at least up 'till now--tomorrow it's supposed to be 90 degrees. Too hot for mid June, in my humble opinion.

Following is a picture of where I hope to have a garden next year. It is just across the road from us. The spot where I plan to rent is right up to the road so it would be feasible to have a little stand if I come up with enough extra produce to make having such a thing worthwhile. I had hoped to have use of it this year but the people farming it currently had already seeded it to wheat by airplane before the soybeans were harvested (which was when the owner talked to them about letting me have it). I still want to keep some sort of garden where it is now too. Perhaps extending the hoop house and installing the wood stove I bought this spring at an auction. Another big project we've been working on is our roof. A major hail storm (golf ball sized hail) ripped through our area last summer devastating many crops (or completely wiping them out in the worst hit places) and damaging almost all of the roofs in the path of the storm--ours included. So the insurance company paid to have the house and garage roofs torn off and replaced. We thought it sounded like a good way to make/save some money so we did most of it ourselves. The second story roof is just too steep and high for us to feel comfortable working on it, so we hired a contractor to do that part.
We were able to borrow a skid steer from the W.'s (they have the farm I help on). That sure made things a lot easier....Here we're using it as a scaffolding. This roof is the same pitch as the second story, it's just about 20 feet closer to the ground!

It don't look too bad, does it.

Our neighbors to the east (they're a middle aged couple and a pug named Molly) replaced their roof and some siding last summer. Then some time this spring, (late March or early April I think; can't remember just now) their whole house burned to the ground. They barely escaped with their lives. Her hair was badly singed and his back looked like it had been badly sunburned. (The dog made too, not much the worse for the wear)

Our city has two fire departments, one on each side of the railroad tracks (their volunteer) but they still had to call in tankers from two or three other departments to get enough water to control the blaze.

Now several months afterwords, and after an excavator, bulldozer and several semis worked for a couple of days it looks like this:They asked us to mow it for them, and I ended up getting a brush hog from the farm to come in and get it all knocked down--it was just too thick for our poor mower to handle.

Speaking of the farm...We've been baling hay. About 80 acres of it. This time around it's been almost all round bales which just involves moving them with the skidsteer...for second cutting we get to square-bale almost all of it. So if you need something to do on those 80 degree days in the middle of July, let me know. Part of the reason we've round baled so much of this first cutting is that it's been so dog gone hot. The thermometer has been reading right around 120 degrees in the sun,with humidity up around 60%. I've always wanted to help put up hay someplace like, oh maybe Alaska, where you could be comfortable working in a ligh jacket while mowing away hay. Ah, well, as they say make hay while the sun shines. It sure does get hot in that sun though, even though I slather on the sun screen in the morning my face still got so burnt that my nose is starting to peel--that first time I ever remember that happening. What ever happened to the cool year that "they" were predicting?!? Must be we're back to global warming now. :-)

Well I think that's about all the interesting or important happening from around here to I'll sign off for now...

Matthew

Busy

2009-06-27T00:31:00.003-04:00

Contrary to popular opinion, we're still alive and kicking. Though Busy.

Look for more someday when it's not 12:30 in the morning. :-)

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him." John 3:16-17

God bless,

Jonathan

The Price of Free Land

2009-02-07T17:40:00.003-05:00

Today, I got paid for January work from my employer. I was calculating what I could do with it, and then the various claims began to set in. I eared approx. $300:

%15 manditory, off the top, for Social Security--and the government is cutting me a break. I don't have to pay income tax yet, just Social Security. If I had to give them income tax, it'd be more like %25 or %30. And there's almost no chance I'll get anything back from the SS fund. At best, I'm donating to my parent's retirement. At worst, I'm giving to some person who has no business getting my money. - $45.
%20 tithe and contributions--This is the least grudged of the bunch, since I'm not only depositing to my heavenly account, there are rewards down here, too. - $60.
%32.5 to my savings account, saving for something in the future. With the amount I'll be putting in, after a year, I might be able to buy some socks, maybe. (I'm kidding, but it wouldn't even be enough to buy a quarter acre of land or a truck that would run. Oh well, I've got to start somewhere) - $97.50
The remaining %32.5 will be spent sooner saved for later--things on my list include a new chair mat for my computer (the old one was nearly impossible to move around on, but it helps save the carpet.): $25; a new non-stick, 8" sandwich frying pan, which after almost twice a day use for 6 mo. is loosing a major portion of it's non-stick, and possibly killing me (you know about those things, slow, but sure): ~$10; and, a gift for Mom's up coming birthday (the 10th): $20. I can't say what it is because she reads what I write. (Hi Mom!). That leaves about $42.50. My desired next purchase would be a new 1 Terabyte (8,796,093,022,208 bits [a bits is a 0 or a 1], also known as really, really big!) hard drive, which would really help when I go to reinstall my various operating systems. I would also come in handy if and or when I start the media restoration digitization and archival service, and start working with big files (I'll spare you the bit count :)). I'll need to work this much again next month (maybe more, as my employer is re-negotiating my wage) to put with that $42.50, and I'll be able to pay the $95 for the Samsung model that I would like.

All of which brings me around to a column that I read on freedom, by Chuck Baldwin. I'm not going to paraphrase, so here's the quote:

"For example, we will work for 30 years or more to purchase our own property. After having done that, however, the property still does not belong to us. We are required to pay the State--for the rest of our lives--a property tax (to support concepts and ideas that many of us find reprehensible and detestable, no less), or armed agents will confiscate our property and throw us on the street. Pray tell me, what is the difference between this and the feudal system of old? In reality, none of us own any property. We are all serfs paying the feudal lord. Beyond that, our feudal masters even dictate to us what we can and cannot do with this property we supposedly own. We do not even have the right to manage and control our own land. And yet, we Americans put up with this illegitimacy and still have the audacity to say, "We are free." Again, we don't know the meaning of the word.

Virtually everything we do and say is monitored by the great Nanny State. Practically every service, every act is regulated by the State. Ask any independent business owner how many regulations, laws, acts, etc., demand fulfillment, and how many fees, taxes, permits, etc., are required by various government agencies and bureaucracies before he can perform a single task. For example, the federal government actually dictates how some restaurants can seat people or serve tables. Farmers are told what and how much to plant--and even to not plant. We cannot buy a gun, drive a car, marry the person we love, or even install a toilet without saying, "Pretty please?" to a dozen despots. And we still wave the flag every Independence Day and brag about how "free" we are. Again, we don't know the meaning of the word."
chuckbaldwinlive.com

"America is a land of taxation that was founded to avoid taxation." - Laurence Peter

"They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity--for a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him." - 2 Peter 2:19

"I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us--whatever we ask--we know that we have what we asked of him.

We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one. We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true--even in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life." - 1 John 5:13-15, 19-20

May God bless you and keep you, and may He make His face shine on you and give you peace.

Jonathan

Piano Results

2009-01-26T13:22:00.007-05:00

It's only been two days, which might be a record for a new post. :)

Anyway, Rachel (a local homeschool friend, as well as an accomplished musician) dropped by wondering how the congregational accompanying went, and since the last time I commented, Matthew thought it was long enough for a post, so I figured I'd do as he suggested first off.

Sunday went very well. No major blunders, no major mistakes--what more could a pianist ask? :)

As to whether I've done this before, only the occasional Sunday night when our usual pianist wasn't around, and when the group was reduced to the group of regulars who can almost completely carry a tune piano-less.

I've been putting in some good hours with the tech support job, and plan to put in a few more before the end of the month. And, today is band, so it's definitely been and being a full day, after having my first appointment at 9:00 this morning.

But supper's ready, so I'm going to sign off.

"Now to him who is able to establish you by my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past, but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all nations might believe and obey him--to the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ! Amen." - Romans 16:25-27

May the Lord bless and keep,

Jonathan

Annoucing Weather Quotes

2009-01-23T20:55:00.005-05:00

It's been a while. No, it's been quite a while. Actually, it's been 6 months, 4 days, and approximately 4 hours since my last post. Fortunately, Matthew has been keeping the blog somewhat sputtering with life, but most would admit that our writings have been few and far between. Like almost once a month.

I will begin by calling your attention to one of the new features of our sidebar: I installed a 'Cellar' which has some 'Buried, but tasty, morsels.' The first item of business in the cellar is the music player control, of which you can finally see the entire thing (a known problem with our previous setup). To get to the cellar, look for a picture of an underground canning storage center, otherwise known as a 'Cellar.' Some of you may have one of these at home. Anyway, click either on the picture or the text below. At the bottom, there's a link to get back. It's got some other interesting stuff down there too.

So, if you don't want the music to play, and have lost the controller, it's down in the Cellar.

Next order of business: On a contract basis, I've started doing tech support for the company mom tutors with (you remember that from back 3.5 eons ago, right? A homeschool supportive, though not exclusive, company that provides English speaking tutors to Koreans? She teaches them over the internet?). It's kind of challenging work, as the software they use is about 90% broken, as in it doesn't work. However, we're now working on transitioning over to another program, that's much nicer in terms of technical foundation.

And here's the third and final major announcement: I'm going to graduate this year. I've decided that I have spent enough time focusing primarily on academics, and that I'm ready to start focusing on other things, like starting various businesses that I've had ideas for for quite a while, and learning new skills, etc. One might also argue that I'm getting tired of Integrands and Anti-differentials. While I don't plan to go to college, there's still some more things I'd like to get wrapped up on the academic front--we're a little over a third of the way through the calculus book, which I'd like to finish, and we're a little further back in the Adv. Physics book. If I can still add 2 and 2 by the time I get all that done, I think Adv. Chemistry would be interesting, too. But my primary focus will be shifting from stuffing my head with new things that I probably won't use that much, and switching to useful things.

Here ends the first part of the post.

This, if ya'll 'll get my point, is what you'd call the second half. I'm done making those dull, boring, tedious, stuffy things called 'announcements'. Now, I'm (hopefully we're) gonna have some fun. and I just might stop writing in complete sentences. 'Cuz I said so. Now, wasn't that fun! Exciting! and enough to make an English teacher about bust? :)

Sunday, over to the church, I'll be playin' the piano. For congregation singin'.Ya see, our regular pianist has done gone and messed up her shoulder. The right one, I believe. But she went and tricked it by bein' a lefty. :) Anyhow, she can't play the piano, and is goin' to therapy 'n all to prove it, so I (being the next-in-line for the bench [Mom resigned her place in that line a while back{It's really a lot of stress}]) am gonna do if for her. As of now, I'm supposed to be in two places at once. At the piano and At the computer. I still do the projector presentation too (you remember that, right?). It aught to be interesting. :) And it's my week to play the offertory. So, It'll be a downright ball, I'm sure. Then, there's a Solo and Ensemble competition that I'm doing stuff for, that will be on the 21st. So I'm keeping busy with music. :)

I'm afraid I'm running out of apostrophized words, so it's going to be back to the kings English. Two points for my teacher, eh?

In the way of other interesting tidbits, the weather has warmed up some, not tons, but you can at least go out side without having to wear facial protection from the wind, which has really slowed down in the past couple of days. If you came here looking for a story of Michigan weather, since I haven't been outside enough to tell you about it (there have been some pretty pressing things inside), head over to Jonathan Bartlet's place for a harrowing story of heroism in heat-less North Dakota Winter, where a little forethought and some sleep did and could have, respectively, saved the day. I hope that satisfies your taste for snow. :)

Mom and I have also been doing some literary analysis: so far, we've done 'Great Expectations' by Dickens, and are working on 'To Kill a Mocking Bird', by Lee. Other things on the list include 'Paradise Lost' by Milton, 'Macbeth', by Shakespeare, along with some others.

Now, enough of me, and here's someone else:

"Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job." - Douglas Adams

"When I was a boy I was told that anybody could become President -- I'm beginning to believe it." - Clarence Darrow

"If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their money, first by inflation and then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them, will deprive the people of their property until their children will wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered" - Thomas Jefferson

You know why there's a Second Amendment? In case the government fails to follow the first one. - Rush Limbaugh

"When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you and have taken possession of it and settled in it, and you say, "Let us set a king over us like all the nations around us," be sure to appoint over you the king the LORD your God chooses. He must be from among your own brothers. Do not place a foreigner over you, one who is not a brother Israelite. The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself or make the people return to Egypt to get more of them, for the LORD has told you, "You are not to go back that way again." He must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray. He must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold. When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the priests, who are Levites. It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the LORD his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees and not consider himself better than his brothers and turn from the law to the right or to the left. Then he and his descendants will reign a long time over his kingdom in Israel." - Deuteronomy 17:14-20

"I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts and established in love, through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge--that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." -Ephesians 3:16-20

Ever in his peace,

Jonathan

A Quick Note

2009-01-17T09:16:00.004-05:00

The weather here remains a touch on the chilly side: Highs around 5 degrees F for the last few days, although there hasn't been much wind which makes it quite tolerable (for me anyway). To day that's changing. The high is supposed to be 16, but the wind is roaring around at 20 mph (which makes for a slight wind chill...of about -15). It's been a struggle to keep the house even above 65, but our furnace just isn't big enough for this weather. There is also a lot of complaining from people (like at church, or the store) about how cold it is. But (except for the house heating issue) I kinda like it. I like Winter pretty well, about as well as Summer and Fall...Spring is nice too. Some day I'd like to go out west (say to North Dakota) in the winter to see what cold is really like. I look at it as sort of a challenge--to survive (or even thrive) even when the temps are really cold, plus I like the cold and snow; snow isn't nearly as wet as rain, and so is easier to work in, and in the winter there aren't any flies or misquotes!

Yesterday afternoon Dad had a job interview with the Board of Water and Light in Lansing. This is the first door that has seemed to open in six months. We're thanking the Lord for this opportunity and praying His will be done. It is a job that is still related to his field (electrical engineer) and isn't too far away, about 35 min. The interview was conducted by a panel of two engineer type guys and the head HR person, and Dad said that he thought the interview went pretty well. They told Dad that they'll contact him towards the end of next week to let him know whether or not they want to continue the interviewing process (which consists of at least two or three more interviews with different people). We'd definitely appreciate your prayers in this matter.

Well I'd better get out and feed my chickens so I'll sign off for now,

Matthew

How's This For Lack of a Better Title

2008-12-11T21:05:00.006-05:00

Dear Readers of this Blog,
I have an important announcement to make:
(but don't worry, it's nothing serious)

It has come to my attention that there have been wars, I mean complaints and rumors of complaints that there has been very little action on this blog. Which means, I guess, that I should dispel all of the myths and conspiracy theories which I'm sure don't abound in the blogosphere. So here's the grand abolishment of all of the above: We Haven't Written Anything Lately. And so there you have it. (in other words (to condense the prior paragraph) there hasn't been any action on this blog.) (And all this merely proves that I can write all that and basically say absolutely nothing!)

I am happy :-) to report that I'm now feeling quite a bit better after being under the weather for about a week (off and on). I am sad :-( to report that now Mom and Jonathan seem to be suffering from the same blasted bug.

However, (as some of you may have guessed by now) I'm not feeling particularly serious tonight, so bear with me. (it was you who asked for a post after all) (although perhaps that could be developed into a strategy for generating comments, you know that whole prolonged absence bit...)

Here's a piece I wrote some time ago but never really finished, and of course never posted. But perhaps it will amuse y'all for a bit so have at it. (While your readin' that I'll just mosey on and write a bit more--see ya in two shakes of a dog's tail (provided you have a slow tail wagging type))

"The shades of evening come all too soon, daybreak is later, and still there seems to be no time to rest.

Tonight I stayed home from AWANA because of an incident I had with a logging chain. The whole thing started (and ended) at the W. family farm....We were trying to accomplish a simple task--take hay to the sheep in the first field which is covered in about six inches of snow and is not affording much forage at this point in time. To do this we load round bales on to flat rack hay wagons with the skid-steer and pull them out to the field with a tractor. I warmed up the ol' Ford 7000 and hooked onto the load. The main problem with that choice of horsepower is that Ford (as we affectionately call her) don't have enough weight to say so, and thus in the winter she is apt to sit and spin. Which is what she did. We got her started with a little push from the skid-steer and and I made it as far as the road. Where I stopped to let Daniel climb aboard. That was a mistake. Now I couldn't get started again. (This could (should?) have made us think about getting the bigger tractor right there) So once again I got moving with a shove from the skid-steer (which now has new tires that make it possible to actually do more that just sit and spin-and that was on concrete in the middle of the summer) and this time I kept on going. The road was so icy that Ford did a lot of spinning even once she was going. (Another clue) Now to get to the pasture, you drive down the road aways (maybe a 1/4 mile) and then through a couple of railroad ties and down a lane. Or I should say UP a lane.... Now can you guess where I next ground to a spinning halt? Yup, half way up the hill. Great. Now what? Well, Daniel came up with his Dad's old four wheel drive pick up. He pushed. The tractors wheels spun. The truck's wheels spun. We didn't move so much as an inch. So we went back to the "farm" and got the International 1066 (the "10") and a couple of little chains. Now I mentioned chains seemed kinda small for the job at hand, but we were in a hurry (as usual) and Dan didn't know where the big chains were. I said I didn't want to be around when the chains snapped. (Now in case your thinking ahead here, what you think happened didn't.) So we get the two tractors hooked together, and Dan pulls with the 10. The chain came unhooked. I re-hooked it. Again Daniel pulls. The hook and about four links of chain pull off of the one chain. I re-hook again. Once more the 10 moves forward. Then it happened (don't worry yet). The chain snapped. And landed in a pile in the snow. So we take another trip back to the house where my truck is parked with three logging chains in the back. Unfortunately the chains were frozen in. Fortunately I was able to get them out. Back to the hill where Ford sits stranded. This time we have enough chain that the 10 will be on level ground to pull. So we're laying out the chains and hooking everything up....I hook one chain to the front of Ford, but this one has a frozen link in it. It's not good to pull on a link of chain sideways so I throw my weight into it to break it loose. It broke loose all right. The chain from the tractor that is. The hook came up and hit me just under the eye, leaving a nasty gash (well maybe it's not that bad, but it sure don't look too pretty either), and more of the chain hit me in the mouth. Thank the good Lord for that permanent retainer that the orthodontics people put in--that's the only reason I can think of that I am writing tonight with all of my teeth still in my head. The one tooth is moved slightly out of position but considering the force of the blow, not bad. Apparently the cut on my cheek bone was bleeding quite freely, since the blood was dripping off of my nose and chin....So I did what anyone would do in such circumstances--grabbed a handful of snow and held it to my cheek. Works quite well really, the snow is cold, the pressure helps stop the bleeding, and the snow also absorbs quite a bit of the blood. It is also fairly prevalent. The injury sustained didn't kill me by any means so we continued hooking up the tractors and pulled the hay into the field. I wasn't much help pushing the bales off since I was clutching snow and ice to my face, but we got 'er done and I drove Ford home and deposited the wagons by the hay pile and parked her in the barn. Then we went to the house to wash the extra blood off and see exactly what was what."

Now y'all have a good time readin' that did ya? Almost written in a kinda entertaining style if I do say so myself. (Which I guess I just kinda did)

Well for Christmas this year, What's that? Oh, you want to know how the whole story turns out? Now this is where all them big time authors would leave you hanging till the next post...which in my case might be some time right along about the middle of May...2010 ;-)

But I guess I'm in a kinda ramblin' mood tonight so why not finish up the story 'eh?

Here goes: I went in the house washed off the blood, got a professional (sort of (no offense)) opinion from Mr. W. ("it don't need stitches"), got a wet cloth to hold against it (in a continuing effort (and becoming more successful) to stem the tide of blood), got into the truck and drove home. Mom patched 'er up really good with one of them there surgical sutures replacements, the steri-strip, butterfly bandage type thingys. So in the long run (now that it's healed) I've got a little scar under my left eye (to match the one over my right eye on my forehead that I got from banging my head on a bed headboard when I was little (all you little kids out there take note: jumping on the bed is potentially dangerous. And I'd do it anyway (provided your folks don't mind)). Nothing to fuss over really.

Now on to more interesting things.

Grama came up on Christmas Eve, so we've been doing lots of game playing (in between feeling really poorly and just laying around watching the old TV shows we got for Christmas on DVD (like Hogan's Heroes and Gomer Pyle) At least with all the laying around and doing nothing I've got pretty well rested up. And I managed to avoid, Um that is to say, I very unfortunately missed out on the two extended family Christmas parties. (I'm such a Scrooge :-)) Oh well, at least now I'm ready to get back to work. All the laying around has half killed me, especially all of the feeling well enough to do a little but not well enough to do much (if ya catch my drift). And I reckon I'd better jump back into doing something before I get too used to doing nothing (it might be catching, kinda like this blasted bug) (not exactly sure who I'd catch it from, but ya'll know how it goes.)

And now I can't think of anything especially exciting (telling the end to that there boring story done made me forget them all) so I'll sign off. (With nary a promise nor hint of another post anytime soon.) (so there!) (But the next one I just might try to make a little bit serious....You never know ;-).....)

Matthew

Busy as Usual

2008-11-19T17:23:00.003-05:00

Well I can finally believe that it's November (now that the month is better than half over...) the trees have been completely striped of their leaves by the cruel wind and rain, snow has fallen, regular deer season has started, and the days are getting shorter.

I'm working at a deer processor's again this year, which is always interesting (managed to slice my thumb pretty good, so I have it all taped up which is making it difficult to type! But so far I've been able to avoid cutting my knuckles off with the bone saw like I did last year which is nice). In the last three days five of us (me boning, two guys cutting and two packaging) have done 72 deer. The guy that owns the place (Mr. S.) hired another cutter this year to help him keep ahead of me, so the days have been a lot shorter this year than last. Today was an especially short day since we only had 17 deer to do. Business is a bit slower this year. And we're faster, which makes business seem really slow. Maybe someday I'll try to do something like what Mr. Kimball did with his "How to Butcher A Chicken" blog except for deer. (although it probably won't be quite as thorough, or as professionally written. But maybe it would help someone)

Mr. W. has had surgery on his foot, and is back home recovering. We aren't cutting deer tomorrow, so I reckon I'll mosey on out there and see what's up. Mr. W. is going to have a really hard time just sitting around with his foot up. Although chances are that it will be harder for his family than for him.

I've got to figure out what I'm going to do exactly with my layers for the winter too. And if it should happen to warm up enough I need to finish up my garden cart. (if I'm home)

Well Supper is ready so I guess I'll go eat.

Till later,

Matthew

November Already?!?!!

2008-11-03T09:01:00.004-05:00

The weather has warmed up again--it's been getting up into the 60's some days--I was reading in Countryside and Small Stock Journal and they called this time of year the second spring. The more we look around we agree.

I can hardly believe that it is already November....What happened to October? I do vaguely remember the tree turning, there are still some leaves on some trees, but I guess it is looking like November sorta. This also means that there are only 11 (can that be right?!?) days left 'till deer season! (Well actually, to be precise firearm season--this year we had an early doe season (Sept. 18-22) bow season (Oct. 1 - Nov. 14) and then we've got regular firearm (Nov. 15 - 30) late bow season (Dec. 1 - Jan. 1 ) (but when it's that cold, and hence you've got that much coat on, who can actually pull a bow back?) overlapping that we have muzzleloading (a type of gun) (Dec. 5 - 21) and finally, late doe season (Dec. 22 - Jan 1)) So all in all we have plenty of opportunity to shoot (ok...hunt) a few deer around here. For some reason this year I haven't got very excited about hunting. I still enjoy it, it's just there's so much work to be done. That's why I haven't gone out with my bow at all this year. That and I already have one in the freezer from early doe season, so I'm not too worried about getting enough for meat. My hunting motivation has kinda done a 180 degree turn. The first couple of years I hunted strictly for enjoyment and fun, this year I'm pretty much just hunting for the meat. My first years, even the thought of seeing a big buck set my heart to beating wildly. This year during early doe I had several good size bucks within range, but they didn't excite me much more that doing the dishes would. For one thing I knew that they were off limits for that season, so even if they were in range I couldn't shoot, so why bother getting excited? Two smaller buck did get into a "fight" a little ways behind me and that was pretty neat to see even if they were just sparing. But anyway venison makes good eating. Around here they're pretty much all corn/soy bean fed so they don't taste much different than beef. In fact some people call them quick beef! (due to the fact that they often run quite quickly--unlike a feed lot beef) The meat (for the most part) is very lean, in fact at the deer processor's where I worked last fall, they recommended adding 20% pork fat just to get some grease in with it. Otherwise you have to add some kind of fat or oil (we often use olive) to get the meat started frying.

My last batch of broilers met the freezers of my customers the last part of September and the egg production is really slacking off. I also helped/taught another family of agrarians butcher some chickens for the first time. It's always pretty neat to meet other people working towards the same goal, whether it be in person or on the internet. One afternoon, a while back, our family had a wood splitting party--we were able to split and stack roughly 13 cords of wood I'd cut last year with Mr. Joe. We have use of a wood splitter so we can move along at a pretty good clip. There's still quite a pile of logs to split yet, so hopefully we will end up with enough to keep up through the winter--I figure that we need about 25 cords to last us. Although if the winter is as long and hard as some people say it's gonna be (and I hope it is) we may need more like 30 cords. I reckon we'll find out.

We've had several hard frosts, but now it is getting back up into the 60's. My "fall" garden planting is still going strong (I think, haven't actually checked it for a day or two), but the tomatoes are toast. We had them covered but the frost still got them. So much for tomatoes at Thanksgiving--I'll have to try again next year.

The colors were especially beautiful this year, and I even got some pictures. These are at the W. family's farm.

I took these from the top of their grain bin-- some sheep and a few green fields:

They had their woods logged this summer/fall--if you look carefully, you'll see some big equipment in the right side of the photo back by the woods:Here's a close up:
And this is their small stack of round bales:

Well, I’d better run along--TTFN! (as Tigger always said)

Matthew

COLD!

2008-10-04T20:24:00.005-04:00

It is getting down right chilly here, got down to at least 34 degrees last night--personally I think it was colder than that--and we had a fairly heavy frost. We had to cover the flowers and the garden. The latter is doing quite well for a change, I planted some more lettuce and such a while back and it is all up and growing--I need to get out there and thin the stuff down some. The watermelons are also still going, although I haven't checked them after the frost.

Today I spent most of my time over at the W. family's farm again. The prognosis for Mr. W.'s foot and leg is looking worse and worse. The Dr.s are saying that IF they can repair the foot he'll have to be off of it for six to ten months. If they cant save the foot, they will have to amputate just below the knee...in which case Mr. W. will have to be laid up for about six to ten months. So in either case he needs to cut way back and basically quit working for ten months--he has trouble not working for ten minutes! He also is fighting an infection in his bone--for which he has a pick line in his arm for daily doses of IV antibiotics (at $800 a pop).

We're now experiencing my favorite time of year--Fall. The only problem is that it's so darn cold. Well maybe it's just that I'm not used to it :-) I am also now Officially a year older (as of Sep. 28) that puts me up to the ripe old age of 19--time sure flies. If anyone has a way to slow time down please let me know!

Whelp, supper's about ready so I'll say sayonara for now chaps. ;-)

Matthew

August in Review

2008-09-02T11:42:00.005-04:00

August has gone and September has come. It's hard to believe--where has all that time gone?!? It wasn't too long ago that I couldn't' hardly wait for the snow to melt and spring to arrive. And just a few days ago (or so it seems) wasn't it June? And, why, it seems like just yesterday or the day before it was July. But now the calender tells me it's September already. It doesn't seem possible.

Today is the first day of mandatory lockup (I mean school!) for the children in our area; the prison buses are running again, and the neighborhood is strangely quiet. Gone are the golden days of freedom....

At PotterVilla Academy the school year is also due to begin shortly--we traditionally start the Monday of Dad's birthday week, which this year is September 8th. (Dad's birthday is the 7th) So Jonathan will soon be back to calculus, advanced physics, and band practices. I'm really glad that I've officially graduated so I don't have to go back to books. As it says in Ecclesiastics: "Much study wearies the body, and of the making of many books there is no end." I would add a hearty 'Amen' to that! I'm becoming more restless as the years go by, I think. (Is it possible to grow into ADD?)

As I sit here and type, I wonder how I ever was able to sit still for an hour or two of Saxon math a few years ago. Back a few years ago (say six or eight) I was an avid reader (is 'avid' a strong enough word I wonder?). I would sit (or lay) for hours on end reading. Historical fiction by G.A. Henty was probably my favorite. I also like books by Kjelgaard --he wrote about men, hunters and trappers by trade, living out in the wilds with their dogs. Irish Red, Big Red, Sean, Smokey (?) were some of my favorites too. I don't remember if Kjelgaard wrote Two Against the North too, or if that was by somebody else. I also kinda liked Where the Red Fern Grows although it is kinda sad too as I remember. Another historical fiction I really liked was Mara Daughter of the Nile--that kept you on the edge of your seat the whole book. Even earlier reading I liked was The Happy Hollisters, The Boxcar Children and of course the Little House books. Later I had to do some reading for a Lit. class--The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and Cyrano De Bergerac (or cry nose de bugerback, as I liked to call him). I didn't much care for those two. I didn't like Frankenstein either. Why would anyone think that a book that was created because of a contest to see who (of three authors) could write the most hideous horror story would be a classic?!??!!?? (by the way, Frankenstein won hands down) I didn't care for Kipling either. At least his novels...the short stories were pretty good--like The Capture of Red Chief. I also tried the Sugar Creek Gang, but I think that I tried them too late, and they didn't seem very exciting compared to conquering armies and war heroes. Of course I also liked My Side of the Mountain, Robinson Crusoe, and The Swiss Family Robinson, and Mark Twain stories. (now what was the purpose of writing all this?.....) (oh yeah....I remember now) These days I don't read much. Mainly because I know that if a pick up a book one of two things will happen: either I'll soon lose interest and/or need to move on to my next project and then not come back to it till I can't remember what is happening, or I'll suddenly become so engrossed that all I'll do is read the book until I finish it (to the neglect of pretty much all else). Usually what happens is the former, but every so often, say once or twice a year, I'll just drop everything and read for a couple of days. And then I feel guilty for not getting anything done! Such is life. :-)

================

On the radio just now (actually internet radio--Rejoice Radio), Tom Palmer was talking about families and using examples from the early days of the Bible--Noah, Abraham etc. He said that Abraham built an alter to establish worship, Noah built an Ark to protect--and that how as parents "we need to prepare an alter so we can worship, we need to prepare an ark so we can protect." Mr. Palmer also reminded parents "your kids will love what you love." If you love TV, if you would rather stay home and watch the football game than go to Church, don't wonder why kids and teens do the same things. Another observation that hit me was that "the family has a greater effect on the Church [in America today] than the Church has on families." Personally I believe that family ministry is sorely lacking and obviously missing from Church "programs." Yes, it's all good and fine to reach kids, but for the most part they will ultimately follow their parent's example.

=================

Well, back to August.

The other day I pulled all the onions and carrots from the garden. The onions are drying on the patio table till I figure out what to do with them (and till they're dry). The few carrots I need to clean up and put in the fridge. I also picked the remaining few ears of corn--boy did they do poorly this year. The ears were only about 4 inches long and a good portion were no good because they were full of bugs and half eaten. The chickens dined well for a few days--over half of what was left went to them. I'm averaging about three to four eggs a day now. The eggs are still small but getting a little bigger.

The broilers are getting bigger too. I still can't hardly believe how much those little buggers eat. Just 50 of them are going through about 5 gal of water a day too.

It is quite hot today, supposed to be up close to 90. However overall we've had a cool summer pockmarked by hot spells. It started out looking like it would be another dry summer, but then June and July were really wet. But now we're in the midst of a parching drought. I don't think we've had an inch of rain all month. The good news is that there is a chance of rain five times in the ten day forecast. Apparently there is a cold front coming through--Thursday's predicted high is 65. Then we're back up into the mid-70's.

The Farmer's Almanac (which claims an accuracy rating of 85%) says that this winter is going to come early with lots of snow and cold. Sounds good to me. We've seen some geese heading south already, and other people have remarked on other signs of the animals preparing for a hard winter ahead. One of our white pines is loaded with pine cones this year, which is unusual. We're wondering if that is a sign of a long winter.

If winter is indeed coming early this year, I'd better put the plastic up on the green house hoops earlier than I'd planned. I hope to keep the tomatoes producing at least till Thanksgiving. I don't know if I can do it without an artificial heat source out there or not. It's worth a try at any rate. Eventually, what I'd love to do is put up a block wall at the North end and put a stove there. Then we could cover the entire garden and have a space 12' x 50' to grow stuff year round.

I'm hoping to rent some land (about 5 or 6 acres) across the road this fall. I'll reserve about an acre +/- for a garden and put the rest to pasture for the chickens. I also really want to raise a couple of pigs. And of course have a Jersey milk cow, but better to start slow. (unless you can jump in all at once, right?) The neighbors have a barn, but I don't know as it's in good enough shape to where I'd want to risk having a cow in it.

I was looking at the Johnny's seed catalog and came up with a "wish list"--only about $300 worth. Who knew garlic was so expensive? (80 bucks for 5 lb!) and potatoes, for 'organic' seed it's over $80 for 50 lb, or for non-organic it's $24 for 50 lb. I guess I don't need 'organic' for that much. And then for 5 lb of seed it's like $13. So it's not quite twice as expensive for ten times as much seed. Figure that one out. (needless to say I would like to get the 50 lb!)

Tonight I planted a fall garden. I'm trying the peas again, and I planted more lettuce, radishes and carrots. Hopefully they will all do well. My theory is that the cooler weather is what they need, not necessarily Spring.

=================

This afternoon Dad had a phone interview with Dart Container. They will let him know within a week or two whether or not they want to continue with further interviews etc. Or as Dad said whether or not they'll let him get a job at Spartan Motors (a local Charlotte company that produces chaises for fire trucks and motor homes. (trying to take the Edison approach, "well now we know that doesn't work--lets move on to the next plan.")

==================

As I briefly mentioned before, I am now officially graduated. Mom says I had better say more. Here it goes:

We had a lovely ceremony (short and sweet) at the dinning room table on Sunday August 17 (a day that will forever live in infamy). That evening we had a celebration/Sunday night church at a member's pond. It was a nice event and I was amazed at the number of people who cared enough to come out to it. And then there were a select few whom I could thank for coming not to my graduation celebration but to the church event! (I didn't want any fuss. None. Nada. Zip. Mother overruled ;-) ) That was the second of two events that weekend. The first was as archery practice--a similar event to the Sunday night shebang, but less structured. (and a little more to my liking.)

There I hope that suffices. The things a person has to do to please his mother..... ;-)

==================

Well it's time for this missive to end. (you never thought you'd get to the end of it did you? ;-) ) All good things come to an end eventually (or at least that's what I've heard) so like August this post is fading into just a memory.

At least the coming of September does bring some benefits. Like squirrel season, fall colors and cooler temps. And actually this year there is an early doe season in our neck of the woods. From September 18th through the 22nd, we have a chance to help the insurance companies and lower the deer population. Plus with only does in season there's a greater chance that they'll be shot (at?), rather than hunters holding out for that buck that might be just around the corner. And after that there's the youth hunt, and then starting on October 1st we have bow season. (not sure how much I'll get out for that--esp. if a get a deer (or two) during the early doe season) Following bow season, on November 15 - 30 there's the regular firearm (shotgun (or muzzleloader, which is what I'll use--especially since I just got a new one (my first) last year) around here). After that I think there is late bow season followed by muzzleloading and late doe season. So if I can't get a deer or three it won't be from lack of opportunity. (which is nice) Unfortunately, the cost of ammo is going up and up and up. I'm torn to whether I should stock up on some of that stuff, like guns and ammo, or save my money to sink into property, fences and livestock etc. It's quite frustrating really, its really getting harder for a guy to get a good start in agriculture. (not that it will stop me from trying, it's just that stuff is getting so darned expensive--kinda upsets me.)

September also marks the beginning of Fall. Which is my favorite season (I think--Winter is nice too--all that snow and cold, cutting wood and more hunting; but then there's Spring...hard to beat Spring with the melting snow and that ever present feeling of hope and joy; and Summer too, idyllic days and lovely warmth and all that yummy garden produce pouring in....hmm) Well one of my favorite seasons anyway, with the start of hunting, and the crisp air, the spectacular color shows that the trees put on, and the way the fields look just before and after harvest. I must also admit I love watching the giant machinery lumber across the landscape devouring the rows of corn or beans, the golden stream of grain pouring out of the combines into the grain wagons....

=============

I almost forgot--we've been doing some canning too. I've done a few dozen quarts of pickles (the cukes are doing the best of anything I planted this year) We have also canned some green beans, but no tomatoes yet, they just won't ripen this year. It seems to be a common problem, for some reason. Maybe next year. We've frozen about a dozen bags of sweet corn too, but as I mentioned, we've had problems getting it to grow well. On my tenitive Johnny's order I have enough open pollinated sweet corn for a little over five 100' rows--hopefully that would be enough to eat and freeze all we wanted and still have plenty to save for seed. Hard to tell untill we try it.

============

Well I really do have to sign off now,

Untill next time,

Matthew

Eggciting News

2008-08-13T14:24:00.006-04:00

Today was the day. The day we've all been looking forward to. (or at least I have been) the day that my "pretty birds" laid their first eggs. Three so far. Slightly irreggular granted, but it's a huge leap for mankind (me at least) in their quest for space travel (I mean self-sufficiency)! It's so eggciting! :-)

There they are in all their beauty. Gorgeous specimens of eggs at their best, unless of course you enter fried eggs, omelets, quiches, soufflés, eggs in cakes, cookies and so forth and so on, into the contest. Delectable delights. All brought to you by the incredible edible egg--that being the "farm" fresh variety, not the poor substitutes commonly called eggs found in your typical giant superstore.

I found one this morning when I moved the pen, and then two more after Baxter and I put the recalcitrant Turken back into the pen. (Baxter is eggtremely good at catching on to things like this. This time all I said (in very conversational terms) as I was talkin to the dear dog, on the way to get my shoes on, was something like "Baxter we've go to go get that chicken that's out." He latched right onto the "chicken out" part and tore out the door, raced over to the pen and, by the time I reached it, had the hen pinned down in a convenient location for me to pick up and put back into the chicken tractor! I think we ought to get some sheep. (But I'd rather have a Jersey dairy cow))

So anyway, I guess that means that I'd better change feed over to an egg laying ration. And put some wood shavings in the nest boxes (I'd left them bare for the starters, because they were all sleeping in them. But now they're roosting on top of the nest boxes--a much better place in my opinion--so now I could put bedding in there.)

============

We've also picked some blue berries, canned some pickles, and a few green beans. For my gardens not doing so well, we've still gathered considerable bounty from thither and yon. We've been blessed by many generous people.

Here's some cucumbers waiting to be made into pickles:

And here's the fruit of about an hour and a half's labor for five people:
The blue berries were hard picking this year, the place we go to lost over 80% of the berries to the bad hail storm--this is their second bad year in a row. Hopefully not their last year, but Mrs. Cook was saying that two bad years in a row means it's time to quit.

==========

Well I'd better get back out and check on my chicks again. I just moved them out side into the big pen yesterday afternoon because they were getting too hot in the garage. My total death loss is four so far--more than I'd like but it seems to be somewhat typical.

"Talk" to y'all later,

Matthew

An Awesome Opportunity

2008-08-08T10:08:00.005-04:00

Some interesting things have been happening around here lately. Here's the run down.

Yesterday morning my next batch of broiler chicks arrived. I'm trying something a little different this time--I borrowed a stock tank to keep the chicks in for the first few days. Right now they're in the garage, and the tank is working out a lot better than the cardboard box I've tried in the past. It's been pretty warm (in the mid to upper 80's [great weather for mowing away hay in the back corner of the barn where's there's no breeze!]) and although it's cooled down some, it is still warm enough that the chicks don't need nearly as much supplemental heat as my previous batches did. So my plan is that after the first few days of having them in the tank on newspaper and wood shavings, I'll move them right out onto the grass in the big broiler pen. I imagine that I'll still have to keep the heat lamp with them, but I think that the earlier that they're exposed to grass and dirt the better they'll do over all.

Now that the chicks are here and requiring attention, I've been staying home rather than going over to the Williams farm (that's where I was helping mow away hay on 90 degree days--the weather really has been quite good for hay this year--really good rains, but enough hot, dry days too, although we're a touch dry now.) After working over there and always being busy, now that I'm home I'm actually getting kinda bored. I guess I ought to make up a list of projects to work on. The gardens are disappointing me this year. We're only just now starting to get yellow tomatoes, the beans aren't producing as well as I'd hoped, (not to mention the fact that they didn't come up very well in the first place) the peas...(where to begin) I've replanted them twice and the few that did come up are doing really poorly. The pop corn that I planted at a friend's house--I put it down on the low ground because it looked like a dry year--is still yellow and not much over knee high because it's so wet down there! Oh, bother....................

On a brighter note, Grama is coming up from Florida. She'll be arriving tomorrow at 11:08 am at the Lansing airport, so Mom and I are going in to pick her up (and make the traditional run to Gordon Foods and Horrock's, plus look for another pair of high top shoes for me (it seems that hog manure is hard on synthetic soles and such)). Now this is the game playing Grama--we always have a ball with her. Cribbage, Uno, Triominoes, Dominoes, Farkle, Skip-Bo, Phase Ten, and Phase Ten Dice are all favorites that are usually well played before she has to leave. (Just for the disclaimer--yes we do still get a few things accomplished--she's also the sewing, weeding/gardening and walking Grama) We always look forward to her visits. Plus with the recent medical circumstances she wasn't able to make it up at Christmas, so it's been quite awhile since we've seen her.

Well, on to our Awesome Opportunity. On Monday afternoon of this week, we received a certified letter sent by FedEx--the letter was a "Warn Notice" from Von Wise--the company that currently owns the business where Dad works. Or I should actually say used to work. Tuesday was his last day of work. The whole company is folding up (unless by some minuscule chance they find a buyer), production is keeping going until the parts in stock run out, and then they'll be laid off as well. So we now have an Awesome Opportunity to trust God to provide and protect. Since the lay off was so sudden--Monday afternoon we got the letter, Monday night (due to rumors that there would be guards and locked buildings in the morning) we all went in and helped Dad clean out his desk, Tuesday morning there was a meeting, and 120+ people (out of about 212) were laid off--it's quite a shock to the system. The company was on the news and everything. He doesn't get any severance pay, but he does get the rest of his vacation paid--which is about three weeks. The insurance will run out on the 15th, so Mom's been trying to make sure we're all caught up on routine medical stuff--eye doctor appointments etc. So now we're trusting God to provide a new job for Dad, and in the mean time see if there is any way in which we need to try to cut back and live more frugally. We don't think that we'll have to make any major lifestyle changes, since we already try to live sensibly.

Overall, we are in good shape, both financially and (more importantly) Spiritually. I believe that the days ahead will be an excellent time to draw closer to each other as a family, and to God as we trust Him to supply our needs (in a more direct way than usual). It will also be an opportunity to be an example to the world of faith and perseverance in times of trouble. It's also a good time to have a big garden :-) (even if it isn't doing the best) Now if I could just convince Mom and Dad to get a Jersey milk cow..... ;-) ...and a couple of pigs, a horse or two, some cattle and a few sheep...Oh, and a few hundred (or thousand) acres would be nice too :-) (Ah well, a guy can dream, can't he?)

Well that's all the news that news worthy (I try to be more discriminating than the liberal media :-) ), so I'll sign off for now,

Y'all take care now, and remember that there is always peace in the shadow of His wings.

Matthew

Update and the DMV

2008-07-18T17:22:00.003-04:00

Hello again, you might remember us--Matthew and Jonathan from PotterVilla Academy? Yes, it hasn't been that long, but a lot of things have happened since our last major update. Matthew butchered his 48 broiler chickens on the tenth--a week ago yesterday--and has sold all but one of them. His setup got reviewed by one of our friends on his prestigious blog, Iron Ink. This friend is the pastor of a reformed church in town; his nickname is The Poison Pen, and his blog used to be called Acid Ink. However, his comments on Matthew's butchering wasn't at all scathing, to the contrary, he seemed enthralled with my brother's (as he called it in his blog) piece-de-resistance, the Whizbang Chicken Plucker.

We prepared one of the chickens to split between samples for the customers and dinner for us, and it turned out absolutely delicious. It cooked in the crock pot for about seven or eight hours, and when it was done, fell off the bones with hardly any water added. No seasonings either. The pasturing really paid off in taste, as well as economy.

On Sunday, I will be turning 17, and mom decided to get me my driver's license for a birthday present. I finished driver's ed about a while ago, but then it got put off until it was winter (I didn't want to take my road test in the snow and ice), and then it got put off some more. However, we finally got around to setting up the test (I passed without too much effort), and then headed off to the Department of Motor Vehicles. The nearest office is in Lansing, about 20 minutes (and $8 of gas) away. Matthew had gotten his license previously, and so we thought we had a basic idea of what it entailed. We looked up (in the driver's ed book) which documents we needed to take, I put on a nice shirt, and we were off. We also (as we do every time we go to Lansing) took a long shopping list. Matthew took three chickens he was selling to a member of the Lansing Homeschool group. Anyway, we got there, and after waiting in the initial customer service (or dis-service) line, were told that we didn't have enough paperwork. The rules (made up by some high-ranking government official) had changed in January, and we needed my whole life history. So we just left, and did our shopping.

Today, we returned, bearing a file cabinet (just a file, really), including my birth certificate, my social security card, my state issued photo id, my road test certificate, my level 1 driving permit, mom's photo id, and my bank account number (it's the truth; they want two somethings that show that you live a a certain address, and a bank statement is one of the things that counts [junk mail from the army and the marines don't count, probably since they got my address from the secretary of state--circular mailing]). Don't forget a check made out to them for $25 to add to all the tax money they already get. And then, when we got up the the customer service desk, they asked us what our address was. This is documentary proof that the public school system is failing: even government employees have trouble reading. I mean, that address was on just about all of those documents. We haven't moved, people!!!!!!!!!

Anyway, they finally did let us wait again, to fill out a second set of papers and to stand in front of a malfunctioning camera. Then, they give you a new piece of paper (to replace the old tattered one) that has one number changed. Boy, that was really worth it. But at least they'll send a plastic one with a picture on it in the mail. :) And I can at least drive myself to Bible School, since mother can't go because of her English tutoring classes.

I've also finished (mostly :)) the pottervilla.net webpage, putting up some of our chicken, etc, information.

My other recent project is dumping all of our home videos onto my computer; it's very time consuming since it has to be done in real time, but it doesn't require very many man hours, just computer hours. :) I'm getting to the end of it, the last 15 or so video tapes.

I found this video recently. If you can get through the pagan mythology that comprises the vehicle, the overlying themes of self sacrifice are quite moving. When viewed through biblical glasses, there's a lot of meaning to this short film. To avoid clashing music, you will probably want to turn off the player in the sidebar. :)

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.

This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil." - John 3:16-19

In His service,

Jonathan

Remind anyone of what people do in America today?

2008-06-30T11:48:00.002-04:00

We must buy the water we drink; our wood can be had only at a price.

- Lamentations 5:4

Chicken Plucking Report

2008-06-28T19:44:00.003-04:00

This morning I took the plucker over to some friend's house and helped butcher their 30 some odd Cornish Cross birds. I got there just before seven a.m. and then set up (including screwing the cones to the stand thingy) and we were done (including clean up and putting all of the stuff back into the truck) by 11:45 a.m. The plucker worked beautifully. The vote was unanimous that it saved many, many hours in the plucking department. The last time they did chickens they borrowed a table style plucker--it made a real mess and didn't really do a very good job. The birds were plucked once on the machine, two or three times by the eviscerators (sp?) once in the house--where they cut them up and packaged them--and then once before you put them in the pot to cook! With the Whizbang method the machine plucked them once and then the people pulled out a few tail feathers and that was it! It took me a few times to get the scalding down, but once I "mastered" (really I'm no where close) that it was a breeze.

Well I've been getting up at five or six for the past week or so and not going to sleep unitl midnight so I'm kinda tired (slept for two hours on the couch and still feel like I could sleep for a week) so that's it for now.

Matthew

A Completed Chicken Plucker and a few Other Thoughts

2008-06-20T05:46:00.009-04:00

It's quite chilly this morning. We open the windows last night because it's supposed to get up close to 80 degrees today but as I sit here at the computer my fingers are so cold (and slightly numb) that I'm having a hard time typing. Yesterday I could see my breath in the morning. I've had to dig out the flannel shirts and sweat shirts again. ('Course if it was winter I'd be wearing a short sleeved t-shirt--it's only getting down in the low fifty's or high forty's!)

The Amazing and Famous Plucker Project
Well I finally finished it. It's been a kinda long process, I started gathering parts in February, but I took a few breaks too (some longer than others!) --to help some friends with lambing, to wait for more parts to come and to work on other things. However The Whizbang Tub-Style Mechanical Chicken Plucker is now complete and ready to try out (I even added a couple of up-grades--one was in the plan book and one I came up with my self.) And so without further ado...(drum roll please)...here's a picture:
As y'all can see, it's quite nice, if I do say so myself! You can also see that I added the "Mobile Whizbang" option. Here it is in action:
That blue plastic tub was just the right size to cover up the motor (which must weigh about 50 lb!) This is a sideways picture of the bottom pulley's etc. Right now I have the wrong idler pulley on there-it's a v-grove and I need to replace it with a flat one, but it works....And now for my own innovation.....see if ya can guess what it is from this picture:Here's another clue....
What you are looking at is....A rigged up spray ring (so ya don't have to stand there with the hose for the ten or fifteen seconds it takes to pluck a couple of birds--just flip the lever! Who has time to stand around and wait for ten whole seconds!?! ;-) )

What I did is took an old hose (hard rubbery plasticy stuff) and hooked to the 1/2" ball valve. Then I mounted the ball valve to the plucker frame with plumber's strap, and the hose to the plucker tub with the ever handy zip ties. Finally, I cut little one inch slits in the hose so that is sprays like this:
And then when you flip the power switch as I'm doing in the above picture...I think that the thing might take a few feathers off! I can hardly wait till the broilers are ready now:There they are in the Joel Salatin style chicken tractor. It has three doors--two on the front and one big one on the back which is covered with a PVC roofing material. The pen is fairly light--without the doors on I can stand in the middle and pick it right up and carry it. On the ground though, it drags a lot because of the width (digs into the ground)...so I cobbled up a dolly for it:
It's made out of an old push lawn mower and a couple of boards. Make it do or do with out! I basically just took the handle and bolted the wheels to it. (that did end up needing some reinforcing to keep the wheel straight--weld a piece of pipe between 'em) Then I took that pesky kill switch handle thingy, and used it to hold the board at the proper angle.

I've also been working on some butchering tables and such (with a lot of help from the gentleman from church that gives me lumbar). I think that it's safe to say that I'm the only one in the county with furniture grade butchering tables! This one holds two (out of three) pieces of slate counter top that another friend gave me. It's about six feet long. Made out of planned ash boards. [He doesn't do plugging and touch sanding though... :( ]Here's a few other things:That would be the Whizbang Garden cart pieces in the bushes, and the two height (sitting or standing) single stand, and the fully adjustable killing cone stand. (plus a few odds and ends!) Here's a close up of the singe stand:And in these two you can see how the cone stand adjustment works:
The guy helping me does very poor work as you can see! (insert extreme sarcasm into that last sentence if ya haven't already) He doesn't have any tools either. For instance the back of the single stand are held together in part by two biscuits (wooden kind--ya wouldn't want to eat 'em!) which were cut out with a nifty little biscuit cutter outer jobber thing. I'm very pleased with how the stuff turned out.

He also has an old cast iron double sink with drain board that he is going to give me. (Did I mention that he's pretty generous?) Then I'll just need to figure out how to rig up the foot operated water switch....

Well I'm out of time this morning. I get to go help worm sheep today :-)

Until next time,

May He who is able to keep you from falling make your way straight, and rescue you from all ungodliness.

Matthew

Technology, picture update, and politics

2008-06-18T17:50:00.006-04:00

Two days of spring left. Temperature has dropped back down into the balmy 60's (as opposed to the scorching 90's, the steamy 80's, and the somewhat satisfying 70's). The house is being reclaimed by the people and animals, pushing the remnants of the pre-garden and some of the larger, hardier house plants outside. Baxter has nearly caught 175 ice cream pail lids (Frisbees) and has jumped almost to eye level--somewhere around six feet in the air. He has the legs of a frog. :) Matthew's plucker is complete (pictures later) and is collecting parts for a garden cart and some other chicken and gardening equipment. The garden is coming up nicely. Most things are doing well around here; the exception being the tomato plants, which look more like small trees but have yet to start producing any tomatos.

As I write this, I'm listening to Chopin's piano concerto #2 in F minor. (ED. it's now after supper, and I'm listening to Beethovens No. 1 and No 3, Eroica) Classical music can be quite relaxing after a hard day. If you want proof, just Google 'the effects of music'. Another good Google seach is for web radio, and the first entry has some good clasical stations. One of these days, I'll have to try to get some classical back on the blog. Of course, the bluegrass would still be there. I've finally (I think) figured out how to change the content of a page by the information after the ? in the url--so you could choose which music you want--but I'm getting ahead of myself.

Technology

If you are not technologically inclined and have trouble comprehending terms such as web browser, then feel free to skip this section. Otherwise, here we go! :)

I discovered a cool new website that has some nice color combos, and I've tried one of my favorite on pottervilla.net. I'd love to hear what you think. Pretty soon, I'll be re-designing this blog away from the standard (three of the people in our blog roll use the same one) to something in close correlation to pottervilla.net. Also on the agenda is moving the sidebar to the other side, so we can see the entire music player. :)

On the Tuesday of the blackout, I received a new hard drive I'd ordered (it was a day late, but I didn't complain since I had no power to run it with :) Since then, I've been trying to swap that out with my current boot drive (the hard drive that runs your operating system, or in my case two operating systems), but have been having currently insurmountable difficulties with my copied dual booting setup. Now, I'm giving up and am going to use that drive as my secondary data drive. I also have an old third hard drive that I'm going to try to install Linux on. Apparently, Linux needs three partitions, and each hard drive can only support four. You can support more if you use logical partitions instead of primary partitions, but that requires having a dynamic hard drive, which apparently can only boot one operating system. It doesn't make sense to me ether, but that's what the computer is saying. The new hard drive should make backups a lot faster, as well, since I would only have to backup to a drive in the computer rather than to a drive all the way across the network.

Firefox 3 is finally out! It's a worthy upgrade, especially if you already use Firefox. If you use Internet explorer, it's still a worthy upgrade. If you use any other browser; or especially--terror of all terror--a browser provided by your internet service provider, it's definitely an excellent upgrade. I've just finished outfitting mine with the quintessential Google Toolbar, ad-block plus, FlashBlock, Foxmarks (keeps your bookmarks on a server so that you can synchronize them to any computer), IE Tab (which will let you open the few pages that don't render well in Firefox with the Internet Explorer rendering software, but you still don't need to leave Firefox), Fire Ftp (which is a file transfer utility for your Firefox browser, better than the add supported one that I currently use), and Fox Forecast (which gives an Accuweather.com forecast for the next four or five days, day and night, as well as a radar and sever weather warning alert). McAffe SiteAdvisor is also an installed must.

Pictures

A Recient Sunset

Breakfast :)

A Sunrise

Baxter playing with Dad (the shadow)

Baxter Playing with the chicken plucker
We have a bunch more pictures of the plucker, but I'll let Matthew post them.

A tree growing in a tree - not good

The sky and fields looking south

The flag against the sky

A Picture with interesting power lines :)

Two bushes in the new landscaping

Jimmy - one of the roosters that's going to survive butchering time.

Politics

First off, let me say that I abhor politics. Politics is just a bunch of men (and now women) in fancy suits slinging verbal mud at each other; politics is fueled by the dirt of hard working taxpayers, and powerful corporations supply water. You and I buy the suits--not by choice, mind you--and still submit to every kind of abuse. The suit-wearers place unrealistic controls on us; they bombard us with propaganda through their servants the media; they even limit the control we have by submitting to an international "consensus" which delegates power to a committee of so-called 'experts.'

Unfortunately, politics is necessary. Not the kind of politics that I just described above; that is the kind we have now. Some statesmen (basically truthful politicians), such as Ron Paul (who sadly dropped his bid for republican nominee), Chuck Baldwin and Bob Barr still have a vision for a good government. Not all people follow the first and second commandments: love The Lord your God with all your heart, etc., and love your neighbor as yourself. Early after Israel settled in the promised land, they did not have government by man; they had judges and priests who kept things in order--some of the time at least.

Now, we have no such system. We have republicans and democrats. The republicans are hypocrites and the democrats are lairs. The truth of the matter is that a truthful democrat is ether a fool or ignorant. Republicans who do what they say are really constitutionalists.

The first issue at hand is the move to electing officials by 'popular vote', essentially changing America from a representative republic into a rough hewn democracy. The powers that be plan to do this without the necessary constitutional amendment. Beware the easy road; Take care when politicians make no big deal of something!

Next is an issue on which I don't really have an opinion: whether we are better off with Barrack or Hilary. Obviously, since she dropped out, it isn't something worth considering any longer, bar a government class paper. :)

Is the economy really in a slump now? According to bea.gov, (I realize the government can't always be trusted, but how political are statisticians?) the 'Real Gross Domestic Product' has been positive since 1991, and has only been negative seven times since 1950. That's in inflation adjusted numbers. For a good report on current inflation head over the the turtle mountain hillbilly. Inflation certainly has an effect on the economy. I know that my faimily (and probably most people reading this) are spending less these days than they have previously. In inflation adjusted dollars, dad's making a lot less now than he did five years ago. I guess that constitutes economic problems. But then, we live in michigan where our wonderful democratic governer managed to pull the state into economic crisis well before anyone else felt anything, then (in my opinion) pulled the rest of the country with us. :)

Concluding thoughts:

"The more you read and observe about this Politics thing you got to admit that each party is worse than the other." - Will Rogers

"A politician is a statesman who approaches every question with an open mouth." - Adlai Stevenson

"You and I are told we must choose between a left or right, but I suggest there is no such thing as a left or right. There is only an up or down. Up to man's age-old dream -- the maximum of individual freedom consistent with order -- or down to the ant heap of totalitarianism." - Ronald Regan

"The great masses of the people will more easily fall victims to a big lie than to a small one." - Adolf Hitler

"This is what the king who will reign over you will do:...He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants...He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves." - selections from Samuel 8.

Wow, 10%... we need a king!

"But when the crop comes in, give a fifth of it to Pharaoh." - Genesis 47:24

20%...We need a pharaoh!

Now To him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!

In his name,

Jonathan

Stormy Weather and Thoughts on Living Without Power

2008-06-11T07:44:00.002-04:00

All I did was water the tomatoes a little bit.

They were getting a little bit dry, and while I knew that if I watered them it would rain--Murphy's Law (works that same way when you cut a bunch of hay down!) -- but I didn't anticipate correctly what would actually happen; but we did need the moisture....There were several major storms that blew through the mid-west after that...Storms which dumped roughly 5 1/2 inches of water in our area in the course of three or four days. I just gave the poor plants a little drink....There were only five or six of them....

Some people we know lost power some time on Friday--the first day of the bad storms. There were even some possible tornadoes reported. They actually only live three and a half miles from us--on what would be our same road--if only the road went through.

Our worst storm was on Saturday night. Black clouds racing ominously towards us. Lighting streaking across the sky. Thunder rumbling menacingly. Then the rain started. Almost gently at first, belying the true force of the storm. But before too long, the water started coming down in sheets. It would let up only a little, and then pour down with even more ferocity.

It wouldn't have been so bad, except that my poor little boiler chicks only had a few layers of plastic tarp between them and the storm and drenching rain. This particular tarp was not supported all that well, thus easily acting as a catch water. With the rain falling at a rate that sometimes exceeded an inch an hour, the tarp caught a lot of water. Dad went out with me at about eleven before he went to bed and helped me bale the water off and stretch the tarp tight again. After that he went to bed but I stayed up a while longer (quite a while longer actually...) spinning (on Mom's new wheel--very nice, fun to use, etc...) and watching the radar on the TV. Jonathan was up too, but Mom had already gone to bed. Well Jonathan went to bed about a quarter to twelve, but I was waiting until the storm let up some to go out and bale the chickens off again....It did slack off down to a drizzle finally about twelve thirty. There were fifteen and twenty gallon pools on top of the tarp. After that I went straight to bed. It was one o'clock. There was another storm that came through at three--it woke me up even though Jonathan had the shades drawn and the A/C running. I didn't get up though. Then the next morning, being Sunday and all, I had to get up fairly early to do the chicken chores and then take a shower etc..... I think I got all of about four and a half hours of sleep that night. (Can't do that on a regular basis.) The edge of the tarp had fallen inside of the pen, and drained a bunch of water in there but the chicks all seem to stay fairly dry somehow.

Sunday afternoon Mom and Dad had to go to an open house, and while they were gone the storms rolled in again. They didn't seem that bad to me, but they caused our power to go out. Mom said that a spruce tree blew over right on the edge of town and blocked both south bound lanes of the main road. It was quite a while before they got home. But they made it safely. I was puttering around in the garage when the power outage happened--had just called the dog in and shut the door, when I looked up and noticed that the lights weren't on any more. So we went in the house and I started spinning again. I got three bobbins spun and plied into yarn in 24 hours--and I'm not that fast, so you can tell that I spent a lot of time at it!

We were now without power, but not without resources allowing us to cope quite well. We had our usual grilled cheese sandwiches (cooked on the burner on the gas grill) and got out the kerosene lamps. We called in to the power company, and their automated service said that they expected the power to be restored on Wednesday at eleven pm. Now that we knew that it was likely to be a while our biggest concern was keeping the freezer cold, and getting enough water. We have roughly 14,000 gallons in the swimming pool, but that is treated with bleach to kill the algae--so it's not drinkable. Fortunately, there is an artesian well just around the corner about two and a half miles away. So I took a 55 gallon drum over there to get water for the chickens to drink. I also took some five gallon buckets to fill the barrel with,and one gallon pitchers for drinking water.

It took quite a while fill the barrel, but I didn't want to have to do it again. There were several people from church that came to get water while I was there. I had just gone around Sunday afternoon and dumped most of the containers full of rain water so the mosquitoes had fewer breeding grounds, so we had to go to get water. If we had known that we were going to lose power, we could have saved the 100 gallons that I baled off of the chicks tarp. But we obviously didn't know...

While we were without power we used a lot less water, got by with less light and watched no TV (not that we watch all that much anyway--usually just on Sunday nights while we eat our grilled cheese sandwiches). It made me think. It made me think about how dependent we are on "conveniences." It kinda seems to me that perhaps we shouldn't be rely so heavily on conveniences. After all aren't they just supposed to be just that--conveniences, not necessities?

If worst came to worst, how long could we last? No stove to cook on, with a gas stove you'd have a little longer--but the gas won't last forever; no good way to keep perishable food stored; no accessible supply of good water available close at hand....

Lets see how that adds up: No water, not much food, and no way to cook it. I think we'd be in BIG trouble.

Off-grid, self-sustainable, subsistence-oriented farming is sounding better and better....

But now the power is back on (over 24 hours early!) and we are able to resume our regular lives. It's almost too bad that it came back on early...Oh, well, summer's not over yet, there will be more storms, more power outages (probably, anyway) and more reminders not to be so dependent on conveniences.

'Till next time,

Matthew

Life here on Tuesday

2008-06-03T12:26:00.006-04:00

Well, we're already in the sixth month of the year, and it's getting hot for the summer. Since I'm allergic to pollen, etc., and therefore can't have my bedroom windows open, and since it is on both the east and south sides of the house, making it quite hot up there when it's sunny, dad--the room is on the second floor, and the window is pretty cranky, requiring engineering expertise--installed our air conditioner. We have opened our pool, but it's still pretty cold for us spoiled swimmers; it's only about 65 F. Summer school is going well, only two trig lessons left.

I've done some more composing/arraigning work recently. While sitting at the piano, I just let my fingers have free reign, and they came up with something pretty interesting for a change (as opposed to the nice but normal stuff) so moved to the computer and punched it into Finale Print Music (my music notation software). It came out pretty good, but not as good as it was at first on the piano. If I get a chance, I'll upload a mp3. I rearranged a voice solo part with piano accompaniment into a piano solo for one of mom's piano students--her favorite student--who was graduating and would be discontinuing lessons. Now, I'm working on rearranging Our God Is In Control by Don Wyrtzen from a four part choir piece with piano into a ladies trio with piano accompaniment. The guy who is teaching our Sunday school class in Ecclesiastes thought that this would go well with the book, and requested that we rearrange it. The only problem was that he didn't have anybody to sing it, so I didn't know what to arrange it for. We finally decided to just arrange it for the trio, knowing that we have some talented voices in that area, and hope they will sing it. :)

Our DSL is having some more problems this morning, but apparently it is city wide, so it's messing up everyone in Charlotte who is teaching Koreans English, not just mom. :) I was on the phone with the service providers for about an hour this morning, and spent another half hour trying to contact them. The internet problem also affects the phone lines.

Mom went up to Flint (about two hours away), taking Matthew and me with her, and bought a spinning wheel. For those who know about these things, it is an used Ashford Elizabeth 2. It retails new for about $755 (finished) but she got this one for $405 using a PayPal 10% off coupon. If I wasn't feeling so lazy (and hungry) I would take a picture of it. Maybe next time.

A quote: (I stumbled across this, and thought it was good, if wordy)

"If you will not fight for the right when you can easily win without bloodshed; if you will not fight when your victory will be sure and not too costly; you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a small chance of survival. There may even be a worse case: you may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves." - Winston Churchill

And a verse:

Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things--and the things that are not--to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God--that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord." - 1 Corinthians 1:26-31

And just for good measure, another:

"You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men. You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven." - Matthew 5:13-16

To go with the last verse, listen to song #5 on the side bar: City on a Hill (if you like bluegrass :)

In His name,

Jonathan

P.S. If you noticed that half of this post is some one else's words, read the end of the fourth paragraph again.

Graduating, Summer School, and Going to the Allergist

2008-05-26T13:11:00.007-04:00

Over the past year or so, we here at PotterVilla Academy have known that someday, one of our students would finish school. What we haven't known, however, is whether he or she would graduate. Yes, the student would be done with school, but graduating really a good thing? The question has arisen concerning whether graduation is a human tradition ("since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to it's rules" --like graduating) or whether it is a legitimate landmark--a standing stone perhaps--recognizing the completion of this segment of life. So, for the past few days, I have been thinking that I would query some of the wise people that traverse the agrarian circles of the internet.

As far as I can tell (from a quick Google search), the graduation ceremony was first practiced by monasteries in the middle ages. From my knowledge of the spiritual state of the middle ages, being practiced by monasteries does not make it a spiritual tradition. However, being practiced by monasteries does not make it a human tradition ether. Another avenue might be that, whether it started as a human tradition or not, it has become one today. Well, I cannot think of (or find) a single high school that doesn't graduate it's students, public, homeschool, private, catholic, or whatever. That still doesn't mean anything, since everybody doing it doesn't make God like it. By the way, I can't seem to find any biblical reference to a ceremony that involved Jewish young men who were finishing their schooling. However, I haven't read through the full bible looking for this, so I might have missed something. :-) I would be thrilled if someone had a reference. The Jews did, however, have such rituals as Bar-Mitzvah.

Over this past winter, I haven't accomplished as much in the way of academics as I intended, so tomorrow, I'm starting voluntary summer school. The plan is to finish up the advanced physics course that I started, but only finished about a third, and to do the last few lessons of my trig math book, then start on calculus. We have grown lax in our verse memorization (which never worked out as originally planned; we never really worked on it as a family), so I would like to start working hard on that again, possibly at the dinner table. We will be reviewing Colossians and starting on Ephesians(?). And then there is art...maybe something we do this time will actually work out.

Last Wednesday, I went to see the local allergist. After doing a skin test (a skin test is to people with allergies as a spinal tap is to people with cancer) he prescribed a nasal spray that seems to be helping. We'll see if it cleans out my sinuses. Of course, he gave the normal allergist speech: 'get rid of your dog and cat, change your bed once a week, take a shower every day, get an air purifier, vacuum every day, don't go out side in the summer, ware a gas mask, etc.' He didn't go as far as the going outside and gas mask, but came pretty close. :-) He also was very complementary to natural remedies--he said that none of them work, practical or not.

Here's a verse:
"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.
Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you."

- Matthew 5:1-12, NIV

If you get a chance, read the rest of the chapter, and yea, even to the end of the sermon. It's good.

Striving to follow Him--albeit weakly--

Jonathan

P.S. to those looking for a good laugh, check out what the Amish do when no one's looking: The Deliberate Agrarian

Chicken Tractors, Whizbang Adventures and Growth in the Garden

2008-05-25T08:52:00.006-04:00

Well it's been a while since I've posted, but as always seems to happen in the spring, we've somehow become rather busy....not sure how that happens, however it appears to be a common affliction; especially among the more rural (agrarian) segment of the population.

[Note: To aid in organization I am going to insert headers (of sorts) in to this post--hope it's not too distracting :-) ]

Chicken Tractors (and chicks too)

Some time back I ordered the first batch of broiler chicks and they arrived on Monday May 19th. Before they arrived I thought I'd better have a place for them to live, and so, after a trip to my "lumber yard" (which is actually a pole barn belonging to a very generous gentleman from church who has a little portable sawmill) I started putting a pen together based on Mr. Joel Salatin's. Here are a few pictures that Jonathan took for me:Here you can see the frame is complete, the basswood siding (sure beats the price of steel!) is up, and I've got one of the front doors covered with chicken wire.
The sheep farmer that I was helping several weeks ago, is also cleaning out a barn for his cousin, and has given me a few things from there. Among them is chicken wire. I was able to stretch one piece of 4' wire to cover each front door. There's a certain technique to it, but it worked out quite well. I secured the wire with one inch dry wall screws driven in at an angle.
Here's another shot of the lovely basswood siding. It started out 1" thick, and then we planed it down to about 1/2"--that really made the colors stand out. It's quite pretty I think.
Here it is temporarily installed behind the garage (for brooding purposes)This is the great brooder--repaired after the great smoldering (near fire) of '08, not too much worse for the wear. The dark stuff on to of the plywood is dirt. For insulation. Less flammable than wood shavings. 'Nuff said.And here's the little peepers settling in for the night:The other chickens are doing quite well--eating, growing, and somehow getting out occasionally. The latter adds some spice to life! We at least have Baxter--the super duper chicken dog. (He has helped me catch a chicken on two separate occasions now--both involved the same not-so-smart, soon-to-be-in-the-freezer rooster! He escaped twice within two or three hours. Just another month or so and the roosters will be the first to try out the Whizbang plucker. Except for the two Buff Orpingtons--I think...)

Which leads me to my next topic....

Whizbang Adventures

I finally started on the 'tub-style mechanical chicken plucker'! The same trip for boards for the chicken tractor, I also got enough lumber for the plucker. I'd purchased the hardware back in February, and ordered parts from Mr. Kimball (I wrote about it here) and then got busy. (helping with lambing and other various and sundry things....) My aunt was able to find me a food grade barrel and so now I'm in business. Sort of....

The plans (as laid out in "Anyone Can Build A Tub-Style Mechanical Chicken Plucker") are quite easy to follow (just make sure to read the entire segment about what your doing before you start in on it--just like any good recipe, for ,oh, say, chocolate chip cookies...) I got the frame whipped out and the barrel cut out in one afternoon (as I recall), and by the time I quit for the night, I had pulled fingers and got the feather plate and shaft assembly bolted together. Then I ran out of parts...I forgot to order the pillow block bearings. I also had to order the driven pulley since they're not available locally. Someone had sent through a website on the yahoo Whizbang plucker group--SurplusCenter.com They have really great stuff--really cheap. Even cheaper that McMaster/Carr. I found some great tires that I ordered--10" solid rubber with steel hubs and traction tread for only $6.95 each. They come in right and left wheels. I got them to mount wheels on the plucker, because I thought that it was hard enough to pick up and carry around without the feather plate, motor, pulleys and tub --the wheels should make it quite easy to wheel around. (there's also mention of wheels in the plan book) So then one day I stained it and now it looks like this:In this picture you can see the 3/4" rod stock I got for axles: two 3' pieces. One for the plucker, and one for the Whizbang Garden Cart!
Here's a photo documenting the mess :-) That means progress!
Dad and I went to the big consignment sale the first part of this month. I've gone for several years, and every year it keeps getting bigger and bigger. That's where I bought the blue plastic barrels in the background. They make the best movable work tables! Just the right height. I also got three steel barrels, a potato planter (it's really nifty gadget), and a couple of buckets of assorted fencing junk. Dad got a neat little table top drill press (one that you mount a electric drill in) and we also bought 13 boxes of canning jars! 24 1/2gal and 9 boxes of quarts. (now we just need a pressure canner) Not a bad haul. It filled the truck right up. (you'll notice we mostly bought containers!)

Any way, back to the plucker...

My Uncle gave me a motor:A big old green beast!
I also have some Ideas for a semi-portable butchering station which involves this old slate counter top that another friend gave me....There's three pieces, and I think that if I put two on one side of an old deep porcelain sink that I can get for free, it should work pretty slick....

Well on to....

Growth in the Garden

The onions are coming along nicely, and the tomatoes are starting to take off again after I transplanted them into the hoop house. One kind of peas are coming up, and we had some fresh lettuce on our hamburgers the other night. The radishes are coming along nicely in two waves, as is the lettuce, and the beans in the hoop house are up two or three inches. Here's a look into the hoop house:And these are the onions:

Another gentleman from church (the one I cut wood with) is letting us put a big garden in over at his house. The one garden is about 180' long by 80' wide. We can also use part of the spot where is regular garden is. He's very generous. In fact a lot of people are being very generous to us/me. I feel that God it really blessing me through them.

And speaking of blessings, Mr. Shropshire over at Promised Land has recently posted a really great essay on a vital topic. I would encourage you to read and dwell on it, if you have not already. (read the comments too--there's another whole post down there)

Well that's all for now....

Until next time--May He who is able to do more that we can ever imagine bless you and yours, grant your desires and shelter you under his wings.

Matthew

Happy Birthday Grama!!!

2008-05-24T10:00:00.002-04:00

We want you to know that we didn't forget your birthday--we're just a little late with the flowers :-)

You've had your share of trials and hardships in this life, but you have overcome them. You've been a Mother to your children, a fun loving game-playing Grama to your grandchildren, and now you're also a Great-Grandma. But through it all you've stayed faithful to your Lord and Savior, remaining a good example for your family. Keep on keeping on.

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us [YOU], to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. Eph 3:20-21

Sending loads of love,

Your family

Fire Rainbow!? & etc...

2008-05-13T15:07:00.018-04:00

Well, I finally have something to blog about. Looking south over our house, I believe I have seen a fire rainbow! What a gift from God!

According to Wikipedia,

A circumhorizontal arc or circumhorizon arc (CHA), also known as a fire rainbow, is a halo or an optical phenomenon similar in appearance to a horizontal rainbow, but in contrast caused by the refraction of light through the ice crystals in cirrus clouds.

It occurs only when the sun is high in the sky, at least 58° above the horizon, and can only occur in the presences of cirrus clouds. It can thus not be observed at locations north of 55°N, except occasionally from mountains.^[1]

The phenomenon is quite rare because the ice crystals must be aligned horizontally to refract the high sun. The arc is formed as light rays enter the horizontally-oriented flat hexagonal crystals through a vertical side face and exit through the horizontal bottom face. It is the 90° inclination that produces the well-separated rainbow-like colours and, if the crystal alignment is just right, makes the entire cirrus cloud shine like a flaming rainbow.^[2]^[1]

A circumhorizontal arc can be confused with an infralateral arc when the sun is high in the sky; the former is however always oriented horizontally where the latter is oriented as a section of a rainbow, e.g. as an arc stretching upwards from the horizon.^[2]

I checked the pictures of infralateral arcs, and this wasn't it. Although I realize that this rainbow in the sky wasn't nearly as bright as some of the ones documented across the internet, I doubt that I will ever see one again--a circumhorizontal arc, the rarest of all meteorological phenomena!

Pretty Cool, huh?

One of our music providers has gone off line, so all we have on the blog right now is bluegrass. Sigh... ;-)

Lets see...there are some flowers out, so here's some pictures of them:

These are just a few of the little wonders God has scattered across our yard.

Here's a picture of our front sign (the one mom painted):
And one of the beloved dog who wishes that I would quit taking pictures and play with him. :-)
Speaking of the dog, I reciently found some pictures of him from before he came to our house:

And here are matthew's chicks (more due to arrive Monday):
Some of those chickens(by my reckoning) have got to be from the weirdest parts of God's creation.

Finally, Matthew's newly revised (and much sturdier [he replaced his 12 1/2" pvc pipe hoops with 6 1" steel pipes {bent to spec--he went over to the gentleman from church's house and curved them on his trailer--and anchored to the ground via fence posts}]) hoop house:

And now I'm running out of pictures.

The DSL Chronicles

Every spring through fall, our DSL internet service becomes spotty. This year, with mom teaching Koreans English, we need better than spotty. So, we(she) have been constantly on the phone with the central office, or shepherding a tech around the house(technically, the service people shouldn't need to be kept track of, but some of the ones we get need to be told where the mouse is at the computer[really, it's true!] even though we keep it on a tray like most people do). One tech even came on the phone with the people at headquarters to tell me to undo what he did when he was here. Good thing I was watching. :-)

There was a really nice, knowledgeable guy (definitely a divine blessing) out from AT&T (the owners of the phone line, but unfortunately, not providers of DSL in this area) who checked all the lines for faults, and came up with no problems. He even told us all the technical information to relay to the service provider to backup his story. However, we still cannot seem to reliably and speedily connect to the internet, like we can all winter.

As their last possible fix(or so they say), the service provider is going to order a new line from the roadside box to our house. There's not much else we can do ether after they throw up their hands, as they seem to be the only DSL provider in this area. The cable line stops up the road, and satellite has too much of a lag. We could look into getting an air card(which gets internet from the cell towers)but that is pretty expensive.

The Close of Band

We had our last band rehearsal on yesterday, and the concert is next Monday. We are playing(not necessarily in this order):

The William Bird Suite(movements 1 and 6)
Abrams Pursuit
Liberty Bell
The 1812 Overture
Marche Hongroise
Salute to America's Finest

I'm not sure what we will do in the way of brass music over the summer, but we might startup the PotterVilla a Capriccio again.

Friends, Children, Countrymen!

We had some friends from the UP (that's the upper peninsula to non-Michiganders--we live in the lower peninsula) come down to visit us for the homeschool conference. We got to look after four of their five kids while they went to the big city for the conference. Compared to 'normal' kids, these guys (actually more girls, as they only have one boy out of five) are very well behaved, and a joy to have over the weekend. When they come is one of the only times we get out the knex(see knex.com) and build stuff. Since the toys follow basic building principles, it's pretty easy to build some BIG stuff. While they were here, we built a ferris wheel that stood about three feet high (we have built stuff that scraped the ceiling--and higher). There was some smaller stuff to come out of the weekend too, but not worthy of mention. I plan (if I ever get around to it) to make mother a knex spinning wheel out of the pretty hefty circular center. Knex is sturdy enough that I think it could actually be pretty useful. :-) Mother has this thing about standing up (it's a miracle that she can even walk, due to a back problem, and a risky surgery--but more on that another day) so a drop spindle doesn't work the greatest for her. Ether treadled or motorized, I think a knex spinning wheel would do the trick without costing a fortune. Mom doesn't even know if she likes spinning yet, so the less investment the better.

While the kids were here, Matthew and I slept on the floor, him in his little closet/plant growing room, and me in the office/music room. It wasn't the most comfortable, but we managed. That way, the four oldest kids could sleep in our room. Their parents slept downstairs in the guest/exercise room (notice that a lot of rooms have two functions? it's the key to a useful house) with the youngest. We had contemplated sleeping outside, but since the weather was iffy, and we ended up not venturing out.

Current Events

Right now, Matthew is building outside (ether a chicken tractor, a whizzbang chicken plucker, a whizzbang garden cart, or something else I'm not aware of :-), mom is upstairs doing something I'm not aware of, and dad is somewhere I'm not aware of. Our internet is very spotty now, making it difficult to do web programing. Blogger seems to make it through some though.

Self imposed summer school starts several weeks from now, when I can hopefully finish up my advanced physics and trig. Also on the agenda, calculus, art (one of these times, I may finally learn how to draw!) and music should help fill in the time in between doing computer work, helping keep up outside, and operating my brother's and mine lawn mowing business, dubbed PotterVilla Acres lawn care services. We mow about three of four lawns over the summer (mostly for widows from church, so we don't charge much--however the price of gas is beginning to change that :-<).

Concluding Thoughts

I'm afraid I didn't follow my last post's advice very well, and sorry for the long post. We did have a lot to catch up on, though. :-)

Let's finish off with a verse(actually 2):

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

Makes for a nice end of a long post, doesn't it? When the Apostle Paul wrote it, it was in the middle of a letter to the Ephesians. I still like it at the end.

Anyway, we'll talk to you all later (whether by reading your blog or in the comments of blogs or whatever :-) and hope all you mothers out there had a wonderful day devoted to you by people who are always devoted to you.

Thanks for reading,

In His name,

For His glory,

And trying to follow His path,

Jonathan Potter
for PotterVilla Academy

Ecclesiastical Wisdom

2008-05-09T15:46:00.004-04:00

The more the words, the less the meaning, and how does that profit anyone?

- Ecclesiastes 6:11

The Desire of the Righteous

2008-05-02T07:49:00.009-04:00

This is something that hit me the other day when I was reading in Proverbs the other morning:

"The desire of the righteous ends only in good, but the hope of the wicked only in wrath."--Proverbs 11:23

I read that, stopped and thought wow! The desire of the righteous ends only in good! And then I looked in my footnotes and they said to look at chapter 10 verses 24 and 28:

"What the wicked dreads will overtake him; what the righteous desire will be granted."--Proverbs 10:24

"The prospect of the righteous is joy, but the hopes of the wicked come to nothing."--Proverbs 10:28

Now if the Bible says something once, it's true. But if it says basically the same thing three times in a row?--God must really want to get the point across. (some days I need that--I didn't really catch it until the third time!) And while all our righteousness is like filthy rags, God looks at us (those who have been sanctified, saved by grace, and redeemed) through the filter of his son's blood--in his sight we are righteous. That means that our desires will be granted. That's huge. The God over all the universe, maker of heaven and earth, is promising to grant our desires.

Now we do need to be careful, while He sees us as righteous, we still have a sin nature and so not all of our "desires" are righteous. We must not think that God will just give us every little thing we want. That would make us lazy and selfish, and God doesn't operate that way--He wants (and acts for) what is for our good.

But if our desires are good and pure, ones that He Himself has implanted into our hearts--they will be granted.

That means that there is hope for my dreams--and yours. Not that we can just sit back and expect a huge farm or whatever to be dropped in our laps, no we need to keep working to gain our goals, but we can reasonably expect our desires to be fulfilled. Not in our time but in God's time. "He has made everything beautiful in His time." Ecclesiastes 3:11 So it may not be in our lifetimes, but if we follow His leading, our goals, our dreams, our desires will be accomplished.

What an encouragement! Isn't God good?

Matthew

P.S. Sorry for the formating--I've fought with it for quite a while now and I'm giving up!

Wendsday

2008-04-16T19:35:00.008-04:00

There's nothing to do...nothing at all...so I guess I'll blog.

I've been sick for about 5 days. I've had my fill of TV, books on tape, and blankly staring at my computer monitor. With sleeping, that's about all I've been doing of late. Oddly, I haven't even been hungry enough to eat much. But I'm finally feeling better.

Mom has a new piano student that started today, so she had me clean the family room. Since it is clean (mostly, and won't be for long) I thought I'd show y'all a picture (don't expect images of the rest of the house any time soon :-)...)

The fully open window points north.

The other big news is that there was a fire in the hoop coop last night.

Fortunately, mom was going to water the chickens when she discovered the hoop coop full of smoke, and the sawdust on top of the brooder was smoldering. Since she had a pitcher full of water in her hand, she threw it on top of the brooder. All the chickens seem fine. God's providence.

Apparently, the heat lamp bulb was touching the plywood on the top, and started the fire.

Everything has been greening up around here:And with the temperatures around 70, it definitely feels like spring.

Matthew has been working over at the Williams this week, who have 500 ewes lambing, and been gone from early morning until late night. Baxter misses him dreadfully, and hardly settles down long enough to pick at his sore (from the neighbor dog, but long story). He doesn't even know about the fire yet.

That's about all I can think of to write about, without getting into stuff like politics (ZZZzzz...).

To all, a good night.

Jonathan.

Weird Weather

2008-04-11T20:41:00.001-04:00

We had a very weird weather day today. I woke up to gray, but about nine the sun came out. Then this afternoon it has switched back and forth between sunshine, rain and a little hail, and just cloudy.

This morning I thew the last of the wood on the place (except for the blocks holding down the hoop-house) into the furnace, and since it's supposed to be rather cold tomorrow (snow predicted, though if we do get any, I'm pretty sure it won't stick) I thought it might be nice to have a little more before then....So I called Mr. Joe (the fellow from church who I cut wood with, and who also just and surgery on his foot last Friday) to see if he would be able to at least come with me and watch (for safety's sake we prefer to have two people around if we're doing much cutting) while I cut up some wood. Being the irrepressible, generous, strong type he is (he's also really good on crutches), he said that he'd put the new bar on his saw, and to come on over (he mentioned that the doc said he doesn't have to use the crutches all the time any more). So after I grabbed a snack and collected the extra layers I might need if it did start raining (it was about 68 degrees (20 C) at the time) and put the new bar and chain on my saw, I hooked on to the wood splitter and took off. I made it out of the drive way, down our road onto the busy road right by the freeway overpass/exit ramps and the wheel on the splitter locked up! Black skid marks on the pavement and squealing tires--the works. So I pulled off on the shoulder, and grabbed a pry bar to lift the axle, so I could spin the wheel and try to free it up. Once the tire was spinning freely, I jumped back in the truck and took off again. I made it another mile and a half (and two turns) before the wheel locked up again! It was locked up worse that time, but I managed to get worked free and limped it the last two miles (3.2 km) to Mr. Joe's place. As you may have guessed the bearing was shot. So we had to fool with that a while, and then I headed into town to get new bearings.

Now while I was driving over to Mr. Joe's and while we were working on getting the wheel bearings off, it was sunny with a lovely breeze. The peepers were singing away merrily, white puffy clouds were off in the distance, and it was plenty warm to be working in a short sleeved shirt. Then just before I left for town, there was a huge storm system practically right over us. Just came up out of nowhere. Last night we got about an inch and a half (3.5 cm) of rain, and today on the way to town it must have been raining at the rate of about an inch an hour! That didn't last long though, by the time I got back about 25 min. later it had quit. And it never rained as hard at Mr. Joe's farm as it had in town. So we put the new bearings in between a few more little showers, and took stock of the situation. About that time it started raining hard again--so we went inside. After a little while, all of a sudden it was sunny. The trees weren't even dripping. If it weren't for the puddles you'd never have known it had just been pouring. Quite strange.

So we though we could start cutting then, but another storm blew in and so we gave up and I came home. It rained on the way home, but then shortly there after it quit and was very nice and sunny again. And hasn't rained since, I don't think!

There's Michigan weather for you. Overall it was a very nice day, except it kept raining off and on. When it wasn't raining the sun generally came out. Weird weather. And no wood. We'll have to rely on the oil furnace a little bit. Oh well, in three years we've only used about 3/8 of a tank, so we're not doing too bad. I guess we'll try again tomorrow. (once again in the rain and snow!)

Wellp that's all fer now,

Matthew

P.S. I've got to get another photo of that rhubarb--you can almost see it grow. It must be a foot and a half high already.

A Short Post (there's a first time for everything!)

2008-04-09T22:04:00.000-04:00

Well, just have time and energy for a short post tonight...if I try really hard maybe I can actually keep it short!

The weather has been pretty typical for April in this neck of the woods: a mix of sun and rain, and temps pretty steady in the mid 50's (12-13 C) although one day when the sun was out it got up to nearly 70! (21 C) They say it's supposed to get cooler this weekend and possibly snow...but y'all know the weather service....

There are more and more signs of spring all the time. The crocuses (spring flowers--not sure if that's the proper spelling) are finally blooming, and the daffodils are growing quite a bit too--no flowers yet though. Also the 'spring peepers' (little frogs that have really big voices!) have been singing away merrily for a week or so, probably once the water in the swamps warmed up.

The chicks are still doing fine and growing to beat the band...hard to believe they're only 2 1/2 weeks old. Most of them now have all their little wing feathers and quite a start on their tails. Fluttering to the top of the brooder no longer poses any problem--I'm glad I got the chicken wire on when I did!

The tomatoes are flourishing upstairs...I've had to raise the lights several times the past week. I could probably move them out to the hoop-house, only it's not dug up. And before I can dig it up I have to move the chicks out. And before I can move the chicks out it has to warm up enough....So for now the plants are still upstairs. The lettuce is also doing well. I actually planted some leaf lettuce and radishes out side last Saturday--pretty exciting ;-) I should get another picture of the rhubarb, its really taking off.

And finally, you may have noticed that we have different music at different times....That's because Jonathan made some random number generator that picks what music player comes up--so if you don't like the music just refresh the page and it will probably be different. (although I can never seem to get the one that has the bluegrass music that I like pretty well) He also found some new songs to put on the one player....the one song entitled "city on a hill" (or something like that) has pretty good lyrics but I wish it was something different that a "City!" Make me a lamp on a stand, or maybe a barn on a hill, but I think that the agrarian consensus is that cities are the antithesis of the ideal lifestyle. Oh, well quite good other than that. He also found some other neat ones.... so come by and take a listen...

I think that (had better be) is all for tonight,

Matthew

P.S. Not to bad for a "Short Post," at least for me! :-)

Jail Birds and Chrismas in April

2008-04-05T10:16:00.000-04:00

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I originally started writing this on Thursday...but then Mom came home and needed the computer...and I haven't got back to it 'till now. So this will be kinda interesting!
And just to warn y'all...this is a rather long post, since it's two or three days of thoughts!
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I couldn't decide between "Jail Birds" and "Christmas in April," for the title so I thought why not both? Anyway here it goes :-)

The Chicks are somehow getting outside. Not just outside of the brooder--they're supposed to do that. Not just out of the hoop-coop--I don't mind that too much, they're still fairly safe inside of the hoop-house. It is when they leave the hoop-house that I mind. Somehow they're getting out through some crack that I can't find (they can fit though an awfully small hole) and can't find their way back in. I've got to get some chicken wire on the coop!

Tonight I heard loud peeping, "boy those chicks are loud. I can hear them all the way out here." Well I went inside of the hoop-house and the peeping was quieter. Uh-oh! It seemed to be coming from a couple of tires that I have piled up to block holes. (apparently they aren't doing their job--I just might fire them!) I picked up the top tire, and what do you know, there were four chicks in it! Right in there with all those old leaves and water that I can never seem to get out. Did I happen to mention that the dog was with me? (That wouldn't be such a big problem except that we're not sure what he would do to chicks. I'd rather expose him to full size chickens first. Hopefully, he'll just herd them if they get loose, after all he is mostly border collie. But there is always a chance that he likes chicken dinners (or chick snacks). And that's not a chance I'd like to take right now!) So I grabbed the dog with one hand and the wettest chick in the other. Then I held the dog between my legs, opened the door to the hoop-house, tossed the poor drenched bedraggled chick inside, and carried the dog into the house. Oh, and I should also probably say that this all was happening while the rest of the family was trying to leave to go to AWANA.

Once the dog was safely inside where he couldn't to any damage (to the chicks anyway--not so sure about the house!), I managed to round up the other three chicks. Actually they were pretty cold and didn't put up much of a fight. (Also I've discovered there are great advantages to always wearing a hat: (base ball cap type) not only dose it keep your head dry when moisture drips on you in the hoop-house, but is also acts as a great chick catching/containment device) Then I rushed to put all four under the heat lamps in the brooder--I'm praying that they won't get pneumonia. I can't imagine that the experience was very good for them.

Here a few pictures of the chicks:In this photo you can see the eves trough feeders that a gentlemen from church helped me build. He cut out the end pieces and then we screwed them down with plumbers strap. They even have rolling handles, so that chicks (when they're heavier, anyway) won't be able to perch on them.
Here is their hoop-coop all closed up for night:-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Saturday--4/5 addendum: Last night I went out into the hoop-house and found a dozen chicks outside of their coop--and it was pretty chilly in the hoop-house. There were ten in one group on the left side of the coop (in the photo above) and two on the right side caught between the plastic on the coop and the walls of the hoop-house.

Lessons learned:
#1 Don't assume that just because you don't open up the coop, the chick can't get out. (there just like mice--can fit through an impossibly small hole.
#2 Don't wait until after dark to go out to check on the chicks--they're small enough yet to be hard to find with a flashlight!
#3 Chicks are a *lot* easier to catch when they're sleeping!
#4 As convenient as it sounded at the time, it is really best not to leave the chicken wire off of the coop to make it easier to get stuff (like the brooder) in and out--if I can get in easily, the chicks have no trouble at all! And they're trying to get out, not in.
#5 Check on the Chicks more frequently than two or three times a day

I'm beginning to get the impression that chickens aren't necessarily the smartest animals one can own. At least there were ten in the one pile, they should have been able to keep themselves fairly warm. When I threw (gently tossed?) the wretched (I mean the poor little birdies) critters back into the coop, they didn't even have enough sense to get under the brooder and warm up....sigh....
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And on to the other exciting thing that happened yesterday...

My Whizbang order arrived!! Just like Christmas, only in April. It was primarily Plucker parts, but I got a couple of books too.

-----------Writing On Saturday------------

Here's what I got:
The famous feather-plate and shaft of course (precisely mounted and disassembled); a plaque telling how to reassemble it; 125 plucker fingers (from Robert); bumper sticker, caution sticker and the Fraternal Order of Whizbang Pluckerbuilders (in the manila envelope with the hand written message); the Whizbang garden cart plan book; the Writings of a Deliberate Agrarian (a gift for a friend--I got a copy for Christmas (in December!) and took me part of that afternoon and a few minutes the next morning to devour it!); and last but not least, the wonderful paper that doubled as packing material. (I have this weird thing about newspaper packing--I always try to save it and see if there is anything interesting. Some times it is the comics, or world news or something, but this time there are some really interesting articles about how much it might cost to own a milk cow, (something I'd like to do, soon if possible, which it probably isn't but one can dream....) and a bunch of other interesting stuff. I believe that this is the first paper I ever seen with one of these: (look on the bottom of the page))Is that, *gasp*, oh no, it couldn't be...could it? YES! It is a Bible verse--on a farming paper?!? What is the world coming to? I think I'll look it up online and see if they have one for our neck of the woods!

-----Have to go hang out the next load of laundry, be right back (did you see my post on Laundry?)----

OK, I'm back...where was I....

Oh, yes. The Whizbang order--it was great. Christmas in April. Oh, I've already said that. Let's see...Great service, exceptional products, I absolutely *love* the packing materials...speedy delivery...what more could you want? Autographed books you say--did I forget to mention that all of the books are signed by the author? I can't recommend this Whizbang stuff enough. It's great. It's awesome. It's (dare I say it--the word I hate to use and hear used), it's cool. (Um, perhaps I should clarify and say that's not referring to temperature ;-) )

That is going to be a fun project. Now I just need to find one of those cotton pickin barrels...there seems to be a shortage around here. If all else fails I'll have to wait 'till the *huge* consignment auction coming up here shortly (first weekend in May?) They usually have around 1,000 buyers (give or take a few hundred), plus an extra couple hundred people that just go to watch. We have quite a long list this year: from a pressure canner (or maybe two) to egg baskets and everything in between. (well maybe not everything but we do have a looong list)

Now on to other matters. (if I can think of any!)

Ah, yes....It's spring break 'round here (not for us--we work through snow days and spring break and get done the first part of May. Or at least we used to....now we're doing more interesting things like planning gardens and raising chickens (or working on the computer for Jonathan--he's sorta apprenticed to a lady down it Tn, doing websites and stuff) more than bookwork, although we're still doing some of that (unfortunately?). But what spring break means is that everyone in the neighborhood is going on vacation. And we get to watch all of their animals. Across the road I'm watching three geese (one of which is setting on a nest) one beagle (the lab ran away just before they left), a couple of half-wild cats, and who knows how many chickens (20 or 30?). The good part is we get to keep the eggs--some 8 or 10 a day. The bad news is we have no idea of what to do with all the eggs! (we also got one goose egg--from the other goose that is not near as dedicated to sitting on a nest as the other one. I think there must be one male--he's always hissing at me. I just hiss right back, had lots of practice with my cat and all :-) ) Then the neighbors just to the West of us are leaving some time today--we'll get their dog, Macy, an English Springer Spaniel, she's fun to have around. She's come over a few times to play with Baxter--works good I throw the Frisbee, Macy fetches it (requiring little effort from me) and Baxter chases her all over creation while she's getting the frisbee (you see Baxter won't bring them back, so you have to chase after them yourself). And then up the road a ways some other folks left yesterday--I need to run up once a day to feed and water the dog.

When I was out with the last load of laundry the sun was just coming up over the trees:That is one of my favorite spot to take pictures. I have quite a collection of shots taken from about that same place.

The other day there was a beautiful earth revolving too [you surely realize that the sun doesn't rise--the earth revolves) so here is the sun rise (I mean "earth revolving ;-) ]:
It was pretty chilly that morning--the ice in one of those ubiquitous gray tubs:was quite thick:

----Time for another laundry break----

Ok, Back again....

I just have one more thing to tell y'all about (I think just one)...I wrote this paper for school (actually we call them "news summaries"--take a story out of the newspaper or off the internet and then rewrite it. The original article was in the Lansing State Journal. It's about the rising corn prices. I wrote it once using the "rules" for school and then rewrote it in "blogger" style--interesting I thought. I think I like the "blogger" style better :-) I blogged about writing for school and the program we use here, it's down a ways so you'll have to hunt for it, but it's there :-) Here are the two versions for y'all to compare; first the strictly rewritten (no opinion--just the facts):

The Prices are Up
by Matthew Potter
4/4/08

[6]Food prices are rising. [1]This is primarily because of the skyrocketing cost of corn. [2]Amid expected shortfalls, corn has reached a record setting six dollars a bushel. [5]While this is roughly a thirty percent increase, the commodity stockpiles are dwindling, and the demand—for animal feed and bio-fuels—is ever increasing. [1]The current price jump is partly due to the U.S. Government’s prediction that American farmers, who are the world’s largest suppliers of corn, will “plant sharply less of the crop in 2008.” [4]Relying on past and present research, the USDA projects that only 86 million acres of corn will be planted—an eight percent drop. [3]Additionally, cold wet weather across much of the Corn Belt is expected to delay planting, once again raising prices. [1]Higher corn prices will mean high food and meat costs, as producers pass on their expenses to the consumer. Prices are going up!

Rewritten from Corn prices hit new high; $6-a-bushel mark likely to push rising costs of food, alternate fuel, by Stevenson Jacobs of AP LSJ 4/4/2008 Page 8D

The "[3]" are sentence opener numbers--[1] Is a subject opener; [2] is a prepositional opener; [3] an "-ly" or adverb opener; [4] an "-ing" or "-ed" opener; [5] a adverbial opener; [6] is the ever popular Very Short Sentence a.k.a. VSS. We also have to work in a who/which clause; an adverbial clause, strong or dual verbs; strong or dual adjectives and a "-ly" word (like "absolutely"). And I forget what all else.

Now here is the "blogger" style (with some opinions and extra facts slipped in):

A Corn Driven Economy?
by Matthew Potter
4/4/08

Food prices are rising. And it’s mainly due to corn. Yes, this one little plant is now receiving national attention. Over the past few years corn prices have been going up, but now they have reached the $6-a-bushel mark—that’s a record! While that is roughly a 30% increase, stockpiles are dwindling and the demand (both for animal feed and bio-fuels) just keeps going up. The

U.S.

government actually helped ignite this fuse leading to higher prices by predicting that American farmers (the folks who produce the largest share of the world’s corn) will plant “sharply less of the crop in 2008.” In fact, the USDA projects that only 86 million acres of corn will be planted—a drastic 8% decrease from last year. Also helping matters immensely, the cold wet weather plaguing the Corn Belt may delay planting, once again driving prices up. And since corn syrup is in practically everything, from pop to ketchup, prices of a lot of things will no doubt rise corn prices. Additionally, most animal feed is corn based, so the price of meat and animal products will skyrocket as well. It seems like corn is driving our economy. Prices just keep going up and up an up….

Rewritten from Corn prices hit new high; $6-a-bushel mark likely to push rising costs of food, alternate fuel, by Stevenson Jacobs of AP LSJ 4/4/2008 Page 8D

So there you have it....Which to you like better?

Well, better get to work....

Take 'er easy (or not, I suppose!), and never forget "no rest for the wicked, and the righteous don't need none!" (from Uncle Billy on Mitford)

Matthew

A Nice Fall Day (Oh, It's Spring?!?)

2008-04-01T21:26:00.001-04:00

It was a cold, gray, windy day. Quite a nip in the air. And boy, was it windy. Really, really windy. Like 40 or 50 mile an hour gusts windy. (you get the idea?)

Well this morning I awakened to my dear Mother telling me that the plastic was loose on the hoop-house. (for the umpteenth, no gazillionth, time) Did I mention that the chicks are out there?!? And did I say that there is (or rather used to be) probably half a ton of rocks holding the plastic down?!? And did I tell y'all that it was rather windy?!? It was almost a disaster. Thankfully, the chicks didn't seem to suffer too much under their brooder in the hoop-coop (which is inside of the hoop-house) PTL!!) So I dashed out there (after throwing on some clothes and dragging myself out of bed (Umm, better reverse the order on that :-) ) --I did mention that somehow I stayed up till mid-night last night? And this was shortly after seven?--I dashed out and assessed the damage. A lot of damage. Almost enough to collect the wind damage insurance we don't have on the thing.

Well, it was way too windy to do much other than pull down the first layer of plastic and batten it down as well as we could and go back in and wait. And did I mention that it was quite cloudy and depressing? (and very windy!) And that the weather last night called for Sun to day?? Anyway, not the best start to the day! This afternoon the wind finally died down to a gentle breeze of about 15 or 20 mile an hour gusts, and Jonathan helped me get the second layer of plastic back over the hoops (several of which are now displaced and/or broken) and weighted down with about six or eight 150+ pound blocks of wood per side. (those hard maple blocks that I didn't get split yet sure came in handy to day) So now we have the blocks of wood and all of the rocks we started with on there. Now I think (hope/pray) that anything shy of a tornado can't do much more damage. We definitely need some design improvements--more metal to start! (we don't have any in the current flawed design)

(With all of these *great* things happening to our version of a hoop-house, y'all probably can't wait 'till I tell y'all how to make your own! It would work great someplace that never gets over a 2mph breeze. Seriously though, maybe you can learn with us from our mistakes, and not make as many yourself! When the plastic stays on it seems to work well--our rhubarb has leaves about 5 or 6 inches across and the really greening up. )

The chicks are doing well (getting quite big, and growing lots of feathers), I really do want to get some pictures posted of them out--they're really a riot. Our new entertainment is to dig up a few worms and dangle them by the brooder 'till one of the chicks grabs it and runs off. Then all the rest will chase after the one with the worm. Kinda like football or something. It's really great if you get about 6 or 8 chicks with worms and the others chasing. In and out of the brooder, into the corners, (there are a few that are really good at stealing the "ball,") and ever out of the coop into the general hoop-house! Maybe I can even figure out (read get Jonathan to figure out) how to post a video of them--no promises though. I just ordered a batch of meat birds too, should arrive May 19th. Now I need to think about getting more feed...

Tonight, after supper, Dad went out to watch the show. And then we played Frisbee (using ice cream pail covers) with the dog. Kinda hard in gale force wind. It was just like a day in late October or early November. Felt just about like time for deer season ;-)

That's all for now,

Matthew

More on Tomatoes and Chicks

2008-03-28T21:46:00.000-04:00

Another sunny day here, almost all of the snow melted (we only got about two inches after all, I knew the Weather Service couldn't be right two times in a row!) so we're back to mud :-) Oh, the joy of it...at least it means that spring is coming.

Well today I slept in till about 8:30am, and got going kinda slow but tomorrow I'll probably be up by 5:00am, to get ready to cut wood all day--so it sorta averages out over time I guess. The guy I cut wood with--Mr. Joe--is a fifty-odd year old bachelor who lives with his two dogs (the dogs eat like royalty, and so does anyone who he has over to eat) on his folk's farm (although they have been in paradise for some 10 or 15 years) and works at a lumber mill in town as a mechanic and truck driver. He is having surgery on his foot (for the third or fourth time) in a week, so we're trying to get all the wood cut we can before that, and before thing get too muddy (or the fields are planted). We met him when we started going to Ainger (Bible Church), and I helped him with haying a year or two until he quit. Now (and then) we cut wood together. He just has a small wood stove in the kitchen and so just burns small stuff (we cut up buzz poles and buzz them up on his buzz saw). The saw is belt driven (off of a Case SC) and makes quick work of linking up the long poles.

This afternoon I spent a few hours working on my version of an electric lamp brooder, (just need to quickly attach the light fixtures) and a adjustable growing light hanger. I think I'll need to move the chicks outside sometime tomorrow as well. Here's a picture of them in the basement quarters:

A chick's eye view!(they sure didn't want to stand still!)

Here you can see better all the different colors and kinds that the hatchery sent this time:They kinda took exception to the flash :-)

Here's how I built the brooder:
First I sketched it out roughly and listed the materials I would need.

Then I cut out the pieces on our table saw (don't mind the mess--it's not as bad as it looks, we can still climb through it all ;-) and the tractor (the thing with the snow blower) makes a great auxiliary workbench)With all of the pieces cut up on the floor, I got out the tools I would need. Now were did I put those screws I wonder.....

Once I found the screws (they were hiding under the turkey deep fryer (to the right of the tractor in the photo above) the deep fryer, (a fancy one with a drain even) that we picked up at Lowes for about $16--it had a price sticker on it for that amount, and they honored it without any question, quite amazing really, considering that it was originally on sale for $79.99! What a find--thanks Mom, I would have walked right past it!) I started putting pieces together:
Then I realized that it wouldn't work that way...so I tried again...And then I put it together again. And realized it wouldn't work. (are you beginning think I like to just try stuff to see if it will work, rather than waste, I mean spend time trying to figure out if it will work in the first place?) And after taking it all apart and cutting some off of the long sides, and reassembling it this is what I had:Now for the sides (1' x 2' and 1' x 4' ):
Here is the interesting corner I ended up with:
I'm sure that if I did it again I would do it a little different, but this seemed to work out all right in the end:Some friends had actually let me borrow their old commercial style brooderbut when I tried it out, it seem to have only one setting--just barely warm. The thermostat must be going bad.As you can see it's an old coil thingamabob type (similar to the whatchamacallit style) :-)

Then I started in on the plant light stand.
Screw a few more pieces together and viola!

From concept to finished product in use in only about three hours.
I like projects like that! It seem to work well on top of all that. An extra bonus.

On the tomato front, someone asked about what I used the egg shells for--here's picture.Just gently break out one end of the egg and rinse before leaving to dry. Then pack with soil, add seeds and let 'em grow. Then when you want to transplant just crush the shells and then remove (or not) and put the root ball into the new potting stuff. I understand that this method works especially well for melons etc. that need extra calcium. These are Ground Cherries. For the tomatoes I just sprinkled the seed over a flat (of the homemade improvised kind--meat trays, old plastic berry containers, and of course egg cartons) of potting soil and covered with wet newspaper. I do have a special place set up for germinating seeds--an electric blanket covered with plastic, on which I put free-after-rebate boot trays to hold water and the flats. You can see it pretty well in the picture of the light stand-hanger thingy.

Maybe someday I'll get around to showing how we cobbled together our not-so-permanent hoop house--not tonight though! :-)

Well I must be off to bed,

So long for now,

Matthew

Snow Again!?!?

2008-03-27T16:59:00.003-04:00

Noooo! Not more snow! I though it was supposed to be spring!

Doesn't look like it's to be so, does it:

Can anyone say "An inch an hour"?

...SNOW ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 8 PM THIS EVENING TO 4 AM EDT FRIDAY...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GRAND RAPIDS HAS ISSUED A SNOW ADVISORY FOR 3 TO 5 INCHES OF SNOW.

THE RAIN WILL TRANSITION TO SNOW EARLY THIS EVENING. THE SNOW COULD COME DOWN HARD AT TIMES...WITH AN INCH PER HOUR SNOW RATES POSSIBLE. THE SNOW WILL TAPER OFF FROM WEST TO EAST BEGINNING AROUND MIDNIGHT.

A SNOW ADVISORY MEANS THAT PERIODS OF SNOW WILL CAUSE PRIMARILY TRAVEL DIFFICULTIES. BE PREPARED FOR SNOW COVERED ROADS AND LIMITED VISIBILITIES...AND USE CAUTION WHILE DRIVING.

The Weather service can!

And we have to go away again tonight!

Well have to run,

Matthew

Of Tomatoes and Chicks

2008-03-26T17:21:00.005-04:00

Afternoon to y'all. Just a quick note on what I've been doing lately.

The chicks first: the new batch came on Monday (replacements from the hatchery) and are so far doing ok. I hope they continue that trend! Only one dead, a little one that wasn't doing too well in the first place. He felt awful light--one of the symptoms of pneumonia--but I sure hope that isn't it. Too many died from that last time. The Electrolytes from Mcmurray's are quite a bit different from the ones at TSC so maybe that was the trouble last time. They've lasted longer this time than last so we will see.

On to the tomatoes: The inevitable happened. It was finally time. The poor plants had out grown their sprouting flats. Something more was necessary. In a word: re-potting. It took longer than I expected, but the task in now done and before too long I can plant them in the garden. Mom helped me make some newspaper pots, which are supposed to be biodegradable although the video (follow the link above) says otherwise (not to put the pots in the ground intact). We made ours a little thinner, and it looks like they will rot out quite nicely. (not too many things you can say that about with satisfaction!) Any way, that project kinda took over the whole kitchen:It's actually looking quite tidy in this picture. Must have consolidated stuff or something. Overall though it was rather hard to cook much :-) Fortunately I started after dinner on Monday night, and was done before dinner on Tuesday. (In my defense I got just a little distracted by this paper I had to write since is due tomorrow, and had to undergo the editing process. And before you say "no problem for you, you seem to have no problem with writing on your blog, " let me say: This blogging is just fun stuff! For School I have to follow a list of rules as long as my arm: make sure you include this and don't do this or that! Just a note about the writing curriculum we use--it's great. It is called IEW (Institute for Excellence in Writing with Andrew Pudewa) It's the best program out there. I've gone from *HATING* writing to actually enjoying it for the most part--the "super essays" are a bit long but then I tend to have about 250 word paragraphs (you'd have never guessed would you? :-) ) We even keep accidentally calling Mr. Pudewa "Dr. Pudewa." It really seems like he should have a PhD or something! There is no better program out there for writing. He covers everything from long multi-page essays (research papers) to news summaries to timed essays (think ACT and SAT) to Personal Essays (College entrance essays) to book report type things to Story Critiques and everything in between. He gives you a formula to follow and that makes it soooo easy, and yet every person puts in their own way of writing and even when your all useing the same outline (he's a big fan of KWO's--Key Word Outlines) the papers turn out totally different. Some are short. Mine are really long. :-) And he teaches you how to do it with such style and...well...excellence, that i(f your mother edits your papers) you'll be writing at a PhD level (well almost) by the time you complete his program. His humor is also excellent. We had the chance to meet him at our Home School Conf. a few years ago, and he is just as funny in person as he is on DVD (I did mention that the whole course is taught by Dr. (I mean Mr.) Pudewa on DVD didn't I?). If you want to learn how to write easily with confidence and style (Think Jonathan's (my bother, I mean brother) more proper stylish way of writing--he's still kinda in the grove while I've slipped in to a more conversational blogging style :-) Lots of "dress-ups" and "decorations") check out his materials--they're great!

Back to the planting...at least until I get distracted again :-)
Here are our pots:They seem to work pretty well so far. And the egg shell also worked nicely. I could just crunch them up a little and peal the shell off and put the root ball into the new pot without disturbing it too much.

And here are the trays of neatly (OK, so there not that neat, but maybe they'll grow--thats what matters) potted Roma tomatoes:

And here is the ever versatile, ubiquitous gray tub: Now it may not look like much, but these are one of the more useful junk that we've collected. You see these are seat motor packing crate thingy-ma-bobs (whatchamacallits?) Dad's work was throwing them out by the truck load. So we brought them home almost by the truck load. I think it was at least three mini-vans full at about 20 or so to a load. We gave a lot of them away (everybody else thinks they're great too) but we still have a bunch of them stacked up in the garage. They stack well, have handles and most are waterproof. What more could you ask for? I used it to mix the potting soil with water. Worked very well.

Well thats all for now, talk to y'all later,
Matthew

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

P.S. for my rebuttal to Jonathan's last post see the comments. :-)

RE: Icefields Parkway

2008-03-24T14:18:00.004-04:00

Upon reading Matthew's last post, I was shocked and disillusioned concerning his lack of appreciation for the Icefields parkway. Personally, I consider the scenery along that beautiful road some of the most inspiring I have ever seen. Therefore, today I am setting out to show the wonders of the Icefields Parkway. I will admit that the actual icefields aren't that impressive, but the mountains they hang on, now those are things you can't ignore.

Now, getting right to the point and avoiding my brother's infomercial style(he's complaining that his writing style is 'fun to read'[according to Goodolboy][don't tell Matthew, but I kind of agree], however I say it's not exactly well laid out[something derogatory has to be said since he is now hunting down our friendly neighborhood squirrel{he eats from the bird feeder, and Matthew shoots at him with his bb gun to scare him off, and threatens to knock him out for good}]--but I digress), here is the documentary evidence.

Isn't this mountain vista wonderful?

I could understand one of the 'the mountain's hiding the view' people not to be impressed, but overall, this is a splendid rock outcropping of the Canadian Rockies, complete with pine covered foothills.
In whom does this half-cloaked spire not inspire a feeling of majesty?

The colors along the Icefields were practically perfect.

Examine the dark green of the trees, the puffy whiteness of the clouds, the pure, clean chill of the snow, the perfect blue of the sky.

This is the bow river.

Glaciers grind up minerals until they have a neutral buoyancy, then into the water they go to give it this beautiful color.

Although I'm sure some people don't feel the same about mountains, and I'm not trying to prove that mountains are better than anything else(we live in a forest state and most of us[maybe excepting dad] especially loved the Canadian plains) I knew not that Matthew didn't especially like the Icefields Parkway, and wanted y'all who haven't been there to see some of God's most magnificent(in my opinion) handiwork. Please don't take this wrong.

I have a hundred more pictures, so if anyone needs more proof, I can continue.

The Icefields Parkway was certainly more impressive than Denali, were all you could see of mt. McKinley was the cloud shrouded base.

Anyway, I am going to go outside and play with the dog, but I hope to soon post about the new ice age that's taking the world(Al Gore included) by storm.

Jonathan

A Sunset over "Ice Fields Parkway"? (Read On....)

2008-03-23T17:09:00.008-04:00

This morning when we woke up to 15 degree temperatures we were wondering if there had ever been an Easter this cold! But I guess that this isn't actually the earliest that Easter can be--March 22 is, given the right circumstances. It makes things interesting having the date of the Holy day determined by the equinox and the moon. You see Easter is the first Sunday after the first full moon after the first day of spring (the equinox). [that's it for useful information today I think--the rest of this will just be scraps and oddments :-) ]

But on to the sunset (from last night). Allow me to set the scene: We were invaded. They came in overwhelming numbers. We were just getting used a life free from their intimidation and threats. A life of soft summer breezes and warm sunny days. Days filled with birdsong and laughter....And then they came. We had no escape. The land was again viciously thrust under their control. An icy cold grasp, usually unrelenting, and one that would choke the life out of the flora and fauna if given half a chance....

But before you get to feeling too sorry for us, I'll tell you what happen....No it wasn't grasshoppers, Asian lady beetles (although we have been besieged by them numerous times before--not fun!), or stray cats--it was snow flakes. (Of course you knew that from the last post, but a guy's gotta take a little "poetic license" now and a again) (Oh, and I don't really hate winter that much but I am ready for spring!) Thankfully, their days are numbered. And while this really is NOT a sunset over Ice Fields Parkway, here it is. (On an "oddment" note, we have been on the Ice Fields Parkway and, in my unprofessional opinion....it's not that great. Now don't get me wrong, it was "interesting," but the actual Ice Fields are so far away. Now if we had been able to climb on them....) (Oh, yeah, the photo...coming right up...)

The following picture was taken looking West [obviously--it was a sunSET ;-) ] over the vast, endless snow pack that stretched to horizon, that wet, fluffy (or sloppy) white stuff that had taken back over the landscape
Even in this picture you can see that the sun had actually melted the tops of the hills off. However, that morning there was at least a good 8 to 10 inches everywhere and more in the drifts. It is a good packing snow, if it wasn't going to melt off so fast I would be tempted to build another snow fort. Some time in January, or February (or was it December...hmmm....) we had one that covered about a third of the patio outside the back door....not the best place because we had to roll all of the snow balls up hill! And we're not talking just little snow balls either, we're talking at least three and a half feet tall and between a foot and a half to three feet thick.

Our favorite fort was not even built in Michigan though, it was in a state to the South West...New Mexico! We were on vacation (either en-route to the Grand Cannon or on our way home, I forget) and staying in Glorietta at the Southern Baptist Convention Center of the same name (great place to stay by the way, they have sort of like apartment with a couple of bedrooms and a kitchen all for rent at a very reasonable rate (at least when we were there) they have one in Western North Carolina too--Ridgecrest) any way we were staying up in the mountains, and the night of the day after we arrived and got unpacked (in our short sleeve shirts) it snowed. It did not snow a little. It snowed a lot! It started snowing Sunday night, by Monday morning we had got roughly 18 inches, by Tuesday morning 2 feet! It was great! The best part of the whole trip! We had (optimistically) taken our winter coats and the snow shoes--Praise the Lord (PTL) and good idea Mom!! Did I mention that it was the middle of March and the danger of snow was basically past? Yes I do believe God had his hand it that....(as some would say "meddling again." Nice when He does that isn't it?) Let's see where was I....Oh yes the snow fort. We met the people staying next door, a pastor and his wife and two girls, rounding out their vacation before going back to Ok city to finish moving, and any way the girls built a little mound-up-a-bit-of-snow-and-call-it-a-fort fort, and we thought it would be fun to show them what a Michigan fort looked like. So we rolled up a bunch of two foot snow ball and stacked them all up nicely--even built in seats and a "fridge" to hold watter bottles! But the best part of that fort was the snow was so deep it didn't take much to get a really big snow ball, AND there was a lovely hill right handy so we could roll the ball down hill. That was probably our biggest and best fort ever. Even Mom helped build it. And I bet it melted a couple of days later. (we had to leave the next day, I think it was to go home...)

Dad and I also got to go snow shoeing up the mountain in the snow. We were following some sort of trail--I think! It followed and kept crossing a beautiful mountain stream, the pines were laden with piles of powder and the woods were silent except for the rushing brook. It was great.
Another thing I really liked about staying there was the hot lunches. That may sound strange, but I liked it...all the soup and sandwiches...the...the...um...there must have been something else, but now I don't remember. Maybe it wasn't that great after all :-) (I'm sure it was)

Oh before I forget here is another interesting shot of the same sunset: The snow started settling shortly after it fell, and by today we're down to about 3 to 6 inches. The plowed/shoveled areas are melted off and quite dry. The Robins are glad for someplace without snow!

On a different subject....

This morning at church we had an early service at eight, breakfast at nine, Sunday school and ten, and the regular service (not a meeting--I hate meetings!) at eleven. A rather full morning. And since there would be no food for breakfast if we all didn't bring any....I'm sure you get the point. Mom was able to prepare her offerings yesterday so we didn't have to think about that this morning, PTL. She usually makes Empty Tomb rolls, and this year was no exception. These are special rolls that are, can you guess?, that's right--empty! For any one interested in the recipe, here it is:
Homemade Bread dough (None out there would even think of using...horror of all horrors...store bought now would they?)
Marshmallows (We don't make our own of these for some reason...perhaps it's the air puffing that's the hard part)
First preheat your oven to a low temp to raise the bread. (or don't preheat and just turn it on when you get the rolls in there!) Next take a piece of dough a little bigger than a golf ball (for you fellow poor deprived non-golfers, that's about a two inch lump. We know about golf balls due to having a golf course practically in our back yard (used to be a corn field....sigh. I've heard it plays like it's still a corn field--maybe one day again)) take the dough and shape it around a marshmallow. Make sure you seal it up really well or all of the sticky marshmallow will leak out on to your greased baking sheet. (I did mention that part didn't I? Grease them well, or you may be sorry!) Once you have about three or four hundred dozen of these made (or how ever many you care to make) and placed on your greased cookie sheet, place them in your warm (but not hot--you don't want to melt the marshmallow yet) oven to rise. Once they have risen to the appropriate size (roughly doubled or so) crank the temp up to about 350 degrees and bake them for about 20 minutes (or till they're done--if you leave 'em in there too long the smoke alarm will go off and that batch will have to go to the chickens, or pigs, or goats or something--maybe just cut the bottom off) When you cut the perfectly browned product in half there will be a hole in the middle--just like the empty grave Easter morning. So there you have it a delicious breakfast treat, kind of sugary (somehow sugar seems to be the main ingredient in marshmallows. You'd never guess from how sweet they taste [insert sarcasm into that last remark if you haven't already]), but good. And if you actually can follow that recipe amongst all the commentary you deserve a prize! (please note I did NOT say that you would get one, just that you deserved one!) Have fun baking!

At least with two services this morning there are none to night--kind of nice to just stay home and rest once and awhile.

The hoop house is doing fairly well. The snow load on the West side turned it into and A frame for awhile but I think I have it straighten out again. The grass is really greening up in there. Inside of the Hoop Coop, a.k.a. chicken tractor, which is inside of the hoop house, the grass is up tall enough to mow already! If I ever get some chicken to the point to where they live long enough to go out side, they will really like it I imagine. The new batch of chick is due tomorrow morning--bright and early I'm sure--the last time the Post Office called me at 6:11am. I got rid of all the old bedding and disinfected the feeders/waterers so hopefully this batch will do a lot better than the last batch. (100% mortality in about two weeks!) We will see.

The plants I have growing upstairs are doing fairly well. I am never sure how much to water. I need to plant some more stuff too--peppers, redo some tomatoes, and start some butterchrunch head lettuce. Any advice on starting seeds (or chicks for that matter) would be appreciated....I've never done this stuff before and am just about the definition of a bumbling amature :-)

Well that's all for now,

Until next time,

Matthew

What ever happened to Spring??

2008-03-21T16:31:00.005-04:00

Yesterday it was warm and sunny....The first day of Spring....What Happened??

If you click on the pictures you can see the driven snow better. It's coming down around a rate of an inch an hour. (From my own calculations)

When I took the pictures the ground was just starting to be covered. Now we have just shy of three inches. Good thing we put more wood in the basement this morning before this all started.

Here's the official prognoses:

...WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 AM EDT SATURDAY...

SNOW WILL CONTINUE OVERNIGHT WITH SOME BLOWING AND DRIFTING OF SNOW LATER THIS EVENING. THE EVENING RUSH HOUR WILL BE TREACHEROUS. THE SNOW WILL TAPER OFF AFTER MIDNIGHT AND END BY DAYBREAK. EXPECT A TOTAL OF 6 TO 12 INCHES OF SNOW FROM THIS STORM.

A WINTER STORM WARNING MEANS SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF SNOW...ARE EXPECTED. STRONG WINDS ARE ALSO POSSIBLE. THIS WILL MAKE TRAVEL VERY HAZARDOUS OR IMPOSSIBLE.

I wonder what the Robins are doing....The Red Wing Black Birds are at the feeders eating sunflower seeds, but I don't see any Robins, they must just be hunkered down some place.

We will have to monitor the hoop house to make sure that the snow doesn't collapse it....again.....