Tales from the Clothesline

Many of you won't be surprised that I am writing about a clothes line since I've mentioned it before, but you know what? I am so excited about having a clothesline again. It's been about 15 years since we've been able to hang clothes outside. We've used a few creative indoor clotheslines from time to time over the years, but the last time we were able to hang clothes outside was in the spring of 2000. Now is the time for us to have a simple, effective,

outdoor dryer available to us again. A few days ago we moved the antenna towers and mowed down the tall grass in preparation for our new adventure in drying clothes outside.

  

Frank installed turnbuckles on the end of each line so we can tighten them up as needed. I thought this was a great idea!






You'll notice that the clothesline is very close to the outdoor kitchen. That will make it very convenient when I am also washing the clothes outdoors, not just drying them. More about that process once we have the kitchen

completed. As I took the first load of laundry out of the washer, I had this vague memory of sorting the clothes before loading them into the clothes basket and heading outside. I'll probably relearn how I want this done as I get used to this new, old routine. We have a plastic clothes basket that I could use, but I've chosen to try out a metal bushel basket instead. Every plastic basket we have had eventually breaks off at the handles and has to be replaced. I plan on this lasting more than my lifetime.

I seem to have that radio on all the time, don't I?

I have had this clothespin apron for many, many years. I don't remember who made it or gave it to me, I only know that I didn't make it. We used to have one with a hanger in it that you could hang on the line. I like the apron better. 

Back in August as my birthday approached, Frank asked me if there was anything I wanted. At first I couldn't think of anything, but then I remembered something. I had recently read about Herrick Kimball's clothespins. For those of you that aren't familiar with Herrick's blog, he is over at the Deliberate Agrarian. He also works from home creating and producing items for his homestead based company, Planet Whizbang. I contacted Mr. Kimball about my interest in his Classic American Clothespins and found out they would be available in early October, but since we didn't have a clothesline yet, that worked out just fine.

I recently received my clothespins and yesterday was the first opportunity I had to try them out. I was surprised how much larger they are than the regular, store bought version I have been using for years. The stainless steel spring is larger also, and easily holds a pair of jeans or thick jacket. Not only are these clothespins sturdy, they are made from beautiful ash wood. I expect these clothespins will last us a very long time. If you go to his site, you will find that Herrick sells out of his clothespins very quickly. His production run of 8000 is already gone. He did mention in an email that he may have an extra run of 8000 available sometime later, you'll have to check with him if you are interested.

Ladies please don't be offended, but I've always just thought of us as girls, regardless of age. Now that you understand that I want you to know, as I took the clothes out to the line, hung them up with my new clothespins, stood back and admired my work, that I was one happy girl. A little kooky, huh? You know, why do all that work? I told my friend Grace the other day how excited I was to have a clothesline again, and that I expect some folks to think I was a little off my rocker. There is a young mother that lives close by, and she told me she loves hanging out her clothes, she feels like she is saving money for her family. She's right, and then there is the advantage of the sunshine killing bacteria, the clean, fresh fragrance without artificial chemicals, and the stiff scratchy feeling of the towels. We were very surprised at how quickly the clothes dried. Frank commented that it was much faster than the dryer.

We broke down today and changed the sizes of our t-shirts. Frank and I were still wearing the shirts we wore before losing almost 50 pounds and they are hanging very loosely. We hate to put something away before it is good and worn out, but it was time to 'down size' our clothes. 

As I was hanging out this batch of shirts, Frank 'Wilson' Feral arrived and had me laughing so hard I could hardly take this picture. He is one funny man, and I am one blessed woman.

It is truly the simple things in life that fill my heart and soul with a deep, abiding joy and sense of contentment. Seek out what fills your soul. When you are in the midst of stress or strife, dip from that well of contentment and take it in stride. In the coming days our stress levels are not going to go down, they are going to continue to increase to a fever pitch. The

Our sheepskin prayer rug

uncertainty of the future has already caused many to lose hope, lose their temper, lose their families and, for some, lose their life. The stress of the coming collapse can bring the most stalwart and courageous to their knees. We find ourselves in prayer on our knees, side by side, every night before we go to bed. It gives us strength and binds us together like nothing else can. Seek that which will give you strength to face the coming days, weeks and months as our uncertain future unfolds. You will need it.

Until next time - Fern

Things on the Farm with Ponderings

We woke up this morning to a little sleet/frozen rain giving a light coating to everything outside. There are many folks around that have weather much worse than ours, especially up in the northeast. But, out in this neck of the woods, when we get this type of weather everything shuts down until the roads all thaw out. We've heard a few folks on the VHF radio this morning that are out and about 'going to get something' they need. We always ask ourselves, "Why didn't they need this a couple of days ago when it was sunny and 76*?" That's when we filled up both vehicles with gas and bought what we needed from the store. We can't help but shake our heads and wonder what is actually contained within their craniums that causes them to throw all caution to the wind and venture out in their immortal skins, knowing that all will be well regardless of the weather conditions. It kind of reminds you of all those folks that know a collapse is coming but refuse to prepare anything for it's inevitable arrival, doesn't it? Take hurricane Katrina for example. People knew for days and days it was coming, but some didn't prepare. The video clip that really got to me was the one with some folks out on their porch asking, "Where's my water? When is somebody going to bring us our water?" We will never be able to understand the thought processes of people that throw caution to the wind and expect others to take care of them if something bad happens. Remember the story about the grasshopper and the ant? We're ants.

Our pine needle covered path is extra slippery this morning

Every so often when I am out taking pictures, I get a variety of shots from here and there that don't fit into any particular theme or post, but I like them and keep them. Today seemed to be a good day to dig some of them out to share. So, in no particular order, here is a view of life on our farm.

This is a great little lantern that is charged with a small solar panel on top.

Our funny Pearl, waiting with me for baby goats.

My first attempt at fermented cabbage that I haven't told you about.

The salad is growing. Lettuce seedlings

Mixed baby greens

Spinach

Lunch & Buttons, 5 days old

Patch running around like a nut.

Patch

Lunch & Buttons. The lighting makes them look lighter than they are.

Buttons

The wethers and billy goat

Eating hay in the manger

One of our oldest cats, Pooh (there used to be a Tigger)

Frost on the turnips

It's back to milking twice a day. Yea!

This is the first year I've been able to get a few decent bird pictures.

Before we became bloggers, we really didn't take very many pictures. There are still many times we will be in the middle of something, or even finished with something that would have made a good post, but didn't think of the camera. Very little effort has been made to figure out how to take decent movies and upload them to the blog. The first time I tried, Blogger wouldn't accept whatever format our camera uses. I tried again a few days ago and figured out that I can upload short movies now. Here a few short shots of the kids playing in the barn today. Please forgive the wiggling and sometimes blurry shots from zooming in too close. The quality of the upload is not the best either. You'll notice I am not the narrator. No one is. You may hear goats munching hay in the background or moving around in the barn. Or crows calling. Life in the barn is generally quiet and peaceful. I like it that way.

There are many times that the peaceful, quiet days we enjoy on the farm belie the distant rumblings and groanings of the discord that is growing across the globe. Some days it seems louder and others more distant, but there is no denying the fact that the discontent with life as we know it on this planet is growing and growing at a rate that is visibly escalating. Almost everyday we talk about the blessing of being tucked away from most 'happenings' out in the everyday world. There is no TV or radio blaring here. There are few neighbors and most of them are known. There is no desire to 'go' and 'see' and 'be a part of' anything happening 'out there', like we might miss out on something. 

There is contentment with who we are, where we are and the work we have to do here. There is a true blessing in living a quiet, peaceful life on the farm for us. This contentment can be found most anywhere if you choose to pursue it. It won't come knocking on your door, but if you look for it, you will realize it's always been there, waiting to be discovered, waiting to be found. 

Until next time - Fern

Contentment and Peace in the Face of Pending Disaster

How do we find contentment and peace in these unsettling times? Can you be content with what you know and have and can do? Can you have peace of mind knowing that something disastrous is not far around the corner? I do. Not all of the time, and sometimes at varying degrees, but I do. I will try to explain how.

First, I have a deep, abiding faith in God. He has led us to this place and inspired us to learn much. That is my foundation upon which all else is built.

Second, I have had many experiences along the way that have led to a confidence in my ability to do and learn. Frank and I have always been 'learners'. A partial, but not all inclusive list of our experiences include:

Frank is a proud veteran of two branches of our Armed Forces. 
 

Small scale, personal farming - The opportunities to learn are limitless and for us have included things like gardening; food preservation; pasture rotation; growing forage for specific animals like sheep or goats; teaching ourselves to sheer, process and spin wool; milking goats and making edible

(usually) products from the milk; attempting to grow fruit (not a lot of success there yet); incubating and hatching chicks, which grow into a replacement flock, as well as meat that is in the freezer or in a jar or digested the same day; training a livestock guardian dog; making sure there are enough cats on hand to control the mice population; sewing clothes, knitting, and quilting; and on and on.

Volunteer Reserve Law Enforcement - The reserve police academy taught us a great deal about ourselves and our surroundings. Then when we volunteered to serve and protect our community, it gave us a different mind set.

Teaching school for many years - When you teach, you learn everyday.

Volunteer Rescue Squad - The EMT class was very intensive and very enlightening, not to mention putting it into practice when we were on call. Our motivation for pursuing this was for our own personal knowledge as well as serving the community. Our very first call was a small plane crash with nine souls on board. Frank's last ambulance call was one of his students that did not survive. We learned a great deal.

Volunteer Fire Department - Frank had some great training during this time.

Nunam Iqua, Alaska

Bush Alaska - Remote living in harsh conditions, sometimes without running water (for nine months), taught us a great deal about our own internal tenacity, as well as many survival skills.

Radio communications - Frank has had a basic knowledge of radios for many years, but the ham radio portion of our experience only started a year ago. His learning curve in the last year has been tremendous and extremely valuable. It will be most beneficial in the days to come.

Third, most of these experiences occurred while we both worked a full-time job. Our volunteer experiences were pursued in conjunction with the farm, garden and working. This required organizing time and effort to get everything completed. It also tested our commitment to the things we were pursuing at the time.

These are just a few things in our lives that have helped shape who we are. Sometimes these opportunities seem to kind of fall in our laps, and others we intentionally pursued just for the chance to learn the knowledge and skills involved - like becoming EMTs. There are always things to be learned. Some of them may be used now, or may not be used until later, when you least expect.

Finally, back to peace and contentment. Am I totally satisfied with my current knowledge and skills? No. I blog about what I am learning regularly. There is not enough time in a day, week or year for me to learn all I would like to know. But.....What I have been able to learn has made all the difference in the world for me. Am I ready for a collapse or life changing disaster? No. Can anyone be? I don't think so. I only know that I have done what I could, learned what I could, and continue to do so every single day. And as long as I have done that, I believe that God will see to the rest. In that I have peace and contentment. I pray that you do as well.

Until next time - Fern