My son gave me a new Buck knife for Christmas - I broke the tip off my last one doing some plumbing. But this just isn't any knife. It has a quote of sorts, referencing a comment I made during an interview which aired last year on an EWTN series on homesteading; I mentioned in this post. My part was very quick and very minor, but my memorable comment lives on at least for some .....
Oremus pro invicem!
The obligatory picture of our tree!
Today on the feast of the Holy Family, Father J reiterated the constant and consistent Church teaching on the definition of marriage, the sanctity of life from the moment of conception, and the obligation of children to care for their elderly parents.
I was surprised, but heartened, that the third was included with the first two.
Oremus pro invicem!
This essay caught my eye this morning.
Wading in a river and lumberjacking in the woods are at once work and play, play and work, ....especially that manual work is play.
I have to agree in many ways.
Lots has been happening here - but I see I have not posted since early October. All the little pigs are gone now to new homes, but waiting for more soon.
We held a square dance/hog roast after Thanksgiving, and that was work ... and play!
Oremus pro invicem!
Yesterday Little Red looked pretty ready ....
Last night/early this morning she gave birth ...
Oremus pro invicem!
In the past week we have acquired some chicks (bargain roosters - more on this later), turkey poults, a few feeder pigs, a couple new gilts to add to the herd, and some dairy cross beef bull calves.
Morning and evening chores just tripled in time with this past week acquisitions.
We have been quickly running out of beef (thus the bull calves). Besides, as far as revitalizing the land, cows do go the most!
The turkeys - well we need something for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner!
The bargain rooster chicks .... First, they were a deal. Second, we have seen our land losing fertility with the dearth of livestock. This would seem to be fixed now, but we didn't know we would be getting new calves and pigs when we go the chicks. So our plan was/is to put the 39 chicks in chicken tractors and move them across future garden space to re-fertilize the land. At 5 or 6 months old, we will either sell or butcher the roosters. Still the plan.
In September we will probably get some new chicks to replace our laying flock for the spring. With all the new life around here, it almost seems like Spring instead of the doldrums of Summer.
Oremus pro invicem!
Check out the series airing this week M-F (July 7 - 11) at 5:30 PM (Encore at 2:30 AM)
Jason Craig compares and contrasts modern suburban home life and the homestead, noting which lifestyle leads to families working together and which tends to drive families apart.
Host Jason Craig describes how homesteaders participate in a natural economy and indicates St. Thomas Aquinas’ warning against a false economy centered on wealth accumulation.
I made this clock for my Dad over 30 years ago. This past year, with both Mom and Dad passed, it was returned to me, but it was not working.
I put a new battery in, but it didn't turn. So I started looking for a new clock insert. The face is 8" diameter requiring a 3.125" mounting hole.
The place I originally ordered it from doesn't carry any inserts over 4" in diameter now. I found another place which had an 8.5" face, but it required a 7" mounting hole. 8.5" would have looked too big, and of course would have required some reworking of the mounting hole. The same store had a 6" face with the proper mounting. But, I think 6" would have looked lost on the clock - and besides, the beauty of an 8" face is that it can be seen easily from across the room.
What to do?
Well, I put a new battery in again and then tapped it a couple times. It has been keeping good time since!
Oremus pro invicem!
Fox News has an article today about the increase in people buying plans for DIY chicken coops and chickens.
In the article they quote Kate Murphy, animal preserve caretaker at Hoyt Farm Town Park in Long Island, New York. She cautions:
"Owning any animal is a lot of work, but chickens are a huge responsibility," she said.
"You must take into consideration that your feathered friends may be around a while," she long while" she said."If you are like most Americans and looking to raise chickens for fresh eggs, hens can lay eggs for two to three years at the most and then enter retirement, which they most definitely deserve, because egg laying is brutal on the hen's body."
Murphy said chickens "need love" once they're done laying eggs.
But perhaps the biggest commitment is financial, according to Murphy — who noted that avian veterinarians are "not cheap."
Let's take this one point at a time.
1. Chickens are probably the easiest of homestead animals to take care of after you have the coop set up. You water and feed them. You collect eggs.
2. What chickens need after they "retire" from laying eggs, is a good pot to cook in!
3. An avian vet? I am sure there are some people who will bring their laying hen to a vet, but I have never met one of those people.
Oremus pro invicem!
