Really, I am not that old ...

but, I am seeing more and more limitations. I had major surgery 18 months ago, and I have nerve damage in my left hand which will never recover. 

This limitation (besides creaking joints and lower back pain) is being made clear to me around the homestead. Gardening seems to be unaffected, but as Thomas and I and slaughtered a hog this morning, we both realized that you don't want to be around a man with a knife who can't feel half his fingers! 

A few years ago I had to kill and process a hog by myself (as opposed to with others). I know now that won't ever happen again. I will always need help now, which is how it should be anyway. Hog-killing is a community activity.

Oremus pro invicem!

More Garden

 Picking zucchini now. Been picking broccoli. Lots of tomatoes on the vine, but nothing ready yet.

Oremus pro invicem!

Garden

 Looks like the sweet corn recovered from the thunder storms. Garden is starting to look very good. Keep up the rain! We picked our first zucchini today. We finished staking the tomato plants (late) today. 

Oremus pro invicem!

Mr. MacGregor

Update: MacGregor 3; Peter Rabbit 0. I am starting to get the hang of this!

A few weeks ago my brother and nephew were down. We did some skeet shooting with our .410. My nephew didn't know how to miss. My brother was so-so. I couldn't hit a thing.

This evening there were rabbits in my garden. Same .410; different shooter. 2 in, 2 down.

I have never done much hunting, but we do process all our own meat. But still and honestly, I felt horrible. All I could think of was Peter Rabbit and Mr. MacGregor. But I would do it again. Our summer garden feeds us and others.

Oremus pro invicem!

Red gives birth!

Our oldest sow Red gave birth early this morning despite the thunderstorms. She had 11 live births.

Great job!

Oremus pro invicem!

Thunderstorms - update

More thunderstorms last night and more damage to the corn. We will try to do something today to save it.

I don't have a picture, but the overnight thunderstorms dropped a lot of my beautiful corn. I will be spending time tomorrow (had to work today) propping it up to see if I can save it. Of course the weather attacked the best of it.

Oremus pro invicem!

same again

I probably make this same post every few years ... planting seeds is an act of faith or hope? 

As I finish planting our vegetable garden this week, I am always anxious about if seeds will germinate and poke out of the ground.

I should be full of confidence as our corn (planted with year-old seeds) is going gangbusters. But still I want everything to grow. We always have a plentiful harvest, but sometime one thing or another doesn't work. Will it this year?

Oremus pro invicem!

Hail!

 We had quite the hail storm yesterday. We got golf-ball sized hail. Rock Hill got softball-sized hail!

I was afraid for the corn, but it looks unscathed. (A cherry tomato plant was stripped of leaves by the hail - but one of 60 is not bad at all!)

Oremus pro invicem!

A Catholic College in South Carolina?

 A New College Is Born ~ The Imaginative Conservative

various

This week we are putting in tomatoes and lots and lots of cherry tomatoes. We planted some squash by mistake (I thought is was eggplant) and some Swiss Chard (a little late.)

I am hoping to plant flowers today. (More on that and the LOTS of cherry tomatoes later.)

Son Connor is becoming a prolific writer over at Catholic365.com with a new article appearing practically every day for the last month or so. 

Semesters at my colleges are winding down with only a few weeks left. Can't wait to be home full time - although I can't complain, I am only away from home 2 days a week this spring.

We have a couple of young visitors at our house. It has been a while since we have taken in "visitors". I am reminded of the energy need to chase 1 and 3 year-old around - energy I am slowly running out of....

Oremus pro invicem!

Planting

We put some brocolli, romaine, brussel sprouts, and cabbage in the ground last week. I thought it a little late, but none seemed to fair well in the cold but not frost nights we have had recently. Maybe they will recover....

Today I put in our sweet corn. Corn can take a light frost, and in any event, we may not even have another frost.

Last year I did have to replant a few times (the corn) because too much frost got it. I am hoping this year is different, but we take our chances.

Oremus pro invicem!

A new litter is born!

 Patch did farrow last night. Unclear to me how many she had, but it is looking like 6 or 7. Will update later.

Oremus pro invicem!

Patch

This was taken 2 days ago. You can see her underline is getting full. This morning it was almost twice as big. I suspect we will have new piglets within the week. 

Oremus pro invicem!

Getting ready ....

I came across this picture from last summer today. We are right now in the midst of planning the spring and summer garden - itching to get some seeds and plants in the ground. This picture inspires....

Oremus pro invicem!

 Dear friend, Peter, may you rest in peace!

Obituary | Dr. Peter J. Nyikos of Lexington, South Carolina | Temples-Halloran Funeral Home (templeshalloranfuneralhome.com)

Oremus pro invicem!

Walking and Running

I admit it, many years ago I was a runner and pretty good at it too, despite bad knees. Once I got married, I put on weight; running and bad knees are not compatible - so I did nothing much. About 23 years ago, I tried to take up running again in the peace of the early morning hours in our neighborhood. It lasted 6 months or so, then never again.

I was never a competitive runner, but ran to keep in shape, alleviate stress, and to think.

It turns out walking can do the same. Charlie is often talking about the benefits of walking, and I have to concur. 

I have been walking off and on for some 20 years now (more on than off). I can't stand a treadmill (which I was subjected to three times a week during my heart rehab), but I love walking through the woods or in neighborhoods. I can think, pray the rosary, meditate, or just enjoy the sights.

Over the years I have done a lot of backpacking with my sons, but my last trip was 3 or 4 years ago. Walking is good training for backpacking (although there are no hills to train on around here.)

I never really liked running, it was just a means to exercise. Walking is that, plus enjoyable.

Oremus pro invicem!

Gardening

We thought about building a small greenhouse this year to extend the growing season (both ways.) We never got around to it, but amazingly, we picked our last broccoli in the middle of January. We have never had broccoli so late in the season.

We also had some Brussell sprouts late. Amazingly, some of the lettuce and other greens survived until the cold snap a week ago.

Cabbage was a disappointment, we never really got a single good head.

Now its time to start thinking about spring planting ... only a month or so away.

From the small holding in Bethune ....

Oremus pro invicem!

Little Red

 Here is a video of Little Red and her piglets. They are now (not in the video) 2 weeks old. She has been a great sow so far.

More pictures of Little Red and her litter. She is proving to be a very good sow.

Oremus pro invicem!

Back home!

 I was in MA for a few days to help bury my brother - may his soul rest in peace. 

Coming home I thought I would be coming to warmer temperatures - but no, it was getting just as cold here overnight as in MA. I woke up this morning, and it was 49 F in the house before I got the wood stove fired up.

Everything was still here in place. We had a new litter of pigs (see below) and no burst pipes.

Thomas has returned to his final semester of college at WCC, but I leave a picture of him just after he felled a dead cedar tree over this Christmas break. The cut is so high because of metal in the tree he wanted to avoid.

Oremus pro invicem!

Another litter!

 January 19th, just days after the feast of St. Anthony of the desert (patron of swine herders), we have another litter.

Praise be to God! Oremus pro invicem!