Props to my Pops (and Moms)

That dude right there getting ready to carve up the Thanksgiving Bird....that's my dad. Or, depending on what circle you roll in....
Ray
Raym
Big Ray
The Old Toe
Toesy
Toesy-ose
Old Boy
Pa
Grampa
Beba

This post is for him.

I don't want to put him on too high a pedestal, but I must say, I am honored and blessed to have a man like this train me up as a youngster and come beside me as an an amazing support and friend as I became an adult and then father. I could go on and on and list his good qualities and abilities, but I don't have to....The Lord knows...and that's enough. But I will say this...the man has taught me so much. Most of what I know and who I am is rooted in the talents and abilities that The Lord entrusted to my father who took the time to teach and show me. Score another one for generational blessing.
He's "retired" by social security standards, but the guy still works like a dog. In addition to the myriad of project he undertakes on our homestead, he also is the care giver to my elderly grandmother (his mom) who came to live with him and my mom about a year ago. I wanted to just take a minute and show off a few of the projects that The Old Toe has been throwing down around the yard:


Additional gardens in the back. last year, our main garden area looked like this:



There's two new long gardens to the right of the main garden. We're throwing down mad crops this year. Next....


The refurbished dock that I talked about in the last post. We've already spent more time on the dock this Spring than we did all of last year.


New waterfront gardens. Onions on the left, strawberries on the right. These were put in late last season. Now...for this year's Piece de resistance:




The fabrication of our new pumpkin patch. The Old Boy put this together this afternoon...these photos were taken a few hours ago. He really outdid himself. I can't wait to see this area full of green tendrils and orange pumpkins....I think we're going to have to put together a scarecrow in the Fall to stick in the middle.

I also wanted to document the progress with our homeschool room. It's not finished yet, but coming along nicely. I'm finishing the floor next week, then just a bit of buttoning up before we start moving furniture in.

Before:


After:


Before:


After:



Thanks, Dad...for all you are and all you do. Thank you for loving The Lord and loving your family so beautifully and sacrificially.

Now, I'd be remissed if I didn't also take a quick moment and mention that...as you well know...usually...behind every good man there is a good woman...and that age-old sentiment rings true in my family.


That there's my moms. A gentle, quiet soul who loves The Lord so much. She provides such a beautiful, calming stability to our family. She keeps us grounded, loved, and bathed in prayer...and she makes the best peanut blossom Christmas cookies you'll ever eat. I love you too, mom.

Praise God. Thank you.

Someone back East is sayin' "Why don't he write?"...

...a great throwaway line from Dances with Wolves...right up there with a fake accented "J-J-John John Dun------Dun--bar".

I have no idea why I'm thinking about Dances with Wolves right now...oh that's right....

It's cuz I haven't written in a while. I don't even have a ton of time right now, but I wanted to just get a few things down (Probably not interesting for most but, again, this blog is for me....and you, if you care to follow along).

There's been lots of changes going on in our home...some big, some small, all good. Anyhow...I'm the kind of guy that needs a bit of down time at the end of the night...and lately, by the time the kids got to bed...I didn't have it in me to sit down and ponder my blog...more like I've been about ready to spoon my brain out of my ear. Anyhow, here's a list of some of the changes that have gone down around here lately.

1. I got a new job. It literally came out of nowhere. I have moved to a new program within the agency that I work for. I work for a Faith-based non-profit comprised of many community outreach programs. For the past 4+ years, I have served in various capacities in the Adult Day Health program (most recently as the social worker). This was a medical-modeled program for adults with developmental disabilities and mental illness. I loved what I did....I never imagined that I would leave...BUT...The Lord led, and I had to follow....Thankfully, he only led me down a flight of stairs.
Downstairs in the same building as the ADH program is a Supportive Day Program for the Elderly. Many of the participants have some degree of dementia...They are a wonderful group of people. Some of the kindest, gentlest folks I've ever met. 3 weeks ago I became the Program Director for that downstairs program. It's certainly a change...it's bittersweet to leave the day to day operations of the ADH program, but I've been loving being at the helm of such a wonderful program. I've been blessed with great staff and great clients....AND I get to see my upstairs clients everyday still....but still...there's lots to learn and it has been a huge change for me.
2. New car...we got a great deal on a new (well new to us) minivan...I LOVE looking like a soccer mom...say what you will...but those suckers are convenient!!
3. New dentist....I know, it sounds trite...but add it on the pile and it's just another thing to get adjusted to.
4. New nutrition....Chrissy has had some problems with her back...muscular stuff...which has prompted her to seek out wellness solutions...it has also brought to light that we could both stand to lose a few pounds..we've cut off nighttime snacking (which I freaking LOVE)....We've been eating healthy lately and enjoying fantastic green breakfast smoothies that Chrissy's been coming up with...again...good stuff....but a change none-the-less.
5. TV...a few months ago....we plugged in the tv. The snow was SO deep that the kids couldn't play in it....we've all been stuck inside for most of the Winter...then Chrissy's back went out...all this is a recipe for "let's throw a Winnie-The-Pooh video in and give us a half hour of chill time. (Yes, I said "Video"...I'm one of the last 3 people on earth to still use a VCR)...which quickly parlayed into me watching 2 hours of mindless tv after the kids went to bed. Anyway...last week, the TV got unplugged (again) and packed away in the garage. AGAIN....good chance...but...still "change".
6. Winter's over, and we're on the cusp of the largest planting season that our household has ever undertaken. There's 3 new HUGE gardens that we are planting this year...awesome...but daunting.

It's funny how all of this comes at once....but I think it's cuz that's how God knows that I work. I know that all of us are "creatures of habit"...but I LOVE routine. I LOVE predictability. I think that the Lord knows this and so HE put all this change on me at once....push me through the fire so that soon I can relax in the familiar again.

"The steps of a righteous man are ordered by The Lord" Psalm 37:23. Now...I'll be the first to tell you that I'm not righteous...I'd like to think that I pursue righteousness...but in the spirit of full disclosure...I'd have to say that at times...it's more a hobby than a passion. BUT....He is Faithful...He is Merciful...He loves us in a way that we can never understand....He loves us enough to shake things up for us every once in a while....because He knows that He'll be right beside us to help us handle it.

oh yeah....

7. The old man found a dead beaver:


Frozen Roadkill Science Extravaganza just got real, y'all.

"Life is hard, you have to change"
- Shannon Hoon


Ain't that the truth, Ruth.

We're Stacked

literally.

5+ cord ready to go. Bring it on, Winter.

A few random pics from a recent day 'round the ole woodpile:


Pa and Gramma workin' the splitter


Loading


Unloading



Train up a child in the way they should go....know what I'm sayin'?


Great-Gramma Leo overseeing the operation.


It's all about the criss-cross end caps


Dishes are done, man.

Here's to a steady 70 degrees inside 'til Spring!

First Fire

I'm riding on the coat tails of my last blog where I'm so excited about the changing seasons. Chrissy went grocery shopping tonight and I LOVE seeing things that she brought home in the grocery order like molasses, canned pumpkin, brown sugar, allspice....I'm loving every second of October so far...even the rain. I especially love the wood burning.

It's amazing that even though each year, by February it's such a chore, the wood stove is so exciting at the beginning of the season. We heat our home solely by burning wood. Our weapon of choice is the Jotul F400. She's a beaut of a stove...Norwegian design (and believe me, they know cold winters)..it's geared for about 1,600 sq ft. We need to heat about 1,300 sq ft. but our bedroom is the furthest room from the wood stove...which can make for some night-cap nights. But...we love it. especially because it's free heat. We've been blessed to be able to get our hands on wood for the past 7 years or so, and we've got another year or two worth of wood stored on our property already. Folks that have needed trees knocked down and offered the wood as payment...friends of the family who have needed favors or to borrow tools and have been able to compensate us in wood....it's all such a blessing.

We burn about 5 cords in a season. For those not in the know...a cord is a stack of wood 4x4x8 feet. It's no small task cutting and splitting and stacking all of this wood...but thankfully Gavin has become an asset in helping us get our wood together (Ivy still pretty much just supervises, and Mama does us good with hearty lunches and coffee).

I'm always amazed at how much wood we burn and how little ash we get in return. After all is said and done, by April we will have burned about 640 square feet of wood which will yield only 30 or 40 gallons of ash. It's amazing ...the energy potential inside 1 piece of wood. We'll use the ash as compost in our garden for next Spring.

I LOVE using wood to heat our home. Maybe part of it is because I feel like I was born in the wrong century. I watch old Little House on the Prairie episodes and part of me longs to be Pa Ingalls. I know that life was far less glamorous than they portray on the show and that after about a week of living like that I'd be loving the creature comforts that I now take for granted...but there's some thing so primal, so fun about the fireplace. No one gathers for hot chocolate and song around the electric heat register or radiator. You'll never hear a song written about "Chestnuts Roasting on an Oil Furnace". There's something so wonderful and nostalgic and pure about heating with wood. For some reason, as humans...we're drawn to fire. It's psychologically communal, and comforting.

Anyhow...here's a few pics of 2010's First Fire. I'm please d to say that Gavin used the hatchet and chopped ALL the kindling for the fire:



Gavin and I reassembling our stove after replacing a few gaskets.



"Houston...we are GO for launch"



Diggin' the heat



Ivy digs it too.