Vaughnshire Farm

The children harvested some of their corn today. 

 It was a very exciting site to watch.  The older ones picked and the younger ones shucked. 

I explained the art of shucking.  The 3 year old was the most intent.  She kept saying, “..but his corn hairs keep touching me…”

Corn shucking proved to be an excellent attention keeper for those 5 years old and under.

Never mind cooking…she ate a cob before we got it in the house…and took a few bites out of some other cobs. 

Contrary to popular belief around here at our house, CSA does not always stand for Confederate States of America!  It stands for Community Supported Agriculture in this instance!  We have so enjoyed our CSA groceries from our friends, the Lingo family, over at Beaverdam Creek Farm.

For the past few weeks, we have been enjoying a bountiful basket of fresh fruits grown off their farm — which has been a huge blessing this year being that we have been occupied with having a newborn.  This week we received corn, peas, tomatoes, green beans, okra, squash, peppers, herbs and flowers!  When Wednesday rolls around, we always look forward to our trip out to their farm to pick up our basket of CSA groceries!

If you are in the area, you should check them out.  They have wonderful pastured-raised chicken for sale as well.

This is one of the funniest political stories I have heard in a long time.  It comes from my own 7 year old young man.  As you read it, I think you’ll agree his keen political insight has him destined for leadership!

Here is the background.  I have offered a reward for a little history work.  In true southern fashion I gave the older boys a pellet gun when they memorized the 50 states and capitols.  Now the next two boys are making the effort.  Our seven year old, Patrick, has been studying diligently and his 5 year old brother is helping him.

Beth recently took Patrick with her to an eye appointment where the conversation suddenly turned serious with this question, “Mom do you think Obama will be president”?  Beth answered with an “I don’t know” and a period of thoughtful silence ensued.  Eventually Patrick states that he sure hopes he can finish learning all the states and capitols before the election.  Beth turns to him, now very curious, and ask what the states and capitols have to do with the election.

Patrick turns to her and says, “Well if Obama is elected he will take all our guns and I won’t get my pellet gun”!  After Beth suppresses the laughter he says, “Yea and Hitler will take away our guns too”.

Beth, puzzled once again, relays to him that Hitler is dead.  A rather shocked and animated Patrick replies, “Really SHE died? I thought she wanted to be president too.”

Out of the mouth of babes….

Here is a link to an encouraging story out of British Columbia, Canada… a rarity in today’s news world.  This is a family that has just given birth to their 18th child, 10 girls and 8 boys.  That is amazing in itself, but the grace and humility evidenced in the father’s interview was even more encouraging.

“We never planned how many children to have,” he said. “We just let God guide our lives, you know, because we strongly believe life comes from God and that’s the reason we did not stop the life.

“We let life come.”

Read the rest of the story here.

“I am about 6 weeks pregnant with our second child and prior to this I had really been thinking about raw cows milk. We have a provider near us who is state certified and I know I could trust. But now that I am pregnant the whole no raw milk or lunch meat i have been at a standstill on a decision. So all that to say, did you drink raw milk while you were pregnant and/or do you have any good sources on the subject.”

Here is my own personal belief about drinking raw milk during pregnancy.  For thousands of years expectant mothers consumed raw milk, however, because of industrialism, many things in regards to consuming raw milk have changed.    I would not recommend consuming raw milk that came from a factory farm or sick animals or milk that was transported in a hot milk tanker for hundreds of miles.  However, consuming raw milk from a trusted source…from healthy cows or goats is a different story.  

I did drink raw milk my whole pregnancy.  In fact, I would often pour a glass of raw milk and crack a raw egg or two in it and drink it down.  Our midwife was perfectly fine with that– we knew where our milk and eggs came from.  Having said that…if I didn’t know where the eggs or milk came from–I wouldn’t do that.
 

We took a last minute trip to surprise my grandmother for her 75th birthday party my mother and aunts were giving her.  It was wonderful to see the extended family…many of whom I have not seen in years and best of all to take our children to see their great grandmother.

My mother read a very honoring letter highlighting many great strengths and talents of my grandmother and giving God much praise and gratitude for such a Godly mother.  I enjoyed hearing more about the things my mom appreciated in her mother and enjoyed talking to my grandmother about how she met my grandfather, their courtship and the story of their engagement.  She was a new bride at 16 years old.  A young mother…a faithful wife…an incredible home economist.  Her home was filled with joy of family life and always something smelling good cooking on the stove or baking in the oven. 

My mom said,

My mom is gentle, determined, selfless, and I have seen her hold onto her faith in God during the worst times of her life.  Through many sicknesses, losing her mom, her dad, her sisters, and the dark sudden loss of dad my mom held onto her rock– -her strong tower, her comforter. Not easy to do, but God never fails her. I have stood by her side and seen great hurt and I marvel at her courage and Gods love that carries her …

…we were probably 20 before we had to actually go buy a dress. Our entire wardrobe during childhood was sewn by mom. We were the best dressed girls in town. I now realize great love went into every dress and we matched.  I even see those 1950’s hat’s with matching outfits worn by mom to church every Sunday…

And sew she does.  Even when I was growing up, she continued to make my cousins and I dresses.  We were often blessed with a special dress made by grandma for our piano recitals or Easter Sunday.  She even made the brides maid dresses and flower girl dresses for my wedding.  A skill that is rare indeed in this day. 

Our oldest son (her first great grandchild) read a poem he wrote her.  It was rather witty and funny and she appreciated it. 

There are many amazing things about this woman and I too am so grateful that God put a grandmother in my life that has always been a strong example of a Christian womanhood–through many trials and losses,  God has always been faithful to her….and what an example that has been to me.  She is a great woman indeed with her many, many grandchildren and great grandchildren surrounding her calling her blessed. 

One of our Bantam hens hatched out a baby chick not to long ago.  He is so ugly, we can’t believe he is real.  He isn’t liked much by the other farm yard animals.  When visitors come and happen to catch a glimpse of him, they assume he was in some sort of fight.  He wasn’t in a fight and he isn’t diseased, he was just made this way.  This is what happens when a turken rooster gets loose with your bantam hen.  Since he is disadvantaged, we decided to let him live on Vaughnshire for the time being. 

We have lots of stories and lots of things happening around here….like our last minute trip where we spent more time in the truck driving to our destination than we did at our destination…and more baby chicks…and the unexpected visitor the boys found sitting in the chicken nesting box…ohh, and our new CSA groceries…but alas, we have had limited computer time to journal these stories as of yet.  I hope to have a whole slew of posts coming up this week …

Here’s my 6 week pondering moment:

I find it so amazing that such a little guy can alter the course of someone else’s life (me and daddy) in the way he does.  No matter how hard it seems at times and how overwhelmed I get, the truth of the matter is:  I love being a mom.  I love newborns.  One of my favorite things to do is to let him sleep on my chest and just feel him sleep.  He curls up into a ball.  I can almost imagine him being back in my belly, but ohh how big he has grown!  I love hearing him breath but more than that, I love knowing his breathing patterns and what they mean.  I love his smell and his soft skin.  I love touching his baby fine hair and staring into his face.  I love seeing milk dribble out of his little mouth and feel proud he has baby rolls.  I crack up when he smiles or giggles in his sleep.  I wonder what he is dreaming. 

Time is flying by so incredible fast.  In some ways, I just want to hit the pause button and remain frozen in this moment.  I know this time in my life is such a brief moment in the span of all of history.  Baby having days are few compared to the sum total of life and I fear they will vanish far too quickly.  Yet, life and time march on and stop for no man.  That one thing is for sure.  The wonderful promise, though, is that soaking in these moments makes a lifetime full of glorious memories and victories that also continue on for those who will stop to smell the roses in life’s garden. 

The competitions of the State and the Church for the educating power have been so engrossing that we have almost forgotten the parent, as the third and the rightful competitor.  And now many look at his claim almost contemptuously.  Because the civic and the ecclesiastical spheres are so much wider and more populous than his, they are prone to regard it as every way inferior.  Have we not seen that the smaller circle is, in fact, the most original and best authorized of the three? …

…It is a maxim in political philosophy, as in mechanics, that when an organism is applied to a function for which it was not designed, it is injured and the function is ill done.  Here is a farmer who has a mill designed and well fitted to grind his meal.  He resolves that it shall also thresh his sheaves.  The consequence is that he has wretched threshing and a crippled mill.  I repeat, God designed the State to be the organ for securing secular justice.  When it turns to teaching or preaching it repeats the farmers’ experience.   The Chinese Government and people are an example in point.  The Government has been for a thousand years educating the people for it’s own ends.  The result is what we see.

Government powerfully affects national character by the mode in which it performs its proper functions, and if the administration is equitable, pure and free, it exalts the people.  But it is by the indirect influence.  This is all it can do well.  As for the other part of the national elevation (an object which every good man must desire), it must come from other agencies; from the dispensation of Almighty Providence; from fruitful ideas and heroic acts with which he inspires the great men whom he sovereignly gives to the nations he designs to bless; chiefly from the energy of divine Truth and the Christian virtues, first in individuals, next in families, and last in visible churches.

Let us suppose, then, that both State and Church recognize the parent as the educating power; that they assume towards him an ancillary instead of a dominating attitude; that the State shall encourage individual and voluntary efforts by holding the impartial shield of legal protection over all property which may be devoted to education; that it shall encourage all private efforts; and that in its eleemosynary [almsgiving] character it shall aid those whose poverty and misfortunes disable them from properly rearing their own children.  Thus the insoluble problems touching religion in State schools would be solved, because the State was not the responsible creator of the schools, but the parents.  Our educational system might present less mechanical symmetry, but it would be more flexible, more practical, and more useful.

Secularized Education, by Robert Lewis Dabney found in Discussions Volume IV