"we need more people on the land"

There is a lot of good ideas over at www.frontporchrepublic.com . While I am not sure I agree with everything Mr. Peters says in this piece, still there is some good stuff here. Here's an excerpt from Jason Peters' post:

Consider some grim statistics. In 1930 there were over thirty million farmers in this country and 6.2 million farms. By 1950 there were still twenty-five million farmers on 5.3 million farms. But then the post-war mischief set in, and the government turned against its farmers. By the turn of the century there were fewer than three million farmers on 2.1 million farms. The difference between 1930 and 2000 is a reduction of five farmers to slightly more than one farmer per farm—which is to say, far fewer eyes observing fertility losses on much larger farms. And today, for every one farmer and rancher under the age of 25, there are five who are 75 or older.

More:

One, we need more people on the land. We need a better eyes-to-acre ratio. ... we need young people in local and regional governments who are liberally educated, which means they are familiar with, among other things, the philosophical and political theories that led to our current living arrangements. It also means they must be trained in both physical and cultural geography, urban planning, farming, gardening, environmental studies, and the courses in English and American literature that I teach.

And then from the comment box of this article, an idea close to my heart:

While Deep Springs is a two-year nontraditional college built around an operating ranch out in the desert, I find myself wondering if it might be worth founding and funding small two year post-10th Grade Institutes in varied contexts (urban, rural, seaside, mountains, plains) along the Deep Springs model in various parts of the USA to train “…young people in …the philosophical and political theories that led to our current living arrangements…physical and cultural geography, urban planning, farming, gardening, environmental studies, [as well as] courses in English and American literature…” and applied technology, health and nutrition, and rudimentary business skills added in? - See more at: http://www.frontporchrepublic.com/2013/10/lucks-a-chance-but-troubles-sure-2/#sthash.q68hJvdg.dpuf

Interesting about Deep Springs, I never heard of it, but it is an all-male school. Unfortunately the Board of Trustees are trying to break the trust and go co-ed. But that is an aside. I think there is a need for schools which educate the whole man, but which also encourage traditional rural living.

 

Oremus pro invicem!

So I think I pinched a nerve which makes my left arm and shoulder hurt a few weeks ago. Not one to let a little pain get in the way, I have kept working with it until this past weekend when it became a big pain. Now I am pretty much useless around here. Although I haven't seen the doctor, I believe the best prescription is rest.

 

This is why any readers out there have seen more posts from me during October this year than any month since March 2012 (well, except last month.) I have started to revive my "writing career"-that one that doesn't pay any money-although I did have a paying article published in a homesteading magazine last year.

 

The whole point of this is to alert you all to a new series of mine which begins today on www.catholiclane.com and which will continue every Friday for the next few weeks. The series is about being a father. Some of the articles in some form or another first appeared on this blog.

 

I certainly don't claim any particular expertise on fatherhood. In fact these reflections are actually my own meditations on what I need to do to become a better father-at least at the time they were written. So enjoy, if you can and give me some feedback.

 

Here's a quote from today's installment:

 

St. Thomas Aquinas notes (in The Ways of God) that we should “model ourselves” on our Creator in his attributes and imitate Christ in His actions.

- Read the whole thing at: http://catholiclane.com/the-ways-of-god-for-fathers-introduction/#sthash.7Cmf9q9R.dpuf

 

Oremus pro invicem!

Several months ago a woman who had just won the lottery was interviewed. Here’s the comment (not an exact quote) I remember:

“Now that I have won the lottery I can afford to put my kids in daycare and get a job.”

Last week a government worker was interviewed just after the government shutdown started. He was asked his biggest concern. Here’s what I remember (not an exact quote):

“I don’t know what I am going to do. The kid still has to go to daycare. How can I afford to pay for that?”

So there you have it: daycare at all costs. Rich? Send your kids to daycare. Out of a job? Send your kids to daycare. Daycare must go on!

Sorghum

Here's a few pictures from our sorghum harvest and cooking. Sorry I forgot to take any pressing the stocks which was done up the road. A local farmer who grows sugar cane lent us the use of his cane press for the morning.

 Collecting the stocks - no that's not me. We had some friends over to help.

 Taking the seeds off the stocks to feed to the chickens and turkeys.

 More de-seeding. After pressing the stocks go to the milk cow who absolutely loves them. In fact, her output has gone up 2 quarts a day since we started feeding the stocks.

 Cooking the sorghum. You get about 1 gallon of syrup per 8-10 gallons of juice. This is early stage cooking. It took about 3-4 hours to cook it down.

The finished product. Not as much as we hoped, but learned a lot and if we do it again, I am sure we can get 5-10 times the output on about 1/4 the plot of land. And boy is it good, especially on hot biscuits!

Oremus pro invicem!

Raising Good Children

This quote is from a post today by Rod Dreher. He is discussing fundamentalism of various types. So the quote is a bit out of context for my purposes, but this is often what I have observed.

“These yuppies want to have good kids,” I told my wife. “But they are terrified of being like people who actually do what it takes to raise good kids.”

Many people want to raise good kids, but it is not simply a time (or resource) commitment. It is in a sense a religious commitment. You need to pray with and for your kids. You need to pick your friends carefully as well as being careful about the kids your kids spend time with. You need to be willing to let much of the current culture behind. What you do, what you watch, what you listen to, and who your friends are will influence all this in your children.  Tough choices in what you do and what your children do, and where they school.

 

It is a challenge and sacrifice. Take homeschooling. This is a sacrificial and daunting endeavor, not for the faint-hearted. But it can be done well, even for those not confident at first. I am amazed and gratified that my Mrs. Curley has embraced and dedicated the last 16 years of her life to schooling our children, even though both she (and I) had many doubts and fears initially. (People who know us today have no understanding of the level of fear and doubt we had in the beginning.)

 

That is not to say homeschooling is the only way to go-but if another option doesn't exist, it may be necessary in today's environment.

 

Raising good children depends on discipline: disciplining yourself and your children-albeit often in different ways.

 

Raising good children is hard (may be impossible) to do in a isolation. Finding other families who are willing to make the same hard choices, who believe in God - not just in their words, but in their actions, decisions, and commitment is as important. Both children and parents need the moral, spiritual, and fellowship support of others who share their goals.

 

Reflecting once again on these challenges, I am again humbled and realize my need for prayer: yours and mine.

 

Oremus pro invicem!

What to think

I still haven't quite decided what to think of some of the recent papal interviews. There is a problem if every time Pope Francis gives an interview there has to be multiple disclaimers about interpretations and explanations from multiple Catholic columnists who support the pope. At the same time, you also get the feeling that other Catholics are laying in wait to criticize, ready to accept the most problematic interpretation, even if evidence proposes otherwise.

I am not worried about the secular media take. They operate both with ignorance and their own agenda. They lay in wait to take snippets out of context to suit their own purposes and always have.

My tendency is to give the benefit of the doubt to Pope Francis - after all, I am merely a poor sinner, husband and father whose vocation is not the pope's vocation, nor as papal advisor. In all this, I am reminded that I still need to remove the log from my own eye ... but still, it all can be confusing.

After reading all sorts of commentaries on these issues, I believe Carl Olson's current editorial on Catholic World Report most closely reflects my current thoughts.

Here's the link:

http://www.catholicworldreport.com/Item/2622/pope_francis_the_good_the_baffling_and_the_unclear.aspx

Prayer for Pope Francis, the Church, and for each other is the most efficacious and what we are certainly called to do.

Oremus pro invicem!

Club of Queer Trades

More Chesterton fiction. I love it. I think I should become a professional detainer. I might be good at it.

It is funny how confused things can be in your head when you are young, and how it can carry over. We used Crest toothpaste growing up, always. I thought Colgate toothpaste was either immoral or just plain not for good Catholics. Likewise, since we didn't ever eat pizza growing up, I thought there was something intrinsically wrong with it. I am sure my dear mother would be appalled at these awkward opinions I held in my early youth. Of course I grew out of these foolish notions, but it was still a shock to find out that my future wife used Colgate AND her favorite food was pizza. I wasn't sure for a moment that this whole thing would work out. But only for a moment. Things have been great.

Oremus pro invicem!

I have been reading some Chesterton fiction of late. My daughter ordered interlibrary loan "The Man Who Knew Too Much", knowing that I like both Chesterton and the Alfred Hitchcock movie of the same name. Well, the Chesterton title is not the same story as the Hitchcock movie, but enjoyable anyway. It is a series of short stories centered around a man who seems to know everyone and "know too much about everything" which allows him to figure out mysteries which remain mysterious to everyone else.

Having read this one and many of the Fr. Brown mysteries, I was unprepared when my daughter brought home from the library Chesterton's "The Man Called Thursday". It was a page-turner (I liked the others, but in a calm and quiet sort of way) I couldn't put down, at least until the very last when it took a turn which I won't divulge.

Okay, so we are trying out a new boar. Tarzan could have fathered his last litter for us. He has been here over 5 years and thrown us many large litters. Our best sow, Harry, (she of 9 litters for us) was sold this week. We now have 1 remaining sow (Sam) who has had one litter for us. Her pigs are outstanding and she and Red are our future.

Last year I never got a fall garden in because of the quail farm stint I did. This year we are well on our way. The peas have just broken ground. We have broccoli and lettuce, radishes and a field of turnips. I will plant kale and some other greens tomorrow in our remaining garden space. It was great summer for okra for a while, gathering 6 pounds a day, but it just quit a week or so ago. Some okra still is straggling in, but I plan to pull it this week and maybe plant a bunch of carrots? It may be too late, but we'll see. They will harvest in the spring.

We sold a bunch of piglets and few pumpkins this weekend. God has been very good to us=-once again.

Oremus pro invicem!

My latest effort. Too short to put an excerpt here. Just go over and read it at www.catholiclane.com (Attack the Ball). For some reason I can't put links in my post this morning.

Oremus pro invicem!

Here's something I believe in:

“There’s an unlegislatable mandate to communities to be faithful to future generations, which means replacing yourself, or exceeding the replacement rate. When a community’s healthy, it will do that, and it will only do that when people essentially love a community more than they love themselves.” - Caleb Stegall, newly confirmed to seat on the Kansas Court of Appeals quoted in Rod Dreher’s 2006 book “Crunchy Cons”)

Oremus pro invicem!

Cooking Sorghum

So yesterday we pressed the sorghum stocks at a farmer's place about 10 miles down the road. We got home and started cooking the sorghum juice to reduce it to syrup.

We didn't get a whole lot of juice, about 8-10 gallons. This should yield about 1 gallon of syrup. Next year we will space the sorghum better and give it more manure.

We cooked a few gallons yesterday and figured out when to stop cooking. One batch we had to cook again because we took it out too soon.

This morning I am cooking the rest. It is a 3-4 hour process to cook a batch. We don't have an evaporator, so we are cooking it in batches on the stove. If it was a little cooler I might cook it outside.

We had a little sorghum to sweeten our cream of wheat at breakfast. Delicious!

Oremus pro invicem!

harvest time

Eventful week. We harvested the peanuts Saturday and have them drying on posts in the yard. Saturday we also started stripping the leaves off the sorghum. This continued on Monday with some friends. We took the leaves off, cut the stocks, and saved the seeds.

Here's some of the children (ours and friend's) gathering sorghum stocks before the seeds are removed.

Wednesday we will press the stocks to get the sorghum juice and start cooking it. Another busy week especially as we start school.

Oremus pro invicem!

I come back from NH yesterday after delivering Connor to The College of St. Mary Magdalen to many tasks. We have more wood to bring home from a neighbor, there are plumbing problems in the kitchen, the peanuts appear to be ready to harvest, as does the sorghum, and I have pigs to cut. But … as indicated below, we are back in milk!

Matthew has overseen the farm excellently while I and Thomas were gone. He has picked more pumpkins, kept the animals in good health, and been adopted by our new heifer calf. (I like the sound of that, "heifer".) She bawls everytime she sees him and runs to him. I guess I know who will be training that heifer the next few years.

Not to be outdone, Mrs. Curley and the girls have kept everything else going, including unloading a large trailer of manure which was donated to "the cause".

It is surely good to be home.

Oremus pro invicem!

Brown Swiss/Jersey cross heifer!

Back Home Again!

Just got back from 10 days on the road, delivering my oldest son to Wyoming Catholic College. I have never been west of the Mississippi except one business trip to San Francisco some 25 years ago. Some impressions of seeing more of this country:  You wouldn't believe the number of pro-life billboards in (most especially) Missouri. Boy they grow those rivers wide in the midwest: the Tennesse, the Ohio, the Missouri, and the Mississippi. Nebraska may look flat, but going east to west on route 80 is one long, long uphill trek. The flat land of Lander Wyoming is higher elevation than going over the Great Smokey Mountains of Tennesse. There is way too much corn being grown. Saw not a single hog in the "hog states" of Iowa, Southern Illinois, Missouri, and Nebraska.

Between Laramie, WY/Rawlins, WY and Lander, WY is truly the badlands-sagebrush and desert. While there are three towns listed on the map (Muddy Gap, Jeffrey City, and Sweetwater) they don't appear in person. One consists of a single restaurant, one sports a single liquor store, and I'm not sure the other exists at all. Certainly, load up your gas tank, cause there is NO place between Rawlins and Lander to buy gas.

I really like what I saw at Wyoming Catholic College. It seems to me that the staff and professors have the right stuff.

A couple more weeks and we do it all again for son number two at the College of St. Mary Magdalen in NH.

Oremus pro invicem!

15 piglets born yesterday - our first litter since early spring! Been pretty busy summer. Have been taking old corn and stocks from neighboring farmers' fields for the livestock. Picking eggplant and zuccinni. Orka should be coming in soon. Our sweet corn looks great and should be a bumper crop. Start picking next week. Peanuts look good too.

A couple days ago someone called an asked if we wanted a trailor of manure-of course there is only one answer to that question! Here is number Nick unloading the trailer onto the pick up truck, to be spread between the rows of sorghum.

Nick hasn't done much farm work this past year as he has been working for Darlington County as an EMT, taking practically every shift available. Next week he heads off to Wyoming Catholic, but he got his fix of manure shoveling this week!

Connor is heading off to the College of St. Mary Magdalen in a few more weeks.

Things will be changing quite a bit around here!

Oremus pro invicem!

The Homestead

It surprised me to see an updated satellite image of our homestead on Google the other day. This was taken in April of 2012 I am guessing. I can tell because of the cars present and the configuration of the plantings and pig houses. And it was in the spring as you can see in the field adjoining the property that some plowing has been done, but not finished. You can even tell we had the horse out that day because of the dark, just turned soil compared to the soil next to it.

In the front yard on the top side of the property you can see garden near the road, but also some pens with houses-last year we moved many of the pigs to the front yard.

Our milk cow (cows at the time) and bull and barn are located on the South side of the house (next to the house in lower portion of the photo).

On the South side in the back we still have a couple farrowing pens, but the rest was planted in sweet corn (which we picked June 1st last year and are still eating). The fences are still up as you can tell, but no housing.

Lots of things have changed since this photo. - Oremus pro invicem!

My latest wrting effort can be found: http://catholiclane.com/prayer-life-growing-pains/ . It's about trying to maintain a family prayer life as the children get older and busier, working etc. Enjoy it.

Here's a preview:

So on May 29th we surprisingly (and unexpectedly) had everyone at home in the evening. I had spent all day under my oldest son’s truck working on a very stubborn bolt while trying to change the starter. I had been struggling with this bolt for several days and was close to the end of my options. He really needed his truck back on the road for work, and in fact was off work because of the truck. As I was giving it my final effort, I thought about May and Mary, and how everyone was home. I made a promise, “Mother in Heaven, if you let me get this bolt now, I promise a May crowning today.” Then I started putting force on the lever and heard Nick shout, “It’s turning!” Sure enough that bolt came out. I told Nick of my promise, but cautioned him, “I only made the promise based on the bolt turning, not that installing a new starter will get the truck rolling again.” But Our Lady was generous. 10 minutes later the new starter was installed and the truck cranking.

Oremus pro invicem!

Four Types ....

I remember going to see the 1973 re-release of The Sound of Music in the theater as a child. I had a fleeting familiarity with the story-a family of singers who fled the Nazis by walking over the Alps. I thought and hoped the movie would be a chase through the wilderness. Initially disappointed that it was not the wilderness adventure, I still thoroughly enjoyed it for what it was.

Watching The Sound of Music on TV became a yearly event in my house growing up. It remains a great musical and tale, even if it is highly unhistorical. Do read Maria von Trapp’s The Story of the Trapp Family Singers for a wonderful story steeped in the Catholic culture of this family.

Several weeks ago, when we watched the movie as a family on VHS, my wife and I saw the movie in a new light, as an allegory for what is and has been happening in these United States for the past few years. Four characters in the movie (some fictional) illustrate four types of Americans and our country’s increasingly inevitable path to depravity.

Herr Zeller (played by Ben Wright) is an Austrian apologist for the Third Reich and enthusiastically welcomes the Nazi takeover.

Max Detweiler (played by Richard Haydn) is a friend of the von Trapp family, musical talent scout and apolitical. He doesn’t particularly like the Nazis but is keen on avoiding bloodshed and confrontation.

Captain Georg von Trapp (played by Christopher Plummer) is a retired Austrian naval hero and adamantly opposed to the Nazis.

Rolfe (played by Daniel Truhitte) is a young Austrian caught up in the new order.

All these men are Austrian, but each respond differently to the Nazi takeover of Austria. Herr Zeller facilitates it; Max Detweiler watches it, as first with distaste, but cooperates with it as inevitable*; Captain von Trapp resists it and finally flees in order to avoid cooperation; Rolfe joins the takeover, believing the lies and promises that a ‘new order’ will bring to society.

In America today we have these four characters: those who would destroy the moral order and force all others to accept the destruction; those who watch at first with disapproval or indifference, but then capitulate; those who resist and are increasingly the subject of marginalization and ridicule; and those young people who believe the lies, possibly because their teachers and even their parents belong to one of the first two groups.

I don’t tend to pessimism, but I think we have passed the crossroads. The new path is being chosen at an increasingly alarming rate. The time for penance is here. (It has been here for some time, but too many of us have ignored it.) The time for suffering is just around the corner.

Each of us must decide who we are in this cultural war and reform our life accordingly. If we don’t actively choose resistance in our words and deeds, we will become Max Detweiler, if we haven’t already, and our youth will become Rolfe.

This is a call to arms-or more accurately, a call to get on our knees. Our only recourse is prayer, penance, and Christian action; that is to say, personal holiness. It is always the same, but it can’t be restated too often.

*Max Detweiler does, in the end, facilitate the von Trapps’ escape, but his overall character is one of capitulation. I don’t think the viewer is expected to view this act as permanent conversion on Max’s part to become an Austrian patriot.

Oremus pro invicem!

In September 2008 I made a proposal on this blog about a Catholic Trade School for men. Nothing ever happened after that initial proposal except a few positive comments here and there. But the idea has never completely left my head. Every time I pass the abandoned motel on the outskirts of town I think, “That would make a good residence hall for the school”. And every time I pass the old high school down the street sitting on 20+ acres, I think, “That would make an ideal campus.”

So here is a re-cap of the problem and a possible solution for some.

Many Catholic young men either have no means and/or no desire to attend a 4 year degree program, yet these men still need more than a high school education in liberal arts and the Faith and need a skill or trade so they can provide for themselves, their family, and to live a life giving proper glory to God. It would also be beneficial for these young men to experience a Catholic cultural environment.

The solution could be a 2-year trade school for high school graduates which both teaches a trade and prepares young men with the knowledge and spiritual tools to be a Catholic man (and father) in today’s world.

The proposal: A 2-year school (post high school) for men which had a core-curriculum of theology, philosophy, history of western civ and classic literature, social teaching of the Catholic Church (i.e. Rerum Noverum) and a course in practical arts (cross-training the basics of the trades to follow). Majors would be in a trade: Electrician, Plumbing, Carpentry/Cabinet making (both with hand and power tools), Agriculture/animal husbandry, Butchering, Engine Repair (car and small engine), as well as a course in running a small trade/farm as a business.

I would envision the campus to have student housing and a permanent chaplain and chapel. The spiritual life of the school would include daily Mass, some of the hours prayed in chapel, community meals, and at least weekly adoration and rosary.

The school could have some income by selling services (student mechanics, electricians etc.) and produce/meat to the local area. A somewhat rural location with low property costs, but with some access to great population centers (possibly apprenticeships?) would be ideal.

Finally, while the students would board at the school, at the end of the course, men would be urged to return to their family and community of origin.

Besides start-up expenses for the physical campus, the equipment and tools needed for teaching each trade would be a barrier.

A number of men who also believe in this model need to be sought out to form a board of founders so work can be begin on establishing such a school.

Oremus pro invicem!

So our corn was up, but our roaming game chickens went and destroyed it. My fault! I like to have 1 or 2 gamecocks and about 8 hens at the beginning of Spring. These provide enough chicken for us as each hen will set and hatch twice or three times during the season (each clutch averaging about 8-12 chicks).Come February, if we have too many hens, we either put them in the freezer or sell them. This year we had some 25 hens and 7 or so roosters left. We whittled down the roosters some, but did nothing about the hens….yet.

Replanting the sweet corn today. But we did harvest our first broccoli yesterday for supper, and I notice flowers on the peas!

We have our small crop of peanuts in the ground and are in the process of plowing the leased acreage next door. Since my two oldest sons are working most of the time, I am taking my share of time behind the horse plow. Things are going well.

Oremus pro invicem!

Corns up. Broccoli is making. Peas are looking great. Still cutting & splitting wood.  Fixing chainsaws, tillers, engines-business picking up a little bit. Will be planting peanuts by the end of this week. We start plowing for the sweet sorghum crop tomorrow.Had our spring square dance this past Saturday. Cooked 1/2 hog on the grill and danced and danced. (Actually I am the very amateur caller, but, being the caller, I don't dance much.) Mrs. Curley is laid up with bone spurs, so I had to Virginia Reel with my youngest daughter-but what a treat. (To see me VA reel with Mrs. Curley, see the cover picture on the song in the post below.Sold three of our sows 2 weeks ago, including our 8 litter old-timer Big Spot. We still have our best sow Harry and a gilt we will think about as the future sow. One sow provides us with all the pork we need plus a little extra. Scaling down a bit will give us more land to plant on.Oremus pro invicem!

a song

Here's a new song written and performed by my son Matt Curley. Hope you enjoy it. The picture is mrs curley and I doing the Virginia Reel at our square dance some years ago.

 

 

 

 

 

Oremus pro invicem!

In looking back, I believe one of John Paul II’s primary missions (or what he accomplished) was announcing the Gospel to the world, to everyone, but especially to young people; “Do not be afraid to follow Christ”, is the line I heard and remember from John Paul on the Boston Common in 1979. Maybe he wasn’t a great manager, but his preaching around the world is responsible for many, many good vocations to the priesthood and religious life as well as many devout Catholic families who directly trace their catholicity to the preaching of John Paul II.

To say Benedict XVI wasn’t humble because his papal wardrobe is just ignorant. (However TS and Amy Welborn are ahead of me on this.) Further, Benedict’s papacy was not a failure as many would have us believe. The Church’s job won’t be accomplished during any one papacy. History will tell of Benedict’s contribution to reforming the liturgy and beginning the reunification of Christian churches.

To say (as the media says) that Pope Francis election is a repudiation of the papacies of both Benedict XVI and John Paul II seems to be very ignorant or very wishful thinking.

And to the media and poorly catechized Catholics who are being interviewed all over the place who think that because Pope Francis isn’t Benedict XVI and loves the poor that he will change the Church’s moral and doctrinal teachings (most especially with respect to artificial contraception and women priests) I can only say they don’t know anything about the papacy or the Catholic Church.

There, I have gotten it off my chest. I am excited about Pope Francis, but I was excited about both John Paul and Benedict. I have hopes that Pope Francis will reform (rebuild) the Church and continue the Evangelization of all men with his own talents and charisma; but it comes down to Pope Francis’ response the Holy Spirit. Thus I need to pray for him and the Church.

Since I am getting things off my chest, here is something else which has been on my mind:

As Catholics, do we still believe in Purgatory? The Catechism of the Catholic Church, Paragraphs 1030 to 1032 would seem to very clearly affirm the doctrine of Purgatory.

Then why is it never preached?

Maybe the subject doesn’t come up very often in Scripture and is thus not preached during most homilies, but at funerals?

Is the funeral Mass just for the consolation of the living? Or is it being offered for the deceased’s soul? Or may be the funeral Mass is both for the living and the dead.

And why would a funeral Mass be offered for the deceased’s soul if everyone goes straight to Heaven?

I ask because I have gone to many funeral Masses over the years, both for family members who have died and because my sons have served as altar boys at many funeral Masses over the years. Yet only one priest has mentioned Purgatory in all those funerals. Mostly I hear about the deceased looking down from Heaven at his gathered family and friends.

A funeral Mass is an opportunity for the priest to teach about what happens when we die. In this way we can be reminded both on how to continue to help the deceased on his way to Heaven with prayers for his soul and also be reminded of the possibly destiny of our own soul.

It may seem awkward or even uncharitable to tell family members that their departed loved one may still be suffering, but in reality it is uncharitable to withhold the truth-the truth that their departed loved one may still be suffering on his way to a Heavenly reward, but that they can help relieve his suffering and speed his path.

Purgatory is a mercy from God-without it few would reach those pearly gates. To cover-up God’s mercy is not merciful or charitable.

How many languish in Purgatory because no one is praying for them?

How many of the living will later languish in Purgatory because we believe we will go straight to Heaven upon our death?

Oremus pro invicem!

Cutting wood, cutting wood, cutting wood. This describes much of my days these days. My neighbor is thinning his pine forest and there are many hardwoods interspersed. The race is on. I need to get as much as I can before he burns the rest so he can replant pine. Most of it is cherry and oak. We have been taking it out in 3-4 foot sections to be cut to size and split later. I think we have more than enough cut for next year and the year after. My chain saw has been getting a workout. I think it is near to the point of needing some refurbishing (new sprocket and chain). I have gone through three chains (actually 2.5) since September. Just shows how much I have been cutting. I have another saw which I plan to refurbish for next season-an Echo- which also needs a new sprocket, chain and bar.


I did put in broccoli, brussel sprouts, Swiss Chard, Romaine Lettuce and a few rows of peas (early Alaskan and sugar snaps) last week. We needed to re-plow and harrow some of the garden-which is now done. I plan to put in a whole lot more peas by weeks end.

Last year I started planting corn by this time (picking our first corn on 1 June). This winter has not been very harsh, but it is certainly hanging on longer than last year. It will be a few more weeks before the sweet corn goes in, much to my relief, I have so much to do before then.

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I am writing a book! How to Slaughter and Butcher a Pig. I have it about 70% written, but have lots of figures and pictures to add. I am hoping it will be available (at least electronically) by the end of the summer. I haven’t figured out yet how and where I will sell it, or if I will offer a print version.

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Mrs. Curley and I plan to end our Lent by doing an at-home, eight day retreat (1- hour per day) based on the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. Pray it goes well and that we succeed in setting aside the time required (the real challenge.)

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Number One son is working all kinds of hours as an EMT to pay for college-Wyoming Catholic-which he will be starting in the fall. He has worked hard for 2 years. We will miss him around here-but he works so much, we already miss him.

Oremus pro invicem!

Getting the garden ready

Today the boys plowed up the garden area as I need to get some brocolli, romaine lettuce, Swiss Chard, Kolrobi, early peas in the ground.

We haven't started plowing up the leased field yet, but this garden work will get Old Man (the horse) in shape. This year we are thinking about sunflowers (seeds are great for lactating cows) and sweet sorghum (syrup, grain for hogs, and fodder). Lots of work.

Our gilt Henri (daughter of Harry-get the trend) had her first litter today-maybe still in process. Last check she had between 10 and 12 piglets.

Another great day!

Oremus pro invicem!

What’s up with gas prices? Two weeks ago I could find gas for $3.14/gal. This morning I saw $3.75 (although I bought gas for $3.50).

Butchered our bull (800+ lbs) this past week after ascertaining that our Jersey was bred. I am really hoping for a heifer (well, we always do). But this time especially, as the bull was a Brown Swiss cross. My favorite milk cow was part Brown Swiss.

The slaughter and butcher went well, especially considering we had only one extra hand helping. The weather cooperated too-giving us three days to hang at least two quarters before butchering. But I am surely glad it is over. After Batman 2 weeks ago and the bull this past week, I don’t want to see anything over 300 lbs for a while.

I saved the loin for steaks and the brisket for corned beef (and of course the tongue). I also cut a half dozen or so roasts, but the majority was put to ground beef. Alas our grinder appears to be broken with about 20 lbs left to grind.

I am disappointed in the grinder. We only had it a year or so. With most hogs, we are only grinding 20 or so pounds in a given day. With the bull, we were careful to grind only about 40 lbs at a time before giving it a good rest. But apparently even this was too much for it. Friends of ours had the same model and it also broke after grinding about 30-40 pounds. Industrial meat grinders really cost ….

Oremus pro invicem!

Pictures

Here's a repost of a picture of one of our gamecocks and hens from last year. And below that a shot of our newest litter (we had 2 last week) nursing. And below that, some more work being done on 'Batman' with some friends watching-they didn't just watch, this was a great effort by all.

Oremus pro invicem!

'Batman'

Yesterday we slaughtered and dressed 'Batman'. He was a very special hog: raised on cream (1/2 gallon per day), peanuts, and grain. We felt he was too big to process this summer, and then things (including warm winter) prevented us from doing this sooner. As you can see, he is/was a monster.

 

 

 

Oremus pro invicem!

Our Chimney Sweep

We need to clean our chimney (a zero clearance stove pipe extending up our brick chimney) once a month. It involves getting in behind the wood stove and into the old fireplace opening, blindly removing the waste cap, and then brushing the chimney with our chimney brush.

 

Because I am not a flexible as I used to be (and possibly too rotund-but this hasn't been definitively determined) one of our boys graciously volunteers. The question around here is whether this is a before or after picture?

 

Oremus pro invicem!

Rest in Peace

In the early hours of this morning, my bride's grandfather passed away. He was a WWII veteran, seeing action in the Atlantic on PT boats. More importantly he was a father and husband (60+ years), and grandfather. He died with rosary in hand.

 

We pray for the soul of Norman Hoyt and for the consolation of his family.

 

May the souls of all the faithful departed, rest in peace. Amen.

This is the major time of the year for us to process poultry. Of course one first thinks of turkeys. This year we didn’t purchase any turkey chicks. We instead bought a couple breeding pairs of Bronze turkeys (although one is part Bourbon Red) last year. Each hen hatched and raised several turkeys. While there were some losses, those losses weren’t as expensive as those chicks purchased from a hatchery. On the other hand, the raised turkeys are not as big as the Large White commercial breed we’ve raised in the past. We will select the largest for our Thanksgiving dinner.

Additionally, it is time for the major harvesting of our gamecock flock. Last year we ended the fall with 35 game hens and 20 or so gamecocks. We kept 3 roosters and 8 hens from last year and they did their job laying, hatching, and raising their own biddies. (We even had two hens hatch clutches in the past two weeks.) But once again it is time to thin the flock and fill the freezer with chicken.

We usually spread the harvest out over a few weeks and thus have been doing a few chickens at a time. These chickens rustle all their own food and water from our small holding. They taste great, especially if you don’t let them get too old.

One tip: before putting poultry in the freezer, it should be aged in the fridge for a couple days to ensure tenderness.

On this (traditional) feast of St. Stanislaus Koska – Oremus pro invicem!

Open for Business!

Logs and Hogs!

Still cutting wood. I think we might have enough for the winter, but am not sure. Last winter was so mild, it is hard to judge what we’ll need this year. Folks in the area have been so good, letting us cut up downed trees on their property. My goal is to get way ahead of the game. After all, I won’t have sons to split wood the rest of my life.

This year, with my two oldest sons working in most of their free time (oldest as an EMT saving for college and number 2 at the hardware store) my number 3 son has split virtually every piece of wood we will burn this winter, and number 4 son has stacked virtually every log we will burn. Of course, I haven’t been idle-I man the chainsaw.

I’ve done a 5-month stint on the local quail farm. This will be ending in another few days. The extra income was welcome, but at a cost. Our own homestead suffered with the quail commitment, which was not quite as advertised. I didn’t have time to plant the Crowder peas we on planned our leased acreage (but we did get a good peanut crop), and I didn’t get a fall garden in for the first time in eight years.

We have two new endeavors in-the-making. First is my small engine repair shop which I think I mentioned a few months ago. It never got off the ground with the quail farm in the mix. But this week the sign will go up out front, and we’ll be in business!

And then there’s the pigs … In the past we have sold mostly weaned piglets, keeping just enough to fill our own freezer. This fall we are raising most of our last two litters to sell as either bbq hogs (~ 120 lbs or so) or as butcher hogs (~ 230 lbs. or so.) We will sell these hogs and deliver them to the butcher of the customer’s choice. The customer pays us for the hog and pays the butcher for the desired cuts of meat. The goal is to get great tasting pork into customers’ hands for about $2.75-$3.00 per pound.

In fact, I have started a facebook page (never thought I'd do that!) to let local pork lovers know about this unique opportunity. The current crop of pigs will be raised on peanuts, dairy, produce (when available) and grain. This pork will have a great flavor.

Finally, the coming presidential election … oh I can’t say anything good, so I won’t say anything.

Oremus pro invicem!

What have I been doing?  Working and cutting wood for the winter.  Since last posting, we've had 2 litters of pigs and one bull calf.  Been working on thinning out the livestock to the necessity as feed prices are going through the roof.

Oremus pro invicem!

The View from My Front Porch

at Front Porch Republic:  http://www.frontporchrepublic.com/2012/07/the-view-from-your-front-porch-8/

Oremus pro invicem!

Looooong absence here. The quail farm job has been getting a lot of my attention to the detriment of my fledgling small engine repair shop-which isn’t, yet.

http://www.frontporchrepublic.com/  is a frequent stop for me, when I actually get on the computer. Two articles caught my attention today (although they’ve both been up for a while).

Here’s the quote from Russell Arben Fox’s article about looking back on high school and how things have changed:

Time was that a high school education was the pinnacle, the finale, of the average American citizen’s learning; the reason why people had such strong ties to their high school’s football teams or glee clubs over the decades was because it was from there that they were ushered into the adult world of making careers and families. So of course high schools were imposing edifices; like churches and city halls, they were spaces where the surrounding community got made. Yet when high school is transformed–thanks to the disappearance of reliable local work, the imperative of specialization and mobility, the breakdown of church and family connections, the shift of wealth away from the grounded vocations of land and manufacturing and to the distancing operations of finance and the “information economy”–into one more meritocratic step which the smart student (like my own daughter–and like, to be fair, her own parents as well) will negotiate as quickly and as efficiently as possible, looking at every class as something to maxmize for future college-application effect…well, if nothing else, it changes things.

And from Jake Meador on dying:

And it’s striking to me that three of the foremost Christian fantasists of the last century, Tolkien, Lewis, and Rowling, have defined the highest form of evil as a desire to conquer death through some sort of controllable technique.

Tolkien makes the “conquering” of death a consequence of possessing the One Ring; his fellow Inkling, Lewis, makes the conquering of death one of the chief objectives of the N.I.C.E. in That Hideous Strength. Indeed, read thematically, that also seems to be one of the themes of the Tower of Babel account in Genesis 11 (which is the inspiration for Lewis’ That Hideous Strength). Death is a normal part of life in a fallen world and humanity doesn’t possess the means in itself to overcome it. And in attempting to obtain those means, we’re likely to do far more harm than good. Rather, we push back against lesser forms of evil which we are able to resist meaningfully and we trust to God the vanquishing of our greatest enemy. Isn’t that the most straight-forward way of reading the Resurrection? … This is all Biblical Theology 101: Death cannot be conquered by human means. And, as Lewis warned, those convinced that it is are the most likely to do things hitherto regarded as “disgusting and impious.” Tolkien understood that the essence of the modern project was human knowledge used to develop a technique, which would insure human control. That’s why he put nearly those exact words in the mouth of his most modern character, Saruman the White.

We might also turn to Rowling to help us better understand the issue. Rowling built her entire series around the question of death and how we ultimately respond to it. And it is the series’ villain rather than its hero who seeks to conquer it. Lord Voldemort attempts to ensure his immortality through the creation of what’s called a horcrux. A horcrux is something an especially powerful dark wizard can make that will contain a part of his soul. Essentially, it severs a portion of the soul from the body, insuring that even when the body has been obliterated the soul remains alive and can reanimate another body. But this immortality comes at a high cost. The portion of the soul that remains lives a half life. It has been severed from its body, which is a “violation against nature” in Rowling’s words. Bodies and souls, it seems, are meant to exist in union. Such violations do not represent the transcending of a mere arbitrary tradition that can be violated without consequence. Rather, it is so fundamental a rejection of the natural way of life that the normal delights of life become utterly impossible for the horcrux-maker. While life-prolonging medical care doesn’t sunder body from soul in the same way, anyone who has known a person like Wolff’s mother or my grandmother knows that there is some sense in which the person in that hospital bed living off machines is not the person you knew before the hospital. Perhaps such life-prolonging devices, then, might be thought of as horcruxes, physical devices that allow a life to continue even when the body and soul no longer function in harmony.

******************************************************************

Now from the homestead: expecting Penny (aka “New Cow”) to freshen towards the end of the week. We are certainly hoping for a heifer, a healthy calf either way will be a blessing.

We’ve been picking corn! Daughter Theresa blanched 366 ears of corn, which amounted to approximately 44 quarts of corn (taken off the cob) one day last week. We should be picking corn regularly for the next few weeks.

Getting close to weaning our most recent litter of piglets in a week or so. Another litter due in mid-July.

Last week we got several inches of rain. The temp has been in the 80’s, cooling to the low 60’s and high 50’s at night. This is unusual, but we are not complaining.

Oremus pro invicem!

So, another week in the bucket. Have been busy cultivating peanuts. Need to get the Gypsum on soon. Another clutch of turkeys hatched (5). We should be picking our first corn in 7-10 days. We’ve had a few inches of rain the past week or so. This will be enough to make some good corn on at least our first planting. One more rain needed on our 2nd planting, and we’ll just have to see on our 3rd and 4th planting.


Sal had her second litter of pigs. 16 born alive. 14 survive the week and going strong. Harry the sow due in 2.5 weeks or so. Need to get a new farrowing pen built for her. The old one is under corn right now!

We are still picking broccoli and have started picking peas in earnest-two pickings a week right now and the sugar snap peas will have their first picking this week also.

Our horse sustained an injury from the mule right where the plough collar sits. Thus we haven’t been able to prepare the last part of the leased field for planting cow peas. We are hoping it will be fully healed this week and we can get back to ploughing so as to plant the cow peas by early June at the latest.

Landed a part-time job on at a local quail barn. It is the answer to our prayers. Added income with flexible hours just minutes away, what more can one ask for? I give entire credit to the Infant of Prague in whose hands we place our needs.

Comforting words from this morning’s Gospel (from John 16): “In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world.”

Oremus pro invicem!

Itching, War, Farm News

First to the comment below on cold water on the itch for poison ivy: Cold water does “cool down” the itch. Hot Water, on authority from my sons, and then from my own experience based on their advice: in the shower use water as hot as you can stand on the places where it itches. The itch increases and increases and then suddenly goes totally away. Finish with cold shower. Itch stays away longer than just with the cold water, HOWEVER … read on.


The problem with the hot water is that it opens your pores so much, that (especially if you have been scratching just a little - or more) it also opens those pores to potential infection, like staph. In my case, I got an infection and needed an antibiotic to get rid of it. So be forewarned….

**********************************

Listened to Morning Edition on NPR, interview with Rachel Maddow on her new book “Drift” on why we go to war this morning. Her thesis (paraphrased by me) is that because we have a large standing, professional army and military industrial complex, (we have drawn down less and less after every war since WWII), we tend to try solve problems with our military instead of using other means. Ironically, (she being a liberal) she quotes pre-president Jefferson on the virtues of small government.

I make sure my children before they graduate high school have all read the Federalist and Anti-Federalist papers, (something my hs and college education lacked. We read about them, but never read them.) One of the points the Anti-Federalists make is Rachel Maddow’s very point: countries with standing armies are more likely to engage in war, and strong, centralized, governments will eventually maintain a standing army.

This is why we need to understand history-not merely dates and events, but the thoughts behind them, which are most evident when we read the original documents and not just commentary on those documents.


****************************************

Drying off Penny (aka New Cow) for her pending freshening in June. Litter of piglets due later this week. More peanuts planted and one more section of peanuts to go. Almost finished with the broccoli; radishes gone; Swiss chard being plentiful; corn coming on strong-just a few more drops of rain needed! Eight turkey chicks hatched by momma turkey this week: 7 survive first week! Small Engine repair course ½ over, already fixing 4-cycles right and left. Number One son graduated tops in his EMT class!!



Oremus pro invicem!

A week ago we had two below freezing frosts. I was worried about our sweet corn. We had planted it in four rounds about 2-3 weeks apart. The first batch was over my knee; the last was just poking above the ground. Two mornings in a row we had lows of 29°F. We had some browning, but didn’t lose any. Surprisingly, some of our broccoli (we’ve been eating off it since Easter) and early peas showed frost damage.

We’ve been eating lettuce from the garden and some peas-the peas should really come in starting this week. Radishes have been more plentiful than we can consume, but the pigs love both the greens and the radishes. Swiss Chard should be ready to start harvesting in a week or so, as will some rutabagas.

Poison Ivy itch is not gone, but is getting better. My method of relieving the itch was to take a cold shower every time it got out of hand. Night time was the worst, with me sometimes taking as many as 3 quick showers between 2 AM and 6 AM.

We had our (sort of) annual square dance on Saturday. We roasted a 120 pound hog on our homemade grill, putting it on at about 6:30 AM Saturday morning. We ate lunch at half past noon and then danced until milking time. Local folks, families from our parish, and old friends from Columbia all came out. I think we all had a great time. Of course the long-line Virginia Reel was the highlight for many. It is a real family day. Lots of interest in watching the boys milk the cows at the end of the day. Plenty of pork left over in the freezer for more feasting to come.

We’ve finished planting the first half of the peanut field. We do have another section to plow and plant, but it has gone so much more quickly and smoothly this year so far.

Once again, with all these happenings, God has blessed us much more than we could have imagined.

Oremus pro invicem!



Poison Ivy!

So, two weeks or so before Easter two of my sons got poison ivy. One case was extreme as it always is for him. I was with them cutting wood for next winter, but I only had a little spot on my arm. It never itched and I wasn't even sure that's what it was.

Fast forward 10 days later to spy Wednesday. Older son, who had worried the poison ivy would keep him from serving at the altar during Holy Week, was recovered enough to serve, as was his brother.

My little spot itched a little, but I thought nothing of it. By Good Friday, both my arms were crazy with itch. To make matters worse, Mrs. Curley caught it from me! By Monday, I had the itch from shoulders to ankle. Mrs. Curley went to the doc Monday and I went on Tuesday. We started a steroid last night. Some people in the family get "difficult" on prescription steroids. The joke around here is whether Mrs. Curley and I will still be talking come Friday!

Of course some in the family are totally against me taking any medication to end this torture. They say, "Dad, just think of the North American Martyrs!" They may have a point, but I go forward none-the-less. I will let you judge my character.

*************************

In lighter news, I sold a story to Back Home Magazine. It's not available online yet, but really long time readers of this blog (I mean back to the first few entries) will recognize the background issues involved in building better chicken coop protection from predators-including your own.

He is risen! Oremus pro invicem!

He is Risen!

Alleluia!

The latest at CL

Just a little article on Catholic Lane that I wrote. Here's a snippet:

But to go back to those healthy couples who choose to surgically or artificially limit the love in their families, I want to ask them: What if God limited His love, that is His creation, to just Adam and Eve? Those first two, after all, were a troublesome pair. They didn’t obey very well.

Read the whole thing here.

Oremus pro invicem!

Plowing the field

Update: Here's some pictures:

We’ve started plowing the field with our new walk-behind turn plow. I will say it is easier on the horse. He can plow more land in a session.

But it IS NOT easier on the plowman. If I keep plowing, I will lose a hunk of weight and get in better shape. It’s a real workout.

Will try to get some pictures this week.

Oremus pro invicem!

I made corned beef from the brisket of the dairy cow we had to put down this past August. I used the recipe in Charcuterie (rapidly becoming one of my favorite books-borrowed from a friend) minus the garlic.

I have never been a big fan of corned beef purchased from the supermarket, it is just too salty; you can’t soak or boil enough salt out of it. This corned beef was just right. I think it is the first time I really enjoyed it.

We also had pigeon this weekend. A friend was thinning out his racing pigeon herd and told us they were good to eat. They were okay. I think I overcooked them, but even so they were okay, very dense meat. Half of them I wrapped in homemade bacon and baked. The other half I soaked in milk and then battered flour and spices and fried. I think the one wrapped in bacon turned out better-but what else would you expect?

We started plowing a portion (~ ¼ acre) of the field we are leasing this week. I expect we will be planting some peas there by weeks’ end. Today I am purchasing a walk-behind horse/mule plow board with a turn plow, sweep, and shovel attachments. It is very good working order and reasonably priced. He had another which possibly had never been used, but it didn’t have all the adjustment features as this one does.

Our horse does a good job with the forecart plow, but it is an awful lot of weight to be pulling. We are hoping that the walk-behind will conserve some of his energy so that we can actually plow more territory in a day. However, this will present some new challenges. I believe a mule or a calmer horse would walk straighter lines than does our quarter horse. When plowing with the forecart, it is fairly easy to keep the wheel in the furrow, but once we get to cultivating, the horse doesn’t seem to want to walk those straight rows. So we will see how it goes. If we can get him to walk straight rows, the new sweep attachment will greatly assist us in cultivating and keeping the pigweeds down.

There is a big working horse and tack auction in Troutman, NC this coming weekend. Many of the horses/mules are Amish trained. AND I am told if you wait around towards the end, you can get some great deals on dead broke to ride and pull animals. Unfortunately I don’t think our budget will allow it this spring.

It has been so warm we took a chance and put a small patch of sweet corn 2 weeks ago. It is up now and looking good. We put in another patch this weekend. In another 2 weeks we will put in our final bit of sweet corn.

The warm spring makes me think we are behind in planting, but really we are doing okay with peas, lettuce, broccoli, radishes, etc already in and up.

Oremus pro invicem!

Weaned some piglets this weekend. Put the sow in with our new boar. If he works out, we can bring some of Tarzan's daughters into the herd and expand from our best sows (if that's what we decide to do.)

We should start getting our leased land ready this week. First we will cut down the tall, but dead weeds, remnant from last year. We will rake (plow) the field and then start plowing in earnest. We will start with a small portion and get in some early peas and then get going on the rest.

Am thinking of taking a small engine repair course this spring. I work on our cars now, but usually with lots of local advice. It would be good to become very good at small engine repair and get some income fixing mowers and chainsaws and tillers etc. Of course many around here to a lot of their own work, but I think this may work out.

Speaking of chainsaws ... this being a mild winter was a blessing since it was our first using only wood for heat. I hope I have enough wood cut later this spring to get us through a tougher winter next year. Here's a picture of Number 4 son with wood and a not so good pic of our stove taken during the Christmas season (as should be obvious from the background).

Oremus pro invicem!

Thanks for all the prayers regarding our "big decision". Don't you all know that I haven't let loose with the news to keep readership?

Without going into all the mechanics of it, because the whole process (not our doing) dragged out much longer than human patience can imagine, late last week we decided to stay here. I immediately approached our neighbor about leasing 6 acres again this year (affirmative answer).

God then immediately blessed us through two local farmers who offered us the equivalent of 10-11 truckloads of turnips from their fields if only we would harvest them. (Not a complete diet for the hogs, but every bit helps.)

Again, thanks for the prayers. The whole process made us revisit why we are here and how to go forward. God has been very good to us.

Oremus pro invicem!

Seen

on a Church (I think Methodist, but it could have been Luthern) billboard on the way home from Mass on Sunday:

Lent

It’s not just for bellybuttons!

Now, for most of us, this just doesn’t make sense. However (and it may be peculiar to the midlands of SC) there is an common accent which renders the short “e” sound as a short “i”. Therefore, for example: “pen”, is pronounced “pin”.

So here, “Lent” is rendered “Lint”, and thus how it makes sense-at least to some. We had a laugh because of the occasional miscommunication that has resulted with our friends over this regional accent peculiarity.

In truth we didn’t get it right away. We did a doubletake and then got it.

Oremus pro invicem!

The new view

Mentioned in the last post was that we had moved many of our pigs and breeding hogs to the front yard. Here is the new view from our front porch.

And here is one of our roaming gamecocks and game hens. The game hens lay and hatch 20-30 chicks each year without us doing a thing. They rustle their own food. We have almost 30 hens and some 8 cocks roaming around now. We need to thin them so they won't destroy our garden. With 8 hens and 2 cocks, they won't do much damage. We will sell a few and put a few more in the freezer.

Received our ashes this morning. Impressed by the homily's call to fast from entertainment and desserts so we can make more time for prayer. Here's to an initially painful but eventually uplifting Lenten season!


Oremus pro invicem!

First, no news related to my last two posts. We thought things would be settled by now, but I guess some wheels turn slowly. That being the case, we just need to plow ahead with our spring agenda.

We rotate our hogs from pen to pen and plant in open pens as much as possible. But there are some areas which have seen only brief breaks over the years. Our garden has been primarily in our front yard with some exceptions (most notably the tremendous corn we had last year in an old hog pen). This year we are rotating things a bit more. Since we have scaled down to three sows, we have more open areas and more options. So in the past few weeks we have been moving all of our pigs and hogs onto the front lawn/former garden. There is still some gardening space, but a good third of it is now occupied by some growers and most of our breeding stock.

Moving our breeding stock on Friday turned out to be quite an adventure. Moving hogs in recent years has usually not been a big deal. We have some experience and know the best way for each sow or boar. But our youngest sow, Sal, gave us a run for our money on Friday. We had a trailer which we backed up to the pen gate. Normally a hog will follow food into the trailer. We moved our boar and then our first sow with no problem. Then came Sal. She just wouldn't cooperate. First we tried to lure her; then we tried to push her; then we tried to back her in with a bucket over her head and a rope tied to her back leg. She didn't want to have any part of it. I now recall her mother used to be the most stubborn hog to move also (although now reformed). Finally we moved Sal into the shoot area between the gate and the trailer. But instead of moving forward, she overpowered the shoot wall and escaped. Two of the boys grabbed at the still dangling rope from her hind leg and quickly wrapped it around a tree-but not without some rope burns first. Finally, we hemmed her in with some hog panels. Since, the overgrown area she had escaped to would have been difficult to manuver the trailer into with the truck, Mrs. Curley and I disengaged it and manually pushed it over rough terrain to the ad hoc holding pen. Finally, here Sal decided she had lost, and boarded the trailer.

Instead of a 15 minute job, we spent almost 3 hours just on Sal. We had planned to slaughter a hog Friday afternoon, but it was too late (and we were too spent) to continue our plans. Such is homestead life. Plans are always thwarted.

We will (if all goes according to plans - ha!) put some onions, broccoli, romaine lettuce, and peas in this week. Our collards from the fall (planted late) are now doing well and are all that is left from the fall garden. I did harvest a small batch of carrotts last week. I didn't plant near enough-I never do.

The start of Lent always (at least nearly) coincides with the start of planting. I think it seems quite appropriate in some ways. The spiritual work we do in Lent (or lack thereof) results in the harvest of Easter. Likewise, with planting.

Oremus pro invicem!

My thanks for all the prayers. No decision yet-it'll be another week or so at least as we gather all the data.

Oremus pro invicem!

I've had a job offer which would be a full-time position. It would pay well, but would require a move and an end to all but the simplest of homesteading activities. Much to think and pray about. We haven't had "benefits" in years and certainly haven't had the kind of salary in the offing.

A friend was extolling to me all the pros of going back into industry full-time. He made many good points. He ended the sales pitch with this: "and all you'd have to give up is your freedom.", and then he chuckled.

Ah, but that last is the point. Please pray for our discernment and acceptance of God's will with joy!

Oremus pro invicem!