To the Hilt

Something daddy has always wanted a skunk tail

{ Posted by m j }
{ 09:51, 2008-Aug-29 } { 1 comments } { Link }

Daddy has always wanted a skunk tail for his truck. He wants to hang it from his antenna, (ok, he is a red neck )

A few days a go I was checking the old large goat pen to see about moving the goats back and I saw a piece of the fencing that I am going to have to fix. I noticed there was a dead black animal laying there. I got close and saw it was a skunk. I went to the barn and asked the girls if they knew when it died. They said Midnight a friends dog was on the night before and killed some thing. I told them about the skunk. We girls went to check it out and it was a fresh kill. So I asked where the scalpels were?, out they said, bolt cutters? Dave has them, Why?? Well..........................

Girls daddy always wanted a fresh skunk tail, so I am removing this one. Kristi was sad , the poor skunk, Shayna ok cool. I used a shovel and removed his tail. What do you do with a skunk tail?

Well you :

Here is a picture of the tail, bottom side up, before we started:

Next we have a few pictures of me cutting the tail down the center, but not in half, WHERE ARE MY SCAPPLES??? :

And one more :

Last we have the tail cover in salt:

We saw both sides of the tail had close to same amount of white on it so we girls voted to do the bottom side. The side you are to do.

It is still covered in salt until it is cured. When it is done "cooking as we are calling the process" I will sew it back up and attach some kind of doohickey so he can hang it from the antenna. My red neck boy/man.

Hubby was so shocked when he guessed what his Prize was! He was laughing so hard, he could not beleive I took the tail off for him!!

I was laughing and told him that if I was not a farmer / rancher I would have never done it. I would have NEVER done this if I stayed the person my parnets brought up. I would have hiered someone to do it ! Sorry mom but I did it .

I will show a picture of the tail when it is all done.

God Bless, mj

What can you do on little?

{ Posted by HandsNHearts }
{ 01:51, Wednesday, August 27, 2008 } { Posted in From the Desk } { 2 comments } { Link }

Hmmm...loaded question, I know.

What do I mean -- little land? little food? little money?

All of the above, I guess.

Say you have 2 acres of land, good zoning (meaning you can have animals and do what you wish). On this 2 acre patch you are wanting to set up homesteading. Maybe raise a beef cow or two, have a couple of hogs for processing, certainly chickens and maybe even a handful of rabbits.

You want room for the children and for family entertaining, of course. And there are 7 children in the mix.

So...how do you do it? Can you do it? Will it work?

Here's my thoughts...and they are not overly complete by any stretch...do chime in and give me ideas and share your experience!

Well, 2 acres isn't alot, but I do think it can be done. It all depends on how much you really want it to work. Chickens and rabbits are easy to start with and easiest for housing. Back north I'd build according to winter needs...something we can enclose for more indoor spacing during really cold, snowy, nasty weather. Rabbits are just as easy -- and let's not forget, prolific breeders -- so maybe just adding a room onto the end of the chicken coop to run a couple rows of cages.

Cows and pigs are moving into different territory. We have hogs. Pain in the rump roasts but oh-so delicious afterward. Not sure I'd care to have any more in the future, though. I am not convinced they are truly worth the aggravation yet. Still, pigs and cows can pasture together easily enough, but space? There isn't really alot with 2 acres, so we aren't necessarily looking at keeping them on pasture, so feed over winter...maybe raise them to butcher off before winter each year? Could be do-able, but really...I rather think the variety of animals on such a small space just isn't going to be easily achieved.

Garden and fruit space? Plenty of it, I think. My focus would be an awesome garden with more than enough food to go around, and lining that with fruit trees and bramble fruits. Then I'd look to those chickens and rabbits for our main food source. Maybe barter off some fresh chickens and rabbits for the occasional splurge of beef for dinner.

I just don't see the larger animals on the small space being cost effective. There won't be enough space to adequately rotate pasture areas and allow for regrowth. Dry-lots are doable, but not very animal friendly, and definitely not cost effective.

My personal thought (ya' knew I'd have at least one, right??). It ain't happening. Not such grand scale plans on such small scale land. It's a great size for a beginner homesteader, certainly, but I think it's setting the cart before the horse to plan on diving in head-first on this scale. Maybe I'm totally wrong (yes, it's been known to happen once or twice before...) but I think something on that scale will pretty much turn one off of homesteading. It's just too much, too fast.

What would I do, newbie from the city let's say, I've just bought my 2 acres and I'm getting itchy feet for homesteading? Garden and fruits, chickens and rabbits. Forget the cow and pigs for now. Plug every available penny into the 'land fund' kitty and pray for another few acres adjoining to open up. Or, start honing my skills now and save for that greener pasture down yonder road in a few years. I'd be learning all I could about canning, drying and preserving everything from that awesome garden and homestead orchard. I'd be changing my lifestyle to accommodate more chicken and rabbit, less burger and chops. I'd be starting on that homestead path of make if from scratch.

Use it up,
Wear it out,
Make it do
Or do without

That would become the family creed. Everything homemade from scratch, natural and moving in large strides toward self-sufficiency and complete God-reliance.

Then, one day, when I was no longer that newbie from the city with big plans I'd venture off to my real, true, forever patch of God's Green Earth. Fully armed with my homesteading skills and prepared to learn more skills...like raising the family beef cow and the mini herd of piggies (hmmm...would a group of pigs be a herd?). Maybe at that point I'd be ready to even raise some of my own grains for feed, too, or a bit of hay for winter storage.

What do you think?

Homestead Homeschooling...

{ Posted by HandsNHearts }
{ 11:21, Wednesday, August 27, 2008 } { Posted in The School Desk } { 4 comments } { Link }

Homeschooling goes on...

Ever had one of those mornings where school just sort of starts rather on its own?

I over-slept. Not that I've never slept beyond children rising and getting busy, but once in a while, it does happen.

I think I'm more 'thoughtful' of my husband's leaving this weekend for his new job than I care to admit.

He will be gone a good 12-18 months. He'll only be 6 hours away, but still...we've never really been apart for any serious length of time. He has gone to help on jobsites where he might be there 7-10 days...but 12-18 months??

I'm not really worried -- LOL, we're stout country folk here. No, let me rephrase myself -- we are stout backwoods, mountain-living, rural folk.

Think some sort of combination of Caroline Ingalls meets Olivia Walton meets Ma Kettle.

That would be us. The Ingalls-Walton-Kettle family. We are just the other side of rural out here on our mountain, but we have enough civilization around us to be comfortable. Town is about 13 miles down the mountain and over the highway. hey -- we're big time now -- we just got a Super Wal-Mart here.

But, I just haven't had a sound sleep all of this week now and today, it sort of caught up with me I guess. The children have morning tasks done aside from barn chores, and some are doing school without me.

Our schooling looks like this...on a good day...Rod & Staff books scattered along the harvest table we have. There is math, English, several Pathway Readers, the large KJV Bible and the big green Webster's Dictionary. The white board is ready with Bible verses for copy and memory work. Someone might be over in the living room, listening to a CD from Homeschool Radio Shows to give us a narrative later on. And the littles are coloring. That's their main contribution to a school day most of the time. They grab their ABC series and the crayons (ok, they are crayons only in the loosest of sense....how do you keep proper, intact crayons with so many oungers around?) and they begin creating masterpieces of school work for the day.

We have several read-aloud times during the day. Could be Considering God's Creation, or Mystery of History, our Heroes of History books, or some of our family reading time books...Little House on the Prairie series, Dear America or My America series, or any of our Rod & Staff story books we've been collecting.

Later today someone will have started a Daniel Boone DVD and most will be sitting in the living room. They might pick Christy, but usually they go for Daniel Boone...or one of the original Adventures of Robin Hood. We like that old time television stuff 'round here.

But...as I sit here, school is going on...crayons are all over, and one of the middles is reading a Pathway Reader while the youngers work on their math workbooks...one complaining because another is getting farther ahead.

This is a good morning. It's these days, when Mom might not be doing her part as she should and school just flows along regardless, that I sit back and get that warm, fuzzy, homeschool-y kind of feeling. Right now, public school would be nothing but arguments and paper fights and mayhem.

Don't get me wrong -- we have mayhem here too. Quite often.

That's why we live just on the other side of rural. That's where the Kettle side of the family comes into the mix!

Encouraging Little helpers

{ Posted by Paula }
{ 03:38, Tuesday, August 26, 2008 } { Posted in Personal Thoughts } { 3 comments } { Link }

Do we encourage our little ones to help? Yesterday, I wrote about how Abigail was helping me make dinner by putting the dry kidney beans into the bean pot - one bean at a time. She had a lot of fun doing it and I had fun watching her. I later thought how easy it would have been for me to just do it myself. It certainly would have been done much faster than the time it took her to do it. Or, instead of seeing the fun part of the task and not getting impatient, I could have fussed about it.

How often have you listened as a parent complains that they have trouble getting their kids to clean their rooms or help out around the home? How often have you been one of those parents? Even the most well-intentioned parent can have those times of frustration.

I wonder, how many times did that child who won't clean their room had tried to help in their very early years only to be set aside and not included in the tasks? In the child's early years, we help to set the tone for the kind of helper they will be.

From the time Abbie was able to walk, she would follow me to the washing machine and watch me load & unload it. One day, she held her hands up to me reaching for the laundry I was taking from the washer to put in the dryer. The laundry was heavy for her, but I let her help me. She took the laundry one item at a time from me and added it to the machine. I had to help support larger items like my Beloved's jeans or blankets. I also had to adjust the laundry as she was too little to put the laundry towards the back of the dryer. Now, at 2 yrs old, she automatically comes with me to help with laundry and will stay near my side. When I am washing by hand, I set up a little tub for her with warm water for her. As I wash the wash cloths and other small items and they are rinsed, I hand them to her. Abbie then "washes" them and squishes out the water. When I am hanging laundry on the line, she hands me items to hang or the clothes pins. After the laundry is dry, she again will help by putting the laundry in the basket or putting the clothes pins in their container.

Would the job go faster without a 2 year old helping? Certainly it would, but I would be missing an opportunity to teach her how to help out. Teaching the idea of having a good work ethic doesn't happen overnight or is an attitude that can wait until a child is a preteen to teach them. We, as parents, must start early and let the idea of doing chores and helping be something that they learn to do from habit. Yes, there will be times when the child will become resistant and rebel against helping, but we need to continue to encourage them.

When I was working, before becoming a SAHM, I often saw the effect caused by parents who did not teach their children how to work. The kids grew up to be lazy on the job and some were having to be trained in even basic skills that should have been taught when they were growing up. I will never forget a girl who came to work at the fast food restaurant I was working at. When she was asked to wash some dishes, she literally had no clue how to do it! I asked her if she ever did dishes at home. Her reply was that her Mom always did them in the dishwasher. This 18 yr old girl had never washed a dish by hand in her entire life!

As parents, are we training our children to be independent or are we training them to be dependent? Over the years, many well-meaning women have made the statement to me that they hated doing chores when they grew up, so they were not going to burden their children with chores. These mom cleaned their childrens rooms, made their beds, did all the household cleaning, laundry, meal preparations, and such themselves without the help of their children. Her children grew up very unprepared for life on their own. They lacked the skills to know how to do their laundry, how to prepare meals, or take proper care of their homes.

How sad it is to see children who are not expected to help around the home! How sad that there are parents who do not see the chores as a form of preparation to teach their children about real life!

Going to be MIA for a bit...

{ Posted by HandsNHearts }
{ 10:53, Tuesday, August 26, 2008 } { 3 comments } { Link }

Dewey will be heading over to Arkansas this weekend to get started on the new job. We are all excited about the prospects this job will offer, though the time away isn't top on our favorite list. We have plans, though. Plans for visits alot...and plans for a living history study this year

Do keep us lifted in prayer if we come to mind. Dewey for peace while gone from home where his heart is deeply embedded, and for safety while traveling and living there. And for us, who will miss him terribly, but want this all to work for the best for the family. So, we will be cheerful and trust that The Lord is working all of this for our benefit. He has been guiding us in this since it first came up and we each have peace over the decision. Still, being apart is hard for the flesh to be happy about.

The other notebook computer here is off on the FedEx truck. It had an accident and needs repair or replacement. Thank you Lord for great warranties! This notebook is next to head out. I thought I'd try waiting for the other to return, but it will be a minimum of 10 working days. Our warranty coverage is up the end of September and if they aren't working properly after walking through everything they keep trying, I want them repaired or replaced. That's what I paid for. We bought the big warranty...it covers everything under the sun that could ever possibly happen to these things...if Wild Child takes them to the barn and the piggies play with them -- it's covered! If they end up in the driveway and get run over -- it's covered. If someone spills their bowl of cereal or glass of tea over the keyboard and it turns pretty blue and green colors in little lightening flashes -- it's covered. With this family, we thought ahead and wanted to be prepared, kwim?

Well, I need to gather some items for Dewey's paperwork and get back to the chores of the day here. I might be missing in action for a couple of weeks if both computers head off for repair. Need to close some group mails until then! See you when I get back online!

Blog Award!

{ Posted by Ashley }
{ 10:58, Tue-26-Aug-2008 } { 1 comments } { Link }

I have needed to post about this lovely award for over a week! It's so sweet, yes?

Joy gave it to me. What people say when they mention my blog always leaves me feeling humbled.

I keep forgetting to post this award, partly because I'm very mentally scattered right now, partly because I'm staying pretty busy. Which I find ironic because I've tried to write some very thought-provoking posts lately, yet it's hard to concentrate on everything that needs done!

Also due to family from out-of-state getting in today, and my husband taking off work for most of their visit, this is my almost-sort-of-last-chance to do this. (I do want to try to post off and on during the next week but it might just be pictures.)

Picking 7 blogs to pass the award onto is daunting as well. Will it be easy or hard? Who will I forget this time? Ack!

Disclaimer: If you do not accept awards, I'm not offended if you don't display it. I'm not trying to clutter your blog, just to be nice and tell you that I REALLY LOVE YOUR BLOG!

**[Edit: forgot to ad the rules of the award!]

The rules of the award are:

1.The winner can put the award on his/her blog

2.Link the person you received the award from

3.Nominate at least 7 other blogs

4.Put links of those blogs on yours

5.Leave a message on the blogs of those you nominated

Generation Cedar (formerly Families Against Feminisim) - the url to the blog changed recently and I still haven't changed it on my sidebar. I check this blog every day. While we disagree on some theological points, this blog always makes me think. I find it encouraging and uplifting and challenging to take part in some of the discussions that occur here.

Home Girl - My other every-day blog. She's so easy for me to read and relate to. Her blog is so refreshingly honest and forthright. It's also quite balanced - you know, heavy topics, light topics, the kind of balance I don't even try for because, well, I seriously doubt I could achieve it. This girl seems to accomplish it effortlessly and is so coherent and concise . . . .

In A Shoe - a really fun family of eleven. Mostly, the mom blogs, but sprinkled throughout are blogs from the dad and oldest daughters, helping to round out the perceptions of the family that you can draw from knowing them online. Sometimes it's serious, but mostly it's lighter and I appreciate that.

Ornaments of Grace - This lovely blog is updated sometimes on a weekly basis. Which is fine by me, as that's about as often as I can check it and the content is always so good! I don't want to miss a thing, but as the mom of a 2.5yo and a 10.5mo and another on the way sometimes it's just so nice to find a blog that is rich and thought-provoking and I don't get behind 15 posts if I miss a week!

Happy To Be Called Mommy! - If she wasn't so personable over the net, she'd be intimadating! I think her crafts are adorable. Bethany is making mozarella cheese this week. Have you ever want to make your own mesophillic starter culture at home? I have no idea what you use that for, but she makes it look fun and easy!

Just Give Me Jesus - I have never met you, but I consider you a dear friend. Cyberworld would be an emptier, lonlier place without your raw, open blog. Thank you for sharing your thoughts on HSB.

One more? Just one more? How did this happen?

Large Family Mothering - Have I mentioned that sometimes I don't get around to visiting blogs often? And how much I enjoy the ones that make me think and challenge how I percieve my world? This is one of those nuggets that enriches my life.

Blessings,

~Ashley~

{ Last Page } { Page 1 of 9 } { Next Page }