Well, here it is Saturday evenin in Cooks Creek. Cloudy but still warm for this time of year. Spose to get a little snow tonite. Say around 4 or 5 inches but we’ll have to see. I haven’t been bloggin for a time. If a feller has a blog I spose he has some responsibility to blog so here I go. I actually typed a blog out just after Christmas but my youngest daughter deleted it some how. I was riled but then again it was only a blog, no big deal. I’ll try and remember some of what I was tellin but not sure I will get it all.
Out attempt at an old fashion Christmas was a good deal. I really enjoyed the relaxed ways, no stress and all. It is definitely the way to go from now on. Easier on the pocket book too. We had my mom, the wife’s folks and her sister for Christmas dinner. Some of the guests didn’t seem to care for our new Christmas tradition but too bad. Take it or leave it, makes no never mind to me. It’s the way we are doin things around here. One thing for sure there was no shortage of good food and good company. But with that bein said Christmas proper is a done deal for another year. Got to admit already thinin about spring and all the stuff we are goin to be doin this year to further our goal of becomin a full farmin deal. On Christmas Eve we had Arctic Char for supper. Now this is some of the best fish I ever ate. This olboy was so big I had to cut him in half on my band saw so we could get him in the oven. A buddy of mine sent it to me. He lives in Churchill. Churchill is on the coast of Hudson Bay, no trees, tundra, polar bears and Arctic Char. If ya ever get a chance to try this fish make sure ya all do. Ya won’t be sorry. Gooood Eatin!
Over the Christmas break I was thinkin about chickens. How many we are going to do next year and all. I got to thinkin about pluckin those fellers. We ended up with 200 broilers and 12 turkeys last year. Plucked everyone of those son of a guns by hand. We tried to make it fun by havin little contests, tellin jokes, playin music and such but it is real tryin to make chicken pluckin fun. Sooooo I have sent away for a set of plans for a chicken plucker from Cumberland Books. Should be here any day now. They say you can put it together for around $500 if you buy everythin new. Now I am a scrounger. I think I might get er done for $200. Once the plans get here I will start the hunt for all the bits and pieces. I may have well plucked my last chicken by hand (I sure hope so). Keep ya all posted on how it goes.
My son got a little guitar from Santa. Him and I have started to try and learn the guitar together. I use my daughters and he uses his. For the life of me I can’t get my fingers to bend and hold all those strings like your spose too. Fingers are too fat or stiff or somethin. I have learned some notes but the chords ain’t goin so well. Can play part of Amazin Grace. I love that song. That and the Old Rugged Cross are my favorites.
New Years Eve tomorrow nite. Our tradition is “The Big Lunch”. We have been doin this for a good many years. We make a bunch of not so healthy snacks and sit around and watch a movie or play some music or games or whatever we feel like. It is just the 5 of us. If I am lucky I will make it to midnite. The last couple of years I didn’t quite do it. It is a big deal for us. Kids talk about it for weeks before hand. Oldest daughter is probably goin to fly the coop pretty soon so this may be one of the last we are all together.
With the New Year comes resolutions and promises and such. I am not big into that stuff. I got to tell ya I am not happy with what I see hapenin in this ol world today. Today they killed a killer. Media jumped on it like there was no tomorrow and sensationalized the deal. Sad deal no matter where ya sit. Bringin up three young uns into this deal has both me and my wife concerned.
Oh there is another big problem. Oldest daughter just got home from work and is readin her brother and sister the riot act because there is chicken poop on her slippers. Guess someone stepped on her slippers with their boots. Might of even been me. Better keep my head down for a bit until things cool down. Now they are arguing if it is chicken poop or horse poop. Man, that should be no contest. Even I could figure that out. What is this world comin too?
Well I think supper is on the table. Goin down and get me some. Talk to ya all soon.
Saturday, December 30, 2006
Thursday, December 28, 2006
Don't ya wish we all could get along like that. We got three tom kittens about two monthes ago to help with mouse/rat control around here. They have caught a few mice and seem to be gettin the hang of it. That olboy lieing there is Indy. He is in charge of security on our place. Now Indy can and will turn off and on like a switch. One word from me and that little cat will use up his 9 lives in a heart beat. Took that picture on Christmas day. Thought it was neat so I wanted to share it all with ya.
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Frugal Farmin
Tuesday nite in Cooks Creek. Weather is warm and winds are gusting out of the South. This winter has been too mild for my liken. The mild weather has the animals all goofy and the flu season has taken hold like there is no tomorrow. People are a hacken and coughen. I put this up to bein the weather is so warm it allows these bugs to survive and spread. Maybe wrong but it makes sense to me. A good cold snap will put all these flu’s and colds to rest. I’m sure of it.
Well it was haircut nite here in our house. Got to get spruced up for the holiday. Wife gave me and the boy haircuts and then I did hers. The two girls said their hair was fine. Didn’t want it cut. My youngest daughter took some of her saved money and actually went to a barber about a month ago. Came out of there an awful mess. Hair was all crooked and uneven. She said that was how it was suppose to be. That was the style. Man, even on my worst day I can cut hair to look better than that. Think she paid $15.00 for it too. They should of gave her money because she let them practice on her.
Quiet in the house tonite and a bit cool for some reason. Got a fire goin but I guess the wind is coolin the house down some. Wife is puttin the finishin touches on her quilt and older daughter is in the kitchen bakin tarts. Boy is in bed and don’t know where the youngest daughter is. She is around somewhere.
I was readin a blog the other day (not sure who’s blog it was) about how people doin what we are doin have to make do with what ever they have, can scrounge, beg or borrow. Seems to be the way with most when they are startin up. I tell the wife , “we have done so much with so little I think we can do almost anything with nothin”. Not sure where I heard that but it sure rings true in our case. The other day I was comin home from work and there is this long wooden box on a loadin dock by a dumpster. Most people would think garbage. I thought nestin boxes. Pulled over and asked the fella if I could have it and it was mine. To build that it would be $10.00 if it was a nickel. Chicken feeders are made out of old plastic 5 gallon buckets (with their bottoms cut out) and old garbage can lids. I can go on and on with a list of the ways we make do to try and get this deal off the ground. If we didn’t do it this way we would be dead in the water. No way a person can afford to purchase everything new to start a homesteadin and farmin operation in this day. I always say it ain’t the money ya make it is the money ya save. It may sound like we are cheapskates or tight wads and I guess in a way we are. If you want to do somethin bad enough you do whatever ya can to make it happen. If it means putin your imagination to work and makin the odd trip to the dump for supplies that is what ya do. Wife used to hate when I went to the dump. Said I brought back more than I took. This spring we were at the dump and there is truck after truck of yuppies dumping off perfectly good straw bales that they used for their septic fields. Asked the old timer who looks after the place can we have some bales. Have all ya want was his answer. Hauled bales out of there all afternoon. Would of had to pay a buck apiece for them otherwise. The word recycle gets a whole new meanin around this old place. Nothin gets wasted. Can’t afford to. Suspect ya all are doin about the same if you’re trying to start up homesteadin/farmin deal.
Well I’m goin to call this a done deal. The mornin comes quickly. One of my friend’s brother is in Yellowknife. Said they had 25 minutes of daylight yesterday. The days are short here but even when I was in Thompson (500 miles North of us) we still got 5 to 6 hours of daylight this time of year. 25 min. would be hard to take. Anyway I will say good nite and Merry Christmas. Talk to ya all soon.
Well it was haircut nite here in our house. Got to get spruced up for the holiday. Wife gave me and the boy haircuts and then I did hers. The two girls said their hair was fine. Didn’t want it cut. My youngest daughter took some of her saved money and actually went to a barber about a month ago. Came out of there an awful mess. Hair was all crooked and uneven. She said that was how it was suppose to be. That was the style. Man, even on my worst day I can cut hair to look better than that. Think she paid $15.00 for it too. They should of gave her money because she let them practice on her.
Quiet in the house tonite and a bit cool for some reason. Got a fire goin but I guess the wind is coolin the house down some. Wife is puttin the finishin touches on her quilt and older daughter is in the kitchen bakin tarts. Boy is in bed and don’t know where the youngest daughter is. She is around somewhere.
I was readin a blog the other day (not sure who’s blog it was) about how people doin what we are doin have to make do with what ever they have, can scrounge, beg or borrow. Seems to be the way with most when they are startin up. I tell the wife , “we have done so much with so little I think we can do almost anything with nothin”. Not sure where I heard that but it sure rings true in our case. The other day I was comin home from work and there is this long wooden box on a loadin dock by a dumpster. Most people would think garbage. I thought nestin boxes. Pulled over and asked the fella if I could have it and it was mine. To build that it would be $10.00 if it was a nickel. Chicken feeders are made out of old plastic 5 gallon buckets (with their bottoms cut out) and old garbage can lids. I can go on and on with a list of the ways we make do to try and get this deal off the ground. If we didn’t do it this way we would be dead in the water. No way a person can afford to purchase everything new to start a homesteadin and farmin operation in this day. I always say it ain’t the money ya make it is the money ya save. It may sound like we are cheapskates or tight wads and I guess in a way we are. If you want to do somethin bad enough you do whatever ya can to make it happen. If it means putin your imagination to work and makin the odd trip to the dump for supplies that is what ya do. Wife used to hate when I went to the dump. Said I brought back more than I took. This spring we were at the dump and there is truck after truck of yuppies dumping off perfectly good straw bales that they used for their septic fields. Asked the old timer who looks after the place can we have some bales. Have all ya want was his answer. Hauled bales out of there all afternoon. Would of had to pay a buck apiece for them otherwise. The word recycle gets a whole new meanin around this old place. Nothin gets wasted. Can’t afford to. Suspect ya all are doin about the same if you’re trying to start up homesteadin/farmin deal.
Well I’m goin to call this a done deal. The mornin comes quickly. One of my friend’s brother is in Yellowknife. Said they had 25 minutes of daylight yesterday. The days are short here but even when I was in Thompson (500 miles North of us) we still got 5 to 6 hours of daylight this time of year. 25 min. would be hard to take. Anyway I will say good nite and Merry Christmas. Talk to ya all soon.
Sunday, December 17, 2006
Hello All
It is Sunday in Cooks Creek. Weather is overcast, snow and on the warm side but winds are gusting out of the west so it feels cooler than it is. Week until Christmas Eve. Where is the time goin? It will be all over before ya can blink and we will turn our attentions to somethin else. Please take the time to slow down and enjoy this time with your family/friends and reflect on what the time means to ya all. The deal is different for every person. One thing I do know, I bet there isn’t one person out there that says I want to be stressed and run around like a chicken with its head cut off (they really do that). Kick back and take er easy. We had a young fella take his own life in our area this week. I don’t know the story and don’t really care too. What I do know is things seem to come to a head at this time of year for so many people. Every year at this time ya hear of someone who can’t cope and looks for peace by doin this. Whether your rich or poor, smart or slow in the head (like me) Christmas should be a time of joy. I pray you all find it that way. For some it is a time to celebrate the birth of Jesus, some it is a time to just be with family and friends and then for some it is a time for just plain festivities. One thing it should not be is a competition. You all know what I am talkin about. Take er easy. Please.
My eldest daughter’s mare had colic yesterday again. This time real bad. Wife and I had gone to town when it happened. The oldest daughter was at work and my youngest daughter and son were at home. (Yes, we leave a 12 and 9 year old at home by themselves) Real proud of the youngest daughter. She called her friend and had her Dad come over. We had people from every direction coming to help. By the time we got home she was up and ok and everyone had left. Young lady named Hillary came over with a truck full of stuff. I guess Hillary is a horse expert. Seems she carries everything in her vehicle to deal with every horse emergency. We don’t even know Hillary. She lives in the area though. My daughter has been phoning to try and get her phone # so we can get in touch and pay her. So, Hillary if you are readin this and the chances of that you are, are nil to none. Thanks for your help. You prevented a bad situation. Talk about neighbors coming to your rescue. All I can say is Good People. About says it all.
My eldest daughter was on her way home from work when all this was goin on. She was ridin my wife’s mare (Dixie). She said Dixie wanted to run all the way home. She thinks Dixie knew her mare was in trouble and wanted to get her home. I think Dixie was hungry and wanted to get home to eat. Her version sounds neat but you will have to decide what gave Dixie her mind to hurry home.
On the subject of helpin people, sometimes people are a helpin ya and they don’t even know it or know ya for that matter. Because this whole farmin deal and bein self sufficient is pretty new for us it is easy to question your reasoning and what ya all are doin. We are the Lone Ranger in this deal up here. I’m sure there are other people who are doin this but we don’t know of any in our part of the world. When ya are puttin in $3.00 in expenses and getting $1.00 in revenue it is hard to keep your head around the purpose of all this. Am I depriving my family of stuff? Is what we are doing on track? Why ain’t this deal workin? I receive help and support from some of the other bloggers and because of this I consider them friends and good people. Ya read other blogs and see many of the others are going through or have been through some of the deals we are going through. So you say to yourself, hey maybe I ain’t so goofy after all. They were where we are 3 years ago and now they are here and doin better. So lets move on. They did it and got through it so why can’t I. So to all my helpin friends (Lynn, Tom, Christina, Jim, RL, Brad, can’t remember ya all, I read allot of blogs) in the blog world thanks for sharing your experiences and the help. It is comfortin to know that this technology that is used so many times for evil is also has a good purpose too.
Wife is downstairs doin Christmas bakin. She is kind of ticked at me at the moment. We were havin breakfast, had finished and my back was getting sore (back hurts when I sit or lie for a time) so I thought I would be helpful and start to clean up. We had pancakes and there was a cup or syrup on the table. I picked it up and poured it back into its container. Problem is I poured the syrup in her vanilla. Containers looked the same. Told ya I was slow in the head. Anyway, she is riled now and I am keeping my head down up here blogging. Told not to help anymore. Things should cool down in a time.
Think I will head out to my shop and work on my Christmas presents. Should be safe out there. Merry Christmas to ya all. Keep warm.
My eldest daughter’s mare had colic yesterday again. This time real bad. Wife and I had gone to town when it happened. The oldest daughter was at work and my youngest daughter and son were at home. (Yes, we leave a 12 and 9 year old at home by themselves) Real proud of the youngest daughter. She called her friend and had her Dad come over. We had people from every direction coming to help. By the time we got home she was up and ok and everyone had left. Young lady named Hillary came over with a truck full of stuff. I guess Hillary is a horse expert. Seems she carries everything in her vehicle to deal with every horse emergency. We don’t even know Hillary. She lives in the area though. My daughter has been phoning to try and get her phone # so we can get in touch and pay her. So, Hillary if you are readin this and the chances of that you are, are nil to none. Thanks for your help. You prevented a bad situation. Talk about neighbors coming to your rescue. All I can say is Good People. About says it all.
My eldest daughter was on her way home from work when all this was goin on. She was ridin my wife’s mare (Dixie). She said Dixie wanted to run all the way home. She thinks Dixie knew her mare was in trouble and wanted to get her home. I think Dixie was hungry and wanted to get home to eat. Her version sounds neat but you will have to decide what gave Dixie her mind to hurry home.
On the subject of helpin people, sometimes people are a helpin ya and they don’t even know it or know ya for that matter. Because this whole farmin deal and bein self sufficient is pretty new for us it is easy to question your reasoning and what ya all are doin. We are the Lone Ranger in this deal up here. I’m sure there are other people who are doin this but we don’t know of any in our part of the world. When ya are puttin in $3.00 in expenses and getting $1.00 in revenue it is hard to keep your head around the purpose of all this. Am I depriving my family of stuff? Is what we are doing on track? Why ain’t this deal workin? I receive help and support from some of the other bloggers and because of this I consider them friends and good people. Ya read other blogs and see many of the others are going through or have been through some of the deals we are going through. So you say to yourself, hey maybe I ain’t so goofy after all. They were where we are 3 years ago and now they are here and doin better. So lets move on. They did it and got through it so why can’t I. So to all my helpin friends (Lynn, Tom, Christina, Jim, RL, Brad, can’t remember ya all, I read allot of blogs) in the blog world thanks for sharing your experiences and the help. It is comfortin to know that this technology that is used so many times for evil is also has a good purpose too.
Wife is downstairs doin Christmas bakin. She is kind of ticked at me at the moment. We were havin breakfast, had finished and my back was getting sore (back hurts when I sit or lie for a time) so I thought I would be helpful and start to clean up. We had pancakes and there was a cup or syrup on the table. I picked it up and poured it back into its container. Problem is I poured the syrup in her vanilla. Containers looked the same. Told ya I was slow in the head. Anyway, she is riled now and I am keeping my head down up here blogging. Told not to help anymore. Things should cool down in a time.
Think I will head out to my shop and work on my Christmas presents. Should be safe out there. Merry Christmas to ya all. Keep warm.
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Nothin to Complain About
Here it is Thursday nite. Got me a cup of coffee and some gospel bluegrass tunes playin on this ol computer. No complaining tonite. I am feelin good and nothin is going to ruin that.
How do you all make your coffee? We used to have one of those drip coffee deals. But as with everything I broke the pot. Went to buy a new pot and needed to take a mortgage out on the farm. So I got one of those old blue enamel coffeepots. Makes the best coffee. Smells good too when it is brewing. I remember when I was just a little kid this ol timer used to make coffee that way. He would put a sugar cube in his mouth and drink the coffee through the sugar cube. Now, when you’re a small kid any reason to put sugar cubes in your mouth was a good thing. I didn’t care for the coffee but if you eat a dozen sugar cubes with every cup it weren’t too bad.
The weather here has been unreal. Warm temperatures have been a nice break from winter. Really, we haven’t had any winter yet so then I should say it should shorten the winter up real good. Next week is Christmas. Can you believe it is here already? Seems we just got the young uns started in their school year a couple of weeks ago. I guess that is what happens when you are busy. Life passes by at a good clip. We are busy around here. I am building some Christmas gifts for the girls in my shop. Won’t say what they are because I know there is one little Miss that reads this blog at school. Remember girls, Dad’s shop is out of bounds until after Christmas. Wife is still workin on the quilt. Says it will be done this weekend. Man, that thing sure took a pile of time. We got our tree up. Not a real big tree but nice all the same. We went to my youngest daughter’s band concert last nite. Very enjoyable. Some of those kids can sure make those instruments sing. These are kids 12 or 13 years old. The practice that has gone into makin music like that is no small deal. It amazes me how those band teachers get 100 kids to play music like that. I have a hard time getting one little fella to take a bath. What’s with that? How come little boys hate baths so much? Anyone know the answer to that one? It was my wife’s birthday yesterday. My daughters were goin to make a cake but I picked one up on the way home from work instead. We had it with coffee after the concert. Her Mom and Dad and Sister dropped by after the concert for a visit and cake. My wife is a twin with her Sister so there were two birthdays to celebrate. Anyway, we made short work of that ol cake. This weather has the layers all goofy. Some have started to molt again which means egg production is down. One of our customers has been after us for some stewing hens. She may just get those hens this year yet.
I got some more stuff I want to talk about but it is getting late. Have to get up at 5:15 am. Last day of work for the week and not a minute too soon. Talk to ya all later. Remember, if they don’t find ya handsome they should at least find ya handy (Red Green).
How do you all make your coffee? We used to have one of those drip coffee deals. But as with everything I broke the pot. Went to buy a new pot and needed to take a mortgage out on the farm. So I got one of those old blue enamel coffeepots. Makes the best coffee. Smells good too when it is brewing. I remember when I was just a little kid this ol timer used to make coffee that way. He would put a sugar cube in his mouth and drink the coffee through the sugar cube. Now, when you’re a small kid any reason to put sugar cubes in your mouth was a good thing. I didn’t care for the coffee but if you eat a dozen sugar cubes with every cup it weren’t too bad.
The weather here has been unreal. Warm temperatures have been a nice break from winter. Really, we haven’t had any winter yet so then I should say it should shorten the winter up real good. Next week is Christmas. Can you believe it is here already? Seems we just got the young uns started in their school year a couple of weeks ago. I guess that is what happens when you are busy. Life passes by at a good clip. We are busy around here. I am building some Christmas gifts for the girls in my shop. Won’t say what they are because I know there is one little Miss that reads this blog at school. Remember girls, Dad’s shop is out of bounds until after Christmas. Wife is still workin on the quilt. Says it will be done this weekend. Man, that thing sure took a pile of time. We got our tree up. Not a real big tree but nice all the same. We went to my youngest daughter’s band concert last nite. Very enjoyable. Some of those kids can sure make those instruments sing. These are kids 12 or 13 years old. The practice that has gone into makin music like that is no small deal. It amazes me how those band teachers get 100 kids to play music like that. I have a hard time getting one little fella to take a bath. What’s with that? How come little boys hate baths so much? Anyone know the answer to that one? It was my wife’s birthday yesterday. My daughters were goin to make a cake but I picked one up on the way home from work instead. We had it with coffee after the concert. Her Mom and Dad and Sister dropped by after the concert for a visit and cake. My wife is a twin with her Sister so there were two birthdays to celebrate. Anyway, we made short work of that ol cake. This weather has the layers all goofy. Some have started to molt again which means egg production is down. One of our customers has been after us for some stewing hens. She may just get those hens this year yet.
I got some more stuff I want to talk about but it is getting late. Have to get up at 5:15 am. Last day of work for the week and not a minute too soon. Talk to ya all later. Remember, if they don’t find ya handsome they should at least find ya handy (Red Green).
Saturday, December 9, 2006
Springs here
It’s warmed up here in Cooks Creek. What a change. From 25 below to 25 above in 36 hours. Well that is ok. Cleaned out the chicken coop today and cut some wood. Finished buildin some nestin boxes too. The warm weather made those jobs easier to swallow. Was down right enjoyable. Need a new chain saw. Mine is down on power. Cyl. is scored. I put a cyl. and piston in it 5 years ago and it cost half of what a new saw is even though I did the work myself. I will keep this one for a spare and save up for a new one. We had some excitement here tonite. One of the mares colicked and went down. My daughter found her about 5:30 when she came home from work. Finally got her up and moving. She kept wanting to go down but they kept her moving. Called the vet and he came out right away. He did his thing and we are watchin her close tonite. She should be ok. My oldest daughter was all eyes while that vet worked on that horse. Maybe the vet deal is not dead yet. I would be happier than a pig in muck if she would pursue that. If she doesn’t make it fine but I sure would like her to give it a shot. I haven’t mentioned it for some time and won’t. It is her deal. She has to call the shots.
Goodolboy Speaks His Mind (What there is of it)
I got to speak my mind about somethin that happened to me Friday. The company I work for is sending every employee to Diversity and Respectful Workplace Training. I had to go Friday. It was an all day deal, 8 long hours. Now don’t get me wrong. I’m all for what they are a teachin. Just can’t figure out for the life of me why they need to teach it. It boils down to somethin I learned in Sunday School 45 years ago. Treat everyone the way you would like to be treated.
I don’t know how much this trainin is costin but it won’t be cheap. Trainin never is. It is sad that we need to have a course to tell people to treat other people with respect. I would think your parents would of taught ya that when ya were young. But maybe not. As I walk through this deal we call life I see lots of young uns that don’t have any respect for themselves never mind other people. Has it come to that? People need to be taught how to take in the considerations of other folk. Now I am generalizing here so don’t get all over me like scum on a pond. I know there are allot of good young uns out there. They know what is right and wrong. They weren’t born with that knowledge. Mom and Dad taught it to them. Taught them to respect themselves and their fellow man/woman. Taught it to them by example and by word of mouth. But there are lots that don’t know what is acceptable behavior, dress and such. My wife works at a school serving up grub. Sees some pitiful stuff everyday. Young uns come to school dressed inappropriately, talking dirty, no work ethic, no basic manners (please and thank you) and thumbing their nose at authority. I ask have these kids been taught acceptable behavior and just don’t mind or has no one taken the time to fill them in on the manners deal. It has got to start at home. My kids call all their elders Mr. Miss or Mrs. No exceptions. We have adults tell them just call me Bob or Sally or what ever. No….. not goin to happen. They will address all adults with respect and that means the use of Mr. etc. These adults aren’t their buddies or peers they are elders and should be treated as such. I have taught them that and everything else they need to become good people. We have people comment on my kids manners and behavior all the time. They aren’t anything special. We have taught them basic behavior skills but those skills are becomein so rare that when someone has them they stand out like a sore thumb. It makes you wonder how some of these girls leave the house in the morn with cloths on that would make a streetwalker blush. Where is mom and dad? Can’t they see or do they see and don’t care? Is this why a company needs to train basic behavior skills to their employees. I guess so. If what I see is anything to go by, it is goin to get worse before it gets better. There, had my say. Any comments?
We’re takin the family Christmas shoppin tomorrow. No, not headin for the city. Just goin to Selkirk. Have to get somethin for the wife too. Big birthday comin up Monday. Oh yea, Happy Birthday to the Northern Farmer. His birthday is on Monday too. My youngest daughter has a band concert on Monday night too. (It's Sunday mornin here and I just come in from doin my chores. Youngest daughter comes up to me and says Dad, Mom's birthday and my concert are on Wednesday, not Monday. I guess that makes Tom's birthday on Wed. too. Sorry to all for the blunder, not goin to here the end of this for awhile.) She plays the trumpet. That should be an enjoyable evening if we can get a seat. Have to get there early or you end up stand-in for the entire concert. Well almost time to hit the hay. Goin to have a cup of coffee listen to a couple of tunes and go down for the night. Daughter is going to do the watch on the horse. Only fair since it is her horse. Talk to ya all soon. It don’t get any better than this and if it did I would be suspicious.
Goodolboy Speaks His Mind (What there is of it)
I got to speak my mind about somethin that happened to me Friday. The company I work for is sending every employee to Diversity and Respectful Workplace Training. I had to go Friday. It was an all day deal, 8 long hours. Now don’t get me wrong. I’m all for what they are a teachin. Just can’t figure out for the life of me why they need to teach it. It boils down to somethin I learned in Sunday School 45 years ago. Treat everyone the way you would like to be treated.
I don’t know how much this trainin is costin but it won’t be cheap. Trainin never is. It is sad that we need to have a course to tell people to treat other people with respect. I would think your parents would of taught ya that when ya were young. But maybe not. As I walk through this deal we call life I see lots of young uns that don’t have any respect for themselves never mind other people. Has it come to that? People need to be taught how to take in the considerations of other folk. Now I am generalizing here so don’t get all over me like scum on a pond. I know there are allot of good young uns out there. They know what is right and wrong. They weren’t born with that knowledge. Mom and Dad taught it to them. Taught them to respect themselves and their fellow man/woman. Taught it to them by example and by word of mouth. But there are lots that don’t know what is acceptable behavior, dress and such. My wife works at a school serving up grub. Sees some pitiful stuff everyday. Young uns come to school dressed inappropriately, talking dirty, no work ethic, no basic manners (please and thank you) and thumbing their nose at authority. I ask have these kids been taught acceptable behavior and just don’t mind or has no one taken the time to fill them in on the manners deal. It has got to start at home. My kids call all their elders Mr. Miss or Mrs. No exceptions. We have adults tell them just call me Bob or Sally or what ever. No….. not goin to happen. They will address all adults with respect and that means the use of Mr. etc. These adults aren’t their buddies or peers they are elders and should be treated as such. I have taught them that and everything else they need to become good people. We have people comment on my kids manners and behavior all the time. They aren’t anything special. We have taught them basic behavior skills but those skills are becomein so rare that when someone has them they stand out like a sore thumb. It makes you wonder how some of these girls leave the house in the morn with cloths on that would make a streetwalker blush. Where is mom and dad? Can’t they see or do they see and don’t care? Is this why a company needs to train basic behavior skills to their employees. I guess so. If what I see is anything to go by, it is goin to get worse before it gets better. There, had my say. Any comments?
We’re takin the family Christmas shoppin tomorrow. No, not headin for the city. Just goin to Selkirk. Have to get somethin for the wife too. Big birthday comin up Monday. Oh yea, Happy Birthday to the Northern Farmer. His birthday is on Monday too. My youngest daughter has a band concert on Monday night too. (It's Sunday mornin here and I just come in from doin my chores. Youngest daughter comes up to me and says Dad, Mom's birthday and my concert are on Wednesday, not Monday. I guess that makes Tom's birthday on Wed. too. Sorry to all for the blunder, not goin to here the end of this for awhile.) She plays the trumpet. That should be an enjoyable evening if we can get a seat. Have to get there early or you end up stand-in for the entire concert. Well almost time to hit the hay. Goin to have a cup of coffee listen to a couple of tunes and go down for the night. Daughter is going to do the watch on the horse. Only fair since it is her horse. Talk to ya all soon. It don’t get any better than this and if it did I would be suspicious.
Thursday, December 7, 2006
Thursday Nite
Thursday nite and wind is strong out of the south. The temperature has warmed up but it still feels cold because of the wind. Last nite it was down to 25 below and radio said it was 31 below with the wind chill. When I was out this morn the snow squeaked when ya walked on it. When it does that you know it is cold. Makes no never mind to me. It is all the same once the water freezes. At least it hasn’t snowed. Wind tonite is causin some drifting though. That’s the weather report for Cooks Creek.
Life here continues to move along. The girls are tryin to learn guitar. Seems like they got a little competition goin on who is doin better. Son is practicin his times table. Wife is makin a quilt for her Mom for Christmas. And I’m up here typin a deal that no one will probably ever read. Wife says to me at supper, do you have to blog tonite. I says Its not like a job, you never have to blog. Its not like you have to shovel the snow or feed the animals. It’s a hobby! Sheesh! Anyway that filled up some space. Let me tell ya all about the quilt the wife’s makin. Kind of neat really. Wife’s Grandma (her mom’s mom, who was 102) passed away last year. Wife asked if she could have all her old clothes. She has made a quilt out of them for her mom and is stitchin stuff on the quilt. Her grandmas name and birthday and such. Should be somethin once it is finished. It is goin to be her mom’s Christmas present. Sure do hope her mom likes it.
Got a fire goin down stairs but the house is cool because of the wind. It is really a howlin out there. One more day then the weekend and I can get some stuff done around here. Days are so short now it is dark when I get home from work. Can’t do much outside. Horses have been doin their best imitation of a beaver. They have been chewin wood like crazy. Destroyin their shelter and corral rails at a wicked pace. Got the idea to spray the wood down with diesel fuel. Seems to have helped big time. We have been rationing their hay but think we are going to put a round bale in the corral on Sat. and let them have at it. Started feeding them more grain too. Have to be careful on how much ya give them though. One of the mares has lost weight big time. May have worms. Going to have to deworm her again. Did it once this fall already but the signs are there she has them again.
The craziness has started in the stores. Man, I hate going in them places. Rude people pushin and shovin, scratchin their heads tryin to figure out what to buy with money they don’t got. What a mess. We are doin somethin different this year. Got to admit we were one of those people in the stores last year. This year all gifts have to be small & inexpensive or better yet home made. I have put my request in for all home made gifts. Even gave them a list. Home made bisquits and ginger snaps topped the list. I am really hopin for the ginger snaps. ( I know the wife and girls read this deal once in awhile, nothin like hedging your bet eh) Handful of gingersnaps, a hot cup of coffee to dip them in and some bluegrass tunes comin out of the stereo. Man, don’t get better than that. Unless you have two handfulls of gingersnaps. The hotter the better (the gingersnaps, not the coffee). Have a 30 lb. turkey in the freezer. It was the biggest one we raised this year. So big no one wanted to buy it so we will put it to good use, that is for sure. Got to get a real tree this weekend too. We have one of them plastic ones but everyone agrees if we are goin to do this the old fashion way ya got to have a real tree. The girls and wife were makin a list of bakin they are goin to be doin for Christmas. Wife tells me we need to go to town for the makins. Now that is a trip that is necessary.
Man I can still hear that wind a moanin. Poor horses don’t have any shelter because the shelter we built naturally protects them from the North winds. South side of the shelter is open. Next year I got to get the barn finished. Standin stalls are first thing to do as soon as the frost comes out of the ground. Wife and daughter just came in from feedin the horses. They are a laughin so it can’t be that bad out there. Man, we got it good. I’m goin to close this deal down. Everyone stay warm and remember to treat everyday like its your last. Good nite.
Life here continues to move along. The girls are tryin to learn guitar. Seems like they got a little competition goin on who is doin better. Son is practicin his times table. Wife is makin a quilt for her Mom for Christmas. And I’m up here typin a deal that no one will probably ever read. Wife says to me at supper, do you have to blog tonite. I says Its not like a job, you never have to blog. Its not like you have to shovel the snow or feed the animals. It’s a hobby! Sheesh! Anyway that filled up some space. Let me tell ya all about the quilt the wife’s makin. Kind of neat really. Wife’s Grandma (her mom’s mom, who was 102) passed away last year. Wife asked if she could have all her old clothes. She has made a quilt out of them for her mom and is stitchin stuff on the quilt. Her grandmas name and birthday and such. Should be somethin once it is finished. It is goin to be her mom’s Christmas present. Sure do hope her mom likes it.
Got a fire goin down stairs but the house is cool because of the wind. It is really a howlin out there. One more day then the weekend and I can get some stuff done around here. Days are so short now it is dark when I get home from work. Can’t do much outside. Horses have been doin their best imitation of a beaver. They have been chewin wood like crazy. Destroyin their shelter and corral rails at a wicked pace. Got the idea to spray the wood down with diesel fuel. Seems to have helped big time. We have been rationing their hay but think we are going to put a round bale in the corral on Sat. and let them have at it. Started feeding them more grain too. Have to be careful on how much ya give them though. One of the mares has lost weight big time. May have worms. Going to have to deworm her again. Did it once this fall already but the signs are there she has them again.
The craziness has started in the stores. Man, I hate going in them places. Rude people pushin and shovin, scratchin their heads tryin to figure out what to buy with money they don’t got. What a mess. We are doin somethin different this year. Got to admit we were one of those people in the stores last year. This year all gifts have to be small & inexpensive or better yet home made. I have put my request in for all home made gifts. Even gave them a list. Home made bisquits and ginger snaps topped the list. I am really hopin for the ginger snaps. ( I know the wife and girls read this deal once in awhile, nothin like hedging your bet eh) Handful of gingersnaps, a hot cup of coffee to dip them in and some bluegrass tunes comin out of the stereo. Man, don’t get better than that. Unless you have two handfulls of gingersnaps. The hotter the better (the gingersnaps, not the coffee). Have a 30 lb. turkey in the freezer. It was the biggest one we raised this year. So big no one wanted to buy it so we will put it to good use, that is for sure. Got to get a real tree this weekend too. We have one of them plastic ones but everyone agrees if we are goin to do this the old fashion way ya got to have a real tree. The girls and wife were makin a list of bakin they are goin to be doin for Christmas. Wife tells me we need to go to town for the makins. Now that is a trip that is necessary.
Man I can still hear that wind a moanin. Poor horses don’t have any shelter because the shelter we built naturally protects them from the North winds. South side of the shelter is open. Next year I got to get the barn finished. Standin stalls are first thing to do as soon as the frost comes out of the ground. Wife and daughter just came in from feedin the horses. They are a laughin so it can’t be that bad out there. Man, we got it good. I’m goin to close this deal down. Everyone stay warm and remember to treat everyday like its your last. Good nite.
Tuesday, December 5, 2006
My Dad
Well here I am still sicker than ol Joe Coot’s dog. I don’t know who Joe Coot was and I sure didn’t know his dog but my Dad used to say that so I say it. Dog must have been powerful sick. My Dad used to say lots of things. Most of the stuff is not fit for a family type blog so I won’t travel that path. My Dad was a carpenter. He used to say if it was good enough for Jesus it was good enough for him but said he never believed in Jesus. It was the oddest thing. When I was a kid, Dad used to read the newspaper cover to cover every night. One of the things in the newspaper back then was a column by Billy Graham. For as long as I can remember, he would read that deal every day and was pretty knowledgeable about the Bible but always claimed there was no God. He worked large construction jobs most of his younger life. That brought a certain type of gruffness and toughness that was the norm in that life. He drank whiskey and water and said he liked the taste. I can only remember seeing him feelin the effects a couple of times and that wasn’t because he didn’t do much drinkin. Don’t get me wrong. He wasn’t a drunk but if there was an occasion he wouldn’t say no to a shot. We hunted and fished together and in later years went on a few trips. Our trips were me and him jumpin in a truck and headin down into the states to catch a few baseball games or a race or both if we could swing it. He liked baseball but I think he only went to the racin cause I liked it. We spent many a night sittin in a hotel room a talkin and drinkin whiskey. No one got called by their real name. At least no one that he cared about. Everyone had a nic name. I was 10 years old before I knew my name wasn’t Augie. Yep, nic named me after that cartoon dog, Augie Doggie. Later in life he called me Mac. Don’t know why, never asked. He just called me that.
I remember one winter when I still lived at home I built a motor for a friend in our basement. Big block Ford V8. Did a fine job too. Now I was a little slow in the head. Never thought about how I was going to get it out of the basement when the time comes. Anyway, I gets her built and now we need to get her up the stairs. This thing was about 600 lb., maybe more, Me and my brother dragged it to the bottom of the stairs and we are talkin and figurin and talkin and grunting and groaning and talkin and tryin to get this thing up the stairs. Dad comes in and in his typical way commands us to get on the front of the motor and he will take the back. Well, me and my brother gets hold of the front and he grabs onto the back and up she comes one stair. Now we can go one stair at a time but he is holdin the back of that motor himself. Anyway to make a long story short she went up the stairs and he never blinked an eye. I am tellin ya, that was a real ego smasher for a couple of teenage bucks that thought they were as strong as all get out. Once she was outside he put her down mumbles something about bein stupid for building a motor in the basement and went on his way. I’ll never forget that. Man, that cat was strong.
Then his strength went away. In his early 50s he started havin trouble breathin. His heart was givin out. Doc said it was just plum wore out, no blockages or anything, just wore out and he would have to change is life if he wanted to keep on goin. He did change a little. He quit smokin and changed his eatin habits some but things just kept going down. Every month he got a little weaker and could do a little less. Heart attacks had him in and out of the hospital. Then, he died in November of 89. I never got to say good bye. Got the call at work and that was that. Done deal. I have been thinkin about him allot lately because of the time of year and all. He was good people. He was my best male friend and I trusted him more than any person on this earth. My son has taken his place in my life now.
Well I am not sure where that all came from but now you have met my dad. Never intended to write about him but it just kind of came out.
Tell next time.
I remember one winter when I still lived at home I built a motor for a friend in our basement. Big block Ford V8. Did a fine job too. Now I was a little slow in the head. Never thought about how I was going to get it out of the basement when the time comes. Anyway, I gets her built and now we need to get her up the stairs. This thing was about 600 lb., maybe more, Me and my brother dragged it to the bottom of the stairs and we are talkin and figurin and talkin and grunting and groaning and talkin and tryin to get this thing up the stairs. Dad comes in and in his typical way commands us to get on the front of the motor and he will take the back. Well, me and my brother gets hold of the front and he grabs onto the back and up she comes one stair. Now we can go one stair at a time but he is holdin the back of that motor himself. Anyway to make a long story short she went up the stairs and he never blinked an eye. I am tellin ya, that was a real ego smasher for a couple of teenage bucks that thought they were as strong as all get out. Once she was outside he put her down mumbles something about bein stupid for building a motor in the basement and went on his way. I’ll never forget that. Man, that cat was strong.
Then his strength went away. In his early 50s he started havin trouble breathin. His heart was givin out. Doc said it was just plum wore out, no blockages or anything, just wore out and he would have to change is life if he wanted to keep on goin. He did change a little. He quit smokin and changed his eatin habits some but things just kept going down. Every month he got a little weaker and could do a little less. Heart attacks had him in and out of the hospital. Then, he died in November of 89. I never got to say good bye. Got the call at work and that was that. Done deal. I have been thinkin about him allot lately because of the time of year and all. He was good people. He was my best male friend and I trusted him more than any person on this earth. My son has taken his place in my life now.
Well I am not sure where that all came from but now you have met my dad. Never intended to write about him but it just kind of came out.
Tell next time.
Saturday, December 2, 2006
What Happened to Christmas
Saturday night in our home. Things are winding down for the week. Real cold here in Cooks Creek. Wind out of the North and clear makes for a cold night. Finally got the Internet hooked up and running in our home. Blogging will become easier in the future instead of trying to blog on lunch and breaks at work. May even learn how to do so fun stuff, like pictures. I am also going to be doin some research into other farming activities we can get into next spring. A couple of hogs are on our to do list for sure. Maybe goats or cows for dairy. With both of us workin, time becomes a tough deal. It is a catch 22. Cut back on the work and we can’t afford to expand to meet our goal. It is our plan to pull out of our jobs and farm full time in 6 years. The KS Milkmaid (http://www.fullerfamilyfarms.com/topics/blog/) has really got me thinkin about the food we are buying for the family. We try and buy from the local farmers but stuff like dairy isn’t available for some reason (at least we can’t find anyone willing to sell privately). There are some big dairy farms in the area but private sales are just a hassle for them. So this problem could become an opportunity for us. We will have to ponder it a bit. If you get a chance mosey on over to the KS Milkmaids blog and have a read. Be warned, you won’t look at commercial food the same way again. We bought some of those little cheese slices the other day. You know the ones you put on your hamburger. I’m tellin ya, I could of rolled the thing up, put a wick in the center and used it as a candle. I’d bet anyone that thing was 75% wax.
I got talkin to a buddy/farmer the other day. He said something that got my attention. Said he was putting half his fields in summer fallow next year. Said fertilizer costs were killing him. Could it be the big agricultural companies are cutting their own throat? Things have a way of comin full circle.
The wife and I are goin to start lookin for a new church to go to. We haven’t been to church in a couple of years. The church we used to belong to got me riled and we pulled out of there in short order. Haven’t been back to a church since. With Christmas comin and all we got to thinkin about church again and tryin to hook up with one that we fit into. Not sure what/where that will be but we will know when we find it.
We have a big problem here in our home. It seems we have almost run out of grits. Now depending on where you are, you are goin to be askin one of two questions. If you’re a readin this in Canada your goin to be a askin what are grits and if your in the USA your goin to be askin, what’s the big deal, why don’t you go down to the grocery store and buy some. Well, there aren’t any grits in Canada but a friend of ours was headin for Grand Forks this weekend and promised to bring us a supply back. So we will be back in high cotton. I did some research in the Foxfire books and will be able to make my own if needed. Pretty simple when alls said and done.
My old time country/bluegrass has taken a back seat to Christmas carols in this house. I still sneak in the odd CD but carols are the order of the day around here until after Christmas.
goodolboy Speaks His Mind.
I’m not goin to be politically correct in this so if it goin to tick anyone, ya all better stop reading now. Canada was built on Christianity. Christianity was the foundation of my homesteading grandparents and my wife’s grandparents. Canada has been a Christian based country since the first settler arrived on its shores 500 years ago. With all that bein so then why do we have to take a back seat to other religious groups. The only group of people that should have any concern is the native Indians. And guess what, they don’t, because they are all Christians. My children don’t say the Lords Prayer in school anymore because it might offend someone. We can’t do a Christmas concert at school for the same reason. Winter carnivals have now takin the place of Christmas concerts. You can talk about Santa Claus but can’t mention Jesus or his birthday. Someone will get offended. Can’t have a Christmas Tree it is now a Holiday Tree. Well I’m tellin ya, I’m getting offended. It’s high time we started takin back our rights. Christmas is a Christian celebration of Jesus’s birthday. It ain’t a winter carnival or fair or whatever other politically stupid name they want to tag on it. I for one uses the word Christmas anytime it’s required, politically correct or not. Makes me no never mind. I said the Lord’s Prayer every mornin for 13 years in the public school system. My Ma and Pa did the same and if my grandparents went to school (don’t know if they did) they probably did the same. All of that has been wiped out in the last 15 to 20 years. How did we let that happen? Lets wake up Canada. Don’t be takin this in the way that I’m against other religions. Not so. That is not what this is about. If ya want to try and twist it like that well I can’t stop ya. It is not up to me to judge someone or their beliefs. Not my place to do that. The Christian foundation is what built our fine country and I get riled when it is getting pushed aside in an attempt to try and settle a few feelins. I’ve had my say. Lets here what ya all got to say. Bring er on.
Now I feel better. Had to get that off my chest. Oh ya one more thing.
Merry Christmas!
I got talkin to a buddy/farmer the other day. He said something that got my attention. Said he was putting half his fields in summer fallow next year. Said fertilizer costs were killing him. Could it be the big agricultural companies are cutting their own throat? Things have a way of comin full circle.
The wife and I are goin to start lookin for a new church to go to. We haven’t been to church in a couple of years. The church we used to belong to got me riled and we pulled out of there in short order. Haven’t been back to a church since. With Christmas comin and all we got to thinkin about church again and tryin to hook up with one that we fit into. Not sure what/where that will be but we will know when we find it.
We have a big problem here in our home. It seems we have almost run out of grits. Now depending on where you are, you are goin to be askin one of two questions. If you’re a readin this in Canada your goin to be a askin what are grits and if your in the USA your goin to be askin, what’s the big deal, why don’t you go down to the grocery store and buy some. Well, there aren’t any grits in Canada but a friend of ours was headin for Grand Forks this weekend and promised to bring us a supply back. So we will be back in high cotton. I did some research in the Foxfire books and will be able to make my own if needed. Pretty simple when alls said and done.
My old time country/bluegrass has taken a back seat to Christmas carols in this house. I still sneak in the odd CD but carols are the order of the day around here until after Christmas.
goodolboy Speaks His Mind.
I’m not goin to be politically correct in this so if it goin to tick anyone, ya all better stop reading now. Canada was built on Christianity. Christianity was the foundation of my homesteading grandparents and my wife’s grandparents. Canada has been a Christian based country since the first settler arrived on its shores 500 years ago. With all that bein so then why do we have to take a back seat to other religious groups. The only group of people that should have any concern is the native Indians. And guess what, they don’t, because they are all Christians. My children don’t say the Lords Prayer in school anymore because it might offend someone. We can’t do a Christmas concert at school for the same reason. Winter carnivals have now takin the place of Christmas concerts. You can talk about Santa Claus but can’t mention Jesus or his birthday. Someone will get offended. Can’t have a Christmas Tree it is now a Holiday Tree. Well I’m tellin ya, I’m getting offended. It’s high time we started takin back our rights. Christmas is a Christian celebration of Jesus’s birthday. It ain’t a winter carnival or fair or whatever other politically stupid name they want to tag on it. I for one uses the word Christmas anytime it’s required, politically correct or not. Makes me no never mind. I said the Lord’s Prayer every mornin for 13 years in the public school system. My Ma and Pa did the same and if my grandparents went to school (don’t know if they did) they probably did the same. All of that has been wiped out in the last 15 to 20 years. How did we let that happen? Lets wake up Canada. Don’t be takin this in the way that I’m against other religions. Not so. That is not what this is about. If ya want to try and twist it like that well I can’t stop ya. It is not up to me to judge someone or their beliefs. Not my place to do that. The Christian foundation is what built our fine country and I get riled when it is getting pushed aside in an attempt to try and settle a few feelins. I’ve had my say. Lets here what ya all got to say. Bring er on.
Now I feel better. Had to get that off my chest. Oh ya one more thing.
Merry Christmas!
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
We Got Some Snow
Lookin like Christmas here in Canada. Less than a month away, I can't believe how fast time is passing by. We got about 6 - 8 inches of snow early this week and are gettin more as I type. Not too bad but it has everything lookin like winter now. Don't have the internet at home up and runnin yet. I have subscribed but there is something wrong with the computor. It won't dial up so it is in the shop for diagnostic work. I am hoping it is a "try to figue things out" but I am pretty darn sure it will be "diagnostic" work (see previous post for explanation on diferences). Everyday they tell me it is going to be ready tomorrow. May just save up and buy a new one if the cost gets too high to repair. I was over visiting ND Homekeepers blog and they are feeling the effects of the snow and cold like us (maybe a little more than us).
I have been fellin poorly over the last week. Got some kind of flu or cold. Cough until my sides hurt. This has caused me to be a bit on the lazy side. Still been goin to work but when I get home I don't have much left. The family has been good to me and helped all they can. I need to get the tractor goin this weekend and clean up the snow though.
Wifes birthday is comin up. Maybe I will get her a new pitch fork. What do ya say Tom? How do ya think that would go over? It will mean a night out for some supper. We usually go out twice a year for a supper. Mothers day and the Wife's birthday. I won't say how old she is but she is a year younger than me and I'm a year younger than the Northern Farmer (I think).
Had a neat thing happen to us the other day. A real example of what country folk are all about. One of our neighbors phoned us up and asked if we had any eggs to spare. Her hens could not keep up with her customers demands. We had some so she said she would drop by and pick them up. No one talked money. When she got to our place she asked what do you sell your eggs for? Wife says a $1.75/ doz.. She says she sells hers for $2.00/ doz and insists on payin us the same. She would have it no other way. Said she was happy we could help and asked why we sold our eggs so cheap. Well, actually most of our customers whine about the price now and we don't think they would buy at $2.00/ doz. Said if we want she will sell all we have for $2.00/ doz. Now she could have easily givin us the price we asked and we honestly wouldn't of cared one hoot. What do you think our opinion is of this neighbor? She was and is good people. I have stood behind some people in at a checkout who have held up the line for 10 min. because they are questioning a dime difference. And those people weren't wearin no bib overalls either, if you get my drift.
This is goin to be short, I got to get back at er. I put one of them counters on my blog to see if anyone actually reads this stuff. Think I am up to 17 and 16 of those was me seein if anyone had visited. Talk to ya all soon. Things couldn't get better n this.
I have been fellin poorly over the last week. Got some kind of flu or cold. Cough until my sides hurt. This has caused me to be a bit on the lazy side. Still been goin to work but when I get home I don't have much left. The family has been good to me and helped all they can. I need to get the tractor goin this weekend and clean up the snow though.
Wifes birthday is comin up. Maybe I will get her a new pitch fork. What do ya say Tom? How do ya think that would go over? It will mean a night out for some supper. We usually go out twice a year for a supper. Mothers day and the Wife's birthday. I won't say how old she is but she is a year younger than me and I'm a year younger than the Northern Farmer (I think).
Had a neat thing happen to us the other day. A real example of what country folk are all about. One of our neighbors phoned us up and asked if we had any eggs to spare. Her hens could not keep up with her customers demands. We had some so she said she would drop by and pick them up. No one talked money. When she got to our place she asked what do you sell your eggs for? Wife says a $1.75/ doz.. She says she sells hers for $2.00/ doz and insists on payin us the same. She would have it no other way. Said she was happy we could help and asked why we sold our eggs so cheap. Well, actually most of our customers whine about the price now and we don't think they would buy at $2.00/ doz. Said if we want she will sell all we have for $2.00/ doz. Now she could have easily givin us the price we asked and we honestly wouldn't of cared one hoot. What do you think our opinion is of this neighbor? She was and is good people. I have stood behind some people in at a checkout who have held up the line for 10 min. because they are questioning a dime difference. And those people weren't wearin no bib overalls either, if you get my drift.
This is goin to be short, I got to get back at er. I put one of them counters on my blog to see if anyone actually reads this stuff. Think I am up to 17 and 16 of those was me seein if anyone had visited. Talk to ya all soon. Things couldn't get better n this.
Friday, November 24, 2006
Weekends here.
Friday evening here in Cooks Creek. We got a little snow last night but nothing really to speak of. Glad the week is over and I can spend the weekend working around here. All in all the week was good. Work went well except for 1 job that has been beaten me up real good. We have a truck in the shop that has a parasitic draw on the batteries (kills the batteries). Hours of diagnostics has me about where I started. Don’t you just love that word? “Diagnostics” When you “diagnose” something you charge a hundred dollars an hour. If you “problem solve” you can charge fifty dollars an hour and if you are “trying to figure it out” it is free. They all mean the same thing but we like to diagnose stuff more than trying and figure stuff out. I’ll get back at her Monday and get er done for sure. Just need to give the head a bit of a break and start fresh.
The young uns all got mid-term report cards this week. Youngest and oldest did ok I guess, nothen to write home about but my middle daughter did real good. Got to be proud of her. She is the comic of the family. Always pulling something on somebody. You got to watch your back with that one. Don’t get down on me for the way I talk about my kids. I believe in telling it like it is. They do poorly, I say so. They got to know that I say what I mean. When they do good and I praise them they know it is the real deal. The gals are downstairs doing supper dishes and singing hymns. As I sit up here typing this I got to smile and think how good we got it. We ain’t rich but we are happy. Maybe we are too slow in the head to know how bad we got it and don’t know enough to be sad. Yea, we got it good and I know it.
I was reading a blog today at lunch about a lady who is going through some tough deal. She is one tough gal. She has her faith to help her but all the same she is tough. When I say tough what I really mean is strong. I could not go through what she is going through and keep on goin like she does. She wrote a real touching blog and I had a lump in my throat after I read it but I didn’t get the impression she wanted people to feel sorry for her. She was just tellin her feelings. When you hear about stuff like what people are going through it makes you appreciate what you got. I guess you got to have some bad times to know the good times. I don’t think it would help much coming from me but I even said a little prayer for her and her family. Ya never know. Couldn’t hurt.
Tomorrow I got to get that trailer completed and out of the shop. I will tell the story about this trailer another time. The short version is I bought it at a farm auction and I’m a dim wit. Then I got to build some nesting boxes and service my truck. I like working in the shop Saturday afternoon because one of the local radio stations plays the old country music. Looking forward to it.
We might be able to hook up the internet here this weekend. You see, we don’t have the internet at our place. What I been doin is puttin my blogs on disc and puttin them on the net at work. Well we may just sell the farm and go whole hog and see if we can subscribe to the internet. The main reason is for the kids school projects but I also want it to research farm stuff and now blog.
If anyone happens to pass by this way I would like to welcome ya and invite you to set a spell and say hello. Always could use some new friends.
The young uns all got mid-term report cards this week. Youngest and oldest did ok I guess, nothen to write home about but my middle daughter did real good. Got to be proud of her. She is the comic of the family. Always pulling something on somebody. You got to watch your back with that one. Don’t get down on me for the way I talk about my kids. I believe in telling it like it is. They do poorly, I say so. They got to know that I say what I mean. When they do good and I praise them they know it is the real deal. The gals are downstairs doing supper dishes and singing hymns. As I sit up here typing this I got to smile and think how good we got it. We ain’t rich but we are happy. Maybe we are too slow in the head to know how bad we got it and don’t know enough to be sad. Yea, we got it good and I know it.
I was reading a blog today at lunch about a lady who is going through some tough deal. She is one tough gal. She has her faith to help her but all the same she is tough. When I say tough what I really mean is strong. I could not go through what she is going through and keep on goin like she does. She wrote a real touching blog and I had a lump in my throat after I read it but I didn’t get the impression she wanted people to feel sorry for her. She was just tellin her feelings. When you hear about stuff like what people are going through it makes you appreciate what you got. I guess you got to have some bad times to know the good times. I don’t think it would help much coming from me but I even said a little prayer for her and her family. Ya never know. Couldn’t hurt.
Tomorrow I got to get that trailer completed and out of the shop. I will tell the story about this trailer another time. The short version is I bought it at a farm auction and I’m a dim wit. Then I got to build some nesting boxes and service my truck. I like working in the shop Saturday afternoon because one of the local radio stations plays the old country music. Looking forward to it.
We might be able to hook up the internet here this weekend. You see, we don’t have the internet at our place. What I been doin is puttin my blogs on disc and puttin them on the net at work. Well we may just sell the farm and go whole hog and see if we can subscribe to the internet. The main reason is for the kids school projects but I also want it to research farm stuff and now blog.
If anyone happens to pass by this way I would like to welcome ya and invite you to set a spell and say hello. Always could use some new friends.
Thursday, November 23, 2006
Gettin an Education
Wed. evening I had to go to a town about 15 miles from our place to pickup a set of plow shears for a friend’s brother. He needed them to be built up and reshaped. My friend’s brother had phoned around and as it turns out this business is about the only place in the country that knows how to do this type of work. Now, I live fairly close to this town so I volunteered my wife's services. The next time she went to town she could drop off the shears. She did and they got done and now were ready to pickup. My instinct was to ask the wife to pick them up. After careful consideration I decided maybe I would do it myself. No use taking advantage of the old gal like that. Besides if she went to pickup the shears supper wouldn't be ready till late. I sure do hope if there are any gals reading this, ya all have a sense of humor. Back to the point I want to try and make. Anyway I call up this ol boy and tell him I want to pickup the shears, what time you open till. Says he is open 24 hours a day 7 days a week, lives above the shop. Good deal, so after work I head for town to pickup the shears. I get to the place and go in, doors open but all the lights are off. I hollers a couple of times and someone hollers back. Then this ol boy comes down out of the ceiling. He is moving pretty slow. He turns on the lights and it was the most beautiful sight ya ever rested your eyes on. An old blacksmith shop. Now if there is one thing I enjoy it is worken with metal. There it was, every old tool and piece of equipment needed to be a turn of the century blacksmith. The ol fella (Paul is his name) told me he had been doing this for 48 years. Now imagine if ya could apprentice with this gent for a year or two. You couldn't buy an education like that if ya paid a million dollars. No college, university or book could come close to supplying you with the knowledge that was in that old fellas head. Now, my young lad was with me and I got to thinkin on the way home if Paul can hold on for 8 more years I will go to him and pay him whatever he wants and put my son with him for a year or two. How could I ever do better than that for my boys education. Unfortunately I don't think Paul will be able to work for many more years (my opinion). While we were talking he also told me there wasn’t much work for a smith anymore. Most just throw away and buy new. He does have a couple of sons who he said are not interested in smithing. When he puts his anvil and hammer away the knowledge that is going to be lost will be criminal.
Anyway back to my point (if there is one), as I said before, while I was driving home I got to thinking about education and how a person gets educated. It has been on my mind allot lately. You see, my oldest daughter will be finished her schooling this year. She has to decide what to do after school. Now I am going to be honest here and tell ya I want more than anything for her to go to university and get a degree. That has been my dream for her whole life. I wanted it bad and have saved a tidy sum of money and done without so I can make it happen. One problem, it is my dream, not hers. She wants to work with horses. She is horse crazy. Don't know why or how it happened, she just is. Anyway, at lunch time on Thursday I sit down with my lunch and pull up some of my favorite blogs. The Northern Farmer blog has a young lad posting. The post hits me like a ton of bricks. The lad is doing an apprenticeship at a farm. I am not sure of all the details but what I can gather he is working for a farmer for a year now and is learning the ropes. It was suppose to end after one year but he is staying on a spell more because he feels he has more to learn. The deal seems kind of informal but is the education this young fella is getting any less than a university/college education. I suspect not. I got the feeling he loves what he is doing (must or he wouldn’t be stayin on for a longer period). In my experience if he loves his work he is going to be darn good at it. Society says to be successful you need a formal education. Is this lad going to be successful? After reading his post and thinking about Paul and his blacksmith shop (suspect Paul didn’t go to college) I wouldn’t bet a plug nickel against it, that’s for sure. I am not sure a formal education is the only way anymore. I am going to have to ponder this a bit. The way I see it, for my daughter to be successful she needs to be happy, not rich. As for society’s idea of an education, well lets just say her old man was never one to worry about following what is expected. I don’t know if anyone will ever read these ramblings but it does help put your thoughts in order when you write things down.
Hear there may be a storm on the way tonight. Coming out of Montana. Shouldn’t be too bad. It’s the ones that come out of Colorado that worry me. Might be driving in the snow tomorrow. Been getting spoiled with the warm weather we have been having here in the North. Making us soft. I can here someone playing Christmas carols on her flute. Must be my oldest daughter, Collamity Jane. Talk to ya all soon.
Anyway back to my point (if there is one), as I said before, while I was driving home I got to thinking about education and how a person gets educated. It has been on my mind allot lately. You see, my oldest daughter will be finished her schooling this year. She has to decide what to do after school. Now I am going to be honest here and tell ya I want more than anything for her to go to university and get a degree. That has been my dream for her whole life. I wanted it bad and have saved a tidy sum of money and done without so I can make it happen. One problem, it is my dream, not hers. She wants to work with horses. She is horse crazy. Don't know why or how it happened, she just is. Anyway, at lunch time on Thursday I sit down with my lunch and pull up some of my favorite blogs. The Northern Farmer blog has a young lad posting. The post hits me like a ton of bricks. The lad is doing an apprenticeship at a farm. I am not sure of all the details but what I can gather he is working for a farmer for a year now and is learning the ropes. It was suppose to end after one year but he is staying on a spell more because he feels he has more to learn. The deal seems kind of informal but is the education this young fella is getting any less than a university/college education. I suspect not. I got the feeling he loves what he is doing (must or he wouldn’t be stayin on for a longer period). In my experience if he loves his work he is going to be darn good at it. Society says to be successful you need a formal education. Is this lad going to be successful? After reading his post and thinking about Paul and his blacksmith shop (suspect Paul didn’t go to college) I wouldn’t bet a plug nickel against it, that’s for sure. I am not sure a formal education is the only way anymore. I am going to have to ponder this a bit. The way I see it, for my daughter to be successful she needs to be happy, not rich. As for society’s idea of an education, well lets just say her old man was never one to worry about following what is expected. I don’t know if anyone will ever read these ramblings but it does help put your thoughts in order when you write things down.
Hear there may be a storm on the way tonight. Coming out of Montana. Shouldn’t be too bad. It’s the ones that come out of Colorado that worry me. Might be driving in the snow tomorrow. Been getting spoiled with the warm weather we have been having here in the North. Making us soft. I can here someone playing Christmas carols on her flute. Must be my oldest daughter, Collamity Jane. Talk to ya all soon.
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
Them Darn Kids
The last couple of weeks them 3 kids of mine have been trying my patience. Now don’t get me wrong I have 3 good young uns. They work hard, do not too bad in school and listen about as good as any kid listens. The problem is they take my stuff (tools) and don’t put them back. What got me going on this post is a bunch of incidents that have happened over the last couple of days. My boy is a typical 9 year old. We live in the country so he has to make his own fun. No young fellas his age next door. We don’t encourage TV and video games as a form of entertainment. So what is a fella to do? Well last night I came into the house from the shop about 9:30. Usual night for me. As I come in I meet my oldest daughter and notice 3 of my 4 bale hooks are missing from their hook in the garage. Ask her where they are. She tells me she last seen her brother with them at the round bales. Well this is the last straw. I head into the house and find him snuggled down in his bed sawing logs to beat the band. Wake him up. Where’s the bale hooks. He tells me he had them out on the round bales and was using them for steps so he could play on the bales. Ok, go get them. Yep, get up, get dressed and go get them and put them back where they belong. So he does. I was hot. One thing I didn’t mention in my introduction is I got a bit of a temper. Same deal the night before with my oldest daughter. I come into the garage and there is the electric fence stuff all messed up layen on the shelf and bench. She was doin some fence repairs and when she finished she just left the stuff scattered. What do ya do with kids like that? Foster home? Ground them for a month? Well after I get my bale hooks in their rightful place I go into the house to sit and have a cup of coffee before I go to bed. The kids are always bringing papers home from school and yesterday was no different. One of them had brought a pamphlet about crystal meth home. I picked it up and started reading. While reading I got to thinking about my kids. Now these three know what a days work is. My boy is up at 5:30 every morning feeding chickens. He does anything you ask. The more you heap on him the harder he works. Girls are the same. Both can cook and bake and sew, can process broilers, fence, tend animals etc, you get the picture. All three have outside work to give them some spending money. I don’t give them no allowance. Don’t believe in it. You work you get paid. That’s the way the world works. Even for kids. Don’t want them getten the idea somebody owes ya a livin. On Saturday we took my sons alum. can collection and in. A years worth of collecting and crushin cans netted him $123 dollars. He knows what a dollar is worth that is for sure. I know they ain’t doing no drugs because they don’t have the time or money. Well I am sitten there drinking my coffee and I turns to the wife and says I may have overreacted with the boy a bit. She says yea, maybe a little. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not letting up on them. Still expect them to do what needs doin but maybe they I won’t send them to a foster home or ground them for 6 months. Maybe things aren’t that bad. They sure could be a lot worse after reading the pamphlet. Don’t believe its luck that has made them the way they are. In my opinion comes down to values and family support. I may blog on that some time.
Friday, November 17, 2006
An Introduction
Hello, My name is Guy, This is my first try at blogging so hold on and we will see where this takes us. I got the idea to do this from reading a few blogs that really impressed me. Northern Farmer http://www.scepaniakfarms.com/blog/and KS Milkmaid http://www.fullerfamilyfarms.com/topics/blog/ are neat blogs and I find them both entertaining and educational. These folks are what I call good people. Never actually met them but kind of feel I know them through their blog. They don't know me from a hill of beans. Got the feelin if the world was full of these type of people things might be a whole lot better. They seem to know what they want and it aint nothin fancy. Just want to live a good life with their families. This in a nut shell is where we come from and want to be. Guess that is why I enjoy their blogs and in around about way their company. If you are into fancy holidays and possesions this ain't the blog for you. If you want to talk family, work, good food, homesteading and such, you may want to set for a spell.
Any how, I live in a rural area of Manitoba Canada on a small farm. Closest town is Cooks Creek. 1 General Store, 2 churches, a museum and an old folks home. Real big town. I'm married and have 3 children. I guess me and my family are about the closest thing there is to a good old fashion hillbilly. Me and the wife both work out. We try (and I do mean try) to farm. Not very good at it yet. That old joke comes to mind when I talk about us farmin. Someone asked what I would do if I won a million dollars and I told them I would just keep on farmin until it was all gone. When I thought of doing this deal I thought I would have lots to say but all of a sudden nothen. Lets see. Told ya all I have 3 children. 2 girls and a boy. Wife and girls are into horses. Son is into working with his old man in his shop and dirt bikes. Our life is about as simple as it gets and we like it that way. We watch almost no TV (except racing and rodeo), eat mostly food that has been either raised/killed by us or by one of the local farmers and work. If I go to sayin something you want to comment on feel free. I got big shoulders and can take the good and the bad. Please, no bad language or disrespect to my family. Ya got to appreciate that. A day in our home starts at 5:30 am and usualy ends about 10:30 pm. Between those times we eat, work and enjoy each other as a family. Work is not a 4 letter work in our deal. Work is what keeps us going as a family and what gives us purpose. The busier the better. Now I am not sayin we don't sit and listen to some good music in the evening. Heck we do that most evenings but it is usually for an hour or so before we hit the hay. Have to unwind before you retire or your mind just keeps a workin and you can't get to sleep. Some will know exactly what I am on about and some will be a wondrin what is he talkin about. To those that don't understand you all ain't workin hard enough. Well I am going to post this and see what happens. I will be back in a day or so and start sharing some of my life experiences with ya. Like anyone wants to here about this. Talk to ya ll later.
Any how, I live in a rural area of Manitoba Canada on a small farm. Closest town is Cooks Creek. 1 General Store, 2 churches, a museum and an old folks home. Real big town. I'm married and have 3 children. I guess me and my family are about the closest thing there is to a good old fashion hillbilly. Me and the wife both work out. We try (and I do mean try) to farm. Not very good at it yet. That old joke comes to mind when I talk about us farmin. Someone asked what I would do if I won a million dollars and I told them I would just keep on farmin until it was all gone. When I thought of doing this deal I thought I would have lots to say but all of a sudden nothen. Lets see. Told ya all I have 3 children. 2 girls and a boy. Wife and girls are into horses. Son is into working with his old man in his shop and dirt bikes. Our life is about as simple as it gets and we like it that way. We watch almost no TV (except racing and rodeo), eat mostly food that has been either raised/killed by us or by one of the local farmers and work. If I go to sayin something you want to comment on feel free. I got big shoulders and can take the good and the bad. Please, no bad language or disrespect to my family. Ya got to appreciate that. A day in our home starts at 5:30 am and usualy ends about 10:30 pm. Between those times we eat, work and enjoy each other as a family. Work is not a 4 letter work in our deal. Work is what keeps us going as a family and what gives us purpose. The busier the better. Now I am not sayin we don't sit and listen to some good music in the evening. Heck we do that most evenings but it is usually for an hour or so before we hit the hay. Have to unwind before you retire or your mind just keeps a workin and you can't get to sleep. Some will know exactly what I am on about and some will be a wondrin what is he talkin about. To those that don't understand you all ain't workin hard enough. Well I am going to post this and see what happens. I will be back in a day or so and start sharing some of my life experiences with ya. Like anyone wants to here about this. Talk to ya ll later.
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