Well, it has come down to this…

I have decided to cease writing posts on this blog.  When I started this blog it was only supposed to be related to the happenings on the farm, but I cannot seem to avoid commenting on political and news stories.  As previously posted, I gave in a while back and created Facebook and Twitter accounts; in short, all of my future social networking will not include a blog.

I have a Facebook page (Jacob Phillips) which will include my opinions/comments as well as miscellaneous activities of my personal life.  I have a business Facebook page (Liberty Pastures) and Twitter page which will focus on our farm operation.  As a note, you will need a account to view my Facebook pages, but you do not need an account to follow us on Twitter. 

If you happen to be technically challenged [anybody over the age of 50, specifically my parents  :-) ] or are intimidated by Facebook/Twitter, you don’t need to be; if you want assistance on getting it all set-up just let me know and I’ll walk you through it.  You can even have the updates sent directly to your e-mail or cell phone.

- the Ag Commissioner I want

Makes me want to move to Alabama so I can vote for this man.  I would love to have a guy like this run for the Agricultural Commissioner in Indiana.

- secure the border

I am disgusted at how our individual states are being forced to "battle" against the federal government, but I am more upset by the fact that so many states and the feds refuse to enforce their own laws.  I don't understand how we have gotten to the point where it is wrong to defend ourselves, where we are not willing to stand for any real principals, and where men are so eager to point their finger without having done something so simple like read a 10 page bill.  I spent most of my life in Southern California and I can assure you that despite all of California's other utterly stupid policies, the illegal immigration problem is a real problem.  You do not want this to become a problem in your state, because it will bankrupt you too; in addition to causing your crime rate to rise.

- moving the chicks out

This afternoon I took all of the chicks out of their brooder in the garage and moved them to the small chicken tractor.  They are not down in the field with the rest of the birds; for now we are keeping them on the lawn next to the house.  The birds are only 3 weeks old, so they will not be big enough to go down to the field for a a few more weeks, but I wanted to get them out into the fresh air and on the grass.

- some new goats

Yesterday afternoon we had some new Spanish goats delivered.  We purchased 2 pregnant nannies and 2 yearling does from Montgomery Farms in Northern Indiana.  This breed was brought to the Americas several hundred years ago so they are considered more of a heritage breed - vice the Boers who were brought to the U.S. in 1993.  It is our hope that this different breed will prove to be healthier mothers and more parasite resistant.  They are nowhere near as friendly as our Boer goats, but we have enough pets; we simply want goats to thrive and reproduce well.

As you can see, they have not completely lost all of their winter coat.

- government style math?

General Motors paid back its loan in full and ahead of schedule?  Not exactly...  Now that they are owned by the federal government, they are operating just like the federal government.  

Hey, since GM is majority owned by the taxpayers, will I be getting a dividend check each quarter?  If you buy a new GM vehicle you are simply supporting and enabling them in their road to ruin.

- lets go fly a kite

- a family ride

One of the many beauties of educating our children at home:

For PE (physical education) we don’t send them out to an asphalt lot to play dodge-ball; instead our whole family heads to the local mountain bike park. In this case we went to Wapahani Trail which is only about 5 miles from our home. The park is maintained by the city of Bloomington and has a total of 9 miles of trail. Most of these trails are a little too much for a family ride, but there is a 0.6 mile loop around the lake/pond that is fairly mellow. The children thoroughly enjoyed their time of exercise although I am hoping we can get them to the point where they can ride more than 6 laps.

- home on the range

I have always said that it is a good thing any time I get paid to be around weapons or explosions.  A couple of weeks ago, I had the privilege of being the Range Safety Officer and Marksmanship Instructor for DET2, ELMACO while they were conducting their annual rifle qualifications at Camp Atterbury.  Good Stuff.

- hunting

I met a buddy and went turkey hunting for a couple hours this evening at another's buddy's farm.  We saw a couple hens, but no toms to shoot.  Oh well, a bad day hunting is better than a good day working.

- i gave in, big time

Well, as the title states; I gave in...  The Marine Corps motto is Semper Fidelis (Latin for Always Faithful) one of our "unofficial" mottos is Semper Gumby (always remain flexible and open to change).

Despite my consistent protests against them, I decided to go ahead and create a Twitter account and a Facebook page (you do need to have your own Titter/Facebook accounts).  Sometimes I tweet/post a few times each day about the simple things that I am doing around the farm and sometimes I won't post anything for several days.  Much like the blog, I hope that these additions will allow our family and friends to feel more connected and have a better idea of what we are doing.  Oh yeah, I also hope it will bring in a few customers and keep us connected with our existing customers.

What can I say?  I am a stubborn man, but I am not afraid to make changes when necessary.  I also have to admit that I am having a little fun with the new pages, I look forward to hearing from some of you via Twitter or FB.

- mowing the lawn

Last week, my son was tasked with mowing our lawn for the first time this season.  The grass growth pretty much shuts around October and starts up again around April.  He was glad for the break over the winter, but was also eager to get back to work.

When we moved to Indiana my son was given the responsibility of mowing and has thoroughly enjoyed it.  I also have to admit that I thoroughly enjoy watching him, the sense of pride he emanates is a reward in itself.

- grass or grass?

For those of you who happen to be lacking in street knowledge (not a bad thing), the first bag is full of Cannabis, Marijuana, Mary Jane, Mota, Grass etc… and it is not the tame low percentage THC (Tetrahydrocannabinol) that Clinton smoked when he was younger; it is the modern version that is much more powerful, addictive, and destructive.

But I digress.  The only bags of grass I dealt with when I was “the man” were the ones I got off of the knucklehead parolees I stopped.  I never imagined I would be packing my own baggies of grass someday.  The only difference is that I packed my baggies full of the various grasses from my pastures.

I took numerous samples from our property and cut them into 2-3 inch pieces then mixed them up and stuffed them into a quart size bag.  After sitting in my freezer for a couple days, I mailed them off to Dairy One laboratory for a detailed analysis.  In the next few days, I should know the exact mineral, protein, etc… of our forage.

As previously stated, I never even thought I would own goats – let alone be testing my grass to ensure my goats stay healthy.  I love how my life has changed and am constantly excited about our new experiences.

- welfare cars from GM?

"It's a beautiful car," the 38-year-old Detroit resident said. "I love it. When I get a job, I might get one."

That quote sort of sums it up doesn’t it?  I am just disgusted, but not at all surprised that this “church” is encouraging its congregants to become strapped with a huge unneeded car loan.  Rather than following the very clear biblical principals about not being indentured to a debtor, the wise “men of God” are promoting the idea of people (who don’t even have jobs) buying over-priced new cars.  These knuckleheads actually brought lenders into the church building to make it easier for the people to apply for loans!!!

I am also trying to figure out why this GM dealer would waste their time letting unabashedly un-employed people drive them around… Is it because GM is now owned by the federal government?  Maybe that will be the next big push – “everybody has the right to own a new car” or “it simply isn’t fair that some Americans have the money to own a new car and others don’t”.

While I don’t know all of the details, I feel pretty safe saying that the poor people of Detroit need to be taught to become self sufficient and self sustaining, not that it is ok to accumulate a bunch of debt – especially when you’re only income is welfare from the government.  I guess I shouldn’t be so shocked when our citizens want to live in a manner that is similar to the government itself.  “Just get it now and figure out how to pay for it later”.

Every time I read the news, I have to do a reality check because it seems like I am living in the Twilight Zone.

GM, church team up to convert sales

- don't tread on us

According to a new poll, 4 out of 5 Americans do not trust big government… It should not matter if you are on the political left or right, none of us should place our faith in people who have made a career out of politics and do not live in the same reality that the rest of us do.

Ronald Reagan said it best,  "The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help.'"

My wife sent me this article and I could not help but shed a tear when I read it.  All that I can say is that I am proud to wear the same uniform as this young man.

After all he's been through, the only real regret Marine Cpl. Matthew Bradford says he has now is not being able to return to combat duty in Iraq.

But Wednesday, Bradford, 23, made Marine Corps history, becoming the first blind double amputee to re-enlist. In keeping with service tradition, Bradford was honorably discharged and allowed to say a few words as a civilian before re-enlisting.

“Sign me up, sir!” he told Lt. Col. David Barnes, who administered the oath of enlistment, extending Bradford's military career by another four years.  The outdoor re-enlistment ceremony was held a few hundred feet from the Center for the Intrepid, dedicated just 11 days after Bradford was seriously wounded in Iraq.

It was at the cutting-edge rehabilitation center, funded with $50 million in private contributions, that he began his arduous and painful journey in June 2007 to learn to walk again with prosthetic limbs.  He'll soon leave Fort Sam Houston to work with other wounded Marines at Camp Lejeune, N.C. At the Intrepid Center, he had memorized the number of steps it took to get wherever he was going in the third-floor physical therapy department. The center became his “comfort zone,” said his mother, Debbie Bradford.

“He's got to grow past it,” she said. “He knows he can always come back.”  So with a brief ceremony, delayed by about 20 minutes after the post was on lockdown for a visit by Vice President Joe Biden, Bradford's new phase of duty began. He said he wants to stay in the Marines “for as long as I can.”

Bradford, who grew up in Winchester, Ky., and Dinwiddie, Va., had made up his mind that he was going to deploy as many times as the Marines wanted him to when he was hurt a few months into his first tour of Iraq.  A rifleman, he was on patrol in Al Anbar province and trying to help clear an area of roadside bombs when one of them exploded right under him the afternoon of Jan. 18, 2007.

Bradford lost his eyesight, and he had a fractured right hand and fragmentation wounds to the lower abdominal area. But what he said he hated the most was losing his legs. He required amputations below the knee on the right leg and above the knee on the left.  His physical therapist, Matt Parker, said Bradford put his complete trust in his rehabilitation team, at a time when the Intrepid Center was “extremely busy” with a first wave of severely wounded troops.

One of the first tasks was to use exercises to strengthen his trunk area.  “Every day, he would show up faithfully at 1 o'clock, despite having a full belly after lunch,” Parker said. “He's done things most able-bodied people can't do.”  During President George W. Bush's visit at the Intrepid Center in November 2007, Bradford caught the president's attention while climbing the center's 35-foot artificial rock wall.  “Good man, isn't he?” Bush said, according to news reports.

Since then, Bradford has inspired others by riding his hand cycle, with directions called out to him, in the Marine Corps Marathon. Last year, he hiked 10 miles of desert terrain in the grueling Bataan Memorial Death March in White Sands, N.M.  Bradford credited his years of playing football and basketball as a youth, and the never-give-up attitude of the Marine Corps, with preparing him for his recovery. He's learned to read Braille and works on a computer with the aid of special software. Friday, he received a promotion to corporal, based on leadership.

The prayers and support of strangers and friendships he's made also have helped, his mother said. “He just doesn't like the word ‘No,'” she said. “He's lost a lot, but he's gained a lot.”  She said she was proud to see her son take his oath of service in 2005, despite her worries about his safety. Seeing him take the oath again Wednesday, after his long ordeal, was even more wrenching, she said.  Bradford said he wants to focus his energy on others, now that he's come so far in his own recovery.

He said he hopes to help wounded Marines cope with anger, depression and other demons that can fester if there's not someone around to provide strong peer mentoring.  “I'm paving the road for the rest of them who want to stay in but think they can't,” he said. “I'm ready to get back to work.”  He did note one tinge of sadness — regret about having to say goodbye.  “It's going to be hard to leave my friends,” he said.

Blind Marine re-enlists

By Scott Huddleston - Express-News

- corpse or Corps?

The mainstream media did not really cover it much; certainly not like they would have if “W” had made the gaff, in fact most Americans probably never heard of this little incident in which our president showed what a buffoon he really is.  Now that I think about it, most Americans have been so poorly educated that they would probably make the same mistake that Barry did.  I guess you sort of have to feel sorry for Mr. Soetero, he doesn’t ever really know what he is saying; he just gets up there and reads from his teleprompters.

I know this story has been talked about before, but it obviously hits a nerve with me. Being a Marine, I would like to think my Commander-in-Chief would at least know the name of my military organization, but I guess that is simply to much to ask these days. Additionally, I want to know how a guy can graduate from an Ivy League school without know the difference between a corpse and a corps.

My father just e-mailed me this image… I love it. It should be a bit funny to all (unless you happen to be a Obama-maniac), but if you are a Marine or at least know of R. Lee Ermey it should be even more humorous because you can probably remember/imagine being talked to this way at some point.

- factory or farm eggs?

I recently read a post from the Radical Chicken in which he was commenting on the CAFO “farm” featured in the spring edition if the Hoosier Farmer (the Indiana Farm Bureau’s magazine).  He was speaking about the twisted economics involved with operating a CAFO.

I thought of another aspect to the article:  I just thought it was disingenuous of the IFB to have the title From Farm to Table on the cover.  When most people read that they automatically assume it is a “farm,” when in fact it is much more like a factory.  I liken it to the egg cartons in the store that show a beautiful little image of a traditional barn with chicken roaming around outside; when in fact they are almost always raised in an enormous warehouse.  When looking for some images on the web, I stumbled upon an old blog post from the Cheeseslave who addressed the same issue.

If you have any desire to eat healthier, or if you simply like to feel a little less guilty about the treatment of chickens, then you are most likely willing to spend an extra couple bucks and get the “cage free” eggs with the cute farm image on them.  If you think your cage free eggs are coming from free roaming chickens on a farm you are severely mistaken.  While there may be a few farms (like us) that are raising their chickens this way, the overwhelming majority of them are raised in a confined warehouse.  They are fed nothing but genetically modified corn/soy, they live on a concrete floor, and will never see direct sun-light.  They can be called “free range” or “cage free” because they are free to roam around the warehouse amongst the thousands of other chickens.  Just for the record, we occasionally shop at Trader Joe's - I just want you to know what you are actually getting.

At Liberty Pastures, we are raising our (meat and egg) birds in a manner that you would expect when you hear “free range or cage free.”  They do have access to an all natural chicken feed, but it is a supplement only; they spend the majority of their time roaming around our pasture.  Their primary diet consists of grass, insects, seeds, and even the occasional vole.  [Did you know chickens can hunt?]

If you live in Bloomington, please feel free to contact us for a brief farm tour or with any questions.  If you do not live near us, I highly recommend you find a local farmer who is raising his poultry the way God intended or even keep a few hens of your own.  Either way, if you are truly concerned about your health or if you really want to support the ethical treatment of animals then you need to buy eggs/meat from a farmer who is a real farmer, not a factory manager.

All natural, pasture raised eggs are available at Liberty Pastures on Wednesdays 3-7 and Saturdays 8-12.  You may want to call (812 606-8783) in advance as our supply is limited.

- hamburger havoc

 This got some publicity in the local news, but I cannot help but think that if the circumstances were slightly different it would have made big national headlines.  Could you image if it were a meat loving man who went crazy and was cutting up vegetables and what if, to top it off, he was a "Christian" too?  I can see the CNN title now CHRISTIAN CARNIVORE DECIMATES INNOCENT GREENERY.  But in this situation it will only be talked about by normal people like you and me, because the mainstream media does not want you to know that the real nuts and terrorists are on their side of the spectrum.

- eggs, eggs, eggs

I think it is time for us to actually start selling some eggs... want some?  

Our eggs are free from anti-biotics, hormones, and by-product filler feed.  They are laid by hens raised on pasture and allowed to express their "chicken-ness".  We encourage you to come by and see for yourself how your food is being raised. 

$3.50 per dozen // Contact us if interested: mail@lpfarm.org or (812) 606-8783

- barocky road ice cream

In honor of the 44th President of the United States, Baskin-Robbins Ice Cream has introduced a new flavor: " Barocky Road ."

Barocky Road is a blend of half vanilla, half chocolate, and surrounded by nuts and flakes.  The vanilla portion of the mix is not openly advertised and usually denied as an ingredient.  The nuts and flakes are all very bitter and hard to swallow.

The cost is $100.00 per scoop.

When purchased it will be presented to you in a large beautiful cone, but after you pay for it,  the ice cream is taken away and given to the person in line behind you at no charge.

You are left with an empty wallet and no change, holding an empty cone with no hope of getting any ice cream.

Are you stimulated?

--thanks for sending this to me Jim --

- what else do I need to say?

My wife sent me one of these, but I found them both at the Baltimore Sun and thought I'd share them.  Another situation where I chuckle, then shake my head in sadness and dismay because they are both so true.

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Oh yeah, I know this is a bit degrading to sheep (sorry Larry), but we have become like a nation of sheep willing to follow the shepherd wherever he deems it best to take us; even if it is right off the edge of a cliff.

- a great man tried to warn us

Just like so many others - he tried to warn us, but we have proven to be too stupid to heed their warnings.  I said after the election, we deserve whatever evil/stupidity we get; we brought it upon ourselves.  It is we who have allowed the brainwashing of our children in schools and the ever increasing dependency on the government.  As the old Toyota slogan stated "You asked for it, You got it".

Reagan on Socialized Medicine from Douglas Phillips on Vimeo

- ducks

Just when you thought we couldn't get any crazier, we go ahead and prove you wrong.  A couple days ago I was on the way home from the airport and stopped at a “country store” for a few supplies; I decided to try something else new.

Yes they are very cute, but that had nothing to do with my decision to bring them home; I figured they would be fun to raise, but would taste good in few months.  I had read that you could raise this particular breed (Pekin) alongside chickens, so I figured “why not give it a shot?”  We’ll see how they work out; so far they are doing well and are providing some entertainment at the same time.

- enjoying the sun

As you can see, we are not the only ones enjoying the warmer weather that has arrived.  It is a fairly common sight to see Turkey Vultures perched around our property, but it is not often that they are this close to the house.

- twitter

I finally gave in and jumped on the band wagon, one of them anyway.  I created a Twitter account and am updating it regularly.  As you will discover, I will "tweet" about each new blog post, but I will also send brief messages throughout the day simply telling what we are doing at Liberty Pastures.

I think it is great (especially for distant family members) who feel out of touch; if you want to know what we are doing all you need to do is create your own Twitter account and enter your e-mail or cell phone number; it is very simple.  If you need help just give me a call and I will walk you through it.

- I am still holding out and refuse to join Facebook or Myspace   :-)

- another tragedy

I am sad to have to report that one of our kids has died.  Liberty was the first kid that had survived birth on our farm, thus her name.  For the past several weeks she has been completely healthy and strong.  I checked on the animals this morning just after midnight and they were all fine, but when my children went down this morning they found Liberty dead.  There are no apparent injuries and we are left wondering what went wrong; I am assuming that she was somehow smothered by her mother, but we will never know.

Raising goats in this manner (all natural/organic) is proving to be much more difficult than we could have possibly imagined.  Our fatality rate so far is 52%; over the past year we have had 11 of our 21 goats die for various reasons.  I am very disheartened and am seriously considering abandoning the idea of raising goats long term.

We are still grateful for God’s grace and we love the experiences we have had and continue to have, but I will miss the little one who was our first born at Liberty Pastures.

- national "gun care"

My wife sent me a link to this post and I thought I'd share it with you.  It would save more innocent lives than the new "health care plan" and would actually promote some constitutional rights rather than just trample them - the humor/sarcasm should be obvious.  Just like Health Care, we are already covered...  Are you?

My proposal is a modest one:

• Mandate for every American to purchase a gun or be provided one by their employer (children under the age of 26 can share a weapon with their parents)

• Tax credits to offset the cost of purchase (for those making less than $250,000 per year and everyone in Nebraska)

• For those that can't afford it, a grant or subsidy to purchase a weapon (union members can get two weapons subsidized before 2018)

• Funding for a series of community based gun dealers/clinics and firing ranges (especially in under-served urban and rural areas)

• Monthly ammunition benefit so that no one has to choose between feeding their kids, paying the rent, or buying a box of .38 special cartridges

Contact your representative today. The time to act is now.

Read the whole article at: the American Thinker - M Allen Fritsch

- free no more

I have lost all faith in our government and the American people.

I simply do not understand how half of our nation can be in favor of this colossal mistake which is being called “reform”, but is nothing more than a giant step toward totalitarianism and ruin.  How did we get to the point where we are being run by Statists and they are being supported by so many stupid (or ignorant) people?

This bill is not about health care – it is about government control over our lives.  If it were about health, it would not include language involving the IRS, Student Loans, and different funding for different states.  I know this “Health Care Bill” will become law; my only hope is that it will be struck down as being unconstitutional (because it is), but most of the people who will make those decisions place no value on the constitution anyway.

We were a great nation once… a beacon on a hill, but oh how the mighty fall.  It started with FDR and the new deal; we took a giant leap towards socialism and all of those programs have been total failures.  Since then we have been slowly sliding down-hill toward complete socialism; if this bill is allowed to become the law-of-the-land, it will catapult us toward complete totalitarianism and the ultimate destruction of our once great nation.

I will continue to fight, I will not go quietly, but I am saddened beyond description.

The United States of America is no longer the “land of the free”.

- buy buy American pie

Another funny video that is sad, but true.

- custom wooden tote

A while back I made a few very simple wooden totes to use around the farm, but I wanted something more exquisite.  Since I can make functional, but not visually appealing, wood products I contacted my buddy (Jim) and told him of my idea.  All it took was a simple sketch and a few e-mails and he was able to create a wonderful gift that I had sent to my brother for his birthday.

Jim, being the generous man he is, decided to surprise me with a custom tote as a gift for me.  As you can see it is a work of art, yet at the same time it has proven to be durable and simply handy to have around.  I initially intended to use it as a means of carrying miscellaneous hand tools around the property, but have opted to use it as the farm animal medical kit.  I am sure he would love to make one for you; your imagination is the limit when it comes to having these types of custom creations made by Gathering Wood.

- funeral protestors

Court to rule in military funeral protest case

By Mark Sherman - The Associated Press

Posted : Monday Mar 8, 2010 18:02:12 EST

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court is entering an emotionally charged dispute between the grieving father of a Marine who died in Iraq and the anti-gay protesters who picket military funerals with inflammatory messages like “Thank God for dead soldiers.”

The court agreed Monday to consider whether the protesters’ message, no matter how provocative or upsetting, is protected by the First Amendment or limited by the competing privacy and religious rights of the mourners.

The justices will hear an appeal from a Marine’s father to reinstate a $5 million verdict against the protesters after they picketed outside his son’s funeral in Maryland four years ago. Members of a Kansas-based church have picketed military funerals to spread their belief that U.S. deaths in Afghanistan and Iraq are punishment for the nation’s tolerance of homosexuality.

I read this and simply thought -  WHAT????!!!!!!

It is extremely upsetting for me to read about these types of things and know that this kind of stupidity is actually happening in America.  Not only are these protesters some of the most evil, heartless, thoughtless, reckless people in our society, but they also perpetuate the image of all religious people being "wackos".

As to the protests themselves, if we cannot (or will not) protect the right of a family to bury their son in peace then we have truly lost ALL respect for those who protect and serve and we may as well call Castro or Kim Jung-il and give them the keys to the White House (if Barry hasn’t given it to them already).

- funny, but sad and true

A dear friend sent me a link to another blog (Your Sacred Calling) where this video had been posted; I am sure it has been posted many places, but this was the first time I had seen it and I felt compelled to share it.

Victoria Jackson is a little annoying and should not be singing, but she is funny too.  As my title states this video is funny, but extremely sad, frustrating, and true.  Sometimes I feel like the only sane person who sees our nation being destroyed.  Just for the record I was no huge fan of Bush either, but we are now on a fast track to becoming everything that our founding fathers were fighting against.  Anyway, I can feel my blood-pressure rising so I must stop my rant for now.

- wasted hay

We have always kept a manger full of hay inside the goat’s shelter as a supplement, but as winter approached and we ran out of pasture grass, hay became more of a staple.  The goats waste a tremendous amount of hay; once it gets a little dirty they are done with it.  As a result, we ended up with quite a lot of hay on the ground in the areas where the shelter had been.  The grass should be growing again soon, but in the mean-time they are eating almost nothing but hay.

A few days ago I decided to try and make use of the “wasted” hay that had been left behind by the goats.  I went around the fields, to the areas where the goat shelter had been stationed, and raked the hay into piles.  I was not sure if my efforts would be worthwhile, but I discovered a wonderful mess of  fermenting hay, goat urine, goat poop, and chicken poop.

You may be wondering how this mess could be so wonderful…  Well, if you have a compost bin and do any gardening you should know how great this combination can be.  As you can see below, I ended up with a lot of (already composting) waste hay and it wouldn’t all fit in our compost bin.  The big consolidated pile should continue to compost and breakdown on its own; I will take away little bits as we need it. 

- how much rock?

So this week we had yet another first; we had a bunch of crushed rock delivered to our home for our driveway.  Prior to living here our longest driveway was about 30 feet and all concrete.  Our driveway is now about 800 feet long and is not paved. 

When purchasing the home we knew there would be unexpected maintenance costs with the property, but I didn’t think about needing new rock every year for our driveway.  Between the rain and snow the old crushed rock has almost completely been pushed down leaving a very muddy mess in spots.  Before the Spring/Summer rains come, we decided to “bite the bullet” and have more rock dumped on the driveway.  After several different quotes, I opted to just have one truck-load delivered and see how well it covered…  To my dismay, I learned how relatively small 20 tons can be.  Next month we’ll get another load or two.    :-)

- what am I doing?

I just had one of those moments where I asked myself "what am I doing?"

A little while ago, I brought home 20 more chicks; these are Cornish Cross birds that we will raise for meat. We also just had our second successful kid birth.

Our animal count is now: Cats - 3
                                     Goats - 11
                                     Chickens - 75

- country children having fun

While I was hard at work, raking up hay, the children were having a blast by jumping into my collection.

As the sun was going down, they rode with me as we headed back to the house.

- little lady Liberty

We have had several does deliver kids in the past month, but they have all either been still-born or died very shortly after delivery.  None of those births had been witnessed, but we always found the dead kids in the morning. 

Sunday night - as I do every night after the sun goes down - I went out to check on the animals and look for any potential predators; this night was a little different though.  As I was walking near the barn I thought I heard something a little odd… it sounded a bit like a human baby.

When I looked in the barn I saw a new-born kid lying in the hay next to “Mama”.  Mama was clearly not herself and I figured she had another kid to deliver.  I notified my wife and children of the news, via radio, and they hurried to get dressed and come down to the barn.  As they were approaching, Mama started to deliver her second kid and we all got to see as it came into the world.  I cannot explain how excited we were to finally have living kids.

Ultimately, one of the kids did not survive through the night, but it has been 36 hours now and the doeling seems to be doing very well.  As you can see, she has got to be one of the cutest little creatures I have ever seen.  Since she is the first animal who has been born at Liberty Pastures, she was named “Liberty”.

We know she still has a long way to go and one goat doesn’t really do much for growing our flock, but she represents a victory over the odds and a much needed morale boost.  Whatever the future holds for her, we praise God for the time we have with this beautiful little part of his creation.

If you want to come by and see “Liberty” or take a look at the rest of the goats and chickens, just let us know; we would love to have you visit.

- biological bias?

I don't know what to say other than: Wow, have we really gone this far in our society?  Are we really this morally corrupt?  Like my last post, I cannot believe that this is even being discussed in a serious public forum.

'Biology-based' restrooms called 'discrimination' 

'Schools therefore cannot segregate students based on sexual orientation'

 

"Schools cannot discriminate against sexual identity or gender identification. Schools therefore cannot segregate students based on sexual orientation and identity," commission legal counsel John Gause said at today's commission meeting, where he was unsuccessful in convincing the board to adopt immediately a set of recommendations. 

 

The commission's vote was 4-1 to hold a public hearing on the adoption of guidelines that would allow biological males to play on girls' athletic teams and use girls' restrooms and locker rooms if they proclaim their gender identity is female. 

 

Today's public meeting was held before a capacity crowd in the main meeting room of the Senator Hotel in Augusta, Maine. The crowd was divided evenly between opponents and supporters of the proposed guidelines for students who have gender identity issues.

 

Speaking in favor of the guidelines, Gause said they should be adopted because they are how the 2005 Human Rights Law should be interpreted. 

 

"It's the commission's job to interpret the Human Rights Law, and in many cases the courts defer to the commission on the interpretation," he said.