- goat stand

Recently I completed a project, one which I should have done many months ago.  A goat stand is used for securing them so you can milk them or (in my case) work on their hooves, ear tags, etc…

I initially thought about buying one, but did not like the styles of the metal stands and after looking at the wooden ones, decided that I could build one.  I started by searching for goat stand images on the internet and simply used them for references.  I was able to look at many different designs and determine which features I wanted.

I opted to build the frame out of 2x4s, but used 1x8s for the floor and the neck locking boards.  My first set of neck locking boards proved to be inadequate for two reasons: I made the hole to big and the smaller goats were able to simply slip their heads through and escape.  I also made the sides too thin and our buck (Jimmy) was able to break them.  I re-fabricated the locking boards and they seem to be much more secure/sturdy now.

Aside from my children playing with it, today was the first time that I really put the stand to use.  I banded (form of castration) our new buckling while he was on the stand and it went fairly well.  Every goat (except Jimmy) had their turn on the stand for a quick exam and some hoof trimming; the turkey and chickens even seemed to enjoy “playing” on the new goat stand.

I am still not real happy with the locking mechanism I have (for locking the two neck boards together), but overall I am pleased with the way it turned out.

- Merry Christmas

I want to wish you all a Merry Christmas.

I also want to remind you of my Brothers who are away from their families right now.  They may not have seen them for months and they may still have months to go before they are reunited.  They are in the midst of battles that are very "unpopular", but they fight on none the less.  They do not necessarily fight for their country; they certainly don't fight for their Commander in Chief.  They fight because they are willing to risk their lives to defeat evil men and protect one another.

It seems that everybody "supports the troops" even though most are not willing to act on it.  If you do not support the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, I would simply ask that you think of the men fighting for your right to disagree and at least acknowledge that they are the most selfless people in our society.  If you do support the wars, please do not be afraid to express it.  Either way, please support the men fighting and those who are willing to risk their lives for you.  Please show it every time you meet somebody serving or a Veteran who has previously served.

I have included a short video of Oliver North (LtCol, USMC, Ret) speaking at an NRA dinner.  Please take a moment to listen to what he has to say about those serving.  His words about our military should transcend your political or ideological beliefs.  I have also included a BLOG post written by Ben Stein about a recent trip to visit some Marines at a former home of mine, Camp Pendleton, California.

A Pre-Christmas Visit to Camp Pendleton

By Ben Stein on 12.14.09 @ 6:09AM

Thursday
 

Thursday, a dreary, cold day in Southern California . My pal Lisa Agustsson and I drove down the 405 Freeway to the 5, immense ten lane highways most of the way, to camp Pendleton, the major Marine Corps base on the West Coast. I had been invited to appear and meet and greet marines attached to a rocket artillery battalion about to deploy to Afghanistan.

We went through the guard gate, were met by a man in a huge truck, and escorted many miles inside the base to a large hangar like structure gaily hung with balloons and a cheery Santa Claus and many young men with mostly short hair, including some who were having a rock climbing competition as we pulled up.

The men were muscular and fit looking with no exceptions–lean, intense, alert. Most were in civilian clothes, even T shirts with rock group characters on them. There were pretty young wives, many with small children, many pregnant. I was greeted by several women from the huge Saddleback Church . They were the organizers of the event and they had invited my appearance. They could not have been more enthusiastic.

Glad hander that I am, I started immediately greeting as many men and women as wanted to greet me, which was pretty much all of them. I posed for pictures with them, asked them where they were from, told them of various connections I have or my wife has with their part of the world.

They were from small towns in Missouri, small towns in Wisconsin, small towns in Colorado, small towns in New Mexico, in Mississippi . There were also many from East L.A., happy to get away from the gangs, many from parts of New York City, even one young officer from Spring Valley, an extremely upscale part of Washington, DC. (“The Marine Corps attracts all kinds of people,” he said happily.)

They had the kinds of faces you used to see in Jimmy Stewart movies, all American faces, white, brown, black, Asian, but all smiling, all eager to do something for their country. They did not have the kind of conniving, weasel like faces I usually see around me in Beverly Hills . They looked like straight shooters, in a word. I guess they are, since every Marine is a rifleman.

I asked each of them if he would be deploying for Afghanistan soon. With only one or two exceptions, they all said they would, and usually said it as in, “I hope so, sir.” They said it like they meant it.

Several of them explained to me the rockets they would be firing. These were little devils that could go about fifty miles and hit a target within ten feet with a large explosive charge. They use satellites and drones and computers and I am glad it’s our side that has them and not the Taliban.

After about an hour, I went inside the hangar or whatever it was. Hundreds more Marines and their wives or girlfriends greeted me and told me how eager they were to be deployed–although the wives looked a bit less eager than the husbands. ( Later that night Lisa told me that a wife told her she could not sleep at night worrying about her husband.)

I gave a short little speech about how they were where the rubber meets the road in saving freedom and dignity. It may be agony for Mr Obama to decide what to do in Afghanistan, but it is these men and their families whose lives are on the line. I told them that we back at home sitting in chairs with our fat asses could not survive without them and that we thanked them, asked God’s blessing for them, prayed for them.

I talked to still more people, ate some turkey that a local church had prepared for this large group, and then, thoroughly chilled, went off into the night back to Los Angeles.

We had a driver so I slept most of the way back. But when I awakened near Long Beach, I saw immense waves of cars and their lights rushing towards me like a scene in a movie of a space ship rocketing towards a cluster of stars. There were thousands of cars, tens of thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands. And in the rest of the nation, hundreds of millions more.

A whole nation. Three hundred million plus souls. All rushing around making a living, taking their kids to soccer games, buying groceries, getting and spending.

And in this little corner of Camp Pendleton were the men and women who make it all possible, about to go fight in a horrible place called Afghanistan . Not one of the men or women I spoke to tonight ever mentioned the stock market or real estate or the dollar or commodities or a stimulus package. Not one of them complained to me about anything. It was probably the longest time I have ever been in a crowd where not one person mentioned money. Maybe it’s because they know that what they do is beyond price. Back to sleep and then I awakened as we got close to home.

I passed many Christmas decorations as we got off the 405 and headed east on Santa Monica Boulevard . The thought came to my old head that I had just seen the best Christmas group I have ever seen: men and women who so love their fellow man that they are cheerfully and eagerly going off to risk their lives to save total strangers. These really are the peacemakers. These really are the blessed of the earth, the gifts from God. If we have any decency at all, these men and their families take our gratitude and our prayers with them with every step they take. Merry Christmas, Camp Pendleton, and all who serve to save.

- a gift of debt

On this Eve of Christmas, I thought I would take a moment to point out the gift of debt that our federal government has blessed us with (I hope you sense my sarcasm).   More importantly they have saddled my children, my unborn grandchildren, and great-grandchildren with debt that will probably never be paid back.

As if it were not bad enough, congress recently voted to increase our Debt Ceiling to $12.4 trillion.  Most of us are disgusted by hearing that, but we have no real concept of how much money it really is.  To give you a better idea what 12 trillion dollars is:

$12,400,000,000,000  that is what it looks like... It has way too many zeroes. 

We are paying more than ONE BILLION DOLLARS in interest every day.

A $1 bill is approximately 6.125 inches long....  So if you laid $12.4 trillion on the ground, end to end it would stretch more than 1 billion miles long (1,198,705,808) or more than 48 thousand times around the earth or to the sun and back more than 6 times.

I also read this morning that California is $21 billion in debt and that "there are no easy solutions left".  I have an easy solution; STOP SPENDING MONEY YOU DON'T HAVE!!!!!  I know it is a wild idea, but one that most families and business owners understand.  Maybe we need to elect businessmen and family men rather than actors and lawyers.  As a nation (regardless of political party) we continue to elect the most unintelligent people on earth and I simply don't understand why.  I wonder what it is going to take for us to wake up and realize that we need to do something very different.  We need to elect "average guys" to run things.  As long as we continue to elect the same fools, we will continue to run down the path of ruin.

- conservative, but socialist?

How can the above title be true?  How can a conservative be a socialist?  I am not sure, I don't think you can be both so what do you call a self proclaimed conservative politician who takes hundreds of thousands of dollars in farm subsidies from the federal government?

Hypocrite is the first thing that comes to my mind.  The second is that you cannot be a true conservative if you regularly take money from a social program, especially when you are making as much money as the average politician.  One cannot make a career of fighting against government programs, but take money from one.

Despite my agreeing with many of Michelle Bachmann's views, I cannot support any person in office who lives with such a dual personality.  Don't get me wrong, I am willing to send my tax money to help people who need it, but that is not the case for most large scale farmers and I doubt that Bachmann's family would be hurting without my tax money.  In fact, any government employee who makes $174,000 per year (yes, that is what all of your "public servants" in congress make) should  not get a dime from any other government program.  I say this as my small farm continues to suck money from my family's savings.  I will never accept handouts from the government, I never have.  If our farm gets to the point where we cannot make money or sustain it on our own, we will change how we are farming or do something different all-together.

This article really highlights the problem with all of our politicians: Liberal and Conservative, Republican and Democrat.  This article only points out the Republicans who are getting undeserved money, but I know that it is the norm in both parties.  Politicians have turned into a permanent ruling class who literally think they are better than all of us "common folk".  They believe they are entitled to all of their perks, pay, and benefits.  While the average people argue about differences in political beliefs, the politicians continue to all act the same and trample on us.  Our government has become what the founders fled and our "rulers" are not public servants; they exist for only one real purpose... to serve themselves.

-1,2,3,4, I love the Marine Corps

This video is so motivating, it makes me want to join all over again!!!  OOHRAHHH!!!!

- happy chickens?

I have to admit that I don't know exactly what a "happy" bird looks like, but I am fairly confident that our birds are happy with their environment.  While they may not be totally free range (more about that later) they have between 1000 and 6000 square feet of fresh pasture to roam every day.  Along side our goats and turkey, the chickens are free to eat as much grass and as many insects as they like.  I must say it is also somewhat entertaining to see they flock of birds come running when they know they are getting moved to new grass.

I know there is no scientific data (even if there was, I  probably wouldn't trust it) to prove that happy birds produce better eggs, but I am convinced that happy chickens are more healthy and make healthier eggs.  It is a win-win situation, they get to live more naturally and we get better food.

- managed intensive grazing

We have been utilizing a rotational grazing method for about 6 months, but only recently did I “wake up” and decide to use an intensive grazing approach.

In the past the goats/chickens/turkeys had access to a section of pasture along with their shelter and I would move the whole paddock every day.  This was a lot of work for my children and me, but I felt it was necessary to give them a large grass area and move their shelter daily.  Aside from the hassle of moving the shelter every day, I was frustrated by the fact that they never seemed to eat the grass down very well.  I was constantly faced with the dilemma of cutting the remaining grass (to stimulate growth) or to let it go.

About a month ago, it dawned on me that I needed to force the animals to eat more intensively.  I achieved this by creating a much larger paddock and only moving the shelter every 3 days.  I then use fencing to create a much smaller section within the larger paddock.  Rather than moving the entire shelter/paddock set-up each day, I simply move the fence barrier in the larger paddock every 18 hours or so.

The smaller sections force the animals to eat all the greenery, not just the plants they like.  Liken it to forcing your children to eating their broccoli with their dinner, not just their meat and potatoes.  Not only is this newer system making better use of our land, but the animals all seem to be healthier too.  I also find it interesting how the birds seem to be more "in-sync" with the goats.  When I walk out to the paddock, they all start to go crazy; they know they are getting fresh pasture.  When I move the fence, the birds come running along with the goats.

I took this picture just after moving the interior fence and giving them new grass.  If you look at the photo, you can see the line in the grass to the right of the animals where the fence had been and they had eaten most of the greenery.  You can also see the section to the left where they will be eating in the morning.

I guess if I were to be an intensive grazing purist, I would be moving their shelter every time I gave them new pasture, so that they were never on the same grass for more than a day.  This seems to be a good balance for us right now, they eat fresh grass every 18 hours, but we don’t have to hook up the shelter to the tractor and drag it around every day.

- real men

I couldn't have said it any better...

I guess the ad is working, it makes me want to go buy some Dockers.

- more "green" hypocrisy

{If this doesn't say it all and convince you of the Global Warming scam and its hypocrisy then nothing will; you have bought it Hook, Line, & Sinker}

Copenhagen climate summit: 1,200 limos, 140 private planes...

On a normal day, Majken Friss Jorgensen, managing director of Copenhagen's biggest limousine company, says her firm has twelve vehicles on the road. During the "summit to save the world", which opens here tomorrow, she will have 200.

"We thought they were not going to have many cars, due to it being a climate convention," she says. "But it seems that somebody last week looked at the weather report."

Ms Jorgensen reckons that between her and her rivals the total number of limos in Copenhagen next week has already broken the 1,200 barrier. The French alone rang up on Thursday and ordered another 42. "We haven't got enough limos in the country to fulfill the demand," she says. "We're having to drive them in hundreds of miles from Germany and Sweden."

And the total number of electric cars or hybrids among that number? "Five," says Ms Jorgensen. "The government has some alternative fuel cars but the rest will be petrol or diesel. We don't have any hybrids in Denmark, unfortunately, due to the extreme taxes on those cars. It makes no sense at all, but it's very Danish."
The airport says it is expecting up to 140 extra private jets during the peak period alone, so far over its capacity that the planes will have to fly off to regional airports – or to Sweden – to park, returning to Copenhagen to pick up their VIP passengers.

As well 15,000 delegates and officials, 5,000 journalists and 98 world leaders, the Danish capital will be blessed by the presence of Leonardo DiCaprio, Daryl Hannah, Helena Christensen, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Prince Charles. A Republican US senator, Jim Inhofe, is jetting in at the head of an anti-climate-change "Truth Squad." The top hotels – all fully booked at £650 a night – are readying their Climate Convention menus of (no doubt sustainable) scallops, foie gras and sculpted caviar wedges.

At the takeaway pizza end of the spectrum, Copenhagen's clean pavements are starting to fill with slightly less well-scrubbed protesters from all over Europe. In the city's famous anarchist commune of Christiania this morning, among the hash dealers and heavily-graffitied walls, they started their two-week "Climate Bottom Meeting," complete with a "storytelling yurt" and a "funeral of the day" for various corrupt, "heatist" concepts such as "economic growth".

The Danish government is cunningly spending a million kroner (£120,000) to give the protesters Klima Forum, a "parallel conference" in the magnificent DGI-byen sports centre. The hope, officials admit, is that they will work off their youthful energies on the climbing wall, state-of-the-art swimming pools and bowling alley, Just in case, however, Denmark has taken delivery of its first-ever water-cannon – one of the newspapers is running a competition to suggest names for it – plus sweeping new police powers. The authorities have been proudly showing us their new temporary prison, 360 cages in a disused brewery, housing 4,000 detainees.

And this being Scandinavia, even the prostitutes are doing their bit for the planet. Outraged by a council postcard urging delegates to "be sustainable, don't buy sex," the local sex workers' union – they have unions here – has announced that all its 1,400 members will give free intercourse to anyone with a climate conference delegate's pass. The term "carbon dating" just took on an entirely new meaning.

At least the sex will be C02-neutral. According to the organizers, the eleven-day conference, including the participants' travel, will create a total of 41,000 tons of "carbon dioxide equivalent", equal to the amount produced over the same period by a city the size of Middlesbrough.

The temptation, then, is to dismiss the whole thing as a ridiculous circus. Many of the participants do not really need to be here. And far from "saving the world," the world's leaders have already agreed that this conference will not produce any kind of binding deal, merely an interim statement of intent.

Instead of swift and modest reductions in carbon – say, two per cent a year, starting next year – for which they could possibly be held accountable, the politicians will bandy around grandiose targets of 80-per-cent-plus by 2050, by which time few of the leaders at Copenhagen will even be alive, let alone still in office.
Even if they had agreed anything binding, past experience suggests that the participants would not, in fact, feel bound by it. Most countries – Britain excepted – are on course to break the modest pledges they made at the last major climate summit, in Kyoto.

And as the delegates meet, they do so under a shadow. For the first time, not just the methods but the entire purpose of the climate change agenda is being questioned. Leaked emails showing key scientists conspiring to fix data that undermined their case have boosted the sceptic lobby. Australia has voted down climate change laws. Last week's unusually strident attack by the Energy Secretary, Ed Miliband, on climate change "saboteurs" reflected real fear in government that momentum is slipping away from the cause.

In Copenhagen there was a humbler note among some delegates. "If we fail, one reason could be our overconfidence," said Simron Jit Singh, of the Institute of Social Ecology. "Because we are here, talking in a group of people who probably agree with each other, we can be blinded to the challenges of the other side. We feel that we are the good guys, the selfless saviors, and they are the bad guys."

As Mr Singh suggests, the interesting question is perhaps not whether the climate changers have got the science right – they probably have – but whether they have got the pitch right. Some campaigners' apocalyptic predictions and religious righteousness – funeral ceremonies for economic growth and the like – can be alienating, and may help explain why the wider public does not seem to share the urgency felt by those in Copenhagen this week.

In a rather perceptive recent comment, Mr. Miliband said it was vital to give people a positive vision of a low-carbon future. "If Martin Luther King had come along and said 'I have a nightmare,' people would not have followed him," he said.

Over the next two weeks, that positive vision may come not from the overheated rhetoric in the conference centre, but from Copenhagen itself. Limos apart, it is a city filled entirely with bicycles, stuffed with retrofitted, energy-efficient old buildings, and seems to embody the civilized pleasures of low-carbon living without any of the puritanism so beloved of British greens.

And inside the hall, not everything is looking bad. Even the sudden rush for limos may be a good sign. It means that more top people are coming, which means they scent something could be going right here.

The US, which rejected Kyoto, is on board now, albeit too tentatively for most delegates. President Obama's decision to stay later in Copenhagen may signal some sort of agreement between America and China: a necessity for any real global action, and something that could be presented as a "victory" for the talks.

The hot air this week will be massive, the whole proceedings eminently mockable, but it would be far too early to write off this conference as a failure.
from: Telegraph.co.uk

- flying pig?

We don't own any pigs, but I can only imagine looking outside and seeing my goats doing something odd like this.  This is just too funny.

-------This little piggy is more than happy to show the world two clean pairs of heels. At six weeks old, Scarlett the rare-breed porker has already mastered the art of trampolining.  Owners Gwen and Steve Howell say the woolly Hungarian mangalitza enjoys the experience so much that their daughters Tara, 14, and Alex, eight, now have to wait their turn to play. Mr and Mrs Howell, both estate agents, have seven pet pigs on their farm in Shrewsbury. Scarlett's father Percy was the first to try the trampoline but is now so fat that he would probably break it.

The Howells told how they had been trying to replace Scarlet's father Percy as the family's resident bouncing pig, after the prize boar became too fat.  The six-week-old piglet has since attracted hordes of visitors to the family home in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, and the Howells are now planning on entering her, along with several other of their rare-breed pigs, into Britain's Got Talent.

Mrs Howell, 46, explained how they came across their pets' unlikely skill by chance.  “We decided we would try and put our boar, Percy on the trampoline one day and he absolutely loved it.  He is very tame and quite trainable. He was on there and just went for it and started jumping up and down, we couldn't believe it. It was hard to get him off.  The only problem is Percy has piled on the pounds and is way to porky to put on the trampoline nowadays, so we tried to put Scarlet on there.”

“Whenever you pick a pig up they squeal really loudly. We picked her up and of course she screamed, but as soon as she was placed on the trampoline she stopped.  She started sniffing around and started to walk on it then we put some food on there and she started feeling her feet.  She has only been doing it for three days, for 45 minutes a time, but she loves it. The pigs seem to love the trampoline even more than our two daughters”
full article

- what has been in your chicken?

Obviously the story below is not typical, nor is it something most of us have to worry about it, but I couldn't help but laugh.  Not only did I find the story itself amusing; I also chuckled because none of us would ever eat this chicken.  Most of you however, are perfectly willing to eat chicken (and other meat) that has been pumped full of Hormones, Anti-Biotics, and fed Pesticide laden food.  I wonder if cocaine was made legal and the meat industry determined they could use it for productivity, if people would be ok with it being used to manufacture meat...

I know I am really making a stretch, but I hope you get my point.

---------------------------

STERLING, Va. - A close inspection by Customs and Border Protection officers at Dulles International Airport turned up something unexpected. Inside a fully-cooked chicken they found cocaine with an estimated street value of $4,300.  The 60.4 grams (2.3 ounces) of coke was found inside two small, clear plastic bags inside the chicken's cavity.

Officers discovered the white powdery substance during a secondary inspection after a flight from El Salvador arrived shortly after midnight Saturday. It tested positive for cocaine.  "CBP officers have seen many unique narcotics concealment methods, and they all present the same challenges to discover them. Our officers' inspection was very thorough and earned solid results," said Christopher Hess, Customs and Border Protection director for the Port of Washington.

The drugs and traveler, Wagner Mauricio Linares Aragon, 32, of Guatemala, were turned over to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Police. Customs also issued a detainer for Linares Aragon.
(Copyright 2009 by WTOP. All Rights Reserved.)

- processing turkey

Last week my son and I went to our friend's home (Maple Valley Farm) to help them process the last of their turkeys.  We were glad to help, but it was also an excellent learning opportunity for us.

The process began with inserting the turkey into the killing cone and slitting an artery in their throat.  After the bird was dead, it was dunked in the scalder to make the feather plucking easier.  After a few dunks in the hot water and getting plucked clean, it was time to do some more dirty work.  I did the majority of the gutting and cleaning, but Justin insisted that he have a turn as well.  It was amazing for me to see my [then] 9 year old son so eager to help in any way possible, even if it meant sticking his hand in a still warm turkey and pulling out its intestines.  It was an excellent bonding time for father and son.

"green" hypocrisy

...The supposedly green Barack Obama had a St Louis chef flown 850 miles just to make pizza at the White House...

Hypocrisy is the vice we find hardest to forgive, but it’s also the one we most enjoy discovering in others. And nothing piques our interest more than eco-hypocrisy as practiced by the “green” celebrities who have been spouting green virtue but spewing out hundreds of tons of carbon from their private jets or multiple holiday homes around the globe.

There was Sheryl Crow, who had called upon the public to refrain from using more than one square of toilet paper per visit (“except on those pesky occasions when two or three are required”) and who was leading a Stop Global Warming concert tour across America. It was revealed that while Crow traveled in a bio-diesel tour bus, her 30-person entourage followed in a fleet of 13 gas-guzzling vehicles.

John Travolta notoriously encouraged the British public to do its bit to fight global warming — after flying into London on one of his five, yes, five private jets (one of which is a Boeing 707). In 2006 his piloting hobby produced an estimated 800 tons of carbon emissions, more than a hundred times the output of the average Briton, according to the Carbon Trust.

It is less well known that Tom Cruise — who has campaigned for the LA-based environmental group Earth Communications Office — also has an air fleet and a license to pilot his five planes, including a top-of-the-line customized Gulfstream jet he bought for his wife, Katie Holmes.

Harrison Ford, who is vice-chairman on the board of Conservation International, voices public-service messages for an environmental federation called EarthShare, and once shaved his chest hair to illustrate the effects of deforestation, is another hobby pilot. He once owned a Gulfstream but now makes do with a smaller Cessna Citation Sovereign eight-seater jet, four propeller planes and a helicopter.

Oprah Winfrey, who preaches eco-virtue from her TV pulpit, traveled in a 13-seat Gulfstream IV private jet for years — the preferred model for celebrities and the super-rich. (She has replaced it with a faster Bombardier Global Express.) The public first became aware of her private-jet habit when her plane had to make a forced landing in California in 2005; it was reminded of it this year after one of her stewardesses was fired for allegedly having sex with the pilot while Oprah and other passengers were asleep.

Jennifer Aniston told reporters that to save the Earth’s precious water resources she brushes her teeth while in the shower. But she also flew a hairdresser to Europe to accompany her on a recent publicity tour for the film Marley & Me.

There are endless other examples of hypocrisy by green politicos. David Cameron was once photographed virtuously riding his bike to the House of Commons, with his official car behind him, carrying his suit and briefcase. Ken Livingstone, who swore he would make London the world’s greenest city when he was mayor, made scores of arguably unnecessary flights to foreign destinations.  

At the end of the film An Inconvenient Truth, the unbearably earnest former presidential candidate Al Gore asked his audience: “Are you ready to change the way you live?” His own huge Nashville mansion consumed over 20 times the electricity of an average American home. Indeed, according to the Tennessee Center for Policy Research, it burnt twice as much power in the month of August 2006 than most American homes do in an entire year. Another inconvenient truth revealed that the former senator spent $500 a month just to heat the indoor swimming pool in his lavish domestic establishment. The 100ft houseboat he bought in 2008, on the other hand, was said to be powered by bio-diesel.  Gore gave the usual response of the green celebrity caught not practicing what they preach. He said he made up for his consumption of electricity and production of carbon dioxide by buying carbon offsets — some from his own offset company.

The Copenhagen summit next week will generate vast quantities of hot air. It will see 16,500 people coming in from 192 countries. That amounts to 41,000 tons of carbon dioxide, roughly the same as the carbon emissions of Morocco in 2006. Also, the organizers will lay 900 kilometers of computer cable and 50,000 square miles of carpet. More than 200,000 meals will be served and visitors will drink 200,000 cups of coffee — at least that will be organic...

There is something annoying about the way “ordinary” people are being told they must give up their “addiction” to cheap travel, when no leading Hollywood star — not even Leonardo DiCaprio, who often flies commercial — can bring themselves to relinquish the private jet.

[me... While I completely disagree with the idea of man-made global warming, I can at least respect the people who are truly living their lives according to their publicly expressed beliefs.  It seems however, that all of the people who get the public's attention are full of torro cacca and are the worst hypocrites in our society.  As I have stated before, I believe in the Lord our God and that He created the earth and its creatures for us to use.  That being said, I also believe that we need to be more responsible and respectful of the creation that God has given us.  True conservatives and true liberals have more in common than most people think.]

taken from: Taking the private jet to Copenhagen (timesUKonline) see full article here

not supposed to be funny, but...

I had to laugh when I watched this video.  It made the news because NBC refused to allow it to air.  I am sure that my response is not what PETA was hoping for, but I could not help it.  Even if you think that PETA is nutty, you need to understand that if you bought a turkey from a store, it was most likely raised/treated just as this advertisement describes.  What I don't understand is how their only answer to avoiding factory raised turkeys is to not eat turkey at all... like there is no other alternative. 

I have a novel idea; how about turkeys that are raised naturally, allowed to forage on pasture, are not pumped full of hormones or anti-biotics, and are slaughtered in a clean, humane manner.  Oh wait; we are already doing that at Liberty Pastures.

I also find it interesting that I am agreeing with PETA on anything, but we have very different foundations for our reasoning.  They think that animals are as valuable (or more so) than humans, whereas we think that animals were created by God for our use, but that we still have a duty to treat them respectfully.  We also believe that Happy Animals make better food.   :-)

Contact us if you would like to find out more or if you would like to pre-order your turkey for next year.

a beautiful view

A beautiful sunrise, the view from our front porch at Liberty Pastures.

this says it all

My wife sent this to me and I had to laugh.  In all seriousness, it is a sad, but true statement of what our country has become.  Guys like me do not have the liberty to act and think as our Founding Fathers intended while our enemies basically have the liberty to shoot us, blow us up, and then have excuses made for their actions.

http://imgsrv.gocomics.com/dim/?fh=e8547cf5de95497f8221e8cffc056202&w=550.0

moooving cattle

Yesterday, I got a call from my buddy at Maple Valley Farm; Larry asked me to come over and help him "sort" his new cattle.  I have been around cattle, but have never worked with them or really done anything other than look at them.  Despite my lack of experience, I figured that if he was asking for my help then he probably really needed help and I would see what I could do.

I have to admit that I was sort of hoping he would call me and tell me it was off due to the rain, but that didn't happen and I arrived ready for work this morning at 0900.  I am glad that it did not get postponed and that he allowed me to assist him in the adventure because I learned quite a lot (this is not the first time I have gained experience with something new by helping Larry and I doubt it will be the last) and I always enjoy spending time with my friend.

The task was seemingly simple; to sort the two young male calves from the herd of larger females.  The task was further complicated by Larry's desire to avoid stressing the cattle; a philosophy with which I agree, but makes working with animals a bit more difficult and stressful for us.  It was not easy, but we got the two little guys separated and into their own paddock.  Next came the real hard part; we needed to get the herd of ladies out of their new paddock, down the hill and to the back of the property where the sheep were (about a ½ mile away).  This too was not easy, but we eventually got them where Larry wanted them. 

All-in-all, I would have to say that I enjoyed it a bit and learned that while there are some similarities when herding different animals there are some BIG differences too.  Who knows maybe we will end up with some cattle of our own in the future.

one less goat on the farm

For several months now, Loppy has not been "right".  The children named her Loppy due to her being lopsided; one of her ears was longer than the other.  She was not a particularly friendly goat, nor did she look real good, but never-the-less she was a part of our family and she had a special place in our hearts mainly due to our sympathy for her.  Despite her seemingly normal goat activities, she had scours (goat diarrhea) for over a month.  We initially tried all types of natural supplements to nurse her back to health, but finally gave up after spending a bunch of money with no effect.  After one of my recent trips I came home to find Loppy pooping normal for a change; I thanked the Lord and assumed she was finally getting healthy, but she never seemed to gain weight and always just looked sickly.

She ate and drank just as much as the other goats, she moved around just fine, but she obviously still had some problems.  Just before I left again on Wednesday the children and I moved the goats to fresh pasture, as we began the process, we saw that Loppy was lying down.  That in itself would not be a problem, but I noticed the dominant doe, Blanchet (and yes every goat has a name), head butting her.  The goats hit each other fairly regularly, but Loppy was on her side and Blanchet seemed to be trying to make her roll over.  As we prepared the new paddocks for the goats, I continued to monitor Loppy who laid on her side for almost an hour; I noticed her trying to get up at times and other times she just laid there with her eyes closed.  I knew this was a very bad sign and I knew what I had to do.

We moved the goats to their new field and took down the old fencing, all the while Loppy laid on her side with her legs sort of sticking up in the air.  I have no problem killing things, but I hate to see animals suffer and I told my children what I had to do.  They both knew what I was going to say before I said it, but my daughter took the news real hard and cried quite a lot.  I asked them if they wanted to go inside while I killed Loppy; my son was sad, but opted to continue working while my daughter headed for the house.  Just as we finished this conversation we saw Loppy up and walking around like nothing ever happened.  There was a ray of hope at the apparent reprieve of execution, but I knew it was only a matter of time and I felt I needed to continue with my original plan.

One thing we decided,  from day one, was that our animals would be raised on all natural foods, without any anti-biotics, growth hormones, de-wormers, etc...   We knew this would make raising the animals more difficult, but it just was not an option for us.  We also had to accept the fact that we may have a higher mortality rate with our animals than other farmers might have, but I never really thought about me having to kill them.  I guess I figured they would get sick and quickly die on their own.  Our first goat death (due to illness) occurred about two months ago while I was away for 4 weeks.  Fern (not sure where she got that name) got sick soon after I left and struggled for a couple weeks.  Eventually my wife and children found her dead and had to deal with the carcass; I felt bad at the time knowing that Fern was dying and not being home to put her out of her misery.  We have come a long way, but I cannot expect my wife to put a gun to a goat’s head nor am I willing to spend $100+ for a veterinarian to euthanize a $50 goat.

Anyway, as I previously stated, I knew that Loppy needed to be put down; my thoughts were confirmed when she was again unable to stand up later.  I got the leash, loaded her onto the rear platform on my tractor, and hauled her down to the lower pasture near the creek where my wife had dumped Fern after she died.  This area is far enough away from the house and our animals that I have no concerns about the Coyotes, Vultures and other scavengers that would be coming back around.  I felt like an executioner leading her to the execution room, only she had no idea what was going on.

After I shot her, I sat there and watched life leave her body.  I didn't cry or feel that type of loss, but I didn't feel real good either.  I had hard time as I drove back up toward the house and met with my daughter,  who came to me and hugged me as she cried.  I cannot imagine what she felt and thought as she heard the gun shots.  I confirmed with her that she understood why I had done it and that she was not angry with me.  She was sad for a while, but a few hours later she was laughing and running around like nothing had happened.

 As I type this I wonder if I will ever be able to kill an animal like that without feeling some remorse... I hope not.  I have hunted turkeys, slaughtered chickens, shot rabbits and had no problems with any of it, but having to kill an animal out of mercy is quite a bit different; the act seems to add a type of human quality to it that makes it more difficult.  I am also fascinated by the fact that I was more effected by my dead goat (and my daughter’s pet chicken that I had to kill) than all of the dead humans that I have seen.

I didn't intend to turn this post into a morbid look into my psyche, but I guess part of the reason I have this blog is to simply get my thoughts out of my head sometimes.  My family has learned a lot about life in the past year since we moved here; not all of it has been easy, but I know that it has all been good and it has given us all a greater appreciation for the lives we have been blessed with.

growing up

Both of my children have asked (in the past) to drive the tractor, but I have always thought that they were just too young to drive a 5,750 lb machine that would drive right through the house if you let it.  Perhaps because I have been gone so much lately and am feeling more emotional than normal or perhaps because I really felt they could handle it, I decided to let them give it a shot.

I had my son drive first; I stood on the 3 point hitch behind him as I explained how the clutch and gear shift worked along with the dual brakes and the gas lever.  I was a little nervous as I allowed him to put it into gear and release the clutch, but he did well and it went fairly smoothly.  The tractor was in 2nd gear so it wouldn't go very fast and I jumped down and walked along side my son as he drove the tractor all by himself.  As I watched him headed down the driveway, I couldn't help but get a little emotional as I thought of my little boy transforming into a young man.  His smile, look of confidence, and overall sense of accomplishment made the whole experience one I will never forget.

I also allowed my daughter to drive and she did equally well behind the wheel, but for some reason I did not have the same reaction.  She enjoyed herself, but did not seem to have that "boys driving big machinery" grin on her face; I guess that is a good thing.  Before I know it they will both be doing real work with the tractor rather than just driving it for fun.  Both of them have already asked if they can run the bush-hog and/or drive it around the drive way...  they seem to think it is like a very large go-cart.   :-)

a great concert

As previously advertised, we had a small concert at our home yesterday.  Despite the possibilities, the weather was absolutely wonderful and it was a perfect November day to fellowship and worship outside.  I had hoped for a larger crowd, but we were blessed to have approximately 35 people join us and they all seemed to truly enjoy the time together.

Nathan George and his brother Benjamin showed up a few hours early, shared a meal with us, and spent some time simply sitting around getting acquainted; they then performed for about an hour.  It was truly awesome to have Nathan and Benjamin come to our home and bless us with their music.  It is my hope that we can have more concerts in the future and we would love to have Nathan join us again next fall.  You can see more about the concert at my wife's blog.

click here to view the web album or the slideshow.

the look of a terrorist?

Ok, well here I go again with another post that has absolutely nothing to do with farming or our life on the farm...  (I wrote this while sitting in the airport on Friday and am publishing it this morning)

To the left is the Official Photo I had taken a couple days ago; I am wearing the same uniform as I am traveling today.  I am sitting in the airport in New Orleans waiting to catch my flight home and I am stewing about the ridiculous process I just went through with TSA and airport "security".  I know that we need to be more secure and I am all for having a screening processes, but the system we have now is a complete joke.

I correctly guessed that my uniform would set off the metal detector, but I was not anticipating having to stand in the glass cubicle for 10 minutes waiting for the schlub from TSA to come over and further scrutinize me via a full  "pat-down".   As I stood there watching people walk by, who would fit a terrorist profile if we had the fortitude to do what was necessary rather than what was politically correct, I began to grow very angry.  Watching the overweight, sloppy TSA screeners walk around with their ghetto tattoos I grew more angry...  I found myself wondering what they actually had to go through to get their security clearance and what made them "qualified" to screen me.

I have had a security clearance through the Marine Corps for the past 17 years and have been in some of the most secure locations in our nation.  As a former police officer, I have the right to carry a firearm anywhere in our nation and I know that I have had several more thorough background-checks than the TSA screeners.  I have spent my whole adult life as someone who has been willing to run toward gunfire and risk my life to protect people, but when it come to traveling at the airport I am treated as if I am more untrustworthy than the average person.

I am constantly frustrated that I walk around on a daily basis as a Sheepdog willing to protect the Sheep of society from the Wolves; when I get on an airplane, I am forced to give up my status as a protector and become just another potential victim.  In addition to having to take my shoes off, I am regularly pulled aside at the gate to be "randomly" screened again.  My Marine Corps dog tags, official orders, official passport, I.D. card mean absolutely nothing to the people who went from flipping burgers to being in charge of our nations security with air-travel.

I simply don’t understand why we (as a society) are unwilling to be effective rather than politically correct.  I also do not understand why the FAA, TSA, FBI, or any of the lettered agencies do not offer a course for people like me that would allow us to travel as a protector rather than a potential victim.  I would be willing to pay to get another background check and put myself through an air marshal academy, but that would simply be too logical for those bureaucrats running things.

Oh well, I guess I should be accustomed to this by now, but I hope I never get complacent and accept the stupidity of the world.  For those of you that know me, you can count on me to protect you whenever we are together, unless we are flying... then I will still attempt to protect you, but I will have to use the plastic spoon I got from the stewardess rather my gun or knife.

Semper Fidelis

Applebee's & Veteran's Day

Well, I guess I was kidding myself in thinking that I could have a blog that was dedicated only to our farm and our new mid-western lifestyle.  I still intend to keep my original focus, but my convictions will force me to occasionally comment on other topics which will probably have to do with the military in some regard.

This evening, I read an article at Military.com which I felt warranted further promotion...  Veteran's Eat Free at Applebee's: First I must admit that I am not a huge fan of this restaurant, but their apparent support of our nations warriors compelled me to let you know of their corporate patriotism.  While I think that our veterans should get regular discounts at all establishments (instead of students and senior citizens who have done nothing to earn them) I love to see any type of outward support of those who are mostly forgotten in our society.

Provided that veterans can prove their honorable service, Applebee's will allow them to choose from one of  6 specific dinner entrees (my choice would be the Fiesta Lime Chicken) available for free on November 11th (Veteran's Day).

To the "suits" at Applebee's, I would simply like to say "thank you" and Semper Fidelis.

a little cleaning up

Due to the upcoming concert I am being forced to deal with a few items around the house.  I keep the property fairly neat, but I am a procrastinator by nature and there is always something left unfinished.

In this case it happened to be the old goat/chicken shelter and the canopy which was destroyed when it blew away.  I moved them both behind the house, next to the shed and they have been sitting in a heap for several weeks now.  They were out of the way just enough to allow me to forget about them.

Yesterday, I decided that they needed to go.  Naturally I grabbed my favorite helper (along with several saws and hammers) and headed out to finally take care of the mess.  My son seems to enjoy doing any type work when he is working along with me and I love having him by my side.  He is also starting to get to the point where he is old enough and strong enough to actually accomplish tasks with little supervision; which makes him much more of an asset when it comes to getting work done.  In addition to his physical value, I love seeing the look of satisfaction on his face when he completes his "mission" on his own.

Anyway, yesterday afternoon we got it all broken up, stacked on the trailer, and parked it for our run to the dump the next day (Saturday).  This afternoon after we finished moving the goats/chickens and dealing with several other small tasks, we headed off to the dump... only to get there and discover that it had closed 30 minutes before we arrived.  After all of that, it is now back in our driveway and sitting again.  At least the delay is not completely my fault this time.

how far I've come

As we hit the one year anniversary of moving to our new home (also our 12th wedding anniversary) I have been reflecting on how much my life has changed since fleeing southern California and starting a new life in southern Indiana.  I thought I'd go through a list of things that I never thought I would be doing:

     Riding my old farm tractor instead of my police motorcycle
     Watching my son drive our riding mower and cutting our grass by himself
     I had to cut the head off of my daughter's "pet" chicken
     Working on my 1962 John Deere
     Raising my own chickens/eggs
     Raising my own goats
     Breeding goats for the purpose of meat
     Raising turkeys (well only one now that the other two died)
     Planning to slaughter the remaining turkey myself, for Thanksgiving dinner
     Going out to check on my animals at midnight... in the rain
     Shooting pistols with my wife in our backyard
     I had to instruct my wife, over the phone, how to dispose of a dead goat (I was away with USMC)

Last night we went to a friends house for dinner and in the course of our conversation he asked me if I was glad we had moved to Indiana.  I will tell you the same thing that I told him: I have never regretted our decision; I know we did the right thing.  I think that we would have been joyful and content in many places, but I love where we ended up and I am grateful that the Lord led us here.

As previously stated, I never would have imagined that I would be living on a small farm in the mid-west and rasing goats, but I have to say that I love it and I am curious to see what I end up doing over the next year.

I'm back

You may have been wondering why I have not posted in a couple  of weeks, well I had a good reason.  I do have another job which requires me to leave the farm on occasion.  You can read more about my career as a reservist in the  United States Marine Corps at www.usmcphillips.com/biography.html

Anyway, I spent the past 15 days attending the Combat Marksmanship Trainer program at Weapons Training Battalion / Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia.  This happened to be a high intensity course which only granted one day off out of 15 and working long hours.  A short day consisted of waking up at 4am, getting on the buses at 5:00, drawing our weapons from the armory by 5:30 and being seated in the classroom by 6:45.  On a good day we would spend the next 12 hours in class and get back to our living quarters by 7pm.  Our longest day started at 4am and did not see us released until 11pm.  After our 20 hour day of lectures and shooting, we then had to study for an exam and a presentation we had the next day before getting a few hours of sleep and getting up again at 4am.

We "lived" in 60 year old Quonset huts which had no heat, but did have mice running around on the dirt covered floors.  Fortunately we did have running water and while it was not 100% cold, it certainly was not hot either.  We had one large shower room with 15 heads for everyone to use and the toilets had dividers between them, but no doors.  Nothing causes men to "bond" like talking to the guys walking by as you sit on the toilet and then stripping down and showering together.  Anyone who supports homosexuals in the military needs to live in this environment for a week or so and then come talk to me about their political views, but I digress...  It got down to 51 degrees in our hut; that coupled with the early mornings made it very difficult to get out of the sleeping bag in the morning.  We ate MREs most of the time, but got the luxury of eating powdered eggs and greasy hash-browns a few mornings; needless to say, I really missed my wife's home cooking.

We also spent quite a lot of time shooting on the KD (known distance) range for pistol and rifle as well as the 3 different (tables 2-4) combat courses.  Despite shooting in the pouring rain and hurricane force winds, I qualified as and Expert (top of the three tiers in the USMC) with both the pistol and rifle.

All-in-all, it was a great course and I am now certified as a Combat Marksmanship Instructor... ooh-rah!!  I have always said that it is great anytime I get paid to shoot or simply be around weapons.

a stud for the ladies

We have been hoping to move our small farm operation forward, in order to do that we need to get our does pregnant.  It is funny how that works, if you plan to actually make any money at raising meat goats, you need to have kids to raise.

We have eight does, but two of them are a little young still and one has been sick for a few weeks; that leaves us with five does that are able to breed.  Ideally they would each have twins and we would end up with our eight does, plus 10 kids running around in March.  We are not sure if we are going to sell the kids at 3 months old (sort of like veal) or raise them and sell them as much larger yearlings.  Before we get to any of that we need to get our ladies pregnant and there are two basic ways to go about that: artificial insemination and the old fashioned way.

I have learned a lot about animals and I am doing a lot of things that I never thought I would, but I just cannot bring myself to artificially inseminate a goat.  Besides, it only has a 60% success rate which is simply unacceptable for me.  We decided that we needed to either rent a buck or buy one.  Both options have benefits, but we were open to either one; the real problem we had was trying to find what we wanted.

Boer goats are not exactly rare, but they are not real common either.  We needed to find a buck that was 1.5 - 3 years old, of large stature, a proven breeder, with a good demeanor, and under $400.  Oh yeah, we also needed the seller to deliver him as we do not have a truck or trailer and I didn't want to borrow from our friend again.  After searching all over southern and central Indiana we ended up finding one that was only 10 miles from our home.  He is a year & a half old and weighs 150-175lbs.  His registered name is Painted Wizard, but that simply will not work for us.  My daughter has taken to calling him Mr. Red, while my wife and son are calling him Jimmy.  Hopefully, we will come to an agreement soon.

He is in rut, but the does are not in estrus at this point.  Hopefully, they will all sync up soon and we can begin to make some real progress on the farm.  :-)

canopy no more

After several days of non-stop rain, I woke up to a perfectly clear sky this morning.  It is a beautiful sunny day, but it was fairly windy last night.  As you have seen in in the previous post, I have been using our sun canopy as a make-shift garage for my tractor...  As I was admiring the sunrise this morning, I noticed that something was missing.

As you can see from the photo, the canopy is not covering the tractor any more; I found it about 50 yards away.  The thin metal cross members are all bent and twisted.  Unfortunately, it does not look like I will be able to salvage it.  Oh well, I guess I need to make some sort of real garage/car port for it at some point.

keep it simple stupid

When I was teenager, I had things such as lawn mowers and motorcycles to maintain and repair.  I was never a mechanical genius, but I was able to take care of most issues.  When a simple gas engine doesn't run, you pretty much check two things: fuel and spark.  There are several components that deliver those to the engine, but spark and fuel (+ air) are the items you need for the motor to run.

The easiest way to check if you had spark was to disconnect one of the wires from the spark plug and hold it about a half an inch away from the end of the plug and crank the motor.  If the ignition system was working properly a beautiful bright blue arc ("small lightning" as my son put it) would appear between the spark lug and the end of the wire.  The list of potential problems is long, but at least you know if you need to work on the ignition system or not.

Well, I spent many of my adult years in very technical occupations and I learned to use handy things such as a volt meter.  So when my tractor mysteriously stopped running a few days ago I immediately verified that fuel was getting to the carburetor and moved to the other side to check the ignition system.  This is where I started to create problems for myself.  I reverted back to the old days and immediately pulled a wire off of one of the spark plugs, to check for power.  Rather than doing it the old simple way and just checking for a spark, I thought to myself "I will go get my meter and check the ignition system with that."  That is just what I did.  I placed the positive meter lead on the end of the spark plug cable as I cranked the motor and I had power.  I then thought to myself "Great now what?  It has fuel and spark, it should be running."

I started to take things apart that I then had trouble putting back together properly; things were getting worse rather than better.  I proceeded to "beat my head against a wall" for the next couple days, even swallowing my pride and attempting to get a mechanic to come out and fix my piece of junk tractor that I had only owned for a couple months.  I would have taken it to a mechanic, but my 5,000 pound paper weight was too heavy for my little trailer and even if I did have a trailer that would carry it; how was I going to get it up onto the trailer?  Oh and I forgot to mention, it rained every day so I had to put up a sunshade which helped, but was not meant to keep water out.  Needless to say, I was not a very "happy camper".  All the while my loving wife and children tried to help by offering advice such as: "Did you check to see if it has gas dad?"  Very sweet, but it was just adding to my frustration.

Anyway, I eventually decided to do the old "spark" test and determined that the power was getting from the coil to the distributor, but not through the distributor cap out to the spark plugs.  If I held the coil cable about a half inch from the cap it sparked just fine and the tractor fired up, but as soon as I plugged in the cable, the tractor died.  I am still not real sure what was wrong with the distributor cap, but I dove 3 hours round trip to a John Deere dealership and got a new cap.  Once I got home and put the new cap on, the tractor fired right up and is running like a champ.  I also don't understand why my volt meter showed I was getting power, but I wasn't getting the spark I needed.  If I had kept it simple on day 1 and done the basic spark test rather than using my fancy meter, I would have solved the whole problem a lot sooner and would have saved me a lot of time and stress.

One of the best phrases I have learned in the Marine Corps is K.I.S.S. - Keep it Simple Stupid.  In other words, you are stupid if you unneccesarily complicate things.  I thought it was beneath me to troubleshoot an engine the way I learned when I was 12 years old, because I have since been educated and have more technical knowledge.  Oh well, live and learn...  by the way, I no longer think my tractor is a piece of junk; since it is running again I LOVE IT!!!!

rainy night, full house

It has been raining (seemingly) non-stop for the past 3 days.  Our goats typically spend their evenings out in the pasture, but on nights like this they take full advantage of their mobile shelter.  The shelter is 128 square feet; there are 13 hens, 1 rooster, 2 turkeys, and 8 goats.  There is plenty of room for everybody, but they are not all accustomed to being so close together.  If you look closely, you can see one of the hens attempting to roost on one of the goats in the foreground.  It will be interesting to see how they all do once it starts snowing again in a few months.

our first hay

Over the past year,  I have had many days where I had to stop and think to myself "ok, now I am a farmer" - Today was another one of those days.  In order to prepare for the many cold/wet months ahead, I bought my first load of hay.  It was only 25 bales, a very small load by most farm standards, but hey we have to start somewhere.

It has pretty much been raining for the past 48 hours.  I had been praying that it would let up for my hay run this morning; it did... sort of.  The bottom line is that the hay got a little wet and I got very wet, not too bad.  I have also decided that the hay hooks I recently bought are worth their weight in gold.

Rather than getting the "good hay" which typically consists mainly of Alfalfa, I opted to buy some "junk hay" that was a mix of Alfalfa, Timothy, Orchard, and Clover.  I figured it would be best to attempt to mimic the natural variety that goats prefer; I hope the goats will be happy with their winter meals.

concert on the pasture

We are pleased to announce that we will be having a free concert here at Liberty Pastures, on Sunday November 1st.  Nathan Clark George's performance will start at 2:00pm and run 45 minutes to an hour.  We recently discovered his music and he has quickly become a family favorite.  We hope you will join us for an afternoon of fellowship and music.

All are invited, we simply ask that you visit our website and RSVP so we know you will be coming.  Please arrive between 1:00 and 1:30; the concert will begin promptly at 2:00.

Visit the Liberty Pastures concert page to RSVP and to listen to Nathan's music

NATHAN CLARK GEORGE seamlessly blends contemporary folk, AC and finger-style guitar work into one.  He possesses a unique gift that mesmerizes his multi-generational audiences.  With five projects on the shelves, NATHAN CLARK GEORGE is no newcomer to the field of music.  His self-written/composed songs have illuminated stages across the nation, bringing a view to the reality of God in everyday lives.  His latest project, “Rise in the Darkness” has received critical acclaim.  Along with being nominated for the above award, this cd has also been chosen as a 2007 finalist in the Contemporary Christian category by the Independent Music Awards! “In my 10 years working with thousands of independent artists, there are very few who maintain the level of commitment, pursuit of excellence, and passion of mission as Nathan Clark George. Nathan is truly an indie success story!”,states Keith Mohr, President, IndieHeaven.  With a strong regional and national fan base, NATHAN CLARK GEORGE has won over many with his talent.  The listener hears an honesty that flows through his lyrical content.  NATHAN CLARK GEORGE is the epitome of a true family man, many times taking his wife and five children on the journey along with him.

Nathan's Homepage