Caught...red pawed

Caught...red pawed

...and other farm (et. al.) news.

Well, it finally happened. Killick was caught munching on a chicken that we are relatively sure he didn't happen to find dead in the yard. I wonder how much he enjoyed eating the entire head? He plead innocence and claimed to have been trying to offer some culinary delights for the whole family. Despite his "evidence" (admittedly found in his kennel), I wasn't buying it. Anyway, we were saddened to find this because if they do it once they will do it again. Since the discovery and arrest you can see that if there were such a thing as doggy confession he'd readily seek it out, of course part of this might be inspired by the fact that he also now finds himself chained until the chickens go to bed at night. In the old days he'd be taken into the woods and shot...but...we love Killick dearly and we ourselves do not live or die via our chickens. That being said,a solution is in the works. More money and more work...is it any wonder anything gets done around here????

Part of the problem was that the raspberry vines have seriously settled the second flock's netting and they have been getting into the main garden where Killick has free reign. frankly we don't want the birds in there to begin with because they tend to dig and ruin our crops. Which leads me to discuss the glorious little stroll I had through the garden this evening. I expect a very nice harvest this year and it is wonderful to see my favorites thriving: Kentucky pole beans, some sorta corn, taters, and (hopefully) tomatoes! There's more of course...but my favorite is fresh picked green beans lathered in butter and salt. We have a great many beans this year and I am totally stoked. This garden will truly be a blessing to us this year. We literally are relying on it...and that fact feels good. This IS more than a hobby. Seeing all the growth has gotten me excited about busting some more sod for next year!

In other news...here is our new "farm truck":


It's far more fancy than I needed, but I could not pass up the deal my father was willing to give me on it - under normal circumstances this truck would have never found its way into my driveway. PLUS, it will (barely) hold the whole family, has low miles, and gets better mileage than the Suburban. I'm going to sell the canopy because for my needs it will just be in the way...and this will pay for my entrance into the Diaconal Vocations Program of the OCA which I received a blessing from both my priest and Bishop BENJAMIN to begin. With luck it will additionally help to pay for my first set of vestments, if and when that time comes - God willing.

Now that I have the truck though I need to try and play "catch up" with wood collection for the coming winter. I was hindered with my serious back problems in the Spring (probably I still am actually, but we'll see.) Keeping my eyes peeled for good deals on Craigslist. Not sure how I'm going to get enough.

Our priest is presently in the midst of some much deserved vacation time and so we have been working on doing Reader's services for Vespers - 3X a week (T, Th, and Sat). We have a wonderful group all working together and the first two have been pretty good. For ease of use we are at present just working from the Octoechos and generally steering away from stuff in the Menaion. However, I really think that after a few more tries at this and we could start adding the variables from the Menaion without too much trouble. I expect once Father C returns we'll have a choir that really has tones 4-7 down very well! It really is an exciting blessing to be part of a growing mission.