A friend sent this to me, it is just beautiful.

The Old Church

Be blessed..........

There were two little boys
Walking down a dusty lane ..
They came upon this old white house .
With broken window panes.

The paint was faded, the shine was gone ...
The grass had grown so high .
Still they made their little feet go ..
To see what was inside.

They opened up the squeaky door ..
And then it came to light .
This must have been an old church house ..
Once upon a time.

Dirty, dusty wooden pews ...
A pulpit that still stood ..
A Bible laid upon it ...
Though the pages weren't too good.

An offering plate and song books too ..
Were lying on the floor.
They must have left this old church fast ...
The day they closed these doors.

And over in the corner .
A piano was still there ...
It must have played a pretty tune ..
But I guess nobody cared.

So little Bill looked up at Tommy
And Tommy looked at Bill.
'Why don't we clean this old church up,
And get these old pews filled?'

They took a rag and wiped the dust,
To try and make things shine ...
And then they took the offering plate ...
And put in it their last dime.

They took a broom and swept the floor .
And picked up broken glass ...
hey got it all so nice and neat
And then they mowed the grass.

They lifted up the old church sign ..
And stood it by a tree.
Right down by that old dirt road.
Where everyone could see.

They ran back home, to find Daddy gone
But their Momma was inside ..
Just to find her hurt again
When Daddy had made her cry.

Don't cry Momma, wipe those tears,'
Little Bill and Tommy smiled..
'Cause we have a big surprise for you ...
Just down the road a mile.'

Hand in hand they tugged at her ..
Until they made her run ...
'What Is it Bill, Oh Tommy,
Just what have you two kids done?'

And then they came upon the house .
Once hidden by the weeds .
And there it stood, a country church .
Just like it used to be.

But what is it, Mother? What's with your tears?
We thought this would bring you joy.'
'Yes, but hush kids now and listen close.
My two sweet precious boys.'

They both got quiet and stood real still ...
For the words they heard so true ...
Was Daddy praying in the church ..
With his head bowed on the pew.

'Forgive me Lord! Forgive me Lord!
Though I'm not worthy of Your love ..
Shine down on this sinner man.
Sweet Salvation from above.'

For I've been out in the world, You know ..
Living my life all wrong ...
Until I came upon this church;
The place where I belong.'

'I never noticed it before .
All those times I passed it up ..
I guess I wasn't looking, Lord
Or maybe I was drunk.'

'Bless oh Lord, yes, bless oh Lord,
The one who made me see ...
This little church that used to hide ...
Behind all those tall weeds.'

And then he raised his head and stood
With his hands high in the air.
To find two, dirty, tear-faced boys .
With Momma standing there.

They ran up to him, hugged him tight .
As their tears fell on the floor...
'Don't worry kids, I'm not the Dad,
The one you've known before.'

Things are different for us now.
So keep on those pretty smiles ...
And let's go gather people in .
To walk down these church aisles.'

Then Bill looked up at Tommy
And Tommy looked at Bill ..
'Come on brother, let's get to work .
To get these old pews filled.'

'For we need no special blessing
or cleaning up this church ....
Cause, God gave us back our Daddy ...
And that's more than gold is Worth.'

Sunday morning, pews all filled .
And smiles on every face
Especially two little country boys ..
The ones who found this place.

Though it was hid back in the weeds .
And so far out of sight
Nothing's ever hard to find ...
If you're walking toward God's light.


THIS IS SOMETHING THAT EVERYONE NEEDS TO READ!!!!!
1 John 1:7 'We walk in the light as He is in the light, we have
fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ. His Son
cleanses us from all sin.'

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Hello All,

I'm taking time to add my blogs together.  I have one at homeschoolblogger and one here at homestead, but I wanted to combine them together.  And since I'm having a few other issues have decided to change blog titles and combine the two.  Hopefully, this will solve my problem.  So please forgive all the post's.  If you know how I can combine my blogs without so many posting, please let me know.

Blessings,

Lynn

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Not much is going on around the farm this week.  I was hoping that we would get back to working after Thanksgiving and finish my kitchen, but hubby is sick.  I think he has some kind of stomach virus.  The last time we all got sick, it missed him, so maybe it is catching up with him now.  Bless his heart! 

We got schooling underway this morning.  I allowed the kids off Wednesday, Thursday and Friday for Thanksgiving break.  My dd was very excited about getting started back, ds was another matter.  He wanted another day off. LOL  Its funny how kids are so much different in their ways.  Of course after he got started it wasn't to bad, he finished everything he was suppose to do.  My dd (Sunshine) really loves school, Sunshine would work all day and into the night on it, if I would let her.  There are days when she is learning so well that I will allow her to continue working, but I like for her to have time to be a child. 

Went out today and was taking care of all the critters and Festus(a bourbon red turkey) had gotten out of his lot.  So I placed him back and as I turned to walk away, heard flapping in behind me and he landed on my back.  He is about 25 pounds.  WOW, what a load landed on me.  LOL  So I had to place him back in his pen, tomorrow I'll have to get hubby to help with clipping his wing feathers.  I don't like to cut them, because they are so pretty when he strutting.  Here is a picture of Festus and Matt Dillion.

I took this picture back in the summer.  Festus is the one turned this way.  A animal has to be very special for me to name it.  LOL  I know that one of these days that if I name one, it just may become dinner.  And you know the old saying "Never name something your going to eat."  Here is a picture of a special turkey hen.

I was trying to take a picture of a buff rooster for a friend, you won't believe this but right as I took this picture the buff roo walked out of the shot and Monica walked in.  LOL And that is how I got this perfect picture.  She is adorable, she'll follow me anywhere if she is out of her pen.  We usually let the turkeys free range, but a couple months ago, I spotted a coyota walking about 25 feet from our home.  It was only about 15 feet from where I was standing, so after that we have been keeping the turks up for right now, until I feel certain its not hanging around.

I just wanted to share my turkeys.  Personally, they are my favorite animal on the farm.  They just seem socialable and I love watching them.  I will sit out in the summer and watch them for hours. 

I hope everyone had a wonderful start to your week.  For supper tonight I fixed turkey stir-fry over rice.  And I made a batch of cookies that my hubby loves.  I'll share the recipe.  Tomorrow I have some errands to run and maybe when I get home, I'll bake a couple loaves of sourdough bread and maybe a cake.  And for supper we'll have a pot roast. 

Well, it is getting late.  I didn't realize it was so late.  I'd better get some sleep.

Blessings,

This is one of the hens.  I got these chickens on a trade of eggs.  If you like to swap hatching eggs there is Yahoo groups just for that.  My son was wanting some of these chickens so bad, so I was able to find a lady who wanted some RIR hatching eggs.  So that is how we got out little folk of Buff Orpington's or fuzzy butts as I like to call them.  They look like powder puffs.  LOL  I have also had nice hatches from their eggs as well, right at 99%. 

Here is a buff roo.  As you can tell from the picture they get nice sized.  I also plan on hatching more of them off this spring for more hens and roos for the freezer.

Egg production from chickens really depend on what you want to raise.  I know that most homesteaders already have chickens and know alot about this.  The reason I decided to write about this is I have gotten several emails about eggs from some that are trying to get started.  So for those who already know, you may want to add your comments about your experience.

On average if you have 3 hens you will tend to get 2 eggs a day, remember on average.  Sometime's as I have learned you may not get one egg from those 3 hens and then you may have a day you get 3 eggs.   If you want to get a dozen eggs a day you need to have at least 18 hens.  And still someday's you may not get that dozen, then one day you may get over a dozen.  Its just an average.  The older the hen gets the less she will lay.  A hen can lay eggs into her teen years and some will competely stop at a younger age.

A typical hen will start laying around 5 to 6 months of age.  Unless it is winter when they hit that age then usually it is spring.  You could place a light on them at night and they may start laying at that age.  A light is a big plus during the winter months.   And around 12 to 18 months of age, they may stop laying to go through a molt.  That usually doesn't last to long.  To be honest our Buff's or the RIR's didn't go through that, not sure why.  I have learned now that it can happen that the chicken's will not go through a molt.  Maybe that also depends on the breed of chicken.

Rooster's!  Yes, they make plenty of noise.   You don't need a rooster to have eggs.  A hen will lay her egg whether there is a roo or not.  If you want fertile eggs (or baby chicks running around), then you will need a rooster.  You need one rooster for every 7 hens, on average.  I personally like to have one rooster for every 5 to 6 hens.  To ensure fertile eggs.   And personally I love to hear the rooster's crowing, especially when they are just learning.  It's just too cute and funny. 

A chicken's lifespan!  Depends on who you ask really.  With rooster's that I'm using for meat 6 to 7 months tops.  That is when they are tender enough to be a great fryer.   Some farmer's will kill off their hens at 2 years of age, the hen does start reducing in egg production as the years go by.  They usually use them for dumplings or broth.  Those who keep them as pets and give them names can live till they are 10 years and older.  I had a friend who had a pet chicken that lived to be 18 years old.   It really depends on your purpose are for the chickens.   With our farm, if the chicken is still laying she will stay.  I have some chickens with names and some that don't.   If you just want chickens for eggs and not for meat and have set a certain time you want to get rid of them and just continue using new hens.  There is farms that will take the chickens.  You can post a bulletin at your local feed stores and you local county extension office and someone will take them. 

If you are in city limits, I recommend you checking out your city ordinance.  Some cities have limits on the amount of chickens you can have in your backyard.  Some have only restrictions on the roosters.  Look into your city regulations on having them in your backyard.  I have heard of a few folks who went to check this out and found that there was no regulations or restrictions, because their city had not made any rules on it.  Check it out, it will save you some time in the long run.

Life with chickens is fun and very amusing at times.  My kids love to take the egg basket and gather the eggs.  We gather the eggs twice a day, except during the winter and rainy times, then we gather 3 to 4 times.   

Well, I hope I have answered some questions.  If you have any questions or feel I needed to cover something that didn't get covered, please feel free to send me a email or leave a comment.

Blessings,

Lynn

Have a blessed day!

Blessings,

1. Remove meat from rabbit bones, and cut into small pieces with kitchen scissors or knife
2. Put drippings into skillet
3. Pare potatoes and grate coarsely
4. Slide potatoes into heated drippings
5. grate onion and add to potatoes add rabbit and seasoning
6. Cover and cook moderately fast until potatoes are browned on under side
7. Stir to blend, turn over, cover again, and brown on under side
8. Cooking requires about 10 minutes

   4 servings

To all Pet Owners

To be posted VERY LOW on the refrigerator door - nose
height.

Dear Dogs and Cats:

The dishes with the paw print are yours and contain
your food. The other dishes are mine and contain my
food.
Please note, placing a paw print in the middle of my
plate and food does not s take a claim for it becoming
your food and dish, nor do I find that aesthetically
pleasing in the slightest.

The stairway was not designed by NASCAR and is not a
racetrack.Beating me to the bottom is not the object.
Tripping me doesn't help because I fall faster than
you can run.

I cannot buy anything bigger than a king sized bed. I
am very sorry about this. Do not think I will continue
sleeping on the couch to ensure your comfort.
Dogs and cats can actually curl up in a ball when they
sleep. It is not necessary to sleep perpendicular to
each other stretched out to the fullest extent
possible. I also know that sticking tails straight out
and having tongues hanging out the other end to
maximize space is nothing but sarcasm.

For the last time, there is not a sec ret exit from
the bathroom. If by some miracle I beat you there and
manage to get the door shut, it is not necessary to
claw, whine, meow, and try to turn the knob or get
your paw under the edge and try to pull the door open.
I must exit through the same door I entered. Also, I
have been using the bathroom for years -- canine or
feline attendance is not required.

The proper order is kiss me, then go smell the other
dog or cat's hiney. I cannot stress this enough!

To pacify you, my dear pets, I have posted the
following message on our front door:

To All Non-Pet Owners Who Visit & Like to Complain
About Our Pets:

1 They live here. You don't.
2. If you don' t want their hair on your clothes, stay
off the furniture. (That's why they call it
"fur"nature. )
3. I like my pets a lot better than I like most
people.
4. To you, it's an animal. To me, he/she is an adopted
son/daughter who is short, hairy, walks on all fours
and doesn't speak clearly.

For the past 3 we have been in our planning stages of "Off-Grid Living"!  And yes, I'm very excited that its almost here, we have basically been doing off-grid living for about a year now, but we still have electric for the fridge and freezer.  Hopefully, that will change also in the months to come.  We haven't pinned down a date in 2008 to be off-grid.  We decided over a year or so ago that we would use Wind and Solar generators.  Cause here in Kentucky, we don't have alot of wind, but yet we don't have sun all the time either.  So we both thought it would be best to have both.  We have our battery bank set up, it does need several more batteries to run the fridge and freezer, but we have been thinking that maybe we should just try keeping the freezer and maybe a smaller fridge for milk, etc.  Cause a freezer does use less watts than a fridge.  Still in the thinking process on that one. 

We went from washing machine to washboard and tub, less clothing than huge amounts to decide on.  This has really helped alot.  I never did use the dryer much, it makes me sick to use one, don't know why that is.  I have one hundred fifty feet of clothesline, for drying (by the way, it is really handy to have this many feet for blankets, sheets, quilt washing day). 

I have always used a dutch oven, now I'm up to 3 dutch ovens.  Which I really love!!  From bread machine to making it by hand, which I even love more!!  I can bake 6 loaves at a time campared to one loaf.  We don't use electric stove, never have, cause really in this area you just never know when the electric will be off anyway. 

We don't watch TV unless it is a special time.  We will be watching a few more movies this month, than we do all year long.  We listen to music and that is very selective at times.  We all have a love for music here in this home, which is great, sometimes we have family sing-alongs.  And our little girl Sunshine is a great song writer,  LOL  She can really come up with some great ones. 

We have one more room to change from carpet to wood floors.  Hopefully, in January that will change.  We are building shutters for the windows, to help keep the house cooler during the summer months and warmer in the winter months.  We are making these extra special, with insulation in them, they are kinda heavy for me to open, but I will get stronger with opening and closing them.  And we have them in the living room and kitchen and can see a huge difference already.  We have noticed that we use less heating wood on cold nights, even last night when it was 20 degrees here.  (Yea, its feeling more like winter, and yes, I'm still in short sleeves and am still barefoot in the house anyway, been kinda muddy outside to be barefoot.  This is my kind of weather.)  We will be building the shutters for our bedrooms and schoolroom.  And my husband has even let me design the shutter for our schoolroom sliding doors.  I mentioned that it would be nice to have one over those glasses, so he said, you plan them out and I will build them for you.  So, I have the plans made and when get started back next month on the shutters, he will be using my plans.  We will be building them a little lighter than the window shutters. 

I think we will make our goal in 2008!!  The pc is also runned off the battery bank.  We haven't decided what to do about phone/internet.  We aren't sure if we should keep it or do away with it yet.  Since in our area we can't get nothing but dailup, we live to far back in the boonies.  (I wish it was a little farther in the boonies.  lol)  So, we will have to decide that a little later on also.  That decision may not be made until in the later part of 2008. 

Well, gotta run, things to do!!

Blessings,

Lynn

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