The turkey is on ice. We have the house pretty clean, plumbing problems sort of resolved, the dryer sort of working, the ceiling for the living room is out in the garage (hoping for a quick install in the morning).

We've been selling piglets-but have a couple left.

I treat you to a picture of our turkeys (above) and a few pigs still here from our first two litters (white pig born in April, about 220 lbs in this picture; the black one born in July). (Isn't the black one a real beauty?) We've had rain (thankfully) for the last few days, making the hog pens a challenge to keep dry....
Oremus pro invicem!

Job, dryers and pigs!

As I struggled with the dryer this week and now some plumbing problems (I had the water shut off half the day yesterday wrestling with a leaky toilet and broken valve-neither which is completely fixed, as of the present writing, but is "under control"-that is the water to the bathroom is capped off until I get some more stuff), I felt called to read some of the book of Job this morning-and now everything seems to be in perspective.

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Speaking of the dryer, I will report the intermediate conclusion of this saga. After speaking again with the folks at RepairClinic.com yesterday, they are sending me a replacement coil for the heating element free of charge. These folks and their website has been very helpful in fixing our appliances here over the years. This is the first problem I had with something I purchased from them, and they resolved it fairly. I do recommend them and will be going to them again.

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Finally, pigs for sale! From 2 litters, one born in August (the white pigs) and the other in September. Here are a couple pictures of the piglets at various stages of life - the black piglets only being a day or so old in this picture. Email me (on the sidebar) if you are interested in any. Several are already reserved, so don't wait. (Our next litter is not due until January.)

Oremus pro invicem!

Traditional feast of St. Stanilaus Kotska

Not to belabor my last post, but 10 years ago today we buried my father, Stanley Curley, on his name saint's feast day. Both on the 9th and the 13th of November every year we pray the Office of the Dead.

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The dryer is down. Visitors here will notice the clotheslines hanging in the 'den' as we've had a welcome (but untimely, considering the dryer) run of rain and cloudy weather. I replaced the heating element in the dryer at the end of May. It starting failing again in September, but I wouldn't believe it was the heating element. Turns out it was, and the company I bought it from won't replace it; the manufacturer only warranties 90 days. But clearly the new heating element was defective. I am trying to get the company I purchased it from to discuss the matter with the manufacturer on my behalf. We'll see how this goes. You only have to replace a heating element a few times before you could've bought yourself a brand new dryer.

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Got a new sow this week. She isn't what I planned to get, but the price was right, she's both young and proven, and she looks healthy. We'll see how it goes.

Work to do ..... Oremus pro invicem!

I can't believe it has been 10 years (today) since my Dad died. May his soul rest in peace!

Oremus pro invicem!

Whew

....It's been a long time. Not that there has been a lack of things to write about. All Saints Day has come and gone. (Great gathering here of just a few families. Prayer, games, food - our first turkey!-I played St. Isadore the farmer this year.)

All Souls has come and gone also. Usually I plug Requiem Press 's Daily Prayers for the Church Suffering and offer deep discounts on quantity purchases. Not this year. We have only a few left. We originally printed 6,000 in the summer of 2004. We have sold many, but have given the rest away-one in every order shipped. I hope they have done some good. I'd like to reprint, but don't have the money. Perhaps we'll print it in-house as we do on a few other items.

But don't forget the holy souls just because I can't sell you 100 copies (we still do have enough to sell in quantities of 10 or less, at least for now.)

We also passed our 5-year mark on the blog in mid-October. I wish I had more time to devote to the blog, but now the homestead work is quite demanding of time. (Today for instance I need to distribute straw to housing, cut some piglets, start separating peanuts from plants, ... and it goes on.)

But I will leave you with a reading suggestion: on hardware stores at Front Porch Republic . My comment after reading the article was:

We still have a small hardware store and an independent feed store. The big boxes are 30 minutes or more away. My wife knows a trip to the feed or hardware store 2 miles from the homestead will more often than not be long-winded. We talk politics and business and farming. Its not just talk. The livelihood of many of the folks who stop and talk depend on these centers of the community. We get to know who can help with what and who we can help. Our small town needs more revival, but it still has life, but a low enough population that the big boxes will stay away for at least a bit longer as “real” jobs are almost an hour away.

(Is it okay to quote yourself from another blog-or is this just the height of vanity?)

Pray for the Holy Souls and have a great week.

Oremus pro invicem!