Country School
Not Feeling Well...
I will get back to posting in a day or two. I'm not feeling well enough to compose a full length post.
Warmly, ~Melissa
For those who are concerned about the new law coming in Feb 2009....
As soon as I heard about this here on-line Monday, I started to look into it. By yesterday, I know the best thing to do was contact a tv station in Memphis, Tenn. who is known for getting to the bottom of things.
The reporter called me this morning to ask me a few questions. He let me know that he was already starting to look in to this and would be reporting what he could find out this evening.
Reported By Andy Wise
ASK ANDY: New Lead/Phthalate Testing On Kid Products
 |
BREAKING NEWS: The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission just exempted yard sales, consignment stores and resales from this new law. Click here to read the commission's official release.
More >>
If you follow to this link:
http://www.wmctv.com/Global/story.asp?S=9641384
You will see what else he had to add after the commission came out with this update after his report.
The reporter then called me back this evening, to make sure I had heard and read the report. I will post about anything new that comes with this. The reporter has my phone # and will stay in touch with me.
Just a brief hello
Much has happened since the last time I blogged.
David's mom passed away five days after Christmas and we had a very nice funeral last Saturday. She was only 72 and had a variety of illness that she had been dealing with, but we didn't anticipate her death so soon. What a comfort to know that God doesn't make mistakes.
We have also had the first real Montana winter in 20 years, making me very thankful for 4 wheel drive just to drive around town.
I need to get the library opened, but I wanted to say hello. I will compose a longer blog soon.
Denise (prairiemom)
Brrrr it's cold
Well, it's cold. The temps have dropped a little since last week and I am chilled to the bone. We were told that we were going to have 4 to 6 inches of snow today but the wind is blowing so hard (gusts up to 55mph) that it really didn't even stick to the ground. It is the type of wind that pierces your skin and chills deep. I didn't think we were going to even be able to call this season WINTER because we have been having some really decent weather, but Today..... well.... IT IS WINTER. hehehe
I hope you all are staying warm. I have decided to just sit in a cozy blanket (thank you Laur) and read my bible and maybe work on a little art and think about being in front of a roaring fire place.
Blessing everyone
Ouch, that hurts
My finger is really sore as one of our rabbits bit it this morning! I didn't know rabbits would bite? Well they do. I guess the poor girl was hungry, I was filling her feeder when she decided to latch onto my little pinky. It makes it hard to type........so this will be short.
The insurance adjuster came this morning. The building that burned was not listed on the policy, so not covered, which we pretty much knew. Only the garage and 2 open sided sheds were listed. The other little buildings (misc. chicken houses and such) are really not worth enough to insure. Until this happens, then you wish they were! But the garage siding will have to be replaced and he said he would include the shingles on that side also.
So, since we felt that we should wait until he came to start clean up, we did get a little done on that this afternoon. We picked up all of the tin, which made a huge difference in the looks of things. The roof was tin and also the sides were lined with tin inside the building, so quite a bit of tin was laying around.
No baking today, a little laundry, chores and just everyday things other than that. Hubby has been promoted to dish washer for a few days!
Country Blessings,
Marilyn~at Heritage Hill Homestead
Hebrews 10:26...
In reading the Bible this morning, I read this verse, and nowhave a question...to me this is saying that if we deliberately sin
after knowing Yahweh, that there is no more sacrifices to take away
our sin...does this mean that if we sin deliberately on something
after knowing Yahweh, that we will lose our redemption??
For example,
Susie is a Christian who kept Sunday as Sabbath, she learned that Sat
is the true Sabbath as spoken of in the Bible, but she continues to
look at Sabbath as Sunday because she doesn't want people to look at
her strange, or change her life or what have you...since she is
sinning because she knows that Saturday is the Sabbath spoken of in
the Bible, but she is refusing to keep it will she no longer have
redeption/eternal life because she essentially turned her back on the
last/only sacrifice necessary for eternal life?
That question was asked on a group I'm on. It's mainly regarding trying to understand Hebrews 10:26
For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,
Here is Gill's Commentary --
Heb 10:26 For if we sin wilfully,.... Which is not to be understood of a single act of sin, but rather of a course of sinning; nor of sins of infirmity through temptation, or even of grosser acts of sin, but of voluntary ones; and not of all voluntary ones, or in which the will is engaged and concerned, but of such which are done on set purpose, resolutely and obstinately; and not of immoral practices, but of corrupt principles, and acting according to them; it intends a total apostasy from the truth, against light and evidence, joined with obstinacy.
After that we have received the knowledge of the truth; either of Jesus Christ, or of the Scriptures, or of the Gospel, or of some particular doctrine, especially the principal one, salvation by Christ; of which there may be a notional knowledge, when there is no experimental knowledge; and which is received not into the heart, but into the head: and whereas the apostle speaks in the first person plural, we, this is used not so much with regard to himself, but others; that so what he delivered might come with greater weight upon them, and be more readily received by them; when they observed he entertained no hard thoughts or jealousies of them, which would greatly distress the minds of those that were truly gracious. Moreover, the apostles use this way of speaking, when they do not design themselves at all, but others, under the same visible profession of religion, and who belonged to the same community of believers; see 1Pe_4:3 compared with Act_22:3. Besides, these words are only hypothetical, and do not prove that true believers could, or should, or do sin in this manner: to which may be added, that true believers are manifestly distinguished from these persons, Heb_10:38,
there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins; meaning, not typical sacrifice; for though the daily sacrifice ought to have ceased at the death of Christ, yet it did not in fact until the destruction of Jerusalem; but the sacrifice of Christ, which will never be repeated; Christ will die no more; his blood will not be shed again, nor his sacrifice reiterated; nor will any other sacrifice be offered; there will be no other Saviour; there is no salvation in any other, nor any other name whereby we must be saved. These words have been wrongly made use of to prove that persons sinning after baptism are not to be restored to communion again upon repentance; and being understood of immoral actions wilfully committed, have given great distress to consciences burdened with the guilt of sin, committed after a profession of religion; but the true sense of the whole is this, that after men have embraced and professed the truths of the Gospel, and particularly this great truth of it, that Jesus Christ is the only Saviour of men by his blood and sacrifice; and yet after this, against all evidence, all the light and convictions of their own consciences, they wilfully deny this truth, and obstinately persist in the denial of it; seeing there is no more, no other sacrifice for sin, no other Saviour, nor any salvation in any other way, the case of these men must be desperate; there is no help for them, nor hope of them; for by this their sin they shut up against themselves, in principle and practice, the way of salvation, as follows.
Thoughts?
"Natural" GMO meds?
WASHINGTON – You've heard of making cheese from goats' milk, but prescription drugs? In what would be a scientific first, an anti-clotting drug made from the milk of genetically engineered goats moved closer to government approval Wednesday after experts at the Food and Drug Administration reported that the medication works and its safety is acceptable.
Called ATryn, the drug is intended to help people with a rare hereditary disorder that makes them vulnerable to life-threatening blood clots.
Its approval would be a major step toward new kinds of medications made not from chemicals, but from living organisms genetically manipulated by scientists. Similar drugs could be available in the next few years for a range of human ailments, including hemophilia.
Ok, I'm always on the rather outside of popular thought here I know, but am I seriously one of only a few who think this is just a bit beyond normal? I understand the medical ramifications here, and of course I'm not saying allow folks to suffer when a potential 'help' is out there. But this GMO craze the government is on is so obviously NWO.
I'm not even going to debate anything, I'm just making an observation.
We are being given Hell in a handbasket and accepting it with not only willing, but grabbing hands.
Wednesday Doings
I have a large canner full of ground meat sitting on the stove, simmering away with some onions and a touch of beef base.It's my 18 or 20 qt water bath canner..darn thing takes up a burner and part of another. I thought about taking it out to the front porch grill, but then I'd be battling cats and dogs all day. Didn't seem like a perfect plan.
So it sits on my stove.
There is just shy of 30# of ground meat in that beauty. Actually, ground meat covered with water looks rather ickish...but it sure beats trying to fry patties and keep them warm for canning. And they really look icky in the jars. I know -- who's gonna see my pantry, and even so, when (not if) push comes to shove and we are living out of what's in that pantry, who is gonna care what it looks like as long as it tastes good? It's just me. I would like the fruits, or in this case meats, of my labor to be asthetically pleasing lining those pantry shelves. Just call me vain. It's ok.
Next on the agenda today is some laundry -- finally a sunny yet cool day to get those clotheslines filled. We are still using the washing machine, such as it is. It barely spins out at this point, so we run things through another set of rinse cycles, spinning them by hand. Sort of jump starting the spin cycle. Dewey wants to get another machine. I'm still not inclined. Yes, it's a pain to stand over that machine and babysit it just to make it spin, but I choose to do it. It's not so bad really. Doesn't take any time extra anyway. I know it's taking some extra water and electricity, but until we start doing it by hand, I'll muddle along this way. Besides, I have some upwardly mobile friends who totally get irked when I press on to the frugal and backwoods lifestyle :o) I like to provide them plenty of cause for talk when I can (truth be told, I probably provide them far more talk than I actually know about...they think I'm just this side of insane most the time).
Bread baking today. I'm using the 20 qt mixer and we're doing up at least 1 6 loaf batch. It's been so rainy, the last attempt with bread baking went a bit wrong on us. It was edible, but oh goodness did it fall out terribly and barely rise. Made a decent toast, though. Even if we couldn't have eaten it, there are chickens out there still so it wouldn't have been a total waste at any rate.
That's about it. We are having Beef Nachos for dinner. Church tonight -- I'm teaching the teen class. Note the excitement in my tone there...not. There are only 7 teens -- 3 being my own, 2 sisters, 1 other girl and the boy we bring from down the road. No one has the slightest interest in doing anything besides toying with cell phones...one girl in particular. And that disrupts the entire group. I have a feeling it will be an issue to end once and for all tonight. Keep me in prayers. I'm sure most of you know by now that sometimes (ok pretty fairly often) I am a tad bit less than tactful. I'm going to try me best, but...
Today's thoughts
Thank you to everyone who visited and left such nice comments concerning our fire. I appreciate your prayers! Each day is getting a little better and I know that will continue. Hard to believe it has been a week already tomorrow. The insurance adjuster is coming in the morning, so then we can begin the clean up process, that will be fun........
With the beginning of the new year, I would like to try to make some changes in our schedule around here. But with all of the other things going on, I feel like I just need to take a little time and chill out this week. I hope to get to bed at a decent time, (I have been doing much better at that already) get up at a regular time, eat breakfast at a decent time, get out to do chores..........we seem to get started doing something and then it is late for breakfast. Then it is should we eat breakfast or an early lunch? I also need to get a menu plan of some sort, I know that would be much easier than "what shall we eat?" We have plenty of food in the freezer, but it seems like it is hard to think of what to fix or what sounds good. When I have something in mind to fix I do not mind cooking at all, but it seems like we are in a rut as far as ideas. And hubby being soooo picky doesn't make it any easier!
Today we did roast one of our chickens and it was tasty. So tomorrow will be chicken and noodles, one of our favorites.
There is a farm show in Topeka this week. We usually go, don't ever buy anything and honestly there is very little of real interest to us as we are not official farmers, but it is kind of fun and we usually see some people we know. I don't know if we will try to go or not yet. We were waiting to see when the insurance adjuster would be coming. We have not left here together yet since the fire except for about an hour last Friday. One of the first things we said was now we will not be able to leave at the same time for a while. I am not sure why we feel this way, as we were both home when it happened, so that didn't stop anything. But, the fact that we were here to call for help was so important. Anyway, the first time we leave will be a little hard I believe, but it will have to be done sooner or later.
I baked a batch of cinnamon rolls today, I may have to make pies tomorrow, haven't heard yet. I do have 1 pie to make for another lady on Friday. I would really like to have some sort of schedule for baking, but right now it is just whenever? I don't get a lot of other things done when I spend most of 2-3 days a week in the kitchen.
Today the weatherman said that we were exactly normal 37 for a high and 17 was the low. Each day is supposed to be a little warmer, with Friday in the 50's. Every day we have above freezing is a plus in my book. I do not like to deal with frozen water tubs! Right now I only have a heater in one pen, but have figured out a way to easily fix one for another goat pen if it turns cold and stays that way for a while.
Time for bed.............
Country Blessings,
Marilyn~at Heritage Hill Homestead
Homeschool Record Keeping
I have been at this 10 years now? And each year or every 6 months or so, I find something new to keep my progress recorded. I do really REALLY love Homeschool Tracker, as I've stated on my homeschool blog, but in the current arrangement in the house, my computer is upstairs and we do most of our school downstairs. I went back to paper record keeping. I will use my Homeschool Tracker by recording our grades in that, so I can make up a transcript, quick and easy like, when the time comes.
I was trying to find the perfect tool to record and to plan and I realized that what worked for some, didn't work for all classes. I also had two notebooks and two children with two notebooks and it was getting to be a handful to carry around all these books. I tried combining my record keeping with my home management binder, but I found I didn't use it at all because it was HUGE and cumbersome! However, today, I decided just to put our study courses in a 3 ring binder. I have dividers separating the different courses, and I made copies of one simple master sheet that works well. The sheet is simple enough that I can modify it for both kids if they are studying the same material. I can also add a column for listing grades on some assignments, when necessary.
I like pretty. I like unique and creative forms. But when it really comes right down to it... I SOOOO love simple! Simple works. Simple can be easily modified and still look uncluttered. I've realized that I don't need fancy record keeping books. But I do need to have records. So, simple just seems to work all around.
My plans are usually made on loose leaf paper, so sliding that in the appropriate course worked really well. I've tried other planners, I actually like the CLASS record planner book and I like Rod and Staff's simple record keeping book, but with both books, I tend to get ahead in a subject or two and pretty soon I am flipping pages trying to keep track of a full day's work. I've also tried a ring bound notebook or a ring bound project notebook. Those work better, but when we change directions, it is hard to reorganize a ring bound plan. I realized I needed a different system that worked with our style of learning.
I like several things about the new record keeping book. I have both students in ONE book. Everything is clean, simple and clutter free; I have what I need and nothing more. It is only the study subjects, so once books are put away, I put the record book away and it slides away in a drawer. It is a small handy binder, only 1/2 inch wide. I can see it will make school so much easier. AND, I even allowed for some creativity. I used a 1/2 inch 3 ring binder with the clear plastic pockets on the outside, so I can decorate and redecorate as I desire.
I used it the first time today and my oh my did things run smoother and better. I wasn't fumbling for a different book for a different subject. When the girls asked a question, the book was handy for both of them. If I was working on one subject and another came in to ask a question about another subject... I had the information right there...(each divider has the needed sheets filed with finished items filed to the back... so no flipping through all the pages to find the information I needed)... SOOOO NICE!
I know it is hard to believe that I may have stumbled upon something that works, finally, especially since I've only used it one day. But I have a hope and a peace about this that is different than other tries before. Before I wanted something pretty, or something educational looking, something that was like what everyone else was using, or something that made me look intelligent if someone happened to snoop upon it. LOL. All the other ideas were motivated by selfish thoughts in some way or another. I realized that isn't what I needed. I simply needed a way to record our happenings that had some ability to shift and change when I did. I was excited this morning to discover that something so simple can work.
Now parts of my book are parts of systems that I have used in the past... the ones I tend to fall back on when I LOSE my book and when life is busy and I don't have time to fill in all the blank spots in the other planners and record keeping books. That is likely the key to finding success in my record keeping system. They are tools I have used before, but ones I kept running away from because something new caught my eye! When time was scrunched these simple pages worked. When I misplaced my book, or my kids misplaced my book, I could grab a sheet and still work on some planning and add it to the notebook another time. No more running to and fro looking for something better... may my heart be satisfied with simple!
I'd post a picture, but thought that perhaps that wasn't best, afterall, what worked for me was finding those things that I needed to use for my specific area, for my specific family. If you are searching for that perfect tool, consider the fact that perhaps, just perhaps you already have the materials to make your own simple record/planner book. I just used the word processor on my computer to create a simple table that I could print out. It included the items that I needed, period. I placed it into a 3 ring binder, which worked best for me... what I discovered was that the size really made a difference. I've used 1 inch, 1.5 inches, 2 inches, and even a 3 inch binder... but wow a small 1/2 inch binder feels JUST right for me! May you find what works just right for YOU!
Warmly, ~Melissa
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