Crooked Creek Farm

I think you can now officially call us "pig farmers"! This is the 4th set of piglets we've had from our two sows and this time it all went by the book. We noticed that our boar Rufus was trying to breed our sows, Nellie and Sally, about 3 months, 3 weeks, and 2 days ago. (The books say a pig's gestation time is 3 months, 3 weeks, and 3 days.) I had projected a due date of December 5th back in September, so on Wednesday, December 3rd, we led Sally and Nellie down from the pig lot to the barn to get ready for giving birth. They are each 2 years and 3 months old now, and they have become old hands at giving birth. We put several bales of straw in their stalls and made them comfortable. I am so glad we moved them when we did, because the piglets came a day early (which was within the margin of error). When they gave birth in July, they surprised us and caught us off guard. We lost several of the piglets in those litters, partly because of poor planning, I think. But this time it felt like we knew what we were doing; I felt like a professional pig farmer!

In Sally’s stall Christina exclaimed, "Here comes one!" I looked over at Sally and Christina for just a moment and then trained my flashlight back on Nellie. I couldn’t believe that the beam revealed another piglet for Nellie! It must have come out just a second or two after Sally’s. This scene was repeated again about 5 minutes later. Christina delivered another piglet of Sally’s and I took a picture and then looked back at Nellie. This time my flashlight found two brand new piglets still attached by the umbilical cords to Nellie! They must have come, back to back, at nearly the same time Sally had pushed hers out!

All together, I witnessed Nellie giving birth to the last 6 of hers and the last 5 of Sally’s. I got home at about 4:30 and the last piglet was born at about 7:00. When Matthew had gone to check on the pigs earlier this afternoon at about 2:00, Nellie had already given birth to two piglets with one of them still attached by the cord. He flew down to the house on his 4-wheeler to let everyone else in on the news and then raced back up the hollow. Erica, Christina, Simon and Lisa with Timothy in her arms, arrived at the barn shortly thereafter. They were on hand to see Nellie deliver her next several and Sally’s first 9. Sometime around 4:00 Timothy declared he had had enough of standing around in a cold barn, so Erica and Simon took their screaming brother back to the house. Lisa stayed a couple of more hours and Christina did not leave until it was clear that all the piglets were born and safe.

Christina actually delivered all but one of Sally’s piglets. As each one came out, Christina made sure their airways were clear and she wiped them off and made sure they found a teat to nurse on. So, after 5 hours of birthing, Nellie had 13 adorable piglets nursing and Sally had 14 beautiful, healthy little piglets nursing.

Matthew and I did not leave until 9:30 because it was important to winterize the barn as much as possible. We stapled up feed sacks over all the cracks in the wallboards and over all the windows. By the time we were leaving, ice had formed on the metal gates in the barnyard, the mud in the road had become a frozen crunch, and a heavy frost was covering the hillsides. The low tonight is forecasted to be 18 degrees and the high tomorrow just above freezing. Tomorrow night the weather man says will also be 18 degrees and the 10 day forecast shows below freezing lows for the next 10 nights! The first week of life for these piglets will be a very cold one! Their first four nights are predicted to be 18, 18, 21, and 15 degrees with the highs only in the 30s!

This is the most piglets we have had to date, and if they all survive it will mean a substantial amount of possible cash. If we can sell 25 of the piglets in January for the going price of $40 each, it would mean $1000 in our pocket in just 5 or 6 weeks! If we sell them at a bargain basement price of $25 each, it would still be $625. And that would still leave 2 of them for us to raise as market hogs which we would either put in the freezer or sell for around $100 each live, or have processed and sell the packaged pork for a substantial profit. I really can't believe we have 27 piglets! From what I've read, Hampshire pigs usually do not have litters this large.

sore.......

Ok, I managed to get out of bed. It's my upper body that's sore so I must've taken more of hte fall there than I thought. However I managed to mop and work out, which loosen things up. I had to help both boys w/math today, too!LOL I also paid *my* bills and got stamps ordered. Man, I love the post office sometimes....LOL Last week they sent out stamp order forms so I got my Christmas stamps ordered today and should get them tomorrow! All that's left on my list is to shower and compose the Christmas letter!;)

Ok, didn't get the letter done today. That's ok, as Clarice would say, "there's always tomorrow". But then it's not really a dream for me!LOL I'll get it done on MOnday.

it finally happened.........

Peppermint Biscotti

Jewel Blog????

Does anybody know if Jewel is ok? She hasn't posted on her blog for a while now. I hope she is ok and she is just taking a break from blogging..

The longing of a sacred place called "HOME"

The Trap of Virtual/Charter Schools

OH MY WORD!! I just read one of the best blog posts on the trap of Virtual/Charter schools that I've read in a long time (and didn't write myself! HAHA!!). This came from http://ladyofvirtue.blogspot.com. She is the mother of 14 w/#15 on the way and has homeschooled them all. I HIGHLY recommend her blog - full of wisdom and grace. I'm posting her entry about Virtual/Charter schools below and request that not only YOU read it, but link it to your own blog, or copy/paste it onto your own blog (and give her the credit, of course) and tell everyone you can to read this. It's excellent!

I live in a largely blue-collar town. There are no mansions or super affluent people that make up our community. The families that choose to be "traditional", with the daddy as the breadwinner, struggle. Lots of homeschooling families that I know here have had trouble even affording a computer.

In a community like ours, virtual schooling where the government sends a family a computer, pays for internet use, and supplies all sorts of glossy, colorful curricula and even science and craft supplies, is just too much of a temptation.

When our state first began to offer such programs, I can remember the glowing reports of all of the "goodies" that were sent--it was like Christmas! Everything needed was provided, including scissors and craft paper, and seeds for growing things. Mothers who before had been wringing their hands wondering how they were going to afford the Saxon Math series were now almost care-free.

But there was a catch.

Someone has said that nothing in life is truly "free". With all of the goodies and the ease of knowing someone else was in charge came a large price. Instead of worries over buying supplies and curricula, now the mothers had a heavy burden placed on them every day. They had to coerce and nag and bite their fingernails over getting the work done that was required--a whole boat-load of extra fact-cramming and busy-work that made it almost impossible for anyone to have a good life, especially for the mother who had even 3-4 children on different levels. Instead of having their lives simplified, they were complicated beyond comprehension, and their children were being harmed in the process and turned into drones who hated anything to do with "learning".

The most unfortunate thing of all was that most mothers were convinced that this sort of government-sponsored slavery was what homeschooling was all about! Many who were already feeling overwhelmed about teaching their own children became convinced, after allowing the state to muck with things, that homeschooling was impossible and horrid. So, they gave up.

But learning is not a super-complicated thing that only professionals know how to do!

Our children were born to us completely helpless--they could not even hold their own heads up! Somehow, with our encouragement, they learned to walk and talk and feed themselves. Children, even in some of the most impoverished conditions, learn to do these things, unless they are ill or haven't any food to eat.

Why do children learn these things? Is it because they are constantly nagged, or they have been through the right "programs"? No. Children learn these things because they want to and they need to. The parents are there to facilitate and encourage.

Now here is the secret that those who run teaching colleges and publish curricula and make their living on the supposition of universal idiocy do not want you to know:

TEACHING CHILDREN IS NOT DFFICULT--THEY ALREADY WANT TO LEARN!

I once checked out a magazine published for teachers from the library, thinking I could glean something of value for my own family. An article was written therein about teaching composition to middle-school students. I could not believe the amount of verbage it took--paragraph upon paragraph of evidence and studies and then the methodology that took pages to explain. What a waste!

Writing is just an extension of language, another form of communication. When it is taught in this context, it no longer seems mystical or complex. Good writing is learned by reading the good writing of others--with reading aloud, discussion, and application.

The same goes for the other subjects. Math is a sort of communication, it is the communication of the Creator to His creation--that there is order and care. Science is best described as the "thinking of God's thoughts after Him". The wonder of this planet and the universe is the only catalyst needed. Once the appetite has been whetted, a parent need only to watch a child take off like a rocket-ship (and be willing to enjoy the adventure).

Of course, you can't enjoy the wonderful adventure of discovery with your child if every day is prescribed and written down. The time and energy you would normally have to explore and discover is all taken up by the reading of droll, dumbed-down texts, numerous questions to be answered by rote understanding, canned experiments and the like.

Yes, there are times when a little rote learning can be valuable, but not as an all-encompassing program. The teaching of facts should be likened to handing out tools that a skilled craftsman, the child, can use to create and discover further. Rote learning should never become the end, but the means. We should not be so much concerned with turning out children who can win at Trivial Pursuit as much as we should be concerned with raising children who can take the information in any situation, analyze it, and come up with wise conclusions and solutions.

I do not write theory here; I myself have seen the proven examples, and not just among my own children.

But the public schooling industry, and it is a great part of our economy, does not want you and I to know just how simple teaching and learning really is. Just think of how many meetings and conferences would have to be canceled. Whole political commmitees would have to be disbanded. We would see a lot of educational phd's flipping burgers, and whole educational supply industries woud go belly-up.

Besides all of this, those who desire power over our population would be the saddest of all, because people of America would once again, as in the crazy times of our inception, realize just how many choices they have, and would develop the intestinal fortitude to pursue those choices. I personally believe that it would allow Chrisitanity to return once again as the underlying foundation of our Republic, as parents would be allowed to pass on their Judeo-Christain values in a personal way to the next generation.

But you won't read this in the leaflets sent out to entice you. They will act as your friend, and say how they understand that you feel unsure and intimidated. But they are not friendly. They only wish to use your own fears to convince you that you can not do it on your own.

But, with God's grace and help,

YOU CAN!!!!!!

crafts

I was out lurking around for a doll pattern and I came across this blog.. She has a lot of crafts things listed. When you have time check her out.. @

Check out this great give away.

I am crazy about vintage linens. This gal is having a great giveaway. Pop over and check it out. Check out her ebay pages and website while you are there.

Crooked Creek Farm

confuzzled......

The Pig Farmers of Pure Water Hollow

sore.......

it finally happened.........

Peppermint Biscotti

Jewel Blog????

The longing of a sacred place called "HOME"

The Trap of Virtual/Charter Schools

crafts

Check out this great give away.

About Me

Links

Categories

Recent Entries

Friends