Random Thoughts

The ups and downs of having a teenager with a driver's license:

Constant worry over deer and large farm equipment trying to occupy the same road space as my child.

Freedom from endless running and fetching for lessons, games, and after school activities.

Insurance costs!!!  Talk about legalized theft!

But best of all, I haven't had to do the grocery shopping in months! 

A ray of hope and sanity in Middle America during the overwhelming discouragement of living through a presidential election year:

The sudden hush that fell over the stadium at the beginning of the Great Lakes Loons ballgame, when the national anthem began and everyone stopped talking, and stood facing the flag with their hands over their hearts.

How is it that the gasoline currently in storage in large tanks under gas stations here in Michigan suddenly becomes more expensive when the hurricane a thousand miles away hasn't even hit anything yet?




I've decided the best smells of late summer are tomatoes cooking in a huge pot on the stove mixed with the sharp scent of peppers and onions in the dehydrator.



I'm waiting for something fantastical to happen on Friday during the blue moon. At least I've read some good stories based on that premise.

*Just in case you were wondering, the moon won't really turn blue.  It's just the name for the second full moon within one calendar month.  The last blue moon was during November 2010.

Time to Fill the Jars!

It's so wonderful to have a circle of good people about; not only do I have a great family but my church family is something special too.  One of my church family arranged for me to trade a bunch of my seedlings I grew this spring for some farm fresh chickens.  I'm pretty sure I came out the winner on this one!  The chickens were raised without chemicals, drugs, or hormones, and their home was only a dozen miles from my homestead.  Eat local, right?

Well these chickens met their end a couple of weeks ago; by the time I got over after church to lend a hand the bloody bit was over, so I got to help a little with the bagging and weighing part.  There were chicken carcasses all over the kitchen, and a lot of gabbing and laughing as the work was done, sort of like an old-time work bee.

Ideally, I would have brought all twenty chickens home and stayed up all night stuffing them into jars and wrassling with the Creature to get them all processed.  However the combination of having to work, and the imminent visit of the small humans known as nephews had me frantically making room in the freezer.

So I pulled out several chickens this weekend, chopped them up, filled my jars, and processed them.  Eight pints done so far, and all sealed.  It seems the Creature and I have called a truce; pressure canning isn't nearly the frightening, nerve-wracking thing that it was.  I did learn a few lessons:  a sharp knife is essential (I'll have to learn to keep them sharp!), it is much easier to cut the raw meat when it is still partially frozen, and working with partially frozen meat can really freeze your hands!

The garden is very sad, mostly overcome by the relentless weeds.  I will have to purchase beans and corn from my Amish neighbors to have enough to can up this season, which troubles my frugal heart, as I should be able to get enough from my garden, rather than using money for vegetables, but you do what you have to do, right?  I do have a few spaghetti squash, peppers, and some tomatoes are finally turning red.  I like to do most of the tomato prep work outside, just because it makes such a big mess.  I do the work at my picnic table, and can simply hose everything down.

I start with the best tomatoes I can pick, and wash them before dropping them into boiling water, using the blancher.  My grill opens up enough to accommodate the blancher and does a good job of keepng the water boiling.  After the tomatoes have been in the boiling water for just a few minutes, I pull them out and plunge them into a bowl of cold water.  this makes the skins loosen, and cools them enough for handling.  I pull the skins off, and then put the tomatoes through my Victorio strainer.  This great little kitchen gadget will crush the tomatoes, pushing all the seeds and tough bits out the end, while allowing the puree to pour into a bowl.  This whole process makes a huge mess, especially when the plunger makes a tomato squirt all over - usually getting the walls, ceiling, and my face, while completely missing the newspapers put down to catch the drips.  The bowls of puree are dumped into my heavy duty stock pot, cooked down to the desired consistency, and then jarred and processed.  This method is great because the puree lends itself to so many recipes - everything from ketchup to soup to dried tomato leather.  Quarts are water-bathed for forty minutes, pints for thirty-five.  While I grow heirloom tomatoes that weren't bred for sweetness, there's no way to be sure how acid they are, so I add about a tablespoon of lemon juice to each jar, just to be sure.

The Outside Kitchen!

There's nothing so lovely as jar after jar of bright red tomato puree lined up on the counter!

Until next time, may God bless you and keep you.

Thunderstorms and Anti-Truth

It's a true summer evening in Michigan.  A little rubber duck, left behind after the nephew's visit, floats in lazy circles in the swimming pool.  The smell and sizzle of brats on the grill is punctuated by rumbles of thunder as a small thunderstorm slides in from the north.  The scent of rain is in the heavy, wet air, and a rising breeze makes the cornstalks in the garden rustle uneasily.  I'm sitting in my patio swing watching it all, pleased to be home and lazily thinking I should perhaps get up and close the truck windows.

The truck taken care of, the brats almost done, I wander barefooted through my garden, searching for a ripe tomato to have with dinner.  The garden is very poor this year; weed infested and drought stricken despite my efforts at watering and weeding.  So far the corn harvest has been a total of six ears with only a few kernels on them.  The peppers are coming on, and there's some blossoms on the beans, so perhaps all is not yet lost.  My search finally yields two red tomatoes, and the brats and I make it into the house just ahead of the rains.  That wonderful soft, fresh, clean smell of cool rain hitting warm soil is cause for rejoicing, it's been sorely missed this summer.

I've been doing some reading and thinking; and now that I have the laptop back online I'm monitoring the news and following some stories.  I'm reminded over and over again of the "Stages of Error" described by Lutheran theologian Charles Porterfield Krauth:

“When error is admitted into the Church, it will be found that the stages of its progress are always three. It begins by asking toleration. Its friends say to the majority: You need not be afraid of us; we are few, and weak; only let us alone; we shall not disturb the faith of the others. The Church has her standards of doctrine; of course we shall never interfere with them; we only ask for ourselves to be spared interference with our private opinions. Indulged in this for a time, error goes on to assert equal rights. Truth and error are two balancing forces. The Church shall do nothing which looks like deciding between them; that would be partiality. It is bigotry to assert any superior right for the truth. We are to agree to differ, and any favoring of the truth, because it is truth, is partisanship. What the friends of truth and error hold in common is fundamental. Anything on which they differ is ipso facto non-essential. Anybody who makes account of such a thing is a disturber of the peace of the church. Truth and error are two co-ordinate powers, and the great secret of church-statesmanship is to preserve the balance between them. From this point error soon goes on to its natural end, which is to assert supremacy. Truth started with tolerating; it comes to be merely tolerated, and then only for a time. Error claims a preference for its judgments on all disputed points. It puts men into positions, not as at first in spite of their departure from the Church’s faith, but in consequence of it. Their recommendation is that they repudiate the faith, and position is given them to teach others to repudiate it, and to make them skillful in combating it.”

Krauth was writing during the 19th century.  As our language has been dumbed-down during the intervening years, his logic may be a little difficult to follow, so here it is in modern terms:  Error, or Wrong, or Anti-Truth starts small, with requests for toleration.  (Don't hate me because I'm different, different is good, and Truth isn't so much fun anyways).  It then moves to demands for equality.  (I'm just as good and valid as anything you claim to be Truth and I deserve equal treatment and equal rights).  And finally when everyone who had believed whole-heartedly in Truth has become inured to the presence of Error, or anti-Truth, and doesn't care so much anymore, it moves aggressively to impose itself as better than Truth, more worthy, more friendly, and of higher importance. 

Our culture is caught dead-on in the third stage, and like the matter/anti-matter reactions described in my favorite tv series, the Truth/anti-Truth reaction seems likely to tear us apart in utter annihilation. 

The leftist media continues to promote anti-Truth, to willfully distort reports of events, to use emotion-laden, misleading words to foment more grief, more anguish, and more controversy.  Take for example, the recent kerfluffle over comments made by the owner of the Chik-Fil-A restaurants.  He said he did not believe that homosexuals should get married.  He has a right to that opinion.  He never said his business would refuse service to those who identify themselves as homosexuals; he never said anything hateful or demeaning, he simply expressed an opinion.

Well, anti-Truth jumped all over that, didn't it?  The hateful, disgusting, vitriolic response was just stupid.  Prominent politicians decided it gave them the right to attempt to shut down his business, and they decided to deny him the right to build new restaurants.  I bet it was a real surprise to these morons when so many thousands of people showed up for Chik-Fil-A appreciation day!  And the media just kept getting it so wrong - the large turnout wasn't to express hatred of homosexuals.  The large turnout was the result of ordinary, hard-working, tax-paying Americans supporting the man's right to Free Speech!  You know, one of those rights that makes this American republic so great?

Then there's the horrible mass shooting in Colorado.  Instead of realizing the trauma of the event, the media instead jumped to conclusions and claimed the shooter was a member of the Tea Party, so of course he must be evil and all guns must be locked up immediately.  Again, irresponsible reporting seeking only sensationalism.  A mild, muttered apology was issued the next day, but the damage was already done, wasn't it?

And let's not even discuss the presidential race.  The current Pretender in the White House has already sunk to new lows in his effort to remain king. 

What can we do?  Well, step one is to always remember Who is in control.  Tonight's storm passed quickly, with a golden, liquid sunlight breaking through, flashing from west to east and striking silver linings on the retreating clouds.  This was the view from my front porch:

God has set the rainbow as a reminder of His promise in Genesis 9:17: "So God said to Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth."   He is always there, He always remembers, and He has fulfilled His covenant with the Sacrifice of His Son.  Anti-Truth has already lost the war, despite the battles he fights here on earth.

Step Two:  vote!  Vote with your money.  Vote with your voice.  Vote with your actions.  And this fall, vote with your ballot.

Until next time, God bless you my friends.

Of Power Cords and Priorities

It's been a long time since I've written, though not for lack of things to say.  Perhaps I've been caught in a Barn Swallow Relativity shift, sure seems that way most days.  But the reality is a little more mundane....no power cord.  Ninety percent of my internet time is spent with my laptop, in my recliner, out in the living room.  There I have Daughter to talk to, dvds to watch, candles in the fireplace, windows looking out over the neighbor's fields, dawg curled up next to the chair.....who wants to sit in the back room in the uncomfortable chair with the big noisy desktop?

Not me.  So when the laptop power cord shorted out, I just sort of quit going on the internet.  It didn't take long to start reading books again, and having more discussions with Daughter.  It has been a peaceful time, paying more attention to the life right around me and realizing again that living in the moment is important. I haven't bought a replacement cord yet.  Maybe I'm reluctant to end this 'priorities' lesson.

In the meantime, projects continue as possible around the homestead.  The drought has hit here, too.  The garden is small enough to keep watered, but the grass is toast.  Unfortunately, so are much of my neighbor's crops.  The corn looks stunted and twisted and the beets look sad.  Any gains made by planting a month early have been lost.  Despite the watering, my garden is the worst it has been for many seasons.  I planted four rows of corn and five of carrots; I have about eight stunted corn plants and about half a row of carrots.  The weeds have taken over completely, literally head high when I kneel to pull them out.  The cucumbers turn yellow when just a few inches long, and most of the beans never came up.  So far the tomato plants are doing well, thankfully.  I can't imagine how desperate I would be if this garden was my only source of vegetables for the next year!   Hopefully my Amish neighbors are having better luck and I'll be able to buy some corn and beans to can up for the winter.

Of course, booting up the desktop and going online has also reminded me there is so much to be said and done in an effort to save this great nation from the machinations of wicked men.  More on that later; until then, here's some food for thought:

Another Rant

Got my paycheck on Friday.  Since I only work a couple of days a week, it's not very hefty.  What's that old joke?  "I get paid weekly....very weakly"?  Anyways, I looked it over carefully like I always do, and noticed that union dues were taken out again.  Bah, humbug!

I understand the concept of the unions, and why they came into being.  I've read about the "robber-baron"  times when the Carnegie and Rockefeller types had no care for the workers that toiled in their plants.  I've learned about the horrid conditions and seven-day work weeks and the terribly hard times folks had then, and I'm not selling it short.  Indeed, the place where I work unionized some years ago simply because so many people needed protection from an unethical boss.

But, like so many things, unions have grown from a necessary, Helpful Thing, to an over-blown, unweildly, money-sucking Bad Thing.  (Sort of like the federal government!)  Without fail, union dues are taken out of my check, yet the money does not seem to provide the reality of the promise - efficient contract negotiations, protections against unfair treatment by bosses, or the access to proper tools to do the job safely and effectively.  What I see, instead, are propaganda magazines, brightly printed on heavy paper, filled with photos of smiling politicians and shrill rhetoric espousing every liberal cause on the planet - in my mailbox! - how embarrassing.  I see the union emblem prominently displayed on the websites and facebook pages of America-hating left-wing pundits and talk show hosts.  And then to read a an article saying the union plans to spend a hundred million dollars in an effort to re-elect the current Pretender in the White House, and well, it just makes me furious and sick.

Now if the unions would have put all that time and energy and money into promoting American made products; into working with companies to establish fair wages for honest work, (no rewards for incompetence or laziness!) and keeping jobs here instead of outsourced, into producing goods that are so high-quality that no one wants the cheap Chinese stuff anymore; well then I'd be on board and happy to support the union.

But as it is, If union membership were not a requirement on this job, I would quit the union in a minute.  I deeply resent my money being used to support un-American behaviors and certain political philosophies that I find abhorrent.  The unions have lost their way and their purpose.  Instead of being a vehicle for employees to negotiate with employers for fair wages and safe working conditions, they have become involved in politics and greed.  It seems as though the union bosses are more power hungry and corrupt than any of the cruel big company bosses that caused people to unionize in the first place!

I am not alone in this; I know other union members who feel as I do, yet are forced to maintain membership.  We do our best to distance ourselves from the rhetoric, but it is still a burning humiliation that our money is used in such shameful ways.  So, please, remember, when you see a bunch of placard-carrying, slogan-shouting union people supporting a liberal at a political rally, there's an equal number of union members looking at the issues with a clear eye, and voting as their conscience dictates, not as the union bosses demand. 

Of Time, and Seeds, and Plans

I vividly remember a time when I was ten years old, when I felt secure in my little world, my parents still largely between me and cold reality.  It was early December and the magical first snow had fallen, that fluffy, delicate kind that still had the blades of grass sticking up through it.  The school bus bounced and squelched over the muddy back roads on the endless ride home, while I tried to keep my paper snowflake from being damaged by the knocking about - so anxious to get home and have Mom tape it up in the window, the start of our decorating.  All I could think about was the coming of Christmas and I wanted so badly to put up the tree, I was probably a bit of a pest about it.  My Dad told me I had to wait, and my response was pure frustration: "but time goes so sloooow!  Christmas will never get here!".  I've always remembered how he said it was coming so much faster than I realized, and that the older I got, the faster time would go.  While I was still puzzling on that one, he went on to say that he would give almost anything to be ten years old again.  Well, that one I just couldn't swallow.  Ten year olds didn't get to do anything, except what they were told, like picking up toys, feeding chickens, and helping with little brothers.  It was grown ups that had all the fun!

Now...ah, yes, now as a late middle-aged adult, understanding has finally come.  My Dad was absolutely right.  Not only did that Christmas come and go in a moment, but the decades since have flown by.  It puts me in mind of the flight of a barn swallow, a series of rapid swoops and glides, with brief hesitations in between.  I've decided to describe this change in the relative speed of time as the Barn Swallow Relativity Shift.  (Yes, I watch a lot of Star Trek).

I've been a victim of this Shift a lot this Spring.  It seems that one moment I'm babying my little seedlings under the grow lights and the next I have a ton of plants that need to be in the ground - now!  One minute the flowerbeds need a little extra mulch, the next they're choked with weeds, making my home look like a HUD house or something.  One minute I'm vaguely wondering where I stowed my mitt, the next, softball season is in full swing!  It makes me wonder, when I'm 85 or 90 years old, will the days flicker by, lightdarklightdark, like the time lapse photography one sees on television?

We have managed to accomplish a few things around the homestead.  Some new blades on the mower deck, the garden plot tilled and raked and planting begun, plans made for moving the garden shed and some insulation work in the basement.  With the possibility of maybe some full-time employment this summer, I have drastically scaled back the number of tomato plants in the garden.  I've also made a wonderful barter, exchanging some of the plants I raised for home-grown, drug free chickens due to be butchered in August.  I even purchased a second used pressure canner so canning will go more quickly this year.  I found one identical to the creature I already have, so hopefully I won't have such a large learning curve when using it.

Another experiment was taking some of my plants and home-made jams to the opening farmer's market on Memorial Day weekend.  The market is held in a small local town, but I swear that the entire population of the Lower Peninsula was there that day.  The whole experience was rather nerve-wracking, starting with waiting in line in the dark, a mile away from the market site, watching the sun rise while inching along.  Once it was my turn to pull into the marketplace, it was a matter of threading my way down the alley, trying desperately not to hit someone as they bustled about setting up their wares.  Don't know how I got through with both mirrors intact.  Then the fellow in the bright vest throws up his hand and before I'm completely stopped, a dozen more people appear out of nowhere and begin tugging at the door handles.  At this point I'm about to lose it so I open my door and demand to know what's going on - "c'mon, unlock, unlock!  We have to get you unloaded!!!"  Ok, fine, but a little communication would really help, guys!  I popped the locks and doors swing open and hands grab everything that isn't bolted down and throw it in a heap on the sidewalk; doors slam and I'm being told "move it move it!"  I'm glad Daughter was with me, as she began sorting out the mess while I went in search of a parking spot.  And so it went, watching the people around me for a clue as to what to do, and struggling to keep my little table and umbrella from being overwhelmed by all the huge canopies and professional displays all around me.

Two hours later I had made some sales and answered some questions and was doing all right, though completely overwhelmed by the sheer number of people.  Wow.  My friend who talked me into trying the farmer's market came by and did a little hawking for me and helped break the ice, so to speak, but it seems that 'salesmanship' gene is missing from my make up.  Now that I've had the experience, I may try to go again, though I'm planning on a non-holiday weekend that maybe won't be quite so overwhelming.  And maybe I can get my friend to stay at the booth the whole time!

After several days of rain, we have some sun and a nice breeze today, so I'm off to finish planting the garden.  Until next time, may God bless you and keep you, my friends.

Stand Your Ground

Does that phrase bring to mind being aggressive or posing a threat to other people?  Not to anyone with sense, but the liberals are seeing it that way.  Now a few liberal politicians, in an effort to further enforce the 'nanny-state' on us, are attempting to repeal Michigan's Stand Your Ground law.

Enacted in 2006, the law simply states that "(1) An individual who has not or is not engaged in the commission of a crime at the time he or she uses deadly force may use deadly force against another individual anywhere he or she has the legal right to be with no duty to retreat if either of the following applies:

(a) The individual honestly and reasonably believes that the use of deadly force is necessary to prevent the imminent death of or imminent great bodily harm to himself or herself or to another individual.

(b) The individual honestly and reasonably believes that the use of deadly force is necessary to prevent the imminent sexual assault of himself or herself or of another individual."

Yet liberal democrats are now saying that this law "promotes violence"  and say
"What we should be trying to do is get people to be more civil".  More civil?  Really?  This comment was from Woodrow Stanley, the very man who was mayor of Flint, one of the most violent cities in Michigan.  His 'civility' is about as useful as an UN resolution.

It has been proven over and over again that crime rates drop when the general population is allowed to exercise their right to protect themselves by bearing arms.  It is also simple logic that gun laws affect only the law-abiding, not the criminals.  If a crook wants a gun, he will obtain it by whatever means he can, not by jumping through all the governmental hoops and adhering to regulations.

It seems the liberals cannot, or will not, understand these two basic truths.  But they do understand that "A well-armed populace is the best defense against tyranny" and they will stop at nothing to get rid of the Second Amendment.  They have seized on the Martin case in Florida as a chance further their agenda.  After all, it was the current Pretender's chief of staff who said: "You never let a serious crisis go to waste. And what I mean by that it's an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before."

He's not referring to feats of courage and strength that come with that extra surge of determination and adrenaline that one gets in a stressful situation.  No, the liberals are quick to use anything, especially a crisis, as an excuse to further erode our God-given rights, our freedom, and our privileges, to impose rules that they didn't think would be possible before.

Here's a few sources:

http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20120518/POLITICS02/205180362/1409/metro/Michigan-debates-Stand-Your-Ground-law

http://www.legislature.mi.gov/%28S%28aevhs355ide55a553zczqe45%29%29/mileg.aspx?page=GetObject&objectname=mcl-780-972

http://www.wnem.com/story/18511791/mi-dems-seek-repeal-of-stand-your-ground-laws

And this one was very interesting, giving a cop's eye view on the right to carry:

http://forums.officer.com/t167248/

I am hopeful that the Michigan Legislature will not bow to the current liberal shenanigans.  But even if this move is defeated this time around, the liberals will be back with another attempt to curtail our rights and enforce their brand of tyranny.  Be vigilant!

Moving On Up!

Which actually means endless trips up and down the basement stairs.  My seedlings have prospered in their little grow station, and I've been busy transplanting them.  I ran out of room under the lights long before I ran out of seedlings, so I quickly cobbled together a primitive cold frame.  Even though the days are mild now, the nights are still too cold and frosty for unprotected seedlings.

I used two longer planks that had actually been the sides of my trailer before I rebuilt it, and some leftover bits of what had been an insulated, heated, paneled, doghouse.  (Long story.)  The corner braces were made from parts of pallets I picked up for free.  Topped with a couple of old windows a friend gave me after a remodeling project, and lined with black plastic left from landscaping, it's not pretty but I hope it will be enough to protect the plants.  As I have time and can find a matching third window, I may refine it and try to use it for growing some greens during the off season. 

I did say 'primitive'

Here's another upwards moment:  actual customer service!  And from my local internet provider, no less.  They're changing over from 3G to 4G (I have no idea what that means but it's supposed to be good) and had to come replace the equipment at my house.  The tech was a new guy, very young, but good natured and he worked fast.  Unfortunately, he was also a little careless and when he replaced the cable from the antenna on the roof, he did not tuck it up under the soffit, but left it lay in the eavestrough, and the just let it run down into the house without a drip loop.  Augh!  I took pictures and emailed them to the company and politely mentioned that I was NOT happy.  I figured I'd hear back in a week or so, only to be very surprised by a phone call within twenty minutes of the email, and two trucks in my driveway within two hours.  Wow!  No arguments, no "but that's our policy" nonsense, just the young guy and his supervisor replacing the cable and doing it right and being very polite and respectful the whole time.  Now THAT'S how you do customer service!  I didn't even have to call the Philippines or ask for an interpreter.  See what happens when you don't outsource?  So I would highly recommend SpeedConnect, if you're in need of an internet service provider in Michigan. 

Until next time, God bless, and take care, my friends.

It Is Time

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government..."

There is so much wrong in our country right now.  Our "unalienable rights" are under attack every day; everything from the current Pretender in the White House using executive orders to bypass the legislative process, to ever more restrictive gun laws, to large corporations controlling our access to food and medical care, to our children having home-made lunches taken away, to judges 'interpreting' the constitution and making laws instead of judging by them, to animal rights groups giving more value to the life of a rat than the life of a child....it seems to just go on and on.

Michigan especially has been in an uproar lately.  Our economy was going bad even before the big real-estate bust, and now it's even worse, ranking somewhere at 49 or 50 in a list of healthy state economies. Don't believe the talking heads on tv who are saying things are turning around; it's not better here in the heartland, and it won't be for some time.  I live here, I have family here, and I spend a lot of time on the road, and I've seen it with my own eyes.  Everything is changing, upside down, and backwards.  A family member who has always been apolitical was passing out petitions for signatures.  Schools are closed, factories are closed; small towns are becoming ghost towns with over half of their homes empty and up for sale.  There's no people where there used to be hundreds. Workers and unions are in a state of panic as pension funds disappear and jobs are cut; social security cuts threaten the financial security of our seniors. Fewer and fewer people are paying into social security or the pension funds.  Fewer and fewer people are in our cities and there's no tax base to maintain basic police and fire services.  Many people, myself included, find themselves in a mid-life crisis that was not of their own making.  Used to be that earning a college degree, finding a job and working hard at it brought you stability and a pension.  Not anymore.  Now we have twenty years or more in at a job, yet the pension and the security that we have labored for is gone.

In my opinion one of the root causes of all this distress is Roe vs. Wade.

Think about it.  How can the wholesale slaughter of our children ever be a good thing?

In 1973 the Supreme Court decided it was ok to legalize the murder of unborn children.  Since then over 50 million children have been killed.  Far more than the approximately 11 to 12 million casualties of WWI and quickly approaching the 60-70 million total for WWII.  Our society has created a legally acceptable holocaust with a greater toll than what Nazi Germany perpetrated against the Jews.

This practice is a sad and tragic burden for our country in so many ways.  Firstly it is a heinous sin, destroying the gift of life given from God, a defiant, evil act worthy of the worst of pagan rituals. 

Secondly, we have lost entire generations of our people.  We have no children in our schools, growing up in our churches, strengthening our society, finding jobs and supporting our seniors.  Where there should have been the sounds of children we have empty, echoing halls.

This leaves us with a torn and ripped society that is folding in on itself.  Add to this the loss of a moral compass, the lack of personal responsibility, the sense of entitlement and "me first" that seems so prevalent now, and it's easy to see how troubled our country is, and how bleak our outlook.  We are no better than the thousands that thronged the Coliseum of Rome to watch a daily bloodbath while madmen destroyed the empire from within.

It is time and past time for a change.  The pendulum has to swing back before the socialists cause us to crash like Rome.  We're ramping up towards a presidential election - consider your vote carefully!  These people who want to be our leaders, examine them closely.  Are they worthy?  Are they of good moral character?  Are they capable?  We must focus on those questions, and not meaningless "hopey changey" slogans.  Those who are not worthy must not be elected again.  And, if enough careless people blindly vote for the one who promises handouts and more government programs, instead of one who acknowledges the necessity of hard work and personal responsibility...perhaps then it's time to assert our Right to abolish the government and start over.

An excellent first step would be the repeal of of Roe vs. Wade.

It's not too late to pray for our country.

I Is Smart Now!

Well, probably not, but at least my phone is.  In my quest to cut down on expenses whenever I can, I recently made a major change in my wireless carrier and my phone.  From my research on the internet, it seems a lot of people are doing the same thing and there's a lot of confusing and conflicting information.  I spent about two or three months on this whole process, so I'll share how I worked it out and maybe it will help someone else who is also looking to simplify and save money, while retaining some modern perks.

I started with a 'Go Phone' account from At&T.  I much prefer the month by month system to the contract system, even though I had to buy a phone, rather than get one "free" for signing the contract.  $60.00/month for unlimited talk and text was a bargain at the time I was dumping my old contract.  It's also a nice way to keep personal information personal; instead of having an account and paying by check or debit card, I simply picked up the refill card at Kmart or where ever I happened to be, and used the PIN to recharge my minutes.  So things were going alright, until my phone started to have battery issues, and I realized that AT&T was advertising unlimited talk, text and data for $50.00/month.  Would have been nice if they had notified me about the price change, but no, each  month I loaded $60.00 on the phone and each month they took it all.  Plus they would not honor the unlimited data for anyone using a smartphone; it applies only to dumb phones.  The phone I was using, an LG Xenon, was a nice enough phone but consistently stalled out when trying to use the web and was basically useless for that service.  I'm not into facebook or you tube or minute by minute stock reports, but I did want a phone that was web capable as a back up for checking email and such while traveling.

So I started doing research.  Since I live basically out in nowhere, wireless options are limited, so there was an awful lot of checking and double checking to see what services were available.  Did you know that each carrier has two coverage maps on their websites?  The dark map that shows everywhere plus the moon with great signal is only for contract phones, and the second map (usually hidden) shows much less coverage for pay as you go phones.  I never did figure out why the difference.

Anyways, for sheer price it came down to Straight Talk, which is a fairly new offering from an old company, TracFone, which has partnered up with Wal Mart.  I'm not a big Wal Mart fan, but the price of $45.00/month for unlimited talk, text, and web is hard to beat.  There are only two other carriers that would serve my area, and neither of them could come close to that price.

I watched auctions on eBay and eventually bought an older model iPhone that used the proper frequencies for the Straight Talk system.  The option to use your own phone on the Straight Talk system is very recent, so it took a lot of research and hours of searching the web to figure out how to do it, especially since iPhones were mostly locked to the AT&T system, though it turns out that with some modifications, the AT&T locked phones are compatible with ST.  I finally muddled my way through by following these steps:

Purchased the iPhone 3gs through eBay.
Purchased the larger SIM card  and an airtime card from the Straight Talk website at www.straighttalksim.com.
Called AT&T and obtained my account number and established a PIN.  (But did not turn off my service as I wanted to keep my phone number.)
Put the SIM card in the iPhone, went to the Straight Talk website and activated it; by using the ST airtime card I did not have to give them any credit card information.
My old phone number was activated on the iPhone in about an hour.  I could talk and text right away, but could not access the internet off the cell towers or through my router. 
I emailed ST and they made some changes and instructed me to shut the phone off and then back on.  I was then able to use my home wi-fi.  This model of iPhone  does not allow access to the APN settings so I could not follow Straight Talk's instructions for accessing data.
To fix this, I used the iPhone connection to my wi-fi to go to www.unlockit.co.nz/, downloaded and installed the Straight Talk APN profile.

So now almost everything is up and working, and I have to say I'm enthralled by the whole 'app' world.  There are many that are free, and I found two wonderful programs that I highly recommend:  Plantets 3.2 by Dana Peters has wonderful star charts that are specific to your location and time, including 2-D and 3-D versions, and close ups of all the planets.  The second one is My Radar, a live, location and time specific basic radar that lets me know how much rain is coming in.  Upgrades are available to get National Weather Service warnings as they're issued.  I can see this app coming in handy when I'm planning to get in my kayak. 

The only thing not working is picture messaging, which for some obscure reason is called MMS.  It appears that I will have to 'jailbreak' my phone and install other programs to get it working, but that can wait for another time.

My overall investment for this whole process is tons of time and $205.00 for the phone, SIM card, air time card, shipping, and taxes.  My monthly phone bill (which is not tied to a social security number, physical address, or credit card number) will be just $45.00 plus tax for unlimited talking, texting, and some basic internet use, like checking for thunderstorms.  Not bad considering it's $375.00 for just the iPhone 3g at Apple - and that's the one with half the storage capacity of the one I bought.  I could get a new iPhone for much less by signing up for a two year contract with a service provider, however that involves a credit check and release of personal information, not to mention the commitment to an expensive two year plan.

It's been a couple of weeks now, and so far, so good. Here's hoping the phone keeps working and ST doesn't hike the monthly price!!

I hope my experience helps someone who's been struggling with the same questions.

Making a Grow Station

I'm always looking to do things without spending a lot of money.  This is how I made a seed starting/growing station in my basement with scrap lumber, bits of things I had around, and some old office lights I got off craigslist for around forty dollars.

The lights came with the pigtail in an aluminum conduit from where they had been hard wired into a building electrical circuit.  A couple of them still had the diffuser panels.  I left the original light bulbs in place; I know there's a lot of talk about 'cold' and 'warm' lights, and phenomenally expensive 'full spectrum grow lights', but the seedlings seem to do just fine with the regular issue light bulbs.

The first chore was to remove the aluminum conduit and wire a plug onto each light.  I always have wire nuts, electrical tape, etc., in the tool box, and whenever something dies, like a vacuum cleaner or a sump pump, I cut the power cord off and save it.  So I had enough cords on hand to wire all four lights with a plug without buying any parts.  The wiring is pretty simple - red or black is hot, and white is neutral.  One just has to be careful to keep hot to hot and neutral to neutral to avoid any potential fireworks.

Once I had all the lights wired with plugs and tested, I laid them side by side on a couple of 2x4s.  (True story:  I found a whole bunch of these 2x4s in a roadside ditch where someone was making a burn pile of debris from a home renovation.  They're not perfectly straight, but certainly useful, so they came home with me!)  Using some drywall screws with small washers, I drilled through the metal housing of the lights and secured them to the 2x4s, eight screws for each light.  Then came the fun part, turning the whole apparatus over.  It wasn't graceful but I managed to do it without breaking any of the lights.  Using two more scraps of 2x4, I put cross pieces on to stiffen the light bank and keep it from flexing, then using washers and some eyebolts I made attachment points for the hanging chains.

I put heavy spikes in the overhead joists, and hung lengths of chain, which I connected to the lights with S-hooks.  That way I can adjust the height of the lights above the plants.  This picture is a little hard to make out; but you can see the chains in the top area, the 2x4s, and then how bright the lights are over the seed trays.  I used my outdoor Christmas lights timer to control a fused power strip that all the lights are plugged into, and a small electric heater under the seed trays.  I have it set to give the seedlings about 12 hours of light per day.  The seed flats are supported by a couple of old sawhorses and left over 2x10s and a 2x4.

The above pictures are from last year, when I first set up the whole thing. Here's some pictures I took today; a little better picture of the chain arrangement, and you can see the sheets of styrofoam insulation and cardboard I use to keep the light and heat in by the plants:

Lessons learned from last year's experiment have resulted in better results so far this year:  1. Every single little seed has it's own name tag; one per row results in mass confusion when it's transplant time.   2. Go ahead and buy peat pellet refills and use the premade plastic covers.  Saran wrap is a pain, peat pots are hard to keep covered, and dry out too fast.   3.  Keep mouse traps set or the little pests think the whole thing is a giant salad bar.

I'm already repotting the first flats of tomatoes that I planted, and today I need to start with the pumpkins and squashes.  Once they sprout, they really take off!  In just twelve days or so they've gone from seeds to overwhelming the whole flat.  So far germination has been very good; out of each flat of 72 pellets I've only had a few that didn't sprout.  Several seed packets were bought new this year, and a friend sent me some squash and okra (Okra! What am I supposed to do with that??),  but most of the vegetable seeds I used this year were saved from 2010 and 2011, and almost all of them are heirloom varieties obtained from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds (www.rareseeds.com).  This is my third year using their seeds, and I've been happy with the customer service and the quality of the seeds.

So far this little growing station has worked well for me, and cost very little to set up.  I don't really like using electricity and running up that bill, but I don't have an outdoor greenhouse, nor enough south facing window space, and my basement rarely gets above fifty-some degrees, so this is what it is for now.  Using the timer helps to keep the bill down a little, and I am planning to change the heat source.  Even using heavy gauge cords and a GFCI outlet, the electric heater makes me a little nervous.  Can't argue with the results, though, and the whole apparatus is only in use for a month or so out of the year.  As time goes on I hope to build an outdoor greenhouse, but that project is a ways down on the priority list.

Despite the fact that a sharply cold north wind continues to howl around the house, I believe it won't be much longer until I can start setting the seedlings out to harden off.  Then it will be planting time, and hopefully a chance to make a dollar or two selling the extras.

Happy gardening!

One Foot in Front of the Other

Sometimes it seems like that's all one can do, just keep plugging away.  There's much to do on the homestead these days and it's a struggle to keep up now that I've been called back to work a couple days/week.  The garden seedlings are doing well, the first tomatoes are ready to be transplanted to larger containers, some of the peppers are up, and the squash seedlings seemed to come up in no time.  I'm pleased with the way the peat pellets work, I haven't had near the losses I had last year trying to use other methods.  Of course the weather has decided to repeat early March, and get it right this time - our 80 degree days have disappeared and it's been in the 40s, with wind, rain, and the occasional snowflake, so my baby plants will be staying safely under the grow lights for now.  I also got all my seeds sorted out and plans somewhat finalized as to what is going where in the garden.

Last Monday we had quite a blustery day.  Lots of power outages, trees down, a few buildings damaged.  Woke up Tuesday morning to find a large portion of a tree across my driveway.  Thankfully it missed everything, but there was no getting out until I got a path cut.  I was really happy I had bought that little electric chainsaw!  Finished clearing all that up today and cutting the broken portion off the rest of the tree.  The saw has a 14" blade, and was just about at it's full size and horsepower capacity trying to get through that, but we made it.  Glad I didn't have to struggle with the gas saw!

Kind of looks like it hurt

Got a little side job of tilling up a garden patch for a neighbor - and this time I kept the tiller under control!  Bartered the work for a few needful things, so it was all good.

With all the rain my grass is beginning to look like a hayfield, so it's time to tackle the job of putting new blades on the mower deck and getting it on the tractor.  Though I keep eyeing a certain portion of the back yard, that if it was tilled up would make a dandy pumpkin patch.....

Until next time, take care, my friends.

My poor frozen, wind-swept tulips.

Tired of the Media

Things have certainly changed since I was a child, when one could listen to the radio, or watch a grand total of three television stations for an evening news report.  Now we are inundated with news and pseudo-news programs from dozens of channels, day and night.  With satellites and the internet, small local incidents can be publicized around the globe in mere moments.

But how much of it is news?  How much of this constant flow of information is factual and unbiased?  I cannot say if David Brinkley and Walter Cronkite were trustworthy, as I was too young to understand the issues.  But I can say that what I see today is terribly slanted, biased and frequently not even based on facts. 

I had my first education in modern mainstream media when I worked as a firefighter/EMT/dispatcher a couple of decades ago.  I would work an accident or fire incident and then later see a newscast that completely missed all the facts of the case.  At first it seemed a bit of a joke, but as it continued it became a source of cynicism.  I don't know why the reporters bothered to drive out to the site, their stories could easily have been made up in the office.  And the tricks they would use were disgusting, including impersonating doctors to get information about a victim's condition, up to actually crawling into a bloody wrecked car to videotape the body of a teenaged victim.  Nothing was too low for them.

I've learned to listen closely to the words, when watching the news.  If one pays attention, one can easily see the liberal bias, alarmist slant, or self-serving perspective in virtually all of the mainstream media.  It's a shame that they are seen as representative of what's happening in our country, because they focus only on the negative, and what they can sensationalize. Take for example, the recent controversy surrounding the death of Trayvon Martin.  According to the media, the boy was a saint, gunned down in cold blood by a vigilante wannabe only because he was black. Perhaps he was, I don't know, but I doubt that we have all the facts.  The man who allegedly killed him has already been tried and convicted by the media, who conveniently edited the 911 tape so that it supported their position.  They call it a white racist crime, conveniently ignoring the fact that the shooter is hispanic.  The boy's death is a senseless tragedy, to be sure, but why has it become a national cause spawning sweatshirt sales?   Even the current Pretender in the White House jumped on the bandwagon, stating "if I had a son, he would look like Trayvon".  Well, that's a given.  But what about the hundreds of young black men that are murdered every year?  Aren't they equally as tragic?  Would they not look like his son too?  Or are they not worthy of the tremendous attention, because the shooters were also black, so there's no 'racist' story to exploit?

I say this is another case of the irresponsible news media seeing a tragic event as something they can capitalize on in the ongoing effort to be the loudest, most sensationalized, most controversial news show.  Facts won't stand in the way of ratings and the value of a life won't measure up against advertising dollars.  I believe my cynicism is well founded.

Nowadays I tune in the evening news only for the local weather report.  To learn what's going on in the world I read several different sources online, and in local papers, and then make my own decisions and draw my own conclusions.  But then again, I'm just an independent ornery sort of woman, anyways!

Silliness

Today was another one of those "interesting" days that I seem to have.  It was supposed to be just a simple day: clean house, take care of my seedlings, bake a cake, do laundry; simple, normal stuff.  Somehow, though, my simple, normal days seem to take a left turn shortly after breakfast, and then it's hold on to your hat the rest of the day.

Remember the home-made ginger ale experiment?  Well after deciding that I didn't care for the taste, I had forgotten about the bottle in the back of the fridge.  Found it this morning while clearing out other, shall we say, "unintended experiments", and decided I should just empty the bottle.  So I carefully hold it over the sink and start to slowly open the cap.

Ever watch a video of the Diet Coke/Mentos combination?  Oh yeah.  As soon as the cap was slightly open, that ginger ale started shooting out, whistling and foaming and blowing the cap right off.  The bottle spun in my hands, bounced off the sink, and shot across the room, spewing a jet of supercharged ginger ale in it's wake.  It slammed into the pantry door, ricocheted under the table, launched off a chair, arced across the ceiling, sprayed down the storage cupboards, and finally came to a spinning, gurgling stop in the center of the floor.  I was still standing at the counter, hands out over the sink cupped around a bottle that was no longer there, with bits of grated ginger dripping down my face and a soaking wet shirt.  The poor ol' dawg had run for cover and was watching cautiously from the other room, one curious brown eye and a perked-up ear visible in the doorway.  All was suddenly very quiet, except for the drip, drip, drip of ginger ale falling from the ceiling, until I started laughing.  Ok, there may have been a bit of hysteria to it, but what else could I do?  I must have looked pretty silly!

I hadn't planned on starting the heavy duty Spring cleaning today, but since the entire kitchen was a sticky, wet, aromatic mess, well, I had no choice.  Not only was the floor covered, I found puddles of ginger ale on the table, the counters, the stove, and in the silverware drawer.  There's a few silver linings to the day though - my kitchen is bright and shiny, I still got the cake done, and I'm not hosting the Easter dinner this year, so the other chores can wait.

Looking forward to the sunrise Easter service tomorrow, to the light, the joy, the great old hymns.  I know that my Redeemer lives!

Happy Easter, my friends.

Seasons

I have always enjoyed the cycle of the year, the rhythm of the seasons; one of the things I love about Michigan is that we do have all four seasons - sometimes all in one day! - but I revel in the solid differences of each season.  It must be so boring to live somewhere with no changes.   Though as I get older it seems the seasons come and go so much more quickly than when I was a child.  Christmas used to come so slowly, dawdling along like a young boy who doesn't want to get started on his chores.  Now it seems I've hardly washed the Thanksgiving dinner dishes before I fall headlong into Advent, with Christmas suddenly on the doorstep.  I look up again, and here comes Easter!

It is late in the evening now and Jupiter and Venus are filling the western sky, and a brilliant full moon made the road a thin silver ribbon as we made our way home from church.  Today was Good Friday, and tonight was our Tennebrae Service, a part of the Lenten season of the church year.  Based on ancient practices, it is a journey from light into darkness, a sorrowful celebration of our Lord's journey through pain and suffering into death.  It is a humbling and soul-striking reminder of how He paid the ultimate price to redeem all of us from death and sin.  Tomorrow's service will be the Easter Vigil, still quiet and sorrowful; akin to the disciples quietly cowering behind locked doors, still in shock and disbelief that Jesus was dead.  Finally Easter morning will come, with glorious light and joy and song bursting forth like the springtime life we see outside.  From the darkness we move forward with joy and thanksgiving, celebrating our Lord risen from the dead!  The organ will thunder and the trumpets sound as we sing with gusto "I know that my Redeemer lives!"  

Though the unpredictable Michigan weather can just for laughs toss a snowstorm into the middle of April, Easter always seems to be the time when we can say "Spring is here!" and enjoy the tulips, daffodils, and flowering trees as we get ready to plant gardens and chase the winter mustiness out of the house.  The sun's warmth is stronger each day, and daylight lingers long after supper.  My tomato and pepper seeds I planted last week have begun sprouting, and it's time to put them under the grow lights.  The endless rhythm of the seasons has cycled back to Spring and another chance to plant the 'perfect' garden.

A blessed Easter to everyone.  He is risen, He is risen indeed!

Getting Started

It's a couple of days late, according to the Old Farmer's Almanac, but I finally got going with the garden seeds.  I've tried different things such as peat pots, old egg cartons, and so on, but I've had the best success with the pellet/flat/clear cover combo available fairly inexpensively almost everywhere, so I invested in refills, and that's all I'm using this year.  This is a case where spending money actually saves money; last year I lost a lot of seedlings trying to work with cheaper materials. So far it's just the peppers and tomatoes; other seeds are scheduled for a little later in the spring. The plant labels are made of slats from an old mini blind, and I soaked the seeds over night prior to planting.  Each label has the name of the seed, as well as the year the seed was packed.  I put several seeds in each pellet, and once they're up I'll thin them to the strongest seedling.  Now it's just the wait and see game!

Cutting labels from a miniblind.

First flat done!

It's finally cooled off some; still above normal but the weathermen have issued a "freeze warning" for tonight.  I just came in from throwing a cover on my poor silly tulips and daffodils that thought spring was here, and I wish all of you could see what I saw.  If I had a tripod for my camera, I would try to capture it.  The golden, crescent moon is laying just above the western horizon, pale company for brilliant Venus and shining Jupiter.  The air is gentle, still carrying the warmth of the day, and the sky is deeply dark and black, lit with a stunning array of stars.  Orion is standing tall, guarding the southwest sky and already much higher over the horizon than he was in January.  The whole night is alive with heavenly light, and one can only stand and gaze in wonder at what the Creator has wrought.  I feel bad for those who live in cities, blinded by man-made light and unable to see the glory overhead, and I know I'm blessed to have my peaceful spot, where I can relax on my patio swing with an unobstructed view of God's handiwork.

Until next time, God bless you and take care, my friends.

Customer Service.....Not

I consider myself a relatively even-keel sort of person, able to deal with certain things like a broken-down truck, or water in the basement, without losing my cool.  But today I met my limit!

I do a lot of work with my computer and printer; writing letters, making greeting cards, printing resumes, and the like, so it's a pretty vital piece of equipment.  Last week my Epson printer ran out of ink and even though I purchased the expensive "recommended high quality Epson ink" - twice - the printer flatly refused to print.  Anything.  At all.  I contacted Epson technical support and explained all the trouble-shooting steps I had taken, according to the printer manual.  The email I received in replay simply told me to do all the trouble shooting I had already done.  One thing led to another and I found myself on the phone speaking (or trying to) with a person from somewhere very far away where they don't speak English.  The printer is less than a year old, but the best they could do would be to send me a refurbished one, with no guarantee.  They wanted my debit card number, phone number, home address, and full name before they were willing to do anything.  And, of course, they refuse to use the regular mail, despite the fact that Fed Ex can't find my house.  Arrgh!  After an hour or so on the phone they finally agreed they didn't need my debit card, but only if I would ship back the defective printer first and trust them to send a replacement. Which of course, will take at least two weeks, since they don't have my card number....and so it goes.  I'm afraid to say by the time I got off the phone I was no longer the polite, even-tempered woman I think I am.   To top it off, the instruction email that they sent to tell me how to return the printer demanded that I send it Fed Ex.  I have never seen a Fed Ex office anywhere in my area!

Not being able to go that long without a printer, I went to the store and purchased a new Canon.  For just a little over what I spent on the Epson ink cartridges, I have a brand new printer, that if it's anything like the previous Canon printer I had, will last for quite a few trouble-free years.

Moral of the story?  Don't buy an Epson NX-420 printer, it's junk, and Epson customer service will only give you the runaround.   If the refurbished printer ever arrives, I won't even open the box, and just list it for sale on eBay.  And - companies that continue to outsource their service and support branches overseas will continue to lose customers.

Hedging

From Merriam-Webster.com: 
hedged   hedg·ing
Definition of HEDGE
transitive verb
1: to enclose or protect with or as if with a hedge : encircle
2: to hem in or obstruct with or as if with a barrier : hinder
3: to protect oneself from losing or failing by a counterbalancing action <hedge a bet>
intransitive verb
1: to plant, form, or trim a hedge
2: to evade the risk of commitment especially by leaving open a way of retreat : trim
3: to protect oneself financially: as a : to buy or sell commodity futures as a protection against loss due to price fluctuation b : to minimize the risk of a bet 

It's seventy five degrees here today.  In Michigan, in the middle of March.  That's at least thirty degrees above normal.  My snowdrops and crocuses are out; my daffodils are about three inches high, and my tulips have sprung out of the ground just overnight.  But I am not so trusting as my flowers.  Is there not a saying, "beware the ides of March"?  The forecasters say it will be this warm for at least another week but  I don't think I trust them, either.  As delightful as the day has been, with warmth, breezes, and abundant sunshine, I can't seem to shake a sense of foreboding; perhaps thinking there will be some sort of cost for this fair weather.  Maybe a blizzard will come next month, and freeze my poor flowers, maybe another round of thunderstorms and tornadoes will blow up, or maybe this is the start of a miserable summer of drought and heat?  Who knows.  Maybe I'm just still cranky because of the annoying time change.  (Whoever thought it was a good idea to mess with the clocks twice a year needs a good thump on the head.)

I made good use of the day, though, making one of my semi-annual trips to the dump to get rid of the few barrels of stuff we can't recycle, burn, compost, or re-purpose.  Always interesting to see what folks throw away.  One year I saw eight sheets of perfectly good drywall in the dumpster.  This time it was ten foot long metal housings from shop lights.  If I had been able to fish them out it would have been a nice addition to my next scrap yard trip.  Once I got back I spent some time cleaning and raking the yard, as well as hanging out a half dozen loads of laundry.  It's so warm and breezy that the linens are basically dry by the time I finish pinning them to the line.  It's been wonderful to have fresh air pouring into the house, and especially great to have the propane-sucking furnace turned off!  The silly ol' dawg was enjoying herself too, flat on her back in the grass, paws and tail flung out in all directions, fur gleaming in the sun and her tongue hanging out as she grunted and woofed and wriggled all over.  Looked like it felt good!

But as I said, I'm not quite buying into this mid-March summer day.  I'm hedging my bets, as it were, or leaving open my line of retreat.  I took the plastic off the south windows and opened them to the breeze, but left it on the east and north windows.  I used my little lawn tractor to haul stuff around the yard, but left the chains on the back tires.  I cleaned out the back of my truck, but left the snow shovel and weights in place.  I cleaned out the fireplace but laid in a fresh bit of kindling and logs.  I refilled our pantry stash of drinking water jugs, and put new batteries in the flashlights and the weather radio.

So I guess Daughter and I are as ready as we can be for whatever may come - be it a spring storm or more sunshine.  It helps knowing that no matter what, God is in control.  In the meantime there's always something to do.  The window quilts are started, and coming together pretty well so far.  The ginger ale wasn't so good; the flowery aroma of the ginger root became overpowering after fermentation; almost medicinal or chemical-perfumey in nature.  The level of 'fizziness' was good, and the flavor was somewhat like Canada Dry brand ginger ale, but the scent was just too much, leaving a bitter sort of aftertaste.  I may try again some day, with much less ginger root and no lemon juice.

And for those who have a clear view to the west, there's a wonderful light show with Venus and Jupiter visible just after sunset.

The beauty I see around me often makes me think of Psalm 19:
1 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. 2 Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. 3 There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. 4 Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun, 5 which is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion, like a champion rejoicing to run his course. 6 It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is hidden from its heat. 7 The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple. 8 The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes. 9 The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever. The ordinances of the LORD are sure and altogether righteous. 10 They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb. 11 By them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward. 12 Who can discern his errors? Forgive my hidden faults. 13 Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. Then will I be blameless, innocent of great transgression. 14 May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer. 

Until next time, God bless and take care, my friends.

My New Toy

Scavenging for firewood is a way of life, I'm always checking craiglist, ladies line, and the like, or mooching off family members that have some property where we can cut trees.  A few months ago I was able to bring home a small trailerload of wood, but due to time constraints it wasn't cut to firewood length but rather in six or seven foot lengths that fit in the trailer.  Being mostly dead popple wood the long pieces aren't too heavy, but obviously they have to be bucked up before they're useful.

I've mentioned before my struggles with pull starts, so I wasn't too keen to get out the big chainsaw and deal with the whole gas/oil mix, pull start/argue with it thing, so the load of wood just sort of sat in the backyard.  Then I came across a nifty little idea when surfing eBay:

Ok, it sort of looks like a toy.  It kind of feels like a toy, too.  But it was just the perfect tool for this job!  With Daughter holding the logs steady on an old sawhorse, it was easy work to buck them up into fireplace lengths.  Quick, easy, quiet, and very lightweight, the new saw had plenty of power for the chore and didn't give me a backache or get me cussin' like the gas saw does.  It obviously isn't designed for felling trees in the woods, but I think it's going to get a lot of use for general yard chores like pruning or cutting back the fencerow.  Having the cord trailing along is a bit of a nuisance, but no worse than any other power tool.  The only negative comment on it came from Daughter, who thought it let me get waaay too ambitious about chores on a Sunday afternoon.  She's more used to having some free time after church, but we just had to do outside stuff, it was sunny and 60!   In the space of just three hours or so we got all this wood cut and stacked.

Lots of redwing blackbirds around, and some have reported robins in their yards though I haven't seen any yet.  Spring is just around the corner.......which here means there just might be another blizzard yet, so I'll make use of the 'chore' weather while I can!

By the way, the ginger ale bottle was rock hard with pressure today, so it's in the fridge getting cold.  There's lots of floaty bits of ginger in it, so we'll probably strain it and try it out later tonight.

Until next time, God bless you and keep you my friends.

Sunshine and Ginger Ale

It's that time of year when it is 20 degrees and snowing one day, and 50 degrees and sunny the next.  Confusing!  I can settle in to mittens and boots; frosty laughs and coming in to sit by the fire, or I can run around washing windows and raking the yard.  But this going back and forth day by day gets exhausting, and it's one of the reasons I'm not overly fond of early Spring.

There are some great days, though, like yesterday when the stiff northwest breeze was a hound, swiftly herding the clouds before it.  The clouds tumbled forward, gray-blue edged with gold as they passed the sun, and snowflakes spun and danced in the sunlight, catching in the pines and melting on the grass.  The birdfeeders were wildly spinning about but a stubborn woodpecker steadily worked away at one of the suet blocks, probably enjoying the lack of annoying sparrows.

Decided to try something new today:  making home-made ginger ale.  This being Michigan, we of course have that wonderful Vernors Ginger Ale in every store but I still wanted to give this a try.  I found the directions at: http://biology.clc.uc.edu/fankhauser/cheese/ginger_ale_ag0.htm  He has a lot of good information and gets into a little of the science behind the carbonation process.

Basically it calls for an empty 2 liter bottle, 1 cup sugar, 2 Tbsp. of grated ginger, lemon juice, and 1/4 tsp. of yeast.  Using a funnel, pour the sugar into the bottle and follow with the yeast.  Mix the grated ginger with the lemon juice, and pour that into the bottle and follow with enough cold water to flush out the funnel. Put the cap on the bottle and shake well to mix the ingredients, then fill with cold water.

Set the bottle in a warm location for 24-48 hours.  The yeast/sugar combination will set up a fermentation process and carbonate the ginger ale.  The bottle will pressurize, so once it doesn't give under a firm squeeze, put it in the fridge.  Leaving it out where it is warm could allow too much pressure to build, causing the bottle to rupture and make a real mess.

I had never used ginger root before and had trouble grating it so I had coarsely grated ginger instead of finely grated.  The root has a wonderful fresh lemony scent that I really enjoyed!  I didn't have any fresh lemons, so I added just a bit of bottled lemon juice.  A fairly cheap and simple experiment, and I guess in a few days I'll know if we have drinkable ginger ale.  Next we'll try the home made root beer!

Making Ginger Ale