Food for thought

The government is like cholesterol. The Republicans are like bacon and the Democrats are like eggs.
Enjoy your breakfast.

What happened to winter

What happened to winter? Yesterday was 47 degrees. The weather has been like that since early December. Almost nothing winterlike about December. Maybe mother nature is gearing up for a brutal February.

The Deficit

Voting Republican and complaining about the deficit is like going swimming and complaining about getting wet.

A new popping sound

Last year I heard this interesting popping sound. Now there is a different popping sound. It happens when I remove the canning jars from the canner. Sometimes it happens as soon as the canner lid comes off. They are fun little sounds, one for each jar. As the jar cools the contents begin to contract, the metal lids "pop" as they suck down on the jar forming a vacuum.
Right now I am canning tomatoes, we will soon be pickling brussels sprouts, and making apple sauce and apple cider. There will be a lot of popping going on in our house. A wonderful sound of harvest season.

The Mouse

This morning I woke up early so I could can the tomato sauce I was working on yesterday. There was a little surprise on my kitchen counter.
Yesterday I had also got my sour dough starter out so that I could make some sour dough bread today.
Unfortunately a mouse had found his way into the starter overnight and was swimming in it.
Sorry little guy, down the toilet you go.

The Greatest Gift

Where do your goals come from? It may seem like a silly question but I think it is one worth pondering. I'm sure that there are many ways that we are influenced. Some are certainly more beneficial than others.
I have spent many hours and dollars trying to get things that other people had. I thought they had "something" I didn't. If I got the thing they had, the something that I was missing would be there. Usually it wasn't.
As a child my mother talked about never being content. It was a good thing, constantly striving for more. The owner of the company I worked for many years later talked about the same thing. Remember Carnation? Milk from contented cows. We don't want that here.
Too bad.
I want to be content, and I am. I can be happy every day, and I am.
I don't think there is anything wrong with being content. Actually I think it's a good thing. Contentment is liberating. I can still work to improve my life, however will I be discontent if something I try fails? I don't think so. Failure is an option. Some of our best lessons come from failing. As long as we learn I guess it really isn't a failure.
Keeping up with the people around me isn't neccessary for my happiness. If the people around me buy new cars, houses, toys, vacations, etc. I don't have to.
The man who competes against no one has no competition
A mail order catalog sold tee shirts that said, "He who dies with the most toys wins". Now that is one twisted philosophy. No matter what tread mill you are on, you will always find someone with something you don't have. I prefer to be grateful for what I have, instead of dwelling on what I don't.
So go ahead and ask yourself where your goals come from. Do they come from inside you? Or are you keeping up with/competing with someone? Are they in line with your values? If you died tomorrow would you be glad you spent your life energy working for this?

The Emperor's New Clothes

"Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country." - John Kennedy.
It seems that some people are saying this again. I heard it the other day. Many people seem to think that if you question the people in power. If you express dissatisfaction with their decisions you are asking what your country can do for you, instead of asking what you can do for your country.
I couldn't disagree more.
In the children's story The Emperor's New Clothes some smooth talking thieves acting as tailors sell the emperor some new clothes. The trouble is they are invisible. They go on about how wonderful these new clothes are. The emperors pride gets in the way so he goes along with it. All his staff plays along like the wonderful "yes men" that many leaders want around them. Before you know it there is a parade for the emperor to show off his new clothes. All the royal subjects play along too. Until a young child yells out "But he's not wearing any clothes!" Suddenly everyone is ashamed, for themselves and the emperor.
So what can you do for your country?

My Favorite Shirt

It is a red plaid flannel shirt. I received it as gift about 7 years ago. I'm the kinda guy who grabs the shirt that's in the front of the closet. The things behind I just don't get to. My favorites always end up in the front.
After a while the cuffs and the collar started becoming thread bare. The white stuff that holds the shape started showing through. I still wear it. Just not as often. Another shirt has moved to the front of the closet.
I know that one day it will become a rag. There is always a sense of loss when that happens. It won't ever be worn again.

One Day at a Time

Look to this day,
For it is life,
The very life of life,
In its brief course lie all
The realities and verities of existience,
The bliss of growth,
The splendor of action,
The glory of power - -

For yesterday is but a dream,
And tomorrow is only a vision,
But today, well lived,
Makes every yesterday a dream of happiness
And every tomorrow a vision of hope.

Look well therefore, to this day.

Sanskrit Proverb

Cold!

This morning the thermometer said -12°F. The coldest so far this year.
Keep filling the wood stove!

Tracking the Deer

Saturday around 4:45 I finally got my chance. Four deer came running across my path. I was able to take a good shot at the biggest one. Unfortunately my shot wasn't good enough. The deer was able to run for a ways. I was able to track the blood trail into the corn field behind us. By the time I got that far it was getting dark. I kept going for a while but had not asked permission and did not want to go too far into the field. It would have to wait until tomorrow.
Sunday morning I got up and drove around the county block to ask permission. No one was up yet, so I came back about an hour later. No problem.
The kids and I went out to the field. The weather was not helping. It got warmer, the snow melted and it started raining. Maybe in the old days people were good enough to track a deer under those conditions, but I am not. We looked for several hours until finally giving up.
Oh well, there's still the late bow season!

Opening Weekend

This weekend was opening weekend of hunting season.
Many hunters dream of the trophy with the large rack. Dressed for the occasion and well equipped they take to the woods and fields. Hoping for the best.
The deer run and hide. Often only to wander into other sites.
Bang. Tonight we feast.

How to listen to politicians

In a democracy politicians should be "trustworthy always, trusted never".

There are a few things you need to be aware of when listening to politicians.

1. They will say anything to get what they want. The truth is not a factor.
2. They will never tell you exactly what they want. There is always an agenda.

Keep these points in mind. Pay more attention to what they do than what they say.
Think, don't just believe.

The First Snowfall

Last night we got the first snowfall of the season. It always brings some excitement of many kinds; thrill, fear, and anxiety. This one especially so because they are predicting a very cold night to follow. The animals are anxious too.

I still need to put the heater in the horses' water trough. I don’t think the water will freeze from one night of cold, but it might. Bring in the concrete projects the girls were working on, put the rack for our firewood on the porch. And do we have enough wood cut for the winter? It’s harder to get it back to the house after the snow is on the ground.

About two o’clock I woke up and looked out the window. It seemed like I was watching a black and white HDTV. The snow was still falling and because it had started out as rain everything had a coating of white. It was quite bright outside even though it was the middle of the night. There was no color, only black and white and the grays in between.

The snow was glowing, or so it appeared. An almost full moon and dense clouds created a feast for the eyes, sans color.

Cast Iron Cooking

Cookware is one area that we have clearly gone backwards. The fry pans and griddles our grandparents used were in almost every way superior to what most people use today. Here’s the disclaimer... As long as they are used correctly.

There are a few simple guidelines to follow when using cast iron cookware.

1. Never, ever, ever, ever use soap on your cast iron pan. Wipe it out with a towel (cloth or paper) and put it away. If you get some burnt crust building up on your pan you can scrape it with a metal spatula.

2. Make sure the pan is hot before putting food or cooking oil in it. Put it on the stove and turn on the heat. Give it a few minutes then add your oil and food.

3. Use metal utensils. I always prefer metal utensils, modern cookware with non stick coatings can’t handle metal.

That popping sound

I just figured out what that strange sound is. Have you heard it too?
It's this sucking - popping sound, almost like the plunger coming up out of the toilet.
George Bush's approval rating is sinking. More and more people are sorry they voted for him.
Some have even come to realize that he is lying scum.
I think it's the noise made when people pull thier head out of their ass.

Passive Circadian Management - The Tao of Chickens

Chickens are wonderful animals. They are easily as entertaining as fish in an aquarium, with benefits. Now on my second year of raising chickens I have learned a lot.
What chickens eat does affect the quality of their eggs. When they are only eating chicken feed, the yolks are a lighter yellow color and the shells are thinner. The best seems to be allowing them to roam about eating whatever they like. Bugs, greens, seeds, etc.
Allowing them to wander freely about the yard does bring its share of problems. They like to hide their eggs, finding them can be a challenge. Then once they are found you don’t really know how old they are. They do like the tomatoes when they are getting ripe and do some damage in the garden. Poop in the yard has not been much of an issue. It dries and breaks down quickly.
Getting them back in the coop at night is never a problem. As long as the coop is open, they just go there. All I have to do is close the door right after dark. They like to roost at night, perching on what ever is in the coop for them.
Cleaning the coop is not my favorite task. The chickens do a lot of pooping at night when they are roosting. It dries and sticks to the floor of the coop.
I have come up with a system that makes having the chickens almost all pleasure with very little effort or problem.
First is the coop. I designed and built mine with branches for them to roost on one side and boxes with hay for them to lay eggs in on the other. The floor under the roosts is chicken wire and under that is an old wheelbarrow. At night they poop as much as they want, it falls through the chicken wire right into my old wheelbarrow. Every few weeks I empty the wheelbarrow in the garden. Easy.
There are two doors in the coop a large one for me to use when gathering eggs and a small one for the chickens that opens into a fenced yard. I have a gate so I can get into the chicken yard.
Every morning I check the food and water, then open the small door. The chickens spend all morning eating and scratching inside the fence. Because they are fenced in they don’t hide their eggs they just lay them in the nesting boxes.
Around noon I go out and gather the eggs and leave the gate open. Now the chickens can go wherever they want and eat what ever they want.
For the month that we have ripe tomatoes I don’t let them out they stay in the fenced in yard all the time. I do give them all the left over seeds and skins from making tomato sauce. They also love the squeezin’s left after making apple cider.
Every evening I close the doors and say good night.
All together I spend about 10 minutes a day taking care of the chickens. With 10 laying hens we get 6 to 7 eggs a day. Our yard has less bugs than before. And they are fun to watch.