tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-51647371200917827792024-03-19T03:28:39.104-07:00Hart's CottageHart's Cottagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00042178029593395921noreply@blogger.comBlogger55125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5164737120091782779.post-8301544050600390882016-08-03T02:30:00.002-07:002016-08-03T04:22:30.905-07:00 The Rural Honeymoon and the Hard Years: What a Real Farmer Is.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKnadb_sfnbq7E-npGh6W_aZ9VtONQXFQsz_WkKn7-R4urtLsHSqyrCe9gmb6RRb9dQuoxxPoUHyBhIlBSTdPQJKiAaGBFf3BaJTxUbAVPpgFA39h9SaDy4DTp7V1HD7lHgTk8fkEK0jz6/s1600/IMG_2164.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKnadb_sfnbq7E-npGh6W_aZ9VtONQXFQsz_WkKn7-R4urtLsHSqyrCe9gmb6RRb9dQuoxxPoUHyBhIlBSTdPQJKiAaGBFf3BaJTxUbAVPpgFA39h9SaDy4DTp7V1HD7lHgTk8fkEK0jz6/s320/IMG_2164.JPG" width="320" height="240" /></a></div><br />
My innocent, cautious walk into the social fabric around me has ended. My rural honeymoon is over. The hard stuff has begun. It took about 16 years of marriage to get through the hard stuff. I hope this isn't like that. <br />
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I have finally interacted with people beyond the few that live on land touching mine, sell me hay, or the like. I started going to meetings. Blech. I even had to put heels on again. Double blech. It all started in the fall of 2014. I was reading our country paper, The County Courier. I love that paper, because country people have real discourse about politics and other matters through the letter-to-the-editor section. It is not to be missed. We do make fun of it for one reason, though.... it seems to always tell you what happened last week- never what is going to be happening in the week ahead. For six straight years we have missed the Mattaponi Indian Pow Wow, something I would really like to take the kids to, because it is on the front cover of the paper the week after it happens. Every late May that is our running joke: "Woops! We missed the Pow Wow again!"<br />
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So, I was reading the paper and saw a letter-to-the-editor about a <b>sludge</b> permit to spread industrial waste on thousands of acres in our county and surrounding counties. Turns out that if you rename something toxic, fertilizer, suddenly you have an easy way to dispose of it. I found out about the public hearing and here I am, two years later, still fighting the horrific practice. I have spent hundreds of hours of time and much emotional energy... and now work with other activists across Virginia trying to stop it. There are quite a few stories from those two years to tell... but for this blog renewal entry (after SO much time off), I will just have to pick a place and start.<br />
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In a nutshell, Virginia's cities are dumping on Virginia's rural counties. First their trash, then their sewage sludge, now their industrial waste. And not just Virginia cities- they truck and rail it in from other states. The layers of money and politics (and corruption) tied into the practice is like nothing I have ever seen before. Even leading environmentalist groups won't touch it. They dare not, or they will face the political equivalent of a silver stake in their activist vampire heart. What is this silver stake? One word: <b>farmer</b>.<br />
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Wield that word and politicians drop to their knees. I don't know of much else that could pain me the way this whole mess has. Farming is in my heritage, my present, and my future. I brought it into my husband's life and then my boys' lives; and now it is in their hearts. The word <i>farmer</i> is a term that is being used as a name by a set of people that do very different things to the land than anything I would ever consider doing. Saying the word now requires any informed person to back up and clarify to which type you are referring...<br />
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Yuppies know a good bit about the differences between industrial agriculture and eco-agriculture. Most anyone who knows about real food does. It is a black and white distinction drawn between either organic or not, GMO or not, local or not, fair trade or not. <br />
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It was easy for me to draw those <b>distinctions</b> too, and still is. The problem I am having is that I live among these industrial ag people now. The impact of what they do is not only felt in every political venue or food choice, but in the water and air we breathe (literally). I am still disgusted with the practices, and I still make the distinctions. What you can't do until you live in the community of a group of people, though, is get <b>into the weeds</b> of the issue (so to speak) to understand that there are differences among them. <br />
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Some will harm people for a fatter bottom line, it's true. Some are in financial bondage beyond anything the average person could imagine. Then there are other slices and variations. Some refuse to use sludge because they haven't drunk the sludge-industry-paid research Kool-aid that Virginia Tech has handed out. Some who haven't drunk the Kool-Aid may not need the money, but some undoubtedly do (but do the right thing anyway). <br />
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When you get <b>further into the weeds</b> and begin to understand the history of how they got to where they are, and who the powers reaching across global economies to glean wealth from them are... it gets even more sordid. <br />
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I keep researching. I keep working. It often seems to get more confusing, not more clear. I sat down across from a GMO farmer at a local dinner tonight. He and his wife were truly fabulous people. I took the risk of asking if I could ask them questions at a later time about GMO farming. Our conversation was interrupted because of intersecting conversations... but I think I may have scared the guy when I starting explaining why I have questions. I probably killed the possibility when I said the Farm Bureau probably considers me an enemy. I drove home wishing I had kept my mouth shut. I don't want to ruin relationships out here. They matter to me. I love rural people and I belong here.<br />
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The fact remains that all I have seen tells me that institutionalized farming organizations: the Farm Bureau, the VA Cooperative Extension, the USDA... aren't always looking out for the farmers they say they are looking out for... and they sure as hell aren't looking out for the health of the people. When one goes down the rabbit hole, one finds that the predatory economic interests which killed independent farms in the last century were likely behind the formation of these organizations in the first place.... these organizations that say they are protecting farmers. It reminds me of when the mafia lets you pay them for not breaking your legs (calling it protection) after they killed your brother. Yeah, it's kind of like that. <br />
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Many of these guys don't remember when or why they (or the farm owner before them, even if it was their grandpa) got on <b>agricultural welfare</b>. The system is the system, and it has been that way for a while now. Some of them are really just liability holders and laborers that think they are farmers. They are land managers for massive agribusiness conglomerates who don't care at all about our communities, counties, or the city dwellers downstream... because they don't live here. <br />
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To make good choices you have to first <b>believe you have choices</b>- ethical choices and financial choices. You can decide you won't poison your neighbors. You can decide that your products are worth a higher price. Every bit of research I see says that it isn't profit that is keeping them where they are- it is mindset and will. There is more money and more ethical choices to be made, but changing is harder than not changing. It does require effort, and being weaned off a nursemaid that doesn't want to let you go because she is getting more from you than you are getting from her isn't easy. What is that verse from Corinthians? Oh yeah: <b>Quit you like men, be strong.</b><br />
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When all is said and done, to me there is only one real class of farmer that has <b>the right </b>(yes I said right) <b>to call him/herself a farmer</b>. That is, a free and independent farmer who does no harm to his neighbors, customers, or the land.... and (I have added one more group to this class), those who want to be like that. That gives room and grace for some, who aren't those things, to find their way back to the heart of a beautiful way to make a living. I find myself working hard for the future of both sets of people... and even one more- the people still stuck in the rat race (but who would love to be out here some day). That used to be me.<br />
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When the hard years come, love stays you where you are. I am still with Cory and we have reached the really deeply beautiful years of marital life. There is a huge rural mess out here, but we are staying to work through it- trusting that it too will be better eventually than it was in the beginning. <br />
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We are still finding our own way, but also trying to serve others. It seemed easier back in church when someone just gave you a job and suddenly you were declared to be serving in ministry. This is much more complicated and stressful- still, I hope, when all is said and done, it will be said of me that I loved my neighbor. And, that we were farmers. <br />
Hart's Cottagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00042178029593395921noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5164737120091782779.post-6240339472975604352014-10-15T02:53:00.000-07:002014-10-15T04:11:54.326-07:00Beauty I Can KeepOctober of 2014 is a good time to start writing again. I finally want to... but where to pick up from? Well, if I were sitting down for tea with an old friend like I occasionally have the chance to do as life whisks by, I would start with the basics. I'm still married, the family is well. We still live in the same place. I'm still homeschooling. I'm still working on the house and have business plans...still homesteading with farm plans. I turned 40 this year- an age I used to think was old, but no longer do.
There was a long period in my life where there was constant change- dramatic, often exciting, sometimes stressful swings and shifts. I'm happy to be at a place where I have embraced steadiness. Stability has a beauty all its own.
I read a book called "Captivating" (yes, I know book titles are supposed to be underlined, but I still don't know how to do it in Blogger OR separate paragraphs anymore apparently) several years ago- a good book. It talked about how every woman's core question is, "Am I beautiful?"
"Huh," I thought. "That's not the most important thing inside of me. I have deep, soul-mind-spirit things that are at my center... WAY more important to me than beauty." However I can admit now that being beautiful is, I realize, important to me.
One of my favorite books is The Great Divorce, by C.S. Lewis. There are lots of reasons, but the reason I bring it up now is because of the lady in it. I'm not a person who follows heroes or idols, or celebrities.......... but this lady is a rare example of someone worth emulating. She glows forth the love that is within her and it overflows to everyone and everything around her. She is a mother to every child she meets. She causes men to desire their wives more, not her. And of course, the Love and Light that is in her is not "the triumph of the human spirit" that Hollywood worships or any variation of human love. The source is Love Himself, Christ Jesus, the Light of the World.
Being a woman in this time and culture.. this porn-laden, superficial, debased culture.. is not easy. That is a whole other topic for another day... but certainly aging as a woman in this culture can become emotionally debilitating if you let it. In a society that literally worships fake, fleeting, female physical beauty as a primary God, is it any wonder that so many women despair at this stage in their life?
God says that it is not the outward adorning, but the gentle and quiet spirit that is of great value in his sight. One verse that I had the foresight to take hold of as a teenager and young lady is this one in Proverbs 31:
Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting, but a woman that fears the Lord, she shall be praised.
And I must also add, that the countenance of a woman who has God beaming out of her is always beauty to behold. If you've ever been privileged enough to meet a rare old true saint, you know what I mean. That's the kind of beauty I've been looking toward all these years, and I don't have to buy products to get it. I have to let God continue to shape me inside.
Sure I want to reduce wrinkles and firm up. But blessed, so blessed, is the woman who invests in the beauty that cannot be taken from her- the glowing countenance that comes from being in God's presence and being filled with his joy.
Hart's Cottagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00042178029593395921noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5164737120091782779.post-846043882760320462013-06-30T17:35:00.001-07:002013-06-30T17:40:50.062-07:00Berry Picking and Berry Cobbler on a Sunday, 6/30/2013Sweet, sweet happiness, would you look at that!
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Our Sunday started out well- with cinnamon french toast and bananas topped with butter and maple syrup all prepared by one Cory Hart. Then we chatted about the topic of church. It seems Cory has found a group in Richmond that is somewhat unique, so we had a good theological review of why we were sitting on the couch with bedhead and socks instead of trotting off to a "place of worship."
Then the topic turned to our land, and we had a grand old time pulling out the plat and google-earth pic... then Cory overlaid them AND the topography chart of the property we got from the local cooperative extension service and we made some further decisions about clearing for pasture---- a critical topic since we are now out of pork and beef from the cows we butchered over a year ago. As that led to the improved state of our grass in the north field we decided to meander up and look at it closely...
Low and behold we find a GInormous berry patch that just sprung up on its own and fruited like crazy ripe with blackberries.
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The first summer we were here we picked a handful or two; last year we got a small bowl full... this year- on the patch we weren't tending, we got this many:
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I was going to take a picture of the cobbler with ice cream next to it; but since everyone tore into it like piranhas, the picture, and my Buckingham Palace etiquette lesson, will have to wait for another day.
June is over and lightning bugs are out... another week closes and another begins.
I think I will be catching up on some old stuff on here- backstory fill in stuff. Yep.Hart's Cottagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00042178029593395921noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5164737120091782779.post-20129958416833012052013-05-27T21:26:00.001-07:002013-05-27T21:26:31.198-07:00Memorial Day 2013- fruit trees and bushhoggingIt's Memorial Day. Things have started to get overgrown around here and I asked Cory to bushhog some areas
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while I attempted to hack through the growth that has infiltrated the berry bushes I so carefully weeded, gosh, I guess it's been 2 or 3 springs ago... I'd have to check my old posts.
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In any case we found another fruit tree! Actually a set of several. One is quite large. Apple? Likely.
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I got some good pictures today. Today was my favorite kind of day. If I am outside working on the land, I feel more fully alive than during most any other thing. When all of us are out there being and doing, it is even better. The world can make you feel discontent in so many ways, but on days like today, not so. Not so at all.
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOFHJmlrRJh_WU84LRvQp8lWyH3nD7oHH3mRm03n4x-v_WS7pcPfY1mNgEu_L8t7fC13ptOOGwTLy8HaFLJPjCoJvyPxKQ8wMNqvImswYOWZ_E81CxBZcROfDg1VhXImO7bUIGpN3hiGkV/s1600/IMG_0125.JPG" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOFHJmlrRJh_WU84LRvQp8lWyH3nD7oHH3mRm03n4x-v_WS7pcPfY1mNgEu_L8t7fC13ptOOGwTLy8HaFLJPjCoJvyPxKQ8wMNqvImswYOWZ_E81CxBZcROfDg1VhXImO7bUIGpN3hiGkV/s320/IMG_0125.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSIkPqgrhHnqEd-0SraIQygoKQ5rcAg3KycPNjORCTbQu03En2CVpcnyV-W5yDTmw0zb_ME8U0Y1UoMEikAzhS8LgJHWVrp-YF4Tqy8kc1lwg4OPIpeznwHQJsn0gpmVvABQ0iU3E523r3/s1600/IMG_0126.JPG" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSIkPqgrhHnqEd-0SraIQygoKQ5rcAg3KycPNjORCTbQu03En2CVpcnyV-W5yDTmw0zb_ME8U0Y1UoMEikAzhS8LgJHWVrp-YF4Tqy8kc1lwg4OPIpeznwHQJsn0gpmVvABQ0iU3E523r3/s320/IMG_0126.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5oxX0xA-BJAtfaFhIW_XSt04wHyTRkvROuAEm7aWKlvzTHENHzwvtJPIzKa1HH4KlSZcLowSzMhJbi3CFouY4bMvc_yX_DCsMTZ4mHtgUXSsMUxhNKn6hUYNUqi2AdyC1iG1OZhqwfH1f/s1600/IMG_0131.JPG" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5oxX0xA-BJAtfaFhIW_XSt04wHyTRkvROuAEm7aWKlvzTHENHzwvtJPIzKa1HH4KlSZcLowSzMhJbi3CFouY4bMvc_yX_DCsMTZ4mHtgUXSsMUxhNKn6hUYNUqi2AdyC1iG1OZhqwfH1f/s320/IMG_0131.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwMkau-Pk7c3GCIDcvL7iDl-45nYD6-G8Cwtf7v8Y0gHzjy1poM97YsOBIIQnUviGz2Lb_O6XFGTL-ijgKJWefSufn3aVt3QybrZTi8P7qdo5MuA2DEV6V5HQ9A1V6QFQrgER7De8GZmFq/s1600/IMG_0136.JPG" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwMkau-Pk7c3GCIDcvL7iDl-45nYD6-G8Cwtf7v8Y0gHzjy1poM97YsOBIIQnUviGz2Lb_O6XFGTL-ijgKJWefSufn3aVt3QybrZTi8P7qdo5MuA2DEV6V5HQ9A1V6QFQrgER7De8GZmFq/s320/IMG_0136.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6FwtJ66NqIf8736HlzQ1AfHaY80Nl77Pu3ZXMNkM8uFUd4zEeXDnzevnPFAlqGVbis1tXcgkDntOo84TQORAiEwLLPt5wU6HzAVEz37CQOcY3BhKYldqMSPeju8_lwGlI4RvLLhakcQhL/s1600/IMG_0124.JPG" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6FwtJ66NqIf8736HlzQ1AfHaY80Nl77Pu3ZXMNkM8uFUd4zEeXDnzevnPFAlqGVbis1tXcgkDntOo84TQORAiEwLLPt5wU6HzAVEz37CQOcY3BhKYldqMSPeju8_lwGlI4RvLLhakcQhL/s320/IMG_0124.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheGmXmpNvb0E3t1fuGFcaKe4ax-apW0UgJbHsiCj3lwmXbt_l6DnY2PpljzPxuYlpGdFJ1v9RBfWj2U72Zrp1K2cHz4_XUzdxjAXIAivjXCpVh4mJwwJQGltphyrdANlufnSomBEd7JNuU/s1600/IMG_0137.JPG" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheGmXmpNvb0E3t1fuGFcaKe4ax-apW0UgJbHsiCj3lwmXbt_l6DnY2PpljzPxuYlpGdFJ1v9RBfWj2U72Zrp1K2cHz4_XUzdxjAXIAivjXCpVh4mJwwJQGltphyrdANlufnSomBEd7JNuU/s320/IMG_0137.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXEFZCqU2RPd12GrxJiv3Mt13RWsX_AHc9HaC2k8OtsdauMBi7LTTtCJ5-kBDcF-0hmu8ZYwp0QiexHD7Ryp1vJXty3pqsKV3-em7hFIbmE3Hbr4jadZgrsT6duBaNTeL3H8sq8GMfZ_zp/s1600/IMG_0140.JPG" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXEFZCqU2RPd12GrxJiv3Mt13RWsX_AHc9HaC2k8OtsdauMBi7LTTtCJ5-kBDcF-0hmu8ZYwp0QiexHD7Ryp1vJXty3pqsKV3-em7hFIbmE3Hbr4jadZgrsT6duBaNTeL3H8sq8GMfZ_zp/s320/IMG_0140.JPG" /></a>
I've been thinking about blogging again. Here's to the first in a long while. We'll see where it goes from here.Hart's Cottagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00042178029593395921noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5164737120091782779.post-80107292915106726802012-09-13T15:12:00.002-07:002012-09-13T15:40:49.132-07:00Hart peaceIt looks like it's been almost one full year since I last made an a blog entry here. I stopped blogging for several reasons, and then there were some that came upon me I wasn't aware were on the road ahead when I stopped. I think I've decided to just ease back into the part of this that I liked- which is chronicling this beautiful season in life for us and those that will come after, years from now when time moves past the line that I am filling now. I'm not really going to attempt to formally and fully fill in the gap from the last year, but I expect that will happen in time, in my layered way of telling something from several different vantage points. The very first time I considered blogging I thought of all the reasons I didn't think blogging was wise, and a million more why I really didn't think reading blogs were wise. But, on different terms I am going to embrace the part of it that fits me. I am disabling comments as I'm really not writing for anyone else other than my family or the anonymous person. I don't want to think about what people think of it. I don't want to build a "community." I'm not really into communities- that's not me. And I'm wonderfully at peace with that, and not needing anyone else to be.
So I have a lot more stories to tell, of our happenings around here... and of all the things my spirit radar picks up in the quiet. I do hope that it blesses you...especially if you are my grand or great grand or even grander down the line child. You've all been in my heart through all of the hard things somehow, and I think of you when I am courageous enough to sow love.Hart's Cottagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00042178029593395921noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5164737120091782779.post-11111423136441701202011-10-03T19:11:00.000-07:002011-10-03T23:09:16.072-07:00The Light SwitchThis is a true story:<br />
<br />
One day, I don't remember which year it was, I stopped in front of a light switch and tried to balance it exactly in the center, right between off and on. I'm not sure how many times I flicked that light off and on trying, but it was quite a few. I thought if I could <i>juuust</i> hold it exactly there.... I'm not sure what I was thinking... that it would neither then be on nor off? (how does that work?) That it would be a dim light?<br />
<br />
Another true story:<br />
<br />
Money has been a challenge for me my whole life. A host of very important decisions and events in my life have been strongly influenced by my, shall we say, insufficient funds: college, business, houses, childcare, social things. The list goes on.<br />
<br />
I once read about there being a "spirit" of lack. So I prayed about it- prayed that jerk right out of my life in the name of Jesus. Sure did. I'm not making that up. I also have thoroughly evaluated my intentions from a spiritual standpoint and have determined that I have very ambitious charitable goals, and reasonably modest material desires. In short, I would pass the Spanish Inquistion of Financial Intent, should there be one. At least I think.<br />
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This lack started out because of my family's financial situation- 14 kids on a mechanic's salary is a pretty big challenge. Even when I was making quite a bit of it though, which I was doing at a pretty early age, the sense of lack was still there. I wasn't where I wanted to be so I invested all of it into plans to try to move things in life along to where I did want them to be. The details are too many for this post to share, but I will say that the failures and disappointments were plentiful; but each led me to exactly the place I needed to be, which was prayer; and God finally getting his desire: to chisel me into a bit better image of him than what I was.<br />
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Which sounds lovely. If I learned my lesson and did that every time. But I don't. I wrestle with him. My name, Jacqueline, is the french feminine version of the name Jacob- the most famous Jacob being the one who wrestled with God in the scripture. Yippy to a great namesake.<br />
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I don't do it on purpose (wrestling, that is), by the way. Most people don't.<br />
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So, as you know life has gotten quite a bit better for me; but I, like many, have still been holding on to some things that I want- mostly not even material things, but things money facilitates: like more time with my husband, more time with family, etc. It's okay to want things but you can't let them be an idol. Here's a tip: It's hard for something you want <i>not</i> to become an idol. It is therefore very, very easy for something you want <i>to </i>become an idol.<br />
<br />
So despite all the great things the Lord has done in my life and blessed us with, I have still been walking around with my breath slightly held. Anxiously awaiting the final steps and stages of what I think my life should look like.<br />
(Funny that as I typed that sentence, I remembered on my last visit to the naturopath, she said my muscle test indicated I wasn't getting enough oxygen. hmm). <br />
<br />
A few weeks ago I had a sudden onset of sustained discouragement. Not the clinical kind- never seen that kind- but my special kind, which goes like this:<br />
<br />
1.)We'll begin this evening's meal with a lot of pessimism about how long things are taking.<br />
<br />
2.)The soup for this evening will be an analysis of what you have done sprinkled with what else you could do; with a sprig of what everyone else could do.<br />
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3.)The main course will be a review of our financial outlook- always a filling dish.<br />
<br />
4.)And for dessert we will wrap up with noting that unless some major upheaval occurs, it may be just like this next year.<br />
<br />
Nummy.<br />
<br />
So here is the good part. I've been through this enough that after eating this exact same meal for a number of days in a row, I start to get wise- <i>hhheeyyyy, wait a minute</i> where is this crap coming from?<br />
<br />
This is when it starts to turn around. You know this, if you've ever countered spiritual attacks with the Word of God, which is what I did; but this particular time has had a unique twist for me.<br />
<br />
I walk out in the yard on one beautiful late afternoon while the kids are playing and sit on the tree swing, quite over the weight of things, especially frustrated plans. The sunset shadows are already casting the long stretched silhouettes of the trees across the grass, even this early in the fall season. I notice this and start thinking about the sun. And do you know what came into my brain? Noon. <b>Noon is the same as a light switch in the center.</b><br />
<br />
Noon lasts one second. Not even that if you want to get scientific about it- splitting it into infinite divisions of a second. Noon is the exact second the sunrise switches to the sunset. The entire day is leading up to noon, or is leading away from it.<br />
<br />
People get sad about the past and the future: "The past isn't what i thought it would be/ the future isn't working out the way I wanted it to be." They are looking for that perfect exact time where things are brightest, and their lofty plan is to grab hold of it and stay there. However, God's plan for the day doesn't include holding onto noon.<br />
<br />
We get very close to it- glimpses of what it is very much like.<br />
<br />
Life is a series of long sunrises and sunsets- they are quite varied and beautiful on their own merit. We should enjoy wherever we are in the process. Or maybe the even bigger lesson is that the perfection we are seeking isn't attainable while on this earth. In heaven, God's presence is the source of light, not the sun. According to the Word, there is no darkness nor shadow there.<br />
<br />
I thought about this, and I thought, and I thought.<br />
<br />
I realized that what I am grasping for cannot be found in the way I am thinking of it while I am still here on this earth. So the only way to feel what I wanted to feel was to do it now, with things exactly the way they are. I decided to be content- right where I am and with what I have.<br />
<br />
Now, I have determined and willed before to be content, but never have I been, for more than probably a fleeting moment (if I were to take the time to really think about it). But this time, God did a work in me and I finally did it. Actually it was more like I didn't do it at all, because it was <i>actually working</i>- someone did it for me, as another gift. Then noon came inside of me- "on (the) earth (of my heart) as it is in heaven." <br />
<br />
"Now Godliness with contentment is great gain." 1 Timothy 6:6. <br />
<br />
I let go of something and then I got it? Yes. If I lose my life, I will find it, so sayeth the scripture. <br />
<br />
Later on I took out my notebook and wrote down all the things I have to be thankful for and all the blessings God has poured out on me. It was such a good list I was embarrassed and ashamed at ever having asked for anything else. I have received more than enough if I never get one more thing. Then I wrote down all the lies I have been hearing to stir discontentment in me. <br />
<br />
<b>Satan is a bastard, by the way. </b><br />
<br />
Then I wrote down the precise truths that counter those lies. It was an even more impressive list than the first one. Silence. Soaking in of the Truth. Better. Much better.<br />
<br />
And that is enough for me to say; and very, very worthwhile to provide a testimony about. I could stop there. But then two more things happened.<br />
<br />
First, I took action- it wasn't a big spiritual plan. I just decided to do a better job taking care of the stuff I already have- I started cleaning up- just something extra each day- cleaning out the kids toys, cleaning the oven, etc.<br />
<br />
Then I decided to decorate with what I have. I began making the living room look more like a place a family lives, and less like a construction zone with a couch in it. With as little as I had after 8 moves, it is looking nice. Very us.<br />
<br />
Now here is the interesting twist- and you can say what you want about it, I don't care- I'm going to tell you anyway. I've been weighing myself pretty regularly since Cory fixed the scale and put it in the bathroom; and I stay pretty much at the same weight- 20 lbs more than I want.<br />
<br />
With absolutely no effort on my part, I began to lose weight right after what we'll call my "contentment shift." And it is still coming off. A day or two after I noticed the weight drop, (yes <i>after</i> so don't say it was the power of suggestion or whatever) I happened to read an article linked from another article from a weight loss trainer. Her method wasn't fully disclosed, but her article hinted that happiness makes your metabolism work much better and that her $500 per session clients pay her more for her counseling about being happy with themselves than a workout plan.[Obviously, like with anything, God's laws and design work for the benefit of anyone who applies them- Christian or not; that's why monogomous pagan couples have better marriages than adulterous pagan couples- both are pagans but one is reaping the rewards of following God's design for marriage, and one is not]. <br />
<br />
Interesting. <i>Of course</i> there is a connection between metabolism and stress, everyone knows that. But then conversely it makes sense that there is also a connection between metabolism and contentment, or peace. Holy Cow. Why do so few know <i>that</i>? This lines up with scripture as God makes it very clear that <b>we take authority over the body with the spirit.</b><br />
<br />
So you can do with that what you will.<br />
<br />
I admit that I still have plans for the living room to look like an atrium in an English cottage- but I finally feel that those plans are now in their rightful place- which is not, by the way, first. I tried to put them (the plans) there(anyplace other than first) before, but my efforts never, ever work like God's grace. Um, that also sums up the Old and New Testament.<br />
<br />
Anyway, the living room is looking better. And I am looking better. And our finances and circumstances are looking better too, but that is because I have a different perspective. Nothing has changed with them, but instead of viewing anything below my idea of ideal as lack, I am viewing anything beyond the abundance we already have as extra abundance. It turns out I am a very rich woman right now and have been too duped to fully recognize it.Hart's Cottagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00042178029593395921noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5164737120091782779.post-44473553616080699332011-09-29T14:40:00.000-07:002011-09-29T14:57:09.913-07:00Blog blip, catching up after a looong break- part 2: SummerAll through the summer the house was still torn apart and I had banned all visitors. I wasn't happy about that, but I wasn't joking either. The level of mess we are living in is just shy of maddening to me.<br />
<br />
Oddly enough, we had a couple show up on our doorstep one night because their truck had gotten stuck on the country road down a ways. They looked a little scared. <br />
<br />
Right before they knocked, the chickens that were perched right on the front railing freaked the girl out. I could tell they had had the normal discussion any person would, in their situation, about a guy named Bubba who could very possibly greet them way out here where no one would hear them scream. (Cory likes to tell people when giving them directions to our house: "if you hear banjos, you've gone too far)...<br />
<br />
They asked if we had a tractor (<i>do we have a tractor?</i>- of COURSE we have a tractor) to pull them out. <br />
Instead of Bubba, they get me, which I actually think surprised them more than a toothless killer would have. I am starting to notice a pattern with that. <br />
<br />
One day I was in yoga pants, sunglasses, slogger boots and a tanktop (that I had slept in) and this guy pulls into our lane (lost, of course) at the exact same time that I am putting water in the cow's trough. That particular day I happened to have twisted my hair up in these curly bun/pony tail things like a cross between someone from Sweden named Inga and Princess Leia. I could see him trying to register what he was seeing with all the previous files he had stored in his brain as he stammered to ask for directions. I think I am to country as Bubba is to city... but I'm not sure- it's just a feeling I get.<br />
<br />
Anyway, according to my decision list that I TAPED TO THE REFRIGERATOR, <br />
<br />
[so when I revisit (more regularly than I care to mention) the meaning of life, our purpose, and what we should be doing, I can save myself a whole heck of a lot of time by just looking at the list instead of going through all of that brain- wracking <i>again</i>. If I happen to remember the list is there, I can promptly see that <i>we've already been over this</i> ..and just do what is next.]<br />
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spring was designated home improvement time, and the end of spring marked the shift to <b>stage two</b> of my year plan, which is the summer schedule: continue homeschooling and actually begin to work my business.<br />
<br />
The boys never have trouble keeping themselves busy<br />
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and honestly sometimes I feel I am interrupting their learning when I require that we do our academic work. <br />
<br />
We had to buy a garden cart so that we could start rotating the cows onto different paddocks of grass. The cart would serve to keep their water and their hay and minerals within reach wherever they were. I let the boys take a crack at putting it together while Cory was at work and they did a great job. (I'm sure it doesn't hurt that there is a family of mechanics on their mother's side of the family).<br />
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I decided earlier in the year that it simply makes sense to do school when the weather is too severe to enjoy the outdoors (summer and winter) and have off when it is beautiful outside (spring and fall). Thus we have come off of a long and lovely spring break and are back to school. <br />
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Summer, for me, was very weird. It went by quickly in a sense, but in a way many of the days melted together in their likeness. I divided my time between business work and the daily chores of house and farm. Looking back, I'm actually kind of sad about it. I'd really like to bust my husband out of jail (his job) and get on a sailboat to an island some days, any island, so we could all just be together instead of our family - 1 the majority of the time....but I get motion sick.... which is a thorn in the side of that dream, but whatever. <br />
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Anyway, toward the end of the summer, we had three major happenings..<br />
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First, we had a nice visit from my brother, Paul; and his wife, Heather and son, Reese (he is as cute as pie!). We went crabbing and swimming together- the boys were really glad to get to play with Reese, have company, and do something different from our normal routine.<br />
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We also had Buttercup artificially inseminated. We found a bull who has A2/A2 genetics (MAJOR controversy over the A1/A2 thing, if you are into raw milk- definitely read about it). Then we found a nearby farmer, who raises angus actually, who is an AI tech. He came out when Buttercup went into heat (she BAWLS her HEAD OFF when she is in heat so it is pretty darn easy to detect) and did it. Prior to his arrival Cory built a headgate. When he got here he had a nitrogen tank. I got her into the headgate and with the boys help we fed her grain and held her tail up while he felt around in there til he got it done. That was a definite first for me. Never seen that done. Never thought I would. It worked the first time, so she is pregnant and due in May.<br />
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And finally, we were asked by another family farm couple to milk their cow one Saturday so they could go to a wedding. Their teenage kids prepared instructions and a checklist for me to be sure we did everything routinely, and we went a week prior to go through a dry run with them. And yes, I did it. I milked a cow. It actually wasn't that hard. <br />
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Believe it or not I got slack with picture taking and didn't get pictures of any of these things. Slacker. <br />
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That gets us to the final two events that have happened between then and now- the hurricane and the pig butchering. Oh, and I almost forgot the duck genocide of 2011. I'll fill ya in on those next time.Hart's Cottagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00042178029593395921noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5164737120091782779.post-84683533560977734182011-09-25T19:04:00.000-07:002011-09-26T07:20:17.949-07:00Blog blip, catching up after a looong break- part 1: MayI have taken a vacation from blogging, a 5 month vacation. I am at a place now where I can catch up, so I am sifting through some picture and a few old drafts to catch up the journal of where we are.<br />
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Most of this one was written in draft form on May 26th:<br />
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Things are kind of on auto-pilot around here. Cory is back to work and we are trying to fit in what we can on the weekend as far as the house projects go... that has ground down to extremely slow progress. Everything takes longer than we think and there is just too much to do.<br />
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This weekend we will need to close up the house and turn on the AC. We've enjoyed a comfortable 'window open' climate for a nice, long spring. Thank you Lord- I have really appreciated it.<br />
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May is my favorite month of the year. We celebrated Mother's Day<br />
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our 15 year anniversary<br />
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and Quinn's 11th birthday. He is growing into a sharp young man before my eyes.<br />
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The cows and pig are happily co-existing. <br />
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Don't let the background gross you out. I will spare you the methodology of accumulated winter bedding, but long story short- it was time to get all of that out. Cory drug a whole huge PILE of old manure out of there and left it next to our driveway (he ran out of time on a Sunday evening) and pulled the rest of it down to the lower fenced area for the pig and ducks to aerate and the sun to sanitize. Both did their job and quickly, the odor went away. That's right I am saying our **** don't stink (a favorite phrase of my brother Wess' from years ago... funny what you remember).<br />
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Piggy has also made friends of the chickens because when he roots they have immediate access to worms and bugs. They love to follow him as he works: <br />
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I like this picture because it shows how amazingly strong pigs really are. He is putting all the strength of his backside into the rooting he's doing with his nose... a very useful animal. <br />
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The flowers and grass are in full swing and our new arbor is filling out nicely with the wisteria. <br />
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The cows both had birthdays (in April) too. They aren't too thrilled about restricted grazing, but that is all we can do right now. I let them out in the afternoon for a few hours to graze wherever I can find grass, and the rest of the time they have to eat hay. <br />
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Feeding the animals has become really expensive. We are starting to get that "we aren't so smart" feeling. <br />
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The ducks and chickens have had little going on except for the one duck that got stuck in the fence and the subseuently was eaten by the pig (GROSS!!)... The pig normally leaves the ducks alone, but the stuck one was quacking and struggling. My brother said they will eat their brothers and sisters when they are little if they are squealing excessively for some reason. I hate noise too, but really? Piggy is worse than me. He obviously is not familiar with the handy device called the taser.<br />
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Did I mention I have never really been an animal person? Yeah.<br />
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We are getting a nice small but steady supply of old-school-tasting delicious strawberries<br />
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and already and I've made two dishes this week with the first cilantro I have ever grown- mmmmm. My potato patch seems to be doing well as well as the dill, cucumbers and romaine lettuce (all also a first for me). The beans are being assaulted by (I think) Japanese beetles. Not good. May need to pull out the huge Rose of Sharons (that I thought were hollyhocks) after all.<br />
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The birdies have nested in the birdhouse again and are faithfully feeding their babies:<br />
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The boys are enjoying everything about being boys:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB9cwADD99PV0W5If4vrjOVGwXwTdVQ9gSEqpplOKifFJ1CqctuGkyThR6ex5BvNluE9VayipVFb3wREIg5yHFl1hpkgcTaWlmoVKmhVlNB_zw-N-ejn1XXBac9cnovlt-Q5MN9HKge5XB/s1600/IMG_1827.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB9cwADD99PV0W5If4vrjOVGwXwTdVQ9gSEqpplOKifFJ1CqctuGkyThR6ex5BvNluE9VayipVFb3wREIg5yHFl1hpkgcTaWlmoVKmhVlNB_zw-N-ejn1XXBac9cnovlt-Q5MN9HKge5XB/s320/IMG_1827.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6MRKo4v0yC28LPu4JKSjKf6OFSFMlxpi2ynV5MxpKgt9-HMx2S2f078ovi8NPtAsCRQJbakZXFrpUkyjIoipdZqIOduaReDIcQ7GHu8Jw6Q7dAdEVOSWTp00YOMroWcg3l9Sl-iYtUe0w/s1600/IMG_2100.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6MRKo4v0yC28LPu4JKSjKf6OFSFMlxpi2ynV5MxpKgt9-HMx2S2f078ovi8NPtAsCRQJbakZXFrpUkyjIoipdZqIOduaReDIcQ7GHu8Jw6Q7dAdEVOSWTp00YOMroWcg3l9Sl-iYtUe0w/s320/IMG_2100.JPG" /></a></div>(we actually witnessed this turtle laying it's eggs. If you look closely you can see one under her. This picture was taken while she was doing it):<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKd4fy9I5DcSNdufj_mqreiyemWnqo5okUPt454mlT80d4VYvr8Vu-DY642KeoL5OXoWjghoULGaxShwRNupIv1zcHbzMFo3-qIO1KqgicUk0Cfi17Aw6zwiStQhb-axLRfJ6vB379uUkp/s1600/IMG_2040.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKd4fy9I5DcSNdufj_mqreiyemWnqo5okUPt454mlT80d4VYvr8Vu-DY642KeoL5OXoWjghoULGaxShwRNupIv1zcHbzMFo3-qIO1KqgicUk0Cfi17Aw6zwiStQhb-axLRfJ6vB379uUkp/s320/IMG_2040.JPG" /></a></div><br />
and Sam lost his first tooth, which promptly caused me to launch into a mini-midlife crisis.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk2O1-1r2SWTF_6GQ_s-6T4HvDEw1qsXRRsWGWniUgAHtmwBGkSEAyvMlAOjAafh2JNrLKphGZ1uVEq2sMrmKzBbUevGNsWUV0-_mYGLflJu0CRYBxKh3qDTjF5JFr2020_9jOuKFtSi2y/s1600/IMG_1926.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk2O1-1r2SWTF_6GQ_s-6T4HvDEw1qsXRRsWGWniUgAHtmwBGkSEAyvMlAOjAafh2JNrLKphGZ1uVEq2sMrmKzBbUevGNsWUV0-_mYGLflJu0CRYBxKh3qDTjF5JFr2020_9jOuKFtSi2y/s320/IMG_1926.JPG" /></a></div>He's so handsome, just like his daddy.<br />
To be continued...Hart's Cottagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00042178029593395921noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5164737120091782779.post-17322718858922991502011-04-24T19:54:00.000-07:002011-04-25T09:45:07.356-07:00Sam Cam<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoz2kmqc1vonboPoSjzwGGmAGqacvtdwvrIxPfMPPLSt66Uws9PBZwGgGuzzSxWMi1PYxKv6npATqIB1vZ1inYzCB1guNGqGqA_smMs10qwK1pzLPf9CriXGB58kYXYndlbO86DxrZ-xiT/s1600/IMG_0093.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoz2kmqc1vonboPoSjzwGGmAGqacvtdwvrIxPfMPPLSt66Uws9PBZwGgGuzzSxWMi1PYxKv6npATqIB1vZ1inYzCB1guNGqGqA_smMs10qwK1pzLPf9CriXGB58kYXYndlbO86DxrZ-xiT/s320/IMG_0093.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVN_trqCsV-Lnxkowv1NWmuHiTXopwqfjLnZ99uGG-feeOIN8tVPbee7SVDzfngIaxlKkyfaXbUZVbpWXYgtPrhD82TZQiQvgQ1_dZyC-osGgvNKUEnLLiEZ-UUiLNMlCp90rSa1EehnmI/s1600/IMG_0094.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVN_trqCsV-Lnxkowv1NWmuHiTXopwqfjLnZ99uGG-feeOIN8tVPbee7SVDzfngIaxlKkyfaXbUZVbpWXYgtPrhD82TZQiQvgQ1_dZyC-osGgvNKUEnLLiEZ-UUiLNMlCp90rSa1EehnmI/s320/IMG_0094.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-v6ELGLh30YBZh17PWA1HlJuQ0_tIixsizmUlwZ8VsQnZAR2aQVNYoBjRbrQA0VLv7PVUK_MYQeT9dAq4E-2hLYoGva53scJh0yIwM5IPHmiN0mXUb07aHWifm_woYal89YvZaaIei0H6/s1600/IMG_0095.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-v6ELGLh30YBZh17PWA1HlJuQ0_tIixsizmUlwZ8VsQnZAR2aQVNYoBjRbrQA0VLv7PVUK_MYQeT9dAq4E-2hLYoGva53scJh0yIwM5IPHmiN0mXUb07aHWifm_woYal89YvZaaIei0H6/s320/IMG_0095.JPG" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7BSAWEesEOBeZH_U_H0sHlekaEvoiwt0l-7CUjGgKWj3j67namaIGwVw_gOl3JYpS3zrzJNe0okNpOP5T0fD98e5yO7eQKj49y08yNazOdDdoprteTOnqRGE4aIm5fCqyOtfytuMzbW5G/s1600/IMG_1735.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7BSAWEesEOBeZH_U_H0sHlekaEvoiwt0l-7CUjGgKWj3j67namaIGwVw_gOl3JYpS3zrzJNe0okNpOP5T0fD98e5yO7eQKj49y08yNazOdDdoprteTOnqRGE4aIm5fCqyOtfytuMzbW5G/s320/IMG_1735.JPG" /></a></div>(You may notice there are two hot tubs in the field in the background. Just ignore them. We do.)<br />
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I also cleared out a number of things from the climbing roses going to the garden and used more of the crate pieces to make two rose trellises. Between the berry and rose vines I have been scratched and stabbed more times than you would believe if I told you. I still have a few pieces embedded in my hands and yes I was wearing gloves.<br />
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This was an old fence piece we picked up from a church that was being thrown out. I used it for the roses out front- it is treated wood in sound structural shape and was headed for the landfill. <br />
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Next, I got Sam's floor sanded, painted and coated:<br />
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[Special Note:I used Mythic paint- the only paint on the market that is 100% VOC and 100% non-toxic. (VOC stands for Volatile Organic Compounds- nasty things you breath for years from regular paint and all sorts of finishes on housing materials- bad stuff)].<br />
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Unfortunately, I forgot to prime it and now there are some weird discoloration spots. Am I going to sand it all off and do it again- uh no. That is why they invented the rug.<br />
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We also needed a door. I found this one at Restore for $35. It will replace the one behind it which will go on the new bathroom.<br />
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In the midst of all these projects I still needed to cook,<br />
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we had to keep up with the farm chores (the kids help a lot),<br />
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and make supply runs. We also paused to have birthday cake for Cory's birthday. He just gets better every year, ladies and gentlemen. What you see on his face is not allowed when he is at work so I only get to see it during vacations. This pic was early on but he grew it out further......then had to shave it off when he went back. I should complain to the union or something. <br />
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That about does it except for explaining the redesign, which I will do another time.<br />
It was a good two weeks.<br />
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This week progress crept along slowly since Cory was back at work, so I might as well throw all of that in here:<br />
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I got Quinn's room painted- hadn't taken a before and after yet.<br />
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Piggy and I have been cleaning up around the garden boxes.I don't know if you can tell from this picture, but the area toward the back is all rooted up.<br />
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He is an excellent plow.<br />
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I didn't get the garden planted yet- weird weather, then the truck broke down yesterday while I was on my grocery trip- overheated several times but I managed to get water in it and get it home. Alas, instead of our Easter dinner plans with friends, Cory spent the day like this:<br />
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replacing the water pump. <br />
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Other than that we have just been watching things bloom around here. There are green berries forming on the berry vines<br />
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flowers on the strawberries that made it from last year,<br />
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flowers popping up everywhere, <br />
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leaves unfolding on all the trees, and even our little apple tree that we planted and cut down to a 2 foot stick in March showed off a leaf.<br />
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Baby steps.Hart's Cottagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00042178029593395921noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5164737120091782779.post-54780050020020248222011-04-20T19:53:00.000-07:002011-04-22T18:11:19.399-07:00Minivan Lady and BriarsOne of these days if I don't light this blog on fire first, I will get around to telling my whole story, but it is much easier to lay it out in segments. So yada yada yada and I had my first baby. I had ALWAYS ALWAYS wanted to be home with my kids. I had every intention of running my own business from home, but not at the expense of caring for my children.<br />
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Unfortunately, circumstances that I won't go into prevented it. I had bills to pay. During that period of dropping my precious beautiful baby off every morning and picking him up much later than I wanted, after a long commute to a job I didn't love, while running a household and sort of running my husband's business partially in the evenings..... I had some women in my life that irked me. Most of them actually. They did not really do it on purpose, it's just they really did not understand my personal desperate plight.<br />
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Let me character sketch them for you into composites:<br />
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First there was perfect lady whose house was always clean and did everything domestic under the sun with perfection. She truly didn't understand why I didn't have it together like her despite the 55 hour differences in our week. <br />
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And of course there was my-daddy (or husband)-has- endless-money girl whose life ambition was to talk about the designer sippy cup that matched her baby's bib.<br />
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Then there was multi-level marketing lady. These ladies looked at me like a hungry tick looks at a dog walking by because I had a j.o.b. Their pitch was always something like, "buy my overpriced crap you're not going to use so I can stay home with my munchkins." As if that was a worthy enough cause to give them my money that I earned away from my kids so that they could be home with theirs causing it to take even <i> longer</i> for me to stay home with<i> mine</i>.<br />
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As I said, they really didn't understand the stress I was under, or even how I had to spend my whole Saturday doing everything they had all week to do. I was being pressed from all sides on a daily basis and every day that slipped by was a day Quinn got a day older without me seeing it.<br />
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One day while I was rushing the kids to one of their doctor check-ups-<br />
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-which involved leaving work knowing I would have extra to do in the morning, getting caught at the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel, picking my child up from daycare then running back into traffic to get to the appointment-<br />
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I got behind some mini-van driving lady taking her sweet time down a road in Newport News and I yelled something like, "Get your cookie baking in the middle of the afternoon, mini-van driving, got-all-day self out of the way!"<br />
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Ahem. Was that me snapping with the road rage at that lady I have never met? Yes, yes it was.<br />
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Now that I am finally home with my kids and doing some of the things I actually <i>wanted</i> to do and am actually<i> enjoying</i> life.... and writing about it.....<br />
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I woke up today and asked myself, "Have I become that lady?" I mean I know I sometimes bake cookies in the middle of the afternoon.....but have I become that insensitive, oblivious lady? Someone who doesn't think of the shoes other people are walking in? <br />
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I am sorry. It snuck up on me. I don't want to be that and I am sorry. If there is one thing I understand it is being in a set of difficult circumstances. It took a long time for God to unwrap us from the briars we had gotten ourselves into- He could have ripped us out, but I believe He knew that the most tender way was to carefully untangle them one at a time. It took awhile. There were consequences for us, and forgiveness, and grace. It is all such an amazingly personal and tenderly meticulous process. So no matter how 'clear' I am in certain areas of life, biblically grace ALWAYS supersedes law and judgement. ALWAYS.Hart's Cottagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00042178029593395921noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5164737120091782779.post-60375253721747486462011-04-19T20:37:00.000-07:002011-04-22T19:57:32.012-07:00(The Gifts of) Gavel and GabSo I am reading this book my sister Dolly sent to me. It is called, “The Gift in You.” It is interesting because it combines something I read about previously, neuroscience (the study of the brain), and a profile test I actually took on the Tony Robbins website regarding personal strengths… primarily as they relate to work, business, and general life goals. <i>This</i> book is written by a Christian woman who studied neuroscience and how it reflects the descriptions of our design and gifts in God's word.<br />
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Some of you who read this may notice that I often come across as a BIG judgemental jerk. <br />
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There are 7 areas of the brain, according to this book (and actually they pretty much match the other profile test, though it is from a secular source) and it says we will all have a unique combination and sequence in the way we process thoughts and the way we are gifted. Our unique design affects how we view things and also how we contribute to this little ole' world. Guess what my top one was on both? INTRA personal areas..... related to deep introspection. The description says things like, "prefers solitude" and "thinks about the meanings behind things and examines her own thoughts and emotions."<br />
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My LOWEST score was INTERpersonal areas.... all things related to social stuff. It doesn't mean I am inept at or incapable of functioning in that area, it is just not what I prefer or what comes comfortably in many cases. It can tire me or stress me in the same way that too much noise does. I like some music some time, and during those times I love it, really; but I like quiet the majority of the time. That's how I am with people too.<br />
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The other seven areas were scaled, providing an accurate assessment of me within the framework's limitations. The book is going through much more than the quiz, but this isn't a synopsis, so if you are interested check it out.<br />
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I am writing about it because THIS BLOG STRESSES ME OUT. I have very strong opinions about things and everytime I write what I think, I realize that 90% of the people who read it will be offended. As soon as I publish something I think of this person or that person and what they will think or how they will feel....because I often come across as SOOOO judgemental. Someone very close to me has called me that my whole life as I have tried to help her see that some of her choices are wrong and harmful. The thing is, they ARE wrong and harmful and I love her so I want her to stop. Trying to sugarcoat something so that everyone feels warm and fuzzy and yet is still motivated to change would fall, I believe, into the interpersonally gifted person's area. At least I hope. That's right, right? Please tell me that's right. When I try to do it my whole self sort of cramps.<br />
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Some of the other related important points in the book mention focusing on your strengths and not your weaknesses.<br />
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God's word says in Hebrews 4:12:<br />
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<i>For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.</i><br />
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I believe that we are to use the wisdom given to us in God's word to make clearcut decisions and daily, as we grow in our knowledge of it, to make changes accordingly. That is my area of strength. Please understand that if you are to read this blog. <br />
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So this was interesting... the first occupation listed on the profile that is common to people who score highest in the intrapersonal area? JUDGE.<br />
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HA! I will ever be daily seeking to understand how and when God wants me to use the gifts he has given me- to be a discerning tool and helpful counselor in His hand, not bringing condemnation. It is not my desire to bring condemnation. I do believe in bringing awareness and sometimes I do that a bit brutally. Sorry. <br />
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The author went on to state that the area of the brain that activates first for someone who scored as I did is responsible for free will. Free will is such an amazing concept born in the heart of God that I marvel about it often and refer to it in the introduction to this blog. It deserves its own post another time. <br />
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The final important thing I am gleaning from this book is that I am to spend my time focused on living and functioning within my strengths instead of spending inordinate amounts of time trying to get my weaknesses up to par. Great, relieving, and freeing advice.<br />
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This naturally also means I should learn to value other people in their uniqueness too instead of evaluating them against the areas I am strong in. That had been a hard lesson that I learned in my marriage, when early on I felt I needed to help Cory become more like me; in reality his uniqueness is a perfect complement to mine. Had I married someone like me I would have been a very unhappy person.<br />
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Anyway.......Consider this blog a blanket apology to everyone who gets offended because of some of the things I say. We are all different. I am still in the process of learning to offer grace as readily as I am to eat it up everyday....yes,even to people who pop pills like candy and wash them down with fried sugar. Pray for me, people.Hart's Cottagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00042178029593395921noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5164737120091782779.post-56807175728472611472011-04-19T19:24:00.000-07:002011-04-19T19:24:10.944-07:00Working Vacation- Part 2Well, a glorious two weeks is officially over. This has been the best vacation we have had in ages. Maybe ever, with the exception of our honeymoon in Maine.<br />
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The problem with this blogging thing is too much happens and then I don't know where to start. So prepare for rambling.<br />
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First, the new ducklings have decided I am their mother.<br />
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We had to keep them inside until it was warm enough to let the barn duck try to safely raise them......but by then she had become oblivious and did not claim them as her own. At first I thought it was strange how they have gotten attached to me since that didn't happen with the initial ones we got last year...then I remembered they that that batch had decided the cow was their mother. If these ducklings lose sight of me, they peep. When they here my voice they come running. I have been gardening all around the yard and they just stay close by. <br />
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Sometime they nestle under my garden stool and go to sleep. It's like I am sitting on a nest.<br />
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Second, Cory and I have put forth a Hercules-type effort on the house and farm these two weeks. The reason he decided to move up his vacation in the first place is because so much needed to be done now. So here goes...<br />
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We redisked, reseeded, and rerolled the east field because we felt we needed to add more than what I had spread initially. Then he single-handedly dropped and removed five huge pines that were scattered through the upper field. We then prepped, seeded, and rolled that field. Both are planted now and we have gotten good rains. The first one had a hairy fuzz of green on it. Hopefully the seed stayed in the upper even though there was a torrential downpour yesterday.<br />
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We built a new arbor to frame the front walkway with wisteria. The arbor that was there was leaning, rotting, and too small for the scale of the house.<br />
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Cory cut four poles to length. I stripped the bark off the bottoms and treated them so they wouldn't rot. I then dug the post holes 15 inches deep. We installed them <br />
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and then Cory constructed the cross-pieces.<br />
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As of Sunday he was almost finished, so I began the demo of the old structure. <br />
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With a little help (you can never have too many pictures of your man with a chainsaw, I say).<br />
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I also began untangling the wisteria- the plan is to retrain it over the new structure. We had to do this now because very shortly it will bloom and then become very thick with green.<br />
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Cory spent days under the house on the plumbing- very nasty work. <br />
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Because the half bath and laundry room we are putting in is in a different location from the one we are tearing out,<br />
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he had to run all of the supplies and drains, then cut them into the main lines. He also had to relocate the hot water heater. It was hours and hours of work with no visible progress above to show for it; but once it was all in we could shift focus to what was up top. He would have gotten it finished, but there was framing work that we decided needed to be done instead... you can't do this for a week with a Homeowner's Association, by the way:<br />
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The old bathroom was in the center of the house. I redesigned the downstairs and now it will be a pass through from the front of the house to the rear; and will also be the access door to the west side. That bathroom also had mold in it...<br />
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What that all means is 3 headers, a new subfloor, and a LOT of demo. <br />
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He got the subfloor and two of the three headers in.<br />
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[Special note: To mothers of sons, please consider carefully the sport participation you help select for your children. Had my husband blown out his knees or ruined his back while playing football in high school, he would be nowhere near capable of the things he is taking on and accomplishing as a husband and father for our family... just something to think about).<br />
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More on the overall design that this is accomplishing in another blog to come...<br />
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Before I continue on with what we did over the two week vacation, I'd like to add some more thoughts on 'staycations' as they call them. They are more than settling, they are a frame of mind- to be able to enjoy your time right where you are...<br />
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Life is very short. Every day you live you realize that more and more. Enjoy your life now. Not everything can change at once but if you have some dreams, make some plans and MORE importantly, do some praying. I could write forever about the things I thought I wanted and the roads I have been on before we got here. God is patient and He knows the plans He has for us; and they are good. I know there are many things that are so ingrained in us that we can't think outside of it, but start asking yourself questions like, "Was this what God intended?" One thing Cory and I know is that when we got married, we had every intention of seeing each other more than weekends and two weeks a year. His workdays are ridiculously long, but even if they weren't, he is very, very missed when he isn't home.<br />
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When you ask certain questions you often find that you aren't the only ones who have asked those questions. We have met or read about men whose desire is to find work that will allow them to be a strong daily presence in their families lives. They are being creative. They are being resourceful. That has become more and more a goal of ours. These last two weeks we did plenty of work, but we were all together and it was a beautifully, naturally flowing thing.<br />
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More on that to come too.Hart's Cottagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00042178029593395921noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5164737120091782779.post-71743479209873274352011-04-19T13:03:00.000-07:002011-04-22T18:36:16.315-07:00The Farmer, the Pharmacist, and your FanciesIt was this time last year that I started writing this blog. At that time I told you a little about the reasons I began to investigate health and food. I had no idea a few years back what I was eating and what I was feeding my kids. When I began reading and researching, I could no longer continue to do what I had done all my life- which was eat like the mainstream eats. It became an ethical issue for me. Just like becoming aware of our sin makes us accountable for it, becoming aware that I was literally (this is not an exaggeration for emphasis, but an actual fair term) poisoning our family made me accountable for it. I could no longer continue no matter what. Finances were tighter back then and as I began to cross our food over, I prayed LITERALLY for grace over the food that was not the good stuff as I fed it to my family since I couldn't switch over everything at once. So since finances are such a big part of eating, I'd like to talk numbers because that seems to communicate some things in ways nothing else can.<br />
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First things first. I have one pair of tennis shoes, some flipflops, some slogger boots and a handful of heels from years past. I have my wedding rings, one necklace and one pair of earrings of value. We have no second car. Well, actually, we have a workvan that I bought from my brother, but it hasn't been running in months. Our truck is an '03 and is need of regular repairs. One season of my wardrobe fits in two drawers- most of it is comprised of clothes given to me from my sister. I sound really frugal, don't I?<br />
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Now brace yourself because you are about to puff up your chest with indignation. I spend about $250 a week on groceries. It is our second largest household bill. Don't choke on your Cocoa Puffs. There's more. I buy nutritional supplements (herbs and vitamins) monthly for me and the kids. I bought organic seeds for my garden and pasture. I buy organic compost and animal feed. If you add that all up you just probably came up with a second car payment, a decent wardrobe, and some shoes and accessories to boot.... and probably some recreational money.<br />
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In the scripture when Jesus is talking about the religious leaders of the day, he called them whitewashed tombs- all nice and pretty on the outside- in <i>appearance</i>- and dead and rotting on the inside. This was a spiritual lesson and his point was that they were concerned about how they APPEARED more than what was IN THEM. However, is it a stretch, since the bible says <i>our bodies</i> are now the temple of the Holy Spirit, to consider in the same way what we put into them physically? PAUSE the thought... could it be that we have outsourced the responsibility of this consideration (so as to not bother our tender conscience) to the food companies who have whitewashed their food with packaging and promises and put death on the inside? <br />
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If you have yet to learn about the stuff in most of your food, you would be shocked, ABSOLUTELY SHOCKED, to know what it does to your body, and especially the growing bodies of your little ones. <br />
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My brother left a jar of pickles here and as I was cleaning out the refrigerator, I read the label... CARCINOGENIC FOOD DYES- YELLOW AND BLUE- (make green pickles, right?) in <i>pickles</i>. <br />
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I know we are all at different places with the laying down of idols in our lives- the pursuit of so many things that we believe will make us happy. I wouldn't condemn you for owning decent clothes or having two cars. But, please, consider first the value of the actual things you put in your actual bodies and invest in nourishing them. The design of how our bodies work make them warriors against sickness if it is properly nourished, but you cannot put sugar in a gas tank and expect your car to run strong, let alone for a lifetime. If you buy cheap food, you will be paying the pharmacist for prescriptions to relieve all your ailments...not cure, mind you, just relieve them. The medical industry is a multi-BILLION dollar industry and GUESS WHAT??!!! The same core companies that are manufacturing the food additives and the food, in many cases, are manufacturing the drugs you will need once their food wreaks havoc on your bodies. <br />
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I say opt out. Don't give them your money on the front end or the back end. Learn. Cook. Nourish. Grow some food.<br />
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I know my grocery bill is staggering...but it is about to drop significantly when we process our beef cow, pig, and start getting all of our milk products from Buttercup. The fields we had to buy grass seed for will feed her in the coming years and she will produce so much milk that she will help feed the other animals. <br />
It is a process, but you can do it. And if you live in an urban area- do a container garden. Cook a lot. Buy frugally in other areas so you can afford the good groceries. Reduce your fancies and pay the farmer so you can skip the pharmacy and live a longer, healthier and happier life.<br />
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[postscript: There are many people who are struggling financially and just cannot make it work no matter how much they cut back. We have been there too. Just do what you can and be covered by grace.]Hart's Cottagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00042178029593395921noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5164737120091782779.post-32898904443271939252011-04-17T20:30:00.000-07:002011-04-18T16:52:02.402-07:00Working Vacation Part 1 (April 11th-ish)I remember lying in bed with Cory one night in Hampton several years back and asking him, "Do you want to be farmers?" Cory replied in his usually laconic way, "no." He wasn't anywhere near as sold as I was on even moving to a rural location...doesn't like a lot of change, that one.<br />
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It's funny how he is now. He loves it here and loves all of the work. This quote is true:<br />
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<blockquote>There is work that is work and there is play that is play; there is play that is work and work that is play. And in only one of these lies happiness. Gelett Burgess</blockquote><br />
His vacation began this past Saturday. So far we have both gotten quite a bit done. He has put in the drainpipe under the house and I demolished part of four doorways on Saturday. Sunday he built a pigpen and I began work on the new arbor posts. Yesterday he worked on the fields and I dug holes for the posts and cleaned some of the garden beds. Sunday night we squeezed in dinner out and yesterday Sam prepared a picnic for our lunch. <br />
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This is vacation to us. I thought I would share a few of my thoughts on vacations American style so you maybe understand a little of why we aren't taking one.<br />
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First of all, vacation for most of the population includes a combination of eating out garbage food, observing (look at this, look at that), and traveling. Usually it also involves one of my least favorite things- the "public." A small percentage of people engage in a recreational physical activity that they enjoy along the way.<br />
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Here is what I think:<br />
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First, there is not a hotel bed on the planet that has not had goodness knows what kind of infectious fluid on it from goodness knows who and the bathrooms and MY GOSH the carpet can't be much better.<br />
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Second, Did I mention the public? Yes it comes only second to infectious fluids in my list of things to avoid.<br />
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Third, travel. Why? What exactly are we looking for? I'll tell you what I am looking for- a peaceful beautiful setting. One of the reasons we decided we wanted to <i>live</i> in a peaceful beautiful setting is so that we wouldn't have to take a vacation, travel, and interact with the public just to see a peaceful beautiful setting only two weeks out of the year....not to mention packing, car time, motions sickness, wasted time, fatigue- bleck.<br />
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Fourth, money. We never seem to have extra. In our almost fifteen years of marriage we have taken very few vacations. I often have conversations in my head that go something like this, "For that price we could BUY (insert the list of things we need and want) and have something that lasts longer than a one week experience.<br />
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Fifth, food. We eat nutritious healthy food 7 days of the week. If we eat out it is usually only once a week. My belief is that if you are building and nourishing your body with 20 of your 21 meals and 14 of your snacks, one mystery meal of restaurant food is something your strong body can handle and recover from. A week of restaurant food is not only expensive, but kind of a gut punch (literally) to a healthy body.<br />
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Sixth, observing. Sightseeing is nice but kind of exhausting when the only other thing you have done is eat toxic food all day and walk around. I would be one to opt for a vacation that included something active but I also like for my activities to <i>produce</i> something (which is also why I thinks sports are so useless- but that is another topic). <br />
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Seventh, and worth mentioning again, the public. Have you ever been somewhere and an obnoxious loud teenager ruin your tranquil time or a hoochie mama dressed like a hooker decide to park herself next to your family's outing? Did you <i>pay</i> for that outing? Not fun. <br />
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I will admit I have always wanted to do some type of dream tropical vacation- one where there was no public, just us with a hut on the beach. I checked on the price of private islands but they are just a wee bit much. I was lamenting over our upcoming anniversary earlier in the year and then I remembered something (how easily we forget God's blessings): three summers ago God gave us a gift. <br />
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When we first left Hampton the house we rented for 6 months was right on the river and had its own beach. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzmbp0S5pK96Cr4XdXTr3Z-7AXVamKoKKyu5IKPrLMz2XczRtr_Ocw38yd7sXb9QL9qZW11aZDYVKR9gs1DM-KCEz8lVJvjOhROYqaItFsBIc0Gu-og0TL1fsDjpljgT1m2NRRi24zsc3w/s1600/IMG_0016.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzmbp0S5pK96Cr4XdXTr3Z-7AXVamKoKKyu5IKPrLMz2XczRtr_Ocw38yd7sXb9QL9qZW11aZDYVKR9gs1DM-KCEz8lVJvjOhROYqaItFsBIc0Gu-og0TL1fsDjpljgT1m2NRRi24zsc3w/s320/IMG_0016.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Cory is not much of a beach person, but the kids and I could wake up, throw on our swimsuits and mozey down to swim. He did like the campfires.<br />
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<br />
and the bonfires.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBR6HoUXReA55ls3GnQ8t6GWFg2vxu4lk5R4-WREC8YCSw8ZksJCrkjPcHX6QHlOpxhoxSX1aGXcN2NEzoSMwh3LwnV5-iPPis1ryz3Nestg2F6RRPMJl3M07LsQWr8LASaSAPNvsg3XxA/s1600/IMG_0014.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBR6HoUXReA55ls3GnQ8t6GWFg2vxu4lk5R4-WREC8YCSw8ZksJCrkjPcHX6QHlOpxhoxSX1aGXcN2NEzoSMwh3LwnV5-iPPis1ryz3Nestg2F6RRPMJl3M07LsQWr8LASaSAPNvsg3XxA/s320/IMG_0014.JPG" /></a></div><br />
I told Mom we were living at the Kennedy Compound. It was a glorious 6 months. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCpsUEJZkVQPEsVwCsrO28LEo6OwJKDsmO2aL1I70Qje40mmh7kD0ofNdvdoAhgD4FcWjP6JTogWAEXaFj9ftagKLLt55njgN3bsxsTjLKShnWDP5Lk674piIOONpIT95glf2HR0rnuX1Q/s1600/IMG_0034.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCpsUEJZkVQPEsVwCsrO28LEo6OwJKDsmO2aL1I70Qje40mmh7kD0ofNdvdoAhgD4FcWjP6JTogWAEXaFj9ftagKLLt55njgN3bsxsTjLKShnWDP5Lk674piIOONpIT95glf2HR0rnuX1Q/s320/IMG_0034.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh96LT21MImj8B-FgtpINjUArDXlJdL5bzSf_ZxIVwaB5x31Z4rKPOi60Y-TZAS088TRqWPSnMUAF5akvfTdDRDlWIa5ZmiTgyH1XFGzwJmixSMjoddf7C1PdJpE0RwFOP-I29fsWVQCyoO/s1600/IMG_0040.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh96LT21MImj8B-FgtpINjUArDXlJdL5bzSf_ZxIVwaB5x31Z4rKPOi60Y-TZAS088TRqWPSnMUAF5akvfTdDRDlWIa5ZmiTgyH1XFGzwJmixSMjoddf7C1PdJpE0RwFOP-I29fsWVQCyoO/s320/IMG_0040.JPG" /></a></div><br />
While floating on our floaties one lazy afternoon I told Quinn, "Well, son, this is the life- this is what people seek to attain through wealth: living on the beach with a free schedule to do whatever you want." Quinn wisely replied that it was great and everything but there are a lot of hurting kids in the world that need our help... so very true. My heart smiled. That boy is growing in wisdom.<br />
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Anyway, the point is I actually <i>did</i> have my dream beach vacation after all.<br />
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And-<br />
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We have things we are trying to do here- physical and spiritual things. The work, the setting, the experiences and the purposes make it an extremely gratifying combination. There are no extra costs and the food is superb if I do say so myself. More on what we are doing coming soon...Hart's Cottagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00042178029593395921noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5164737120091782779.post-81854469446598553782011-03-29T09:44:00.000-07:002011-03-29T09:46:43.068-07:00Ducks are Like Old MenWe had an early spring and I am glad I made the decision to enjoy it and get some things done outside (read throttle down on homeschooling) because the cold came back.<br />
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Piggy relations (PR) have been coming along. We did the piggy run, but all he did was stay over by the cow pen... he wanted some friends. So, we put him back in the pen. Buttercup still beats up on him a bit<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3D-_w103PtjtDOKyhyphenhyphentYA-oQfdjA18oZlqC_uN1CUHmNdFB0VEHKipo-4_NSzexQefU2B0Hpm0L302FBC4ZCVd1nUhgyxCGcWV5UWFff5MKla-pafs0muq-VIZUEIvaHwu2-iz8w_VAuv/s1600/IMG_0046.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3D-_w103PtjtDOKyhyphenhyphentYA-oQfdjA18oZlqC_uN1CUHmNdFB0VEHKipo-4_NSzexQefU2B0Hpm0L302FBC4ZCVd1nUhgyxCGcWV5UWFff5MKla-pafs0muq-VIZUEIvaHwu2-iz8w_VAuv/s320/IMG_0046.JPG" /></a></div>but a pig is very tough skinned and he just rolls with it. We put him back in his own little pen at night so that he can eat well at least in the morning and the evening. While he is in with the cows he has to settle for whatever he digs up and some of their hay. <br />
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Caramel has taken a liking to the little fella (yes, that is Caramel's ball so he can make it through the rest of winter without getting bored; but now the pig entertains him):<br />
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and I have actually seen them play the head to head game (which is properly played between two cows like this):<br />
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but gets even more fun with a pig (though this picture doesn't do it justice because Kosher can hold his own):<br />
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It's pretty funny. <br />
Buttercup just tolerates him. Yesterday I tried to give him some food and water while he was in the cow pen, but as always Caramel intruded and was trying to eat it. I chastised Caramel and pulled him away several times; so he turned around and took out his frustrations on the pig- slamming it a few good times....<br />
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so then Kosher runs over to snuggle Buttercup for comfort. I think he maybe believes Buttercup is 'base' so he's safe. OR maybe I just have too much time on my hands.<br />
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I like this one when he switched to the otherside because you can see him standing on his tippy toes, well tippy hooves. Caramel is doing an aside to the audience, "Does he really think I can't get him from here?"<br />
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I know cows can't roll their eyes, but in her mind I am sure Buttercup was- though she just kept chewing her cud.<br />
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The third duck started hatching ducklings. She left her nest after four hatched so Cory put the rest in the incubator. It's a good thing too- six more hatched out of that group and all four ducklings she was caring for died. She turned out to be a bad mother- left them all too far behind when it was way too cold for them to handle it. Sad. The six we have in the box are now doing well. We helped the first one hatch, which was a bad idea. He was sickly for awhile but seems to be doing better. The last one that hatched has a crippled foot. We are going to have to do something if it doesn't improve soon. We tried to splint it last night but that didn't go so well. We're going to have to try again. <br />
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The best things about chicks and ducklings is how they nod off CONSTANTLY. They could be eating or walking or playing and then it is like someone just hit them with a tranquilizer dart...ZZZZZZZ.<br />
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They could be eating, like this one:<br />
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Climbing a hill, like this one (you're lucky you're head isn't a bit heavier, ducky):<br />
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Preening their stomach, like this one:<br />
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Or sometimes it hits them all at once, when they are playing together:<br />
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When we had chicks last year, there was a little piece of cardboard they used as a perch and the chicks would nod off til they slowly tilted forward and banged their beak against the wall of the box- startling themselves awake again. HOURS of entertainment.<br />
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Sunday Cory pulled out a bit more of the mess in the field and then disked it. He then left to meet a friend and I spread the seed (yes I am wearing Cory's clothes-just ignore that):<br />
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and pressed it in.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia7lbA20QkDSTN1O88gX3YV-QAiv_-waOdtxy7N_L5yhzJ_lCklFWe072B0LGsJ5CWUhu7d5V63Idmh3tJuBwaiQBS00LEPySuRlQpCSVbbtcU0NIWV8zsx3LNP9rwLPx1gtYeHVMQDqIZ/s1600/IMG_0135.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia7lbA20QkDSTN1O88gX3YV-QAiv_-waOdtxy7N_L5yhzJ_lCklFWe072B0LGsJ5CWUhu7d5V63Idmh3tJuBwaiQBS00LEPySuRlQpCSVbbtcU0NIWV8zsx3LNP9rwLPx1gtYeHVMQDqIZ/s320/IMG_0135.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoVYD5Kq7jP5ObTwV4gIlObAt_6qJGFH_EDAN4hfRyhyphenhyphenJcGD_YQQGXiahYKvIf4tg-s14NAXkZzkAW2z1_6oFU_G1p2n03hoKi3BVSQBO5iZcV4bV-P6XjvZgRkgIvbAbEFoOEXMJL-fEK/s1600/IMG_0126.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoVYD5Kq7jP5ObTwV4gIlObAt_6qJGFH_EDAN4hfRyhyphenhyphenJcGD_YQQGXiahYKvIf4tg-s14NAXkZzkAW2z1_6oFU_G1p2n03hoKi3BVSQBO5iZcV4bV-P6XjvZgRkgIvbAbEFoOEXMJL-fEK/s320/IMG_0126.JPG" /></a></div><br />
We found this roller on Craig's list for $50- a great price for what it is. It worked nicely. I had a lot (probably too much) seed left over compared to what I expected so I think I will need to seed some more. I forgot to do what the one guy at the seed company told me- go east and west after you go north and south so you are less likely to have "holes." The sun was going down and I felt a little rushed...going to maybe add some. We are going to have to cut down all 5 of the big pines in the upper field to open up the grass area for pasture. We really only bought enough seed for one pasture but we are going to try to make it work for two- the one in the pictures above I did wasn't as big as what we thought or else I didn't lay the seed thick enough. We need as much pasture as we can get because paying for hay through summer is not what we wanted to do. We will have to be really careful on anything we seed- making sure it is rooted well before we graze it (and that it is not wet so the cows don't compact it). It is likely though we will have to suck it up and feed hay through the warm season this year while this seed gets established. Better some than none.Hart's Cottagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00042178029593395921noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5164737120091782779.post-82627910311730911022011-03-22T18:26:00.000-07:002011-03-23T10:39:20.177-07:00Plantings and PigletsWell my seedlings died. Apparently there is a lot more to gardening than sticking things in the dirt and watering well. Have you ever heard the phrase "that's a whole nother animal?" It is referring to how each type of animal requires different care. Cows are different than chickens, etc. Well, it seems that each type of thing you want to grow is a "whole nother animal." Oh boy. Is this why most people don't garden until they are retired? These are things I wonder.<br /><br />My approach to all of these things, because I have no experience and no wise granny-lady hanging around (though I wish for you every day, wise granny-lady) is to get the basic information and go from there. A brain can only handle so much without just doing what you are reading about anyway; and I am slowly reclaiming all of the storage area in mine that was used up with technical information from my former career. So what I am saying is that I can describe the infrastructure of the entire American voice and data network; but I don't know how to start tomatoes. Fortunately, a lady on the cow forums just explained how, so I am going to try again. I am debating asking her about how to do every other thing I am trying to grow. Each plant has it's own peculiar thing about it! You could truly do only gardening and be busy most of the time. I unfortunately do not have the ability to have such a singular focus so I shall continue in trial, error, read-when-you-can mode. <br /><br />Sometimes that doesn't work if you haven't planned WAY ahead. We contacted our local cooperative extension and did four soil tests. Apparently soil tests tell you what you should have done last year. Very helpful, but not very timely.<br /><br />So after holding them in pots for a year, I finally chose locations for my two fruit trees and got them planted: an apple and a cherry. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2WJKi3Xtc7N9pIs-INilJiPSwGXXVD4HoDTEdYZ790QtWbomSbCgPoruSCnbt_fCjX_ZxulvBAnIXVFhxtEyn3cZMvyFerTi793_TJfrTCDqSs7R5MXj8pnzjrffrLAQ9qTTNpG6louuk/s1600/IMG_1799.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2WJKi3Xtc7N9pIs-INilJiPSwGXXVD4HoDTEdYZ790QtWbomSbCgPoruSCnbt_fCjX_ZxulvBAnIXVFhxtEyn3cZMvyFerTi793_TJfrTCDqSs7R5MXj8pnzjrffrLAQ9qTTNpG6louuk/s320/IMG_1799.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5587111100853436690" /></a><br /><br />[I need to get a matching tree for each so they can be pollinated- who knew there were male and female fruit trees?]. You have to consider drainage, light, space, soil, etc. I don't know that we have the ideal conditions anywhere, but I chose what I thought were the best spots based on the information I had. It's odd that you have to cut the tree down to 2 feet when you plant, but that's what you do. It helps stimulate root growth. I still need to mulch them...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUfzO8zGvqbg_IK0Nm5dYHMRWYakU_YvwX9Ckn7mnSz8-D9xdLrdjgJuBjbOqTZi_iPO3ac49y9O5QwLX3LF7IdZmkybfnfkjZxl9yfXEplIRYqeBU7zN9D5Kjal1DGVEgwQ3bM7aneYXe/s1600/IMG_0025.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUfzO8zGvqbg_IK0Nm5dYHMRWYakU_YvwX9Ckn7mnSz8-D9xdLrdjgJuBjbOqTZi_iPO3ac49y9O5QwLX3LF7IdZmkybfnfkjZxl9yfXEplIRYqeBU7zN9D5Kjal1DGVEgwQ3bM7aneYXe/s320/IMG_0025.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5587115146733270210" /></a><br /><br />You want to talk about a whole science- the orchard book I had (The Backyard Orchardist by Stella Otto) blew my mind the first time I read it. The second time I skimmed it and it only made me dizzy. The third time I located just the part I needed and was able to do what I needed to do- hopefully effectively. I actually liked the book, but...<br /><br />It reminded me of that RIDICULOUS book that, for some reason, every woman reads when she is pregnant: What to Expect When You are Expecting. That is the worst pregnancy book on the planet. <span style="font-style:italic;">Hey, now that you are pregnant let me describe every possible disease or affliction you or your baby could possibly develop!</span> Tell me again why that book is popular? My point is that I don't need to read about every possible parasite that the trees can get right now. You have to filter things like that out or you will never try anything.<br /><br />Landscaping comes a lot easier- maybe because so much was already here and because I have a knack for balance and spacing. The hollyhock bushes had about 40 saplings growing around them so I moved them yesterday. The kids helped. We now have a hollyhock sapling placed in every possible place you could want a bush. The internet site I looked at says they don't transplant well, but it never hurts to try- they weren't gonna grow where they were! If they make it I just added beautiful color all around the house for free!<br /><br />See, this is what happened to me last year. When it was finally warm enough to do the inside construction projects, we spent all of our time outside.<br /><br />So I picked Mom up from South Carolina on a quick overnight trip and we spent the week just chatting and piddling with cleaning and dishes. The weather was mostly bad but that was okay. When we picked up the rental car for me to drive down the guy asked if I had a vehicle preference. Cory says out loud, "Get one with a trunk or hatchback because your mom is gonna have a suitcase and several garbage bags with her." If you've ever seen My Big Fat Greek Wedding, I think that is how Cory felt when he met my family. He has settled in and gotten used to us and all of our quirky ways and was truly just stating a fact.....but since the two rental car guys were standing <span style="font-style:italic;">right there</span>, I felt the need to explain my dear mother:<br /><br />"My Mom HAS suitcases- plenty of them. As a matter of fact I think someone gives her a new set every Christmas. She just CHOOSES to put most of her things in garbage bags when she travels. It's easier that way."<br /><br />I think Mom's favorite part of her visit here was when I told her about Cory and the rental car man, and my emphatic defense of her luggage choices. She laughed so hard she cried. Especially because I was telling her about it while we were loading her garbage bags of stuff into our truck. She even brought an extra one for just in case. These are the reasons I love my mom. Not for the normal reasons most people do... but for garbage bags and sentences like, "I slapped my hair up."<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8WptkMwDeZavYQhujk1B9XfWDXMFW8ww3C-Lj7cL1kpF-5QGogSy2ortCTSVIhmG-GDvT8upA6a1fTiTH-jPkgRB8smpB1X36qBNWaGOlBghqucm4XMeabhBhZnUGVu09Xpttm61rdoJR/s1600/IMG_1825.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8WptkMwDeZavYQhujk1B9XfWDXMFW8ww3C-Lj7cL1kpF-5QGogSy2ortCTSVIhmG-GDvT8upA6a1fTiTH-jPkgRB8smpB1X36qBNWaGOlBghqucm4XMeabhBhZnUGVu09Xpttm61rdoJR/s320/IMG_1825.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5587112395780970226" /></a><br /><br />So then pig day arrived. <br /><br />[If you saw my pictures on facebook, you already know a little about how that went. I assumed only a handful of people read this blog, but then I found the little tool that shows you how many do- WHO ARE ALL OF YOU PEOPLE??? Leave me a comment or something].<br /><br />Here is a recap and an update:<br /><br />We meet the sellers for "the drop." That's when two trucks with pens in the back <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin42X6S9I32RkDpTfDwdxZ0js-AXLJQ498FK8_qN-G4rPNVcltlAcdsVzwZwq_WrY4bT7hpHAjLcx8s4hM0zCWGi8yVvQKBpBcxnlKzm32MI8itCnpafe6oBqUpMLAasunWKKorYHHcPHZ/s1600/IMG_0003.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin42X6S9I32RkDpTfDwdxZ0js-AXLJQ498FK8_qN-G4rPNVcltlAcdsVzwZwq_WrY4bT7hpHAjLcx8s4hM0zCWGi8yVvQKBpBcxnlKzm32MI8itCnpafe6oBqUpMLAasunWKKorYHHcPHZ/s320/IMG_0003.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5587113908601487602" /></a><br />pull up at a meet point and exchange farm animals:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLBQPoyQQVLtU9cxcAV4wrpJktwrbN0Ed1-MI7nNdZKtahAjcHzGgD1ie-5rBMAGYBHFdr1I9y0xjhiRJ9IKQa1HXiDBezxZ_XX0W-1Gz7fCJDRrw3CvDZ68K1dxkMlzXSVeaL7BWz4rSG/s1600/IMG_0002.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLBQPoyQQVLtU9cxcAV4wrpJktwrbN0Ed1-MI7nNdZKtahAjcHzGgD1ie-5rBMAGYBHFdr1I9y0xjhiRJ9IKQa1HXiDBezxZ_XX0W-1Gz7fCJDRrw3CvDZ68K1dxkMlzXSVeaL7BWz4rSG/s320/IMG_0002.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5587113900719021330" /></a><br />Anyway, we end up out til late and leave him in his pen until the next day when we introduce the cows to him. First they were curious.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCPciTE0tNJd9z0-vioDTUvfgdspPUD3gW4gYn8Mm0rnsUclRsU3HOxEkhvvGgOOOJJF-qv2O9X4hITC_wy4uGKtpYwu3CGZGfNT2hzxiSPkeU1QmULyORpOtARwL9RxwszKIk8Bgl5xHb/s1600/IMG_0009.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCPciTE0tNJd9z0-vioDTUvfgdspPUD3gW4gYn8Mm0rnsUclRsU3HOxEkhvvGgOOOJJF-qv2O9X4hITC_wy4uGKtpYwu3CGZGfNT2hzxiSPkeU1QmULyORpOtARwL9RxwszKIk8Bgl5xHb/s320/IMG_0009.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5587113895932783714" /></a><br />Then scared. <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgABHwOcgqeMQvJTicL0esAMz5svkO0EFm-eYtek9picaXuu2hnE64BMry34Pts9ATnbcMlf37Kc7ddWrbaPr7PlP4ls1JrE6BShcdilmre6bZZP0fNch_e6F8z8jM_JSGZUpg9oJ9x5pT6/s1600/IMG_0016.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgABHwOcgqeMQvJTicL0esAMz5svkO0EFm-eYtek9picaXuu2hnE64BMry34Pts9ATnbcMlf37Kc7ddWrbaPr7PlP4ls1JrE6BShcdilmre6bZZP0fNch_e6F8z8jM_JSGZUpg9oJ9x5pT6/s320/IMG_0016.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5587113896637490706" /></a><br />They would run away whenever he came near.<br />He trotted around with no inhibitions. By the<span style="font-style:italic;"> next</span> day Buttercup was butting him with her horned head. I thought maybe they were just establishing who is who and what is what; but when she practically smashed him into the hayfeeder and gored him, I got him out of there and set up a makeshift pen. I used to roll my eyes at people who explained to me what their pet was feeling, but humor me for a second: I imagine Buttercup was thinking, "There is no way I am sharing this pen with a steer that climbs on my back every 5 minutes AND a spastic pig! That's IT! I am drawing the line!!" That was yesterday- Monday. Today Cory bought a harness, the kind used for dogs, and a cable. He set up the cable after dark. Tomorrow's plan is to clip the rope to the harness and the other end to the cable so piggy has a "run." <br /><br />His name is Kosher. I just naturally call him piggy, though. Tomorrow he should be one happy pig with plenty of things to root for... he makes the best sounds ever. He makes mmm mmm mmm eating sounds 24/7 except when he is sleeping. He is a cute little thing. I am concerned he might be the hardest critter not to get attached to because he is so fun to watch. You know that wonderful feeling you get when you cook for your man and he really likes what you made? Well a pig acts like that if you give him scraps from the table. It's like one continuous bout of bacon making appreciation.<br /><br />Cory's parents blessed us with some help for our complex plumbing problems and not a moment too soon. The other night I was brushing my teeth in the downstairs bathroom and the ceiling started dripping ON MY HEAD. Apparently, the guy who built this place used electrical tape for the drainpipe in the upstairs bathroom and APPARENTLY YOU DON"T USE ELECTRICAL TAPE FOR PLUMBING !*&(%^$#@. That's okay. The trees and land are really pretty here. We can fix the pipes. Cory is working on it and we have the material now.<br /><br />In other news, the two ducks have not hatched any additional ducklings and are off their nests- the rest of the eggs were bad. The last mama duck is still sitting on hers- we'll see. The others are having a grand old time as it has been raining a good bit lately.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis6BLCNTEhTzjtqUEZ4WPE2np26BaobrkKEJvNgJp62QGVk741yHlPUMEDQpRAkkESJ8CUB6lvSnFu9urarJ71KqtjR1Tqqw4KXQyzdl7A0zdoZDDc20fr-4Qhwgcag36yN0DZ2aEw6oKL/s1600/IMG_1787.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis6BLCNTEhTzjtqUEZ4WPE2np26BaobrkKEJvNgJp62QGVk741yHlPUMEDQpRAkkESJ8CUB6lvSnFu9urarJ71KqtjR1Tqqw4KXQyzdl7A0zdoZDDc20fr-4Qhwgcag36yN0DZ2aEw6oKL/s320/IMG_1787.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5587115963754721154" /></a><br /><br />I have sweet potatoes sitting in water in jars hoping they sprout. After consulting with one of my sisters, tomorrow I am going to get the regular potatoes ready. I have a feeling they will do better than my seedling efforts.<br /><br />This blog is somewhat of a journal really- as a record for my family and as encouragement for anyone who wants to try things like this but has no experience (like me). As a record of and for our family, it is also inherently an ongoing story of how God reaches out specifically to us, though we are but four people in this vast, vast world......<br /><br />I had been making a list of all the things I want to do around here, and of course, aesthetics come way lower on the list than things like grass seed, etc. What I really wanted was some type of simple fence to give some structure to the roses and berry areas that are in the front yard. I wanted something that they could grow through and around but that gave them somewhat of a framework to do so. If I haven't told you yet- we have already figured out that fencing can be the financial chokehold of a start up homestead or farm. Cosmetic fencing is, right now, out of the question.<br /><br />But God knows all these things. On Friday night I was looking at the Keeping a Family Cow website again for ideas on pig fencing. Someone mentioned pallets. I looked on Craig's List and saw there was a place offering free pallets near where we had to go and get tires on Saturday. When we got there, we found the stack out back, behind an ATV store. Not only were there pallets back there, but the crates they ship ATVs in have walls that are perfect for what I wanted, and there was a whole slew of them too. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbPmVHfxPXBLLTw4SLsGWkIBeWctQC4wLsCBC8J-RaG1NvJbgYvvaIx8MBhWJYB7Jd-mIsaHsjERNPM5nv_5kLpebz15nF7RX86FmRgVSRdJPuALWo3aQIVUarau_38V_W7UzWzTDZBe7C/s1600/IMG_0006.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbPmVHfxPXBLLTw4SLsGWkIBeWctQC4wLsCBC8J-RaG1NvJbgYvvaIx8MBhWJYB7Jd-mIsaHsjERNPM5nv_5kLpebz15nF7RX86FmRgVSRdJPuALWo3aQIVUarau_38V_W7UzWzTDZBe7C/s320/IMG_0006.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5587115143484338034" /></a><br /><br />My husband loaded up the back all around the pig crate and I was so SO happy. They are going to be perfect.Hart's Cottagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00042178029593395921noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5164737120091782779.post-11538184970702856652011-02-24T15:50:00.000-08:002011-03-07T10:01:02.246-08:00spring flurryThis is only our second spring here but already we know. Winter slowly ticks by, then BAM! Everything starts happening all at once. This is the path that goes from our barn to the area where the previous owner had his row garden.<br /><p><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5ut4O6aE5M-yvfuFmNP6ofQij-S-K3ly3Os3n0W87N79HwGBexKsETqj_-SihOKQdVJo4FT_B8edEjG4cm5I7qy8dHnA45s5fuPA8329dWod6EuMg_nZRZINyO1y-qdpvTA3roWJMK52n/s320/IMG_1704.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5581174662436968146" /><br /></p><p>Cory spent time with a chainsaw clearing some saplings and large trees to expand the area....</p><p><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhKBZO8bQieU2rKEsP7liNmdfZ2sLE1ayEU6alQQD0dNnxE8LMDUC_ZUYLsFaWapjWSF4Wnw6VNUnThlLOdw2FELU2AcnzRnn8lS4DiNpvrrjqSjPafmUWqbC3bmcQtahPGsiZmCrxl8Wo/s1600/IMG_0192.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhKBZO8bQieU2rKEsP7liNmdfZ2sLE1ayEU6alQQD0dNnxE8LMDUC_ZUYLsFaWapjWSF4Wnw6VNUnThlLOdw2FELU2AcnzRnn8lS4DiNpvrrjqSjPafmUWqbC3bmcQtahPGsiZmCrxl8Wo/s320/IMG_0192.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5581185156602783250" /></a><br /></p><p>then he drug them out with the tractor. Lots of hard work.</p><p><br /></p><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRCFN3FuEqFqBCxiYMSefyT4V9L3eZ7zgqsTIFa9SI0qDT1lFFMaltoxodhld-2Y8XCKG6SOd3sguo4Ahs6LAij_9IbDZNAtKR2t_hCgSW0di7WhJ_dX3bLoY2PtIXXmCQf9aChZ3fYKgQ/s320/IMG_1697.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5581165704530182706" /><br /><br /><p> </p><p>I ordered pasture grass seed, only to then be told by a local farmer that we won't be able to graze our cows on that pasture until next year or it won't establish properly- very disappointing and concerning. We are going to have to do a hodge-podge set up in the other field that they were in last year. It has poor soil and poor grass. We can seed it to try to improve the grass- but whatever we seed there will be in the same jeopardy of uprooting or compacting. So all year we will have a beautiful pasture that they can't graze. Fortunately it will be ready by next spring- just in time for when Buttercup calves and starts giving milk. Another lesson learned: pastures need a year to establish.</p>We are learning how challenging and expensive it is to do so much from scratch- and we are just doing a family farm right now- essentially just food for ourselves. Is it a worthy investment? Yes. I would still say yes.<br /><br /><p>The ducklings have begun to hatch so the kids and I have been playing midwives during the day- making sure they have smashed feed, water, etc. This picture was taken right after Quinn discovered there was a peeping sound coming out from under the hayfeeder. The back of the hayfeeder is on the right:</p><p><br /></p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjECyW7zncLTRy0RcgTsJOeIV96A7aGVmBFewXAXBPdS64LTcC6Te9mOT2KsEtl3kubLdIbfDNCCCdVSaS2JOh2p7z2hFkMU1rA8NzTwW-mmf226qMZ5B1J4X48wZJokql3712UnRwe8mFf/s1600/IMG_0226.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjECyW7zncLTRy0RcgTsJOeIV96A7aGVmBFewXAXBPdS64LTcC6Te9mOT2KsEtl3kubLdIbfDNCCCdVSaS2JOh2p7z2hFkMU1rA8NzTwW-mmf226qMZ5B1J4X48wZJokql3712UnRwe8mFf/s320/IMG_0226.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5581168974048037842" /></a><br /><p>The next day the mama duck and her three new ducklings started venturing out into the world.<br /></p><p>I had to wrangle the cows a couple times to keep them from stomping on the poor little things. So, she had 3 ducklings and then Fluffy hatched one a few days later (Yes, Fluffy is the only duck who thus far has a name that has stuck- the other two are known as "the female under the hay feeder" or "the female behind the barn"). Somehow, when we weren't around, this mama duck STOLE FLuffy's duckling! She started taking it out with her and keeping it with her at night. It took us awhile to figure this all out... in the meantime, passive sweet Fluffy finally went and scrapped with this Mama...but couldn't get her baby back....(the one sitting down is Fluffy's, born a day or two later and noticeably smaller than the other three...</p><p><br /></p><p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIXc-ivUcQePZDKSMnk-tZBGOkl5VHiCf6hyphenhyphenzs1TKfl8I_x1wvbiRQ71Z4Xr0dL-nPCBEDwcRhx93Uwe_ykP1nD7p2W_5vCLSFldSELDQb6sGJ2g8rwLHWRGRHUYzCOg2QY1Xi_h-uGzFB/s1600/IMG_0287.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIXc-ivUcQePZDKSMnk-tZBGOkl5VHiCf6hyphenhyphenzs1TKfl8I_x1wvbiRQ71Z4Xr0dL-nPCBEDwcRhx93Uwe_ykP1nD7p2W_5vCLSFldSELDQb6sGJ2g8rwLHWRGRHUYzCOg2QY1Xi_h-uGzFB/s320/IMG_0287.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5581173463072736306" /></a><br /></p><br /><p>...so Cory had to do a custody intervention today. It involved throwing a laundry basket over the thieving Mama Duck to retrieve the duckling in question. I am happy to report, Fluffy and duckling are reunited and happily hanging out in their spa-like setting again: the nest under the heatlamp with food and water within reach. Her baby pops its head up from the wing when you come near, but otherwise it stays under her.</p><p><br /></p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha0LgNeKyJVdrRJY8lmwBFXfwPc6k8gjtQqn2Kwa7SIQsrB2xwV1RmsyRoVB-QUk55zAlDeDH-isICBLrm_CUep2Jr2Z6-uBO5i9kVqz3NjiYRSTbGPAl9fs_xpCZGVcPXmwpJ1Bbq6ciT/s1600/IMG_0280.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha0LgNeKyJVdrRJY8lmwBFXfwPc6k8gjtQqn2Kwa7SIQsrB2xwV1RmsyRoVB-QUk55zAlDeDH-isICBLrm_CUep2Jr2Z6-uBO5i9kVqz3NjiYRSTbGPAl9fs_xpCZGVcPXmwpJ1Bbq6ciT/s320/IMG_0280.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5581173459818368706" /></a><br /><br /><p>After the day I had to grab Caramel by the halter to keep him from stomping the new ducklings, his whole demeanor changed. I am not making this up- his facial expression is different. I think he finally has had it. He is tired of winter and being cooped up in the fenced area. He is bored. I think he is also tired of so little attention because we have been inside most of the winter and have only come out to give them more hay, water, or fresh bedding. Then we started giving these little ducklings (who are nesting right behind his hayfeeder) lots of attention and he seems to have gotten a bit jealous- call me crazy. In any case, he started acting up- getting really aggressive with Buttercup- pushing her, butting her- extremely hard- not playfully. He also started acting aggressive toward me. I finally had to stand him down the other day when he chased me out. I went back in and stood in front of him. He was trying to push me with his head, and I took his head and pushed it to the side a few times. I guess that's why they say you have to take the bull by the horns. He got the picture and relented. I turned on some music so they have something to listen to- it seems to have helped some. He seems to have calmed down and accepted things as they are right now. He is going to be thrilled when the grass starts growing again and he can graze. Caramel loves Buttercup.</p><p><br /></p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCPuvkAgHhzApmz0TErDh3Sc-buuQDtpQYzwk2O1yaVHh041_j3t1WBELG6SAJatzXl8DQrniI_7m-oSIPKz_uzTH-gJTP_XaC4dtPbxv-POh3vWZmujoyCJ1KGU8MycfeeHFSG6OMhfLh/s1600/IMG_0281.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCPuvkAgHhzApmz0TErDh3Sc-buuQDtpQYzwk2O1yaVHh041_j3t1WBELG6SAJatzXl8DQrniI_7m-oSIPKz_uzTH-gJTP_XaC4dtPbxv-POh3vWZmujoyCJ1KGU8MycfeeHFSG6OMhfLh/s320/IMG_0281.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5581173463620519890" /></a><br /><br /><br />The annoying rooster started messing with the mama duck and her ducklings this week, and that was the last straw. Cory agreed to kill him this weekend. So I tell him to just put on some gloves and grab him when he opens the coop door on Saturday morning. Saturday has turned into my grocery and errand day since we only have one vehicle and sometimes I need to eat because I am out for so many hours (Williamsburg is over 30 minutes from here and that is where I do all of my shopping). So anyway, I am sitting in a restaurant by myself Saturday, busy with my notebook and my to-do list, waiting on my food. My cell phone rings (mind you the people around me were unusually quiet)...<br /><br /><p>Me: Hello.<br /></p>Cory: Hey. I opened the coop and the two hens came flying out so fast that I couldn't catch the rooster, only his tail feathers. So if you want him dead before you get home I am going to have to shoot him with my 30/30. Do you want me to shoot him or wait until they roost tonight and chop his head off?<br /><br />I start laughing uncontrollably, which is what I do every time Bubba-land intersects with rest-of-society world. But since I don't like to draw attention to myself, I do it silently, which involves mild shaking and tears streaming down my face.<br /><br />How does one say, "yes shoot him in the head;" or "no, you can just slit his throat tonight when he goes to bed" in a restaurant when someone is sitting on either side of you?<br /><br />Me: Honey, I'm going to have to call you back.<br /><br />He ended up doing the deed Saturday night and the rooster is no more. Rest in peace rooster.<br /><br /><p>We bought flats to sprout seeds for the garden this year. Last year we didn't even get our boxes built until May, but this year I wanted to get a jump on some of the things that supposedly grow better if you sprout them indoors and then transplant them. The romaine lettuce popped its sprout up first and then today the boys found sprouts of rosemary, tomatoes and carrots. </p><p><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0WaiEUHKvPTPU4w1qt_4jY5ZsQmKupPU-uU6ByOLcw_JFF-i0z4fg767lFjqjbfGhpB3n_545gVe5bsOyKutQt6pT835eHFmvScVbpN9ym2hzxgOYmgffX7i8Ipss3gNMUBcwDNfXd2-G/s1600/IMG_1714.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0WaiEUHKvPTPU4w1qt_4jY5ZsQmKupPU-uU6ByOLcw_JFF-i0z4fg767lFjqjbfGhpB3n_545gVe5bsOyKutQt6pT835eHFmvScVbpN9ym2hzxgOYmgffX7i8Ipss3gNMUBcwDNfXd2-G/s320/IMG_1714.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5581189830685976370" /></a><br /></p><p>So exciting! I hope the garden goes better this year. We planted spinach outside since it is a cold weather crop. I have a lot more plans this year- I am going to attempt potatoes and sweet potatoes along with some onions and garlic in one patch; and I hope to actually get a pumpkin patch set up this year too.<br /></p><br />We also are finally going to plant the fruit trees we got last year. I read somewhere to wait until fall because they are dormant. Then fall came and I was so afraid to do it wrong and so unsure of where to put them that I left them potted. We had three: one died early spring, but the other two seem to be okay. I have to move a few things and then get them located in just the right spot. As soon as we have another warm day I am going to hopefully be working on that.<br /><br /><p>We have a piglet reserved and will be picking him up in two weeks. I am not sure that was the smartest idea with everything else we have going on, but acorns abound here so hopefully it will be a very low cost input project. The pictures look like he is a cute little thing...</p><p><br /></p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1e2NZeyBue7rhtu20kQOtk63aY0N2xRMrd6a46tc1OLTzytlYXNTVa5lxwk-ZC7hLTzJ2NIXveih3fze7LFHSWWHy00MhS_SeQJ5hZv_m3677GikjEaX5phqlOQY1Y8PF3y6F1ZWKzbzy/s1600/piggy+at+3+weeks.jpeg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1e2NZeyBue7rhtu20kQOtk63aY0N2xRMrd6a46tc1OLTzytlYXNTVa5lxwk-ZC7hLTzJ2NIXveih3fze7LFHSWWHy00MhS_SeQJ5hZv_m3677GikjEaX5phqlOQY1Y8PF3y6F1ZWKzbzy/s320/piggy+at+3+weeks.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5581191475054712578" /></a><br /><p>...and the people on the Keeping a Family Cow website say that pigs are a hoot...so it should be another fun thing the boys will get to experience; and one less thing we will have to pay the grocery store for come fall. I love that website- it is an excellent resource for homesteaders. I think the boys will look back on these days fondly. This was them watching the ducklings on one of the nice days we had this week.</p><p><br /></p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNfNbahBaqkCa7ZtgQuA5larwEFY88lWv8amKg8jWMHQSs6y_n-6mQXHJ1CyvMJpDMsymMv9F5Cnx9CFTH9aCDZYOa1yqxDDmYofevvq4zfivIUtzDrtN_dpvZcwjB428bqWH3sKETrWuE/s1600/IMG_0292.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNfNbahBaqkCa7ZtgQuA5larwEFY88lWv8amKg8jWMHQSs6y_n-6mQXHJ1CyvMJpDMsymMv9F5Cnx9CFTH9aCDZYOa1yqxDDmYofevvq4zfivIUtzDrtN_dpvZcwjB428bqWH3sKETrWuE/s320/IMG_0292.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5581168975548378770" /></a><br /><br />Aside from the addition of the piglet and a few additional vegetables, I think we are going to hold tight this year. We would love to do meat chickens and honey bees this spring--- but I think we have our hands PLENTY full as it is. Maybe bees next year- it depends on a lot of things.<br /><br /><p>I registered my business as an LLC with the state and my business license arrived on Saturday! It's official, I technically have finally opened my own company. It has been a long, long wait, but that is a story for another time. I say technically because I have no product ready to offer yet, but it is in the works. The design is in the final stages. Cory and I worked out some final details last night and he spent a good deal of time this weekend drafting the technical drawings. The man has some serious skills. </p><p><br /></p><p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHi8tE2RMIqaRSIuqLfeoKQQzNlZSzX2JJTl6OUjkpEv08nLOIhTljAS8_6RCBsd8zCQI-0dfBXSPKgTU9dObq6EghiDD66O_W4-NTFR2YmeuO-LKHNlBmDx84ahgVsP9wGH7K-qnbSWPf/s1600/IMG_0215.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHi8tE2RMIqaRSIuqLfeoKQQzNlZSzX2JJTl6OUjkpEv08nLOIhTljAS8_6RCBsd8zCQI-0dfBXSPKgTU9dObq6EghiDD66O_W4-NTFR2YmeuO-LKHNlBmDx84ahgVsP9wGH7K-qnbSWPf/s320/IMG_0215.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5581168974720572066" /></a></p><p><br /></p>We both have high hopes for the farm and the business and we both are working to make them a reality. I am praying that the Lord lights the path each day for where we should step.Hart's Cottagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00042178029593395921noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5164737120091782779.post-18607766499096165062011-02-15T20:08:00.000-08:002011-03-07T09:26:35.619-08:00Love and Raccoons<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguJ8aFWtjUTwnXA1jwE3mAVJT6EPLHhlTNGOtwd2vYD1TogCPg1E4SPX10frmC5bbfdcdvhF8sf8dnTEQ_my_G4EPYoVB_AB5MYtvigrljsOSKgiBD6F6c5-getF4vdUnESe_EQZIGWOk-/s1600/IMG_0031.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguJ8aFWtjUTwnXA1jwE3mAVJT6EPLHhlTNGOtwd2vYD1TogCPg1E4SPX10frmC5bbfdcdvhF8sf8dnTEQ_my_G4EPYoVB_AB5MYtvigrljsOSKgiBD6F6c5-getF4vdUnESe_EQZIGWOk-/s320/IMG_0031.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5574707198379206882" /></a><br />Welp, since my last series of posts, I have been thinking about love. Pointing out errors in the church brought a magnifying glass to be focused upon mine. I have been guilty of formulas and idols, and selfisheness, and wasted time myself- and each day brings new opportunities to repeat them. It is life breath to me that for the church and for me, His mercies are new every morning. We are all to love one another because love covers over a multitude of sins. Loving people beyond our tiny circles is opposite from the direction our human natures would drive us toward, at least for me. But I want to and I know God will help me.<br /><br />With a heat lamp and feed, the mallards decided to stay with us through the winter instead of migrating south. We started with six, 2 male and 4 female. One day in December one of the males disappeared. No trace. Then later the other male and a female disappeared for two days; however the male came back. So there are now 3 females and a male.<br /><br />Two of the females have built their nests and laid eggs. One chose a spot just behind the fence and inside the cow shelter right under the heat lamp (in place to keep the cow's water line from freezing). She has 15 eggs in her nest. The other has built a nest right under the hay feeder. She has barricaded herself so far in you really can't even see her. We predict we will see ducklings in early March. Fortunately the male and female that aren't on a nest have started visiting the creek so we hope the ducklings will be led down there in the spring; otherwise I am going to have WAY too many ducks in my yard.<br /><br />Last night when Cory got home and began his nightly check on the animals, he found something had gotten into the one nest and stolen an egg or two . All indications point to a raccoon. Caramel (the cow) seemingly did his best to get the raccoon away from the nest as he tore two hole through the fence to shoo away whatever was in there that shouldn't have been. This morning the trash can was knocked over and trash spread through the yard. Definitely a raccoon.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoZXfxrhYNDPYDui8-nxlI9YBr_CkUbzzEs2ahuSPXsUvpCDO8SQd9XbwdB8LrI_ZgUyYtDCHtit0SR6_PGb3SqkKnzg-aKeDyfK6NvvUsIPR0SnvkDnD2cmXqUCU4OiXM-HDx4XhjRzn9/s1600/IMG_0166.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoZXfxrhYNDPYDui8-nxlI9YBr_CkUbzzEs2ahuSPXsUvpCDO8SQd9XbwdB8LrI_ZgUyYtDCHtit0SR6_PGb3SqkKnzg-aKeDyfK6NvvUsIPR0SnvkDnD2cmXqUCU4OiXM-HDx4XhjRzn9/s320/IMG_0166.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5574707202044338066" /></a><br />It looks like night vision goggles and camouflage are next. We just laugh and laugh at the things we find ourselves doing.<br /><br />On the cow front, being castrated has not prevented Caramel from attempting to mate with Buttercup EVERY 2 MINUTES. If Caramel and Buttercup were humans, I feel quite sure she would take a restraining order out on him. Notice how in this picture he is only one step behind her but acting totally casual?<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxP220OoYrUiQx_Y2uEO87Y7mL4vAU8WqGXinApzBGcan9qdXeqO8SqLLCSvsoTB_mVTmxuxq6B7B2ndo3_Ft6PxEcEgbNWAPqJ9fozuMAvWPnqJXxb-9lsP5IngoD0vpp_0o4hO4mNB0H/s1600/IMG_0173.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxP220OoYrUiQx_Y2uEO87Y7mL4vAU8WqGXinApzBGcan9qdXeqO8SqLLCSvsoTB_mVTmxuxq6B7B2ndo3_Ft6PxEcEgbNWAPqJ9fozuMAvWPnqJXxb-9lsP5IngoD0vpp_0o4hO4mNB0H/s320/IMG_0173.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5574707212611944146" /></a><br />He is one step behind her all day long... just trying and trying. I feel terrible that she has to be fenced in with him. I was worried when we have him butchered that she would be lonely but I think she will be absolutely relieved. We never did dehorn her, which I hope does not prove problematic in the future... but for now I think it helps her when he really gets aggressive.<br /><br />After one particularly irritating altercation, I convinced Cory we needed to kill the rooster... but we have never gotten around to it:<br /><br />"Hey, what do you want to do this weekend, honey?" "I don't know, how about spend a whole afternoon with blood, guts, and feathers?"<br /><br />You can see why it keeps getting put off until later. On particularly cold mornings, more than once, I have opened my door and found the chickens standing right there. This is the view of the rooster through my current (ugly stained glass) door.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL1CSZt9MmaOY3hwstHER-6-vR-B4aFpE5FlRsJwcGJv5YjLRW_T3P9In-rS4jzU4iHEbc5kgV8Vn_z4E0c2XXQmsLFLR5oUDQtrhQOdGeXGsj1IQlembAu3j8xLmTGvJNiQqPZiyA4Ug1/s1600/IMG_0034.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL1CSZt9MmaOY3hwstHER-6-vR-B4aFpE5FlRsJwcGJv5YjLRW_T3P9In-rS4jzU4iHEbc5kgV8Vn_z4E0c2XXQmsLFLR5oUDQtrhQOdGeXGsj1IQlembAu3j8xLmTGvJNiQqPZiyA4Ug1/s320/IMG_0034.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5581390330946993154" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcaUEtb735soQ08wo8l2lHv-DrK8hog8wTAxrwxNYRtgRdEg0w5cfXNyqajqZd0fh0LfgL9DUvM3HQtaB_0g-VSUE6nH10WZEor5MowxCo6OEOx2L9sFXJ3xwnniQ-PBqiUe2LpvZtaev8/s1600/IMG_0034.JPG"></a><br />He's just out there... waiting for me....waiting for me to not have a stick in my hand- little stalker. Actually I think they get hopeful I will bring out a treat everytime I come out. They have food in their coop but they much prefer it to be sprinkled on the ground so they can scratch for it.<br /><br /><br />One morning I opened the door and all three chickens were standing there in the front row, with all four ducks right behind them. Just patiently waiting. Who knows how long they were standing there. Some mornings the rooster actually pecks on the door. Bizarre.<br /><br />In other news, I- who rarely ever gets a cold- have been knocked down with a bug for over a week. The worst only lasted for a few days but it keeps hanging on so I have been resting a lot. The boys have been loving the addition of even more free time. They never run out of things to do. Here is my spice jar being used in some type of battle. I find army men in my shoes, legos in my laundry, horses in the sock drawer and darts on top of everything imaginable. I feel quite sure they are doing some serious college level critical thinking activities when they work out all of these battle scenarios...so I don't feel bad resting when I need to.....<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDqn2DOI3aajdfwarwsn2QDw7fenSKmdkRbN8NZCb-_byntz2nBU_1qnFMnHmDelbB9Su0fo4WTXHBqjsX4F8IMzl0rbNRXYE5TnR7fiqWg7EP9-pexGBiCf2YjeXW3Ioj45Ol4OduJmQ3/s1600/IMG_0162.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDqn2DOI3aajdfwarwsn2QDw7fenSKmdkRbN8NZCb-_byntz2nBU_1qnFMnHmDelbB9Su0fo4WTXHBqjsX4F8IMzl0rbNRXYE5TnR7fiqWg7EP9-pexGBiCf2YjeXW3Ioj45Ol4OduJmQ3/s320/IMG_0162.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5574712187109977410" /></a><br /><br />But of course I couldn't just do nothing..... so I have been working on my business- making lots of progress! I am so very excited about that.<br /><br />I read The Four Hour Work Week a week ago. I LOVED it...gleaned a lot of useful help from it for my business and read a lot I could relate to... very easy read- highly recommended. Not everything in it is for everyone, but there is enough useful information that it would be worthwhile for anyone with an entrepreneurial spirit.Hart's Cottagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00042178029593395921noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5164737120091782779.post-4148367449326256292011-01-27T06:18:00.001-08:002011-01-27T07:15:13.432-08:00My alternate ending- Church Part 5You know, I didn't end that well. I said it would be edifying, but- I agree with my friend- it's evident I am cynical. I am, in fact, very cynical about the 'church.' But that is not who I wanted to leave you with. <br /><br />My belief about church isn't, in the final analysis, about missionaries or even orphans. The root of what I believe is what I want to leave you with...<br /><br />I'm in love.<br /><br />I could study all about what a church should look like from the greatest scholars in the land, but anything I find wouldn't be worthy to draw my attention away from Him. There is a guy that wrote some books that probably detail in full researched measure a very close idea of what I think The Church should be, but I don't really care enough to read them. That's the truth. I bought one and I didn't even read the whole thing. It doesn't matter that much to me. There are thousands of men scurrying around working every formula under the sun to try and get that right. <br /><br />I run across other people, though- in a church, out of a church, it doesn't matter- and in a weird way I recognize them. I can see in their eyes that they have the same Love. They have a certain countenance, like something really deep inside of them has been filled by someone they want to get back to as soon as they can.<br /><br />Nothing seems to be missing in them and I don't feel like anything is missing in me. When I can be with people like that it is always good because we get to talk about our Love. And that is the only thing that seems to be essential aside from telling people who don't have our Love that they can, and what it does to you when you do.<br /><br />Whenever conversations come up about The Church, faces change. A lot is brought to the surface that came from man's mess. I am not saying to let man continue messing up the bride, I AM saying God will not let man keep messing up the bride. I can't fix her and it is not my job. It's His job. I really believe that. My job is to keep my eyes fixed on my Love...and that's easy to do... He made it easy for us. My Love is good that way.... I'll see ya'll later...Hart's Cottagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00042178029593395921noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5164737120091782779.post-85729806772894170992011-01-26T03:22:00.000-08:002011-04-22T18:57:15.149-07:00The rest of the story, smooshed- Church Part 4<span style="font-style:italic;">This is a long one, but it is the last. I started with the intention of doing several more installments, but then just plugged through to the end. I hope you don't mind. As a matter of fact, I am going to put subsection titles in this because it is so bloody long.</span><br />
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<span style="font-weight:bold;">Big churches with lots of bling</span><br />
Before I go any further, let me say that if you are in a very large church (I have been in both small and large), the scenario I described in the last post may not be so prevalent, or at least obvious. It was glaring in the small church and house church we were in. I can't say I observed it clearly in the big church I was in- I was but a grain of salt in the proverbial ocean there. If you've never been in a big church- mine wasn't a mega, but it was big- you would be amazed. Here is what mine had:<br />
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*a professional level band(s) leading praise and worship<br />
*an continuous stream of professional speakers coming through on the church circuit<br />
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I didn't care whether those things were there or not. We enjoyed it there because so much of The Church was there. The leader wasn't working a formula and didn't point to himself. Pretty much he often didn't even teach, he would just parade among us believers the mighty works God had done among us all that week and gave God all the praise. So the wonderful thing about him was that he wasn't necessary and he knew it. He just loved God so much and so did we that he stood at the front because, well, someone needed to and he happened to be a darn good speaker. I loved that man and still do but he's not there anymore. The church board tried to throw him under the proverbial bus and he did what most men do when they seek God about such a mess...walk away. Right when all that was happening we were in the middle of a whopping building plan that plunged us into debt right when the recession hit. When that was all said and done this is what was added to the church's list of features:<br />
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*a state of the art new building equipped with a coffeeshop, new offices, a library, and a dining facility<br />
*the rest of the facilities were completely remodeled, with granite countertops in the bathrooms and state of the art sound and light systems<br />
*a kids playset that I believe was well over $100,000<br />
*a multimedia sign that cost $80,000<br />
*an on-site college AND arts department (I confess my son took karate there)complete with a dance ministry that now includes aerial artistry- ballerinas on wires to fly through air for special services<br />
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<span style="font-weight:bold;">The more bling, the less bread</span><br />
I don't have a problem with any of those things. They are not bad in and of themselves. Unfortunately, when you spend money on them though, you don't have it for other things that we will get to in just a minute. Believe it or not, this kind of place is the brass ring in the mind of many pastors. It means they have arrived. I told you about all of that because I want you to keep it in the back of your mind as I go on about money for the rest of the small and average sized churches. I hadn't forgotten about these whopping ones. Their financial scenario is just so absurd, I wanted to use a more mainstream example for our discussion.<br />
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<span style="font-weight:bold;">Tithe- a very brief look at the raw truth</span><br />
First, let me tell you I tithed just like I was told I should do by every church leader I have ever met from the time I started going to church til I started going to a house church, which was approximately one year before I stopped going to any 'church.' I never even looked it up. If they said I was supposed to give 10% of my gross income, I was gonna do it. And I did. Someone challenged me to research it. I did and I found you are not required to tithe at all. It was an Old Testament law, similar to slaughtering animals, that wasn't needed any longer because the Levites (designated priests)no longer needed to maintain the temple(since all that remained there was a ripped curtain). <span style="font-style:italic;">[The other purpose for the tithe, aside from paying the priests who cared for the now-empty temple, was caring for the poor. This is now done, at least in our country, through taxation- the 18% we give to the government before the 10% to the church. Though the church should still be doing this, it is difficult for them to... you'll see why further below]</span> I am not going to try to prove it to you- research it yourself. I understand that if you are as well 'churched' as I was, you just immediately tuned me out. That's what I would have done. Understand I have been inside all the meetings. I know Churchianity. I speak the lingo, know the jargon, know the tactics, know the schpeel and one good thing I learned is not to entertain someone who is speaking falsehood to me for long at all. I'm with you. That's why I said look it up yourself. And if you want to keep tithing, go ahead. I want to explain the conclusion I've come to but you can do what you want. By the way...<br />
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<span style="font-weight:bold;">The New Giving- much harder than tithing</span><br />
The <span style="font-style:italic;">New</span> Testament actually talks about giving cheerfully, giving to Caesar (the government) what is Caesar's, giving to God what is God's (everything), and giving everything you have to the poor. You can see that seeking to be obedient in your own heart within <span style="font-style:italic;">those</span> kind of guidelines is actually much harder than tithing. <br />
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<span style="font-weight:bold;">The percentages don't lie and Martin helped a church out</span><br />
I have the gift of giving. I like to give. I want to give. I was blessed with some skills that have allowed me to make a sizable income in the past and I am excited about launching a business this year from which I am hoping I can be able to give (more substantially than we can now) again. Now let me tell you what I see happening to every $100 that leaves my, or any other believer's hands at a 'church':<br />
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--------$10 goes to mission work<br />
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--------$90 goes to pay for the building so we can meet (I've already established that <span style="font-style:italic;">this isn't necessary</span>) AND to pay for the staff so that once a week I can be taught WHAT IS IN THE BOOK SITTING ON MY LAP. I have to veer here for a second for another note on this:<br />
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<blockquote>When the early church started, please understand, they had no bible. They were depending on the teaching from the scrolls that people like Paul had learned when he was being trained as a Jew, the oral delivery of the gospel message, and (primarily) Paul's instructions regarding how they should be functioning. It wasn't until Martin Luther translated the Latin scriptures in the early 1500s into common language (german, which spurred the later english King James Version) that people had God's word for their own. Oral delivery of God's word <span style="font-style:italic;">now</span> in mimicry of the early church is still edifying- any time the Word is taught it is edifying- but <span style="font-style:italic;">we have it ourselves now, in its entirety. </span>I wonder if when we get to heaven and get to see the complete story of the church from beginning to end it will say something like, "and the printing press came along and things got really efficient so that the believers could concentrate their resources where they were really needed." JUST SAYIN.</blockquote><br />
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<span style="font-weight:bold;">What matters</span><br />
1.)Orphans, many of whom are on the verge of starving daily.<br />
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2.)The lost. Do you know how many people groups on this earth have never heard the gospel because they don't even have the Word in their language?<br />
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These two priorities aren't just mine, they are the Lord's. He said He came to seek and save that which was lost and that true religion is caring for the widows and orphans. What about making disciples? We'll get to that in a sec.<br />
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<span style="font-weight:bold;">Skinny Missionaries</span><br />
Round about the same time I was wondering where to go with this church thing I read a book about a Wycliffe bible translator and I went to their website. I even called and talked to their organization and I want you to hear this very plainly if you have heard nothing else I have said:<br />
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The missionaries are underfunded. Grossly, grossly underfunded. They are in literal huts in the literal bush, on the literal frontlines, trying to get our precious Word (that we have whenever we want it, SITTING ON OUR &%$*& LAPS) to these tribes by scratching it out into their language, line by line... so they can know that Christ died for them and they can be saved. So they know there is hope. So they know of grace.<br />
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<span style="font-weight:bold;">Rolling skinny too</span><br />
So you see, for me it has become really simple. I can study the word for myself. I have a concordance and a commentary. I have the Holy Spirit. I can fellowship with other believers as God makes opportunities. I can worship from right here. I can do that if it means that any money I can give can be given to those missionaries; to reach those lost and those kids; so they can know the God who is the Father to the Fatherless. What about my time? Well you can give that too from right where you are, unless of course you want a ton of credit and a big pat on the back.<br />
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<span style="font-weight:bold;">Discipleship and free-ness can be oh so freeing</span><br />
I know there are still lost people in America. And I also know that training people to be disciples is critical- I am thankful for all the church people who have helped to teach me. <br />
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But I was thinking maybe some of us would be willing to do that for free. <br />
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Because if we did, those missionaries could concentrate without worrying if someone is going to cover them the next month for the supplies that they need. And maybe the missionaries feeding the orphans could concentrate on really helping them instead of spending so much times <span style="font-style:italic;">asking the churches for their leftover 10%.... </span> <br />
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<span style="font-weight:bold;">Rage against the machine</span><br />
Because this little bride called 'church' that insists she is the same bride as The Church demands that mission organizations work within her established infrastructure; and, in that infrastructure, SELF gets 90% and the rest gets 10%, <span style="font-style:italic;">missionaries just have to suck it up</span>. I think missionaries have a serious right to be pissed off every day they go to work and hope a check shows up from their benevolent fat 'church' supporters. Sorry. That was a bit severe, huh? <br />
<span style="font-weight:bold;">And again with the 'what about us'</span><br />
I know what you are saying. Well in that 90% people <span style="font-weight:bold;">AT</span> our 'church' get ministered to...yes, we all know a tiny percentage of people in American churches get saved every year; but we also know that those same people could be saved for free because they live in America, and mature Christians who don't use the pastor as a crutch to do all the 'ministry' should be WELL capable of handling that all by themselves. As a matter of fact, if you need an altar call, I bet you can find someone who will do it for free if you won't. <br />
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<span style="font-weight:bold;">My confessions and finally my whys</span><br />
I guess that's what it has really come down to for me. And I confess to you, after saying all that, that right now I don't have as much to give as I used to be able to- I am trying daily to improve our own financial situation so that we can give more.<br />
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And I also confess to you that it can be lonely out here. When I paid my monthly tithe (our one friend calls them 'club dues') and was able to fellowship weekly with other believers, it was nice...because The Church often hangs out in a 'church.' True. I also liked the weekly sermon, like I like a motivational speech or learning anything. And it was also nice to see the trickle of people that got saved. That happened too. I also wasn't always totally appalled by leaders working their formulas. A lot of us had an unspoken understanding that we were humoring them, but we knew the real reason we were there.... which is actually the real reason I'm not there anymore... and why we are trusting God is preparing one Bride for Himself- and that He is including us as part of it. Not only that but that He will provide the properly portioned timely fellowship with other believers to minister to us, and for us to minister to as well- exactly at the right timing in the right way. <br />
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<span style="font-weight:bold;">Exit strategies and a little grace finally for the good pastors</span><br />
Finally I confess I don't have a formula. I know what I'd like to see but I am not going to infiltrate your 'church' with an 8 step plan. I'd like to see domestic evangelism, teaching, and counseling done for free. A lot of it is... though we are still paying salaries to staff 'church leaders' so they can 'equip us' to do the work for free (don't get me started).<br />
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I would absolutely insist that every church put in place an immediate an aggressive plan to get out of debt. The building isn't a problem, it's the huge debt on the church's shoulders that is. NO CHURCH should be in debt.<br />
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I'd like to see congregations fund transition plans for their staff so they can get secular jobs and serve God's people for free. That would need to happen at the same time the congregation learned that their gifts are equally as important and equally as needed as the pastors. Or if the preachers really wanted to reach the lost, pay them to go to where the lost don't have people that will preach to them for free-make them missionaries. A pastor in America and a missionary in the bush have vastly different obligations; not to mention a pastor has an entire congregation ready to serve each other just sitting there...literally. Often times the best thing he can do is get out of the way anyhow. By the way, if you look in the bible at the role of pastor it does not describe the role we have exalted it to today. Okay, I have to veer again and throw this in: <br />
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<blockquote>I am not unsympathetic to pastors. They stepped into a machine that churned them out; and stepping out of the system is scary, not to mention the whopping suitcase of disillusionment they have to haul out with them. I would be upset too if I spent money to go to college and did everything I was told only to find it is all backwards at best. They have kids to feed too. These guys sincerely start out serving the Lord so we should help them, like we all help each other. I do have sympathy....not so much for the ones who let pride inflate their ego maniac head into a giant balloon...but for the rest I have sympathy.</blockquote><br />
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<span style="font-weight:bold;">Show <span style="font-style:italic;">them</span> the money</span><br />
And then this: I'd like to see all The Church take its resources and push it all, with all its might, to the frontlines- to the missionaries, to the orphans, to the impoverished, to the lost- in places that aren't right in our backyard and where supporting the people that need to get to them makes sense. Because I imagine it's hard for a man to get a job in Gambia while he is doing mission work there. So he probably could use our support.<br />
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<span style="font-weight:bold;">Don't worry about me</span><br />
I am not opposed to meeting with a group of believers intentionally again. Actually, I look forward to it. When our house isn't ripped apart, we might just host that very thing here. In the meantime God seems to be quite sufficient all on His own. We're tight, Him and me. Also, I have a handful of people in my life who are part of my very fabric, believers that I love so much it is hard to speak of them because there are no words. They may not meet the formula requirements set forth by any of the little local 'brides' but they are part of The One Church and they minister to me, and I hope I to them.<br />
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<span style="font-weight:bold;">That's it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-weight:bold;">Their Words</span><br />
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I've tried to spare you from a lot of quotes and keep this as direct as possible, but I want to end with an actual quote so you hear this from someone other than me. This is from And the Word Came with Power by Joanne Shelter- missionary to the Balangao people:<br />
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<blockquote>A couple of years ago Ignacio was visiting in the village of Madokayan and asked an old man why they were so easily persuaded by false religious teachings. The man said, "Son, we've been waiting for ages for someone to come and really teach us God's Word. Do you blame us if we believe false teachers? I remember going to Balangao once during your Bible conference; you there have learned more and more about God because you have his Word in your language. But what about us? We have <span style="font-style:italic;">nothing</span> So, my son, don't ask me why- that's like putting the blame on us when we have no Book.</blockquote>Hart's Cottagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00042178029593395921noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5164737120091782779.post-27084887079284866882011-01-25T17:30:00.000-08:002011-01-28T14:17:15.853-08:00Pride, a Plan, and your Peeps-Church Part 3This is only blog three of the series and I am already a little worn out with it because it is taking up a lot of my mental energy and I don't have an unlimited amount of that anymore. This is important, I want to be thorough, but I also need to teach my kids something this week, so I am going to do my best to get several more posts out and plug through this as quickly as I can possibly do it.<br /><br />(Cue Julie Andrews)Sing with me:<br /><br />Let's start at the very beginning. A very good place to start. When we read we begin with A.B.C.; when we sin we begin with Me. Me. Me.<br /><br />Satan used to be an angel called Lucifer, said to be the highest, and very beautiful. Then he became prideful, vain. He wanted to replace God with Himself and he was cast down from heaven along with quite a few other angels he had persuaded to follow him. Pride and vanity are common errors in individuals as well. But we aren't often told this can happen in a church... where a church comes up with a plan to replace God as first in their hearts with themselves, or their plan. <br /><br />A typical church's (and often individual's) top 2 idols:<br /><br />#1- Themselves<br /><br />#2- Formulas..."God-formulas" I call them... a plan, a method, a movement, a whatever-step process<br /><br />Why would this happen? Well, observation would say that it starts in the heart of a man with an earnest desire to make his 'church' look the way God's bride is supposed to look according to what he sees in scriptures. [This is why understanding that the 'church' is not a little copy of the bride responsible for it's own completeness, but one Bride that God says <span style="font-weight:bold;">HE himself<span style="font-style:italic;"></span></span> is preparing to be without spot or blemish, is so important]. So this well-intentioned man starts leading the 'local body of believers' to focus on what they look like...sincerely wanting them to be right.... and what handier of a way to do this than with a formula. Pop into the local Christian bookstore and you will find an <span style="font-style:italic;">endless,</span> and I mean endless, number of books telling you exactly what your church needs to do.<br /><br />Pardon me for a moment while I tell you why I find this so funny:<br /><br /><blockquote>Moses was a man of God who had a very real and powerful encounter with God when God parted the Red Sea for him and the Israelites to pass, escaping Pharoah and his crew of pursuing Egyptians. No one is questioning that. What he experienced was very real and it was very much God.<br /><br />But, imagine if Moses then paused for a little sabbatical and penned his first bestseller entitled, <span style="font-weight:bold;">Parting Your Red Sea- Seven Steps to Saving You and Your Peeps</span>. It gets better. In it, he details out exactly how you, too, can take your peeps up to a body of water when someone is chasing you and invoke God to split it.<br /><br />God did that once for a group of people in a special circumstance. You can't duplicate it whenever you want to without him, or even by asking him really really sincerely to- WHY? Because God is not a formula to be activated on your whim. He wants to be in a relationship with us. We can ask Him for help in any circumstance, but trying to press a replay button on something he did for someone else is not asking him for help. <span style="font-weight:bold;">It is trying to skip him and get to what you want- listen closely- even if what you want is to see people saved, just like He does.<span style="font-style:italic;"></span></span><br /><br />Now imagine how frustrating it is when the guy who just invested $20 in Moses' book has some people achasin' him and has rallied his peeps around this brilliant plan... and then (gurgle gurgle)...crap. It's not working. <span style="font-weight:bold;">Well, it can't be that the formula was wrong- it worked for Moses FOR PETE'S SAKE!</span> It must be that his people were messing him up. So he presses pause, gathers his people around and has a talking with them about the way they are supposed to be acting.... because right acting and right being peeps get their water split- <span style="font-style:italic;">it's been proven.</span> (This is usually when the people decide they have the wrong leader or the leader decides he has the wrong people or they BOTH decide they had the wrong formula. Either they part and go separate ways or they seek God just in time to find that, Yee-haw, Joshua just came out with a book called, "Crumbling the walls that are holding you back- 12 steps to getting your church to their Promised Land.")</blockquote><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">This can go on for a very long time.</span><br /><br />So we see that good intentions can end up bad when a church replaces God as number one with a formula or a mirror. Would this happen as much if the leader(s) of that local body didn't think they were supposed to peer into the scriptures and draft formulas they can see to get their Local Bride looking right? I don't think so. If they understood that not every gift, not every role, not every function needed to exist within their one local group....then oh my goodness....<br /><br />Imagine.<br /><br />Just imagine.<br /><br />That would mean that God might use me to minister to someone in another place... and I might have time and money to do it... <br /><br />which leads us to the most brutal of the subjects among church folks...money. You want to see someone turn and tear you to pieces? Bring up the church's use and understanding of money.... but I actually feel personally decently equipped in this subject because of how God has made me in particular...and because of my personal experience. So we'll tackle that next. Stay with me. I'm getting somewhere right along with you and I hope we are all edified and stronger when this is all said and done.Hart's Cottagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00042178029593395921noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5164737120091782779.post-31075075858908502832011-01-25T08:41:00.000-08:002011-01-27T13:36:52.885-08:00Many Mini-brides or One Bride- Church Part 2By necessity, I will be very methodical about this topic of "Church." I hope you forgive my need to throw in humor, it is not out of disrespect. It is because sometimes when something is so weighty, we need to be able to put the weights down for just a second, before we pick them back up again. I know that many of you who have tried to even ask certain questions about this have been assailed. As I said, it's the mother pearl.<br /><br />We'll start off gently. Here is something I think we all agree on. It's one of the few things that happens in what western culture calls a 'church' that <span style="font-style:italic;">can be</span> actually profitable:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">*being with other believers*</span><br /><br />It's funny, that's the first thing 'church' people whip out to admonish me with when they hear I am not at a 'church.' [Sorry, the only way I have to annotate 'church' as most people think of it, and The Church, is with the quotation marks and the capitals. It is not meant to be insulting to 'church' people by its repetitiveness]. <br />They say, "Don't forsake the gathering together of believers as some are in the habit of doing," quoting Paul from the New Testament, of course. <br /><br />I'm not. I'm just not doing it at a 'church.'<br /><br />When people who are The Church show up at common times to be with each other and engage in common activities at a 'church,' surprise! <span style="font-weight:bold;">Church Happens.</span> Administering their gifts to each other takes place, and God shows up too. It doesn't matter how many people are there, 2 or 2,000. It doesn't matter where it happens and there are no personnel requirements. God is actually quite capable of giving people the gifts they need when they need them to minister to other people.<br /><br />Understand that, in the bible, the church is not described as a series of microcosms spread across the land, each called <span style="font-style:italic;">The Local Church</span>. <span style="font-weight:bold;"> That would be saying there are many little duplicate copy brides of the one BIG bride running around.</span> [Please read that last sentence and this next one again really slowly]. <span style="font-weight:bold;"> What he <span style="font-style:italic;">does</span> say is that her (the bride, called The Church) body has many parts, and <span style="font-style:italic;">each of us</span> comprises a piece of it.</span> The fact that <span style="font-style:italic;">we</span> are spread across the land is of no hinderance to God.<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">So all the believers together comprise The Church, NOT all the little churches together comprising a big church.<span style="font-weight:bold;"></span></span><br /><br />SO, SO subtle. Oh so very subtle, are deceptions. Read this:<br /><br />the Church (in Corinth)<br /><br />OR<br /><br />"The Church of Corinth" (read as similar to First Baptist Church of Corinth)<br /><br />Do you see that? In case you are wondering, the first is correct. The second is not.<br /><br />.......back to the earlier point about meeting together............<br /><br />'Church' leaders like to step into these meetings or facilitate them and then point to what is taking place as validation.. for the institution that owns the building or that set up the meeting, and even for their role. I have been present at exchanges like this in a garage. That doesn't make the mechanic my priest and the auto shop my church. More important to note: <span style="font-weight:bold;">It didn't matter if they were even there.</span> Lest ye believe that a 'church's' existence can be validated because it facilitates these gatherings; understand that, on the premise of that function alone, <span style="font-style:italic;">I would agree that it was a good organization.</span> But is a 'church' necessary to facilitate gatherings of The Church? The answer is NO. <br /><br />Immediately, I know, that all of the other very important functions the 'church' facilitates and assures you are critical in your Christian walk pop into your minds like clock work. I don't disagree that praise, worship, or bible study are essential to The Church. I just don't believe a 'church' is essential for The Church to do those things. <br /><br />Ask me how I know this.<br /><br />We are still doing those too.<br /><br />Again, is the 'church' necessary? NO.<br /><br />Can an organization facilitate these things without causing harm to, stealing from, worshiping, impeding, or impersonating The Church? I'd say yes. It can be done. In theory. <br /><br />I want you to know before we go any further, it is not my intention to draw anyone away from my wonderful God, or away from His precious bride, The Church. Quite the contrary. So, I'll keep going.Hart's Cottagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00042178029593395921noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5164737120091782779.post-74489858824670400042011-01-24T15:43:00.000-08:002011-01-26T07:28:05.171-08:00I am Church and You Can Too- Church Part 1<span style="font-style:italic;">Most</span> people in the world know that Jesus Christ was crucified on the cross around 33 AD. <br /><br />Many <span style="font-style:italic;">fewer</span> know what was happening at that same moment across town. From the top to the bottom a curtain- a very strong, incredibly important curtain- was being ripped in half. I imagine it was kind of like what you do to an old towel when you don't need it anymore and decide to scrap it for car wash rags. <br /><br />In the Old Testament that curtain surrounded an area called "The Holy of Holies" where God's literal presence actually dwelt. Once a year the designated priest would confess his little heart out and go in to stand in God's presence. It was more than a nail biter for him- if there was any unconfessed sin he missed he would instantly drop dead in God's perfect presence. His buddies tied a rope around his ankle in case they needed to drag him out, though. That was nice of them.<br /><br />Two things we know the ripping of that curtain meant- and they form the basis for what I believe spiritually.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">1.)We (humans) no longer needed to go through any man (religious intermediary) to get to God.<br /><br />2.)God has made it clear that <span style="font-style:italic;">we</span> (Christian believers) are now the temple He chooses to reside in. We are The Church.<br /></span><br /><br />Steve Colbert from Comedy Central, wrote a book a few years back called I am America and You Can Too (I never read it). In struggling to communicate what I believe about the Church without resorting to the endless selections of church jargon, I actually feel this best represents my actual spiritual beliefs:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">I am Church and You Can Too.<br /></span><br /><br />I started "going to church" (I don't even like the implication of that phrase now) when I was about 16 and I stopped a little over a year ago. <br /><br />I have wanted to talk about why. You can't imagine how hard that is unless you understand how important it is to do so without shredding the church people I have seen; and how very likely it is I will be shredded among the church people who read this. The topic of "church" is, in terms of "casting your pearls before swine," the mother pearl. No one is as vicious about church as church people. This is something I know in my core.<br /><br />But I believe there are some very, very important things that need to be said. And so, here we go... the next blog we'll get into it.Hart's Cottagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00042178029593395921noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5164737120091782779.post-4167480242375600522011-01-24T09:57:00.000-08:002011-01-24T10:00:49.884-08:00Christianity, baby boomers, and government- a guest post by Ken KroutQuestion posed by college professor:<br /><br />Are you comfortable with political leaders bringing their God to meetings about their country? Should political leaders use their belief systems to make public or political decisions? <br /><br />Response: <br /><br />The short answers are yes and yes.<br /><br />Cultures are formed by groups of people with similar values living and working together. These form societies and are the basis for civilizations. Many cultures were formed by ethnicity and geographic location. Shared religious beliefs were an integral part of what formed many cultures. Today, a culture can be as different as a group of bloggers united in a particular cause joining together by the internet. Our history as a species is a story of the rise and fall of cultures and societies.<br /><br />In the ancient past many leaders based policy decisions on the religious rituals. Consulting the Oracle at Delphi, casting runes, or other primitive methods of deciding how and what to do are not what today’s leaders should be doing. Increasingly whenever a political debate arises the opposing sides try to paint those who disagree as extreme. To the modern atheist who is intolerant of religion it is easy to claim that those of faith are going to base life and death decisions about our country on little more than superstitious hocus-pocus. Nothing could be further from the truth. <br /><br />America and western civilization was predominately based on Judeo-Christian values. The founders of the United States frequently referenced God in their documents and laws. Our culture is founded on the bedrock of the values put forth in the Bible, but with an interesting twist. Where other western nations had an established official form of religion, America chose to be tolerant of religion. People could worship, or not, as best suited themselves. Thomas Jefferson said;” Say nothing of my religion. It is known to God and myself alone. Its evidence before the world is to be sought in my life: if it has been honest and dutiful to society the religion which has regulated it cannot be a bad one.” America has been a great society, rising fast and strong among nations, guided by the values of Judeo-Christianity while preserving religious freedom for all of its citizens. Several of the founding members of our nation clearly believed in God, but were not Christians or members of any denomination. George Washington rarely attended church and never mentioned Jesus. Yet he said to the nation he founded; “Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports." <br /><br />What is needed is a core value system to be maintained throughout our society. And the Judeo-Christian one put in place by our founders has served us well in the past. People had a certain degree of understanding as to how to behave and what was expected of them. This was reinforced by religion but was also a general understanding of what constituted acceptable and unacceptable behavior. For many generations this system has worked. For the most part, any leader of good character will choose the proper course of action because they understand the difference between right and wrong. Religion is a vital part of instilling good morals in people. Again, Washington said; “And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion." <br /><br />It is of course evident that there were people that were dishonest and immoral throughout the history of any nation or society. These people were usually shunned, punished or in some other way made to understand that behaviors that were unacceptable were just that-unacceptable. The important point is what is considered “normal” behavior by the members of a culture. What is normal evolves as a society ages and new ways of looking at things emerge. What does not evolve is right and wrong. Looking back at the first 180 years of the United States shows a nation that has prospered whenever society has generally adhered to moral behavior. During times of strife it can be argued that the problems were caused by people not following the standards of Judeo-Christian values. The Civil War was a result of an immoral system of slavery that the founding fathers failed to resolve. The injustice done to Native Americans is a stain on our history that will not be erased. Clearly America was not a perfect nation, but it was based on the proper foundation.<br /><br />In 1948 the United States had saved the world from Fascism and freed millions of people. This was the era of the so called “Greatest Generation”. It should be remembered that this was the time that the “Baby Boomer” generation was being born. The United States was in a very impressive position globally. Over half of all the worlds manufacturing capacity was in the United States, along with almost 2/3 of all the earth’s gold reserves. Exports were well in excess of imports. The per-capita income of an American worker was 4 times that of a French, British, Italian, and German worker combined. There is an endless series of anecdotes that can establish that those were the good old days. People could leave the keys in the car across most of America and expect it to be waiting for them in the morning. Politicians were still slinging mud, but they were working for the people. And it was expected that the company you worked for would treat you well if you did a good job. Things were looking good for the baby boomers as they were born into what could be arguably the best situation on average that any generation had ever arrived into (saving freedom).<br /><br />Also in 1948 the Supreme Court ruled in McCollum vs. the Board of Education that religious teaching in public schools is unconstitutional. This was followed in 1962 with the banning of any kind of prayer in school; in 1963 with the banning of reading the Bible in schools over the intercom; in 1968 with the ruling that it was unconstitutional to ban teaching of evolution; in 1980 with the banning of the Ten Commandments from being posted in schools; in 1985 with the banning of a “moment of silence” as it might be deemed to promote prayer; in 1987 with the ban on teaching of “creation science” along with evolution; a 1989 ban on all nativity scenes in public buildings; and finally with a 1992 ruling banning schools from providing any type of clergy to hold prayer at any type of graduations. It was quite an evolution from the Declaration of Independence, with its references to our Creator that started our nation, to the current climate that bans a moment of silence in fear that some child might pray (infidels.org).<br /><br />Taking a look at the emergence and growth of the Baby Boomers that grew up under this now religion free school system is quite revealing. First of all it must be acknowledged that many parents took their children to church or tried to instill values in them. Still, a large part of a persons development is based on who their peer group is and how that peer group behaves. Children of the sixties are largely remembered for being the generation of drugs, the sexual revolution, and rebelling against society. A large emphasis was placed on doing your own thing. If it feels good- do it was the mantra of the day. Along with banning religion from the schools, it seems that morality had been marginalized. Many things that were once unacceptable behavior in our culture are celebrated. This obsession with ones self and disregard for others or for what society expected of you has had some interesting consequences.<br /><br />After expelling religion from the schools and raising a generation that refuses any type of judgment, it is little wonder we are not in 1948 anymore. It is not the advances in science and technology that are the most striking, but the collapses in integrity and character of the American citizen. It is not a lack of religion that caused the massive out-sourcing of jobs to exploit low cost labor in third world nations. But a lack of ethics that went a long way in rationalizing that behavior. Enron, Goldman Sachs, corporate raiders emptying pension funds, Fannie Mae, Bernie Madoff, Food for Oil, Acorn, Adelphia, etc. are all the result of one singular problem. Immoral Baby Boomers with no integrity and no guiding principles taking advantage of whatever and whoever they can. They never experienced judgment and do not grasp that some behaviors are unacceptable in this or any other society. America suffers because of it. <br /><br />The latest banking scandal is very illustrative of this. Start with an unethical realtor selling an over priced house to an unethical buyer who can not afford it and is lying about his income on a no-documentation loan. Throw in an unethical home appraiser giving an inflated value to secure the loan from an unethical mortgage broker. The loan is then sold to an investor or retirement fund, while the firm selling the loan goes short and bets on the loan defaulting. Inevitably reality happens and the whole house of cards falls in. Everybody runs to the government and gets the legislators to force the neighbors to pay for it all through taxation. No accountability, no judgment. <br /><br />In 1961 President Kennedy said; “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” The Greatest Generation was loathe to accept charity and would refuse out of pride. The fierce independent spirit of the American people was a driving force behind this nation’s rise to greatness. Today, the Baby Boomers have taken the entitlement mentality to a whole new level. Not happy with emptying the treasury to indulge themselves, they have wrecked the lives of generations to come with debt of an unimaginable level. It is hard to imagine how one generation caused a civilization to fall so hard so fast. If we consider that they were denied the moral compass that our founding fathers knew was essential for a capitalistic, free, democracy it offers some explanation. President John Adams said; ”Our Constitution was made for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”<br /><br />Our political leaders are there to lead us. They set the example for the nation to follow and decide where we will be in the future. There has always been a level of scandal involved with politicians, the very nature of the money needed to get elected means that there will be favors to re-pay after election. However, it was interesting to watch the election of Bill Clinton in 1992. He was the first Baby Boomer president. His supporters openly declared that character did not matter. This change in what was acceptable in our leaders has been of some impact on our society. Today, character is a rarity among our leaders. Our politicians are usually lawyers. If one looks at how lawyers operate it helps explain why we are where we are at. A lawyer is hired to advocate for someone in a legal dispute or contract. They are trained to get the best possible outcome for their employer. Today, with most of our representatives being lawyers, they are still following that template. The employers are the political parties, labor unions, large corporations and other groups that “hired” them by funding the election. So they govern with the intention of getting the best possible result for the sides that backed them. This has resulted in the average American being lost along the way. Wealthy special interest groups battle for power using our government leaders as their champions. Meanwhile, the United States is not that united. <br /><br />It would be a joy to have a child who based his decisions on sound moral principles, a business partner that could be trusted, a company that one could count on to do the right thing, a teacher who knew what was acceptable and what was not. In every part of life an interaction with someone of sound integrity and character is preferable to that of dealing with someone who lacks an understanding of right and wrong. What this country needs more than anything is leaders of unshakable moral principles grounded in Judeo-Christian values. Leaders in corporations, sports heroes our children can look up to, community leaders, union organizers and people of all sorts would build a better culture if they held themselves to a higher standard than the one established since the early 1960’s. Most importantly, we need men and women of character doing the right thing in all places of government. And if religion is what guides them to make those choices, it would be preferable to whoever donated the most money in the last election. George Washington started this country by making the decisions based on his own guiding principles that were religion based. We could use a few more people like him.Hart's Cottagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00042178029593395921noreply@blogger.com0