Reading

During pre-op I finished a book my son had loaned me: The Unbroken Thread. It is a book about tradition. The final chapters are about death and acceptance (my third warning. The first was Fr. Kirby's All Saints Day homily; the second was advice from a priest during confession where he reminded me - sort of out of the blue - that I would not live forever!)

Now that I am on semi-rest regime (I can walk all I want, but can't lift anything or do anything useful), I thought it would great time to catch up on years of reading. Yet, I am having a hard time concentrating when reading. In the hospital post-op, I couldn't even concentrate enough to watch TV. I have "progressed" to movies now at home, but still have a hard time reading.

I hope this will change.....

Oremus pro invicem!

Red's litter

 Well, contrary to what I thought a few weeks ago, I was home for Red's litter. She gave birth to 10 healthy pigs on 12/30.

Here they are.

Oremus pro invicem!

Here I am again!

 Merry Christmas!

I am home! Surgery a great success and "miraculous" in the words of the surgeon. Without going into too many details, 4- 100% blockages successfully bypassed, when initially, it was questionable if a by-pass would even work. Doctor didn't understand why I was still walking around especially being so active.

Now, some may say it is all the bacon and sausage I consume, but not only do we not eat so much of that, it is more the food I consume when I am off-farm which has gotten me. (I love doughnuts!).

In any event I have been given further chances in this life. Very interesting reading this week. Hopefully more on this later.

Oremus pro invicem!

The last meal

Granted, everyone expects surgery to be a success - but there is that chance.... SO, why not lift the dietary restrictions for that last meal? What can a little extra cholesterol and salt (and sugar) hurt in one meal?

Oremus pro invicem!

The last day

 Here I am with plenty of time to contemplate. God has given me a wonderful life, no matter I have spent a good portion of it screwing up the "wonderful".

Generally, I am expecting things to go well tomorrow, because this is a pretty standard procedure these days, but I know things happen. Consciously I am not scared. I am not praying for a 2nd chance. I am only praying for God's grace.

Every labor I have jokingly asked Mrs. Curley to offer her labor for me. I will definitely be offering my pains or discomfort for her and my children.

Oremus pro invicem!

It has been a great time

It has been a great time these past few days. Most of my children are home - either for college break - or just to stop in and wish me well before surgery. 

I am hoping I can see my granddaughters today. I am sure they won't let them up on the cardiac floor, but I have plans to sneak down to the lobby and see them. (I have been experimenting with my heart monitor to see how long it takes for them to respond if I disconnect it or go out of range.)

There has been so much fun and laughter in the hospital room I was sure they would kick out us out (all but me!). But the nurse told us the rooms were pretty sound proof, so have at it.

My pastor sent a priest by yesterday. I received the sacraments. He asked if this would be a "watershed" moment for me. Of course, if I have been living how I should, this experience should change nothing.

I was at Our Lady of Grace for All Saints Day this year. Fr. Kirby (I am certainly going to paraphrase so don't think I am quoting - only giving my impression of what I heard.) talked about how strange this place Earth becomes to us as we get older, AND that we start to realize as we get older that we start to know more people "upstairs" than are left here with us on Earth. Something good to think about. This isn't our home. 

Oremus pro invicem!

Here I am

We have a new litter of pigs due any day now - but I won't see them born. I won't be home for Christmas, but with any luck I will be home for the feast of St. Thomas Becket (12/29).

So unexpectedly, I find my heart is broken - the real one, not the core of my being one. 

I am sure open-heart surgery is worse than sitting in a hospital for several days (while feeling fine), but whether it is or isn't I will be finding in out in a few days.

I could complain about the hospital (regulations, food, johnnies) but then I wouldn't get any "offering up" credit would I? Probably just lost the credit with the last sentence.

The unexpectedness of it all is really what gets me. I am a pretty darn active guy. I might not be the best diabetic, but I exercise and am really active. This past year I have maintained my lowest weight in over 20 years. But it is the first one which probably was my downfall - not a good diabetic. I like my old-fashioned doughnuts! 

I believe I will be seeing a priest today or tomorrow to take care of any outstanding matters - so not to worry there.

Oremus pro invicem!

Floppy's new litter

 Finally arrived! 5 little boars and 5 little gilts.

Oremus pro invicem!

Holy Souls

When Requiem Press was still around, in November especially I would remind readers that our booklet Daily Prayers for the Church Suffering was a good (and cheap) way to remember to pray for the souls in Purgatory every day of the year - not just in November. 

We have been out of booklets for some years now, but I have plans to resurrect it sometime this year as the need is still great.

This is the 23rd anniversary of my father's death. While I have hopes he is in Heaven, I know my prayers for him won't be wasted.

Eternal Rest grant to them O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them!

**********

This past weekend I was doing a demonstration and leading a discussion at a homesteading conference in North Carolina. St. Joseph's Farm is a microdairy and holds father-son retreats as well as homesteading conferences. You should check them out: St. Joseph's Farm

Oremus pro invicem!

New Boar

We went to the SC State Fair on Sunday. I headed to the livestock shows - just to look. But I came away with a new Boar from Kewanee Farms out of Georgia. I have now purchased 3 boars from Kewanee. They are the best I have had. He is a Hampshire like my first boar (Tarzan).

Oremus pro invicem!

How do you measure success?

How do you measure success? On one hand, we grew a small plot of popcorn for the first time which yielded 12 pounds of kernels to pop. Success by any measure - we will be hard pressed to eat that much popcorn in a year.

On the other hand, I planted many cantaloupe seeds in the garden. One seed germinated; one fruit grew on the one plant. Carefully watered and cultivated, it was harvested and tasted; we feasted on the most flavorful cantaloupe imaginable. One cantaloupe from all that effort would not seem a success - but the seeds it came from go back 3 generations from a state almost 2000 miles away. Saving the seeds from this one fruit for the coming years guarantees the variety will survive - success. (I have referenced these seeds before: Bethune Catholic: cantaloupes and cats - long story, but the ones I had this year were about all I had left after a few dismal summer garden years due to lack of rain.)

Measuring the success of students however is much more difficult. If they succeed in my Astronomy or Physics course would be one measure, but ultimately it is whether they succeed in life. My contribution is extremely small in that endeavor. AND in most cases I never know.

On the homestead we can measure success every time we light a fire in the wood stove or open the pantry or chest freezer. As an adjunct, it is not so easy.

Of course the ultimate success is not on the homestead or on the ball field, but in every endeavor which brings us closer to salvation.

Oremus pro invicem!

Jersey Beef - nothing like it!

We put down a young  Jersey steer a week or so ago- (not so young as the pictures. The steer we put down was about 6 months old.) We ground up the hamburger today. 

I cooked some medallion steaks from the loin for supper tonight. Boy, that meat was tender and flavorful. Nothing like Jersey beef.

We thank God for the bounty from our homestead this summer!

Oremus pro invicem!

pigs and popcorn

Red had pigs this weekend. Historically she is a good mother.

We also harvested our popcorn this weekend. I had taken a couple ears a few weeks back. I popped them in our Whirley Pop and it was great - so time to harvest the rest. 

Oremus pro invicem!

More pigs

Sad Update: Well we lost the litter and the sow. Turkey vultures came after a couple. I drove them off - I think permanently, but then we noticed that Rusty (sow) was eating or moving around much. Then her piglets started to get lethargic - due lack of nursing. We put the most energetic with Floppy's litter and it seem to take. In the meantime, we found a rupture in Rusty which was unrepairable. We transferred the remaining two energetic piglets of her litter to Floppy and put Rusty down. This morning, the transfers were dead. We tried, and Floppy tried, I am not sure she could handle 3 more.

Update: Or 8. or 9! Everytime I go out, there is one more! I think she is done now.

Under a tremendous (and tremendously needed) rain, Rusty had her litter. Only 7, and one is really tiny. I don't think it will make it. 

Red is not due for a few more weeks.

Oremus pro invicem!

Update: More pics of Floppy and litter:

Came home from Mass yesterday to find that Floppy has 14 live births. So far all are still well, although I had to save one this morning - Floppy had trapped it between her back and the fence. This is her 2nd litter. 

Rusty is due with her 2nd litter any day now also.

Picking tomatoes, patty pans (or scallop squash), cucumbers, kale, Swiss Chard. 

We got behind around here because of illness. I was sick more or less for a week - highly unusual for me. 

Lots going on with Turkeys growing, our first set of meat chickens in the brooder, and baby pigs dropping.

Oremus pro invicem!

Summer work

All my summer classes at two institutions have been cancelled due to low enrollment. I guess Physics and Astronomy are not so popular. Lots of time now - but not the $$. Isn't this the case?

But this is also an opportunity. Certainly the homestead and gardens have never looked better (if only rain will come!).

But I am thinking of resurrecting some old business projects, getting back into publishing a couple booklets we did before and maybe getting back into making wooden boxes.

I have started to layout the Daily Prayers for the Church Suffering booklet, which we can print ourselves in limited quantities. Too bad I didn't save the layout files. I am sorry we didn't have more. Recently I was at a wake and met an old friend who told he and his wife do those prayers together everyday.

Stay tuned.

Oremus pro invicem!

Back again!

We were licensed for foster care in 2016. After numerous children over 6 years, in March we decided to stop doing foster care and closed our home. 

Wouldn't you know that the last two children we had in care (siblings) for 27 months, came back into the system right after we closed our home. 

However, we scrambled around and reopened so these children could have a familiar place with us again.

The joy is here!

Oremus pro invicem!

I was supposed to get up early today and butcher at least 1/2 the hog I put down on Saturday morning... but I slept in just a little bit, and then had coffee, and then went outside and could feel the heat coming on. We will try again on Thursday.

We did get to the scrap metal place today. Metal was selling for $10 per 100 pounds a month ago. Today it was only $7. 

We also planted some more tomato plants (Roma's) moved a pig and fixed some fencing.

My last day of classes and final exam is this week. Then I get 10 days off before the summer session starts.

Planting was a little late around here. (I still have to get my cantaloupe in), but we are picking lettuce, swiss chard and peas. 

I guess there is lots to comment about in the news and politics. I am just not that motivated. It is funny, when Mrs. Curley and I were first married, I was writing letters to the editor and losing sleep over all kinds of outrages. Mrs. Curley didn't understand why I got so animated. Now the roles are reversed.

Oremus pro invicem!

Feeding Jersey steer calves

We have 7 calves. One is 5 months old, but the rest are young like these. It has been rough getting them to this point. They didn't get colostrum and we did alot of nursing.

Oremus pro invicem!

Spring Break

What I did for spring break (from 1 of my colleges - the other is on next week):

Farmer's sink, new faucet, and butcher block counter tops.

I didn't finish, but had some tremendous (and unexpected) help from friend Joe.

I have been promising this to Mrs. Curley for years. Now it's easier to bottle feed 7 Jersey bull calves! 

Still a lot of cosmetic stuff to do, but we have water in the kitchen again.

Oremus pro invicem!