Where are we at?

 As said before, we are back from Wisconsin. The homestead was in great shape thanks to our caretakers. Now there is much work to do.

We have some gilts saved for breeding which we need to move to the boar. The other large hogs need a new pen after a week of downpours. (Only rain from Idalia.)

We need to prepare the garden for the fall crops, romaine, spinach, broccoli, turnips, etc. We are still picking a few cucumbers and peppers. Our late crop of green (bush) beans has been disappointing. We have one pumpkin left to pick.  There could be more, but it depends on the weather.

There are also some volunteer cantaloupes from an old pig pen.

Back to school! Am teaching again this fall. My fall schedule is usually heavy, spring light, and summer non-existent. It is actually a good schedule for the homestead, following the business of the garden and work that needs to be done.

We got a load of meat bird (day-old chicks) last week - so they will be ready to process in October.

So a lot going on, not to mention that I really should put up some more wood for the winter, even though it is getting late.

Finally, I finished a book (writing) this summer about our first 19 years on the land. If it gets a publisher, I will be sure to let you all know.

From the small holding in Bethune....

Oremus pro invicem!

To Wisconsin and back

Much has happened since the birth of my granddaughter. Son Matthew was married in Wisconsin last weekend near Soldiers Grove in an Extraordinary Form Mass. It was a beautiful wedding in a beautiful country. 

I haven't written for publication in several years, but this changed this week. I had an article published in the August edition of Oremus Press Newspaper . 

More to come - maybe some wedding pictures!

Oremus pro invicem!

Hym of Saint Kassiani

 

"O Lord, the woman who had fallen into many sins, perceiving Thy Divinity, fulfilled the part of a myrrh-bearer; and with lamentations she brought sweet-smelling oil of myrrh to Thee before Thy burial. 'Woe is me,' she said, 'for night surrounds me, dark and moonless, and stings my lustful passion with the love of sin. Accept the fountain of my tears, O Thou Who drawest down from the clouds the waters of the sea. Incline to the groanings of my heart, O Thou Who in Thine ineffable self-emptying hast bowed down the heavens. I shall kiss Thy Most Pure feet and wipe them with the hairs of my head, those feet whose sound Eve heard at dusk in Paradise and hid herself for fear. Who can search out the multitude of my sins and the abyss of Thy judgments, O Savior of my soul? Despise me not, Thine handmaiden, for Thou hast mercy without measure."

Boy oh Boy!!

3rd grandchild born early this morning!!!!!! Everyone doing well. Praise be to God!

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

Precious Cantaloupe

I have told the story before about our cantaloupe seeds.  We planted some this year, but few seeds germinated. We got one fantastic plant, but so far only one fruit, which I didn't spy until today, as you can see why. It is wedged in and won't budge. Should I break the cinder block?

My fault for not paying closer attention. UPDATE: I freed it from its bonds!

From the small holding in Bethune we praise God this morning!

Oremus pro invicem!

Well, the bounty from the garden continues. Usually, I get some projects done while Mrs. Curley is away, but there is soooo much produce to put up I haven't had much time to start anything. Some things are starting to slow down. We have picked most of the spaghetti squash. The green beans are slowing down as are the tomatoes and cherry tomatoes. But not the cucumbers. We are picking an average of 30 a day plus the ones I missed from the day before which are only good for the pigs.

We did cut some wood today and Monday and split and stacked it. It is a little late in the season for doing it, but I want to make double sure we have enough for the coming winter.

While Mrs. Curley has been away, in the evenings I have been trying my hand to finish a book about our life here I started a few years ago. I have 24,000 words and think I am just about 'done', whether it is finished or not. I have some organizing to do and must figure out a decent way to close it out. Other than that, I don't think I have much more to say. 

We have a litter of pigs for sale. About half are gone. Usually it takes only 24-36 hours after advertising to sell them all. But the days have been so scorching hot, that I figure folks don't want to spend the time making a pen in this heat. 

From the small holding in Bethune ....

Oremus pro invicem!

We need to keep saying it.

It does bear repeating over and over: Phil Lawler says it again with respect to Cardinal Dolan's recent examination of conscience:

So the People of God were denied the sacraments. Sinners were not shriven, lovers were not married, babies were not baptized, the dying were not anointed. How many souls were lost because of that lack of pastoral care? How many strayed from the Church— and have not returned— because they were encouraged to accept the government edicts that religious worship is not an “essential” activity?

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

Yesterday I made more cherry tomato pasta sauce, blanched and froze more green beans, shredded and froze more squash. 

Over the weekend I pureed and put up several bags of tomatoes.

Today is ketchup day. Ironic as I don't eat ketchup either. But what to do with all these tomatoes?

The corn is done. The squash keeps looking like is done, but then one plant revives and puts out another patti pan.

I am starting to pick spaghetti squash and eggplant now. 

And the cucumbers just keep coming!

From the small holding in Bethune ...

Oremus pro invicem!

Bounty

Daughter Bernadette made 31 jars of pickles this weekend! As she was in process I brought in another couple dozen cucumbers from the garden. She looked daggers at me. "Look" I said, "I don't even like pickles. You are to one who made me promise to grow tons of cucumbers!"

I spent my share of time in the kitchen also this weekend, making another batch of cherry tomato pasta sauce, pureeing several gallon bags of tomatoes and freezing, and freezing trays of cherry tomatoes.

I think I have enough green beans to blanch and freeze another bunch. Plus I am still behind on the tomatoes, having four baskets full to put up, not to mention the patti pan squash. So I know what I am doing today!

We have been getting short rains and it looks like more today.

We also sold some ducks and one pig. 

From the small holding in Bethune ...

Oremus pro invicem!

Putting it up

Mrs. Curley is out of town for a couple of weeks trying to help our 3rd grandchild be born, at least helping out.

Of course this means I have lost my produce-putting-up partner. Beans I handled no problem. Freezing whole cherry tomatoes, no problem.

Making cherry tomato pasta/pizza sauce, big problem. I can follow a recipe, but since I can't stand any type of tomato sauce, I have no way of knowing if what I made is any good. But I made a quart plus of it yesterday anyway. Gregory says it's great, but anything edible is great to him.

The cherry tomatoes are plentiful. I am picking 4 or more pints a day. What to do with them all? It was fine when they were dribbling in, but now? I am thinking of putting up a sign out front to sell them. 

Last night I also started putting up the patti pan squash. I have much more to do, but I think the plants are starting to wind down.

But today we put up more corn. We probably won't have more to put up after today, but will have a few more meals. 

From the small holding in Bethune -

Oremus pro invicem!

2 photos today

Yesterday, we finished our novena and installed my grandmother's Infant of Prague statue in the shrine with song and prayer. It was a long time coming.

We have been picking produce in increasing quantities over the last couple weeks. Today we had the most green beans and cherry tomatoes and cucumbers of any single day yet. 

I blanched the green beans for freezing after supper tonight. 

Mrs. Curley is away helping with preparation for our 3rd grandchild, so I am doing the kitchen stuff. She left me instructions on how to deal with the tomatoes. Will be doing that tomorrow. 

As to the cucumbers .... and we have tons even after Mrs. Curley pickled as many as she could before she left ... my youngest daughter needs to take care of these. I can't even stand the smell of pickles.

From the very blessed smallholding in Bethune,

Oremus pro invicem!

Promises

Some few years ago I made a promise to erect a shrine to the Infant of Prague on our property. Every year it was a "priority" which never happened. I think this is going to change tomorrow.

The site is ready for the statue to be enshrined tomorrow. Son Gregory has been helping me all week to prepare the shrine.

Despite my procrastination on keeping my promise, our Lord has blessed us tremendously anyway.

From the small holding in Bethune ... Oremus pro invicem!

St. Thomas More - pray for us!

One of my next books for Requiem Press before we went under was a short life of St. Thomas More. It was part of a larger collection on the 40 martyrs of England and Wales published many years before his canonization. The two volume work was edited by Dom Bede Camm OSB, but I believe the particular account of St. Thomas More was by a nun. 

In any event, Requiem Press did not survive. Sometimes I think we should resurrect RP in a digital format. Hmmm.

I have a pretty extensive collection of works on the 40 martyrs. Some I can't even read. One is in Latin, another in French. Now I took both languages in high school and a little in college, but it doesn't seem to help me now.

I don't really don't know what to do with the collection. I have read all of them that I can actually read. 

Today, in honor of the feast day, I reread the account of St. Thomas More and St. John Fisher contained in the first RP book: Witnesses to the Holy Mass.

Oremus pro invicem!

More Travel

 Mrs. Curley and I drove to Akron, OH and back this weekend. Number 2 son and wife live just outside Akron. 

It is about a 9 hour drive without stopping, but of course we stopped. The Ford E-350 had just turned 300K miles last week, but it performed like a champion, even increasing its mpg during the trip..

We had a lot of fun. Wished our kids lived closer. We got to confession, heard Mass at a beautiful church on Sunday, found a couple great breakfast spots, went for a couple walks, and overall had a great time.

On the way back, we contemplated taking a long route through Columbus, Dayton, Cincinatti, and (I think) Knoxville, but ended up opting for the shortest route. This allowed us to visit the Tamarack marketplace in West Virginia which we have never stopped at before. 

We saw some interesting crafts. It looks like wooden cutting boards must be the rage because we saw many, many of them.

It is really good to be home. It is raining, today which should help the corn finish out. We are picking tomatoes and peppers and squash and brussell sprouts, and beans, and .... The harvest is plenty.

No more travel for me for a good time now.

Oremus pro invicem!

Travelling and back

I was out of town for a few days for a family funeral. I am back and am welcomed to a new litter of pigs, our first patty pan squash (many, many of them), our first green peppers and our first banana pepper ... AND plenty of catch up to do. Much weeding and time to put trellis' up for the pole beans and stake the tomatoes. It certainly looks like we will have a bumper crop of tomatoes.

I was grateful to spend a good amount of time with my 90-year-old mother and other family members I have spent much time with in the past few years. 

I am also grateful, that while I drove up, Mrs. Curley flew up at the last minute and we were able to drive back together at a somewhat leisurely pace.

Oremus pro invicem!

3 things

a man should always carry.

I can't believe I haven't posted this before. I searched though and couldn't find it.

1. A pocketknife. The knife I carry is bigger than a typical pocketknife: a Buck 110. I can and do use this knife for almost every chore and task requiring a knife except butchering and sticking a steer and the largest hogs. (Buck 110 pictured)

However, a much smaller knife will due; for instance, the Shrade 330T, which has 2 blades is great for all small jobs.

2. Handkerchief. You never know when you are going to sneeze, when your child will have a runny nose, when you will happen across a weeping lady, or when you just need to wipe sweat off your brow. Personally, I prefer bandana types as they are most versatile.

3. A rosary. Need I expound on this?

Note that all three items may be useful to yourself and to others. So, in the final analysis, it is the charitable thing to do to have these items AND to use them!

Oremus pro invicem!

the move

I am reading a book now on Catholic homesteading. It is interesting that the first part of the book justifies or gives reasons for moving back to the land. It brings me back to our own move.

I remember our path to our homestead (all 1.93 acres of it) and all the research we did. At the end of the day, I was convinced that for us (our particular family), this was the best way to live, the best way to become close to God, the best way to raise our particular children. I felt if we didn't make the move when given the opportunity it would go against what I knew was right - it would going against my conscience.

Oremus pro invicem!

We're getting it ...

that is, rain! Steady sprinkle for a few hours today. It is supposed to rain for about 12 more hours tonight and tomorrow. 

We finished doing our first batch of chickens (the last 6) this morning. It was a good morning for it - cool and breezy. It almost didn't happen. When the alarm went off early this morning, it was touch and go on whether I would actually get up and get fire started to heat the water to scald the chickens. But wisdom prevailed and sloth was conquered! (at least for today.)

I have my last cardiac rehab session tomorrow. I need to start some occupational therapy. I still have nerve damage in my left hand from the surgery. I either need to see if it can be fixed, or how to live with it.

******

I don't count on teaching work in the summer. I am usually scheduled for a course or two, but they often don't make enough students to hold the class - as is the case this summer. What to do with all the time? You either have time or money, but seldom both. 

We have a lot of work to do around here. We have started a renovation on the feed house, but it finishing and painting. 

I would love to get my shop (the garage) cleaned out so I can start working with wood again. It is one of the things I like to do most. It is ironic that my favorite homestead chore is cutting and splitting firewood and that my other favorite thing is to make things of wood.

Oremus pro invicem!

We need rain!

 The garden is finally all planted, a little later than usual, but I figure I have an excuse. But we need rain. It has been a few weeks since our last sprinkle. I usually rely solely on rain, but I have put a sprinkler on a few of our critical crops the past few days.

Our brocolli crop has been great. Mrs. Curley and I blanched and put up a bunch last week. Salad, spinach, Swiss chard is going gangbusters.

We put our first meat birds of the season up last week. For the first time we used a chicken plucker (borrowed from friends) to process the birds - a game changer!

Several weeks ago we put one of the Jersey steers down. Number 2 son came down and we got it done. Friends helped us butcher the following week. I tell you, Jersey beef is the best!

Things are looking pretty good here. God is good! no, God is great!

Oremus pro invicem!

Just prices?

 Thought provoking article here on whether goods have a just price. Public Discourse article

Here is the gist of it:

As everyone at the time knew, any individual who buys a good to resell it for a profit was worthy of great condemnation. For example, the sixth-century Roman statesman Cassiodorus declared that merchants were an abomination. Similarly, in remarks falsely attributed to St. John Chrysostom explaining why Christ cast people from the temple in Matthew 21, we read: “He that buys a thing in order that he may sell it, entire and unchanged at a profit, is the trader who is cast out of God’s temple.”

Condemnations like those in the preceding paragraph strike the modern ear as rather odd. After all, reselling products is exactly what retail stores do all the time. To understand why the activities of the merchant are inherently problematic, we need to look back at medieval economic theory, beginning with the idea of the just price. All goods have an inherent price; the price of the good is, in essence, a property of the good, much like the color and shape are properties of the good.

The author goes on to discuss Thomas Aquinas and what others have to say about this. Read it yourself.

My own thoughts. I believe the technical definition of profit is that money gained in selling a good over and above the cost of the materials, labor, and a share of the overhead. 

I know when I sell weaned piglets, for example, I do sell generally for what the market will bear, considering also how quickly I want to get the pigs sold. Prices go up with feed prices. Prices also generally go up during recessions. However even then, I don't think I ever make a profit. I may (I believe I do) cover the costs of conceiving and raising the pigs, plus a little. But I probably don't cover labor at a reasonable rate in daily feeding, watering, moving them, etc. We commonly (amongst ourselves) talk about how much we "made" on a litter of pigs, but in no way am I making a profit. If I wanted to make a true "profit" I would never get pigs sold around here.

At times I am tempted to bring a load of hogs to an FDA certified butcher so I could sell pork of the farm or at a farmers market. To cover costs and labor, I would have to be selling a pound of sausage at about $7 or $8 a pound; pork chops at $9 or $10 a pound. No profit here, just covering costs and labor. People do this. I can't see my way to selling pork for that much, even if it is a superior product to the supermarket. 

Since we process ourselves, we are eating pork and chicken for much less than the prices quoted above.

Oremus pro invicem!

What is this about 10% inflation?

The media has been claiming that inflation is at 9 or 10%. Not where I am looking. I saw a breakdown on the news the other morning while treading at cardiac rehab where they claimed groceries were at 10%.

Lies!

Okay, so we don't buy meat. At this time of year we are buying vegetables, as what we put up last year is running out. 

Most items we buy at the grocery store up up 50 to 100%. There are exceptions. Laundry detergent seems to be up only 10-12 percent. But bleach is up over 100%. Coffee is up 50%. Eggs - well everyone knows about them - up 400 to 500%. 

Our overall grocery bill is close to double what it was a year or a year and a half ago - not sure when it all started. 

So maybe the stuff that hasn't gone up in price is stuff we don't buy. 

Oremus pro invicem!

Education of Men

As an adjunct I have noticed the trend over the last nine years of a decline of men in my classroom, especially noticeable in that I teach Physics and Astronomy. The former was course was always had predominantly male students; no longer the case. 

I read an article recently - but I lost track of where I saw it - which quoted statistics of the overall decline of men going to college. It also quoted statistics of the significant decline of males in leadership positions in companies. 

On one hand it is troubling that men are not pursuing higher education and therefore will be less and less in leadership roles in industry and government. 

On the other hand, it occurred to me recently that with the current "woke" atmosphere of today's higher educational institutions, is may be fortuitous that these men are not getting indoctrinated (at least past high school.) 

I am sure that this is not the reason men are not pursuing higher education; it is probably the decline of the value of a higher degree when it comes to supporting a family, at least in many majors available. There is tremendous needs for skilled tradesmen, and they can make a good living. 

Oremus pro invicem!