Taking Time Out for Friends

Yesterday we were invited to join 2 other families for fellowship. As we were heading out on our 1-1/2 hour trip to reach our destination, Jim commented that this was our first longer trip together as a family in quite a while. He was right. Having farm animals sure changes the way we do things. The first year we lived here the friends we went to visit yesterday came our way for a couple of days, and actually brought their milking goats with them on a trailer which was lined with hay bales. They just milked them there on the trailer. We're not exactly set up to do that, and it's pretty hard to bring along a little over a hundred chickens and some turkeys as well as our goats! We didn't get home very early, and Mustard Seed our milking goat was not so patiently waiting for the boys when we got back. Our German Shepherd was apparently bored while we were gone; we discovered this morning that he had managed to chew off the cord that is used to connect the station wagon's electrical system with the trailer's lighting system. Guess that now goes onto Jim's "to do list" of repair items.

The day yesterday was great. No one was lacking for friends, as with just the 3 families there were 20 children -- with only 3 of them girls! My boys were thrilled. It was great to catch up on what has been happening with everyone, and the day passed too quickly.

Later in the afternoon, one of the men did a demonstration on making biodiesel. I normally wouldn't pay any attention to something like that, but it sure was interesting. I think a little less than a gallon of biodiesel was made. Andrew told us that as soon as he perfects his technique he will begin making large quantities of fuel.

We had an interesting ride home ... The fastest way means taking a gravel road that stretches for 20 miles. The sun had already set, but up here it seems to stay twilight all night long, until the sun once again begins to rise. Thankfully we didn't run into any deer, and my husband commented that for that entire 1-1/2 hour trip we only met 2 vehicles. I guess that is why we like it up here!

PS: I would like to post more photos, but somehow, somewhere, someone lost whatever it takes to download them from our digital camera. Guess we'll have to spend some time tomorrow looking for whatever it is!

The Joke's on Me

I was happily telling others that we had 4 male cats -- I didn't want to deal with kittens! Well, today we discovered that our youngest cat is a female; not only that, but she is pregnant! I guess it will be a learning experience for all of us, and the joke's on me!

Father's Day Activities

Back in Fargo we lived across the street from the university, and every year about this time all the North Dakota kids involved in Future Farmers of America (FFA) would gather for a week's convention. We used to sit outside and watch them as they waited for their group photos to be taken. Well, this is our rendition of the FFA, only our letters stand for the Future Fathers of America! The local drive- in had free sundaes for dads, so we took Jim up there and of course the rest of us had ice cream cones.

In the background you can see Lake Metigoshe, the big recreational lake in our area. Thankfully we live 2 miles from there, so we are away from all the vacationers and their activities.

After eating our ice cream in the rain (yes, it finally rained!), we took a drive around the lake. Just for the fun of it, we drove up to the Canadian border (2 miles north), and this is what we saw:
That is all there is to the border -- no fence or barriers of any sort. The road just ends, and then you are touching Canada.

I wanted to show you another one of our "once in a lifetime" activities up here -- mud sliding! The boys decided they would take the garden hose and run water down the hill to make a slippery, muddy slide. What they didn't realize was that not only was there mud to slide on, but quite a few rocks as well. I now have lots of denim for patching other pairs of jeans.

Present and Past Memories

What a nice, quiet evening ... Jim and 3 of the boys are sleeping out in the pop up camper, but my little guy decided he wanted to stay inside with me. Now to get the dogs to stop barking/howling at the coyotes! We lived in that camper when we first moved up here, and I can honestly say I'm not ready yet to move back in.

Yesterday Jim finally was able to check out my washing machine that died the 2nd day he was gone. Unfortunately, the needed repair part would cost half as much as the price of a new machine. So, for the time being the machine is sitting in 3 pieces under our semi trailer. I was very thankful that a friend offered us one that she had in storage; for a while there I was afraid that Jim would hand me a scrub board and wringer! A couple of days ago I tried hand washing socks and underwear, and ended up with blisters from rubbing clothes together to try to get the boys' socks clean. I'm very thankful to be back in business again and able to slowly reduce the mounds of dirty laundry. Now I need some longer clotheslines to hold everything.

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My folks let me know a couple of days ago that our next door neighbor had suddenly passed away. Jack had been diagnosed with congestive heart failure a few years ago, but his death still was a shock to everyone. Hard to believe that our families have been neighbors for almost 50 years. The incident started me thinking about my childhood years in that neighborhood.

Carlton had a grand total of 862 people back then, and I don't think it's grown much since. We lived in a housing subdivision about a mile out of town. Most of the houses came in wall sections and then were set up; my Dad bought our house on the GI bill for $13,000. I was 6 months old when we moved in.

This morning I checked out the online guest book for our neighbor, and it was so much fun to read what some of the now grown up kids in the neighborhood had to say about him. There were probably only 20 houses in this neighborhood, and we all knew each other well. Some families had older kids, but most were close in age to my brothers and me. There was a real sense of community back then, even though we weren't country folks. Pretty much all the parents kept an eye out for the neighborhood kids as well as their own, and we knew if we did something wrong our parents would surely hear about it. If someone was sick, there were meals brought in. I remember my Mom going over to the neighbor's to start up the coffee pot and get things ready for company while the family was at their child's graduation ceremony. We all cared for each other.

It sure wasn't like this when Jim and I married and moved into our house in Fargo. One neighbor came over to introduce herself, but it took a while before others made any effort to get to know us. One set of neighbors did a very good job of keeping their distance, and we knew they weren't interested in the give and take of what I knew from my growing up years. We lived in that house for 13 years, and the neighborhood went downhill very quickly. Private homes were becoming rental properties, and quite a few of them were used for parties every weekend.

I found it very interesting when we moved up here, because very quickly all I had to do was mention my name and people knew who we were, and where we lived. I had forgotten what it was like to live in a small community, and remember determining not to tell the lady at the counter in the post office my name. The first time I was in the post office I was horrified to hear her asking all kinds of personal questions of the people standing in line -- right in front of everyone! I wasn't going to volunteer any information to her! I guess I didn't need to worry about it, as Jim had already gone before me and answered all her questions. Later on I heard the statement that I have found to be true: Most will gossip about you, but when something happens, they will be the first ones in line to lend a helping hand. I don't know if it's true about other farming communities, but it seems like life up here is at least 20 years behind the bigger cities, such as where we lived in Fargo. I like it that way.

I still haven't visited with the lady at the counter in the post office, but I guess I should do that one of these days.

Our Week in Review

I'm sitting here by the computer, trying to keep warm! Amazing that I have been running the woodstove for the past 3 days. When we got up this morning the thermometer looked like it was around 40 degrees, and it didn't seem to inch up much all day long. We are still waiting for a significant amount of rainfall so we won't have to water all the garden areas again, but with all the 50% chances of rainshowers, it just never materialized.

Jim and Jonathan have been away since last Wednesday, so Peter (12) was placed in charge of the farm. And I must say, he has done a wonderful job! No complaining, no procrastinating -- but just jumping right in and meeting all the needs that have come up during these days. Andrew (9) has been his right hand man, and David has pitched in whenever he can. Sometimes I think we sell our children short by not challenging them to new duties and responsibilities.

Peter starts his day by jumping out of bed and taking care of all our chickens and turkeys, and then finishes off by milking the goat and making sure the sheep and other goats are fed and watered. He has also been blogging about his experiences, and you can check out his stories at www.mrflatpicker.blogspot.com.

Jim and Jonathan will be very surprised at how much the gardens have grown in almost a week.
Last week I spent some much needed time outside in my herb garden, covering the soil in between the plants with hay. We have had such little rainfall that we need to do this as much as possible to keep what little moisture we do get in the ground and not evaporate from the heat of the days. I had asked Andrew and David to help me collect hay, so they asked if they could use our old Cub Cadet tractor to get it for me. I was so thrilled to watch the two of them interact and just plain have fun together. They had attached our old red wagon to the back, and would head to the large round bales, pull off some hay and place it in the wagon; then David would hop on top of the hay so it wouldn't spill out, and off they would go to bring it over to me. When David finally got tired of this, Andrew had him sit on his lap and drive the tractor himself. I really think living in the country has helped to cement some close friendships for life between our sons.

On Friday we headed to a friend's farm about 1-1/2 hours away to pick up our turkeys. They live down on the prairie, and I was amazed how cold and windy it was, compared to being up in the hills. They had had plenty of rain, so it was a good thing we all wore our mud boots! The trip was a very spur of the moment thing, and yet by the time we got there the house was full of people, and we had a good time of fellowship with everyone. We all participated in bringing food, so it was easy to pull together a hearty meal. Chris' sister Rebekah had taken care of our turkeys for us, and it was great to hear her explain how to care for them. They are Bourbon Reds, and I had been hearing how turkeys are touchy when they are newly hatched. We found that out, as out of the 24 that had been brought up to their farm, only 16 had survived. In spite of my protests, we ended up taking 10 poults (I didn't know until tonight when someone emailed that turkey chicks are poults!). Got them home safely, but one died the next day. So, we are down to only 9. I sure hope these survive! I was able to see mature Bourbon Reds at their farm, and they are certainly beautiful birds.

Saturday was another cold, sort of wet day. Our friend Paulette showed up after lunch, and we decided to check out a couple of garage sales that were being held around Lake Metigoshe. The boys were thrilled, as the 2 sales we attended had lots of free stuff, and they came home with lots of new treasures! At our 2nd stop there was a box of microphones, speaker, older 2 way radio and other items that was marked at $2.00; when the older gentleman noticed the boys' interest, he just gave it to them! They have been intrigued and spent quite a bit of time figuring out how everything works. Afterward we took a tour of the local state park, since it was free admission for the day. We spent a lot of time there when we first moved to the Turtle Mountains, because living in a pop-up camper meant no running water or shower facilities, and we would head to the park to fill up with water and take showers every 3-4 days. Talk about feeling grungy! Our day with Paulette was lots of fun, and even relaxing.

David had been bugging me all week that he was hungry for donuts, so I pulled out Jim's recipe from when he was a teenager and we got to work. I mixed, David cut them out, and Andrew manned the deep fry. Then we all ate! As they ate donuts I read to them from a set of books called, "The Kingdom Series" by Chuck Black. It is an allegory of the Bible, written by a homeschool dad in North Dakota. The boys sure enjoy them. I think we have read 2-1/2 books of the 4 book series since Jim left last Wed. The books have been picked up by Multnomah Press, so they will be redone and offered as a 6 book series in 2007.

Today was another relaxing day for us. Peter decided to make a lean to shelter to house more of the goats and sheep, and Andrew and David were working on a wooden pull behind wagon for the Cub Cadet. They were using bicycle tires, but the first prototype fell apart, so they will start up again tomorrow. Later in the afternoon we headed to Metigoshe Ministries to do Jonathan's vacuuming job. We will be glad when he gets home!

Well, tomorrow if all goes as planned, Jim and Jonathan will spend time at Good Farmer John's place in Minnesota. If it rains, they will also stop to see Northern Farmer, but if it's a dry day they will have to plan that visit for another trip through Minnesota. It's haying season! I will be very glad to have them home soon, and one reason is because my washing machine died the 2nd day they were gone! Talk about mountains of laundry to get done!

Interesting Newspaper Article

The farm referred to in this article in located in our area, and Pride Dairy is located in the closest town to our place. I know nothing about cows, but thought this article to be very interesting.

Revitalizing the family dairy farm in N.D.
By Terry DeVine
The Forum - 06/04/2006

John Daniel may live in Los Angeles, but he spends a great deal of time thinking about North Dakota and what he can do to improve the quality of life for farmers in the state.

"The family dairy farm was one of the great cultural and character-building backbones of this country," says Daniel, whose wife, the former Sonja Gillberg, was born in Carpio, N.D., grew up in Minot, N.D., and eventually graduated from Concordia College in Moorhead. "I have been figuring on ways to resuscitate the family dairy farm in North Dakota, ways for people to come back to the state and make a living on a family dairy farm."

Daniel says the production of the highest-quality cultured creamery butter and white cheddar cheese is the answer to the resurgence of the dairy farm in North Dakota.

He says the milk to make that butter and cheese will come from Dutch Belted dairy cows, a breed distinguished in color by a wide swath of white hair encircling the animal's middle in an otherwise black coat. The large belt of white, which inspired the nickname "Oreo-cookie cows," makes this breed instantly recognizable.

The breed was developed from black and white dairy cattle in Holland. Holstein cows, by far the most popular and productive dairy breed, share a common ancestry with Dutch Belted herds. There aren't that many Dutch Belted herds in the United States, but Daniel hopes to change that in North Dakota. Daniel and other investors have formed the North Dakota First Corp. and recently purchased nine head of Dutch Belted dairy cows in New York state, which they will be transporting to North Dakota in July. The cows will be arriving by July 15 at Pay-Dak Farms of Towner, owned by Dale Kuhn and his wife, Pat. Daniel says the Kuhns have a 270-cow dairy operation. The milk will be taken to the Pride Dairy Cooperative in Bottineau, says Daniel, where it will be processed into cheese and butter. He says North Dakota First's goal is to be making butter by October, but cheese has to age six months before it can be sold.

"We plan to make North Dakota First Old-Fashioned Cultured Creamery Butter, a hand-made product with a taste that rivals anything you've ever put in your mouth, followed by North Dakota First Dutch Belted White Cheddar Cheese," says Daniel. He says North Dakota First Corp. will buy milk from the dairy farmers, paying them a higher price than they would normally get, and pay them part of the profit on the butter and cheese that it will distribute to markets around the country.

"We want to help underwrite loans so farmers can get into the business," says Daniel. "We hope to have a million-dollar Dutch Belted herd in North Dakota within five years." Daniel says that once North Dakota First is up and running and making money, he plans to put together seminars and will bring in cheesemakers from around the country to show dairy farmers how it's done.

"Our goal in all of this is to increase the number of farmers involved and their ability to make money in a family dairy operation," says Daniel.

Transportation is a problem in North Dakota, says Daniel, but he is confident North Dakota First will be able to ship cheese and butter by truck to markets around the country.

"I'm just a person with some ideas who wants to make a difference," says Daniel, a lawyer by trade who is working on a book. "We're going to do business with people, and when we finish doing business with them, they'll be happy and better off economically than before they went into it."

Daniel says he admires the work ethic of North Dakotans and always has. "We're going to develop products, markets and opportunities for people. The desire to excel is great among North Dakotans, and we're going to help them do it." Daniel says there are lots of details to work out, but North Dakota First is in the process of doing just that.

We'll hear more from Daniel when those Dutch Belted cows arrive in July.

Photo Journal

I thought you might like to see some photos of life in the Turtle Mountains:

Here is our almost year old German Shepherd, Samson.

This is Ned, our billy goat. We found out last weekend the reason he is so friendly is that he was bottle fed.
This is yesterday's photo of the inside of our hoop house. The watering trough is where we placed the 50 Cornish cross chicks we received last Saturday. We have since then moved those chicks to an outside makeshift coop, and the new chicks picked up at the post office this morning ( Cornish rock -- 50 more of them! and 14 Buff Orpington chicks) are now brooding in the trough. It's hot out today and the chicks were getting overheated, so we opened up the entire back side of the hoop house and will check often to make sure there is enough air flow to keep them at a good temperature.

This looks kind of funny, but it's our makeshift chicken coop! We covered it with a tarp yesterday because we were in for quite a thunderstorm and didn't want anything to happen to the chicks. They seem to be doing just fine in there. We will take another photo when it is uncovered. The structure in the background is where we are currently living -- our walk-out basement. One of our garden areas is located behind the van.

Here is Ebony and her twins, You (no spots) and You-Too (spotted)! Jim named them, as he was the only one of our family here when they were born. They sure have grown up. You is up on our milking stand.

This is a photo of our Cornish cross chicks before they were moved out of the hoop house and into their own coop. Sure didn't take long before they started growing their feathers.

Here is Andrew, driving our "4-wheeler!" It is an old International Cub Cadet that we used when I was growing up (long time ago!). The boys use it for everything, including trips to the mailbox. They have attached our little red wagon to it so they can haul water, rocks, brothers, etc. In the background you can see the hoop house, our new chicken coop, our wood pile that needs to be cut and stacked, and concrete chunks that will some day be used to finish off our walkway. The majority of our garden areas are located on the other side of our hoop house.

I'm Tired

More planting today ... I think if all goes well we will have enough celery, tomatoes and peppers to feed an army! But then at the rate we have company, we are feeding an army. Jonathan told me today he thinks we have the potential to harvest 700 pounds of potatoes; I shudder at the thought of trying to store that much and not have them spoil. We'll cross that bridge as we get to it, I guess. I also know that we go through 10 pounds of potatoes any time I make mashed potatoes, so they disappear quickly around here. Hopefully we'll have time tomorrow to post some pictures of our garden areas. I depend on my 9-year-old son Andrew to download and bring the photos into my blog, and maybe some day he will teach me how to do it.

I sure wish our chicks would arrive soon from the hatchery. The chicks that were brought up here with friends last Saturday are doing well, but I keep wondering how we will manage with over 100 at one time! Last year we started with 25, and Jonathan managed them well. Hopefully we can do just as well this year. Guess I better convince Jim and the boys that the next thing they need to construct is one of Herrick Kimball's Whizbang Chicken Pluckers!

Gardening Express

What a busy day! It was finally my day to get out in the garden and plant; and plant we did! Our whole family was out in force to work in the garden areas. Even Paulette came over to help, and we still didn't finish by the end of the day.

I wish I knew how many transplants we got into the ground today, and it amazes me that we started them all from seeds. I planted all my herbs today, along with peppers of all kinds, different varieties of tomatoes, melons, squash -- and lots and lots of flowers. Our son Jonathan decided we didn't have enough peas, so he planted another row. Then Andrew thought we needed more sweet corn, so he planted 3 more rows! The problem with this is that we haven't had a decent rain all spring, so all of our fields must be watered by hand. We have been using Mountain Fire Keeper's pickup truck with a water tank in the box, but he needed his truck today so we mounted the tank on our trailer and had to take double the trips to the lake to fill the tank only half way instead of full. Jim has the procedure down pat, but as he is leaving next week for a trip, we need to take over the job. All the chores have been shifted down one boy as well, so life has stepped up a pace.

We started our planting experience in bouts of light rain and much wind, and then the clouds would break and it would become almost hot. This went on and on all day, until finally the sprinkles quit about mid afternoon. I can't imagine what the grain farmers around here are doing, as they certainly can't be watering their fields. It's becoming a very big problem.

Paulette and I had just gone into the house to make a very late supper, when the boys announced that our friend Chris and Mountain Fire Keeper were here! Apparently Steve got as far as an hour away from here when his pickup broke down -- conveniently in the town near where Chris lives. Steve had parked his car over here, so he took off for his appointments in Grand Forks, and Chris stayed for supper. Never a dull moment around here.

Hopefully tomorrow I can finish up planting the rest of my flowers. No rain in the forecast for the rest of the week, so we'll be busy watering.

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!