E I E I O and on this farm she had a....

Chicken--- My chickens are now laying eggs! We are up to 9 a day. Kinda neat! Collin wakes up early every morning to see how many we got. The other day he was putting them in his pockets so that he could ride the 4-wheeler back up the hill and they broke...smile

Dogs-- Chili is still my funniest dog. The other day he was left out of the crate when we left. He goes on mischievous travels when we do this. When we came home he had totally destroyed these table trinkets I had. While I was picking them up I had to laugh because when I looked at the end table he left me his bone. He must have been carrying his bone and traded.

Bunnies- Now that I am allergic to them we have two running free in the yard. That way I do not have to clean the cage nor get close to them--sort of... I get up really early, earlier than anyone in the family. I buy vanilla wafers from the dollar store and train the animals with them. The dogs hear the box and sit all around me now the bunnies come looking for me in the morning for a treat. It is very satisfying being needed for a cookie.

By the way did I tell you how proud I am of my boys?? Collin was in service with a 25yr old who was afraid to talk to some hunter guys at a camp. That boy trompped right up there and had a good ole boy conversation with them. The 25yr old was shocked. Clancy --- he is a real gentleman. I couldn't be prouder of my 15 yr old.

Campers

We got a really nice camper from someone who wanted out of thier payment. Needless to say they did not use it much and it is in perfect condition on the inside. They parked it up against the woods and the back side got black and streaky. I did not think that was a big deal and I could simply clean it off.

It is year two and I am still cleaning. The camper is 40 ft long and it takes forever to clean. Needless to say I started last year but didn't finish by waxing it so this year I have to start all over again. It doesn't sound like a big deal but 40ft of scrubbing black streaks is like cleaning the rims of your tires and scrubbing white walls. There is a lot of effort involved.

Then I finally got smart. I have two boys!! I didn't use them last year because Todd had them helping him build the house everyday. This year they really didn't want to but with much convincing it is getting done. In two hours my boys and their friend Justin washed and mostly waxed it so that they could go to a swimming party. WOW!! They were really sweaty--smile-- I bet they got big muscles too!

Farming

I found out Wednesday that I can cut my property taxes by 2/3 if I register as a Farm. This means that I have to have some kind of farming that had livestock or crops worth $1000 a year on it.

So, I asked lots of questions about what constitutes a farm. Now this is great, since I tried goats and invested $500 in them but only had them for four days I can qualify them for last year. We also stocked our fish pond for another $250 worth of fish. Which the heron ate. Then I got chickens!!! 20 of them I gave away and Rabbits, now we ate most of them ! chickens are worth $200-- it doesn't matter if I paid for them, it is their worth. The Rabbits, well they made themselves. So looky here!! I am a farm. The best part is that I sat with the assessor and told him all of this and he said it didn't matter as long as they ate and slept on my property for any time.

I like this stupid tax thing!

I am not so happy about my garden. Two years in a row I only have enough to get from the garden what I want to eat that day. Now that I am a real farmer ( hee hee) I have the in with other farmers and they are going to give me manure and all the suggestions to help. It is kinda nice.

Next year we are going to raise two beef cows. If anyone wants to pay for the butchering they are welcome to have beef. One half for me and three halves to share. One half of a beef will feed a family of 4 for a year. That is if you eat other kinds of meat as well. This way instead of paying the tax man I am going to feed my family with the money.

Good news about my lungs

I went to the Lung specialist. I apparently have a calcified lymph and left center lung. Not a biggie since I have 98 percent oxygen when I breathe. All it ment was that at some point in my life I had a huge assult to my lungs and my Lymph gland saved my life and petered out. It could decide to change at some point but for now it is very dormant. This is the kind of stuff that your body sometimes gets tired of having around. Mine is very fine with it right now. YEA!

I imagine it was when I was 15 and worked at the dog kennel. ( I should have never scooped poop hee hee hee)

This year has been exceptionally wet and that is a horrible thing for people with allergies. Hence my awful attack. So-- in order to prevent any further assults on my poor body I now take wonderful drugs to ward off extra mucus and these attacks of sensitivity to everything under the sun. If I am good and remember that I NEED to be drugged every day in order to stay somewhat healthy I should breathe easily. It was no fun choking everyday.

need of new system

I had allergies that would not clear up in May. Coughed until July and found out that I had broncitius. Not a big deal in itself, however since it was so bad they took a chest xray and found that I have had too many assults to my lungs. I have developed calcuim deposits in my left lung.

Allergies are funny. One year I might have a runny nose then the next I get hives or something bigger like chronic broncitius. This year I have developed an asthma like scare. It feels like I am choking and need to dry cough. I called the American Lung Assoc. they confirmed that in later years those with not so good allergies can develope asthma like symptoms. I seem to exasperate my system with cleaning chemicals. That sounds not so bad until you realize that chemicals are everywhere. We went to look at a new truck. The NEW Truck smell made me not breath so easy. Washing clothes the soap bothered me. urghhh.

All and all I have a appointment with the pulmonary specialist to see how damaged my lungs are and to try to get a handle on this new development. Hopefully they will give me a magic shot and make it all go away. smile....

Lookin forward to the new system when aliments are not a worry.

Oil

The term "Free" sometimes comes with a price. We have "free" natural gas for our use on our property however we are now experiencing our second oil spill. Two years ago we had a devasting 90 barrels go down our hollow. This time it is only one barrel, however that is still 55 gallons.

Money and greed tend to make people less responsible. It is a good thing that my house is up on a knob and my well away from any stream. The gas/oil lines are starting to deteriorate and developing pin holes. It is not like in MD where a whole area would be evacuated for saftey. Here the gas and oil just continues to spill until someone says something. Usually it can go on for weeks before it is noticed. There is the EPA but, if you notifiy them your local well tender will develop an attitude and make your life almost unbearable. It is in everyones best interest to work with them on a clean up first.

Our last three days have been watching them sop up oil with these rags that look like floor tiles. My creek looks like a nicely laid white floor with fluffy pillows every so often. We are much more agressive this time since last time they took too many short cuts and left us with a continual mess. These "tiles" do not absorb water, only oil. Once full they squeeze them out into a bucket and relay them down. Most of the oil in the water will come up it is the oil that seeps into the soil that causes a problem. The soil over time will slowly release the oil causing the mess. We are going to push for them to clean the soil around our pond. I do not think they will be very happy.

It is amazing what people will do when not monitored by someone in authority. Out here we are so rural that it is impossible to know all of the devasting things that can take place and simply not enough money to monitor. It is a shame. I long for the time when people will simply look for the best interest of his fellow man and not money.

Bunnies

Ok, I've heard of survival of the fitest but never seen it in action. Yesterday my girl bunny that is due any day was ripping the hair out of her sisters for a bed. Smart girl, she didn't use her own. I needed to separate them but my boy bunnies are in the other cages.

Clancy got the job of killing the boys and packing them for the freezer. He put them down on the ground and our buck "Honda" the breader man, came and started biting the poor guy. Next thing we noticed is that he castrated him!!! URGHHH It was a good thing he didnt have to endure long. Isn't that awful?? It is a shame that Honda is so nice?? I don't want to eat him because he is a great stud.


On another note.....

Collin is quite the inventor. He took remote control cars and pulled the engines. He went to radio shack and bought switches and wire and junk. We did not encourage nor help him in this project, except for the ride to the store. He has now made with popcicle sticks and glue a remote controlled boat. It can go all over the pond. Smart little guy.!!

CHILI-- He is so funny. He likes to fish with Clancy. The other day Clancy said that he wanted a fish so bad he swam out 6 feet from shore and dove down in the water to try to catch a fish. Boston Terriers are not known for water play. I was just looking at him in the crate. He collects dishes. He has the birds bowl, cat bowl and an ice cream tub that I gave to pete last night beside him as he sleeps

Rabbits and Chickens OH MY!!

A sister called us one afternoon, mind you that I ignored her call untill the next day, to let us know that her neighbor ran over a nest of rabbits and needed someone to care for them. Wild ones at that. Since Collin talks about his rabbits at the hall we were the choice that came to mind to care for them.

Collin fed them every two hours on our Mama bunny however she didn't have enough milk for them and her babies. Needless to say 4 of the 6 babies died. I got milk replacer and had to nurse the two remaining babies back to life every hour for two days. That ment all night long we got up and fed them one teaspoon of milk that took 20 mins to do. They got up to a tablespoon by day three. Now we are at 8 days and they are fat plump bunnies. The wild side is showing so they must be feeling good.

CHICKENS____ I ordered 27 mail order chicks. I really went overboard and ordered a bunch with the intent to give a few away. The morning came and I picked them up from the post office and quickly got them home into the brooding box. Very proudly I gave them food and water. I didn't count them because 27 was going to look like a lot. That evening a Brother came by and told me that I had over 50!! Aparently I got someone elses order. NOW WHAT!! My homesteader/ organic eggs are now overwhelming .

I have bunnies out the wazoo and chicks ---oh my--- if 40 of them lay eggs that is 40 a day times 7 oh myyyyyyy gooodddnesss what am I to do??

I went to mtg and a brother is going to take 10 of them. I still have way too many.

Garden

Todd moved our garden yesterday. We found out why it didn't flourish last year. We had a black walnut tree over one end of it. Nothing grows in the soil that the nuts drop in very well. Too much acid.

Now it is on top of the hill where I can get to it easy. Todd cut down 5 really big trees so that the sun will shine nicely. He even put up the electric fence to keep out deer. Terry and Lois brought us compost to help our soil out. We seem to have clay and not much topsoil where the sun shines. There is plenty of topsoil in the hard to reach areas in the shade.

I am planting ( I hope it isn't too late because it was supposed to be planted in April) lettuce, broccoli, potatoes, red onions, carrots, snap peas, bush beans, cucumbers, yellow and green squash, lots of tomatoes, maybe corn..

We also planted some large shrubs that a sister got for us from a remodel. They are 6 yr old ones. NICE!!

We are starting to look like a home and not a construction site.

Seneca rocks

We went to Seneca Rocks this past weekend. It is so beautiful there. The boys climbed the rock as far as you could without climbing gear. The water was very high at the bottom and made pretty pictures. Chili went too. He has no fear at all. Even crossed the creek up to his neck in water.

A2 this picture is for you. It is amazing that these two cats still like to cuddle together. I rarely see the four of them snuggling. It is always these two and the other two alone. Huck is not afraid of the dogs anymore. He finally stopped running which took the fun out of the chase and the dogs lost interest. Tom is aloof now . He comes in when it is cold but sleeps by himself. Huck demands attention. But... IF Tom is allowed to sleep in my room he will smack the nightstank drawer pulls at 5:00 am so that I get up and let him outside. I don't have him in my room very often. urghh.

Mrs. Mitties and her babies

Our babies are so cute. The one in front is the runt. He/she almost didn't make it. It wandered out of the cage one cold night about 10 feet. When I found him he was so cold that he couldn't move. I held it about 15 min in front of a heater and very slowly an arm then a leg would move. Once it was warmed up the kids and I held mama and he nursed like he had never eaten before. :) It is amazing that the cats didn't get to him first. The one directly in front of the runt is the mammoth baby. It is literally twice the size of the others. We call it Helda. Hopefully it is a girl so we can breed that one.

The long and short of it....... they are way too cute to eat ..... then they pee a lot, eat a lot and make a big mess...... which makes them look like they need to be in the freezer!!

Heat

Square Dancing

Yesterday, sunday, was really busy. We woke up to freezing rain and the meeting had to be moved to 1:00 so that the salt trucks could make it safe. I thought I would have a relaxing moment to get dressed casually-- BUT NOOOO. Todd's study shows up because he doesn't like that the meeting is changed and we should study our WT with him NOW. We did so not only for his benefit but also for the kids. I am so impressed how Collin handles his Bible defending the truth. --So I am now hurring to get dressed and make-up on so that we can do this study. My hair looked yucky all day! :(

After the meeting it was still snowing and we were all to go square dancing. In the snow we trecked 40 min to a great party. What was great about it was that the kids out here all dance with each other. No singling out. The girls simply yell out "We need boys" and they all go out. Clancy and Kara danced all night. Collin took awhile and was really grumpy that we went square dancing but after awhile he too was dancing. It was really nice to hear that they all had such a good time. Clancy made a new friend, Kara many many friends---- Collin learned that some girls taller than him have really bad breath.

We had gone to Hardee's before the dance and I drank D. Coke ( which I haven't had for two weeks) and the caffine has kept me up alllll night. Here it is 6 in the morning and I am now blogging. I will pay for this later.

Oh My!! It is cold!

Well I must say it is really cold in WV. I woke up this morning to -3 degrees. Our house is a woopping 38 degrees right now. The funny thing is that it no longer feels cold. Our house is averaging about 55degrees on a normal 30degrees day. We can get it warmer but when we are out in service the fire in the woodstove goes out and the process starts again. In fact if my room gets to 60 I think it is a heat wave and nearly have a hot flash and get irritated.

Todd and I have several gas heaters that we could install-- hence free gas --it would not cost us anything to use them-- but we simply have not gotten inconvienced enough yet. I do think though that today will start the inconvience if it continues.

We went to bed wondering how many of our rentals will have busted pipes in the morning. I anticipate two. In those houses we do not have smart enough people to drip the water over the night.

New Family Study Night

Family study night is going well. We decided to start out doing the "For Young People" in the back of the Watchtower mag. This week it was on David and Goliath and where David got his strength came from. It was very interesting and nice to see how the kids applied it. They also have to keep up on daily Bible reading and give a small report on what new or interesting thing they learned while reading each night.

It seems like we get more accomplished each day with the new arrangement. By only adding one evening we as a family are more concentraed on getting more out of what Jehovah has provided.

Strange day

Wednesday I was in the grocery store and ran into the woman I got ChiliPepper from. She started crying!! Then walked away!! So kindly I saw her again and thanked her for the dog, she then said she would buy him back. WHewww!! I like the dog but maybe she liked him more. But then she told me she was going to breed Yorkies and I should bring Chili by to see her. Perhaps I should give him back?????

On a different note......... Angels prodding.... I seem to have this ( I dont want to call it humble- stubborn--or whatever) but I seem not to hear very well. I have very often thought of a certain person continually but did nothing about it or waited until it was conveinent for me to do so. Once again I feel like I need a two by four in the head. For two weeks I have been thinking about a call I had on a girl that lives on a god forsaken road. I didn't go. Then on Friday while Todd was out he found her at a friends house. She proceeded to tell him that a girl named CHERYL gave her the track with the 6 questions in OCTOBER which she liked very much. She took the latest mags and asked for us to come again. She showed great interest.

On another call angels prodded again and I asked for boldness and drove right past the house!! Didn't even turn around. The car was even there. I have since tried to find her home----no car!! Why didn't I listen!! She even told me that she didn't read the mags but her mother did and said that we think on the same page as her, never before has her mother felt that a religion was like her thinking

So when this happened today with another call that has been bothering me I WENT. The lady thought we didn't think her lifestyle was what we approved of and that was why we didn't come back. I left the magazines and will go back on Wedensday.

There is so much interest out there. I was not neglecting service just my overwhelming amount of calls. I realize that picking and choosing the calls I want to do is not always the ones that Jehovah is directing the angels to assist.

Sometimes I feel so stupid!!!!!!!!!!