We are a homeschooling, homesteading family of 11 enjoying rural life on our mountainside. Walking and learning daily to be self-sufficient and God-reliant in both aspects of our lives. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/acountryschool/ en-us Homeschool Blogger Mon, 19 Jan 2009 18:29:00 -0600 Mon, 19 Jan 2009 18:29:00 -0600 Sure, it isn't exactly all that cold right now here, but still...it's getting cold still overnight, down in the mid to upper 20's. It was cold in here Friday and Saturday with windows being pulled out, Dewey coming in and out with cement board, blocks, pipe, etc. And the camera, well, it's all in the person using it I suppose. It's our video camera -- a bit touchy with focus indoors moreso than outdoors. Excuse the fuzzy photos :o( I once had double front windows in that room. And a sewing room filled with all my sewing goodies and fabrics and such. Dewey and Matthew are putting up the cement board on the floor and walls. Note that we started well early enough...yet it's getting dark and we are still on the cement boards... Seeing as it was growing a bit too dark (and cold) to piddle about outside, we concentrated on putting the blocks down over the cement board for the flooring/hearth, and put the inside portion of the piping in place. Matthew helped line up the pipe for Dewey to anchor in place (they are just a touch inward, but not too bad)...oh wait, I didn't buy anything for mounting and such :o( Those little white legs at the roofline there...LOL, necessity IS the mother of invention, right? Those are my shelf brackets fro a shelf that was in the sewing room. Dewey figured as long as he was framing up windows and covering the are with that cement board, he might as well go ahead and put in the cookstove...yeah for me :o)Once the heater is given a much better cleaning and maybe a good coat of stove black or something, it will look better. That, and some paint on the cement boards on the wall...and after I finish figuring out where to relocate some of the remnants from the room-that-was... Ain't that a pretty fire there? There is some sort of sensor that kicks in the blower...and wow does it blow! I burnt my arm today from the heat coming out of the blowers (you can barely see them along either side of the door there...) Ah-ha...first casualty and teaching moment of the wood heating experience. The olders have all grown up with wood heat, but from Abigail (8) on down, they don't really remember much of it. Here's the fire in the firebox of the cookstove :o) Isn't it pretty? Not that I have Clue One what I'm doing, but I boiled water on it once we tested it out here. That's a start, right? Now to get a fire built for real cooking...and learning to do some baking. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/acountryschool/647462/ Mon, 19 Jan 2009 18:29:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/acountryschool/647462/ Today it's meat canning and cookstove relocation. We are going to get an Ashley heater at the end of this week. Of course, some really cold days are moving back in Tuesday and I'll be without the woodheat to help with that next heating bill :o( About that Ashley heater -- most the stores who still have any sort of woodstoves in stock, have only a handful; most stores were already sold out. Seems at least 4 counties in (north) Mississippi are undergoing a review/investigation/whatever-you-call-it, by the Governors office due to the electric co-ops 'extreme' rate increase. Not that that helps after the fact, but maybe we won't go through that again. Back to the Ashley heater -- most prices were the same...Ashley wood heaters are about $650-750. I found one for $699 at Tupelo Hardware Company here locally. I talked to Dewey, and then headed back yesterday to put some good faith money down to have them hold it until we get it this weekend. Like everywhere else in Mississippi, heating season is just about done in terms of any ordering. Once they are sold off, no more ordered until next season. Tupelo is probably a very close second, I'd actually say first actually, ELVIS stop. Nashville is a good third, but most folks come through Tupelo and visit his childhood family home, a small narrow shotgun house, then they cruise downtown Tupels visiting shops his famiy would have shopped at, then comes the stop to Tupelo Hardware, where Elvis Presley's mother, Gladys, bought her son a birthday gift in 1945. Awww, how sweet. ?!?!? Well, remember that rock I told you I lived under? I came out from under it yesterday. It's a strange world out there, in case you hadn't noticed. I'm not dissin' any of the long time, die-hard Elvis Presley fans out there, honest I'm not. But as someone on the other side of that craze, it's just amazing to watch...and listen to. Yesterday was Elvis' birthday. My rock isn't so large that I didn't know he had a birthday, or that is was at some point in January, but I honestly had no idea it was YESTERDAY. If you are an Elvis fan, you can imagine my surprise I'm sure. If you have ever watched ElvisMania strike, you can imagine my surprise heading into Tupelo...and daring to brave the THRONGS, the hoards, the masses...congregating for a little idol time at Tupelo Hardware yesterday. There were tour buses. Not some shabby tourist bus set up -- those really nice, top of the line coach buses. Note the plural there. I was blessed to miss the first influx, which was apparently 3 buses (on the last big anniversary of his birth -- 50 years old or some such, I really don't know for sure) Tupelo officials literally closed and blocked the entire downtown area off from Hwy 45 up Main St. to 3 blocks beyond the hardware store...9 large coach buses arrived that day. I can't even imagine. My experience? I like Elvis good enough. He had a good voice, I like some of his 'religious' recordings, I grew up listening to Jail House Rock, Ain't Nothing but a Hound Dog and such. My mother has one of those hip-swinging Elvis look-alike clocks hanging above her desk. My living under a rock apparently came later in life. But a tour bus invasion? Just to stand in a hardware store in downtown Tupelo Mississippi? just to touch the counter where Elvis and his loving mother stood to play and buy that now-famous guitar? It's a hardware store. It's an old-fashioned style with a lot of charm, not some new and updated Do-It-Best or ACE sort of store. It's quaint. But it is just a hardware store. Plumbing, electrical, garden supplies and all manners of odds and ends available. Normal hardware stuff, in a small community in Mississippi. It's hardly The Great White Way in New York City, kwim? We did have a large meteor once on display in Tupelo, but someone stole it. And there are several other sites of interest to see in and around Tupelo, just in case you wondered. Yet, every year....on the birthday and the anniversary of his death (I hear that's sometime in August...wanna guess where I won't be going that month?), people travel insane distances to walk through the hardware store in Mississippi where the musical journey took seed. By insane distances -- remember I'm speaking from the outside of that Elvis craze -- I'm not just talking Mississippi, or even The South in general, or even the United States at large. I'm talking European countries and Australia and such. The United Kingdom was well-represented yesterday in Tupelo. The UK. Great folks, I'm not saying they aren't. But apparently Elvis invoked way more idolization than I honestly expected from a singer and showman. Like I said, I don't mind his voice none, but to travel half across the world to come to a small hardware store? Yes, I know they did more than that...they went to his birthplace, then the hardware store, then hit Memphis to tour Sun Studios and of course, Graceland itself. But still...all that way? Yesterday I met several really nice folks from The UK. They took pitcures of my van -- it isnt' anything special, mind you, but I was the only under-a-rock dwelling person to park in front of the store with a Mississippi license plate I guess, LOL. I waited a good few minutes before I even got out of the car. Folks were milling around in the middle of the street so they could get better pictures of the outside of the hardward store. When I finally did get out -- and yes, I left everyone else in the van. Can't even imagine having taken 8 children into that mass! -- I made my way inside, but I waited too late. The 'display and sermon' had already started. Faithful fans stood in silence, listening the story of Forrest Bobo, the salesman, and the day Gladys Presley and her son arrived. It's all very well documented and notarized, witnessed and framed, hanging there above the famed display case where a guitar hangs proudly. And where stacks of postcards are laid out. And where newsletters and small-town pride issues are laid out. Where you can buy a badge that says you were there, reminiscing where it all began back in 1945. Oh yes, and you can buy Elvis CD's and DVDs of concerts -- most notable his famed Memphis concert, where the local boy who made good came back home. And t-shirts with the Tupelo Hardware logo in the corner, with a guitar just below. And hound dog stuffed animals. Small town meets big city marketing. I was asked if the Amish knew about Elvis and was I a fan. I was approached quietly, but I was approached several times. Folks in poodle skirts and caridgans; folks with some of the biggest purses and backpacks shaped like guitars I've ever seen; folks with slicked back pompador hairstyles and even a man wearing a jacket...with winged sleeves inserts and a lot of rhinestones. Elvis' face, mostly in those younger years, graced shirts, jackets, purses and virtually everything possible.  I just can't imagine some nice Amish family bee-boppin' along in their buggy to That's All Right Mama on a battery-operated radio, though. And then, little me in my arpon and headcovering.  No rhinestones or glitz or smiling Elvis face. I almost felt a little out of place.  All I wanted to do was put a little money down on a heater to keep my family warm. It was quite an experience.  It's a strange world out there.  And yesterday, most of it was in downtown Tupelo. Elvis Presley Museum http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/acountryschool/643248/ Fri, 9 Jan 2009 09:53:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/acountryschool/643248/ I have a large canner full of ground meat sitting on the stove, simmering away with some onions and a touch of beef base. It's my 18 or 20 qt water bath canner..darn thing takes up a burner and part of another. I thought about taking it out to the front porch grill, but then I'd be battling cats and dogs all day. Didn't seem like a perfect plan. So it sits on my stove. There is just shy of 30# of ground meat in that beauty. Actually, ground meat covered with water looks rather ickish...but it sure beats trying to fry patties and keep them warm for canning. And they really look icky in the jars. I know -- who's gonna see my pantry, and even so, when (not if) push comes to shove and we are living out of what's in that pantry, who is gonna care what it looks like as long as it tastes good? It's just me. I would like the fruits, or in this case meats, of my labor to be asthetically pleasing lining those pantry shelves. Just call me vain. It's ok. Next on the agenda today is some laundry -- finally a sunny yet cool day to get those clotheslines filled. We are still using the washing machine, such as it is. It barely spins out at this point, so we run things through another set of rinse cycles, spinning them by hand. Sort of jump starting the spin cycle. Dewey wants to get another machine. I'm still not inclined. Yes, it's a pain to stand over that machine and babysit it just to make it spin, but I choose to do it. It's not so bad really. Doesn't take any time extra anyway. I know it's taking some extra water and electricity, but until we start doing it by hand, I'll muddle along this way. Besides, I have some upwardly mobile friends who totally get irked when I press on to the frugal and backwoods lifestyle :o) I like to provide them plenty of cause for talk when I can (truth be told, I probably provide them far more talk than I actually know about...they think I'mm just this side of insane most the time). Bread baking today. I'm using the 20 qt mixer and we're doing up at least 1 6 loaf batch. I'll put the recipe on the kitchen blog. It's been so rainy, the last attempt with bread baking went a bit wrong on us. It was edible, but oh goodness did it fall out terribly and barely rise. Made a decent toast, though. Even if we couldn't have eaten it, there are chickens out there still so it wouldn't have been a total waste at any rate. That's about it. We are having Beef Nachos for dinner -- I'll post that on the kitchen blog as well. I am teaching the teens class this year, and I'm as unprepared with plans as I was when Bro Bud spoke to me about it last year. The trouble is it's a mixed class...7 children, ranging from 10 up to 17 years. Most are my own children, then 2 sisters from one family, a girl from another family, and the neighbor young man we bring along. I'm just not sure what to teach them. Or how to teach them. One of the teens is less than interested in what goes on in class, but it's the only time they really come to church, so I feel a bit pressured with that fact, I guess. I am rather against 'entertaining' children at church. I can understand it for the youngest levels in a way, but I don't feel the slightest bit led to keep things 'interesting' for the teens. Less so if they claim Salvation already, which most of these teens do. My own children have been pulled out of many a class because of the emphasis on entertainment and the like. That isn't the purpose of church, imo. If I want my children to grow into spiritual adults, allowing them to treat church as some social activity and keeping things fluffy just isn't an option. Typically, my children have stayed in service with us, even in adult class. They were taught to sit and pay attention, not fidget about and expect to be entertained while sitting with crayons and other activities. I'm not raising 'children' -- I'm raising the next generation of adults. We have far too many 30 and 40 year old 'children' in the world already :o( So -- I'll probably teach from Christian Ethics in class, unless The Lord leads me to a better idea. Any thoughts? * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * We are starting a ladies fellowship at church. Mind you, we are a small church...the ladies group, at least getting started is likely to be rather small :o) For sure, my girls (well, in all likelihood, all of my children...) and myself, maybe 2 other sisters. We are planning a work time for the ladies basically. Something like crocheting some squares for afghans to be put together and given to a shelter, the Red Cross, etc. Our local economy has taken a serious dive in the past months with at least 2 major factories closing their doors, and that Toyota plant being 'postponed' for a time. Most of these families were only a paycheck away from being homeless as it was, and jobs are not forth-coming any more here than they are in other places. I suppose some of the more rural families here would be offended by my descriptions of them, but I certainly don't mean them in an offending way at all. We are rural. This area is not like any other rural area I've lived in. There are families still walking a by-gone path in their lifestyle. They are plain and simply country folk. That is part of what I truly do love about where we have made our home. It's like walking into the past in so many respects. But, this ladies fellowship...me and those bunny trails, I know...I've been looking up various Titus 2 Ministries and other women's groups, gleaning ideas. Back north, we were in a small church (although there it was 100 people...not barely 40) and we had a wonderful ladies group that met together at least 4 or 5 times yearly for a Ladies Tea. The idea was good -- ladies meeting together, praying as a group over the various topics that our lives encountered, sharing our hearts in Scripture, small teaching lessons and the like. But, it didn't take long to become something far more worldly than any church fellowship ought to be. The tea tables began getting fancy and, well, rather snobbish. Several ladies would take a table and decorate it in a theme. It was all pretty enough, but the end results were more of a 'talent show' than a true fellowship, glorifying God. And the prayer warriors who started out so nobly in their premise ended up being a thinly-veiled gossip party. It was sad to watch it dissinigrate into such worldly ruin. I mean, I'm all for sharing prayer needs with one another -- that's what we are called to, bear one another's burdens -- but if all you are truly doing (and you know in your heart that you are) is looking for an 'appropriate' way to share the latest gossip or dirty laundry, just man up and say so. It's ridiculous to hide it under a fellowship banner -- you aren't fooling anyone really, they all know what each other is doing whether you call it a spade or not. I don't see that being an issue here in this small church, but it is something serious to guard against. Maybe the more free the plan is, the easier it is to fall into those trappings? I don't know. Either way, it's best to enter into a fellowship gathering with some idea of a plan of action. There isn't much I can 'teach' the ladies up here -- there are mostly miles ahead of me from a homekeeping approach (I just discovered the trick of ironing with a spray bottle of diluted fabric softener and another with diluted starch! What a difference that made in my ironing! And I never knew it before! I live under such a rock.) Here are some of my gleanings today -- A Christian Home -- full of links for all manner of Godly Womanhood things Mom of 9's Place -- full of blessings and teachings Creative Ladies Ministries -- a great collection of ideas, including a ministry binder Ladies of Grace Titus 2 Christian Homekeepers -- various sites, blogs linked together I found some great women's lessons to print off that we might be able to use for the fellowship gatherings. I'll have to print them off and see what the other ladies think. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/acountryschool/642352/ Wed, 7 Jan 2009 09:57:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/acountryschool/642352/ I told you I live under a rock. I missed this. I totally and utterly missed this. From The Simple Dollar: For those of you who haven’t heard the news yet, on February 10, 2009, the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act comes into effect. One of the major changes that this program will bring into play is a mandate that everything sold for children 12 and younger will have to be tested for lead and phthalates, and anything that isn’t tested (or that fails) will be considered hazardous and cannot be sold. Read more about the CPSIA at the L.A. Times and some interesting blog commentary from the fashion industry. For new products, this isn’t an issue at all and is in fact a good thing. Many products are already being screened with such tests, and those that are not will be required to begin such testing shortly or will be pulled from the market. In terms of safety for my children, I’m quite happy with the effects of this law on new products. Where things get interesting is with used products. Consider your local resale and thrift shop. Currently, all of their secondhand children’s clothes will have to be tested for lead and phthalates. Given that many such stores aren’t high-income operations - many are nonprofits - these shops simply cannot afford to do the testing on the children’s clothes on their shelves. Wonderful plan, isn't it? Fill the landfills with things that are most likely more than safe to pass along to others. No more FreeCycle groups, no more resale shops, no more thrift shops, etc. Yes, I understand the troubles of lead-based paints and such, of the ills of those flame-retardant materials and so forth. But this is pretty poorly written in such that it eliminates everything, and then sends it to landfill instead. From Hearty Works blog: No more clothes. No more toys. Not at any second hand shoppe (unless they try to get around it like one lady commented in a post from Like Merchant Ships in which they put "For Adult Use Only" sign near the toys and get away with it LOL!) Many etsy stores will have to find something else to sell or stop selling entirely. And many of our favorite cloth diaper making mommy sites will be closing their doors or limiting products. And what about garage sales or craigslist? Who knows? It is too soon to tell (or understand the new law as it is written). WHAT am I talking about? No More Thrift Store Kid Stuff Shopping For Used Children's CLothes Could Get a Lot Harder I REALLY liked what Meredith wrote. It is a VERY Proverbs 31 approach to the whole crisis. Now this thought process I really like. Back to a true sense of community like we used to have in this country. I don't really see it happening on a large scale, but in smaller communities, this is already happening,so maybe it could spread out some. We can always hope. I loved one commenter on a blog noting this -- used clothing is nasty and should be destroyed. Why aren't we buying clean things, made in America instead. LOL...do we even have "American made" clothing anymore? And for crying out loud, are folks actually buying things at thrift shops and yard sales and wearing them right then and there? Now that is rather nasty. I have a washing machine, I know how to clean clothing...I'm hardly tossing dirty used ites at my children, covered in smoke, dirt and animal hair. Here's the blurb from ThunderWolf Ranch: Do You Buy or Sell Pre-owned Clothes and Toys for your kids???? As of FEB. 10 2009 you will not be able to ANYMORE! In August of 2008, important legislation passed that was intended to protect children from harmful lead in toys, equipment and clothing. Although the intention is good, the bill that was passed is poorly written. Thus, it will prohibit the resale of ANY used clothing, toys, equipment for children unless you can PROVE it is lead free. This means that stores such as Goodwill, Salvation Army, Kid to Kid, Once Upon a Child, any thrift store, all children's consignment sales, Ebay sales, Craigslist and GARAGE SALES are prohibited from selling children's clothing, toys or equipment after FEB. 10, 2009 unless they have had the item tested for lead and can provide verification that it is lead free. Here is the link to contact your Congressman, even some text you can use if you are not up to formulating a letter yourself. At the very least, urge them to re-write this legislation into something more consumer-friendly! At the bottom of her article, The Smart Mama explains the legislation so we can understand it a bit better. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/acountryschool/642351/ Wed, 7 Jan 2009 09:56:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/acountryschool/642351/ Nothing special about the pictures...just things around the homestead lately :o) Enjoy! Some of the property over the weekend. This is the back clearing where we want to build. If we don't build here, I want to put our schoolhouse up back here anyway (just to the right of that center pine tree...that's where the trail heads back to the pond. The next is the logging road they used a few years back to get to the neighbors property...and where they come up with the 4-wheelers. The bottom of that range there is the end of our property. Next two are of the pond, coming in from that logging road, through the trees. It's just seasonal and lately, that has meant no real water to speak of. The first year it had maybe 2 foot of water. This year, maybe the same. The 2 years in the middle, it was just about bone dry and useless with the drought. We'd like to dig it out more and shore it up to try to keep water in it. We know there's a decent aquifer running through this part of the mountain, down about 150 here at the house end of the property. Would be nice to have some water for the animals if nothing else. Thanksgiving weekend work on the homestead...Finally getting the holes dug out for the posts for the back porch area. Most likely, it will never make it as a porch and will be enclosed for living space...maybe that outdoor kitchen ;o) I tried to get the holes started but it's all clay...and really thick nasty stuff at that. I just can't do it. I'm a wimp. I admit it. So, as Drew was over for dinner, we put him to work with Dewey :o) The goofy pup there is the beagles basset mutt mix we have...brains of a stuffed animal, but lovable. He chases rabbits and such all night. Pinned a coyote down in the timber last year so we could shoot it. He's a good dog...just goofy. Notice Miss Abigail's bare feet...this was the day after Thanksgiving. Sure wouldn't be out running the countryside like that back North this time of year! Thanksgiving fixins' on the homestead...We spent all day Wednesday baking...2 pecan pies, 2 apple, 2 chocolate (that's the empty crust with the tin foil in it) and 2 9x13 pumpkin cobblers. And the yummiest yeast rolls :o) It's a mix we do up and keep in the pantry --delicious. And, yes, I'll add the recipe soon! The full menu ended up looking like this...deep-fried turkey, a huge (h-u-g-e) smoked ham from the butcher (stupid me didn't ask about size, just got the one that looked so good...it didn't fit inside the 18qt Nesco roaster we have...had to sit cockeyed until it cooked down some and slide into the pan the right way!). Dressing, green bean casserole, baked corn, potatoes/gravy, sweet potatoes, then the list of desserts. We made honey nut crunch and ranch/dill crackers for snacking all weekend. This was the first year our eldest wasn't at the table. He rode up with Dewey to pick up Hope's car and drive it back. He wanted it to be their first Thanksgiving, and he was frying his first turkey solo... The 20 quart mixer...yes, that's a make-do kitchen sink set up there. We pulled out the cupboard a while back. I have a very nice, new countertop sitting out in the building, but until I know for sure what we are doing (building or simply remodelling) I don't want to use it yet ;o) And, yes, those are cinder blocks under the mixer -- it sits too low to the floor for comfortable use. I know it looks rather hillbilly-ish, but it works ;o) The meat, part 1/Day 1...still partially frozen, even after 2 days of thawing in the cooler bag. Guess that cooler bag works far better than I thought it did! We cut up most of the chunks to more suitable pieces and readied them for the canning jars. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/acountryschool/626525/ Mon, 1 Dec 2008 13:47:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/acountryschool/626525/ Houston, we have a problem. My 4 inch by, oh, maybe 14 inch, chuck roast won't fit in my roaster :o( Well, let me rephrase myself. It fits...with some tucking in along the sides, and I do have a bit of space on the ends. But overall, my cast iron roaster is simply too small. My mother said cut it in half and use 2 pans. Oh, the indignity of whacking this wonderful, marbled roast in half! Isn't it a beauty? No, I don't usually covet meat like this, but this is special :o) I'm used to rolled roasts, or rump roasts...something more akin to the size of a regulation football. In our area here, pork is the meat of choice it seems. Boston Butts, Loins, etc. They are more readily available in the stores. Beef roasts, even a simple chuck roast, just aren't what I think of as a roast. Most around here are what I'd consider more of a thick steak than anything of a roast. But I got this at the butcher yesterday when I ordered my bulk meats. The owner was cutting up a half a steer and his wife brought out some small cuts to cut them down more. I saw this one on the table and asked about it. She was going to cut it at least in half, if not thirds. No way -- it was just perfect, I thought. So I bought it. Me. Home alone here with no husband, no eldest son and fiance, no eldest daughter. Just me and 7 children. Seven younger children. This roast could last us most of the week if I play it right. I managed to get about 4 potatoes cut in half alongside the roast on the ends, and maybe 3 or 4 carrots cut into lengths as well. But my usual broth/gravy concoction doesn't stand a chance of being in there. Not without a serious drip shield along that pan! I simply mixed a bit of stock with a touch of flour to thicken slightly and poured it over. It will be covered and cook all day now. Around 5 or 6 pm we'll eat dinner :o) Can you imagine how tender this baby will be? I probably shouldn't have bought it, being here with just the children, but I lack self-restraint. It just looked too good to pass up. I imagine when Dewey reads this his mouth will be watering all over the computer :o) I could FedEx a plate overnight to you honey.... http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/acountryschool/619737/ Sat, 15 Nov 2008 12:26:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/acountryschool/619737/ ...A pretty pink, pudgy bundle came home with us from the hospital. It took 2 full years to get our Miss Jennifer. We had lost our first girl, Stephanie Michelle, at 36 weeks gestation with CMV and Placenta Previa and were told it would be best not to have another baby until my body had gotten back to normal. We waited that next year and then tried again. Must have been a half-hearted, worried attempt on our part because it took another year to get pregnant....and if you know me at all, you'd know that I am jokingly referred to as 'fertile Myrtle' so a year of no babies was rather unusual, or so we know now looking back! With our previous pregnancy troubles, I was a doctor's nightmare this time around. If they said it was 'normal' to sneeze 3 times a day and I only did it once, I was on the phone in a state of panic. I worried about all manners of things that seemed different this time around. I worried about every little thing concerning pregnancy and babies in general. Ahh, those young, ignorant years. The day before Miss Jennifer joined us, my Mom and I had done some shopping and such. Dewey had classes that evening, and it was snowy and nasty out. I had promised him a big pot of chili for dinner when he arrived home. However, things changed a bit from the plan of the day. Around 2 pm I started having some back pains. Mind you, this was pregnancy #3 for me, but I wasn't thinking about anything other than what might be out of the ordinary. I ignored the back pains until I couldn't stand for more than a few minutes or couldn't walk but a handful of steps. Note to new moms-to-be...if your back hurts and you are close to your due date, just head to the doctor :o) As the day progressed, my back hurt even more, tightening and loosening almost constantly. I finally broke down and tried calling Dewey at school. Being night classes, I had to call the security office and they would send someone over to his class. I waited and waited and finally someone called back -- Dewey wasn't in class. He had left earlier, they assumed because of the roads getting bad for the night. Nice. My husband wasn't in class. We lived out in the boonies basically, a good 45 minutes from the hospital if the day was bright and the roads clear as a whistle...longer with a solid covering of snow and more still falling, let alone if the roads in the boonies hadn't been plowed clear yet. I put a bag together for the hospital and wandered about, wondering where Dewey was and how I might end up at the hospital if no one showed up at home. We had had to make arrangements with the fire department for emergency transportation already, due to my high risk issues, but I just couldn't see a helicopter landing in the ice and snow covered fields at night. Finally Mr. Missing-in-Action pulls in. He takes forever to get inside...his arms are loaded. So were mine...I had my bags for the hospital and my coat on. He brought in the mother-lode of baby goodies -- diapers, receiving blankets, bottle liners, formula, some outfits and doo-dads, and a cute little baby doll, all soft and squishy. I love my husband dearly, mind you, but a less-oblivious-to-his-surroundings man you couldn't find, at least that night! He's showing off this and that with a smile, tickled at the idea of a baby coming... ...then notices there isn't any chili on the stove. ...then notices I'm in my coat and have my bags. I promised he'd get his chili soon enough but we needed to leave. LOL...gotta love a man who buys baby things, right? We got to the hospital and within a couple of hours, here was Miss Jennifer Annette, all pink and pudgy and a bit on the cold side. We had issues with the doctor on-call, from previous experience, but he came in only long enough to play catcher for the nurse so all was good. Jennifer was cold and needed an incubator and warming lights...and we had issues with that as well, but finally things were taken care of and all we wanted was to go home with her. I tend to have issues with hospitals...I have a plan in mind, they like to do things their way and by their books. I'm really more of the sort to try and re-write those books. Generally it's best if we just collet baby and head for home as soon as we can ;o) Saves wear and tear on all concerned because I don't give in easily at all. All turned out well and Miss Jennifer flourished :o) She is spending her second time away from home right now, in Arkansas with Dad on his job until Thanksgiving. She gave him a stern talking to about not eating, hardly anything really, and certainly not very decent foods, and made him go shopping Monday evening. He said she did us proud, shopping as she did. She packed a lot of food into that buggy for a very good amount. Other than to drive -- and pay -- he wasn't really needed at the store at all. She planned the menus out and bought what she needed for him :o) He'll feel just like he's at home...minus the missing 8 people ;o) Miss Jennifer will make a great wife and mother one day if The Lord moves that direction in her life. She has common sense, panics very little over anything (remember Jacob and David being burned so badly a year ago? She remained totally cool and calm through it all while we raced to the hospital, and she managed the homestead while I was gone at LeBonheur for those weeks). She askes questions and fully expects to get decent answers from folks (like doctors...). She can plan a menu and see it to fruition, and save money in the process. She was Grandpa's Girl right from the trip home from the hospital. He loved her to pieces ;o) She's a Daddy's Girl in many ways...and he's fully prepared with a dating contract and plenty of shotguns and ammo to defend her when the tomcats start making the rounds :o) Right now, we all get a laugh out of that country song by Rodney Atkins, Still Cleaning This Gun. The chorus is this: Come on in boy sit on down And tell me about yourself So you like my daughter do you now? Yeah we think she's something else She's her daddy's girl Her momma's world She deserves respect That’s what she'll get Now ain't it son? Y’all go out and have some fun I'll see you when you get back Probably be up all night Still cleanin' this gun Like the song says, it's all for show and ain't nobody gonna get hurt :o) But he's ready, nonetheless. So, long-winded as usual: HAPPY 16th BIRTHDAY SWEETHEART! Then, and Now...btw -- she started "mooing" in the store at that dress!  She was just so cute, mooing every time we passed it, we had to buy it for her! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/acountryschool/618242/ Wed, 12 Nov 2008 12:46:01 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/acountryschool/618242/ Before I forget to add it -- I came across a site full of wonderful recipes I definitely don't want to lose. Brenda, you'll love this blog! Heart4MyHome. I have baking to do now...what a great site :o) Ok...pigs... And the chickens...still not laying an egg, eating me out of house and home, but aren't they a pretty group? Wish they'd drop me an egg... And pictures of Christina's family and ours on a visit... Christina's two oldest daughters :o) Our whole group -- I know, not the best photo in the world, but it was hard to find a place to stand and get everyone in :o) Christina's young man is on the slide, one daughter is on a swing, holding the youngest daughter, and the other daughter is hanging off the end of the swingset. The rest of the brood is all mine :o) We rearranged the living room -- so exciting, heh? It's a mobile home...not exactly a lot we can do when moving things around, but I try every so often nonetheless... Before: this is from the hallway...that's my front door and our 'dining room' side (behind the cookstove is the sewing room area) same hallway, this is the 'living room' side view, to the right of the above photo... this is from that front door, looking into the dining room side...just next to the brass oil lamp hanging there on the left is that hallway I was in for the other photos. How everything looks now: From the front door...we moved the woodstove over to where the piano used to sit, and the table is where the buffet was. The hallway is just to the left of the end of the table. Off the photo, to the right of what you can see, that's the island to the kitchen. There's the hallway. Nothing special. It's all just over-filled with things I'm sure we could manage quite well without but haven't gotten rid of. Pantry News... We earned $150 for those hogs. I'd have given them away...and been thrilled to get a mere $50 for the both of them, but we were blessed with more. That money went into some needs and started my order for some meat at the butcher... 100# of ground beef, 100# of stewing chunks, 100# of sausage, and 25 of bacon. We'll pick that up Wednesday before Thanksgiving, but I came home now with 20# sausage, 5# of bacon and 10# of stewing chunks. We canned the stew meat up for Dewey to take back with him -- 10# of stew chunks gleaned 7 quarts once canned. Give or take, with that ratio, I should end up with around 70 +/- quarts with the full order. The ground... Isn't it a pound per quart, give or take a bit? I'm hoping for at least 75 quarts out of the 100# of ground. The sausage I'm not sure about yet. I may make up patties and can them...have you one sausage in patties? Anyone? The bacon I don't what to do with yet. It will live in the freezer until I figure it all out. LOL...truth be told, with only 1 pressure canner, I'll end up with most of this meat stock sitting in the freezer until I can get it all canned up. I need to borrow several more canners and see if I can keep a temp on the large gas grill out there, or set up the individual propane burners and get an assembly line going! Give me idea ladies! What to do with all this coming meat :o) Anyone planning a trip to Mississippi....wanna bring along your canner and come help out :o) http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/acountryschool/618093/ Wed, 12 Nov 2008 07:58:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/acountryschool/618093/ Ok...there are alot of photo's in this one, so bear with me if they load slow. We have an ancient dial-up connection here and trust me...they might load slowly for you, but that's nothing compared to uploading them on my end! First off, Saturday we visited a pumpkin patch with the handful of children from our church. No, we don't do the whole halloween thing at all. Honestly, you can dress a pig in pretty clothes and take him to church, but it's still just a pig and he simply doesn't belong there....still, we went. I'm a hypocrit, I guess. The 'patch' was a large farm with several fields of pumpkins you could select from yourself (do you know how long it takes children to select their own pumpkin???? It's a loonnggg time, trust me!) They had a large, inflatible slide thing, a race track set up with peddle cars and tricycles and such, a ring for pony rides, a few animals for the petting zoo and a hay bale maze in a small barn. We played a short while, then took the hay wagon out to the fields and everyone got a pumpkin to bring home -- we'll be canning ours this week. I'll just share the pictures and you can look around with our family... Here's my group...sitting on top inside the inflatible bouncer slide...they are trying to decide who gets to be the brave one and head out first. There's Jacob, David, Matthew turned around backwards and Miss KatiAnne (and Hunter, our Pastor's grandson). I noticed that most of the 'city kids' waited very patiently while the strange "amish" children tested themselves here. LOL...what those poor folks must have been thinking! I know...we do need to get out and about more, don't we? The first ones out? Wild Child, of course...and Miss KatiAnne... It was David's birthday and he was convinced the whole day was for him. The inflatible slide posed some issues for him, though. He simply doesn't have the weight to keep him on it -- he would bound over the top and begin to slide down, just to bounce most of the way down because it was more 'springy' than he was 'weighty' And what happens when, as D at As Simply As We Can mentioned on her blog, when country goes to town? The poor country children are duped by the city folk into milking a wooden cow....yes, apparently my children need to get out a bit more. I said that, didn't I? These are those moments when you do need a bit more of being 'of' the world and not just 'in' it I think ;o) Here is eldest and youngest daughters, Miss Jennifer and Miss Emily. They look so impressed with the converted cotton wagon ride to the field, don't they? Honestly, Miss Emily about fell asleep with the motion of the wagon across those fields -- both on the way out and coming back in! It is a good picture of the two of them, though, even if Miss Jennifer didn't want her's taken. And poor Miss Emily in the field...she was looking at me as though I had abandoned her to carry her pumpkin alone so I could take pictures of her misery. Note to other parents: Ok, I sort of did...but *Dad* wanted to see lots of pictures of the day...I had to be just a by-stander! He made me do it. It's all Dad's fault :o) Besides, doesn't carrying your own pumpkin, by yourself, across the whole field, promote character or something? She made it about 5 steps toting that pumpkin before she put it back down and said she was too heavy to carry it. But, along came David to encourage her...he took a few steps with his pumpkin, then came back and carried hers...back and forth like that all the way out of the field (yes, so Mom could take pictures...LOL) Here is KatiAnne with her pumpkin, Johanna with her choice, and way out there is Matthew, trying to help Miss Ashley from church select hers so he can help her carry it back to the wagon. Now, Miss Ashley comes from rather stout farm raised Southern stock...she really didn't need help carrying a pumpkin, but Matthew, well...always the gentleman :o) After the pumpkin field, we stopped back at the farm kitchen and got some drinks before heading home. The children all played in the race track section. They had several different bicycles and tricycles and such. Miss KatiAnne grabbed one of the large tricycles and took off -- with Abigail behind her telling her she needed to pick a different racer so her peddling wouldn't lift her skirt above her knees! She was right -- KatiAnne made about half a round on that track, with constant pulling on her skirt and apron, and chose a different ride. No one listens when Mom says to wear their bloomers..... That was about it for the day. They had some huge, nice looking mum plants set out for sale...bright yellows, deep reds, oranges and some purple-shades. I almost bought a couple, but then I remembered the dogs...who would waste little time in dragging them off the porch; And the cats...who would waste little time in using them for a new litter box out there. They were better left where they were. All in all, the day was fun for everyone. And I put gas in the van before heading out and paid $3.05 a gallon. Not a bad price, considering, but we get over to Blue Mountain and their gas was already down to $2.52 a gallon!!! I could have gotten 15 gallons instead of the 12 gallons I got for my $40. Ugh, ugh and ugh!!!! Still...all considered, the $3.05 was better than the $3.18 it was on Thursday, so I didn't suffer too terribly much. And those little 12 gallons was far more gas than my van has seen in a good 3 months now, so all was well. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/acountryschool/603550/ Sun, 12 Oct 2008 09:29:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/acountryschool/603550/ Here are the photos from yesterday. The children built a fort. Well, it's an encampment of sorts, really. It's Boonesboro...or in our case, Smithsboro. The children love watching the old television series Daniel Boone. Emily sings Daniel Boone was a man....a biiiiiggggg maaaannnnn.... all day, just out of the blue. And easily switches between that and Victory in Jesus or Jesus Loves Me. She has rather eclectic singing choices, I know. This is the beginning of our fabricated chicken house, actually. It's just a cattle panel arched over a frame. We'll move the chickens around the garden area with it once it's finished. Well, maybe...looks like I may not be getting this one back any time soon: And the laundry that was left to wait on Smithsboro's completion... And, I just thought this photo turned out nice. It's Miss Dimples, our KatiAnne, enjoying Smithsboro's outdoor cafe... She wanted Grandma to see her :o) http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/acountryschool/600401/ Sun, 5 Oct 2008 16:30:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/acountryschool/600401/