Cloudy Day Rambling
July 24th, 2008 by Northern FarmerIts cloudy and really humid outside today, we received 3/10s of an inch of rain this morning and that put the stop to any thoughts of hay making today. No big deal, there’s always another day. Besides I was a tad bit tired out from church last evening and got me a nice farmer’s nap at noon time after a good dinner. Kinda habit forming those naps but the days are long enough the way they are and I feel very little guilt because of it. Just was weeding in the strawberry patch and the weeds come out easy with the moist soil unlike the last few years where they held on tight.
And the weekend coming up looks free, nothing going on and that’s fine by me also. Something always comes up anyhow, but right now the slate is clean and there’s not a pressure in the world to worry me. About time too! Get back to farming and getting some stuff done around here. I’m more than impressed at the growth rate of our little ducks! If chickens would grow that fast it’d really be something! And with very little feed to boot in comparison to the chickens, well at least it seems that way. I wished there’d be a market for ducks because I sure could be a duck farmer! Something about them things that I like.
Got the silage pit cleaned out this week and that’ll be ready for silage now, although that job is still a few weeks away, but time goes fast and being this is the dull period is the time to get er done. And with things looking good for once I have brought back the age old question to myself that I have for the past few years about either getting a couple goats or a cow for family milk. It was always put on hold because of the severe drought the last few years and that was always that for that. But it looks like we’re going to be in abundance around here this next year and the temptation is coming back. Heck, I got plenty of room for just about anything I’d want and now with the feed…. But I will hold back on the decision till the silage pit is plump full with about a three foot crown on the thing before I finally go one way or another with the family dairy project. Pretty soon will be time to get us some more hillbilly hogs for the place. I’m hoping to get some within a month or so. That way we can go a long, long ways feeding them with garden scraps. And with the corn crop coming up they should be some good doing hogs! And I figure I’d hate to see a year where we didn’t have at least four hogs for ourselves. And we do go through four hogs without any problem! The pepper bacon and the jalapeño bacon we have made three miles away is just out of this world! I was going to make some of our own, but three miles away is the midwest champion bacon maker so that’s where it’ll get done for now. Gotta take advantage of our location here in the heart of home butchering country. And there’s so much home butchering around here I think folks in other parts of the country might not even begin to believe it! There’s butcher shops and folks that’ll do on the farm slaughtering everywhere. We do our own hogs but I have a guy come to slaughter cows and steers. We cut and grind our own cows but have the steers done at the local processor three miles away because they hang in their locker for two weeks before cutting.
The preaching last night went forty five minutes and I still can’t hardly believe that I made it! I was so nervous before the service I thought I’d keel over and that would take care of that. But a funny thing happened, as I started all nervousness went away and it went fairly smoothly. Of course it was very, very unprofessional but those folks in that little country church have to be the most understanding folks in the world to listen that long to a farmer preaching. But once the dust has settled I feel at ease with it all. There’s an incredible difference when a person is up in front of church looking back compared to the other way around to say the least! Will it be habit forming? I haven’t the slightest idea and I ain’t going to worry about it. I know some folks were praying that I’d survive it and I want to thank those folks right here and now because when it all started it was flowing good! I’ve written about farmer/preachers many times in the past, a subject I truly love, and I can sense a little bit of how they lived now. Working full time farming and then taking off to some little country church to deliver a message. Then the next day back to work on the farm doing what they had to do. Years ago the majority of preachers fit this bill, but nowadays its fairly rare. To be truthful I think the countryside would be blessed big time if this became common again.
July 24th, 2008 at 9:04 pm
Northern Farmer, here in Southern Kentucky most of the preachers are farmers. Preaching and Farming just seem to go hand and hand. We are picking up 3 hogs this Saturday, I can’t wait. We have taken the plunge and got a family milk cow, we are waiting for her to freshen. Glad to hear that your preaching went well. I know when I teach if I can get thru the first five minutes everything seems to go well. In Christ, Tim
July 24th, 2008 at 9:14 pm
Hey Tom!
Keep that rain over your way, we’ve been getting rain every couple of days all summer and it’s been raising cain with getting our hay dry! Had to chop 5 acres of hay back into the field cause the rain kept coming. We’re feeding two hogs this summer, nothing better then home raised pork! How about some directions on that pepper bacon, my wife has allergies and can’t handle the chemicals in most bacon! Hey, did you tape your preaching? Brent
July 25th, 2008 at 11:21 am
Tom, You did a great job preaching on Wednesday evening! You held my attention the entire 45 minutes. You have a way of bringing people in to your world and making things personal. Most people can relate to the things you talked about and that makes us think how we can be better in Christ. Thanks for your obedience to God and for following His word. I think you might have found a new part time profession!
God Bless, Don
July 25th, 2008 at 8:24 pm
Hey Tim!
As soon as combining oats gets done in a few weeks and before silage time I gotta get me my four hogs. Get em around 40 or fifity pounds and raise em up. I was just out today cutting hay a mile and a half away from the old homestead and was along side of our MN 13 corn field and was I ever impressed! Those hogs are going to have some good eating! The Reid’s Yellow Dent is looking great too so I get a funny feeling I can feed allot of critters this winter! I’m still toying over the idea goat verses milk cow and I must say they both have advantages but it sure wouldn’t hurt my feelings none to have me a Jersey cow or two.
Sounds like southern Kentucky is a tad bit different than these here parts. Pretty rare around here to find a farmer preacher. But that can be changed somewhat
As far as the preaching went, I read from Matthew 25, 31 thru 46, and did it in the King James and after getting through that tongue twister fairly smooth my nerves settled down and things did go smooth from there on out. I was really worried about reading all them verses because I had my wrong pair of glasses with. But isn’t that exactly how it goes at such an event
OK Brent,
I’ll try and keep the rains over this way, I’m kinda greedy that way you know. Probably wouldn’t hurt to send Brad some down there in northern Alabama, sounds like he’s dry again. As far as the pepper bacon, I don’t know the recipe that those folks use at the meat processing place, don’t know if its good for a person or not. But I figure I can live with two vices, home raised bacon and cookies and cream ice cream. What can I say, I’m a frail mortal that sometimes backslides and indulges
But looking at the bacon, I’d say that if a person had themselves a good home bacon making recipe for doing the works a home, after brining the bacon regular they then take the whole side and just rub on allot of coarse black pepper before smoking, same with the jalapeños if a person wanted to go that route. I know this ain’t much help but its the best I can give.
About if they recorded the sermon, ……no comment
Hey Don!
Welcome to the comment section of this old blog! You folks were something else! I kept thinking, I must be boring these people out of their skulls! But just kept going. Its allot different than children’s church to say the least, to be truthful it was a bit easier than children’s church, no crowd control to worry about and all of that. Our pastor told me that when asking me to preach a couple weeks ago. Now I believe! The main thing is that its done with and I can still show my face in church
You know, I always thought the guest preacher got the collection……
July 25th, 2008 at 11:59 pm
With your humor, your hours of contemplation of the scriptures, and your farming sense, I’m sure the sermon was a blessing to your congregation. Sorry about the glasses. Didn’t think to pray for that!!!
I like your idea of farmer/preachers. I think many preachers are too concerned with growing their numbers. This is often the definition of success in the city. If they were toiling daily in the fields and barns, think what insights they would have from scripture and life!
My maternal grandfather (born 1898) went into the ministry because it’s what the men in his family did, but he always wanted to be a farmer. So, he preached, but he also had wonderful vegetable and flower gardens. And it was he who taught me the wonders of one flower blossom producing tons of seeds.
Keep us posted on the hog/goat/cow decisions. Blessings to you and your family and your little country church.
July 26th, 2008 at 8:03 am
Hi Tom!
Truly wish I could have been there. If they taped it, I vote that you put it up here on your site and let us all be blessed!
Grace and Peace,
Cheri
July 26th, 2008 at 4:38 pm
Tom,
Glad to hear that your preaching went well. We have a neighbor who farms and also pastors a small church. He’s also got seven kids, including three that are friends with my oldest daughter.
Sounds like you are leaning toward a dairy cow. This past week my youngest son goat another dairy goat. I am currently drinking a lot of goat milk as well as cow milk. If you have trouble finding what you want, give me a shout and I can see what I can come up with.
Don’t forget the homemade butter when you are thinking about vices.
Jim V
July 26th, 2008 at 8:27 pm
Hi Deb!
Got through it with them expensive glasses that I can’t hardly see out of, I’ll remember next time to bring my five dollar reading glasses with instead. At least they’re crystal clear!! Plus then the congregation would be a blur
Thanks for sharing that about your grandfather! I know even on the farm, when I want to clear my head, I head for the garden and just work for the longest time! There’s no better place to talk with God and listen to Him too!
I was to a big city church a year ago and I must say, there’s no place like home. Give me a little country church like ours and I’m more than satisfied. I think that’s the way the Bible says it should be, like a family, not a large mass of 1000s of people. Where the preachers basically have body guards to keep the folks away from them. After service at our little church there’s sometimes a few folks around an hour later yet, just visiting. And the preacher knows everybody and visits with any and all!
God Bless!
Hi Cheri!
Its more like a hard line dictatorship where the dictator over rules any and all votes. To be truthful I never even listened to the CD yet, don’t know when I’ll get around to that. Ain’t much interested in listening to myself I guess. Plus I have not even the slightest idea how to put something like that on the blog or anywhere else for that matter. I even have a hard time with pictures on this blog, let alone a recording. But I’ll see what I can do sometime about it. Sometimes I really wish that readers and friends such as you could come together for something like this past Wednesday evening. I know for me it was with out a doubt a life changer!
I’m just thanking the Lord tonight that this blog ain’t a democracy
God Bless!
Hey Jim!
No kidding! And I didn’t even cuss you out 
It was all good and I’ll tell you sometime about it.
Just thought I’d let you know, I mentioned you in the sermon
Now this is what I love, when folks write and tell me about a friend, relative or a neighbor that’s a farmer/preacher. That’s a rare breed around here and it helps me more than anyone could ever imagine when I even get bits and pieces of information relating to that.
I tell you, things are really looking up around here this year! I baled 38 round bales before supper tonight and the numbers keep on adding up! I’ll start with some more second cutting this coming week plus knock down the oats sometime too. The corn is unreal, growing and growing. I’ll have to change my plans and pick allot more than I ever imagined if it don’t get wiped out by some unforeseen disaster like hail or something. This will give me allot more work than the last couple of years in the later half of summer but it sure beats chasing grasshoppers and looking over the region for purchasing hay at drought prices. Like I say, when the silage pit is full I do believe I will get into family milk production. Heck, I can be totally set up in hours, I got lots of stuff for a milk cow over the years at auctions and stuff.No problem! So when the feed is in this fall I could very well give you a holler!! Yup, someday I can just see me eating some pepper bacon, some home grown fried potatoes, (which we always have), some of our old fashioned eggs, and some home made butter on some hot homemade bread, GLORY!! I’m typing myself into a frenzy here
God Bless!
July 27th, 2008 at 9:22 am
Tom just wanted to add a note here to ponder on. Friday I was standing in a field of newly blossomed red clover, a beautiful, sunny day, and guess what I heard! Nothing. Not a buzz to be heard. Not a bee to be seen on any of those gorgeous red heads! I went to my garden (which I think looks wonderful) and, again, silence. Tell me, Tom, should we not be afraid?
July 27th, 2008 at 7:42 pm
Yup Brent,
We should be more than concerned. There’s problems out there that very few seem concerned about! The local bee man around here usually stops in every three weeks or so and we shoot the bull allot. He tells of the problems that they have now compared to a few short years ago. he’s getting around many of the problems with his strain of bees he got from Russia. One thing he always points out, when they say organic honey in the stores, it ain’t. They’re using poisons you wouldn’t believe and they are approved by the government over seeing the organic program. Better to raise or just buy local from a good bee keeper, that’s what we do.
But back to your concern, I don’t think we’ve sen the tip of the ice berg. The industrial monsters keep on marching and altering all God given life to the point the problems might be irreversible in the not to distant future. And it looks like the GMO’s and different sprays are already taking a toll on the simple honey bee!