Thursday, March 22, 2007
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
I Guess I'll Blog Again
Clarabelle still hasn't had her calf yet. Lily still has a problem with chasing her (that's what ended the life of one dog, and got another sent away from here). The Tent-dwellers' have started construction. They are able to get about one beam done a day; they have eight to do. I can't wait to see this completed! It's so exciting! We have been continually working on the berry patch garden. Late last week we put lime on it, and followed that with horse manure. We didn't hill up our beds yesterday because of the rain. Instead, we used the Wiggins' chipper/shredder extensively. Elijah, Kyle, and I were out in the brush pile behind the carport/garage all day! We got six or eight bags of chipper mulch, but we still have some stuff to shred. We're planning on using the mulch on the walkway between the beds in the berry patch garden. Daddy gave us his plans to put up the last pig fence yesterday; we'll probably work on that today or tomorrow. We're getting twenty-five Barred Rock chicks next week for layers. I hope we can keep them alive; I really am wanting some of our own eggs again. Oh, our "gig" (I guess that's what you'd call it) Sunday evening went really well. The Church of God people liked to clap, and they could do it in time! That helped Kyle and me stay on the beat! (Yeah, we have a bit of a problem with that occasionally) We were exposed to a lot of new stuff there. Coming from the liturgical Methodist background, I had never experienced anything like this. During the congregational prayer(maybe during other prayers, too) everyone prayed their own prayer as loud as the pastor prayed. It seemed a bit chaotic to me, therefore it also seemed irreverent. It was fun though. The Baptist preacher who was going to give the message the next night (it was a revival) closed it with a prayer. He sounded kind of like an auctioneer to me, but Daddy said that there is a word for the rhythmic way he prayed and that it is highly prized by some. He couldn't think of the word though.
Monday, March 19, 2007
Do You Agree?
Thursday, March 15, 2007
A Few Thoughts on Community Living in the Country/Agrarian Setting
Living like we and the "tent-dwellers" are now has its pluses and its minuses. Mostly though, there have been pluses. Note: I did not say there have been exclusively pluses; we have had our minuses, still do as a matter of fact. We have, as a family, undergone some rather drastic changes because of this community life. The "tent-dwellers" probably have too. I don't see how anyone could possibly be in close proximity to someone who understands them, will hold them accountable, and whom they wish to continue their good image as a friend, how anyone could possibly have all that without going through some fairly dramatic changes in their daily life. So, we have, and are still, going though some of those changes.
In doing this, the community participants becomes more than long-time visitors; they become something like family. In our case the "tent-dwellers" have become closer to us than some of our extended family. It is like having more siblings and an aunt and uncle. Mr. and Mrs. "tent-dweller" have not yet become like another set of parents to me. Even though it is like having more siblings, it's not. It really does make sense; just let me explain. You may get to the point where you can freely tease and maybe even have little, petty arguments, but they are still not your siblings. They are your friends. You still want to maintain the positive look of a good friend. When you are with your family, you tend to be more relaxed and unguarded with your actions and speech. Around friends, that isn't usually the case.
This is where one of the most major pluses comes in. Although perhaps initially looking like a minus, the sanctification you gain through continually guarding yourself among your community friends will eventually spill over into your family life, making it much more agreeable and good. Still, we must not deceive our close friends. We have to be ourselves, just guarded against the disagreeable things of which, we all must admit, we have.
Guarding yourself among your friends is important, but there are other important aspects of community life that we have to continually think about. Being with the "tent-dwellers" is wonderful. The fellowship is always sweet, and the work accomplished is good and extensive. However, I believe there is a limit to how much we should be together. This is another huge thing we've had to learn. Even in a community we must still be family-focused. To be completely, or even mostly, family-focused becomes one hundred times as hard when you become part of a community. When our little community first began, we all had problems with moderation. Some of us always wanted to go up to the "tent-dwellers", that is, if we were not already up there. When I noticed this in myself, fairly quickly because I kind of anticipated it, I went to the extreme opposite. That was probably just as bad. I am now settling into a fairly comfortable middle place, but it has taken five months to get here. That's just me though. I believe privacy, personal and family (community, state, etc.), is a very important part to be able to successfully continue to do this kind of community living.
Through all this, I think I can conclude that all our initial minuses will eventually become long-term pluses if we continue to work things out. With that I conclude a few thoughts on my experience with community living.
(Tell me if that made any sense please!)
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Finally!
We covered our chicken processing tables with black plastic to absorb warmth. Whether it is or not, I don't know, but it sure made them look professional!
Saturday evening we started making the soil blocks (no, I don't know what all we put in it) and planting the seeds. Monday evening we finished filling up our tables (those table hold a lot of soil blocks!). Yesterday Mama said that we're starting to get sprouts from some that we had planted Saturday!
Yesterday and this morning was spent doing this. No, not being lazy; we helped "anonymous" cut and drag cedar logs from over halfway up the mountain. Yep, the cabin is beginning become reality! We ladies are in pants only because you can't really climb the mountain in a skirt or dress.Well, it's off to mandolin/fiddle lessons now. I hate being unprepared, but I haven't exactly had a whole lot of time to practice!
Friday, March 09, 2007
It's Just the Beginning...
When the UPS driver delivered the mill, he asked Kyle something about his mother-in-law (Grammy)! Kyle just answered "Um, that's my grandmother."
Lily might just be good for something! She treed a groundhog, and Kyle made his first kill (just one shot too!). Mr. Groundhog was eight and a half pounds, and exactly like those stuffed animals in the store!
We had to look up groundhog season (always open season, no limit) before I could publish this post.


Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Still No Calf
Today we have been busy working in our new garden spot up by the berry patch. The Brothers' instigated it, of course. They moved the pigs, and got a couple of tillers out. We worked out there all afternoon! It was not unusual to hear lines of bluegrass songs talking about rocks or stones burst into suddenly! Once we finished, that garden spot looked better, on the top, than any other first-year garden spots I can remember (not too many, but some). We won't go into what was about 5 inches below the top.
Friday, March 02, 2007
Unusual, Unexpected, and Unprepared!
Thursday, March 01, 2007
Thursday
Reading back over that shows me that I didn't make my thoughts very clear, but I can't really. They aren't that clear to me right now! I think my last sentence pretty much sums up my feelings about the Pickn' Parlor though.
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Clarabelle
Friday, February 23, 2007
Feel Free to Express Your Opinion Here
I don't think I worded this post very well, but I don't really have a lot of time to go back over and fix it all.
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Religious Satire and Work
Okay, the title says: Religious Satire and Work. I have to write something of the work that got accomplished today. No, I didn't even touch the sewing machine (I did want to though)! This morning I made a batch of bread which we later ate with lunch (I also did a pan of sweet rolls so I could pop them in the oven for breakfast tomorrow morning). Soon after I got the loaves out of the oven Kyle came in and said that Elijah would appreciate my help with the fencing effort. Mama and I went out, and I helped Elijah fence until lunchtime (around 1:30pm). After lunch, Kyle, Elijah, and I went back out to finish fencing around the pond. Once that was done, we decided to go to the pasture closest to the house (there is a debate about what to call that, but I'll post that another time) and get one strand of barbed wire up and drive the t-posts. After that was done we were all tired and getting a little touchy so we decided it was time to quit for the day.
I cannot close this without mentioning that while we were fencing Mr. and Mrs. Brothers were cleaning up the barn and the chicken house/shed! Daddy was so happy with all that had been done while he was away! Another thing I must not (for fear of chastisement) leave out is that Mama cooked lunch and dinner for the whole bunch of us, and Elizabeth and Catherine did a wonderful job watching out for the little ones!
Friday, February 16, 2007
Irony
It would be really neat to have a barn raising reunion now! Maybe we'll just have to have everybody up for a hog killin' and bar-b-cue! I don't know anything about pigs, or at least not much, so maybe you can't eat a pig soon after you kill it. Well, we can at least have beef of some sort. There's always the chili/soup fall-back too, or maybe we'll all just sit around eating pop corn. Heritage church family, I (and I think I can safely say so for the rest of the family too) can't thank y'all enough for allowing us to be apart of it all (I can't really describe it, it's every aspect of your lives I think)!
We miss you, Lingo's!
SPBGMA Awards
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Pictures
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
We Arrived Safely Home
Mama, Claire, and I had quite a time in Fayetteville today. After a couple of hours of shopping we had an overflowing cart (the fabric is not all for us though...), and we decided to go across the square to O'Houllihans (I doubt that's spelled right, oh well) for lunch. We split a couple of sandwiches and had a white chocolate chip macadamia Cristy Cookie! After that we went back to Sir's for a while. Daddy came and picked us and our bags up after about another hour.
We stopped at the Wiggin's to drop off their two pigs, and we ate dinner with them. Unfortunately, we couldn't fellowship with them for very long (seeing as how we had four other pigs in a trailer).
Monday, February 12, 2007
Friday, February 09, 2007
Thursday, February 08, 2007
Who would you be?
We got a couple of pictures of Clarabelle, our future Jersey; I may be able to post them later.
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
A Few Little Things
I just finished the Sense and Sensibility 1910's Tea Gown. At least, I finished the instruction booklet, but I may have to add an insert thing at the neck. My "experience" was thoroughly put to use on this dress, but other than the fitting the pattern (had I been able to follow it word for word) wasn't all that difficult. The back of the dress went WAY too low for my taste so I had to put an insert in there, but I think that was the only "major" alteration I made.
Claire and I continue to take lessons from Mr. Brantley, and we are enjoying them immensely even though I (Claire doesn't really) have to work hard to be ready each week. He has started teaching us together, we do the same songs sometimes we do harmonies too. This past week we worked on "Mississippi Sawyer" and harmony and melody on "Harvest Home Hornpipe". This week we are to work on "O'Keefe's Slide" and "Drowsy Maggie". Both are Irish fiddle tunes, and both are very different from bluegrass (which makes them a little more difficult for me). "Drowsy Maggie" is especially difficult.
Thursday, February 01, 2007
It Snowed!!!
There was snow on the ground when I woke up this morning! However, by lunch there was nothing left. That leaves us cold, wet, and miserable! Okay, not miserable, but I can easily think of other situations I would rather be in! I will not let this weather get me down though!
Just think spring will be here before too long! With it will come all the garden work, but I love that.
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
How Forgetful I Am!!!
Monday, January 29, 2007
SPBGMA
Saturday, January 27, 2007
On the Road to Recovery
Yesterday is the perfect example of those days when everything you planned goes out the window. At first Kyle wasn't going to go to the birthday party, but then Mama and Daddy decided he could go, since he is practically well. So Mama took Kyle, Luke, and the desserts for the Pickn' Parlor. She dropped Kyle off at the party, and took Luke and the desserts to the Pickn' Parlor. Claire and I were at home. Claire was resting and I was working on putting in an invisible zipper, still haven't got that thing in. Daddy came home looking awful! He went directly to bed, but only stayed there for about an hour. Then our plan to stay home tonight, and not work blew up. Daddy said we were leaving in twenty minutes with Elijah and Mrs. Brothers. Uncle Craig was unable to be there so we had to pick up the slack. Thankfully we had a lady who worked as head chef kind of. She was GREAT! One couple who were not going to work any more came in ready to help. We had a rather hectic kitchen, but it was a happy one. Kaliste and Mr. Lovett came in too! Kaliste discovered our delightful sink! Thank you so much; we can always use another dishwasher! The night was thankfully slower than a normal Friday night, but I think we filled up close to our usual amount. We were beat when we got home, but it was a good night.
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Friday, January 19, 2007
MORE!!!
Yesterday we watched "Lord of the Rings", but (I'm rather afraid of the comments this will bring) we skipped through most of the scenes with Frodo and Sam after they left the Fellowship. After viewing it again, I hold to my original favorite part: The Battle of Pelennor Fields after Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli arrive with the Dwimorberg-ians (I am not a LOTR "scholar", and I only know all this because the little booklet is in front of me. I usually just call it the battle of the dead).
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
And It Keeps Going...
Monday, January 15, 2007
Sickness in the house!
Monday, January 08, 2007
The Eighth of January
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
Just a Note
Sunday, December 24, 2006
Just In Time For Christmas
Saturday, December 23, 2006
Guess What, Kaliste!
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
"I Can't Believe It's Christmas..."
Saturday, December 16, 2006
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Don't you hate it when...
Siblings loose your things.
You can't remember what you were about to say.
You get the brunt of a parent's anger even when you did nothing wrong.
It's bathroom cleaning day.
It's your week to fix breakfast/lunch/dinner and you can't come up with any ideas.
You've just sewn up three out of the four seams wrong.
It's portrait time.
You don't get anything done although it seems like you've been busy all day.
You have to dance with another girl even though there are perfectly capable boys standing around.
Your music teacher forces a smile and says "Well, that was... nice." or "Good try."
Your father automatically asks if we're having spaghetti because he knows it's your week to fix dinner.
Your room is an absolute wreck.
You have great aspirations for the coming year but rather low expectations as to how those aspirations will turn out.
Good friends pass up your road.
People don't blog for months on end.
Someone makes a list like this.
I could go on, but I don't think I will right now.
Monday, December 11, 2006
Blogger Beta?
Saturday, December 09, 2006
The Pick'n Parlor
I am going to start taking mandolin lessons from Claire's fiddle teacher and the national fiddle champion, Tom Brantley!
Today Claire, Kyle, and I are going to go dancing at this event, in full costume! We are going from there to the Pick'n Parlor for another night of work.
Monday, December 04, 2006
A New Farm Experience
Friday, December 01, 2006
Monday, November 27, 2006
Thanksgiving Festivities
Friday, November 24, 2006
Several Little Things of No Consequence
All who participated lost. Sorry. Cold, hard fact. Thank you for participating anyhow.


The second thing now would be a little poll for my information:
The last thing is just a quick note to say that the best part of Thanksgiving has arrived! Turkey pot-pie!
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
Happy Thanksgivin' Y'all!
–adjective, -pi‧er, -pi‧est.
1. delighted, pleased, or glad, as over a particular thing: to be happy to see a person.
2. characterized by or indicative of pleasure, contentment, or joy: a happy mood; a happy frame of mind.
3. apt or felicitous, as actions, utterances, or ideas.
—Synonyms:
1. joyous, joyful, blithe, cheerful, merry, contented, gay, blissful, satisfied.
2. favorable, propitious; successful, prosperous.
3. appropriate, fitting, opportune, pertinent.
—Antonyms:
1. sad
Thanksgiving---
–noun
1. the act of giving thanks; grateful acknowledgment of benefits or favors, esp. to God.
2. an expression of thanks, esp. to God.
3. a public celebration in acknowledgment of divine favor or kindness.
4. a day set apart for giving thanks to God.
5. (initial capital letter) Thanksgiving Day.
Y'all---
Pronounced, YAWL. pron. Chiefly Southern U.S. You. Used in addressing two or more people or referring to two or more people, one of whom is addressed.
Regional Note:
The single most famous feature of Southern United States dialects is the pronoun y'all, sometimes heard in its variant you-all. You-all functions with perfect grammatical regularity as a second person plural pronoun, taking its own possessive you-all's (or less frequently, your-all's, where both parts of the word are inflected for possession): You-all's voices sound alike. Southerners do not, as is sometimes believed, use you-all or y'all for both singular and plural you. A single person may only be addressed as you-all if the speaker implies in the reference other persons not present: Did you-all [you and others] have dinner yet? You and you-all preserve the singular/plural distinction that English used to have in thou and ye, the subject forms of singular and plural you, respectively (thee and you were the singular and plural object forms). The distinction between singular thou/thee and plural ye/you began to blur as early as the 13th century, when the plural form was often used for the singular in formal contexts or to indicate politeness, much as the French use tu for singular and familiar “you,” and vous for both plural and polite singular “you.” In English, the object form you gradually came to be used in subject position as well, so that the four forms thou, thee, ye, and you collapsed into one form, you. Thou and thee were quite rare in educated speech in the 16th century, and they disappeared completely from standard English in the 18th. However, the distinction between singular and plural you is just as useful as that between other singular and plural pronoun forms, such as I and we. In addition to y'all, other forms for plural you include you-uns, youse, and you guys or youse guys. Youse is common in vernacular varieties in the Northeast, particularly in large cities such as New York and Boston, and is also common in Irish English. You-uns is found in western Pennsylvania and in the Appalachians and probably reflects the Scotch-Irish roots of many European settlers to these regions. You guys and youse guys appear to be newer innovations than the other dialectal forms of plural you. (The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.)
Saturday, November 18, 2006
Beef Processing and Meat I.D. Contest
First of all, this is a decidedly agrarian process. As is quite obvious.
Introducing...Ribeye!Well, a quarter of him.
Looks like he's still putting up a good fight!
He's becoming more manageable.
The meat saw was great.
Hungry anyone?
The tallow, which we saved for some reason other than to spoil in our freezer (though I am still uncertain as to what that reason is).
What would you call this?
I call this a meat tenderizer.
Grinding beef.
Finished products.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Contest Time!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Sorry. Bradshaws and Wiggins are disqualified for having already done it.
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What is this?

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As for today, 11-20-2006, we had some good flurries! Exciting!
"It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas..."
Friday, November 10, 2006
We WORKED!
We mulched around the house, the shrubs near the basement, in the asparagus, and around the shrubs near the tool shed.
We also, umm... fenced. No, really, we did! We got three whole strands of barbed wire up and all the rest of the t-posts in the pasture farthest from the house.
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
This Just In
A rare occurence; besides, it was something to blog about.
<>EDIT<>
It was a piebald deer, not albino. Don't know if they're any more common or not.
Nothin' much goin' on
Let's see. It's been raining a lot lately, and it is kinda hard to remember to be thankful for it. I have to think back to this summer when rain was scarce and desparately needed.
The leaves are falling. It is just about past the real pretty time with all the colors. It's hard to realize that it is near the end of the year already! The year has gone by so fast! Getting to know new friends better; doing practically everything under the sun, and changing our world view almost completely from what it was four years ago! Those four years have been whirlwinds!
Okay, I posted. It's no good, but it's there.


























