A Rainy Day

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

A Graduation, A New Job, and Some Other Stuff

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

COLD!

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

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

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

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