Nothing special about the pictures...just things around the homestead lately :o) Enjoy!

Some of the property over the weekend. This is the back clearing where we want to build. If we don't build here, I want to put our schoolhouse up back here anyway (just to the right of that center pine tree...that's where the trail heads back to the pond.
The next is the logging road they used a few years back to get to the neighbors property...and where they come up with the 4-wheelers. The bottom of that range there is the end of our property.
Next two are of the pond, coming in from that logging road, through the trees. It's just seasonal and lately, that has meant no real water to speak of. The first year it had maybe 2 foot of water. This year, maybe the same. The 2 years in the middle, it was just about bone dry and useless with the drought. We'd like to dig it out more and shore it up to try to keep water in it. We know there's a decent aquifer running through this part of the mountain, down about 150 here at the house end of the property. Would be nice to have some water for the animals if nothing else.






Thanksgiving weekend work on the homestead...Finally getting the holes dug out for the posts for the back porch area. Most likely, it will never make it as a porch and will be enclosed for living space...maybe that outdoor kitchen ;o) I tried to get the holes started but it's all clay...and really thick nasty stuff at that. I just can't do it. I'm a wimp. I admit it. So, as Drew was over for dinner, we put him to work with Dewey :o)
The goofy pup there is the beagles basset mutt mix we have...brains of a stuffed animal, but lovable. He chases rabbits and such all night. Pinned a coyote down in the timber last year so we could shoot it. He's a good dog...just goofy. Notice Miss Abigail's bare feet...this was the day after Thanksgiving. Sure wouldn't be out running the countryside like that back North this time of year!



Thanksgiving fixins' on the homestead...We spent all day Wednesday baking...2 pecan pies, 2 apple, 2 chocolate (that's the empty crust with the tin foil in it) and 2 9x13 pumpkin cobblers. And the yummiest yeast rolls :o) It's a mix we do up and keep in the pantry --delicious. And, yes, I'll add the recipe soon!
The full menu ended up looking like this...deep-fried turkey, a huge (h-u-g-e) smoked ham from the butcher (stupid me didn't ask about size, just got the one that looked so good...it didn't fit inside the 18qt Nesco roaster we have...had to sit cockeyed until it cooked down some and slide into the pan the right way!). Dressing, green bean casserole, baked corn, potatoes/gravy, sweet potatoes, then the list of desserts. We made honey nut crunch and ranch/dill crackers for snacking all weekend.
This was the first year our eldest wasn't at the table. He rode up with Dewey to pick up Hope's car and drive it back. He wanted it to be their first Thanksgiving, and he was frying his first turkey solo...



The 20 quart mixer...yes, that's a make-do kitchen sink set up there. We pulled out the cupboard a while back. I have a very nice, new countertop sitting out in the building, but until I know for sure what we are doing (building or simply remodelling) I don't want to use it yet ;o) And, yes, those are cinder blocks under the mixer -- it sits too low to the floor for comfortable use. I know it looks rather hillbilly-ish, but it works ;o)


The meat, part 1/Day 1...still partially frozen, even after 2 days of thawing in the cooler bag. Guess that cooler bag works far better than I thought it did! We cut up most of the chunks to more suitable pieces and readied them for the canning jars.

Since when did they add this to the labels of our clothes? They must have seen me do laundry. LOL

You ever read the Bible with a "Wow, that was incredibly dumb of them" additude?

I will never forget suddenly seeing myself in Eve and her choices a few years ago. Incredibly humbling experience!

Well, I'd be complaining right along with everyone in Exodus, too.

I dunno. You read the passages, and about manna, this wonderful, heavenly bread. And surely a few people weren't complaining, right? Some people surely fell into the routine and just "went with it". Because that's what I would do . . . .

Nah!

I think I'd be complaining along with everyone else. A diet of pure, unadulterated manna stretching out before me, drying the taste buds completely up in my mouth.

 

A few days ago, I was praying for each day to pass without labor. Now that I've had a few in a row, I'm impatient.  And a single hard contraction still makes me panic, of course, and flop over on my side like a whipped puppy . . . . but the inactivity is grinding on me. Terribly.

Sorry to complain. I'm just tired and irratable from . . . doing nothing. You know, don't-pick-that-sock-up-off-the-carpet or carry-your-glass-to-the-sink or labor will comence and then my baby is wisked away to the NICU. Now don't you wish you had left that dirty sock sitting there another two weeks? [insert evil laughter here]

Here is me a few weeks ago, waaay out in front and carrying baby high . . . .

 

And, here is me now. Even my mama asked if the reason I looked so small was because the baby dropped. Not sure if this picture does it real justice, but it's the best I have at the moment:

Baby "bump" gone. It's more like I had the baby and haven't lost my tummy yet ... hardly that I'm carrying around an increasingly larger child, still! *sigh*

I don't want to be more trouble than a I need to be. Do I really need to be waited on hand and foot? I just don't know. It would be hard to tell until I'm doing light housework and go into labor .... oops!

A few weeks of taking it easy to get us closer to full term . . . pray for me to have patience!

And perhaps my midwife might have some words of wisdom and insight tonight . . . .

~Ashley~

We were blessed with a Thanksgiving day surprise....a new niece!  Emma came a bit early according to the doctor's plans; but right on time in God's timing .  We are giving thanks for her life, and continuing to pray and believe that God is still healing this little one.  The doctor's are a bit "baffled" that she doesn't have all the complications that they originally predicted .  My sister in law keeps telling them, "You just don't know my God!" 

Please do pray for her as the sweet baby is still in ICU, and may possibly have a procedure done soon to widen her pulmonary artery.  We are trusting and believing that she will be able to come home soon! 

First off -- Ron & Jo...if you visit and read this, do email me!  We've been worried about how you both are doing!

The computer went down again. Apparently, the first computer geek didn't do any sort of system diagnostics and simply wasted 3 days or so re0installing my modem driver.

Well, it went down on me again, 2 weeks ago now. Not that it didn't make for a quiet and peaceful Thanksgiving, and we did get many things accomplished, but still....

This time, I went to the original geek I had planned on using last time. They did a full system whatever and ran several diagnostics. They think the main issue I was having is that my BIOS system was rather outdated. There were 5 newer updates than I had, and they don't simply install with the regular system update stuff this thing does on it's own every so often. He updated me that way, installed another antivirus program then downloaded a new modem driver and viola...we have internet again.

And life picks up with hectic busy-ness, of course.

Just to note: If you sent me an email over the past couple of weeks and haven't heard from me...don't expect to. Just email me again. I had a million emails in my inbox and they are all being deleted as I write here. Please, email again if you need me!

I have all 300# of meat in the freezer...well, minus the 50# of stewing chunks sitting in the kitchen waiting its turn in the canner. My pressure seems a bit off today -- it's taking forever to get up to pressure for some reason. But, it's all cut up, the packing juice blend prepared and jars scalded and waiting.

I am going to get very tired of looking at meat, I can tell that already, and it's just Day 1 of a long line of days to come! We may well turn vegetarian for a couple months once it's all said and done!

We have, aside from meat meat and more meat in the works here, fencing outside we are dealing with. Seems we are being over-run with wayward hunters. We knew they had been around the property, but they have found several signs of them running 4-wheelers clear up to the back of my barn! They are using our deer stands, running their dogs all over and apparently using our private property as their own personal hunting grounds.

That will come to a stop this week. We are getting the signs up so we are more properly POSTED everywhere, and I am setting up some wire along the back access where we know for a fact they are coming and going. If they damage a 4-wheeler with a slightly hidden barb wire fence, serves them right. It will be well inside the perimeter of my property line, where they don't belong. That and some bird shot peppering their hunting expedition should do the trick.

Before anyone takes issue to our methods here, we have a very good idea as to who the culprits are, and they know we don't want hunters here. They know we have young children who enjoy our property, and as they hunt with high powered rifles, they are definitely not welcome here. My own dogs stay on our property, and they are being annoyed with the constant traffic as well. I don't need the aggravation, or the worry of my children being shot while playing on their own land.

To give you some idea of the genius we are dealing with out here, this group was shooting targets last year in their own cleared plot just down from our line. It's their property, I have no concern there whatsoever. It's a free country.

However, they use high powered, long range shot guns/rifles whatever you call them. Where they were shooting from/at, in virtually every direction on the compas, they had nothing but timber land. Literally hundreds upon hundreds of acres going out in every direction. Nothing in line for miles and then some.

Every direction, that is, but they one they chose to shoot in. They set up just the other side of the creek and were shooting directly toward my house. Literally peppering my roof with their shot. Branches and leaves were falling after every shot. Genius, pure genius. In any other direction, they would have had nothing but trees for miles and miles, yet they picked the direction that went through my property straight to my house and animals....and children.

Running a 4-wheeler across a low-lying wire fence is going to be the least of their concerns if we actually catch them on the property hunting, instead of their leftovers and signs.

We also have a lengthy sewing list, as usual. And school work to catch back up on. We are having reading issues it seems. I need to determine where my cut-off needs to be. There is a point where not reading well is a problem, and I think we might be there. I know we took more time with our first reader learning, but I've 3 in the works now and they simply aren't coming along very quicky. I know, homeschooling certainly affords my time in that respect, no hard-lined schedules to adhere to and all, but still...we have been at this enough now there should be a bit more progress I think. Time to re-evaluate The Plan here.

As to the olders, Jennifer finished a decent amount while gone with Dewey the past couple weeks. And Johanna, well, she has her own agenda. She is set on graduating when she turns 15 years old...about 2 years or so from now. She blew right through one grade level already and is just about finished with the next set of math, language and science I bought a couple weeks ago. She definitely needs some more indepth work to keep her coccupied. She easily completes 4 or more lessons a day. Like I said, a girl with her own agenda.

I have a Christmas gift...yes, I know what I said about Christmas and all, but this is different, sort of. I came across a bargain and couldn't pass it up. Dewey said birthday and Christmas gift and I jumped on it! (my birthday is Christmas Eve...I tend to get those 'combined' gifts quite often!). I have a 20 quart Welbilt Varimixer sitting in my kitchen :o) It's huge. It's sitting on the floor right now -- there's no way my counters, besides being far too tall, would accommodate this machine. I'll have to build some sort of stand for it, but for now, it's just sitting there, waiting to be used. We will start selling bread and such soon, and much easier.

The man we bought it from buys out various businesses and such and resells the equipment. He thinks he knows of a commercial oven and stove and is checking on that for me. Dewey wasn't really in the mood to drag along with me to pick it up, but he wanted to check it out first. Well, he has found his new dream shopping warehouse now. This man has virtually everything. If he doesn't have it and doesn't know where to find it, you simply don't need it. He has all sorts of building materials and so on. Dewey enjoyed his trip more than I did I think!

I will get some pictures up this week, but today, the meat is calling!

After church last night, we went over to my son's house to spend the night. I figured that my dad could use a little break!  The funny thing is, he has been having a blast. My dad has really enjoyed having the kids around. He was actually upset when I told him that we would be spending the night at Matt's. Matt's wife, Heather really has the Christmas spirit.  The entire place is lit up with festive lights - inside and out!  It's beautiful. On top of that, we got to watch a Charlie Brown Christmas.  Yeah! You can't get any better than that. We snacked on a variety of crackers and drank hot cocoa. I called my husband and son in Alaska to tell them goodnight and to say our goodnight prayer.  (Well, my good night prayer - their supper time prayer I guess.  There is four hours difference.) It was a nice night.  How was your Sunday? Oh yeah, I am extending our Thanksgiving sale. When you buy one of our books, just email me with your choice of a second book free! Don't you just love FREE?!? Have a great Monday!  When you buy one book, email me and I will send you your choice of a second book for FREE! Don't you just love FREE?!? Candy http://candyfoote.com/

ALEXANDRIA, Pa. - The Rev. George M. Docherty, credited with helping to push Congress to insert the phrase "under God" into the Pledge of Allegiance, has died at 97.

 

Docherty died on Thanksgiving at his home in central Pennsylvania, according to his wife, Sue Docherty.

She said her husband of 36 years had been in failing health for about three years.

"George said he was going to live to be a hundred and he was determined," she said in a telephone interview Saturday. "It's amazing that he was with us this long."

Docherty, then pastor of the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church in Washington, just blocks from the White House, gave a sermon in 1952 saying the pledge should acknowledge God.

He was born in Glasgow, Scotland, and was unfamiliar with the pledge until he heard it recited by his 7-year-old son, Garth.

"I didn't know that the Pledge of Allegiance was, and he recited it, 'one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all,'" he recalled in an interview with The Associated Press in 2004. "I came from Scotland, where we said 'God save our gracious queen,' 'God save our gracious king.' Here was the Pledge of Allegiance, and God wasn't in it at all."

There was little effect from that initial sermon, but he delivered it again on Feb. 7, 1954, after learning that President Dwight Eisenhower would be at the church.

The next day, Rep. Charles G. Oakman, R-Mich., introduced a bill to add the phrase "under God" to the pledge, and a companion bill was introduced in the Senate. Eisenhower signed the law on Flag Day that year.

I am 33 weeks today.

The more I rest, the better I feel and the fewer contractions I have. Which is good. Very good. The fewer contractions I've had since Friday has really made me aware of just how serious Friday really was. *gulp*

So many mixed emotions. When I had a single hard contraction this morning, I was reminded that I really don't think my body is "faking".

I feel this baby move inside and my arms ache with longing. With my belly's changed shape, at times I feel like I've already had this baby. And it strikes me that the empty sensation of not having my baby with me that I deal with for a split second before I remind myself that I'm still pregnant is what I dealt with after I had Eijah.

I held him for only moments after he was born. And then he was taken to the hospital. Jonathan came back without him, to hold me until I fell asleep. Falling asleep that night without a baby in my arms was the lonliest feeling I have ever dealt with.

Please, Abba . . . not again . . . .

I remember going to the hospital and staring at him, feeling strangely detached. They asked me once if I wanted to hold him for a moment and I said no. Jonathan held him for a minute. I held myself aloft all that day - they never asked again - knowing my heart would break if I touched him. If I held him close to me and then had to put him down and walk away.

I hold him that night, for only a few carefully sanctioned minutes, and the things it did to my mama's heart . . . .

Please Father . . . You know the thoughts of my heart . . . .

Was it worth it?  A hundred times, yes. It struck me recently how much sacrifice has went into having chidlren for our particular family. We don't get to take things for granted, simple things like going "full term".

For we know that all things work together for God, for them that love God, for them that are called according to His purpose . . . .

He will uphold me if I go into labor tonight. He will be my strength if I have to birth my baby into a stranger's hands and face that fierce pain of seperation again.

The pain God must feel to a greater degree when we are seperated from Him by sin . . .

Just some ponderings,
Ashley