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The Pig Farmers of Pure Water Hollow

Posted on Thursday, December 4, 2008 at 10:49 PM by Purewater - 1 Comments - Post Comment - Link

What an exciting evening we have had here at Pure Water Hollow Homestead! We have once again witnessed the miracle of birth and we are thanking God for all He has done! Our two sows gave birth this evening, and little piglets were popping out simultaneously toward the end of the birthing.

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.

Praise be to God from whom all blessings flow!

I did take pictures and I will try to add them to this post someday soon.

Just an update

Posted on December 3, 2008 at 03:37 by LindaI - 0 Comments - Post Comment - Link

Wow homestead blog... It has been a while!

Well the truth is... my homesteading has gone on hold. First there was third trimester. Every time I would scrub or clean my floors I would go into braxton hicks. So I bummed out on homesteading. lol

Now there is a little baby in our home. And WOW... my home making is even worse! Yikes! I am at the newborn stage where all he wants to do is eat and poop and use me as a pacifier. Please let the slings come in the mail soon! I had a super awesome sling from and online work at home mother. My sister in law borrowed it and it was misplaced. She did buy me another sling to replace it but it is not working. It is a HARD shelled padded sling. Baby slides around in it. It is almost like holding a mini bassinette on your lap. totally NOT practical for doing housework.

So I contacted the WAHM who did my sling. She is not making new slings but has 8 left to sew up. so I got TWO! Once her slings are done she is done making them. It is a Wise Women Sling. They are so amazing. I cannot wait to get my replacement ones. Then I might get back to being more productive.

Here are a few pics just to update you on the new little man who is at our house! Wyatt Daniel Born 11/20/08 at a whopping 9#4oz. No epidural or pain meds. And PRAISE GOD I did not have to be cut and did not tear. So no stitches. PHEW! First baby Alyssa was only 7#8oz and I did have to be cut for her. The boys I got out free of stitches. I think that is one of the most painful parts of recovering. Taking care of your bottom. so it is really nice to be free of that burden.

Ok the pics.

The Trap of Virtual/Charter Schools

Posted on 2008-Dec-3 at 12:40 by Kim Wolf<>< - 0 Comments - Post Comment - Link

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!

Blessings from Ohio, Kim Wolf<><

Virtual Schooling

tuesday, dec. 2, 2008

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!!!!!!

The Week of Waiting

Posted on 2008-Dec-3 at 10:11 AM by Amy W - 2 Comments - Post Comment - Link

For the next few weeks I’ll be sharing a bit of what we are doing for our Season of Christmas here on the homestead. How we are working to make things quieter and reflective for the Advent weeks leading up to Christmas and then how we’ll celebrate like crazy for the 12 Days of Christmas and our plans to wrap it all up with a special conclusion on Epiphany.
Let us start with week one.

Advent
This is the week of Waiting.

Be patient . . . . until the coming of the Lord. James 5:7

To celebrate this week we will:
a List things it is hard to wait for
a Write a poem, story or draw a picture about how it feels to wait
a Write out the above verse and memorize it
a Pray for others who have to wait for things they need
a Donate outgrown and gently-used holiday clothes to the local free store

It's okay to be different

Posted on 2008-Dec-3 at 9:42 AM by Amy W - 1 Comments - Post Comment - Link

This year we are making the decision to celebrate a bit differently.
Christmas is not just a day. It is a season and, as I recently learned, it has three traditional parts.
The first part is the sober, reflective, preparatory time of Advent.
Then comes Christmastide, the twelve days of celebration beginning with Christmas Day.
And thirdly is Epiphany. January 6^th. The day we celebrate the arrival of the three wise men with their special gifts for Jesus.
Each part of the season is important. Advent is the quieting of our hearts and minds, the silence and solitude, the clearing out of the old to make way for the new. Then we are quickly swept into the joy and merry making, the glorious light and rejoicing that is Christmas. Which leads us into the wondering conclusion, Epiphany, the giving of gifts to a needy world.
We are celebrating the Season of Christmas. Our little family will be spending this week and the next three weeks in Advent. Taking time to celebrate the time of waiting, the time of hoping, the time of preparing and the time of welcoming in special unique ways.
I am, right now, working on our Christmastide celebrations- something special and significant for the 12 Days of Christmas that doesn’t include pear trees and drummers drumming.
We’ve already decided that we will celebrate Epiphany by taking our boxes of non-perishables to the local food bank.
There is so much we could be doing, perhaps should be doing in the midst of this Season. But I have also come to realize that the bigger and grander, “more meaningful” I try to make things- and all at once- in one big gulp—the higher my rate of failure.
This is something I don’t want to fail at. Over the last few Christmases we’ve really changed our attitude here in our home and so this is simply the next step for us. And next year we will add something more- building on the foundation we are creating as a family.
And in the process, I hope,
Making New Traditions.
Meaningful Traditions.

No Frizzy Tizzy- at least I'm trying not to

Posted on 2008-Dec-3 at 8:19 AM by Amy W - 0 Comments - Post Comment - Link

Earlier this week I realized that in lowering my expectations for myself I was not lowering my standards. I was, instead, giving myself room to breathe, grow and listen. Room to be and enjoy.
It has often been very easy for me to get caught up in the craziness that is December. I no longer go hog-wild with the gift purchasing but I’ve replaced that with a constant worry about what I’m going to get that fits in the budget and trying to think up a gift for someone who has everything or has much more expensive tastes than I can afford. I don’t make four different types of cookies with a special personalized and decorated plate but I spend excessive time agonizing over other small and large, yet mostly non-essential details.
In a sense, I’ve found I’ve been wasting valuable time.
I don’t have to write a blog post every day, make homemade Christmas ornaments from lint, wire and ribbon, whip up a nutritious and well-rounded meals each night, send a Christmas card to everyone who sends me one or feel bad that I’m going to do more e-greetings than 42cent ones this year.
But
I wish I could get past the blasted gift-giving worries.
Hey, I’m a work in progress.
I’m promising myself not to dwell on those worries and get myself in a frizzy tizzy.
In fact, I’m making it a matter of prayer. I have to admit that I would daily get myself in a frizzy tizzy over it. Really. And I just don’t want to.
90% of the gift getting is done.
Of course, I’ve left the hardest ones for last.
I’m waiting for the inspiration that follows my excessive perspiration caused by the . . . . .
frizzy tizzy worrying.
But I just said I don’t want to do that.
Wasn’t it Paul who spoke on the dilemma of weighing what I want to do on one hand and what I always end up doing on the other?
Hmmm.
Is it worth spending an extra $5-$10 to eliminate the frizzy tizzies?
But what about the fact that this is The Year of the Incredibly Shrinking Budget?
When I calculate and add up those extra $2 here, $5 there and another $10 here deals it adds up to an amount that would put gas in the car and food in the larder for a couple of weeks! That is money that can NOT be “wasted”.
So how does one lower one’s expectations without going over-budget?
Prayer.
He knows my budget better than I do. To some it may seem silly to say “Hey, this Christmas I’m going to pray about what gifts to give.”
But where I’m sitting- it seems silly NOT to.

Attention Stargazers!!

Posted on 2008-Dec-2 at 01:08 by Kim Wolf<>< - 1 Comments - Post Comment - Link

Got this from my Farmer's Almanac e-newsletter...

Sky Watch

The planets and the Moon are putting on a show! For a few nights, brilliant Venus, bright Jupiter, and the crescent Moon blaze in a striking conjunction. They first formed their brilliant triangle last night, 15 degrees high, in the southwestern sky. The three celestial objectives will continue to stay close together as seen from Earth even though the planets are millions of miles away.
Read more Sky Watch! We provide the current and upcoming months free for our Almanac.com readers.

6 Things Tag

Posted on 2008-Dec-1 at 02:35 by Kim Wolf<>< - 2 Comments - Post Comment - Link

I was tagged by Nancy-Dearest...

Here are the rules:

Rule #1 ~ Link to the person that tagged you.
Rule #2 ~ Post the rules on your Blog.
Rule #3 ~ Write 6 random things about yourself.
Rule #4 ~ Tag 6 people at the end of your post.
Rule #5 ~ Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their Blog. Rule #6 ~ Let the tagger know your entry is up.

Here are my 6 things:

1) I play the hammered dulcimer, flute and Irish penny whistle.

2) I'm 5'7"

3) I'm a twin

4) I used to smoke

5) My dream vacation is 2 weeks (or more!) on a dude ranch!

6) I have either sang (sung?) or played flute or dulcimer on 8 DVDs.

(I know what you're thinking...those studio earphones are SUCH a fashion statement!)

OK...here are my tags:

1) http://jeneralities.com

2) http://www.homesteadblogger.com/simplefolk

3) http://www.homesteadblogger.com/nurseforlife

4) http://teenytinycabin.blogspot.com

5) http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/sisterchicksteph

6) http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/momto4beauties

Blessings from Ohio, Kim Wolf<><

A Thanksgiving Gift

Posted on Monday, December 1, 2008 at 1:16 PM by Catherine Ann - 0 Comments - Post Comment - Link

We were blessed with a Thanksgiving day surprise....a new niece! Emma came a bit early according to the doctor's plans; but right on time in God's timing . We are giving thanks for her life, and continuing to pray and believe that God is still healing this little one. The doctor's are a bit "baffled" that she doesn't have all the complications that they originally predicted . My sister in law keeps telling them, "You just don't know my God!"

Please do pray for her as the sweet baby is still in ICU, and may possibly have a procedure done soon to widen her pulmonary artery. We are trusting and believing that she will be able to come home soon!

Breakfast for Pennies

Posted on 2008-Dec-4 at 06:43 by Boltbabe - 0 Comments - Post Comment - Link

Simple Journey Ministries Presents

Simply Frugal

Instant Breakfast for Pennies!

This is can be a crazy time of year. You may need to alter your schedule to accommodate those activities that you don’t have on your calendar at other times of the year. One thing you don’t want to skimp on is breakfast, since it is the meal that may very well get your family through the day, while keeping the tummy grumblies at bay. But putting together a breakfast that is warm, nutritious and tummy filling can be a challenge. Those little instant oatmeal packets are an excellent way to meet all those needs. But if you want to simplify AND be frugal with your breakfast consider making your own instant oatmeal. It’s simple and frugal!

About Me

Links

Â• My Primary Blog
Â• My Oldest Daughter's Blog
Â• My Second Oldest Daughter's Blog
Â• Mr. Handsome's Homestead Blog
Â• Mr. Handsome's Homeschool Blog (which he hates)
Â• The Old Schoolhouse Magazine