A Little Bit of Everything

Well, it was another busy weekend. Lots of fun, food and fellowship! Three families met at our place on Saturday, which made a group of 22 or so. What a grand time for our boys, as out of 13 children (including ours), 12 of them were boys! The only time we saw them was at mealtime.

Sometimes it takes new people to help you learn to appreciate what you have. One family had never been up here before (they were the ones that sold us our goats), so Jim took us all for a grand tour of our property. Dawn was so excited at everything she saw, commenting on such things as all the burdock plants and how they could be dried to go into essiac tea to take for cancer. I had been told last fall by neighbors that they are noxious weeds and should be destroyed! We walked down by our old log cabin to where the barn used to stand (there is nothing left of it now); there is a slough there, and as we were talking a loon swam as close as I have ever been to one to check us out, and another from a distance away began its long, mournful cry. It was beautiful! Made me appreciate where we live.

We now have 50 Cornish Cross chicks brooding in a metal watering trough, which is situated in our hoop house. Our son Jonathan rigged up a heating lamp, and they seem to be thriving in there. Those chicks were not exactly planned for, and our regular order from the hatchery will arrive some time this week. Then the flock will swell by about 65 more chicks. The Cornish Cross chicks came with the company yesterday. Life is getting interesting! I need to learn how to care for these chicks as well as milking the goat in one short week, as Jim and Jonathan will be leaving for a trip to Iowa, where Jim was invited to speak at the Iowa homeschool convention in DesMoines.

This morning our son Peter and I spent quite a bit of time trying to scrub used motor oil from the hair of 2 of our cats. I have no idea what or how it happened, but our one long haired cat must have gotten dunked in the oil. Jonathan found him when he stepped out to milk the goat, and he sure looked miserable. We scrubbed and scrubbed him with Dawn soap, and then rinsed him and used a hairdryer to dry him off. Needless to say, he was not a happy camper. I just hope he didn't ingest too much of the oil, since we don't know when it happened or if he tried to clean himself off during the night. I had just taken a shower to get cleaned up myself when Peter brought in the other cat to clean up! This one fought any attempts to clean him up, so I cleaned him up as best as I could and let him go. Haven't seen him yet tonight, so I hope he is okay as well.

Then 2 days ago we discovered that our German Shepherd is having skin problems. The troubling thing is it is located where he had his hide pulled back during a fight with something about 2 weeks ago. No one seems to know what it is exactly, but a couple of people have wondered about mange. We are treating him often with colloidal silver, and hope that will help. Samson is losing hair in that area and has small spots that are scabbed over. I sure would appreciate it if anyone has a clue on what it is and what to do about it. So far it hasn't seemed to bother him, but it sure bothers me.

Tomorrow is garden day for me. We drove over to Paulette's health center to pick up plants today, and it was then that it decided to start raining. So, we'll give it our best shot tomorrow. I have been so busy with getting ready for company and working that I haven't done much in the gardens yet, so this is my turn. I can't remember all that I picked up, but there were peppers, tomato plants, melons, herbs of all kinds, and lots and lots of flowers. Hopefully the weather will cooperate.

Just the Highlights

Our family is still around, just been too busy to write on our blogs. I feel like it's been hard lately to even catch my breath! Forget about putting away our winter clothes, jackets, etc.; they were all thrown into our semi trailer to put away another day, as we are into gardening with both feet. Mountain Fire Keeper has kept us all busy with everything you can think of -- and that has been good for us. We are so new to this agrarian thing that we need him to coach us in what to do when. Today we spent the afternoon planting annual flowers in Paulette's health center garden areas, and hopefully tomorrow we can get busy on our own flower beds.

The weekend whizzed by, as it was filled with company. A family of 8 stopped by on Sunday, and when they found out that more mutual friends were coming on Monday they decided to stay over and fellowship with them as well. I think I ended up serving supper for 25 people on Monday night! I am so much looking forward to some day going into my root cellar and pulling what I need off the shelves for crowds of company. With the size of our gardens this year that would be a real possibility, but we have yet to even think about building a root cellar. I just discovered tonight that this weekend will once again be filled with company, as 3 new families will be coming on Saturday.

I was more than a bit tired after the activity of last Sunday through Tues., so Tues. afternoon I thought it would be a good idea to get my 6-year-old to take a nap by taking one myself. It was rather hot and muggy out, and I had been attempting to wash clothes. Anyway, I was almost asleep when I started feeling water dripping on me! Turns out the copper pipes that run from our wood stove into an old shell of a water heater on top and then across the ceiling to the regular water heater at the back of the basement were sweating from humidity! My side of the bed hugs the water heater, and so I receive the drips from above. Needless to say, Jim needs to get those pipes insulated as soon as possible! I guess it felt like sleeping in a leaky tent.

Jim had a real education in what it would have been like to have girls in the family (we have 4 boys) ... The first family that came to visit had 6 of their 9 children with them, and 5 of them are girls. We took them for a walk through our property, and more often than not there would be a scream from one of them because of the numerous woodticks that kept accumulating on their skirts! I have been around boys for so long that I found it quite amusing. Even I have gotten hardened enough to pick the critters off by myself without so much as a shudder! I draw the line at pulling off the large blood filled ones from the dogs, though!

Tomorrow will be another day of cleaning up, baking, cooking and gardening.

Jim and the boys built this little 12 foot sailboat (in Jim's office!) when we still lived in Fargo; it has provided hours of fun for them. Since we moved up here they use it to sail to the deeper part of the lake, then jump off and swim. The edges of the lake are very slimy and full of leeches, so it's much nicer to swim in the middle of the lake.

Two of the little girls that learned about woodticks while they were visiting us!

Susanna visiting our goats Ned and Ebony; Ebony has the twins which were born on the trailer just an hour after arriving here.

Most of our friends love bluegrass as well as we do, so the boys always take time out from playing "Capture the Flag" and other activities to jam together.

Catching Up -- At Least Trying To

Life seems to be moving at an accelerated pace these days. I have been working the past 3 days at Metigoshe Ministries, where we lived for almost 2 months after it become too cold to live in our pop up camper and before moving into our basement. They have a summer camp for children, and I helped another lady clean up in the kitchen area. Talk about heavy duty cleaning! I am still sore from scrubbing and painting. It sure was beautiful out there, though, as the camp overlooks a lake.

Life didn't stop here while I was gone ... The boys continued to plant and water in our garden areas, as well as working on other projects. Today I got home about 6 p.m. to discover our friends from an hour or so away had brought their tractor with an attachment to break up enough land to double our garden areas! I think we will then continue to work on that land so it will be ready to plant next year. This family consists of Chris (24), and 3 of his younger brothers, and also Chris' sister and family. It's so amazing to me how people are willing to bring a tractor from that far away to help us out with our garden areas. We then all ended up at our friend Paulette's (she knows this family as well) for supper. We all contributed to the meal.

Another friend showed up today to help Jim check our bees. She came from an hour away. Linda has her own hives, so is very knowledgeable in bee keeping. They discovered that one hive was gone. Jim suspects that something happened to the queen bee, so the rest just moved into the other hive. He is going to try to figure out what happened, but we may never know. We are very thankful for Linda's help.

North Dakota is a very interesting state. I was reminded at supper tonight that the population is somewhere around 600,000, which isn't much for a rather large area of land. One of our discussions concerned how interconnected so many families are, in spite of large distances separating us. When we lived in the city we started getting to know other families in the state that would be considered Christian agrarians. Most of these families homeschool and live in rural areas. Knowing one family leads to getting to know other like minded families, and this is how the network began developing for us. Our goats came from friends that live about 4 hours from us. Much of our bee keeping equipment came from another family living almost 4 hours from us. Our German Shepherd came from a family living 5 hours away. And yet, we keep in touch and it doesn't take much for the families to find a reason to get together.

Last summer friends put together the Bottineau Gospel Music Festival in town, and many of our networking friends attended and even played and sang at the Sunday afternoon event (lots of us are into bluegrass music!). Quite a few stayed overnight at Metigoshe Ministries so we could have times of fellowship, and in the morning there were 65 of us eating breakfast at our friend Paulette's health center! I don't know what is going to happen this summer now that the gas prices are skyrocketing, but I have a feeling there will be the same desire for fellowship and people will continue to meet.

On Saturday Jim and everyone but our youngest and me will travel 3 hours to Bismarck to the homeschool graduation ceremony there; Jim will speak and the boys will play a few songs. I will stay home to milk the goat! We have a couple coming on Sunday from at least 4 hours away to visit with us (they sold us our goats), and more from the Bismarck area may arrive on Monday. Fellowship is so sweet -- and so necessary! I guess I may have to wait a while longer to try to catch up on things.

This is Not a Hobby Farm

While the boys and I were on our trip east we visited some friends. The boys were asked to play some of their bluegrass music, and they were more than willing to oblige. Afterwards one of our friends said something like, "I think I see why so many famous musicians came from farms; they had nothing else to distract them, and played music all the time." I had to bite my tongue not to dispute that statement, but thought I would do so now.

I don't think people realize just how much work it is to live on a farm. I am busier now than I ever was, even busier than when the boys were younger. Sometimes I feel badly that we keep the boys so busy they fall asleep as soon as their heads hit the pillow at night! It is a good kind of busy; not busy work, but actual getting something done type of busy, when you really feel at the end of the day that you have accomplished something worthwhile. I remember a friend's reaction when I first told her that we had found our "place in the country;" she told me I didn't know what stress was -- just wait until you move to your land! And she was very right.

When people would ask us what on earth we were going to do with 160 acres, Jim would tell them we were going to farm. Even I thought he was crazy, as neither one of us were raised on a farm. Jim is a visionary, and knew what God had in mind for us well before I could catch the vision. I guess I was too caught up on the details of packing and moving. How do you jump in and start farming when our 160 acres was raw land, with no buildings, utilities or even a road in? It really wasn't until we met our friends Paulette and then Steve (Mountain Fire Keeper) that Jim's vision began to take shape for me. I began to see the possibility of raising our own food, and becoming more self-sustaining in other ways. We are seeing progress, but have a long ways yet to go.

We do not have goats just to give the boys more chores to do, but to actually use the milk and maybe eventually the meat. I want to use the milk to make soap. The chickens that are coming soon will provide us eggs and meat. If everything goes well we will have our own honey, and may even have some home grown grains to work with. Our garden is huge this year, and we will be busy come harvest time. I better find more canning jars at garage sales! Can't wait for our raspberries to produce enough to make jam; the boys are more anxious than I am, since last year's supply barely made it through the winter (they like a little bread with their jam). I've always wanted a horse, but the horses we'll have over here will be work horses. Jonathan will purchase an extra deer license this fall -- not just for the sport of the hunt, but because we love venison.

Anyway, this is what the Lord has in store for us. I guess it's time for me to take out my mountain dulcimer and get practiced up.

Trying to Get Back to Business

The boys and I are back after spending 8 days on the road and visiting with friends and family in northern Minnesota. My family lives over there, and it was such a blessing to see everyone after almost a year. That is way too much time in between visits.

Our travel time was so much different from a year ago ... Instead of being bored with the scenery of endless plowed fields, the boys were noticing how dark and rich the soil was in the Red River Valley of North Dakota, and even my 6-year-old commented, "Wow, they must have put three inches of sheep manure on that field!" I guess we are slowly growing in our knowledge of farming! They even spent a lot of time checking out all the tractors and other farm machinery they saw along the way.

Jim was very busy while we were gone, managing the animals and garden areas. We now have 1/3 acre of raspberry plants, along with a large area of potatoes. I gasped when Jim told me on the phone that he had picked up 50 pounds of seed potatoes! Needless to say, we have quite a few yet to plant! We still have transplanted strawberry plants and other things to go into the ground. Tonight may hold snow for us, so we have all the plants in the house to keep them safe.

On Sunday some friends delivered a billy goat, along with a milking goat and a pregnant goat. In about an hour our number of goats increased to 5, as the pregnant one gave birth to twins! Jim did a great job of milking, and the boys have started to take over that chore. I must admit it's a bit overwhelming to be mobbed by 3 goats and 3 sheep whenever someone enters the pen! Jim tells some very interesting stories of how he had to milk the goat when we were gone and the billy goat wouldn't leave the other one alone. Glad it was him and not me!

Every time I head to my folks' home I feel sad, because I have to drive by land that was once farmed by my Grandfather; it is now scarred by a very large, hideous gambling casino run by the local Native Americans. It's amazing to me how many of the locals have spent their retirement money in that place. I also felt sad when we took Hwy 5 across ND to get home Monday night and saw many abandoned farmsteads. What a common sight these days.

Well, I better close for now and try to catch up on a few of other people's blog entries; I have missed hearing about what everyone has been up to!

History of Home Schooling in North Dakota

Today Jim asked me to read his latest submission to the Home School Report; publication for the North Dakota Home School Association. I thought you might find it interesting, as the events and comments included so closely relate to what is happening with government controls in agriculture. North Dakota has the reputation of being the most restrictive state in the nation regarding home schooling laws. The home schooling families in this state must constantly be vigilant, as there are many in state government that are ready and willing to take away what freedoms we do have. Our family will be in the hot seat, as Jim is executive director of the NDHSA, and will most likely be traveling to the legislature to testify in various committee meetings.

A couple of years ago I scoured libraries, archives and files of the North Dakota courts, universities, newspapers, home school families and the NDHSA which resulted in an amazing pile of information which gives glory to God in many ways.

In order to organize this mass of interesting information, I personally hired Lori Kenney and Lynn Bartlett to help me create a chronological annotated bibliography which is now being made available as a publication of the NDHSA. Over several months, Lynn, Lori and I read through the documents, placed them in chronological order, highlighted the key dates and names, and noted the thoughts that caught our attention.

This 80 page bibliography begins with the Dyck “It Did Happen Here” story of 1978 and Lynnette Dagley’s inspiration to form the NDHSA in 1983. It then proceeds through the legal battles of many ND home school families to the Bismarck Tea Party and Governor Sinner signing the ND Home School Law in 1989. This bibliography also covers the follow-on vigilance, ND home education activities, family stories, and the 1998 memorial of Clinton Birst. Michael Farris has invited me to spend as much time as needed in the HSLDA Virginia archives to finish collecting the legal details, but I’ll either need helpers or designated funding to make that trip happen.

This bibliographic history is like a series of small windows along a long hallway which gives the person walking down the hallway a glimpse into the past. It helps the reader (1) better understand the present attitudes about home schooling in ND, and (2) ponder strategies, defenses, and Biblical perspectives which have been time, court, and legislatively tested in preparation for future legal and legislative interactions. The details in this bibliography also contain powerful testimonies and wisdom worth sharing with friends and families.

Stepping back to appreciate the broad perspective, I think it is very helpful to remember that there are different ways to view history. For example, the religion of secular humanism views history as the history of man’s accomplishments, where the Bible presents history as God’s interaction with man. As R. J. Rushdoony wrote in his book titled The Philosophy of the Christian Curriculum(p. 40), “These two perspectives are mutually exclusive: either God is God, or man is God, and history is either basically God’s work or it is man’s work. The teaching of history cannot halt between these opinions. History is not social science; it is a theological science, because it is an aspect of God’s creation.” The events of North Dakota's homeschool history, seen in light of God's perspective are compellingly interesting, because we are actually looking at the hand of God working in North Dakota, not just a series of factual events or the decisions of man. Most of the Christians who lived this history understood this and acknowledged God in their homes, courtrooms, legislative actions, and the press. We can all be inspired by their actions and encouraged to follow in their footsteps.

The following paragraphs provide an example of the content and format of this chronological annotated bibliography which captures and organizes the history of home schooling in North Dakota is a sound bite format.

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Samples from the Chronological Annotated Bibliography of the History of ND Home Schooling

1983
Lynette Dagley, family scrapbook, June 1983. “The inspiration to begin the NDHSA began here at The Black Hills Health and Education Center in Hermosa, SD, June 1983.”

1984
“Children told to testify against parents,” Bismarck Tribune, 24 January 1984, 7. “A judge in Minot ordered three children of a Baptist minister to testify against their parents…on charges of violating the state compulsory school attendance law.”
“…North Dakota does not have a law giving children a privilege against testifying against their parents…” Children were interviewed by a psychologist who found them “likely to be damaged psychologically if forced to testify against their parents…” “states interest in the alleged crime is clearly outweighed by the potential harm to the children and family…”

Gannon, Grael Brian, partial letter to Bismarck Tribune. “…People who seek the freedom to educate their children according to their convictions are only asking to work hard, to do good, and to pay their own way. They are not asking for freedom to neglect their children. They are only asking to do what the state says is its compelling interest: to educate them. And to do it every bit as well – or better – than the state can.” The following closing was not included in the Bismarck Tribune: “To use the law as an instrument to persecute these godly people is a terrible wrong. When we break their hearts, destroy their hopes, and shatter their dreams, we diminish ourselves. When are the people of North Dakota going to say ‘Enough of this shame’.

1985
North Dakota Home School Association, January 1985. 1. Clinton Birst’s letter to pastors regarding homeschooling, and the benefits the association can give to them. “Children thrive better in bad homes than in good institutions.” Reference to Dr. Bowly, educator who had done studies for the World Health Organization. “God has designed the home to be a powerful learning center.” Reference to homeschool dads becoming better leaders and contributing to the church.

1986
Hendrickson, Lucille, “Home Schools: The Final Test,” Bismarck Tribune. “In 1984, the Rev. Thomas and Peggy Patzer and Ray and Lorita Larsen were convicted in Stutsman County Court, and the other couples, Richard and Kathy Reimche and Gerald and Sheryl Lund, were convicted in Bottineau County Court…The State Supreme Court upheld the convictions in January of 1985. Chris Klicka,…said it will not be known whether the U.S. court will agree to hear the case until after the fall court term begins. Mike Farris…is representing the North Dakota parents.”

Klaudt, Edna, “Parents Know Best About Teaching Kids,” Bismarck Tribune, Editorial. “Governments have long considered public education their most important tool for indoctrinating and controlling the young.”

Letter to Mark and Lynette Dagley, 14 January 1986. Opposition letter. “I get tired of unqualified persons, thinking they can do better, because of their religious beliefs. We all have to abide by laws for the safety of Americans. If we break the laws, because of our Christian beliefs we sin against God! Because He expects us to obey Christian as well as public laws…”

Anderson, Rev. and Mrs. Larry, Letter to North Dakota Home School Association, 2 February 1986. “…We have 5 children in school now – kindergarten to sophomore year – and have had to return to the public system due to present circumstances. We are vexed daily with the standards and values being taught and practiced in the public system and we’re working to inform ourselves as to the alternatives available to us….Since then, God has increased our understanding and strengthened our convictions and we are compelled by His Spirit to seriously consider what part we can play and, more importantly, what God would have us do, both for our own children and for others who may be in the situation we are in…”

Birst, Rev. Clinton, Letter to Dr. Sam B. Peavey, 4 February 1986. “…The Superintendent of Public Instruction, Dr. Wayne Sanstead, has softened his opposition to home schooling by indicating that some accommodation is necessary in order to get good parents out of court…The most unusual case we have involves a chairman of a public school board who in frustration removed his children from the public school and enrolled them in a Christian correspondence program. This prompted the county prosecutor to charge the children, then nine and ten, with statutory ‘unruliness.’ At this point, I believe the goal was to intimidate by charging the children with a social service charge in civil law rather than charging the parents with violating the compulsory education law, a criminal violation. We have found it more difficult to deal with the civil law than criminal law. Fortunately, we have reason to believe that the North Dakota Supreme Court will consider the charging of children in this instance an inappropriate use of the law.”

1987
Editorial. “Good parents, good homes, good schools.” The Bismarck Tribune. 9 February 1987. This is an editorial by the staff of The Bismarck Tribune. “It’s clear by now that parents who wish to teach their own children are not just ‘kooks’ and zealots, but reasonable people genuinely concerned about the quality of public education or who simply believe in nurturing their children. There is no danger in home schooling as long as the quality of education is preserved. We don’t all have to come rubber-stamped out of the same mold to get along in this world. The current law is unworkable. Some parents are prosecuted, and others aren’t. School officials are put in the role of detectives to identify home school families.”

Herron, Stacy. “Home School effort falls one vote short.” The Bismarck Tribune. 19 February 1987. It talks about the fact that the bill lost by one vote in the House today. It needed one more vote to meet the constitutional majority. “Although the state lets parents home school, it has one of the most restrictive laws in the country by requiring teacher certification for those parents.”

The Home School Court Report. March-June, 1987. Written by HSLDA. The lead article is entitled “The Front Lines” by Chris Klicka. Mr. Klicka states “The real issue involves who has the authority to dictate how the children are educated: the parents or the public school authorities? The state, in the form of the public school system and the National Education Association (NEA), believes that they alone have sufficient knowledge and ability to control the education of the children.” It goes on to say, “One outrageous argument was raised in a home school trial in North Dakota by the prosecutor. He stated that home schooling was inadequate because the children did not have the educational advantage to be pushed around by a school bully! In other words, it is harmful for the child to be sheltered from bullies because he will miss an important social experience which would have prepared him for life.”

1988
“Hard Times in North Dakota.” Jacqueline McDonald. August 1988. HSLDA received the following letter in August 1988. It eloquently describes the fears and joys of a home school family living in ND in the early 1980’s. This home school mother tells her story of home schooling her children on the Minot Air Force Base during the years when home schooling was illegal in ND. She tells of how she was afraid to tell anyone of her children staying home with her, and how God laid it on her heart to home school and she felt compelled to do so. They became good friends with Gerald and Sheryl Lund but tried to tell no one else of their home school. Her husband asked to be transferred to another state where it was legal, and they were finally transferred to Texas which just had won a major court victory in favor of home schoolers in April of 1986. She is praising God for never having to face a court trial in this case as her husband was in the military and they could not face this. God miraculously protected them! Praise GOD!

1989
Gallagher, John. “Those lawless folk who had to home school.” Legislative Front Newsletter. There is no date on this editorial. He is writing for a column entitled “Reverse Angle.” Mr. Gallagher states “The home school lobby came out a winner in the 1989 debate, and has worked to improve its position in subsequent sessions. But it knows, the price of freedom is eternal vigilance, so it will have to keep a presence in Bismarck forever. With this year’s graduation, we’re seeing some of the first fruits of that hard-won but bold and brilliant 1989 legislation.”

Clips from a 1989 possible HSLDA magazine or newsletter. The clip says “1989, North Dakota, Hawaii, Maine, Ohio. February 20 - North Dakota. As part of a rally at the State Capitol 150 home schoolers from 11 states celebrated a “Bismarck Tea Party,” flooding the offices of legislators with hundreds of tea bags with the attached message: ‘The consent of the governed for home schooling, too!’” February 27- North Dakota: Judge Dennis A. Schneider dismissed the child neglect charge of HSLDA members Barry and Kim Fisher, and in a five page decision ruled that simply proving that a child is not receiving an education as required by law is not sufficient to sustain such charges.

April 7 – North Dakota: Governor George A. Sinner signed into law HB 1421, ND’s new home schooling law, which repealed the state’s former teacher certification requirement for all teachers.

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Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations: ask thy father, and he will shew thee; thy elders, and they will tell thee. Deuteronomy 32:7

Sincerely,
Jim Bartlett

One More Learning Experience

I am learning not to take things for granted up here. Yesterday our hoop house was finished and we planted cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers and pumpkins in there. I foolishly thought all would be well, not taking into consideration that not only was it chilly in the house but it would be chilly in the hoop house as well. When we checked the plants this morning we discovered they had been frozen! A couple of the pepper plants are okay as is one pumpkin plant, but the rest looked pretty tough. I guess it's back to square one, and replanting. To be on the safe side for tonight we covered the plants with quilts.

We have had some pretty chilly nights around here, and I have to remind myself that it still is only April. I was glad when Jim removed the hay bales from the roof, but that left us with no insulation in the ceiling. We are actually dressing warmer at night now than we did when the temperature outside was below zero! At least the woodstove helps to warm us up in the morning, and the spring sun keeps us comfortable all day. Kind of reminds me of our very cold nights in the pop up camper when we first moved here. We have certainly come a long ways from those days, and I am so thankful for all that we have, and all that we have learned. I guess we need to just keep on learning!

Hoop House/Water Supply

The above picture is our finished hoop house. We used old plywood for the wooden side, but purchased rebar for the hoops. Our friend Paulette had extra reinforced plastic, so we were able to use that to cover the hoops. With our friend Steve's help, Jim and the boys did a very good job of getting the structure up.


This is the official entrance to the hoop house; I'm glad we can close it off, as the dogs have yet to learn to stay out of there! We will leave it open during the day and also open up part of the back side, in order to allow the breeze to flow through. At night we can close it off and keep the warmth inside. Jim may install an old wood stove to use if the nights get too chilly (as it did last night, and the night before we actually had snow!). We also may add a stock tank in there, so the water we pull up from the slough can warm up before we use it on the plants.

Here is a picture of the inside. Before we left to spend the rest of the day helping out a friend, Paulette and I planted tomatoes, cayenne peppers, cucumbers and sugar pumpkins. We are growing with open polinated seeds this year, so hopefully we'll be successful in saving seeds for next year. Steve said he was impressed with the quality of the soil, as it was just part of the open field last year. Steve had given our boys the job of running around and around the field with his garden tractor, using some sort of attachment (you can tell I am not farm savy yet!) to break up the "summer fallow." He also helped us with getting dump truck loads of aged sheep manure, and that really did the trick. I guess there weren't any weeds to pull out before we began planting.

This is the back side, which can be opened when we want to allow a breeze to flow through the hoop house. The stakes you see sticking up from the ground are markers for the rows of potatoes/peas/carrots that were planted (I'll have to ask the boys which crop was planted behind the structure).

This method of planting inside the hoop house will greatly enhance our gardening this year, as the growing season is very short up here by the Canadian border. We are so very grateful to the Lord for the resources to build it, and also for our friends Steve and Paulette, who have helped us with the knowledge they have of gardening and also their physical labor.

Emily (Straining Onward) asked me about our well water, and why it was recommended to not use it on our gardens. I pulled out the report we received from the ND Dept. of Health after testing a sample, and this is the information we received.

Specific Conductance: 1467 micromhos/cm: This places our water in the C-3 category, which states: "High salinity water should be used only on soils of moderate to good permeability. Leaching is needed to prevent serious soil salinity." It also stated we are in the S-1 category, as we have low sodium; this comment states: "Low sodium water can be used on almost all soils with little danger of accumulating harmful amounts of exchangeable sodium."

The other categories tested stated:

Total Dissolved Solids: 1100 mg/l -- Satisfactory

Total Hardness: 100+ Grains/Gallons, which is very high

Iron: 0, which of course is low

Nitrate: Less than 2 mg/l -- Satisfactory

For a private domestic supply, this water would be usable, but not desirable (sounds like we need a water filtration system for the house!)

For irrigation purposes, this water may be injurious and its effect on the soil, over a period of years, may prove harmful to all but the most tolerant plant life.

So, with the combination of everything, we will avoid using it on our gardens. It doesn't taste all that great, either, but we do drink it all the time. I learned the hard way that I cannot use bleach in my water when washing clothes, as whatever is in the water mixing with bleach causes my white clothes to turn brown!

Events of the Last Few Days

Well, we are pushing full steam ahead. This past weekend Jim and the boys almost finished our hoop house, but today it was windy and cold, so Jim decided to wait until a more calm day to cover the hoops with reinforced plastic. Hopefully that can be done tomorrow so the ground inside will have a chance to warm up and we can plant in there. They also worked on utilizing an old pump to draw water out of a slough to water the garden. I never understood why some people had barrels and buckets of standing water to use for watering their plants, but after our report came back from the local water testing lab I now can say I do understand. Apparently the minerals in our well water could ruin the garden soil if we continued to use it for watering. We did use our well water last year, but this year it will be out of the lake or slough. Jim needs a better pump to siphon the water out of the lake, though, as it's quite a ways uphill to get to the garden area.

I spent Saturday and today trying to get caught up in the house ... just wishful thinking, I guess. In spite of waking up to a dusting of snow on the ground, I still hauled out our winter jackets, snowpants, etc. to pack away in Rubbermaid containers in our semi trailer. I hope we won't need them again until next fall! I am really beginning to see how "stuff" certainly gets in the way of having a well organized home. Since we have 4 boys I save clothes of various sizes out in the semi trailer so we have them ready when a new size is needed. It does get to be a hassle to store that much in clothes, and I am trying to figure out a more efficient way of doing it. I am always thankful when David grows out of a size, since he is the youngest and I can get rid of another bin of clothes!
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Saturday evening we headed over to a neighbor's farm. They live a mile north of us, but we have to take a round about way to get there. Brad and Arlene have lots of sheep, and invited us over to take a look at the new lambs. We have 3 sheep, and Brad will come over one night this week to shear them for us. They are getting pretty miserable as the weather warms up. They would like us to take a few lambs, but I'm not sure if the boys want to tackle that or not. We were asked if we would be interested in taking care of their sheep when they go on a trip, so that would be quite a challenge. I wonder if they would have us take care of their 25 sled dogs as well?

After the boys bottle fed one lamb each Arlene was going to feed the lambs some pellets in a small barn area; one of the ewes got wind of that, so she broke through the gate to get into where the pellets were. This caused a stampede and the barn was more than full of sheep -- to the point where some of the smaller ones were getting stepped on and I even saw one sheep laying on its back on top of other sheep with its four legs flailing in the air! It was total bedlam! I now have a better understanding of why in God's Word we are compared to sheep; they certainly are dumb animals! Arlene had to quickly run around the barn and coax the sheep out with more pellets, and as soon as they saw pellets being poured into troughs they all came running. Thankfully none of the sheep were hurt.
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Steve (Mountain Fire Keeper) did another excellent job of planning yesterday's Country Living Skills Workshop. It was very good for our family to listen to the discussion of safety on the homestead. We sure have a lot to learn in that area as well. Paulette did a very good job of explaining what she keeps in a first aid kit, using herbs, charcoal, etc. in place of the usual medicines. We need to get one together so we have it ready. Steve also had a talk on pruning trees and did a walk through of the hoop house. It was too cold for me, so I stayed inside! (It was a typical Turtle Mountain spring day: we started out the day wearing short sleeved shirts, and by bedtime it was snowing!) Afterwards there was a very nice time of fellowship.

Solution to a Frustrating Problem

I thought I would let my son Andrew tell you about another one of our goofs. He was actually writing to his grandparents:

Hello

You probably heard that we lost the key to the old house.

We went to the old house and took of some boards off (in between the windows) and got in but the key wasn't in there.
but one of the doors was only locked on the in side so we un locked that. We took out the generator (that was in side) out.
With the generator out we had electricity.
Remember that thing you gave to Dad that you mount on a drill to cut metal?
Well we used it to cut the lock. Then Dad got a combination lock.

Love Andrew B.

(Padlocks don't work well around here!)

Thursday Happenings

I think our family accomplished quite a bit today ... It was even nice enough to hang clothes outside. I enjoyed that, as I could listen to the sounds of spring. You haven't lived until you hear the sound of a grebe; last spring when I heard them for the first time I thought something was dying! Those birds are terribly loud. They are once again building their nest just off shore on a clump of bushes that are currently in the lake. Last year one of the boys confiscated a few of their eggs to try out the incubator. Bad idea, because soon after they hatched they died. We won't do that again.

We also have had a family of loons spend the season on the lake. I was very glad to hear them again a couple of days ago, so they must be back this year as well. We'll see if the male does what he did last year -- every night just before sunset he would fly over the house, making lots of noise.

Jim and the boys spent the afternoon putting up more fencing for our sheep. Neighbors have offered us some lambs, and I think the guys plan on getting a few. If that's the case, I sure hope the weather stays on the warm side. Unlike Russ of "Log Cabin Homestead," in spite of having a cement floor, I do not want to have lambs in the house!

Life is Getting Busy

I thought it was going to rain all day, so when a phone call came asking for as many as could come to help do a bulk mailing at the retreat center where Jonathan vacuums -- I agreed to do it. David and I made a quick trip to town for Jim (and choked when I saw the gas price of $2.79.9/gallon), and when we returned, our friend Steve (Mountain Fire Keeper) was over tilling one of our garden areas. Jim and Andrew were throwing the now soggy hay off from our roof, and Peter and Jonathan were weeding in one of the other garden areas. After lunch then, Jonathan, Peter and I headed to work on the mailing.

The rain began about 4:30, but before that the men sure got a lot done around here. The roof is now clear of hay, but Jim was a bit concerned with the rain and wondered if the rolled roofing had been damaged at all when the hay was being removed. So far so good, but tonight I decided to cover as much as I could with plastic, just in case the roof does start leaking. While we were gone the guys also planted potatoes, peas and carrots right into the garden area, and started work on our hoop house. Things are sure shaping up around here! It's supposed to rain for the next couple of days (and go down into the low 30's once again at night), so maybe we'll get some inside work done as well. Everyone was sure ready for bedtime tonight!

Getting Gardens Going

Had a good day today ... Our whole family drove over to Paulette's health center to help with transplanting little plants. I like that type of work; there is something exciting about carefully planting the tender little seedlings into a larger pot. The health center was overflowing with the little seedlings, as well as the little greenhouse attached to Steve's (Mountain Fire Keeper) cabin. So, we brought some of the more hardy plants outside and into the hoop house. Jim and a couple of the boys had been over last week to help set up the hoop house, so the ground was all warmed up and ready. We pulled weeds in there and Steve tilled up the soil; then the boys planted corn, cucumbers and tomato plants directly into the ground. Last year we must have forgotten to harvest some of the garlic plants, and they came up on their own and are doing well.

It was interesting to check out the garden area, as there were quite a few spinach plants that had come up on their own. We had such a mild winter that quite a few things survived and had a good start on growing again this year. I'm trying not to think about the forecast for possible snow for this week, as I was too excited to see green plants growing and thriving!

Last week Jim had gone over to Minot (about 1-1/2 hours away) to pick up what was needed to construct a hoop house of our own. It will be very interesting to see how it functions over here, because we have a lot of wind flowing through our field. I hope the plastic survives and the thing never is blown over. I have always wanted to have a greenhouse, and this is a good start.

After we got home from planting, Jim and the boys started to take the tarp off from our roof. The first year we lived here we used tarpaper and rolled roofing on our capped off basement, and then insulated between the floor joists inside. That was a disaster, as too much humidity made the insulated area mold. So, for last winter we piled a lot of square hay bales on the roof and tarped them. On some of the nice winter days we had a brown solution ooze down from the roof and onto our windows and outside walls, so we knew there was either condensation up there or the tarp was allowing moisture in. When the tarp was removed they found a lot of very soggy hay bales.

The problem I was having inside the house was trying to find the source of thousands of tiny red bugs that had found their way into the house; they were all over! I am not overly fond of bugs, and it was very frustrating as I had no idea where they were coming from. Well, when the roof tarp was removed they found these little bugs all over the wet hay. I suppose they climbed out of the hay, down the wall and through the screens of the open windows. Hopefully when all of the hay is taken down from the roof it will eliminate the problem of these bugs crawling into the house!

Our Latest Adventure

I thought I would give you an idea of what happened this afternoon, from the eyes of Andrew, our 9-year-old:

"WELL...... It has been a interesting afternoon we went to Paulette's again and did some transplanting and when we got back Mom went into the house and said that she smelled smoke just then Peter yield FIRE!!...
I ran out side and Jonathan came running to get the fire extinguisher and I'm glad he did.
Dad kept the fire in control while Mom, Jonathan, and I filled up some buckets and brought them over in the van.
When the buckets were empty we went back and filled up them agene. by the time we got back the fire was out.

Jonathan was the hero!!!

Love Andrew B.

P.S.
After Jonathan brought the fire extinguisher
over he had to lay down because he was
coughing so much. "

We have a burn barrel, and while we were gone, Jonathan decided to burn the paper garbage. By the time Peter, Andrew and I were back from transplanting at Paulette's health center the task was finished -- or so we thought. I had just gotten into the house when Peter discovered the dried grass around the burn barrel was on fire! Just as I heard Peter tell us about the fire, Jonathan ran in and grabbed the fire extinguisher.

I have two 7-8 gallon water carriers that I keep full at all times in case our power goes out, so I ran into the bathroom area to get them to take in the van. Andrew was outside filling some buckets with water, and Peter grabbed rakes and a shovel. By the time we got over there (it's located across one of our fields) Jonathan was laying on the ground and Jim had slowed down the progression of the fire with a fire extinguisher. We used the water to put out the fire that was burning around the perimeter of the burn area, and then Jim raked the burned area to make sure it was out. Whew!!

I was very worried about Jonathan, as in spite of not having a lot of ability yet to breathe deeply due to his lingering flu symptoms he had run at full gallop to the house to get the extinguisher, and then ran back across the field carrying the thing. No wonder he was laying on the ground; he was very winded. I had him get into the van and recline the seat so he could rest. He is fine, but tired. When it was all over we drove back home and debriefed on how we responded to the incident. I thought we all did well, but need to remember to always keep our garden tools (hoes, rakes, shovels, etc.) in the same place so when/if something like this ever happens again we will know exactly where to go to get them. Peter had to hunt a bit to find the rake, but thankfully he did find it. We will also keep at least one bucket of water handy in case a spark ever escapes from the barrel.

There sure are a lot of things to think about when living in the country! Even though the burn barrel was covered, something somehow was able to get out and start the dead grass on fire. From now on someone will stay over there until the fire is completely out. I'm so thankful that Peter spotted the fire before it got out of hand.

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I also want to report that last night at supper we spotted our first woodtick; the thing was crawling around on Jonathan's sweatshirt. Tonight when we looked at the window screen in the bedroom area we noted that we were being swarmed with mosquitoes! Not fun -- it's too early! I guess they too are part of life in the country.

Spring is Finally Here!

I think we are finally coming out of our winter slump ... This morning the boys decided to let out the sheep (all 3 of them) and see how they would do. Of course that meant tying up the 2 dogs, but they cooperated. I wondered how we would ever get them back into their pen, but I guess Jonathan looks like their shepherd and was able to lead them in with a bucket of field peas. They will love being out when the grass starts growing. While everyone was outside watching we saw a lot of spring activity. We are in the path of a flyway, and watched different flocks of sandhill cranes, swans and Canadian geese fly overhead. I never get tired of watching and listening to them! We have also seen woodpeckers, robins, killdeer and even mallards, so it must really be spring.

The boys have been out in just sweatshirts, but Jim and I have been bugging them to keep a hat and jacket on (if I'm cold -- they must be as well!), since it hasn't been all that long ago that they were ailing. It sure is good to see them outside playing again.

Another sure sign of spring: at suppertime there was a beautiful rainbow in the sky.

Thankfully our 1/4 mile driveway is drying out. I had a few interesting times while attempting to get in and out last week, and we finally resorted to driving through the field instead of taking the road. I don't exactly enjoy driving sideways up our hill, but the boys always responded with, "Mom, do it again!" Not after my heart was in my throat, I wouldn't!

Porcupine 102

I sure hope the last 2 Sunday's activities won't become a habit ...

Jim, Jonathan and Peter packed up and drove an hour or so to spend the day with friends, and I stayed home with our 2 younger boys who were still a bit under the weather. It was a rather uneventful day -- until later in the afternoon when we discovered the dogs missing. We called and called, and nothing happened. So, the boys and I gave up and went in to make supper.

From across the lake we could hear our "neighbor" shooting, and that didn't make me feel too great with the 2 dogs missing. This neighbor is one of the organizers of the area's gun club, and sets up targets on his own property for use by the members. It was a warm, sunny day; perfect for target practicing. I had been hoping that Samson would never journey in that direction. I knew Selah would never go over there, since she is so afraid of gunshots.

About an hour later, David hollered that Selah was back, and there were porcupine quills on her. Great -- no husband or big boys around for help this time! (My son Peter's blog entry from last week explains Samson's first encounter with a porcupine: www.mrflatpicker.blogspot.com ). I was concerned that Samson (our German Shepherd) did not return home with her, and afraid he was having a terrible time with quills and trying to get them out on his own.

Well, the younger boys and I decided we'd better get busy. Selah is a medium sized dog, so it wasn't too hard for Andrew (9) to hold her while I got the pliers and pulled them out. Thankfully, they were more on the surface, with just 2 on her lip that were really stuck. I was able to pull those quills before she started trying to get away. I went outside with her, and she walked over to the side of the house and picked up a piece of hide with hair and claws -- from a porcupine! Of course I took it away from her and checked it out. Now I knew what the dogs had been up to. You can read the entire story from my son's last blog entry (www.jonathanjbartlett.blogspot.com -- sorry, I have yet to figure out how to link). Those dogs were attempting to eat the porcupine that my son had shot! Just wait until he gets home tonight!

Anyway, about a half hour later Samson returned home. He was a bit more worse for wear. So much for learning the hard way last Sunday: he had quills around his mouth and on one paw.

Once again we hauled him in the house and set to work. I compare it to trying to hold a moose down while pulling its teeth! Samson quite vividly remembered his slow torture last Sunday with removal of quills, so he quickly became too much for Andrew to hold down while I pulled out quills. I traded places with him, trying to hold Samson down to allow Andrew to do the pulling. At one point Samson came very close to biting me, as he didn't want anything to do with the process.

We finally had to let Samson go while still having one quill on his mouth and about 5 left on his paw. I didn't feel too badly about not getting them all with just Andrew and I working on him, because last Sunday it took Jim, Jonathan (15), and Peter (12) to hold him down and do the pulling. I guess the rest will be the guy's project when they return home tonight.

We're Getting Better

Thought you might like to see what a sick banjo player looks like:

I guess banjo players don't stop for anything! (This is our son Jonathan, 15).

Porcupine 101

Yesterday was a rather eventful day in our household. First of all, it was our oldest son's 15th birthday. It was a bit tough to muster up a lot of festive feelings, as most of our family is still down with flu symptoms. Thankfully Jonathan has escaped, and we are asking the Lord to continue to keep him healthy.

During Jonathan's call from Grandpa and Grammy Bartlett we discovered our 8 month old German Shepherd had come running to the house with his mouth area covered with porcupine quills! Amazing, our other dog (hyper Selah) didn't have a single quill on her -- she tends to be the one who gets Samson all excited and he does the deeds. Samson must have tried to grab the thing, as the quills were on his lips and just inside the roof of the mouth, with only one on his tongue and nose. Poor thing! I had thought of taking a photo for posterity's sake, but decided he was in too much pain to even consider such a thing. Jim, Jonathan and Peter got busy right away and started the pulling process, cutting the top of the quill first, then pulling them out. (We had heard that was the way to do it, but while this was going on I checked a veterinarian website and they didn't mention doing it that way.)

Poor Samson; we knew it hurt terribly, but never once did he growl or try to bite anyone, although it took quite a bit to wrestle him down and get him to hold still. He sure was glad to be free of the quills, and very thankful for lots of cool water to drink. He certainly was back to his normal self last night, as he kept many of us up with barking and howling at the coyotes. They were very close last night.

The Turtle Mountains have lots of wildlife, and that means lots of porcupines and skunks. (I am NOT excited at Samson's first encounter with a skunk. Selah found one last fall that must have been near the house; when it sprayed I could almost taste it in the house!) A little over a year ago the boys encountered a porcupine while exploring the territory, and came running back with Selah on a rope to tie her up and keep her from getting quilled. They went back to shoot and bury the thing, taking a handful of quills as booty (farmers around here want you to kill porcupines, as they cause problems with their animals). I reminded the boys that my niece Sarah was into quilling, and she would probably appreciate the quills from them as a wedding present. They decided not to dig up the now deceased one but look for another. So, the hunt was on.

The next porcupine they found was up in an aspen tree. I think Peter shot that one, but the carcass fell into the fork of the tree and wouldn't come down! They tried all kinds of things to get it down, but no success. We even checked after a major windstorm -- it still didn't come down! Needless to say, what is left of the porcupine after a year is still in the tree, and not even the turkey buzzards are interested in it! We have yet to find some nice quills for Sarah.

Plenty of Challenges

Life's a bit of a challenge for me lately .... I thought we were all over this sickness, but it came once again like a wave. Thankfully our youngest is starting to feel better, but this week that little ball of energy has done a lot of sleeping without my prompting. He has a touch of some fluid in one of his lungs, so we will have to stay on top of that. Now my 9-year-old is coming down with the flu, and I'm not happy! My husband and oldest son left early yesterday for 2 days of working with Worldview Weekend, and will be back late tonight. I have quite a few symptoms myself, so the boys and I have done lots of resting.

Making the change from antibiotics and over the counter medications to natural remedies sure has been a challenge. I'm so thankful to have our friend Paulette around to direct me in their use. I'm hoping to be able to confidently tell someone else that natural remedies work -- just give them enough time to allow them to do so. It's been interesting to read that prescription medicines have been derived from the medicinal properties in plants and herbs; so why shouldn't we be taking them instead of synthetic drugs?

Back to cleaning up.

Changing Directions

I happened to read today's post by KS Milkmaid this afternoon, and could totally relate to her entry. Today has been "one of those days." I thought we had pretty much gotten over all the sickness in our house last week, but the onslaught was renewed yesterday when our youngest developed another bout with the flu. Needless to say, there are many days when planning goes out the window.

After an almost sleepless night (David and I watched the movement of the moon through the windows in our living room area) I spent the morning utilizing the cream we skimmed from raw milk on Sunday to make butter and buttermilk. I figured I'd better do something with it, as I had left it on the table yesterday to warm it up before attempting the process (and never got it done), and was afraid it would spoil if I waited much longer. So, in between trying to keep David comfortable, doing laundry, making lunch and various other items I worked on the butter.

I don't know how my Grandma ever did it; my Mom has related stories of how she had to keep house for my Grandpa and their 6 children, wash milk bottles (they had a dairy and delivered milk), tend her garden and chickens (she sold them on the milk route, and that was what she had for her household income), do sewing and mending, and keep her sanity -- with no running water or sewer in the house. And sometimes I feel sorry for myself! I wish I would have known Grandma better, but we were offspring of the youngest child in the family and I had 26 first cousins that were all eager for her attention. She was just too busy surviving to be able to spend much time with each one of us. I guess I remember her more in the later years after Grandpa and Grandma moved off the farm and into a tiny little house. I wish I could go back to those days and ask her how she did it.

Happenings Around Home

We had a peaceful night last night, first time since we arrived home from the homeschool convention. What a blessing! However, because of sleeping so soundly I missed the warning sound of hot water running into a metal pail behind our wood stove, and awoke in the morning to a good portion of our entryway/area by the wood stove covered in water. I'm not well versed in the workings of my husband's apparatus for heating all of our water in/on the wood stove, but apparently the water became too hot and escaped through the safety valve. I guess it's better than exploding, but it certainly made a mess. Once again, I'm thankful for a cement floor!

Yesterday I took 3 of our boys over to our friend Paulette's, and helped Paulette and Steve (alias Mountain Fire Keeper) plant seeds and also transplant other seedlings. It was a fun afternoon for us. We planted a lot of herbs: Lemon Balm, Pennyroyal, Peppermint, Chamomile, Bergamot, Rue, Oregano, Spearmint, Fennel, Pyrethrum, Sage, Catnip and Cumin. We also helped to plant celery(what tiny seeds!), cucumbers, and about 4 varieties of tomatoes. The boys helped plant my cloves of garlic that had started growing as well. Hopefully they will all germinate and grow. Paulette has a wonderful southern exposure in the health center, with a low cement wall used for gathering the sun's heat; it is perfect for starting seeds. She is already enjoying lettuce and spinach that was planted earlier, and what a treat to have a taste myself. We also transplanted some tiny seedlings, but the only one I can remember is Foxglove. Steve took a digital recording of Paulette pruning and starting geraniums, which will probably be incorporated along with the seed starting into the next Country Living Skills video.

We have a friend that has completed 4 years of study to become an herbalist (I'm not sure that is what he would be called), and makes his own extracts. He told my son that the extracts we purchased and have been using from our food coop are rather weak, and so he makes his own. I hope he will teach me how to make my own extracts, as purchasing them can become quite expensive. There is so much I can learn from him. I am once again amazed at how God has placed us in such a place, where we can learn not only to become more self sufficient, but how to care for physical needs we may encounter along the way. Our life here in the Turtle Mountains is becoming more interesting all the time!

Blessings in Disguise

Last night our son Peter was up being sick. I felt so badly for him, but there wasn't much I could do to help. Instead, I walked into the lightless living room area to wait until he was able to head back to bed. What I found was a real winter wonderland! There was almost a full moon out, and the little ice crystals in the snow were sparkling all over the ground. It was beautiful! I surely wouldn't have needed a flashlight to find my way around outside. It was so nice to be able to enjoy the night sky.

I'm not that anxious to repeat the performance tonight, but there is a full moon out so it will most likely be just as beautiful. Our son Andrew is wanting to avoid being sick at all costs, so he asked if he could sleep on the couch. He will be the one tonight enjoying the wonders of the full moon. It may be a long night anyway, since our son David came down with flu symptoms this afternoon. If I am up, at least I can enjoy the night sky with Andrew.

Recovering from the Homeschool Convention

Our family returned home after 4 jam packed days at the North Dakota Home School Assoc.'s convention. Living out of travel totes and sleeping in a hotel room was really no different for us than living here -- we live out of Rubbermaid containers and share the same sleeping area! It was nice, though, to have a solid door on the bathroom at the hotel instead of hanging quilts at home!

The convention was small, but must have been what many people needed, as the evaluations from attendees were for the most part filled with good comments. The convention coordinator only had 6 months to put it together, and she did a wonderful job. Mark Hamby was the keynote speaker, and people were thrilled with his sessions. I only made it to 2 of the 5 sessions, as there was just too much to do to get in there and listen. I didn't meet Mr. Hamby until the convention was over, and he told me he was planning on coming up and going hunting some time. There must have been some discussion going on between Mr. Hamby and my husband! Maybe he will just forget about it! My dream for the future is to have an area in the house set up specifically for guests, but it certainly will be a long time before anyone staying with us gets anything but the pull out couch!

Unfortunately -- in spite of all of our precautions -- this morning our son Peter came down with the flu. At least he was able to hold off on throwing up until we got home, but was pretty miserable. This is so frustrating for me, as the record now stands at 4 years in a row that one of our family members has contracted the flu at the end of/on the way home/as soon as we get home from the convention. March is such a bad month for colds and flu in our area. I guess it doesn't help that we stay up later and visit with lots of people while at convention, and are probably allowing ourselves to become run down. Hopefully Peter will be on the mend soon, and no one else will become sick. We have lots to do this week, as our seeds came in the mail while we were gone and Sunday is the next Country Living Skills workshop.

Animals in the House

It has been a very busy week, as I expected it would be. Now if we can just make it through next week, we will be doing great! March 9-11 is the ND Home School Assn. Convention, and I have been helping with the multitude of details that need to be worked through before next Thurs.

On top of all that craziness, our dog Selah decided to go into heat. I am not from a farming background, and although we had a dog when I was growing up, I had been oblivious to all of these events. We also have a male German Shepherd; Samson is 7 months old, and terribly interested in her. This all came at a very busy time, since we are so immersed in convention details. We didn't have a chance to think through what should be done. Needless to say, Selah has for the time being become a house dog.

Before we moved up here I stated very emphatically that I would not have a cat in the house unless there were signs of mice; there has been nothing of the sort, but now we have a cat in the house. It's my own doing, as this particular cat was born late in the season and when we got him I felt he was too little to be out in the cold with the rest of our cats. We don't have a barn or shed yet, but the boys have constructed what we call the cat house, and it seems to be more than adequate for the cats to curl up in together when it gets really cold outside. I must admit it has been fun to have Funny Face (named by our 6-year-old) inside, but I still have an aversion to litter boxes.

And now comes Selah inside the house. Not a good place for a high energy Border Collie cross! When she needs to go outside, we bring in Samson. This has been quite an experience for us! My poor husband is allergic to dogs, so he has been doing lots of sneezing. I guess this is one of those times when I'm thankful to live in a basement and have bare concrete floors -- they are much easier to clean up than carpeting!

Convention Thoughts

It's been busy at our house, getting ready for the ND Homeschool Convention in Minot, ND. This is the first year my husband Jim has been executive director of the Assoc., so it's the first time we've been intimately involved with the details of a convention. What an eye opener! Thankfully there is also a convention coordinator, so we have just been helping out however we can. Minot is about 100 miles from our place -- the closest a convention will ever get to us. It may also be the last time it is ever held in that city, since registrations are really down and a small number of vendors coming, probably due to gas prices and how far the city is "out in the boonies." I guess people prefer attending in one of the larger cities.

I remember the first homeschool convention we ever attended -- way back in March 1996. I remember dates according to who I was pregnant with or taking care of as a baby! That time I was newly pregnant with our son Andrew, and the convention was also held in Minot. The temps were not even rising above the zero mark, and Jim volunteered to take our 2 boys and get them settled in the car. I followed them out a short time later, and we headed out. When we got to a town about 2 hours away we stopped for gas, and I asked Jim where he had placed the boys' winter jackets. Jim had a sudden blank look on his face, and I discovered they were still hanging in our closet in Fargo. Thankfully, we called a friend that was also driving up later to attend the convention, and she was able to round up jackets, hats and mittens for us to use while up in Minot.

A week or so before the convention we were given a tape to listen to of the convention keynote speaker -- Jonathan Lindvall. That tape changed our lives, and I really think started us in thinking about moving to the country.

Mr. Lindvall had many topics that interested us greatly, such as sheltering our children, becoming debt free (including free of a mortgage), courtship and betrothal, home businesses, and others. We became convinced that God had a better way for us than what we had been planning. We had never heard of some of these topics before, and came away thoroughly challenged. It is interesting that since then we have heard of people who were turned off by his presentations, but it was enough for us to start looking to the Lord for what His will was for us in everything.

The leadership of the home school assoc. has been very wise in their choice of speakers, and every year we have come away with new challenges to what we have been thinking. It took me a while one convention to tune into the style of George Grant, but I came away with pages and pages of notes and the desire to read books with more meat in them. I think our most enjoyable time was listening to John Taylor Gatto confirm what we had been thinking. People complained afterward that he didn't present anything practical for the homeschooling families there, but Jim and I were thrilled to listen to him share his insights and experiences with us. This convention we are looking forward to what we will learn from Mr. Mark Hamby of
Lamplighter Publishing.

More Times of Fellowship

I can state with certainly that the Country Living Skills Workshop II was a success. Steve (Mountain Fire Keeper) has a real gift for organization as well as teaching, and our friend Paulette definitely has the gift of hospitality. It's not just anyone that can make 40 people feel totally comfortable in their home and not worry about children roaming and causing little messes all over.

The workshops are done in such a way that the information gives something to everyone who attends -- seasoned gardeners to the very beginners (like me). Even though I have heard Paulette talk before about the various herbs and the healing potential within them, it is always such a blessing to hear it again and again. I always learn something new. There was a lady in attendance at the first workshop who had just removed her sons from the public school system and Jim invited her to attend (he is Exec. Director of the ND Home School Assoc.); she must have enjoyed it, as this time she brought along her boyfriend and they seemed to learn a lot. I was so blessed, as they seem eager to learn not only about the practical issues taught, but about the fellowship of the believers. They do not presently know the Lord, but I think it's just a matter of time.

Three families decided to stay overnight at Paulette's, and so later morning our family trooped back over there to visit on Monday (the boys loved the ride, as when we turned onto her gravel road Jim did an almost 360 with the van -- it was a bit on the slippery side!) before everyone headed out. The ladies were interested in making salve, so Paulette decided to go ahead and teach whoever was interested. I'm curious to see how the video turned out, as there certainly was plenty of background noise.

A couple of the guys there were the ones who got our sons interested in playing bluegrass music. Our boys were excited to have the first opportunity in ages to jam with them, and jam they did. Well, Northern Farmer, maybe Mountain Fire Keeper will make a copy of that so you can hear what ND Bluegrass sounds like! Timothy and Jon have finished their homeschooling years, and Tim brought along the beautiful mandolin that he made. I think I heard that he has built a couple others that he has sold, and I know our son Andrew greatly enjoyed having a chance to play some tunes with it. Timothy's brother Isaac and our son Jonathan play banjo, and they enjoy swapping instructional books and videos with each other. Peter had the chance to play along with Jon and his guitar, so there was something for everyone. I am constantly amazed when I watch the interactions of the older boys with the younger, as they patiently answer questions, instruct and encourage the younger ones. I'm so proud of them all!

Learning About Chickens

Tonight I was preparing a couple of our chickens to cook for chicken pot pie that will be served on Sunday at the Country Living Skills Workshop. We are asked to bring food items which are made with items grown in the area. The pot pie is my son's request, as he is proud that he raised the chickens. I had to ask our friend Paulette for some of her potatoes, onions and carrots from her garden, since we have run out of the ones we grew. Hopefully this spring we can plant enough to last us through next year's winter.

We have friends near Fargo who offered us a hen and a rooster to help us get started with chickens. When we went to Fargo last March for the ND homeschool convention they met up with us after the meetings to get us the chickens. My poor husband; I stayed one extra day to do some shopping, and he went home with 2 chickens, 2 boys and a dog in the station wagon! Our sons built a chicken tractor out of peeled logs, chicken wire and cattail leaves and stalks, so everything was ready. They decided to name our new chickens "Lewis and Cluck." It took a while, but Cluck started laying close to an egg per day, and we were thrilled.

In June we picked up 27 or so baby chicks down at the post office. They were so cute! Originally our son Jonathan was thinking about starting them out in our basement since it would be too cold outside at night, but friends gave us enough information to make us decide that we better think of another place to keep them. Instead, Jonathan set up shop in our semi trailer (which has become a catch all for everything), and placed the chicks in a metal watering trough that we borrowed from our friend Paulette. Jonathan was very diligent to make sure the temperature was just right for the chicks, and kept them watered and fed.

By the time I got out to see them I was amazed at the transformation -- they were ugly! Pin feathers all over. I'd never seen chickens grow up before, and they sure looked terrible. Soon it was time to transfer them to a larger chicken tractor, where they stayed until they moved to our freezer.

It wasn't hard for me not to develop an attachment to those meat chickens; they are the epitome of self-centeredness and gluttony. Whenever it was time to feed them they didn't care who they stepped on or what they stepped into, they just wanted to eat. We had one that had something wrong with it, and the others wouldn't leave it alone but kept pecking at him until he was too weak to survive. Thankfully, he was the only casualty until we did the rest in.

We have neighbors that live a mile north of us as the crow flies, and when they heard about our chicken escapades they offered to teach us the fine art of butchering chickens. On Labor Day we got to their farm about 7 a.m. (so we could work without the help of flies) and worked with chickens that were close to 10 pounds each! I guess they let this bunch grow heavier since they wanted to have these smoked. I found it a bit tough to hold one up and pluck feathers, as my arm got pretty sore. Our neighbors would hold the carcass on their knees and pluck, but I wasn't quite that willing to get full of "stuff." I think in 2 hours we did up about 14 of those huge chickens. They laughingly told us we could come over and help them do their turkeys as well -- they were huge! Brad was the one who hayed our fields for us, and as a thank you for sharing the bales with him he brought over a 28 pound turkey -- thankfully cleaned and frozen -- for us for Thanksgiving. They also gave us some photos they took of the whole process but I won't share them here, as my expressions show you exactly what I was thinking as I was gutting out a chicken!

Time was getting away from us, and we needed to do our own butchering. My husband Jim had to fly to Philadelphia for a HSLDA conference the end of September, and that was when our friend Steve (Mountain Fire Keeper) and also Paulette were able to help us out. I was thoroughly blessed, as Paulette is a vegetarian and she actually volunteered to help! I was very grateful to Steve, because he allowed Paulette and me the inside work of cleaning, cutting up, packaging and freezing the chickens, and left the "blood and guts" work to himself and our 2 oldest boys. We decided to save time and just pull off the skin with the feathers, as I don't usually cook chicken with the skin, anyway. Andrew would haul them from their work station outside and across the field to the kitchen. David decided it was better just to watch. It took most of the day, but we got the job done. I was sure glad that was done for the year, but what a blessing it has been to have our own home grown chickens.

In October we were asked to come and help our friends Paul and Donna who live 1-1/2 hours away from us with the butchering of their chickens. Jim was conveniently gone again, this time to a homeschool support group leaders' meeting about 3 hours from here. The boys and I got there in plenty of time before the festivities began. There were also 2 other families helping, so it was quite a crew. Paul set up various work stations: killing, defeathering, gutting, and then into the house for cleaning and packaging. Peter, Andrew and David had lots of fun catching chickens, and Jonathan pulled feathers from the carcass after they had been mostly defeathered by a chicken plucking machine. The poor guy that was working the machine was soaking wet, and plastered with wet feathers!

Not only did we butcher and process 80 + chickens, but after we left the rest of the crew butchered a bunch of ducks and bantams. It was a good learning experience for us, and how much more fun it was to do what could be a rather unpleasant job with 26 like-minded friends. It's really true that many hands make the work lighter. Hopefully we can all work together to make the work lighter in many ways.

Moose Drop Inn

Thought I would give you a taste of our weather, courtesy of the weather service:

WIND CHILL ADVISORIES & WARNINGS IN EFFECT FOR THUR & THURSDAY NIGHT FOR WESTERN & CNTL NO. DAKOTA. A VERY COLD ARCTIC AIR MASS WILL PUSH INTO WESTERN & CNTL ND THUR & THUR NIGHT. DURING THE DAY ON THURSDAY WIND CHILLS NEAR 20 BELOW WILL DEVELOP IN THE NORTHWEST AND SPREAD SE DURING THE DAY ON NO. WINDS OF 15 TO 25 MPH. THURSDAY NIGHT WINDS WILL CONTINUE AT 10 TO 25 MPH AS AIR TEMPS FALL TO 10 TO 25 BELOW. THIS WILL CREATE WIND CHILLS NEAR 40 BELOW. WIND CHILL ADVISORIES & WARNINGS MEAN THE COMBINATION OF VERY COLD AIR & STRONG WINDS WILL CREATE DANGEROUSLY LOW WIND CHILL VALUES. THIS WILL RESULT IN FROST BITE & LEAD TO HYPOTHERMIA OR DEATH IF PRECAUTIONS ARE NOT TAKEN.

So this is life in the Turtle Mountains!

I was thinking about the terrible cold forecast, and wondered how families ever lived in the little Norwegian cabin that is on our land. People in the area have told us the cabin was built just before 1900. Most people had large families back then, and this cabin’s outside dimensions are only 16 feet by 16 feet. There is only one room on the main floor, with a very small upstairs for sleeping that is accessed by a very steep wooden ladder. The occupants moved out, and allowed the cabin to deteriorate. Soon the place was used by party goers (we had to clean up a lot of cans, broken bottles, etc. close by where there was a bonfire area), and in the winter by snowmobilers that needed a place to get out of the wind.

When we first moved up here the contractor wasn’t ready to dig our basement, so Jim and the boys started cleaning up this cabin in order to store Jim’s woodworking tools and other items inside. They decided they should call the place the “Moose Drop Inn”, as we were told it was a good place in which to trap critters and moose had been living in the side rooms in the winter. Needless to say, the place needed a lot of cleaning up! Apparently someone along the way added 2 small rooms to the structure, but party goers had torn away lots of the boards to fuel their bonfires.
Jim and the boys (and friends that came up to help) removed the dilapidated side rooms and cleaned up the inside of the main structure. There is no electricity down there since the cabin is located about ¼ mile from our home, so whenever Jim needs to run a power tool he has to get the generator going. The logs on the exterior were hand cut to make square sides, and the corners are dovetailed to fit. Amazing what they could do by hand. We need to repair the chinking in between the logs, and hopefully we can start that in the spring. I think the roof could use a few wooden shingles as well. Jim added a wood stove and proper doors and windows in order to secure his tools inside. There is another entrance to our property from the road where it curves around by this cabin, and it seems no matter how many times Jim places barriers down there, people either move them, drive over them or just go around. Old habits die hard, I guess.

In the fall of 2004 we had a small fire down there to roast hotdogs and marshmallows … My brother had come up for a week to help out with enclosing the basement and had pitched his tent by this cabin. My oldest had gotten a raccoon that had been trapped in our neighbor’s garden and had skinned it, saving the meat for us to taste! We all took one bite and decided it tasted like chicken, then decided not to eat the rest. After it grew totally dark I looked up into the night sky and noticed that the Big Dipper was directly overhead of the peak of the house. It was amazing to me that the original homesteaders had built the little cabin in a direct north/south direction, probably without the aid of any instruments or tools. We sure could learn a lot from those people.

I guess I am very thankful to be living in this basement instead of at the Moose Drop Inn!

A Great Day of Fellowship

We had a wonderful day yesterday, fellowshipping with our friends Paul and Donna, and their 5 boys. Imagine that! Their 5 boys and our 4 boys made for some pretty interesting activity around here! Of course our boys had to show off our 1970's vintage snowmobiles -- only one seems to run at a time, so they all took turns. It is so much fun to watch all the interaction with everyone ... The oldest was almost 15 and the youngest a year old. The older boys kept watch out for the younger ones outside(minus the baby), giving rides and generally helping everyone to have a good time. I was a bit questioning of what they were doing when they kept coming in and telling us how far they had flown through the air when their sled went over the jump they had made, and at least they all survived with only the twins (4-years-old) knocking their heads together as they were going down the hill.

The adults fellowshipping was just as fun as well. Donna and I had to catch up on everything, and as we had just picked up 10 gallons of milk she taught me how to make cheese (very easy, and tastes good as well) and also brought her Vita Mix to make butter with the cream we had skimmed from the milk. I had told her that I almost ruined my Kitchen Aid mixer by making butter the last time we picked up milk. I think I'm catching on to some country living skills! They also brought their Country Grain Mill to loan us, as my Whispermill died the first fall we lived here. My friend Paulette had been grinding grain for me, and now I can do it myself and bake bread right away, which will be great.

Paul and Donna think the way we do, so it's always a blessing to get together. Singing together and sharing from the Bible are always on the list of what we do, and it's great to see the boys starting to share their thoughts as well. Once again, I marvel at how God is bringing together His people -- even if we have to travel long distances to meet. I thought we were in the middle of nowhere when we first moved here, but we actually have more company now than when we lived in Fargo! We will all be together once again next weekend, when we attend the Country Living Skills Workshop being held at Paulette's next Sunday.

My Type of Cabin Fever

It was another stormy day today ... Spent my afternoon doing what I do many afternoons: baking bread and patching clothes. I'm constantly amazed at how one slide down the hill can put huge rips in snowpants! I also decided that one pair of my husband's jeans will make the rag bag if I find them to be mended one more time! I asked Jim if he would promise never to wear that particular pair of jeans to town, but he said he couldn't make any promises!

Mending gives me plenty of time to think of other things. Our friend Steve (Mountain Fire Keeper) was itching to get out in the garden and plant seeds, but I am itching to get outside and hang clothes!

Last spring Jim and the boys created a makeshift clothesline that was strung between trees and held up in the middle by a support made out of young trees. I had to slop through the mud to get to the lines, but that was okay, as I enjoyed hanging clothes. There is an art to putting clothes on the line: all the socks together, shirts, jeans, etc., so they look organized. I never lacked for company, either, as for some reason the cats (3) and dogs (2) would follow me down there and keep me company with each load. Our dog Selah was very good at stealing a clothespin to chew on, so I had to keep an eye on her to make sure I didn't lose too many. One cat in particular would always attempt to climb into the laundry basket, and I don't remember how many times I would have to shoo him away.

The fall of 2004 was a real trial as far as washing clothes was concerned. We hadn't been able to hook up the dryer, so I had to hang everything on hangers on 2 poles suspended from the ceiling above the wood stove. Since we are living in just the basement with no main floor we had insulation at the ceiling, and with no windows all the moisture from wet clothes and just living in general collected in the house. I remember one night in particular when we actually had it raining in the basement -- with no humidity outside! What a mess. In the spring when it warmed up Jim pulled down the insulation and we attempted to dry out the floor joists and everything else. Of course there was mold, so we sprayed that with a bleach solution. I was so thankful when it warmed up enough for the clothesline to be constructed, and I wore knit gloves underneath rubber gloves to hang our clothes outside. Up here there is usually a wind -- and often a stiff one -- so I have to make sure they are pinned on good and tight.

During hunting season this past fall we had more company down by my clothes lines; a moose made that area her habitation for about 4 days. I was worried that she would be irritated by the dogs or the boys, but they all left her alone and she stayed where she was. One morning when we got up we noted that she was gone.

There is talk that eventually I will have permanent lines closer to the house, but for now, I am still dreaming of getting outside with a laundry basket full of wet clothes!


PS -- Instead of insulation in the ceiling this year, we have 260 square haybales sitting on top of our roof and then covered by a large blue tarp. We have stayed nice and toasty warm, and there have been no more unwelcome showers of humidity in the house!

Winter Weather

Well, today was one of the few days this winter that has actually been stormy. We couldn't even see across the field for all the snow that was blowing. Jim prayed about where we would build our house for quite some time before making the decision, and it was so right. The front here is calm, but go up to the field and you can't see anything! We probably won't get out of our driveway unless the township grader comes through and cleans out our road. It's amazing to me that the grader will plough out everyone's driveways! We are the last one on this road, so it takes a while before he gets to us. Makes for a very pleasant day with the family. Even if the power would go off we have lots of hot water (which is heated on top of our wood stove inside an old water heater) and plenty of heat. Add a little bluegrass music, and we are set for the day!

I never knew what the night sky actually looked like until we moved out here ... We have nothing to dim the stars since we have no yard light. I remember when we were first living in the pop up camper there would be nights when someone in the middle of the night needed to "use the bathroom," and the process of opening the door would wake everyone up. I don't exactly know how it happened, but someone outside must have commented on how brilliant the stars were, so we all climbed out of our sleeping bags and took a look. That must have been the first time I had ever seen a shooting star. No mistaking the Big Dipper up here, it's so huge. I have kept an eye on 3 stars that are all in a row, and move with the seasons. Some day I'm going to get out an astronomy book and check out what I am seeing in the night skies.

Another thing that amazes me is how light it is outside for the whole night, even when the moon is not visible. I guess for this season it's because of the snow, but even without light a person can easily make their way around outside. We haven't seen much this winter of the Northern Lights, but occasionally they will be dancing and someone will notice them.

This photo of sun dogs was taken in early December. My son Andrew pasted the 2 photos together to show how beautiful it was.

Gardening Thoughts

It's a beautiful sunny day here, which means it must be cold. Makes me want to get busy and plant some seeds! I must admit that I am feeling overwhelmed at the prospect of ordering seeds. This is my first year of being very aware of what hybrid seeds actually are, and of the importance of using heirloom seeds. Where do I start? What will actually grow this close to the Canadian border, and which will be iffy? How do I keep the bugs away? I guess I just need to dig in and get busy with seed catalogs as well as searching the internet.

We picked up our coop order late last night when the truck came in, and wow! did I learn a few things about spices! Most of them were on sale, and as I make everything from scratch I ordered quite a few. I ordered most of them by the pound, as it was even cheaper than by the 4 ounce packages. When I pulled out the parsley I discovered the 1 pound bag was big enough to use for a pillow! I was thinking I would have just enough to use up before my own from the garden would be ready -- looks like I won't have to grow any for a couple of years! These are the kinds of lessons I am learning "the hard way," but I guess that's okay. Now to make sure I store them in such a way that the bugs won't bother them and the flavor stays with them as well.

I have dreams of making different flower beds: an herb garden, butterfly garden, rose garden (our friend Steve says that up here I have to stick to shrub roses), and lots of vegetables. Last year we were able to have a garden in the areas around our basement that had been turned up by the cement contractors when doing the concrete work, and also a small area that we had tilled up. The carrots were more than a bit stubby but potatoes grew fairly well; this year we are asking the Lord to give us a bountiful harvest. Then comes the dilemma of how to store everything over the winter! We have an area that was tilled up with sheep manure from a neighbor's farm -- over an acre in size! We will have areas of corn, potatoes and raspberries in that field, so the area for the rest of the produce will be greatly reduced. Guess we have our work cut out for us!

The photos are of the beautiful flowers I had last year in the retaining wall area created by our friend Steve. He thought I should have something pretty to look at every time I entered or exited the house! Almost all of the flowers were grown from seeds. The rocks are home grown as well, since they were pulled out of the ground when the men were digging our basement. The boys added the slabs behind the flowers to keep the dogs from running through the garden; it really helped, and created a nice backdrop for the flowers.

My Driving Needs Improvement

I'm the stay at home type of person, and to be honest, I can't remember when I last made it into town. My husband goes to town once or twice a week to run errands, so he just takes my grocery list and picks up what we need. This does get me into trouble at times, as my winter driving skills are more than a bit rusty.

It was suppertime by the time Paulette and I finished making two kinds of salve. She had invited Jim and the boys to have supper with us, so it was even later by the time we cleaned up and headed for home. Even though the days are gradually getting longer we still have rather short days up here by the Canadian border, so it was dark. I'm not crazy about driving in the dark -- especially in winter. The other stressor for me was the fact that our van's dashboard panel was letting me know that Jim had forgotten to fill up with gas the last time he was in town. I just wanted to get home ASAP before I ran out of gas!

I guess I must have been a bit distracted as 3 of the boys and I drove around a bend in Paulette's road, and took the corner too close to the right side -- immediately pulling me into a ditch area. The boys promptly told me this was the same spot that our friend Steve had gone in not too long ago when ploughing out the road with his Bobcat! Not a real comforting thought. Thankfully Jim was behind me in our station wagon, so he was there to help.

It took a lot longer than I expected to get the van out, but Jim did a good job. Hopefully I'll know better the next time I take that road. I guess I better do a bit more winter driving. By the way, I made it all the way home without running out of gas!

PS -- I have yet to figure out how to do links to other blogs, but I would like you to check out the latest entry by www.northernfarmer.blogspot.com . He has a way with words, and explains what our family feels about country living. The entry is called, "Simple Folks." I'm even starting to feel this way!

We are Not in the Wilderness After All!

I am constantly amazed at God's timing in things. When we moved up here to the Turtle Mountains, we knew no one. It was hard for me to understand why God would send us here, with seemingly no fellowship. Well, it wasn't long before friends from another part of the state came to visit and introduced us to Paulette, their lay midwife. Since then, Paulette has become such a dear Christian friend. I have always had an interest in healthy eating habits (though have been sidetracked from time to time), gardening, herbs, etc, and those are the things she does best. What a wonderful teacher -- and only 5 miles away from me! So amazing, as what I thought was being plopped down in the middle of a wilderness, we were instead placed in a very strategic location.

Today my husband and sons were able to help Paulette with the brochure she is creating for her health center, and tomorrow I go over to her home to learn how to make black walnut salve for my son still under the influence of ringworm. The food coop we order from no longer carries that type of salve, so why not make it ourselves? I would not have known how to do it on my own, but with her knowledge I can learn how. What a wonderful thing Christian community is! And, how important it is to be able to share what we know with others. I hope to some day be able to pass on my knowledge with others as well.