Where The Green Grass Grows

I am blessed to have a morning commute of about 8 miles along a curvy country road into the town where I work the job that pays me money.  Sometimes I am frustrated by a car or truck pulling out right in front of me along the way, or often times one of them whizzing up from behind me and keeping close to my bumper, too much in a hurry.  Many times, however, I have driven the entire way without seeing another vehicle at all until I got to town.

Several mornings recently I've been awestruck by the mysterious beauty of low hanging bands of fog in the hills which hide the middle parts of the mountains.  These fog bands are seemingly held down by an invisible hand in order to allow the tops of the mountains to peak above the murky mists. 

Driving home I have been treated to the shows of the Dogwood and Redbud trees in bloom along with a variety of flowers of yellows and blues along the hills near the road.  I enjoy looking across the fields of the several hill farms I pass and seeing a man tending to his cows or horses, and I drive carefully by several homes where I have needed to brake in the past to allow for chickens crossing the road.

This morning it was not fog that had my attention, but the crystal clarity of the morning sun, shining on the mountains in the near distance.  It was unreal how it brought out such vivid shades of greens from the trees of the distant hills.  I thought to myself that the varied subtlety of the green colors seemed too perfect, like the artist had over exaggerated what the true colors of the trees were.  I realized that God was speaking to me, as He often does during my commutes.  He doesn't usually give me a specific message, He just taps me on the shoulder, reminds me that He is here and that He loves me.  I felt led to immediately thank Him this morning for the beauty of His creation and for blessing me with my wonderful family and home and providing for all our needs through the blessings of the employment God has allowed me to have.

My day at work today was unusually busy, but it was a good day.  As I got into my car to head back to the homestead, the radio started playing with the turning of the ignition key.  The last station that was playing this morning was the local country music station, becasue I was listening to the news at 8:00am.  I try hard not to make a habit of listening to the music on this station due to the offensive messages that so many of today's country songs offer.  However, there are still some songs that come out on the country music stations that are good!  I enjoyed the song that began playing this afternoon because it touched me so close to how I've been feeling lately.  Here's the chorus, which is pretty much the whole song.  You can sing along if you want...

I'm gonna live where the green grass grows

Watchin' my corn pop up in rows

Every night be tucked in close to you (Lisa)

Raise our kids where the good Lord's blessed

Point our rocking chairs towards the west

Plant our dreams where the peaceful river flows

Where the green grass grows

I am very thankful to live in this part of God's creation where there are grass and trees and hills and streams;  a place in the country where we can grow food, raise animals, and where our children can run and play and be loud if they want to.  I'm thankful that God has allowed us to plant our dreams where the peaceful river flows!  And where the green grass grows...

Green Beans In The Garden

We've worked in the garden some today and we butchered a couple of our chickens. Tomorrow morning we plan on a large harvest of green beans, as they are coming on strong both at the river bank garden and our main garden!

We also caged our drake this evening and we plan on butchering him tomorrow! I don't know if we will have roast duck for dinner tomorrow, but when we do it will be our first meal of duck here at Pure Water Hollow! We've had ducks on the homestead for some time now, but we have never gotten the opportunity to harvest one for the table. It seems that we have trouble keeping them alive long enough due to the predators and cars! Needless to say, it is an exciting thought to finally have a duck harvested here at our homestead! Perhaps I will write more about it later.

For this post I really want to share a wonderful song by the West Ladies. We here at Pure Water Hollow sure do identify with this song! I don't work nearly as hard as the daddy in the song and we only have a family of 7 and we haven't gotten our milk cow or plowing horse yet and no one ever had a snake thrown on them, but the over all feel of the song is just what we are all about here. (By the way, someday I think we will have a milk cow, but I'm still not sure about plowing with a horse! I would love it if we could get a good one, but I'm still thinking about getting a tractor!)

The song is called "Green Beans In The Garden". Since we are blessed with an abundance of green beans right now, I think it is an appropriate song!

Daddy was a farmer, he worked from dawn till dusk.
In the hot hay fields and a shuckin them corn husks.
He never worried about money, just said we'll make it through.
There was one thing about Daddy, he knew just what to do.

Mama sure loved my daddy, she raised 8 rowdy kids.
She milked a cow named Dolly and plowed with a horse called Sid.
Daddy at times seemed sorry for all of the hard work,
But Mama said not to worry, we've got a lot to be thankful for.

'Cause there's green beans in the garden,
Clean clothes on the line.
Yeah, there's little bare foot children,
Playin' beneath a grape vine.
The sun is shinin' bright, and the creek's a bubblin' too,
We've got a lot to be thankful for and Lord I want to thank you.

They called us kids hill-billy, I guess that it was true,
We climbed trees so high, and never wore our shoes,
One day my brother Travis, found a snake in the wood stack,
He threw it on little sister, then Daddy took Travis out back.

'Cause there's green beans in the garden,
Clean clothes on the line.
Yeah, there's little bare foot children,
Playin' beneath a grape vine.
The sun is shinin' bright, and the creek's a bubblin' too,
We've got a lot to be thankful for and Lord I want to thank you.

Well people often asks us what keeps our family tight,
They think it's a hard task to feed 10 folks each night.
I never heard Mama complain, she'd look at Daddy and say,
Our life is full of love and we share it every day.

'Cause there's green beans in the garden,
Clean clothes on the line.
Yeah, there's little bare foot children,
Playin beneath a grape vine.
The sun is shinin' bright, and the creek's a bubblin' too,
We've got a lot to be thankful for and Lord I want to thank you.
We've got a lot to be thankful for and Lord I want to thank you!

Here's the youtube link. I think it is a very nice video, as well as great music! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQ3CPlD9YD8
Enjoy!

Good Ole Boys

I always thought this was a great song, but I even liked it more hearing it today! I must admit, that I really identify with it. Before I was saved I fancied myself pretty much as just a good ole boy! Here is a link so you can listen to the Dixie Melody Boys sing it: (I picked a different video from the last post, but it is the same song. I hope it will be a blessing!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqwF4WipeHs

Here are the words:

Just some good ole boys, never meanin' no harm,
You can take it from me, I used to be a good ole boy.

Good ole boys, they come a dime a dozen,
Doin' good, good as they care to be.
And everybody loves to be around them,
Because a good ole boy, he'd never harm a flea,

But the only life they know is their pleasure,
They live their lives for things that they enjoy,
And when they're asked about the love of Jesus,
They say don't worry about me, I've been a good ole boy.

Good ole boys won't make it into heaven,
Good ole boys won't wear a crown,
Good ole boys won't live forever,
Where the Saints of God are found,
So don't you dare be misled,
Only Jesus gives real joy,
You can take it from me, I used to be,
A good ole boy!

The weekend comes and they're out on the road again,
Waylon and Willie, playing on the radio,
They worked all week and they didn't cheat one person,
'Cause a good ole boy is good, don't you know,

So good ole boys, I beg you heed this warning,
'Cause very soon we're going to see the Lord,
And when he asks just why you should go to heaven,
I pray you won't say, "I've been a good ole boy".

Good ole boys won't make it into heaven
Good ole boys won't wear a crown,
Good ole boys won't live forever,
Where the Saints of God are found
So don't you dare be misled,
Only Jesus gives real joy,
You can take it from me, I used to be,
A good ole boy!

It turned out that God called on me today in church to preach the sermon I typed out here this morning. When He was giving me the message yesterday evening, I thought maybe I would be asked to preach today. But then I thought it may be just a sermon idea that God wanted me to share with the internet via this blog!

Our small country church down the road has 5 of us preachers as members, but it is rare that all 5 are there at the same time. Today there was a good crowd, even though it was raining, and all 4 of the other preachers were there! At the beginning of the service, I thought that the chances were pretty good that one of them would be called upon to bring the message. But when the time came, the pastor called on me! God knows what is needed!

The message went really well, but I didn't preach it exactly the way I wrote it down in the previous post. You got the general idea, though. I actually think the points came across much better delivering them in person rather than in writing!

I didn't use the song from the Dixie Melody Boys at all in the church service, either. That was just for you guys here on the blog! By the way, I didn't think of that song until God had already given me the entire message, so I did not just try to preach the song!

But I wanted to post it again here for those of you who didn't really want to sit through and read the entire sermon on the last post. I figure there is a good chance some of you didn't stay with the sermon and didn't even see the link to the song! Maybe now the song has gotten you interested and you will go back and read the sermon and the Bible verses that go with it!

God bless!

He's A Good Person ... Or Is He?

I feel like sharing the sermon that God has placed on my mind this morning. It's a simple topic, but one that most folks need to reconsider.

I have often heard comments like, "He's really a good person. He just needs God in His life." I'm sure I have even thrown those types of words out, and I realize the intended meaning when we say things like that. We mean that the person is hard working, mostly honest, provides for his family, and is glad to help out a friend in need if he is able. Things like that. And those are all important qualities to have. But I'm afraid that our society is made up of a whole lot of really "good" folks who are on their way to Hell!

You see, the idea that someone can be a "good" person is a lie straight from Satan, and is trapping many people! We in the church are even contributing by making such comments about our lost family and friends. By saying nice things about them being "good", we are actually pushing them towards the very gates of Hell!

The Bible is clear that no one is "good" instrinsically, even if they have some good, moral qualites about them.

"All have sinned and come short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23)

"All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way;" (Isaiah 53:6)

"But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away." (Isaiah 64:6)

"Most men will proclaim everyone his own goodness; but a faithful man who can find?" (Proverbs 20:6)

And in many, many other places in God's Word. Let's consider some passages from Luke Chapter 18, verses 9-27. I suppose a good title for this would be:

Good People Going to Hell

I: "Good" People Are Not Justified

9 And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:

10 Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.

11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.

12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.

13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.

14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

One thing I notice is that the Pharisee prayed "with himself" in verse 11, and not with God. He was obviously "proclaiming his own goodness" as the writer of Proverbs calls it. The publican recognized that he was in fact a sinner and asked God for mercy. Jesus said that the publican went to his house justified, but not the Pharisee. Being justified means to be declared righteous before God !

Paul writes a lot about justification, but let's look at just a few verses from Romans chapter 3:

21 But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;

22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:

23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:

25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;

26 To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.

I know those are some deep verses but they are so powerful! He says that the righteousness of God is manifested in Jesus Christ and we can all have that righteousness through faith in Jesus Christ when we believe! (v21 & 22) He goes on to explain that Jesus does this freely because of His amazing grace (v24), and that Jesus is "a propitiation" for God which means that His sacrifice satisfied and appeased God's wrath against sin. This is why we can claim His righteousness for the remission of sins! (v25) Jesus declares His righteousness because He is just and is the justifier of we who choose to believe in Him! (v26)

But "good" people are not justified unless they repent of their sins and accept Jesus!

also,

II: "Good" People Are Not Born Again

15 And they brought unto him also infants, that he would touch them: but when his disciples saw it, they rebuked them.

16 But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.

17 Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein.

These verses speak of the innocence of a babe and that the kingdom of God belongs to such as them. We must receive the kingdom of God as a little child, without relying on all our "goodness" and past history. We must become as innocent as a child by being born again, spiritually!

Look at Jesus's words to Nicodemus in John chapter 3:

1 There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:

2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.

3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?

5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

9 Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be?

14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:

15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

I think these verse speak for themself pretty nicely. A spiritual re-birth is needed to enter the kingdom of God. This passage speaks of another Pharisee, but this time he has an open mind and is not proclaiming his own goodness like the first one we looked at. Nicodemus is not yet persuaded to accept Christ and be "Born Again" at this point, but later he will speak up for Christ among his peers in John 7:50, and will eventually help bury Jesus in John 19:39, indicating that he gradually came to faith and belief in Christ and was indeed "Born Again" sometime after this first encounter with the Master!

But being a "good" person does not mean that person has been "born again".

Let's continue along in Luke 18 with another rich person who is "good". We will see that:

III: "Good" People Are Not Going To Heaven

18 And a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?

19 And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none is good, save one, that is, God.

20 Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother.

21 And he said, All these have I kept from my youth up.

22 Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me.

23 And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful: for he was very rich.

24 And when Jesus saw that he was very sorrowful, he said, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!

25 For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.

26 And they that heard it said, Who then can be saved?

27 And he said, The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.

This rich ruler was a very "good" person. He obviously thought that his goodness counted for something, but he still wanted to make sure that he would in fact acquire eternal life.(v18) Jesus wanted him to realize that only God is truly "good", and that this rich ruler was not really "good", no matter what he thought of himself!(v19) The guy claimed that he had kept each of the 10 Commandments that Jesus mentioned (which is not possible, but that is another sermon) from his youth up, and I'm sure that society had branded him as a very "good" person.(v20-21) He failed the test of the first of the 10 Commandments, however, "Thou shalt have no other god's before me" as he had made his riches his true god. When Jesus told him to sell all that he had and give to the poor so that he could have treasure in Heaven, he went away sorrowful, without salvation, because he had great riches.(v22-23) Even though he was a "good" person he could not go to Heaven! Even if all his "good" deeds outnumbered all his "bad" deeds, he could still not go to Heaven without being obedient to Jesus and accepting His invitation of "and come, follow me." (v22)

So, good people can not go to Heaven based on their own "goodness" nor based on their riches.(v24-25)

They that heard this teaching asked, "Who, then can be saved?" and Jesus explained that it is impossible with men, but it is possible with God!(v26-27)

In Luke 19 we see another man. We don't know for sure if he thought of himself as "good", but chances are someone in his family would have said that he was actually a "good" person no matter what his life was like! We do know that he was rich, however, and we know that he learned "it is possible with God" first hand because Jesus states in verse 9, "This day is salvation come to this house". He is an object lesson in answer to the question of "Who then can be saved?" Zacchaeus did not get caught up in his riches like the good ruler did in the chapter before. He also could not trust in own "goodness". He repented of his sins and received Jesus joyfully!(v6) That is the type of person who can be saved! Here are the verses from Luke 19:

1 And Jesus entered and passed through Jericho.

2 And, behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus, which was the chief among the publicans, and he was rich.

3 And he sought to see Jesus who he was; and could not for the press, because he was little of stature.

4 And he ran before, and climbed up into a sycomore tree to see him: for he was to pass that way.

5 And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up, and saw him, and said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for to day I must abide at thy house.

6 And he made haste, and came down, and received him joyfully.

7 And when they saw it, they all murmured, saying, That he was gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner.

8 And Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord: Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold.

9 And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham.

10 For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.

Zacchaeus decided to do basically what Jesus had suggested to the other rich ruler in Luke 18. He gave half of his goods to the poor and wanted to make restitution to anyone whom he may have cheated!(v8) He did this after he received Jesus joyfully, and not as some work trying to earn his way into heaven. He did good things because he had repented and recieved salvation, not because he was "good" in and of himself.

As the Bible says in Ephesians Chapter 2:

8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.

10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.


You see, we are saved by grace through faith in Christ when we are born again and allow Him to justify us. It is not because of any works that we may do out of our own "goodness". We then have a home in Heaven, but before we go there we are called to do good works because we are saved!

So "good" people are not justified, are not born again, and are not going to Heaven.

I could go on and on, as more verses keep coming to mind as I type, but I believe this is where the message should end.

I'm also reminded of a great old Southern Gospel song that goes along perfectly with this topic. It was by the Dixie Melody Boys as they were doing a spin off the the Dukes of Hazzard theme song, called Good Ole Boys. I found the song on You Tube and I really hope you will listen to it.

Here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzDd9Agob_g&feature=related

And here are the words:

Just some good ole boys, never meanin' no harm,
You can take it from me, I used to be a good ole boy.

Good ole boys, they come a dime a dozen,
Doin' good, good as they care to be.
And everybody loves to be around them,
Because a good ole boy, he'd never harm a flea,

But the only life they know is their pleasure,
They live their lives for things that they enjoy,
And when they're asked about the love of Jesus,
They say don't worry about me, I've been a good ole boy.

Good ole boys won't make it into heaven,
Good ole boys won't wear a crown,
Good ole boys won't live forever,
Where the Saints of God are found,
So don't you dare be misled,
Only Jesus gives real joy,
You can take it from me, I used to be,
A good ole boy!

The weekend comes and they're out on the road again,
Waylon and Willie, playing on the radio,
They worked all week and they didn't cheat one person,
'Cause a good ole boy is good, don't you know,

So good ole boys, I beg you heed this warning,
'Cause very soon we're going to see the Lord,
And when he asks just why you should go to heaven,
I pray you won't say, "I've been a good ole boy".

Good ole boys won't make it into heaven
Good ole boys won't wear a crown,
Good ole boys won't live forever,
Where the Saints of God are found
So don't you dare be misled,
Only Jesus gives real joy,
You can take it from me, I used to be,
A good ole boy!

My prayer is that all who read this little sermon will one day be rejoicing with me with Jesus in His Kingdom!

God Bless!

A Common Man

I've been listening to the radio this morning via the internet, and the station I'm listening to just played a song I really identify with. It's called "A Common Man" by Carroll Roberson.

Carroll was actually the evangelist in a revival meeting at Liberty Baptist Church in Berea, Kentucky way back on April 26, 1991 when I first accepted that God was calling me to preach the Gospel! He has recorded many, many wonderful songs over the years.

Here are the lyrics of the song that really blessed me this morning:

"I'm just a simple, common man,
an ordinary, common man.
I know the world don't really care.
But I've got eternal life,
Because I know Jesus Christ.
That makes me a millionaire.

Wherever I go, whatever I do,
I'm just as common, as a plain old shoe.
But in God's eternal plan,
He chose a common man
When Jesus came, to set us free,
He became a common man like me.

I'm just a simple, common man,
an ordinary, common man.
I know the world don't really care.
But I've got eternal life,
Because I know Jesus Christ.
That makes me a millionaire.

I don't fit in, with the modern days.
I like those good, old fashioned ways.
And you don't have to pretend,
When you've been born again,
You can be, just what you are,
When Jesus comes to live, in your heart.

I'm just a simple, common man,
an ordinary, common man.
I know the world don't really care.
But I've got eternal life,
Because I know Jesus Christ,
That makes me a millionaire."

I realize it is a pretty simple little song, but I guess that goes along with the message! Here is a link to a video of the song if anyone out there would like to listen to it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlO3xdu3n5Q
I pray you each have a wonderful day today as you get to know our wonderful Savior in a greater way! God Bless!

Riding Our River

"Oh, Big Sandy River and a mountain man,
We get together anytime we can.
Oh, Big Sandy River and a mountain man,
We play together in Mother Nature's band.

Me and my woman's done made our plans
On the Big Sandy River, walkin' hand in hand
Gonna raise a famly, Lord, settle down
Where peace and love can still be found. "
(only the name of the river has been changed to protect the innocent)

We've been enjoying our river in a whole new way this summer. We've had a john boat for a couple of years now, but we have never made the time to put it into the river in front of our house. That is until an early morning last week when we finally decided to take a little boat trip. I took Matthew and Simon and the three of us floated down the river about 5 miles to our other piece of river bank down the road.

It was a wonderful 2 1/2 hour expedition, full of beauty and grandeur! Most of the time we just floated and took in the scenes, but we did land at one place to explore an interesting looking spot on the bank. We also spent some time testing out the anchor, which held the boat perfectly still even in the current, and we practiced paddling upstream some, just to see how difficult it was. We found that we could manage it pretty well, even though it was very slow going. (Some time in the future we will put our outboard motor on the boat and see how that does in the river.)

Floating down the river put things in such a different perspective, with the river being so much lower than the surrounding houses, roads and railroad tracks and being covered with large trees and other river growth. It felt like we had gone back in time, before civilization had dug it's fingers into every nook and cranny. We saw an occaisional riverbank garden and a barn every now and then, and we passed a couple camp sites where folks had been fishing, but other than that, it felt like we could have been the first pioneers exploring this river!

One very special 15 minutes or so involved a mama deer and her two small fawns. We spied them far ahead of us on the riverbank, so we stopped paddling and remained as quiet as possible as the boat silently drifted closer. They paid us no mind at all as we watched the two spotted fawns play tag and run around in circles as their mama munched on various low hanging leaves. When we were pretty near, she stopped and looked at us for a few seconds but then went about her business. She evidently did not feel threatened at all by what she must have thought was just some big log, and we were able to watch them the whole time as we passed just 50 feet away or so. Looking over my shoulder I could still see the adorable fawns taking turns getting a drink of milk from their mamma as she ate the river grasses.

I enjoyed the trip so much that I was determined for Erica, Christina and Lisa to get a chance to experience it. Timothy would love it too, but we figured that a 2 hour trip would be a bit too much for him to sit still. Yesterday evening, Matthew and Simon took Lisa, Erica, and Christina on the same boat ride while I kept Timothy. I tried to get some pictures, but since they were taking off in front of our house at the shoals, they zoomed off pretty quickly.

Here is the boat waiting to be put into the water:

And here they are in the water after a hearty push off:




And there they go, down a river that time forgot:




Timothy said, "They go float away!"


But then Timothy had a good time playing on our river bank and throwing rocks into the river:







After they had gone just around the first bend, maybe 10 minutes into the trip, they passed one of those gardens that some folks have near the river. When the boys and I had gone last week, no one was in this garden, but this evening found folks tending it. They had music going as they worked the garden and Lisa was amazed at the song she could make out as they came nearer: "Rollin... rollin... rollin on the river..." It was as if someone was playing the song just for them!! It was actually on a radio station at that moment because they heard the announcer come on after the song finished. That was some pretty awesome timing, I think!

It is too bad that they didn't get to see the deer like we did earlier, but they did see several birds, ducks, fish and much beauty. One awesome moment involved a large flock of vultures that were covering a dead tree very near as the boat passed.

Timothy and I went down to our new river bank to await the family's arrival. After about 2 hours they came into sight:



Timothy was so happy to see them! He even ran down and slipped into the river trying to get into the boat. He then got to take a boat ride with the rest of the family and he enjoyed it very much! This is where they stopped to let Timothy in:

And then they took him down the river a bit more to the landing place where the four-wheeler was waiting to load the boat up onto the trailer.

This river has always been a special place for us at Pure Water Hollow Homestead, but now, traveling down it by boat, it is even more special! It is also good to know that it is still possible to use the river for transportation, if the need should ever arise. But since it is not exactly a need, we will travel it for enjoyment and as an escape from the civilized world. It is a blessing indeed!

Maple Syrup and Misc Stuff

(The following is from correspondence between myself and another homestead blogger.)
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Original message from stitchesbyteresa:

I just read a blog from "Belle" about tapping maple trees for syrup. She told me she got the info from your blog. I live in N. Ga and wasnt sure if this is something I could do w/maple trees here. Does it have to be a certain type of maple tree, I really don't know much about it. Also, how big does the tree need to be before tapping it…and how far up would I measure? Your pics of the candy and sugar and syrup were beautiful!

I will keep your wife and newest addition in my prayers. I also noticed you took your wife to see Doyle Lawson for valentine's day…My hubby would have loved that! He is a bluegrasser through and through…banjo picker…

ANYWAY, thanks for sharing your part of the world.

The little piglets are so cute. I dont think I could raise them b/c I'd get too attached to them, especially seeing them play w/the chickens and all. Of course I never ate the chickens I raised growing up, I just cried when my dad would kill one for supper! Somehow I was always able to eat the turkeys of which I had no part in raising…silly on my part, I know…congratulations on that new baby boy!!!

Teresa

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Teresa,

I'm glad you've enjoyed the blog. I'll add you to our friend list.

No one around here (in eastern Kentucky) knew anything about making maple syrup. Anyone I asked about it thought we would be too far south, but I couldn't find any explanation as to why it wouldn't work where we were. We have sugar maple trees. I just decided to give it a try and see, and I was glad that we did!

What I've read is that you have to have successive freezing nights with above freezing days. We have plenty of those in Kentucky. I wonder what happens to the sap if the trees do not experience weather like that. I also wonder how far south maple trees grow? (I think I'll look that up after I send this.) I'm guessing that a sugar maple tree is a sugar maple tree and a sugar maple tree should have sweet sap just before spring no matter where it is growing.

The trees have to measure at least 32 inches around about waist high, from what I've read (a 10-12 inch diameter, but I thought measuring around was easier).

Apparenly sugar maple trees are the best, but they say any maple tree can be tapped. I think it might take a larger amount of sap to make the syrup with other maple trees, but we did not try any other. (Actually I did tap a box elder tree (also called ash-leaf maple) but the sap tasted so bitter, we did not bother boiling it down into syrup. Maybe I will another year, because maybe it would make good syrup even though the sap tasted horrible by itself?)

We enjoyed Doyle Lawson very much. It was our first time seeing him. I love bluegrass gospel and bluegrass music, but I don't care much for break-up songs or drinking songs even if the instrumentation is great pickin. The group that was with Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver was a group called Fast Lane. I think they are an up and coming bluegrass group and are quite talented. Their big song, however, is "Tina At the Tear Drop Inn" about a husband committing adultry with Tina at the Tear Drop Inn and his wife follows him and shoots him dead. In a lot of ways it was a good song, but it is really a bad song, if that makes sense?

Thank you for praying for us. It is very much appreciated, and we will pray for you. Glad to hear that the bone scan was ok.

God Bless,

Eric

Country Boy

Here is an unusual post for me. I do not associate much with John Denver or Hank Williams Jr. or Johny Cash and I am not an advocate for much of their music. However, they each have a stanza in a song that I do identify with and I thought it would be fun to put them down here together. These excerpts speak to me.


Well a simple kinda life never did me no harm
A raisin me a family and workin on a farm
My days are all filled with an easy country charm
Thank God Im a country boy

I live back in the woods, you see
A woman and the kids, and the dogs and me
I got a shotgun rifle and a 4-wheel drive
And a country boy can survive
Country folks can survive

Country boy, you got work to do
Country boy, in the morning dew
You gotta plant the seed, you gotta cut the weeds
There’s many a row you know you gotta hoe
When it’s quittin’ time, and your work is through
There’s a lot of life in you
Country boy, you lucky thing
Country boy, I wish I was you, and you were me


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2 comments
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Mom on January 2, 2008 at 2:44 am
I like the one by Hank.

maa's mom
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faithfarm on January 2, 2008 at 7:21 am
Nice post-It says alot and made me smile-I was just thinking of one of those tunes the other day and wondering how many real country boy's are out there.

Blessings

Faith Farm