Hello to everyone,
Im not going to dwell on past events or any past posts. This thread is just to let those of you that have an interest in our situation know the goings on.
Well as things are as of now. First of all id like to thank Rick for all his kindness and generosity. His efforts and gifts has made life alot more bearable. Not only that, but he has changed my mindset to the virtues of others. Not only rick , but many of you kind souls has helped us in ways i could not express in words. Let it be known that your thoughtfulness as well as charity will be echoed in the halls of eternity.
As to our current situation and how things are going?. Well things are better than expected. The problems i had with my mother are mostly gone. She has not went to rehab yet, and i dont know that she will. She has warmed up to the idea of being a grandmother. I have seen a good deal of change in her since we first landed here. With time i feel that this will not only continue, but will blossom. My mom and my 3 1/2 year old have a great bond and are becomming very close. I feel this is good for the both of them. Speaking of my 2nd in line, P.J. has been speaking alot more. It is utterly amazing how far he has come in such a short period of time. He is nearly potty trained. Which is a tremendous blessing.
Preston the oldest is doing very well in school. He is doing better than i expected. All A's and B's on his interm report. I couldnt be happier. He is doing so well.
Porter is starting to give up the bottle. He is on the sippy cup most of time, except at bedtimes. Then he insists on the bottle. He is very fat and healthy , and is starting to speak decently about some things. His new best thing is the land before time. He loves that cartoon.
I planted a little bit of a fall garden. I ended up with 2 beds approx. 3 foot wide and 25 foot long. I was able to doubble dig these beds. I added a huge amount of well composted chicken manure to the beds. I planted 36 cabbage plants, 26 broccoli plants and 10 cauliflower plants, not to mention 1 pound of snow pea seed. I also was able to plant 6 zuccinni plants. I put the squash under a small greenhouse type enclosure. They are doing fantastic. But i found them crawling with squash bugs this morning. Stuff had been eating my cole crops as well. I had a bag of sevin dust so i gave everything a good dusting. I hope it takes care of my bug problem. I didnt really like the idea of using the 7 dust, but i really had no choice. Either use the 7 or watch my crop go to the bugs. So i thought it be better to dust and wash well the fruits instead of letting the beetles and the catapillars eat it all. One of the pear tress produced a bumper crop, at least to us
We made and canned pear butter. We ended up with 10 quarts all and all. It is so good i cant begin to tell you.I got a jar set back for Rick and family
. Im hoping to get some apples soon for some apple butter.
Got a bit of livestock now. Bought a few laying hens. Some golden comets as well as a few mixed chickens. They have been living very well on scraps and a bit of corn. Getting bout 3-6 eggs a day.
Squrriel season is in now. Ive got an old bolt action 16 guage. Me and the oldest boy have been able to put a few bushytails in the freezer. I have been starting to educate my oldest. He has been learning about the wilds and aspects of hunting/trapping. Other than the bushtails killed, he has been with me scouting deer, scouting muskrat dens ( for fall trapping). We have had good success gathering yellow root (goldenseal) as well as ginseng. Both very profitable. The puffballs are up good and growing fast. Many have graced our skillet. The paw-paws are becomming ripe and we have been gathering those as well. Jerursalem artichoches have been on our table the last couple of weeks. The kids dont seem to mind the slight diffrences they have with potatoes. The fishing has been great. We have caught a great number of crappie, blue gills anf bass not to mention the channel cats. The freezer is getting full. The snapping turtles have been uncommonly large it seems this year and we have a good bitt of snapper meat in the freezer. Im really looking forward to deer season and the frost. It wont be long now. The woods are thick with deer. Sign is everywhere. The oldest and i have already staked out many ambush points with loads of sign of deer. Its just a matter of time before we fill the freezer. Actully i want to make several clothing items for myself, dorothy and the kids. I was thinking of making the 2 oldest boys some raccoon skin caps for xmas. I have done alot of fur tanning in the past. The family could benefit from some nice warm brain tanned moccasins as well. It will all come with time i think. Really the fall is the time of feasting
As far as the living conditions go. We have been able to seal the porch/room up pretty tight. Some 2x4's and some sheets of OSB board and we were pretty tight. Got a small wood burner as well along with the stove pipe and other needed pieces. We tried the wood stove out 1 morning and the chimney drawed well, and we had no problems. We also put up some shelving for storage as well as painted a good deal of the room. We enclosed the eves and added fiberglass insulation scaraps we had. The roof is still covered in tarps. The roof need a few sheets of OSB as well as the shingles installed. Im hoping maybe i can talk Rick into some help , or another i know? Ill have to wait and see how things go. We really need to get that shingled and the ceiling insulated. I have access to some drywall as well as fiberglass insulation. We put in a bunk bed for the boys. It is a single 4x8 sheet of OSB in size, and is bout 4foot off the ground abouve our bed. They love it. Im grateful for that as ther is really nowhere else to put them. All is well it see,s on that front. We have even beenable to get PJ into sleeping in the "loft" bed. Which you can only imagine how great that is
Well not much else to report at this time. Im not online very often, but if anyone has MSN messenger you can add me to your contact list and we can chat. Im at
imahappyfarmer@live.com I hope to hear from someone soon.
I just want to say again to all those souls who have helped us along the way/ That your gifts are greater than any mere words a man like myself could write or utter. Blessed you are, and in the days to come.
One last thing, I have been inspired by a man that lives nearby. He belongs to a local church and is the head of their food pantry. I have been talking to this man and have gleamed alot of information from him. I feel he is truly a man of god, unlike many of the people i have met in the past whom claim to be such a person. His words, inspiration and kindness is more than i can explain. He is truly a man of good, and god bless him for it. I hope that i can contribute more to this forum, as i plan to visit more often. Things are more settled now and seem to progressing well.
I hope to report again soon as well contribute to the forum. I have many, many ideas and questions. Be well all..
Keep your powder dry.....
Modern Pioneer
