Hello everyone.
I just wanted to let folks over here know that I have resumed our family blog, but I have decided to try out blogger for now. Our new place is purewaterhollow.blogspot.com.
I am moving most of my old posts over there, as well as writing anew once again. I have missed blogging and I am sad that I neglected to record so much of 2010! But God has been with us every step of the way and He is faithful!
Showing posts with label blogging. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blogging. Show all posts
Monday, November 22, 2010
Tuesday, November 09, 2010
My Triumphant Return to the Blog World
Back in September of 2006 I began two blogs. One was hosted here and titled "Our Life Here" and was mainly about our personal finances and getting out of debt. It only lasted a few months. The other was a blog on Homesteadblogger called "Pure Water Hollow Homestead" and was about our homestead in the hills of Kentucky and our journey toward a simpler lifestyle. I wrote on that blog consistently through 2009 but have not blogged much anywhere during this year of 2010.
I have decided to merge the two blogs and move my posts from HSB over here and retitle my blog "Our Life at Pure Water Hollow Homestead". I've decided that most of what I've written in the past has some merit, especially for my own family history and memories. (So I'm keeping the boring posts about money.)
My task now, is to fix and move over 200 posts from there to here. It will take some time, so my triumphant return to blogging may be just copy and paste for a while. But I will be having fun!
I have decided to merge the two blogs and move my posts from HSB over here and retitle my blog "Our Life at Pure Water Hollow Homestead". I've decided that most of what I've written in the past has some merit, especially for my own family history and memories. (So I'm keeping the boring posts about money.)
My task now, is to fix and move over 200 posts from there to here. It will take some time, so my triumphant return to blogging may be just copy and paste for a while. But I will be having fun!
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
All is well
This is just a quick note to say that all is well at Pure Water Hollow Homestead.
Fall is such a beautiful time of the year here, but there are also so many things to accomplish before the snow starts flying. We have been hard at work in many areas, and we have also been enjoying some quiet, peaceful moments as well.
I don’t have time right now to update all that has been going on, but you should know that the Lord has been taking care of us and blessing us everyday. Perhaps next month I will get a chance to do some deep, contemplative writings about some Pure Water Hollow happenings. I do so enjoy writing; I just wish I had the time to put into it what I would like to.
Until then, may God continue to bless!
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2 comments
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hopefulheart77 on October 28, 2009 at 7:29 pm
God bless you too!
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sassyfras on October 30, 2009 at 7:20 pm
Be looking for your updates. I always love reading about your homestead.
Fall is such a beautiful time of the year here, but there are also so many things to accomplish before the snow starts flying. We have been hard at work in many areas, and we have also been enjoying some quiet, peaceful moments as well.
I don’t have time right now to update all that has been going on, but you should know that the Lord has been taking care of us and blessing us everyday. Perhaps next month I will get a chance to do some deep, contemplative writings about some Pure Water Hollow happenings. I do so enjoy writing; I just wish I had the time to put into it what I would like to.
Until then, may God continue to bless!
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2 comments
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hopefulheart77 on October 28, 2009 at 7:29 pm
God bless you too!
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sassyfras on October 30, 2009 at 7:20 pm
Be looking for your updates. I always love reading about your homestead.
Friday, June 05, 2009
Sally Has Finally Delivered After Unusual Pregnancy
This labor and delivery has been very unusual compared to Sally’s previous pregnancies. I am pleased to report that she gave birth to her 5th litter of piglets this evening!
We knew things were going to be different a week or so after April 21st, which was the date I was expecting the sows to deliver. We put Sally and Nellie in the stalls to await the piglets back then, but it soon became apparent that they were not, in fact, pregnant! Back to their pig lot they went.
Last Sunday, we noticed that Sally had filled up with milk and there were actually drops of milk when you squeezed her teats! I thought it would be within a day or two of that sign, but I must note now that milk in teats mean that the sow will deliver within 5 days, instead of 2. Finally, 5 days later, the piglets are here!
The past 5 days, Sally has been acting strangely. Sometimes she seemed that she was in labor, but at other times she wanted to wreck her stall, acted like she was starving, and was all around wild acting! This morning I found that she busted through the stall wall last night and gotten into the junk that I had stored in the other stall. She was carrying everything she could into her nest! The empty feed sacks I could understand, but all the old bailing wires I could not understand.
At 5:20 this evening she delivered the first piglet! Matthew, Erica, Christina, and Simon were there to see it happen, and Lisa, Timothy and I got up there in time for the 3rd piglet to be born. A big suprise was that she only gave birth to 6 piglets this time!
6 is very much fewer than the 14 she gave us last December, the 13 she birthed last July, and the 11 she had last February! Her first pregnancy she gave birth to 8 piglets when she was just 10 months old, which is closer to today’s number, but it was still more. The number of piglets was just another strange factor in this unusual pregnancy.
Another unusual thing this time was that Sally is the only sow with piglets. Each of the four other times, her sister Nellie gave birth on the same day or within 5 days as Sally. This time, I don’t think Nellie is pregnant at all, even though she looked it back in April!
I am thankful for the 6 God has given her. My concern now is that they will survive. This will likely be the last litter we try with Sally or Nellie because they have gotten to be so huge. They are so large that they may not be able to help but crush some of their piglets laying down! We lost too many that way when Sally had those 14 and Nellie had her 13 back in December. My plan is to sell Nellie, Sally, and Rufus and continue raising hogs with new stock. We will keep some from this 6 to start over with. I would like to keep 2 females and get a new boar from another farm somewhere, but Christina thinks that 5 of these 6 are male! I may keep one as our new boar and get a couple of gilts from somewhere else.
Whatever the case, I will give God the thanks for all He provides!
(I will try to post the pictures taken this evening some day in the future. It may be a while. My computer situation is now such that I cannot put up pictures. I will likely be able to dress up anything I post sometime toward the end of summer, but for the next couple of months, my posts won’t have any pictures. I do intend to keep on journaling, however, and taking pictures to add later.)
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1 comment
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Call of the Land on January 18, 2010 at 11:53 am
how exciting!
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We knew things were going to be different a week or so after April 21st, which was the date I was expecting the sows to deliver. We put Sally and Nellie in the stalls to await the piglets back then, but it soon became apparent that they were not, in fact, pregnant! Back to their pig lot they went.
Last Sunday, we noticed that Sally had filled up with milk and there were actually drops of milk when you squeezed her teats! I thought it would be within a day or two of that sign, but I must note now that milk in teats mean that the sow will deliver within 5 days, instead of 2. Finally, 5 days later, the piglets are here!
The past 5 days, Sally has been acting strangely. Sometimes she seemed that she was in labor, but at other times she wanted to wreck her stall, acted like she was starving, and was all around wild acting! This morning I found that she busted through the stall wall last night and gotten into the junk that I had stored in the other stall. She was carrying everything she could into her nest! The empty feed sacks I could understand, but all the old bailing wires I could not understand.
At 5:20 this evening she delivered the first piglet! Matthew, Erica, Christina, and Simon were there to see it happen, and Lisa, Timothy and I got up there in time for the 3rd piglet to be born. A big suprise was that she only gave birth to 6 piglets this time!
6 is very much fewer than the 14 she gave us last December, the 13 she birthed last July, and the 11 she had last February! Her first pregnancy she gave birth to 8 piglets when she was just 10 months old, which is closer to today’s number, but it was still more. The number of piglets was just another strange factor in this unusual pregnancy.
Another unusual thing this time was that Sally is the only sow with piglets. Each of the four other times, her sister Nellie gave birth on the same day or within 5 days as Sally. This time, I don’t think Nellie is pregnant at all, even though she looked it back in April!
I am thankful for the 6 God has given her. My concern now is that they will survive. This will likely be the last litter we try with Sally or Nellie because they have gotten to be so huge. They are so large that they may not be able to help but crush some of their piglets laying down! We lost too many that way when Sally had those 14 and Nellie had her 13 back in December. My plan is to sell Nellie, Sally, and Rufus and continue raising hogs with new stock. We will keep some from this 6 to start over with. I would like to keep 2 females and get a new boar from another farm somewhere, but Christina thinks that 5 of these 6 are male! I may keep one as our new boar and get a couple of gilts from somewhere else.
Whatever the case, I will give God the thanks for all He provides!
(I will try to post the pictures taken this evening some day in the future. It may be a while. My computer situation is now such that I cannot put up pictures. I will likely be able to dress up anything I post sometime toward the end of summer, but for the next couple of months, my posts won’t have any pictures. I do intend to keep on journaling, however, and taking pictures to add later.)
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1 comment
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Call of the Land on January 18, 2010 at 11:53 am
how exciting!
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Monday, April 20, 2009
A Virtual Tour of Pure Water Hollow Homestead
It is an honor being one of the “featured bloggers” on Homestead Blogger once again, and also a bit overwhelming. Part of me wonders why anyone would be interested in my little homestead here. But then I look around me and quickly realize that I have an absolutely wonderful life and I am getting to experience some awesome adventures that are made up of the types of things that homestead minded people dream about. My desire is always that our homestead will in some way point to our glorious Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Everything we have or do is ultimitely because of Him!
I’m really writing this blog for my immediate family, extended family, and for posterity as well. I must confess that I also have a selfish motive. In many ways I am recording this adventure just to aid my own memory. Sadly, I have had to realize that I do not have a very good long term memory at all, and 20 years from now I do not want to hear about all kinds of wonderful things we shared as a family and not have a memory of them for myself!
I was not intending to get so contemplative on this post.
What I am striving for with this entry, is to just give sort of a virtual tour of what types of things we have had going on lately at Pure Water Hollow Homestead. We had a few beautiful days Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, so I asked Christina, my 11 year old, to walk around and take pictures of our property and animals with her digital camera. She took some great pictures and I also borrowed her camera and took a few more.
The first animals you are likely to see are our dogs and cats. I don’t have any pictures of the cats right now, but here is our Pyr named Chief:
And this is Mammoo:
We also have Luna, a black mixed Pyr that didn’t make the cameras this time and a Lab named Champ that you will see in a minute.
Christina took several pictures I really liked from an angle that I have not seen much in picture form. I had the truck down in the play field to unload some hog manure over the garden spot. That is our Chocolate Lab named Champ with me(he is always with us even when we do not want him to be):
While we are down here I’ll show where we planted the new fruit trees and bushes this spring. You can see the milk crates behind me. This is where we planted 8 new blueberry bushes.
They are Blue Crop, Blue Ray, Earliblue, and Jersey from left to right and then the pattern is repeated in the next four. So far they are all living, but we never tested the soil there to see if it is a good place for blueberries. I hope they will grow and thrive there.
In front of the house I planted a new nectarine tree next to the peach trees:
We still haven’t gotten everything cleaned up from the ice storm, and these pictures do not show up very well. I’m putting them here mainly for us, but you can at least see the mess we have been facing. We went ahead and planted two plum trees and two new apple trees next to the old apple trees across the lane from the garden. Here are the new plum trees:
And here are the new apple trees:
Across from the apple trees is the garden spot and play field that you saw a minute ago. The geese had come down from the pond to visit. They are in the children’s playfield in the fore-ground. Those poles you see are a grape arbor and the cherry tree in bloom is to the right. You can see the outbuilding we call the tool shed, the side/back of our house, and our white van to the left. In the mid-ground is the children’s play-tree and swing-set:
Let me show you the grape arbor closer up. Once the leaves come out, this is a beautiful spot and we usually have plenty of grapes for jam. The Chery tree next to it always has an abundance of cherries:
This is a shot from further back. Here you can see the flower garden and you get the first glimpse of the creek that flows by the garden:
Come on back a little farther, up on the school house hill. From here you can see the chicken coop and lot, and in the distance the garden spot, the children’s play field, play-tree, the roof of our house and the tool shed:
Since we are here at the chicken coop, let me show you the other side of it. Those rectangles are the nest boxes for the hens. The nests are on the inside of the coop and we can gather the eggs from the outside:
And when Christina opened up the nests to check for eggs she found some hens in the process of depositing their rent money. Both of these are Buff Orpingtons, but they share the coop with Light Brahmas, Partridge Rocks, Black Giants, Australorps, and Dominiques. If you look close you can see the egg from the one on the right as she is getting up to leave:
We also have an area we call "the chicken duplex", because it is a two room compartment. Currently we have a game hen mama raising a brood of chicks in each section. Wingleg has 8 Buff Orpington chicks she hatched as well as 6 from TSC. On the other side is Onefeather who has 6 Black Giant mix chicks that she hatched as well as 6 Rhode Island Reds from TSC. The pictures didn’t come out the greatest through the fence, but you can get an idea.
This first one is of Onefeather and her brood. She is 5 years old and the only one left of our original group of hens and pullets from 2004. She has proven to be a good mama hen many times now:
In this picture you can see the duplex better on Wingleg’s side with Wingleg and her group. Wingleg is from the 2005 generation of pullets, so she is pretty old too. She may have been in one of Onefeather’s early groups of hatchlings.
Let’s go up that dirt road that swings around to the right in the above picture and then down to the left to the ravine lot:
Here is the ravine lot closer up. It is totally enclosed with wire to keep predators out. I originally designed it to keep our pet raccoons in, so we made it pretty tight. This is where we have been separating various hens and roosters in order to get specific eggs. The most recent group to have called it home was the Black Giants, which are the chickens you see in these pictures:
Now we will walk up the hillside via the steep dirt road to the barn areas. In the below picture the path to the ravine lot is in the middle on the left. It goes downward and this other road goes up to the pigs, goats and pond. Behind us is the chicken coop and lot:
Here we approach the old barn. Believe it or not, it is standing up much straighter now than it was a month ago. The pigs had played a number on it the past couple of years, eating out the main poles so that the barn had begun to lean quite a bit. We just had new posts put in and the walls pulled up straight as well as some new roofing where it was leaking very badly. I hired the work out, but I did get to help a few hours one day. The two guys were here a good part of 6 days working on it and only charged $600! I feel that it was well worth it because I think the barn will be able to stand for many more decades now. The alternative was tearing it down and building new. We still have work to do on it to make it a real nice barn, but it is very usable right now:
I like this view that Christina took from a distance. In so many of these pictures you can tell what a rugged terrain our homestead is located in:
Here is part of the new roof. We used remnant pieces of metal that was much cheaper to purchase. To get it cheap, we couldn’t choose the colors we would get. This picture won’t mean anything to you, but I like it, and now we can store things in a dry loft:
Inside the barn, we have moved our two sows. They should be giving birth to piglets very soon. We have now raised several litters of our own piglets born here. We sell most of them and keep some to raise to butchering size. This year we actually butchered and cut up our own pork right here on our property! We hope to keep a couple from these new litters and butcher them before Christmas this winter.
Here is a recent picture of Sally:
I will try to come back later to show you our other sow, Nellie and our boar Rufus. I can’t seem to find the pictures we took of them last weekend.
This past fall we had a new barn built for our goats on the other side of the ravine. It is a 40 x 12 foot building with a 3/4th loft. We still have work we want to do on it, but I am pleased with it overall:
Here is a nice picture of it from a distance, on the upper road to the clearing. You can see the pond in this shot also:
Here are some of the goats inside the new barn:
We have two does that are expecting next month. Here is the one we call Mama Belle. She sure looks pregnant doesn’t she? The smaller one is one of her previous kids, Tiny Tim:
Little Lulu is also expecting, but she doesn’t show as much. This will be her first time kidding. The little face bottom right is the buck we have on loan that provided these pregnancies:
And here are the other wethers, Little Joe and Big Jim:
Here comes the ducks walking by. They like to stay around the goat barn sometimes. We have decided that the dark ducks are Rouens and the whites are Pekins:
There they go off into the water. They spend most of their time in the pond:
The ducks share the pond with our geese. You already saw them visiting us down at the play field by the house, but here they are where they are supposed to be. The gray ones are Toulouse and the white ones ore Chinese. This white one I call Goosy Lucy and the gander I’m calling Sid:
Here is the other gander, Marty:
We have one of the Chinese setting on a nest of goose eggs, so maybe we will get to see some goslings swimming around next month. (I am looking forward to having goose meat for supper some day.) This picture does not show up very good, but that is the nest we made for her and she is spread out in there over 8 or 10 eggs. I’m naming her Mother Goose:
Let me end with some pretty pictures that Christina found as she walked around our homestead this weekend:
We still did not visit the clearing, the maple grove, or the ridge trails, but maybe some time in the future.
I hope you have enjoyed this virtual tour and I also hope you have seen the hand of God here. We feel His presence eveywhere we turn around. He has been so great to all of us!
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8 comments
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HSB Front Porch on April 20, 2009 at 11:04 am
I LOVE the virtual tour! What a great idea. You have an amazing place. Wonderful job you and your family have done…
Thank you so much for sharing with us.
Blessings,
Chasity L. Burrell
Senior Editor Homesteadblogger
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Sarah (Your Cousin) on April 20, 2009 at 5:43 pm
Hello! How are you? I have been doing great! I just wanted to tell Christina she did a wonderful job with the picture's! I Love your ducks! I hope we can come to your house and see them and all of you soon! We Love you all and Please know that we are thinking of you! I hope you have a blessed week! Talk to you really Soon!
~With Lots of Love,
~Sarah~
Ps. The Flower Picture's are really pretty!
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SimpleFolk on April 20, 2009 at 7:39 pm
I just stopped by to congratulate you on being featured, but thank you so much for the amazing tour! You have a beautiful place.
Amy
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Judy on April 22, 2009 at 7:05 pm
Hey KY neighbor, love the photos of everything. Your place is really coming along nicely. The tour was great, makes you feel like your really there. The animals all look happy to be there to. I enjoy your blogs keep up the good work…See ya'll soon. Judy
congrads on being this weeks blogger…!!!!!!!
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Sharon on April 22, 2009 at 10:36 pm
What great pic's! I enjoyed the "tour"!
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karen in MS on April 23, 2009 at 11:28 pm
You are very blessed to have such a wonderful homestead!!
Thanks so much for the pictures. I enjoyed them very much!
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Manna Milling Moms on April 24, 2009 at 6:26 pm
Congratulations on being the Featured Blogger!
You have a beautiful homestead. Blessings and Provisions from the Lord is our sustainability.
In Him, Jill (the big sister)
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Schatzi on April 26, 2009 at 3:13 pm
Congratulations on being featured…what a beautiful place you have. The virtual tour was great. You are truly blessed. Thank you for sharing it with us.
Blessings,
Connie
I’m really writing this blog for my immediate family, extended family, and for posterity as well. I must confess that I also have a selfish motive. In many ways I am recording this adventure just to aid my own memory. Sadly, I have had to realize that I do not have a very good long term memory at all, and 20 years from now I do not want to hear about all kinds of wonderful things we shared as a family and not have a memory of them for myself!
I was not intending to get so contemplative on this post.
What I am striving for with this entry, is to just give sort of a virtual tour of what types of things we have had going on lately at Pure Water Hollow Homestead. We had a few beautiful days Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, so I asked Christina, my 11 year old, to walk around and take pictures of our property and animals with her digital camera. She took some great pictures and I also borrowed her camera and took a few more.
The first animals you are likely to see are our dogs and cats. I don’t have any pictures of the cats right now, but here is our Pyr named Chief:
And this is Mammoo:
We also have Luna, a black mixed Pyr that didn’t make the cameras this time and a Lab named Champ that you will see in a minute.
Christina took several pictures I really liked from an angle that I have not seen much in picture form. I had the truck down in the play field to unload some hog manure over the garden spot. That is our Chocolate Lab named Champ with me(he is always with us even when we do not want him to be):
While we are down here I’ll show where we planted the new fruit trees and bushes this spring. You can see the milk crates behind me. This is where we planted 8 new blueberry bushes.
They are Blue Crop, Blue Ray, Earliblue, and Jersey from left to right and then the pattern is repeated in the next four. So far they are all living, but we never tested the soil there to see if it is a good place for blueberries. I hope they will grow and thrive there.
In front of the house I planted a new nectarine tree next to the peach trees:
We still haven’t gotten everything cleaned up from the ice storm, and these pictures do not show up very well. I’m putting them here mainly for us, but you can at least see the mess we have been facing. We went ahead and planted two plum trees and two new apple trees next to the old apple trees across the lane from the garden. Here are the new plum trees:
And here are the new apple trees:
Across from the apple trees is the garden spot and play field that you saw a minute ago. The geese had come down from the pond to visit. They are in the children’s playfield in the fore-ground. Those poles you see are a grape arbor and the cherry tree in bloom is to the right. You can see the outbuilding we call the tool shed, the side/back of our house, and our white van to the left. In the mid-ground is the children’s play-tree and swing-set:
Let me show you the grape arbor closer up. Once the leaves come out, this is a beautiful spot and we usually have plenty of grapes for jam. The Chery tree next to it always has an abundance of cherries:
This is a shot from further back. Here you can see the flower garden and you get the first glimpse of the creek that flows by the garden:
Come on back a little farther, up on the school house hill. From here you can see the chicken coop and lot, and in the distance the garden spot, the children’s play field, play-tree, the roof of our house and the tool shed:
Since we are here at the chicken coop, let me show you the other side of it. Those rectangles are the nest boxes for the hens. The nests are on the inside of the coop and we can gather the eggs from the outside:
And when Christina opened up the nests to check for eggs she found some hens in the process of depositing their rent money. Both of these are Buff Orpingtons, but they share the coop with Light Brahmas, Partridge Rocks, Black Giants, Australorps, and Dominiques. If you look close you can see the egg from the one on the right as she is getting up to leave:
We also have an area we call "the chicken duplex", because it is a two room compartment. Currently we have a game hen mama raising a brood of chicks in each section. Wingleg has 8 Buff Orpington chicks she hatched as well as 6 from TSC. On the other side is Onefeather who has 6 Black Giant mix chicks that she hatched as well as 6 Rhode Island Reds from TSC. The pictures didn’t come out the greatest through the fence, but you can get an idea.
This first one is of Onefeather and her brood. She is 5 years old and the only one left of our original group of hens and pullets from 2004. She has proven to be a good mama hen many times now:
In this picture you can see the duplex better on Wingleg’s side with Wingleg and her group. Wingleg is from the 2005 generation of pullets, so she is pretty old too. She may have been in one of Onefeather’s early groups of hatchlings.
Let’s go up that dirt road that swings around to the right in the above picture and then down to the left to the ravine lot:
Here is the ravine lot closer up. It is totally enclosed with wire to keep predators out. I originally designed it to keep our pet raccoons in, so we made it pretty tight. This is where we have been separating various hens and roosters in order to get specific eggs. The most recent group to have called it home was the Black Giants, which are the chickens you see in these pictures:
Now we will walk up the hillside via the steep dirt road to the barn areas. In the below picture the path to the ravine lot is in the middle on the left. It goes downward and this other road goes up to the pigs, goats and pond. Behind us is the chicken coop and lot:
Here we approach the old barn. Believe it or not, it is standing up much straighter now than it was a month ago. The pigs had played a number on it the past couple of years, eating out the main poles so that the barn had begun to lean quite a bit. We just had new posts put in and the walls pulled up straight as well as some new roofing where it was leaking very badly. I hired the work out, but I did get to help a few hours one day. The two guys were here a good part of 6 days working on it and only charged $600! I feel that it was well worth it because I think the barn will be able to stand for many more decades now. The alternative was tearing it down and building new. We still have work to do on it to make it a real nice barn, but it is very usable right now:
I like this view that Christina took from a distance. In so many of these pictures you can tell what a rugged terrain our homestead is located in:
Here is part of the new roof. We used remnant pieces of metal that was much cheaper to purchase. To get it cheap, we couldn’t choose the colors we would get. This picture won’t mean anything to you, but I like it, and now we can store things in a dry loft:
Inside the barn, we have moved our two sows. They should be giving birth to piglets very soon. We have now raised several litters of our own piglets born here. We sell most of them and keep some to raise to butchering size. This year we actually butchered and cut up our own pork right here on our property! We hope to keep a couple from these new litters and butcher them before Christmas this winter.
Here is a recent picture of Sally:
I will try to come back later to show you our other sow, Nellie and our boar Rufus. I can’t seem to find the pictures we took of them last weekend.
This past fall we had a new barn built for our goats on the other side of the ravine. It is a 40 x 12 foot building with a 3/4th loft. We still have work we want to do on it, but I am pleased with it overall:
Here is a nice picture of it from a distance, on the upper road to the clearing. You can see the pond in this shot also:
Here are some of the goats inside the new barn:
We have two does that are expecting next month. Here is the one we call Mama Belle. She sure looks pregnant doesn’t she? The smaller one is one of her previous kids, Tiny Tim:
Little Lulu is also expecting, but she doesn’t show as much. This will be her first time kidding. The little face bottom right is the buck we have on loan that provided these pregnancies:
And here are the other wethers, Little Joe and Big Jim:
Here comes the ducks walking by. They like to stay around the goat barn sometimes. We have decided that the dark ducks are Rouens and the whites are Pekins:
There they go off into the water. They spend most of their time in the pond:
The ducks share the pond with our geese. You already saw them visiting us down at the play field by the house, but here they are where they are supposed to be. The gray ones are Toulouse and the white ones ore Chinese. This white one I call Goosy Lucy and the gander I’m calling Sid:
Here is the other gander, Marty:
We have one of the Chinese setting on a nest of goose eggs, so maybe we will get to see some goslings swimming around next month. (I am looking forward to having goose meat for supper some day.) This picture does not show up very good, but that is the nest we made for her and she is spread out in there over 8 or 10 eggs. I’m naming her Mother Goose:
Let me end with some pretty pictures that Christina found as she walked around our homestead this weekend:
We still did not visit the clearing, the maple grove, or the ridge trails, but maybe some time in the future.
I hope you have enjoyed this virtual tour and I also hope you have seen the hand of God here. We feel His presence eveywhere we turn around. He has been so great to all of us!
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8 comments
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HSB Front Porch on April 20, 2009 at 11:04 am
I LOVE the virtual tour! What a great idea. You have an amazing place. Wonderful job you and your family have done…
Thank you so much for sharing with us.
Blessings,
Chasity L. Burrell
Senior Editor Homesteadblogger
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sarah (Your Cousin) on April 20, 2009 at 5:43 pm
Hello! How are you? I have been doing great! I just wanted to tell Christina she did a wonderful job with the picture's! I Love your ducks! I hope we can come to your house and see them and all of you soon! We Love you all and Please know that we are thinking of you! I hope you have a blessed week! Talk to you really Soon!
~With Lots of Love,
~Sarah~
Ps. The Flower Picture's are really pretty!
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SimpleFolk on April 20, 2009 at 7:39 pm
I just stopped by to congratulate you on being featured, but thank you so much for the amazing tour! You have a beautiful place.
Amy
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Judy on April 22, 2009 at 7:05 pm
Hey KY neighbor, love the photos of everything. Your place is really coming along nicely. The tour was great, makes you feel like your really there. The animals all look happy to be there to. I enjoy your blogs keep up the good work…See ya'll soon. Judy
congrads on being this weeks blogger…!!!!!!!
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Sharon on April 22, 2009 at 10:36 pm
What great pic's! I enjoyed the "tour"!
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karen in MS on April 23, 2009 at 11:28 pm
You are very blessed to have such a wonderful homestead!!
Thanks so much for the pictures. I enjoyed them very much!
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Manna Milling Moms on April 24, 2009 at 6:26 pm
Congratulations on being the Featured Blogger!
You have a beautiful homestead. Blessings and Provisions from the Lord is our sustainability.
In Him, Jill (the big sister)
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Schatzi on April 26, 2009 at 3:13 pm
Congratulations on being featured…what a beautiful place you have. The virtual tour was great. You are truly blessed. Thank you for sharing it with us.
Blessings,
Connie
Friday, November 14, 2008
Homeschool Dad Blog nominee
Hello to all my homesteading and homeschooling friends! I just found out that this blog has been nominated for an award for the Best Homeschool Dad blog!
I feel honored but I realize that this blog was much better in 2007. 2008 has not been the best blogging year for me due mainly to some technical difficulties. I have not been able to post pictures from my home computer since this past spring, and as a result I have not been posting much at all lately. It just hasn’t been as fun.
Many of you that are coming from other places will likely wonder why this blog was nominated. If you looked around here a bit you have probably been disappointed! Those of you that are not a registered user with Homestead Blogger will only see a few posts that I have made available to everyone. Some of my posts are even restricted to fewer eyes as they are only viewable to those on our friend list. Sadly, these would be the posts that might lead one to vote for me as a good homeschool dad. Only if you are on our friend list can you see pictures of my children and many of the activities we have done together as children and father.
I have been blessed with 5 wonderful children, and we have been blessed to be able to homeschool them on this up and coming farming homestead the Lord has given us. I do not feel comfortable, however, sharing our experiences with the entire world wide web.
If you are new to homestead blogger, I would encourage you to look around my blog and other great blogs here. You might even want to register and have your own homesteading blog!
If you are a registered user and especially if you are our "friend", I would encourage you to go to this link and vote for Pure Water Hollow Homestead!
Wouldn’t it be neat if one of our homesteading blogs wins a homeschool award! The odds are greatly against me, I know, but it’s fun anyway!
Thanks, and God Bless!
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5 comments
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amanda on November 14, 2008 at 5:19 pm
Our blog will be pulling for yours!
Amanda <><
II Corinthians 5:7
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Henry on November 14, 2008 at 8:52 pm
Just voted for you, my friend.
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Belle on November 18, 2008 at 2:47 pm
I voted for your blog! I think you have a wonderful blog! I love reading your blog and I have learned many new things by reading your blog, like how to sap trees.
My blog is in the 2008 Homeschool Blog Awards too. I am in the Best Homemaking or Recipe blog. As soon as I found out that I was in for voting, I went to my blog and found all of my post and my entire blog to have been deleted. I was very upset to find this, and I have no idea of how it might have happened. All of posts about sapping trees were deleted too. So, I have to repost all of my posts.
I think I am going to copy all of my posts and put it into a document on my computer. You might also want to do that, incase your blog was ever deleted you could simply copy all of your post and repost them. You have a wonderful blog and I would hate to see all of your posts deleted.
Good luck in the 'polls'! I hope you win!!!
Belle
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CandyFoote on November 25, 2008 at 12:23 pm
Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!!
Candy
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Rob on December 8, 2008 at 6:32 pm
How exciting to get a response so soon. I have read your past few blogs and you have indeed stimulated imaginations of your lifestlye. We use that word like we actually can choose a lifestyle, when I think we more point ourselves in the direction, then bounce off the bumpers of life like a pinball, but along the way we become skilled at holding our breath so each moment pauses and we can savour it.
But give credit to the deep peace God has generously given us… like see pigs scrambling in the pen, but instead of the mud we see the beaty of birth and the wonder of design… the miracle of the moment.
I appreciate the privacy factor you have implemented. This is a neat place, this site, safer than most, but even if the weirdos on the net did not exist, some privacy is important to the family.
I intend to both exercise sharing, and caution as you will see in my next entry. A trip to the property ( in words), but I will not actually share the location, though to friends, even here I develop and trust, I will share that information. I even intend to offer visits(cheap holiday) for the brave and trusted friends … for all that I have is not my own,,,but to be shared. So stay tuned just in case some day opportunity knocks and you have a chance to get away. And if is just too far, or too hard or too much… I invite you to journey in my blog. God speed and light your way …
I feel honored but I realize that this blog was much better in 2007. 2008 has not been the best blogging year for me due mainly to some technical difficulties. I have not been able to post pictures from my home computer since this past spring, and as a result I have not been posting much at all lately. It just hasn’t been as fun.
Many of you that are coming from other places will likely wonder why this blog was nominated. If you looked around here a bit you have probably been disappointed! Those of you that are not a registered user with Homestead Blogger will only see a few posts that I have made available to everyone. Some of my posts are even restricted to fewer eyes as they are only viewable to those on our friend list. Sadly, these would be the posts that might lead one to vote for me as a good homeschool dad. Only if you are on our friend list can you see pictures of my children and many of the activities we have done together as children and father.
I have been blessed with 5 wonderful children, and we have been blessed to be able to homeschool them on this up and coming farming homestead the Lord has given us. I do not feel comfortable, however, sharing our experiences with the entire world wide web.
If you are new to homestead blogger, I would encourage you to look around my blog and other great blogs here. You might even want to register and have your own homesteading blog!
If you are a registered user and especially if you are our "friend", I would encourage you to go to this link and vote for Pure Water Hollow Homestead!
Wouldn’t it be neat if one of our homesteading blogs wins a homeschool award! The odds are greatly against me, I know, but it’s fun anyway!
Thanks, and God Bless!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5 comments
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
amanda on November 14, 2008 at 5:19 pm
Our blog will be pulling for yours!
Amanda <><
II Corinthians 5:7
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Henry on November 14, 2008 at 8:52 pm
Just voted for you, my friend.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Belle on November 18, 2008 at 2:47 pm
I voted for your blog! I think you have a wonderful blog! I love reading your blog and I have learned many new things by reading your blog, like how to sap trees.
My blog is in the 2008 Homeschool Blog Awards too. I am in the Best Homemaking or Recipe blog. As soon as I found out that I was in for voting, I went to my blog and found all of my post and my entire blog to have been deleted. I was very upset to find this, and I have no idea of how it might have happened. All of posts about sapping trees were deleted too. So, I have to repost all of my posts.
I think I am going to copy all of my posts and put it into a document on my computer. You might also want to do that, incase your blog was ever deleted you could simply copy all of your post and repost them. You have a wonderful blog and I would hate to see all of your posts deleted.
Good luck in the 'polls'! I hope you win!!!
Belle
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CandyFoote on November 25, 2008 at 12:23 pm
Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!!
Candy
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rob on December 8, 2008 at 6:32 pm
How exciting to get a response so soon. I have read your past few blogs and you have indeed stimulated imaginations of your lifestlye. We use that word like we actually can choose a lifestyle, when I think we more point ourselves in the direction, then bounce off the bumpers of life like a pinball, but along the way we become skilled at holding our breath so each moment pauses and we can savour it.
But give credit to the deep peace God has generously given us… like see pigs scrambling in the pen, but instead of the mud we see the beaty of birth and the wonder of design… the miracle of the moment.
I appreciate the privacy factor you have implemented. This is a neat place, this site, safer than most, but even if the weirdos on the net did not exist, some privacy is important to the family.
I intend to both exercise sharing, and caution as you will see in my next entry. A trip to the property ( in words), but I will not actually share the location, though to friends, even here I develop and trust, I will share that information. I even intend to offer visits(cheap holiday) for the brave and trusted friends … for all that I have is not my own,,,but to be shared. So stay tuned just in case some day opportunity knocks and you have a chance to get away. And if is just too far, or too hard or too much… I invite you to journey in my blog. God speed and light your way …
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Some Firsts During A Hot August Weekend at Pure Water Hollow
Since this weekend saw so many "firsts" for our homestead, I decided to take a few minutes to record them. If I had time, I would write a post about each item, including some of our hopes and desires for the future. But ,alas, it is late, and I need to turn in soon. At least these things will be recorded so we will be able to look back and see when they took place.
This weekend saw our first foray into alternative energy with a solar shed light. We had purchased it last week at Harbor Freight, which is very near the meat market where we were picking up our fresh pork. It is just a small light with a small solar panel and a 4 watt florescent bulb, but it is a start. It was on sale for $20, and I have long wanted to explore solar power. I figured this would be a cheap way to get a little experience with it. I finally put it up in the chicken coop yesterday morning and it actually works!
Yesterday afternoon we went to the stock market in town which has a big flea market attached. I’m thinking of taking our pigs there and wanted to see how it all worked. Anyway, while we were there we came across a Mennonite couple selling various things. What caught my eye was the baby guineas. We have talked about adding them to our poultry flock for some time, but you have to order too many of them in the catalogs. These were 4 week old Lavender Guineas and they were selling them for $5 apiece. We were glad to welcome our first two Guineas to our homestead and we might go back next week to try to get a couple more.
Also at the flea market we came across a big black dinner bell. It appears to be the very same one that I have considered buying from Lemans for $70. I got our first cast iron dinner bell for the homestead for a much better price. It was only $35! I’ve looked at old ones this size for $150, but I think this one will do well for us. I didn’t get a chance to put it up this weekend, but when we get it up, I think we will be able to hear it anywhere we might be working on our property. It is something I have wanted for many years, and I think we will make use of it often.
We have been visiting a small Baptist church just a mile down the road for the past several months. I preached the sermon there for the first time this morning, and it went very well. I believe there will be many future opportunites to preach there. It has been wonderful attending a church so close to home in our own community. This may be the church that God will have us work and worship in.
The last first for this weekend was going squirrel hunting with Simon and Matthew. Unfortunately, we did not see any squirrels, but it was still fun for the boys to walk around the woods carrying guns. Maybe next time we will bring home several squirrels.
A first for last weekend was picking up 7 bushels of apple peels and cores and chunks for the pigs and goats. I found a church that was doing a fundraiser of making and selling apple butter. I’m always looking for sources of free pig food, so I just called them up and asked them what they were going to do with all the left overs. They were happy to let me come and haul it off for them. The animals love the stuff. Yesterday, that church was at it again and this time they had 9 bushels of leftover peels and cores and chunks! It is really good food for the animals just for the price of the gas to go get it. So after the flea market and some work around the farm, I was happy to go over and get the boxes of apple stuff.
By the way, it has been very hot, humid and dry around here. We have been in the 90′s everyday, and no rain to amount to anything. My county is under a burn ban to try to deter the forest fires that are sure to start if we don’t get some rain.
I know this post has been a bunch of unrelated facts and firsts, but I think it is better than not writing anything at all. I am still wanting to be in the business of recording these days and happenings. The overwhelming main fact on my mind right now is in no way a first, and that is God’s blessings and love so abundantly shed upon us. To Him be the glory!
This weekend saw our first foray into alternative energy with a solar shed light. We had purchased it last week at Harbor Freight, which is very near the meat market where we were picking up our fresh pork. It is just a small light with a small solar panel and a 4 watt florescent bulb, but it is a start. It was on sale for $20, and I have long wanted to explore solar power. I figured this would be a cheap way to get a little experience with it. I finally put it up in the chicken coop yesterday morning and it actually works!
Yesterday afternoon we went to the stock market in town which has a big flea market attached. I’m thinking of taking our pigs there and wanted to see how it all worked. Anyway, while we were there we came across a Mennonite couple selling various things. What caught my eye was the baby guineas. We have talked about adding them to our poultry flock for some time, but you have to order too many of them in the catalogs. These were 4 week old Lavender Guineas and they were selling them for $5 apiece. We were glad to welcome our first two Guineas to our homestead and we might go back next week to try to get a couple more.
Also at the flea market we came across a big black dinner bell. It appears to be the very same one that I have considered buying from Lemans for $70. I got our first cast iron dinner bell for the homestead for a much better price. It was only $35! I’ve looked at old ones this size for $150, but I think this one will do well for us. I didn’t get a chance to put it up this weekend, but when we get it up, I think we will be able to hear it anywhere we might be working on our property. It is something I have wanted for many years, and I think we will make use of it often.
We have been visiting a small Baptist church just a mile down the road for the past several months. I preached the sermon there for the first time this morning, and it went very well. I believe there will be many future opportunites to preach there. It has been wonderful attending a church so close to home in our own community. This may be the church that God will have us work and worship in.
The last first for this weekend was going squirrel hunting with Simon and Matthew. Unfortunately, we did not see any squirrels, but it was still fun for the boys to walk around the woods carrying guns. Maybe next time we will bring home several squirrels.
A first for last weekend was picking up 7 bushels of apple peels and cores and chunks for the pigs and goats. I found a church that was doing a fundraiser of making and selling apple butter. I’m always looking for sources of free pig food, so I just called them up and asked them what they were going to do with all the left overs. They were happy to let me come and haul it off for them. The animals love the stuff. Yesterday, that church was at it again and this time they had 9 bushels of leftover peels and cores and chunks! It is really good food for the animals just for the price of the gas to go get it. So after the flea market and some work around the farm, I was happy to go over and get the boxes of apple stuff.
By the way, it has been very hot, humid and dry around here. We have been in the 90′s everyday, and no rain to amount to anything. My county is under a burn ban to try to deter the forest fires that are sure to start if we don’t get some rain.
I know this post has been a bunch of unrelated facts and firsts, but I think it is better than not writing anything at all. I am still wanting to be in the business of recording these days and happenings. The overwhelming main fact on my mind right now is in no way a first, and that is God’s blessings and love so abundantly shed upon us. To Him be the glory!
Sunday, July 06, 2008
Another Short Generic Update From Pure Water Hollow
We are enjoying some fruit of our labor:
Lisa made a wonderful cherry cobbler back the first of June and we have enjoyed strawberries and many raspberries. It looks like we will have an abundance of grapes, peaches, and apples. Blackberries are waiting to be picked, but they did not do as well as other years.
Vegetable update:
We have been blessed with fresh green beans, broccoli, kohlrabi, onions, cauliflower, peppers and new potatoes. The corn has tassled in the upper garden and is still growing on the river bank. We have an abundance of tomatoes ripening and many potato plants still growing, although some have died.
“Pure Water Hollow Chicken Flock: The Next Generation” began on June 24th.
That was when our new breeds of day old chicks arrived at the post office. We have tired of the game/mixed hens that have been so good to us for the past several years. We have been getting plenty of eggs from them (we have been selling some), and we have taken advantage of the free meat, but we decided that in the future we want bigger eggs and bigger and better meat. We have 28 chicks of four heavy breeds: Buff Orpingtons, Light Brahmas, Black Giants, and Partridge Rocks. We’re talking future hens of 10 pounds and roosters of 13 pounds! Our current chickens are only 3 to 5 pounds, I guess.
2 Litters of Piglets: Take 3!
Our new batch of piglets came sooner than expected this time, but since we just have our boar and two sows together all the time, we didn’t really know when the sows were bred. Sally gave birth to 13 piglets on July 1st and 10 of them have survived. Nellie gave birth to 10 piglets today, July 6th, and so far they all look good. This is the 3rd batch of piglets for us, and this is the first time that Sally and Nellie did not deliver on exactly the same day.
Our two sows were born in September 2006, and they had piglets July 13th, 2007, February 9th 2008, and now July 1st & 6th 2008. We raised or sold 15 piglets the first time, 19 piglets the second, and it looks like we have 20 healthy ones this time. One guy called today and has already asked to buy 3, and some other fellows were over today looking to buy some. It appears as though they will again be able to sell easily.
Genesis Colony of Honey Bees:
Our honey bees have been working hard and we need to rob them again right now! Don’t know when we will get around to it, but it’s time. We have another hive body set up and are hoping to start a second colony. We will see.
Goats:
They are doing well and clearing the hill side of the kudzu just like they are supposed to.
Pond Project:
Maybe we will get to do the pond before summer is over. Wish I had it done already. The people I am hiring think they can do it the end of July, but I will believe it when I see it.
Misc:
Much more has been going on it seems (like all the Christian camps the children went to: they had great times but I am glad things can now get back to normal), but I just wanted to get some sort of an update in. I would have liked to do separate posts on each topic with pictures and all, but this is the best I can do for now. At least these things are now recorded for the memory book, even if I did not polish the writings up like I usually enjoy doing.
God is continually blessing us every day. By the way, Timothy is doing great, starting to sleep through the night and is growing almost too fast. He will be 4 months old next week! Where does the time go?
We are trying to sit back and enjoy these blessings and not allow everything to happen so quickly that we miss out on what’s really going on. We do desire a simple life of hard work and quiet reflection. The quiet reflection is often left out but it is so important. Without some quiet reflection the hard work can turn into just aggravating busyness that is less than the goodness God wants for us! We desire God's best!
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3 comments
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sheryl on July 12, 2008 at 6:30 pm
Sounds like you all very busy. I just wanted to stop by and say hi. I have been wondering what you all have been up to. I can`t believe the baby is almost 4 mos. old. We got a new baby here on the farm. Not us, my cousin. She delivered him early and he just got to come home two days ago. He was nine weeks early. I just hope she lets me help spoil him. Take care and happy homesteading, Sheryl
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Schatzi on July 25, 2008 at 5:10 pm
Just stopping by to see how everyone is doing…can't believe your son is 4 months already…how exciting. Also sounds like you are busy harvesting all the goodness and blessings from the Lord.
Well, I hope you have a wonderful weekend.
Connie
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HandsNHearts on July 29, 2008 at 10:19 am
I have passed along an award for you blog…stop by and collect it when you have time!
Deanna
Lisa made a wonderful cherry cobbler back the first of June and we have enjoyed strawberries and many raspberries. It looks like we will have an abundance of grapes, peaches, and apples. Blackberries are waiting to be picked, but they did not do as well as other years.
Vegetable update:
We have been blessed with fresh green beans, broccoli, kohlrabi, onions, cauliflower, peppers and new potatoes. The corn has tassled in the upper garden and is still growing on the river bank. We have an abundance of tomatoes ripening and many potato plants still growing, although some have died.
“Pure Water Hollow Chicken Flock: The Next Generation” began on June 24th.
That was when our new breeds of day old chicks arrived at the post office. We have tired of the game/mixed hens that have been so good to us for the past several years. We have been getting plenty of eggs from them (we have been selling some), and we have taken advantage of the free meat, but we decided that in the future we want bigger eggs and bigger and better meat. We have 28 chicks of four heavy breeds: Buff Orpingtons, Light Brahmas, Black Giants, and Partridge Rocks. We’re talking future hens of 10 pounds and roosters of 13 pounds! Our current chickens are only 3 to 5 pounds, I guess.
2 Litters of Piglets: Take 3!
Our new batch of piglets came sooner than expected this time, but since we just have our boar and two sows together all the time, we didn’t really know when the sows were bred. Sally gave birth to 13 piglets on July 1st and 10 of them have survived. Nellie gave birth to 10 piglets today, July 6th, and so far they all look good. This is the 3rd batch of piglets for us, and this is the first time that Sally and Nellie did not deliver on exactly the same day.
Our two sows were born in September 2006, and they had piglets July 13th, 2007, February 9th 2008, and now July 1st & 6th 2008. We raised or sold 15 piglets the first time, 19 piglets the second, and it looks like we have 20 healthy ones this time. One guy called today and has already asked to buy 3, and some other fellows were over today looking to buy some. It appears as though they will again be able to sell easily.
Genesis Colony of Honey Bees:
Our honey bees have been working hard and we need to rob them again right now! Don’t know when we will get around to it, but it’s time. We have another hive body set up and are hoping to start a second colony. We will see.
Goats:
They are doing well and clearing the hill side of the kudzu just like they are supposed to.
Pond Project:
Maybe we will get to do the pond before summer is over. Wish I had it done already. The people I am hiring think they can do it the end of July, but I will believe it when I see it.
Misc:
Much more has been going on it seems (like all the Christian camps the children went to: they had great times but I am glad things can now get back to normal), but I just wanted to get some sort of an update in. I would have liked to do separate posts on each topic with pictures and all, but this is the best I can do for now. At least these things are now recorded for the memory book, even if I did not polish the writings up like I usually enjoy doing.
God is continually blessing us every day. By the way, Timothy is doing great, starting to sleep through the night and is growing almost too fast. He will be 4 months old next week! Where does the time go?
We are trying to sit back and enjoy these blessings and not allow everything to happen so quickly that we miss out on what’s really going on. We do desire a simple life of hard work and quiet reflection. The quiet reflection is often left out but it is so important. Without some quiet reflection the hard work can turn into just aggravating busyness that is less than the goodness God wants for us! We desire God's best!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3 comments
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
sheryl on July 12, 2008 at 6:30 pm
Sounds like you all very busy. I just wanted to stop by and say hi. I have been wondering what you all have been up to. I can`t believe the baby is almost 4 mos. old. We got a new baby here on the farm. Not us, my cousin. She delivered him early and he just got to come home two days ago. He was nine weeks early. I just hope she lets me help spoil him. Take care and happy homesteading, Sheryl
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Schatzi on July 25, 2008 at 5:10 pm
Just stopping by to see how everyone is doing…can't believe your son is 4 months already…how exciting. Also sounds like you are busy harvesting all the goodness and blessings from the Lord.
Well, I hope you have a wonderful weekend.
Connie
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HandsNHearts on July 29, 2008 at 10:19 am
I have passed along an award for you blog…stop by and collect it when you have time!
Deanna
Saturday, June 07, 2008
A Short Update From Pure Water Hollow
I don’t know if there will ever be a great time for me to jump back into this blog, so I decided to just jump. I did not intend to leave off recording our happenings for such a long period of time.
Then I had an idea that I would back-date several posts and still record some of the things that have happened. That might have been good a month or so ago, but too much time has now gone by to do that with any continuity.
I have many pictures that I wanted to gradually post as I catch up on everything, but I have been foiled in that plan, too. For some reason I can no longer upload pictures to photobucket the way I used to, and I have not yet found another photo hosting site that will work with my computer. I never have fully embraced the technology of the 21st century and now the computer age may be passing me by...
Now on to the short update:
I have not really blogged anything since February, when there was snow on the ground. Now it is June and we have been having near record high temps for the past 4 days in the mid to upper 90s each day, and there is no end to the heat in sight. What a difference 3 months can make!
March at the Pure Water Hollow Homestead was of course dominated by the arrival of our newest blessing, Timothy. He will be three months old next week and he has grown so much. He is already about 20 pounds and can hold his head up by himself. Everyone here has been loving him and pitching in to help take care of him. He has truly been a wonderful addition to our family and a tremendous blessing!
Those piglets that were born in February all sold the same week Timothy was born. All kinds of people wanted them even though they were only 5 weeks old, and in just a weekend we sold 16 of them! We wanted to keep three for ourselves, or we could have sold them, too. I must remember that spring piglets are in greater demand than fall piglets, and therefore should probably be priced higher, but the $400 they brought in has been helping with the feed costs for our 2 sows, boar and the other 3 pigs. The three that we are raising for the freezer are 4 months old now and weigh about 129, 136, and 155 pounds based on their measurements.
April and May seemed to be pretty busy around here with getting the gardens tilled up and planted, the spring cleaning, getting the mowers and weedeaters working, working on our goat lot, and taking care of a newborn. We planted more vegetables than we have ever tried and tilled up more ground than we have in the past. I still do not have a tractor, so we have done it all with a tiller. We enlarged the goat lot, almost up to the ridge, so the goats now have an abundance of food that they are loving. All 5 of them are doing fine, even the crippled Tiny Tim (we are trying to call him just Tiny now) which the vet thought was not going to live very long over a year ago! We also rebuilt the chicken lot, enlarging it quite a bit (they are now giving us plenty of eggs again), and completely rebuilt our grape arbor for the seeded concord grapes, and made a new trellis for our seedless grape vines. The grape arbor is about 30 feet long, 8 feet wide, and 6 feet tall and the vines are hanging off the end and will touch the ground if we let them! Our Genesis colonly of honey bees are doing well and this last time we robbed them, Matthew put the suit on and helped Lisa get the honey. She got a neat picture of him in the suit with the smoker!
It has not been all work and no play, however. We opened up our pool on May 31st (the river) and the children have been enjoying wading and swimming and splashing in the cool water of the shoals.
This first week of June has been a hot one, but I have been in the gardens with the hoe most mornings. Our beans have had a lot of trouble and we need to re-do them and the corn on the river bank is very small (I am wondering if they get enough sunlight to do any good). The potatoes on the river bank are looking great and are blooming now and the tomato plants are forming little green tomatoes. Some time I will list all the vegetables we are trying to grow this year. Many of them are first timers for us, so we don’t really know if they are doing well or not.
June this year is also camp month for the children. Mathew goes next week, Christina and Simon the week after, and Erica and Matthew goes to another camp the following week. We are going to be working a bit short handed arounded here for the next three weeks!
I think that pretty much does it for my short update. So much has been happening it is just impossible to try and recapture it. God continues to be good to us and we are enjoying living life here at Pure Water Hollow! I will try to journal a bit more often again, to better record things for the memory book. If the updates are slow in coming, however, it is probably because I am hoeing, or reading, or mowing, or watering, or building, or swimming, or feeding, or hiking, or hoeing, or watering, or fixing, or feeding, or napping, or hoeing….
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4 comments
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mountainmama on June 10, 2008 at 6:42 am
I had missed your posts and I am glad you are back. I do understand about spring busyness, I have not been able to do much posting either.
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sheryl on June 10, 2008 at 11:55 am
I was tagged by vicksmom and now I am tagging you. Go to my blog and read what to do.
I have been missing your posts. I know this time of the year it is hard to get on here and post. I haven`t been on here much lately. I am so glad to hear everything is going good for you all. Sheryl
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CandyFoote on July 1, 2008 at 7:57 pm
Have a happy 4th of July!!
Candy
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Schatzi on July 4, 2008 at 7:09 pm
Thanks for the update on your family life….you all seem very busy and so we are thankful for any updates that you give us….will check back again shortly…Happy Fourth of July.
Connie
Then I had an idea that I would back-date several posts and still record some of the things that have happened. That might have been good a month or so ago, but too much time has now gone by to do that with any continuity.
I have many pictures that I wanted to gradually post as I catch up on everything, but I have been foiled in that plan, too. For some reason I can no longer upload pictures to photobucket the way I used to, and I have not yet found another photo hosting site that will work with my computer. I never have fully embraced the technology of the 21st century and now the computer age may be passing me by...
Now on to the short update:
I have not really blogged anything since February, when there was snow on the ground. Now it is June and we have been having near record high temps for the past 4 days in the mid to upper 90s each day, and there is no end to the heat in sight. What a difference 3 months can make!
March at the Pure Water Hollow Homestead was of course dominated by the arrival of our newest blessing, Timothy. He will be three months old next week and he has grown so much. He is already about 20 pounds and can hold his head up by himself. Everyone here has been loving him and pitching in to help take care of him. He has truly been a wonderful addition to our family and a tremendous blessing!
Those piglets that were born in February all sold the same week Timothy was born. All kinds of people wanted them even though they were only 5 weeks old, and in just a weekend we sold 16 of them! We wanted to keep three for ourselves, or we could have sold them, too. I must remember that spring piglets are in greater demand than fall piglets, and therefore should probably be priced higher, but the $400 they brought in has been helping with the feed costs for our 2 sows, boar and the other 3 pigs. The three that we are raising for the freezer are 4 months old now and weigh about 129, 136, and 155 pounds based on their measurements.
April and May seemed to be pretty busy around here with getting the gardens tilled up and planted, the spring cleaning, getting the mowers and weedeaters working, working on our goat lot, and taking care of a newborn. We planted more vegetables than we have ever tried and tilled up more ground than we have in the past. I still do not have a tractor, so we have done it all with a tiller. We enlarged the goat lot, almost up to the ridge, so the goats now have an abundance of food that they are loving. All 5 of them are doing fine, even the crippled Tiny Tim (we are trying to call him just Tiny now) which the vet thought was not going to live very long over a year ago! We also rebuilt the chicken lot, enlarging it quite a bit (they are now giving us plenty of eggs again), and completely rebuilt our grape arbor for the seeded concord grapes, and made a new trellis for our seedless grape vines. The grape arbor is about 30 feet long, 8 feet wide, and 6 feet tall and the vines are hanging off the end and will touch the ground if we let them! Our Genesis colonly of honey bees are doing well and this last time we robbed them, Matthew put the suit on and helped Lisa get the honey. She got a neat picture of him in the suit with the smoker!
It has not been all work and no play, however. We opened up our pool on May 31st (the river) and the children have been enjoying wading and swimming and splashing in the cool water of the shoals.
This first week of June has been a hot one, but I have been in the gardens with the hoe most mornings. Our beans have had a lot of trouble and we need to re-do them and the corn on the river bank is very small (I am wondering if they get enough sunlight to do any good). The potatoes on the river bank are looking great and are blooming now and the tomato plants are forming little green tomatoes. Some time I will list all the vegetables we are trying to grow this year. Many of them are first timers for us, so we don’t really know if they are doing well or not.
June this year is also camp month for the children. Mathew goes next week, Christina and Simon the week after, and Erica and Matthew goes to another camp the following week. We are going to be working a bit short handed arounded here for the next three weeks!
I think that pretty much does it for my short update. So much has been happening it is just impossible to try and recapture it. God continues to be good to us and we are enjoying living life here at Pure Water Hollow! I will try to journal a bit more often again, to better record things for the memory book. If the updates are slow in coming, however, it is probably because I am hoeing, or reading, or mowing, or watering, or building, or swimming, or feeding, or hiking, or hoeing, or watering, or fixing, or feeding, or napping, or hoeing….
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4 comments
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mountainmama on June 10, 2008 at 6:42 am
I had missed your posts and I am glad you are back. I do understand about spring busyness, I have not been able to do much posting either.
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sheryl on June 10, 2008 at 11:55 am
I was tagged by vicksmom and now I am tagging you. Go to my blog and read what to do.
I have been missing your posts. I know this time of the year it is hard to get on here and post. I haven`t been on here much lately. I am so glad to hear everything is going good for you all. Sheryl
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CandyFoote on July 1, 2008 at 7:57 pm
Have a happy 4th of July!!
Candy
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Schatzi on July 4, 2008 at 7:09 pm
Thanks for the update on your family life….you all seem very busy and so we are thankful for any updates that you give us….will check back again shortly…Happy Fourth of July.
Connie
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
HSB My Favorite Chicken Contest
The Front Porch of HSB is running a contest about favorite chickens.
I wrote about our favorite chicken in one of my early posts here last fall. I’m taking the easy way out today, by just referring you back to that entry about our rooster, Big Daddy Dahmer. After you read about our mysterious hero it will be clear why he has to go down as my favorite chicken.
He is still with us and doing great. He now has his flock laying record numbers of eggs. I told you all how they gave us 22 eggs last Monday. Well, they followed that with 16 or 17 eggs every day of that week for a new week’s record of 112 eggs! This week they have given us 17, 17 and 14 so they are still on a roll!
A big part of their success is due to my favorite rooster, Big Daddy Dahmer!
(PS: My post did not win. There were many good chicken posts!)
I wrote about our favorite chicken in one of my early posts here last fall. I’m taking the easy way out today, by just referring you back to that entry about our rooster, Big Daddy Dahmer. After you read about our mysterious hero it will be clear why he has to go down as my favorite chicken.
He is still with us and doing great. He now has his flock laying record numbers of eggs. I told you all how they gave us 22 eggs last Monday. Well, they followed that with 16 or 17 eggs every day of that week for a new week’s record of 112 eggs! This week they have given us 17, 17 and 14 so they are still on a roll!
A big part of their success is due to my favorite rooster, Big Daddy Dahmer!
(PS: My post did not win. There were many good chicken posts!)
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Answering Some Comments About Our Goat Little Joe
We got a wether the other day and named him Little Joe. I posted just a bit about him and got some terrific comments. Several people asked good questions, so I thought I would address them in this new post.
We have never owned a goat before, so this is an exciting new venture for us. Here is Little Joe for those of you who could not see my first post:
justme commented "I know very little about kudzu but I was thinking a good freeze would kill it? Do the goats like kudzu?"
We have a tremendous hillside of kudzu and it has grown up over tall trees and advanced closer and closer to the barn. We have lost some nice trees to it and it will take the barn out if left to itself. There are places nearby that the kudzu has covered entire houses to where you cannot tell there is a house there anymore. Freezing temperatures do not kill it here. As a matter of fact, it still grows through the winter, even though it is not green. It can grow up to a foot a day in the summer, but in the cold it only grows a little. We have been told that many goats love it, so we are hoping that Little Joe will, too.
OklahomaJamie asked, "What kind of fencing are you using? I've got to get a pen built too."
This will be a new endeavor for us, so I want to try to do it right. I am going to use the more expensive Red Brand welded fence with the small 2 x 4 rectangles. Some people use woven wire with bigger squares and can keep the goats in most of the time, and I've been told electric works, too. Most people I talk to say that a goat will get out of most fences if they want to. I will keep you posted on how it goes. The fence was expensive. It was almost $30 for a 50 feet roll. Here is a picture of the fence I got:
Sheryl was concerned about wild dogs and coyotes. "Do you have anyway of keeping stray dogs and coyotes away? We have coyotes here on the farm. There are a lot of coyotes in my neck of the woods."
As a matter of fact, just over a couple of hills from us a pack of wild dogs nearly wiped out an entire herd of goats! We are supposed to have coyotes around, too, and bobcats! We have not seen any predators, though. We have a Great Pyrenees dog, Chief, that patrols the hollow and they are bred to keep predators away. Hopefully he is doing his job.
(He liked the snow) A Pyrenees can fight off the fiercest predator. One problem is that Chief does not stay up in the hollow where Little Joe will be, but he does run the hills at night. He sleeps most of the day close to our house, but at night we hear him barking all over. We are thinking about getting more guard dogs in the future, also.
Sheryl also asked how many goats we are planning on getting. Right now I would like to get one more, just to keep Little Joe company. Later we would like to get a nanny and a billy and see if we can grow our own herd and become official goatherds.
Finally, Lynn asked, "Is he an alpine? I can"t tell from the pictures. He kinda looks like that, but it's hard to tell."
Actually, I do not know what kind of breed he comes from. I need to ask his previous owner what they think. All I know is that they use the goats mainly as hill clearing machines, but have also used them for meat occasionally. I will have to do some research on goat breeds to decide what kind we would want in the future. Some day we think we would like some milk goats.
Thank you, everyone, for your comments. It seems there are many people who enjoy goats. Hopefully our experience will be a good one, as well. I will try to keep the blog updated with our progress with Little Joe. I have the fence to put up and yesterday I bought some material to build a small building for him, so I will hopefully be able to show you all what we did in a few days.
5 comments
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sheryl on February 20, 2007 at 4:13 pm
I can not wait to see the fence when you get it done. I have enjoyed seeing all your pictures. I have gotten some great ideas from you. I am wanting to get a couple more goats and I need all the ideas. Oh I never thought about bobcats. I am not sure if we have any here or not. I have a friend who raises goats and she has four of the Great Pyrs and she said they are really good at watching out for them. I had one offered for $50and I wish now I had gotten him. He was full-stock but had no papers. I am seriously thinking about going back to the lady and if she still has him and pick him up. Good luck on becoming future goatherds. sheryl
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Organic Farm & Garden on February 20, 2007 at 5:25 pm
I have read that when you have a GP as a pup and raise it with your livestock they will become family and your GP will fiercly protect your livestock (even chickens!) Great pics. I can't wait to see the fence.
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Kitty on February 20, 2007 at 5:42 pm
First I would like to say thanks for posting such great pictures to share with us. I had a goat a few years back that acted like a dog. He would come into my house and sit on the sofa with me. I loved him dearly, but he has since died of old age.
Secondly I would like to thank you for adding my blog to your friends list. That means alot to me. I look forward to reading your post often and checking in.
Have a great week.
Kitty
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Lynn on February 20, 2007 at 10:49 pm
Thanks for sharing your goat story with us. If Little Joe has any alpine in him, he will have some dangly things hanging from his neck. (I don't know what those dangly things are called. LOL) From one of the pics it looks like he may have them, its just hard to tell.
Keep us posted on Little Joe, he is a cutie. And Chief is beautiful. I have a GP, he is in the house, very easy house broken. I know he should be out with the goats, but I wanted him to be more protective of the kids. I have many reasons why. I have read that they will give up their lives to protect what they are trained to protect.
Good luck with the goat. Sorry for the long comment.
Blessings,
Lynn
Purewater adds:
Yes he does have dangly things on his neck! When I asked his previous owner about it he said that some of his goats had that and some didn't. He didn't know why.
And thanks for the "long comment". I appreciated it!
Edited by Purewater on Wednesday, February 21, 2007 at 8:34 AM
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Meme on February 21, 2007 at 12:28 am
Your goat and dog are just beautiful…I had a goat for a very short time since he was really mean..I would go to feed him and he would butt me all the time…So he stayed only a short time on our homestead….lol…Loved the pictures….Debbie
We have never owned a goat before, so this is an exciting new venture for us. Here is Little Joe for those of you who could not see my first post:
justme commented "I know very little about kudzu but I was thinking a good freeze would kill it? Do the goats like kudzu?"
We have a tremendous hillside of kudzu and it has grown up over tall trees and advanced closer and closer to the barn. We have lost some nice trees to it and it will take the barn out if left to itself. There are places nearby that the kudzu has covered entire houses to where you cannot tell there is a house there anymore. Freezing temperatures do not kill it here. As a matter of fact, it still grows through the winter, even though it is not green. It can grow up to a foot a day in the summer, but in the cold it only grows a little. We have been told that many goats love it, so we are hoping that Little Joe will, too.
OklahomaJamie asked, "What kind of fencing are you using? I've got to get a pen built too."
This will be a new endeavor for us, so I want to try to do it right. I am going to use the more expensive Red Brand welded fence with the small 2 x 4 rectangles. Some people use woven wire with bigger squares and can keep the goats in most of the time, and I've been told electric works, too. Most people I talk to say that a goat will get out of most fences if they want to. I will keep you posted on how it goes. The fence was expensive. It was almost $30 for a 50 feet roll. Here is a picture of the fence I got:
Sheryl was concerned about wild dogs and coyotes. "Do you have anyway of keeping stray dogs and coyotes away? We have coyotes here on the farm. There are a lot of coyotes in my neck of the woods."
As a matter of fact, just over a couple of hills from us a pack of wild dogs nearly wiped out an entire herd of goats! We are supposed to have coyotes around, too, and bobcats! We have not seen any predators, though. We have a Great Pyrenees dog, Chief, that patrols the hollow and they are bred to keep predators away. Hopefully he is doing his job.
(He liked the snow) A Pyrenees can fight off the fiercest predator. One problem is that Chief does not stay up in the hollow where Little Joe will be, but he does run the hills at night. He sleeps most of the day close to our house, but at night we hear him barking all over. We are thinking about getting more guard dogs in the future, also.
Sheryl also asked how many goats we are planning on getting. Right now I would like to get one more, just to keep Little Joe company. Later we would like to get a nanny and a billy and see if we can grow our own herd and become official goatherds.
Finally, Lynn asked, "Is he an alpine? I can"t tell from the pictures. He kinda looks like that, but it's hard to tell."
Actually, I do not know what kind of breed he comes from. I need to ask his previous owner what they think. All I know is that they use the goats mainly as hill clearing machines, but have also used them for meat occasionally. I will have to do some research on goat breeds to decide what kind we would want in the future. Some day we think we would like some milk goats.
Thank you, everyone, for your comments. It seems there are many people who enjoy goats. Hopefully our experience will be a good one, as well. I will try to keep the blog updated with our progress with Little Joe. I have the fence to put up and yesterday I bought some material to build a small building for him, so I will hopefully be able to show you all what we did in a few days.
5 comments
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sheryl on February 20, 2007 at 4:13 pm
I can not wait to see the fence when you get it done. I have enjoyed seeing all your pictures. I have gotten some great ideas from you. I am wanting to get a couple more goats and I need all the ideas. Oh I never thought about bobcats. I am not sure if we have any here or not. I have a friend who raises goats and she has four of the Great Pyrs and she said they are really good at watching out for them. I had one offered for $50and I wish now I had gotten him. He was full-stock but had no papers. I am seriously thinking about going back to the lady and if she still has him and pick him up. Good luck on becoming future goatherds. sheryl
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Organic Farm & Garden on February 20, 2007 at 5:25 pm
I have read that when you have a GP as a pup and raise it with your livestock they will become family and your GP will fiercly protect your livestock (even chickens!) Great pics. I can't wait to see the fence.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kitty on February 20, 2007 at 5:42 pm
First I would like to say thanks for posting such great pictures to share with us. I had a goat a few years back that acted like a dog. He would come into my house and sit on the sofa with me. I loved him dearly, but he has since died of old age.
Secondly I would like to thank you for adding my blog to your friends list. That means alot to me. I look forward to reading your post often and checking in.
Have a great week.
Kitty
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Lynn on February 20, 2007 at 10:49 pm
Thanks for sharing your goat story with us. If Little Joe has any alpine in him, he will have some dangly things hanging from his neck. (I don't know what those dangly things are called. LOL) From one of the pics it looks like he may have them, its just hard to tell.
Keep us posted on Little Joe, he is a cutie. And Chief is beautiful. I have a GP, he is in the house, very easy house broken. I know he should be out with the goats, but I wanted him to be more protective of the kids. I have many reasons why. I have read that they will give up their lives to protect what they are trained to protect.
Good luck with the goat. Sorry for the long comment.
Blessings,
Lynn
Purewater adds:
Yes he does have dangly things on his neck! When I asked his previous owner about it he said that some of his goats had that and some didn't. He didn't know why.
And thanks for the "long comment". I appreciated it!
Edited by Purewater on Wednesday, February 21, 2007 at 8:34 AM
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Meme on February 21, 2007 at 12:28 am
Your goat and dog are just beautiful…I had a goat for a very short time since he was really mean..I would go to feed him and he would butt me all the time…So he stayed only a short time on our homestead….lol…Loved the pictures….Debbie
Monday, December 11, 2006
Thank You, Fellow Bloggers!
I just wanted to say “thank you” for the overwhelming response in the way of comments and private messages to my little web log this past week. It has been a great week! Homestead Blogger is a wonderful community of nice people and I appreciate the encouragement you all have given me.
It's too bad that I didn't have much to blog about last week, though.
We have been busy. Several of you have asked about Lisa's back pain, and, sad to say, it is still lingering around. The doctor decided it was a pulled muscle and I guess it will just take time to heal. She has had some good days, so it seems to be getting better, but it has been rough seeing her out of commission. All the children have been helping out wonderfully but we all want Lisa back to normal! We appreciate your prayers for her.
We also stepped into a new era of ministry for me last week. Saturday evening I accepted the position of Assistant Pastor at our church, so I would appreciate your prayers for me in this new job. I have not served in an official manner in a church since 2004, so I am excited about what the Lord is doing!
I will try to post a few more times before Christmas, but will probably take off from blogging for a couple of weeks during the Christmas and New Years holidays.
We are looking forward to celebrating the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ! He is the true reason we have Christmas!
3 comments
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sheryl on December 11, 2006 at 9:11 am (edit)
I hate to hear you won`t be able to blogg for a little while, but to understand. I will keep you all in my prayers. You will do a great job as asst. pastor. Have a Blessed and Merry CHRISTmas. God Bless and take care, sheryl
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katenicholl on December 11, 2006 at 10:45 am (edit)
You and your family are in my prayers for your new job.
Catherine )
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BuzyMumof3sons on December 11, 2006 at 10:56 am (edit)
What a blessing to be called to be Assistant Pastor! I'll be praying for your ministry and for Lisa's back as well!
Dee
It's too bad that I didn't have much to blog about last week, though.
We have been busy. Several of you have asked about Lisa's back pain, and, sad to say, it is still lingering around. The doctor decided it was a pulled muscle and I guess it will just take time to heal. She has had some good days, so it seems to be getting better, but it has been rough seeing her out of commission. All the children have been helping out wonderfully but we all want Lisa back to normal! We appreciate your prayers for her.
We also stepped into a new era of ministry for me last week. Saturday evening I accepted the position of Assistant Pastor at our church, so I would appreciate your prayers for me in this new job. I have not served in an official manner in a church since 2004, so I am excited about what the Lord is doing!
I will try to post a few more times before Christmas, but will probably take off from blogging for a couple of weeks during the Christmas and New Years holidays.
We are looking forward to celebrating the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ! He is the true reason we have Christmas!
3 comments
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sheryl on December 11, 2006 at 9:11 am (edit)
I hate to hear you won`t be able to blogg for a little while, but to understand. I will keep you all in my prayers. You will do a great job as asst. pastor. Have a Blessed and Merry CHRISTmas. God Bless and take care, sheryl
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katenicholl on December 11, 2006 at 10:45 am (edit)
You and your family are in my prayers for your new job.
Catherine )
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BuzyMumof3sons on December 11, 2006 at 10:56 am (edit)
What a blessing to be called to be Assistant Pastor! I'll be praying for your ministry and for Lisa's back as well!
Dee
Thursday, December 07, 2006
Some Friendly Correspondance
This was just a nice message and my reply that I decided to preserve for posterity...
Original message from Ashli:
I wanted to congratulate you on your blog being shown so well, and I’m so gratful too! I really love your writing and how you and your family have put up this site so well. It’s a very nice addition to family life and farm life. Plus, you all love the Lord so much, and that shows a lot too! It’s the warmth I see and enjoy that makes me read your posts!
I’ve read so much of your posts tonight, and it’s so late, but I wanted to just introduce myself and let you know I’ll be stoping by more often
I’m new to this place, but I just love reading everyone’s blogs
Thank you for your time, and warm blessings to you and yours,
Ashli & Family
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Ashli,
Thank you for your nice message.
God has used it to encourage us very much!
It is a bit overwhelming and humbling to realize that people from so many different places are being touched by this little blog. I pray that God will use it to His glory.
We are thankful for the life that God is allowing us to live, but we are really just normal folks trying to get by and attempting to keep from getting messed up by the world’s values. The un-godly world around us is always trying to demand that we conform to its ways, but we want to reach for a higher standard; God’s standard!
This blog has been a lot of fun for me to write, too. I have not been here much longer than you! I think I saw on your profile that you started blogging here in October and I just started in September. I had been reading some of the blogs here before then, but not for too long.
We have not gotten to read many of your entries yet, but I am adding you to our friend list so we will be able to keep up with your blog, too. I enjoy clicking on the “friend” link and reading everyone’s latest entries. It took me a while before I realized that it worked that way. I was surpised when I clicked on it the first time and saw all of my listed friends’ entries right there on my template! That was pretty neat.
Thanks again for your message and encouragement. You all take care!
In His Love,
-Eric
Original message from Ashli:
I wanted to congratulate you on your blog being shown so well, and I’m so gratful too! I really love your writing and how you and your family have put up this site so well. It’s a very nice addition to family life and farm life. Plus, you all love the Lord so much, and that shows a lot too! It’s the warmth I see and enjoy that makes me read your posts!
I’ve read so much of your posts tonight, and it’s so late, but I wanted to just introduce myself and let you know I’ll be stoping by more often
I’m new to this place, but I just love reading everyone’s blogs
Thank you for your time, and warm blessings to you and yours,
Ashli & Family
=====================================================================================
Ashli,
Thank you for your nice message.
God has used it to encourage us very much!
It is a bit overwhelming and humbling to realize that people from so many different places are being touched by this little blog. I pray that God will use it to His glory.
We are thankful for the life that God is allowing us to live, but we are really just normal folks trying to get by and attempting to keep from getting messed up by the world’s values. The un-godly world around us is always trying to demand that we conform to its ways, but we want to reach for a higher standard; God’s standard!
This blog has been a lot of fun for me to write, too. I have not been here much longer than you! I think I saw on your profile that you started blogging here in October and I just started in September. I had been reading some of the blogs here before then, but not for too long.
We have not gotten to read many of your entries yet, but I am adding you to our friend list so we will be able to keep up with your blog, too. I enjoy clicking on the “friend” link and reading everyone’s latest entries. It took me a while before I realized that it worked that way. I was surpised when I clicked on it the first time and saw all of my listed friends’ entries right there on my template! That was pretty neat.
Thanks again for your message and encouragement. You all take care!
In His Love,
-Eric
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
Featured Blogger of the Week Acceptance Speech
(This was a fun little post. I hope you can sense the "tounge in cheek" aspect of it.)
Ladies and Gentlemen, Fellow Homesteaders, and Distinguished Guests:
I blog before you this morning to accept the prestigious Featured Blogger of the Week Award. It is incredible that I have been named the featured blogger this week! I only started blogging back in September and I don't think I even understood what a blog was at this time last year!
I count it as a great honor to be chosen this week, especially considering the hundreds of wonderful blogs that are so prevalent on this site. It has been great fun to reflect on the happenings around our homestead and I think it has also been good for me and my family.
I wish to thank all those who have made this moment possible:
First I need to thank my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who has given me my life and family and this place we call Pure Water Hollow. If it were not for Jesus saving me and changing my life, anything I would blog about would be meaningless and empty!
I also want to thank my brother who first inspired me with his own blog on Homestead Blogger. He also gave me his computer with photoshop on it and a card reader to make getting pictures on the computer easier and got me set up with a photobucket.com account and told me how to upload pictures there. To make the long story short, if it were not for him, you would not have been able to “see” anything we have done at Pure Water Hollow. I would have just been able to describe with words what was going on, but I doubt I would have been able to use any pictures to spruce up the writing.
Speaking of pictures, I would like to thank my daughter, Erica, who has graciously allowed me to use her digital camera time after time after time. She is usually the one taking the pictures and hers is the only digital camera we have. (Thanks Mom for getting that camera for Erica last Christmas!)
Finally, I would like to express my thanks to Nancy Carter and the Front Porch team for bestowing this honor upon me. You all do a fantastic job making this website family friendly and a place where we can all feel at home visiting!
11 comments
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katenicholl on December 5, 2006 at 7:12 am
Congratulations! You really deserved the award! Your blog makes great reading!
Catherine )
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Anne on December 5, 2006 at 7:54 am
Congratulations on being blogger of the week. I always enjoy coming here and reading about the happenings at Pure Water Hollow Homestead. And I'm glad that Erica shares her camera with you since I really enjoy seeing pictures.
~~Anne
PS I hope your wife's back is feeling better.
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Renee on December 5, 2006 at 10:20 am
When I saw you as the blogger of the week I said to myself "I know you!"
I am so happy for you! You have been really working hard on your blog and it show's.
I can't wait to see all that God blesses you with in the next several monthes.
Love to you all,
Renee
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CedarCityMom on December 5, 2006 at 10:44 am
I noticed you due to being Blogger of the week. I'm very much a newbe here and wanted to say Congrats!
God has blessed you greatly =) I do hope to contue coming back to your blog. I read a few entries and they're wonderful. I hope and pray all is well for you.
Jessica (CedarCityMom)
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Catherine Ann on December 5, 2006 at 12:22 pm
Wow, what a great acceptance speech! I love the photos of your fall color…so beautiful.
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HSB Front Porch on December 5, 2006 at 4:12 pm
What an awesome acceptance speech. Kind of makes me feel bad we don't actually have a trophy or blog button or something. But you do get candles, so that's good right?!
What a generous brother you have to get you set up with Photoshop right off the bat. A friend set me up with Photoshop Elements, but I'm still trying to learn how to use it.
Always learning though, that's what it's all about, huh?
~Nancy
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Mrs. Joseph Wood on December 6, 2006 at 12:23 am
WhoooHooo!!!!!! How exciting! I have enjoyed sharing pig news with you and look forward to reading more in your blog! Have a wonderful day!
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BuzyMumof3sons on December 6, 2006 at 9:59 am
on being Blogger of the week! You truly have a wonderful blog to read! Blessings upon you and your family this week!
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OklahomaJamie on December 7, 2006 at 10:31 pm
Thanks for stopping by my blog. I just wanted to pop in and congratulate you on the site of the week!! It's well deserved, your blog is great!!
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Kimmie on December 8, 2006 at 4:04 pm
congrads!!!!!!!!!!! well deserved
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Henry on December 8, 2006 at 9:36 pm
Eric, way to go on getting Blogger of the Week. I have enjoyed your blog and getting to know you. God bless my friend!
Ladies and Gentlemen, Fellow Homesteaders, and Distinguished Guests:
I blog before you this morning to accept the prestigious Featured Blogger of the Week Award. It is incredible that I have been named the featured blogger this week! I only started blogging back in September and I don't think I even understood what a blog was at this time last year!
I count it as a great honor to be chosen this week, especially considering the hundreds of wonderful blogs that are so prevalent on this site. It has been great fun to reflect on the happenings around our homestead and I think it has also been good for me and my family.
I wish to thank all those who have made this moment possible:
First I need to thank my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who has given me my life and family and this place we call Pure Water Hollow. If it were not for Jesus saving me and changing my life, anything I would blog about would be meaningless and empty!
I also want to thank my brother who first inspired me with his own blog on Homestead Blogger. He also gave me his computer with photoshop on it and a card reader to make getting pictures on the computer easier and got me set up with a photobucket.com account and told me how to upload pictures there. To make the long story short, if it were not for him, you would not have been able to “see” anything we have done at Pure Water Hollow. I would have just been able to describe with words what was going on, but I doubt I would have been able to use any pictures to spruce up the writing.
Speaking of pictures, I would like to thank my daughter, Erica, who has graciously allowed me to use her digital camera time after time after time. She is usually the one taking the pictures and hers is the only digital camera we have. (Thanks Mom for getting that camera for Erica last Christmas!)
Finally, I would like to express my thanks to Nancy Carter and the Front Porch team for bestowing this honor upon me. You all do a fantastic job making this website family friendly and a place where we can all feel at home visiting!
11 comments
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katenicholl on December 5, 2006 at 7:12 am
Congratulations! You really deserved the award! Your blog makes great reading!
Catherine )
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Anne on December 5, 2006 at 7:54 am
Congratulations on being blogger of the week. I always enjoy coming here and reading about the happenings at Pure Water Hollow Homestead. And I'm glad that Erica shares her camera with you since I really enjoy seeing pictures.
~~Anne
PS I hope your wife's back is feeling better.
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Renee on December 5, 2006 at 10:20 am
When I saw you as the blogger of the week I said to myself "I know you!"
I am so happy for you! You have been really working hard on your blog and it show's.
I can't wait to see all that God blesses you with in the next several monthes.
Love to you all,
Renee
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CedarCityMom on December 5, 2006 at 10:44 am
I noticed you due to being Blogger of the week. I'm very much a newbe here and wanted to say Congrats!
God has blessed you greatly =) I do hope to contue coming back to your blog. I read a few entries and they're wonderful. I hope and pray all is well for you.
Jessica (CedarCityMom)
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Catherine Ann on December 5, 2006 at 12:22 pm
Wow, what a great acceptance speech! I love the photos of your fall color…so beautiful.
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HSB Front Porch on December 5, 2006 at 4:12 pm
What an awesome acceptance speech. Kind of makes me feel bad we don't actually have a trophy or blog button or something. But you do get candles, so that's good right?!
What a generous brother you have to get you set up with Photoshop right off the bat. A friend set me up with Photoshop Elements, but I'm still trying to learn how to use it.
Always learning though, that's what it's all about, huh?
~Nancy
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Mrs. Joseph Wood on December 6, 2006 at 12:23 am
WhoooHooo!!!!!! How exciting! I have enjoyed sharing pig news with you and look forward to reading more in your blog! Have a wonderful day!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BuzyMumof3sons on December 6, 2006 at 9:59 am
on being Blogger of the week! You truly have a wonderful blog to read! Blessings upon you and your family this week!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
OklahomaJamie on December 7, 2006 at 10:31 pm
Thanks for stopping by my blog. I just wanted to pop in and congratulate you on the site of the week!! It's well deserved, your blog is great!!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kimmie on December 8, 2006 at 4:04 pm
congrads!!!!!!!!!!! well deserved
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Henry on December 8, 2006 at 9:36 pm
Eric, way to go on getting Blogger of the Week. I have enjoyed your blog and getting to know you. God bless my friend!
Monday, December 04, 2006
Featured Blogger – PureWaterHollow
Dec 4th, 2006 by HSB Front Porch
This week's featured blogger is Eric from Pure Water Hollow in Eastern Kentucky! Eric and his wife were just enjoying homeschooling and raising their four children out on their 100 acres when friends started telling them that they were actually homesteading.
And Eric's made it easy for me to introduce you all to his blog. He has listed some of the foundational entries right in his sidebar!
What Is Pure Water Hollow
From City Boy to Mountain Man
The Lord of Pure Water Hollow
The Queen of Pure Water Hollow
Why I Am Keeping a Pure Water Hollow Blog
A Visit to Pure Water Hollow (with pictures!)
His family's latest adventure is raising pigs though and you can read all about how they built their pig lot, and the cage for their truck, and even about the castration process. They've been learning a lot about pig raising as they go and you can read his latest update here.
It's great to have more men joining us here at HomesteadBlogger and I think you'll all enjoy following along with Eric's Pure Water Hollow blog. Go by and congratulate him on being our featured blogger this week. And Eric, you get a great soy candle gift package from Homestead Originals.You'll have to let us know what the gang at Pure Water thinks about them!
Happy Homesteading,
~Nancy Carter
Senior Editor
One Response to “Featured Blogger – PureWaterHollow”
Purewater says:
December 4, 2006 at 9:36 pm
You took my breath away with this honor! I can hardly believe that I am the featured blogger this week.
I am working on my acceptance speech right now and will try to deliver it tomorrow morning on my blog!
Thank you, thank you, and thank you.
-Eric
This week's featured blogger is Eric from Pure Water Hollow in Eastern Kentucky! Eric and his wife were just enjoying homeschooling and raising their four children out on their 100 acres when friends started telling them that they were actually homesteading.
And Eric's made it easy for me to introduce you all to his blog. He has listed some of the foundational entries right in his sidebar!
What Is Pure Water Hollow
From City Boy to Mountain Man
The Lord of Pure Water Hollow
The Queen of Pure Water Hollow
Why I Am Keeping a Pure Water Hollow Blog
A Visit to Pure Water Hollow (with pictures!)
His family's latest adventure is raising pigs though and you can read all about how they built their pig lot, and the cage for their truck, and even about the castration process. They've been learning a lot about pig raising as they go and you can read his latest update here.
It's great to have more men joining us here at HomesteadBlogger and I think you'll all enjoy following along with Eric's Pure Water Hollow blog. Go by and congratulate him on being our featured blogger this week. And Eric, you get a great soy candle gift package from Homestead Originals.You'll have to let us know what the gang at Pure Water thinks about them!
Happy Homesteading,
~Nancy Carter
Senior Editor
One Response to “Featured Blogger – PureWaterHollow”
Purewater says:
December 4, 2006 at 9:36 pm
You took my breath away with this honor! I can hardly believe that I am the featured blogger this week.
I am working on my acceptance speech right now and will try to deliver it tomorrow morning on my blog!
Thank you, thank you, and thank you.
-Eric
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
Why Keep a Homestead Blog?
My answer might sound a little corny, but it is true, nonetheless. My main motivation in writing this weblog of the Pure Water Hollow Homestead involves posterity. Yes, it is for posterity's sake that I feel the desire to record some of our life's happenings here in the hills of eastern Kentucky. If the Lord continues to be longsuffering with mankind and allows the return of Christ and the judgment of this present world to be yet another many years hence, then it is very possible that there will be future generations of "Purewaters" living, perhaps, on this very land!
We currently have four children and would like to have even more, if it is the Lord's will. If any of them wish to settle here with their own families there is plenty of room! We already have one good house seat up at "the clearing" and with the incredible work that bulldozers can do these days, it would be possible to have numerous homes nestled in amongst the trees and hills.
Our children know how much we value this land God has given to us, but what about future generations? Making this land into numerous homesteads in the future is a pleasant picture, but it would also be conceivable for someone to blast away the ridge tops and use them to fill in the hollow and have enough flat land to build an entire subdivision or shopping center on our property! Would future generations be aware that such a thing would constitute a tragedy in our minds?
I know we would all be long gone and enjoying whatever God has in store for us in His Kingdom, but I can't help but think that a historical perspective of this land and our lives here may be of benefit, or at least of interest, to those who may come after us. I would like our descendants to know what kind of people their ancestors were during the early 21st century, when America was continuing down the path of abandoning God and embracing immorality (during the time period that future history books may entitle "The Decline of America!”)
Hopefully, this blog will present a picture of what type of people we were back during the first half of the century. When most of society valued time with their television over time with their family, we chose to throw out the TV! When the norm was still to rely on government schools to educate children, we chose to home school! When society declared that extramarital affairs are normal, we chose to keep our wedding vows! When no fault divorce was rampant in society, we still believed "till death do us part"! When the common people were relying more and more on the government, we chose to rely on God! While others were borrowing more money, we were getting out of debt! When the art of old time raising and preserving your own food and being able to provide for your own needs had all but been forgotten in our culture, we chose to try to re-learn them! I want them to be able to say, "Great Grandpa and Great Grandma sure did go against the current of the times!"
Thinking about future generations of my family I can't help but think for a moment about those before me. I have one grandparent still living today. Grandpa is 91 years old; he has lived through a lot and has fascinating stories to share about the old days working at a post office in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Grandma just passed away this year in July at age 95.) Had they written down instances that happened in their life when they were raising their family, I would treasure them today. Fifty-two years ago Grandpa was my age of 39. If you do the math the year would have been 1954. My dad would have been turning 13 (Matthew is 13) that year and my aunts would have been 15 (Erica is almost 15) and 10, I think. I never realized before that Grandpa was having children born at the same stages in his life as me! What was life like in 1954 in a small city in America? Much has changed, and a journal from back then giving glimpses into their lives would be fascinating today!
This weblog may also be helpful to my immediate heirs, as well. Right now, Simon is only 6, Christina is almost 9, Matthew is 13, and Erica will soon be 15. When they are adults and raising their own family, might it be helpful for them to be able to look back and have a tool to help them remember some of the things they were doing while growing up? If they live here, in Pure Water Hollow, they will have a record of the types of plants and trees growing here that are beneficial. They will have a record of the time of year the chestnut crop can be harvested as well as the raspberries and blackberries and strawberries and peaches and pears and grapes and apples if I continue to write. They may also have a record of dates for when various trees were planted, or when the fishpond was re-built and stocked, or when a new barn or shed was built, or any number of projects that we hope to do in the coming decades. When they are 39, it may be helpful for them to look back on these things.
Not only do I hope that this blog will chronicle our homesteading experiences and demonstrate the type of people we are, but it will also be a record for posterity what my views about God and eternity are. We are really not just laying up treasure on earth (Pure Water Hollow Homestead), but we are laying up treasure in heaven! The things of eternal significance are far more important than these temporal things that will pass away. I want this blog to be for the glory of God and point people to the simple truth that Jesus is the only way to salvation. During a time when man has made theology so confusing, I desire that our simple life will demonstrate our simple faith and point to our incredible Saviour.
I may not post many sermons, since they take so long to type up, but I would like to share one every now and then as an example of my beliefs. Future generations may know that I was a preacher, but they would have no way of knowing what kind of a preacher without some things in writing. Here in eastern Kentucky, in our small country churches, there is still much of the old time shouting, "hacking" style of preaching. I appreciate the tradition these men of God come from, but I have never been one of those kinds of preachers. I have gone against the grain in that area as well. The Lord leads me to preach well thought out, mostly expository sermons that I pray will help folks understand God and the Bible better.
Having a forum like homesteadblogger to publish my thoughts and ramblings is also a good motivator for writing them. To know that there really is an audience reading right now, and not just 100 years from now, makes writing even more satisfying. I have tried to journal off and on in the past, but it has been more off, I am afraid. I think having a potential audience will make writing regular installments easier for me. I also like the idea of the potential audience being some of our friends and family. This might be a way they can keep up to date with what is going on in our lives, seeing how I am so negligent in writing letters and calling on the phone.
The last reason for writing a blog on Homesteadblogger, I guess, is the opportunity to be part of the bigger homestead picture. I like the idea of being able to pose questions from time to time and there actually being a chance that someone has experience that may help us learn. In the old days, people relied on their neighbors for advice about raising and preserving food and how to repair and build things, and how to care for livestock, etc. Today, it seems that much of that knowledge has been lost, or at least it is no longer a part of the common community experience. I'm thinking that folks from Homesteadblogger can sit in for those types of knowledgeable neighbors when I have trouble finding some in person.
I don't know if anyone else ever thought of why they are keeping a blog, but these are my reasons. I'm sure there are many other potential advantages and reasons for writing a blog, but these are the thoughts that have motivated me. While I am writing primarily for posterity, I do hope that there are some who might receive benefit or enjoyment from it here and now as well. May God bless you!
1 comment
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HandsNHearts on October 11, 2006 at 11:47 am
What a thought-provoking post. Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts. Posterity. A very good reason for sharing the homestead famiy life.
Deanna
We currently have four children and would like to have even more, if it is the Lord's will. If any of them wish to settle here with their own families there is plenty of room! We already have one good house seat up at "the clearing" and with the incredible work that bulldozers can do these days, it would be possible to have numerous homes nestled in amongst the trees and hills.
Our children know how much we value this land God has given to us, but what about future generations? Making this land into numerous homesteads in the future is a pleasant picture, but it would also be conceivable for someone to blast away the ridge tops and use them to fill in the hollow and have enough flat land to build an entire subdivision or shopping center on our property! Would future generations be aware that such a thing would constitute a tragedy in our minds?
I know we would all be long gone and enjoying whatever God has in store for us in His Kingdom, but I can't help but think that a historical perspective of this land and our lives here may be of benefit, or at least of interest, to those who may come after us. I would like our descendants to know what kind of people their ancestors were during the early 21st century, when America was continuing down the path of abandoning God and embracing immorality (during the time period that future history books may entitle "The Decline of America!”)
Hopefully, this blog will present a picture of what type of people we were back during the first half of the century. When most of society valued time with their television over time with their family, we chose to throw out the TV! When the norm was still to rely on government schools to educate children, we chose to home school! When society declared that extramarital affairs are normal, we chose to keep our wedding vows! When no fault divorce was rampant in society, we still believed "till death do us part"! When the common people were relying more and more on the government, we chose to rely on God! While others were borrowing more money, we were getting out of debt! When the art of old time raising and preserving your own food and being able to provide for your own needs had all but been forgotten in our culture, we chose to try to re-learn them! I want them to be able to say, "Great Grandpa and Great Grandma sure did go against the current of the times!"
Thinking about future generations of my family I can't help but think for a moment about those before me. I have one grandparent still living today. Grandpa is 91 years old; he has lived through a lot and has fascinating stories to share about the old days working at a post office in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Grandma just passed away this year in July at age 95.) Had they written down instances that happened in their life when they were raising their family, I would treasure them today. Fifty-two years ago Grandpa was my age of 39. If you do the math the year would have been 1954. My dad would have been turning 13 (Matthew is 13) that year and my aunts would have been 15 (Erica is almost 15) and 10, I think. I never realized before that Grandpa was having children born at the same stages in his life as me! What was life like in 1954 in a small city in America? Much has changed, and a journal from back then giving glimpses into their lives would be fascinating today!
This weblog may also be helpful to my immediate heirs, as well. Right now, Simon is only 6, Christina is almost 9, Matthew is 13, and Erica will soon be 15. When they are adults and raising their own family, might it be helpful for them to be able to look back and have a tool to help them remember some of the things they were doing while growing up? If they live here, in Pure Water Hollow, they will have a record of the types of plants and trees growing here that are beneficial. They will have a record of the time of year the chestnut crop can be harvested as well as the raspberries and blackberries and strawberries and peaches and pears and grapes and apples if I continue to write. They may also have a record of dates for when various trees were planted, or when the fishpond was re-built and stocked, or when a new barn or shed was built, or any number of projects that we hope to do in the coming decades. When they are 39, it may be helpful for them to look back on these things.
Not only do I hope that this blog will chronicle our homesteading experiences and demonstrate the type of people we are, but it will also be a record for posterity what my views about God and eternity are. We are really not just laying up treasure on earth (Pure Water Hollow Homestead), but we are laying up treasure in heaven! The things of eternal significance are far more important than these temporal things that will pass away. I want this blog to be for the glory of God and point people to the simple truth that Jesus is the only way to salvation. During a time when man has made theology so confusing, I desire that our simple life will demonstrate our simple faith and point to our incredible Saviour.
I may not post many sermons, since they take so long to type up, but I would like to share one every now and then as an example of my beliefs. Future generations may know that I was a preacher, but they would have no way of knowing what kind of a preacher without some things in writing. Here in eastern Kentucky, in our small country churches, there is still much of the old time shouting, "hacking" style of preaching. I appreciate the tradition these men of God come from, but I have never been one of those kinds of preachers. I have gone against the grain in that area as well. The Lord leads me to preach well thought out, mostly expository sermons that I pray will help folks understand God and the Bible better.
Having a forum like homesteadblogger to publish my thoughts and ramblings is also a good motivator for writing them. To know that there really is an audience reading right now, and not just 100 years from now, makes writing even more satisfying. I have tried to journal off and on in the past, but it has been more off, I am afraid. I think having a potential audience will make writing regular installments easier for me. I also like the idea of the potential audience being some of our friends and family. This might be a way they can keep up to date with what is going on in our lives, seeing how I am so negligent in writing letters and calling on the phone.
The last reason for writing a blog on Homesteadblogger, I guess, is the opportunity to be part of the bigger homestead picture. I like the idea of being able to pose questions from time to time and there actually being a chance that someone has experience that may help us learn. In the old days, people relied on their neighbors for advice about raising and preserving food and how to repair and build things, and how to care for livestock, etc. Today, it seems that much of that knowledge has been lost, or at least it is no longer a part of the common community experience. I'm thinking that folks from Homesteadblogger can sit in for those types of knowledgeable neighbors when I have trouble finding some in person.
I don't know if anyone else ever thought of why they are keeping a blog, but these are my reasons. I'm sure there are many other potential advantages and reasons for writing a blog, but these are the thoughts that have motivated me. While I am writing primarily for posterity, I do hope that there are some who might receive benefit or enjoyment from it here and now as well. May God bless you!
1 comment
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HandsNHearts on October 11, 2006 at 11:47 am
What a thought-provoking post. Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts. Posterity. A very good reason for sharing the homestead famiy life.
Deanna
Saturday, September 23, 2006
Small Pond Problem Fixed By God
It poured here yesterday and rained all through the night. Our creek (drainage ditch actually) is overflowing its' banks and I'm sure that some of the childrens' toys have gotten washed on down to the river!
One good thing about all this rain is that my small well-overflow pond in the front yard is filled up the way it is supposed to be right now! You see, I had recently dug it out much deeper to supposedly "improve" it. The small pond used to be so pretty, but over the years it had gradually gotten filled in and become more shallow than I wanted. As I dug it all down a couple of feet deeper, I went through the topsoil and uncovered a massive amount of slate and shale rocks. The previous owner had told us that back in the 70s he had filled the entire front yard area in with dump truck load after dump truck load of fill to make it level, so I should have expected something like this. I should have stopped when I hit the first rocks but I wanted to make it all even. It seems that I sprung many leaks by doing that because it has never filled up on its own since then. I went back and spread a layer of mud all over the bottom and it has held a few inches of water but then it leaks out from the sides! I have tried to put mud everywhere it looks like it might be leaking, but so far the only way I could get it filled up is with the water hose and then it goes back down very soon.
Yesterday and today God has filled my little pond up with all the rain! And it looks like it will stay filled up.
Hopefully time will fix the leaks better then I could. I want it to be able to hold the one fish we have up in our farm pond. The pond up in the hollow needs repair also, but we will need to hire a backhoe to do that job. Before we do that, however, I want to be able to move our little pet goldfish who lives up there. Actually it was little when we put it in. It was one of those 20 cent gold fish you can get at Wal-Mart but it has had a good life up in that old pond and is now about a foot long! It is very pretty and we would like to save it before we drain that pond. (We then hope to stock that pond and make it into a good source of food for us) I will let you know in the future how it goes and if I can get our digital camera to work with this computer I would love to add pictures!
Since it is such a wet morning it has given me a chance to ramble a bit on this new weblog. I would have liked to been outside doing something, but perhaps this is God's way to let other homesteaders get to know us a little bit quicker. I am looking forward to hearing the pooled wisdom that is out there. We have already been enjoying and learning from many of your blogs and I am glad to be part of the community now!
One good thing about all this rain is that my small well-overflow pond in the front yard is filled up the way it is supposed to be right now! You see, I had recently dug it out much deeper to supposedly "improve" it. The small pond used to be so pretty, but over the years it had gradually gotten filled in and become more shallow than I wanted. As I dug it all down a couple of feet deeper, I went through the topsoil and uncovered a massive amount of slate and shale rocks. The previous owner had told us that back in the 70s he had filled the entire front yard area in with dump truck load after dump truck load of fill to make it level, so I should have expected something like this. I should have stopped when I hit the first rocks but I wanted to make it all even. It seems that I sprung many leaks by doing that because it has never filled up on its own since then. I went back and spread a layer of mud all over the bottom and it has held a few inches of water but then it leaks out from the sides! I have tried to put mud everywhere it looks like it might be leaking, but so far the only way I could get it filled up is with the water hose and then it goes back down very soon.
Yesterday and today God has filled my little pond up with all the rain! And it looks like it will stay filled up.
Hopefully time will fix the leaks better then I could. I want it to be able to hold the one fish we have up in our farm pond. The pond up in the hollow needs repair also, but we will need to hire a backhoe to do that job. Before we do that, however, I want to be able to move our little pet goldfish who lives up there. Actually it was little when we put it in. It was one of those 20 cent gold fish you can get at Wal-Mart but it has had a good life up in that old pond and is now about a foot long! It is very pretty and we would like to save it before we drain that pond. (We then hope to stock that pond and make it into a good source of food for us) I will let you know in the future how it goes and if I can get our digital camera to work with this computer I would love to add pictures!
Since it is such a wet morning it has given me a chance to ramble a bit on this new weblog. I would have liked to been outside doing something, but perhaps this is God's way to let other homesteaders get to know us a little bit quicker. I am looking forward to hearing the pooled wisdom that is out there. We have already been enjoying and learning from many of your blogs and I am glad to be part of the community now!
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