I Love To Go A Gardening
Growing Our Life in Northern Michigan
Tiny Little Buttons
I woke up super early this morning–about the same time as EJ got up for work. When Danny realized that I was awake, he told me that he wanted to go out. He often wants out as soon as I get up in the morning, which sometimes makes me sigh because I’d prefer to have a cup of coffee first. But I actually think that Danny is being very polite and considerate because he waits until I get out of bed instead of waking me up.
So…I took Danny outside. It was still dark and the stars were beautiful. I had forgotten my flashlight, but I wasn’t worried until I heard a very strange noise in the forest just over the hill. Strange noises make me nervous, especially in the dark and especially when I don’t have my flashlight. I nervously pulled Danny into the house and then noticed that I had stepped in dog poop. YUCK. I cleaned it off my shoe and off the floor. Then I saw that a cat had barfed on the floor. I cleaned that up. I described it all to EJ and he laughed. I suppose it was kind of funny.
I hadn’t planned to get up at 5 a.m., but I had planned to get up earlier than usual because I needed to pick up our new baby chickens as soon as the farm store opened. We originally had planned for EJ to pick up the chicks on his way home from work because he drives right past the feed store. However, the store had texted him that they would like him to pick up the chicks in the morning, which meant I had to go get them. JJ had an appointment scheduled for 10 a.m., so I had to get to the store as soon as it opened to make sure I’d be home in time for him to leave.
The farm storm I went to this morning is a different farm store than the one we went to yesterday. There are several farm stores in our area that we visit. Yesterday’s farm store was a TSC. Today’s farm store is local and family owned. They raise and sell their own crops/seeds/feed. We like to go to this store when we can to support them but they aren’t open as much as the other store so we can’t always get to it. I was their first customer this morning. Two little dogs ran up to me when I entered the store and, of course, I gave them lots of lovings.
I couldn’t wait to get the new chicks! They are even tinier than the previous chicks were when we bought them home. They are as tiny as little buttons. They are adorable! I loved hearing their little chirps all the way home. When I got home, JJ held one in his hand so I could take a photo to show how tiny they are. When he lowered it back into the box, it didn’t want to leave and then the other chicks cuddled up to his hand. Awwww!
The four older chicks are New Hampshire Reds. We chose them from the TSC store. TSC has chicks and ducklings in various horse troughs right in their store. We always go look at them whenever we are in the store and their cuteness always tempts us…but so far we have resisted. We bought straight-run chicks (and ducks) from TSC, which means they could be either male or female–we won’t know until they get older and the males begin to crow and the females begin to lay eggs. 🙂 The six new chicks are Rhode Island Reds. EJ ordered them from the family-owned store to make sure we actually had some females to lay eggs since that’s why we are raising poultry.
Danny loves these new chicks as much as he loves the old ones. He keeps asking to go out into the garage so he can watch them all.
This afternoon I filled Peeper and Cuddle’s bowl of water and let them out of their coop to enjoy it. They had a lot of fun playing in it.
A little later I tried to video the baby chicks in their horse trough. Still videoing, I moved over to the coop to show how much bigger the older chicks are. However, Peeper and Cuddles kept photo-bombing my video. The ducks are such characters! They are a lot of fun to interact with.
This afternoon I went out to the dog pen and pulled up the metal posts. I took a shovel with me and dug down just a little and then wiggled the post until it was loose and then pulled it out. EJ was impressed that I got them all out of the ground.
Oh, I had a scare about mid-morning! I looked out of the living room window just in time to see a crow or raven pick up something gray near the big rocks and carry it off into the forest. I think it was a gray squirrel, but I was really worried that it was our gray cat, Annie. She’s rather fat so I didn’t think a crow/raven could carry her off, but I didn’t see her all day. I was getting a little traumatized at the thought of Annie being carried off. I was so relieved late this afternoon when I finally saw her sleeping in the garage. Whew!
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Jobs
We certainly had an interesting day yesterday.
I have not slept well–at least not consistently–since maybe when JJ was diagnosed with cancer and I only slept a few hours at a time. The last few weeks I’ve really struggled to sleep, but last night–maybe because I was so tired–I was sleeping well. Finally. Until the power went out. There’s a lot of little noises at night: the hum of the clock, the furnace, the refrigerator in the other room, the fan. When the power goes out, these noises stop and the quiet becomes so loud that it always wakes me up. And the power didn’t just go out last night. It went out, then it flickered on, then it went out, then flickered on, several times until it finally was off for good.
Actually, this occurred early this morning–maybe about 4:30 or 5:00 a.m. EJ was already up getting ready for work. The first thing that I thought was, “Well, so much for getting a good night’s sleep.” JJ and I both got up for a moment and then we headed back to bed. Suddenly, we heard a very strange beeping noise. It almost sounded like the fire alarm, but it wasn’t. It was very loud and annoying and even a pillow over my head didn’t drown out the sound. I got out of bed and went into the living room with EJ and JJ, who also had gotten back out of bed. EJ realized that the noise was coming from outside. He looked out of the window and gave a shout so we looked too. We saw a strange pulsating glow through the trees out near the road, just beyond the corner of our property. It reminded me of those old horror movies in which an alien ship crashes in the woods and the people see it glowing through the trees. I half expected War of the Worlds aliens to emerge from the forest. EJ said that it was probably a relay or transformer exploding. Sadly he meant just an electrical problem and not the type of Transformer which immediately came to my mind–and which would have been more interesting:
EJ called 911 to report it because the last thing we need is a forest fire. We have to worry about forest fires up here in the north where we are surrounded by forests. The dispatcher told EJ that someone else had just called it in so they were aware of it and would send the appropriate people out. JJ went back to bed. I stayed up a few more minutes with EJ. Just before he left for work, Luke leaped onto my back, his claws digging deeply into my back as he held on. I swear his claws went bone deep. I howled with pain. EJ pulled the cat out of my back. Then he went to work and I went back to bed. The power came on an hour or two later. I woke long enough to hear all the various hums resuming, and then I fell back to sleep. I woke up tired. Oh, well.
JJ had a final exam for his college math class yesterday. He did well on the exam and the teacher told him that he 4-pointed his class–which means he got pretty close to a perfect grade in the class. He was very happy.
Meanwhile…[I deleted this part because JJ didn’t want news to get out prematurely. Oops. I will add it back in a future post when he makes a decision.] But yesterday was an exciting day for JJ.
Meanwhile, my mornings–after I drink enough coffee to wake up–are filled with caring for animals. Making sure the dog’s, cats’, ducks’, and chickens’ food and water dishes are filled, the coop is clean, and the waste is scooped out of the kitty litter. The I do my other chores: laundry, cleaning, cooking, dishes, and whatever else need to be done.
Yesterday I read at a Facebook page called Duck Eggs Daily that ducklings hatched under a mother duck are waterproof and can swim without drowning or becoming chilled right from hatch. Ducklings hatched in an incubator need about a month to build up the oils that waterproof their feathers. Until then, swims should be short and supervised because the ducklings can easily drown. I thought that was amazing. I also read that ducklings need to get their heads wet every day. I’ve only given Peeper and Cuddles a bath once since moving them into the coop because Peeper is hard to catch–he moves out of reach–and he yells loudly whenever he is separated from Cuddles. However, today I found a large shallow bowl (actually the pan that catches the water under one of my plant pots), put it near the coop, filled it with water, and let Peeper and Cuddles come out to enjoy it. As soon as we can, we will find them a little kiddie pool to play in.
Today I heard a few real quacks from one of the ducklings–probably Peeper. I told him, “Wow! You are getting your big duck voice!” 🙂
Yesterday afternoon I unfastened the dog pen fencing from the metal posts so EJ doesn’t have to do it. The fencing was attached to the posts with wire. This afternoon I was going to try to pull out the metal posts, but they were snuggly in the ground and I would have had to dig them out with a shovel or something. I wasn’t sure if EJ wanted to put in the new posts as soon as the old ones are taken out, so I decided not to proceed. Besides, it was rather dampish and cold outside today–in the low 40s. Brrr.
This afternoon I found a 10% off coupon from the farm store in my email inbox. I think it’s been there for a while because it expired today. After EJ got home from work, he quickly ate a bowl of the chili and cornbread I had made and then we drove to the farm store to take advantage of the coupon. We needed another heat lamp for the new chicks we are getting tomorrow, and we can always use more bedding and poultry food. We always go look at the baby ducklings and chicks in the farm store. They had adorable brown ducks there today. I was very tempted…but we left the store without them. Whew.
When we got home, I set everything up for the arrival of the babies. I put bedding in the horse trough and clipped the heat light to it to keep them warm. Since the weather is warmer, we have the horse trough set up in the garage near the chicken coop.
Weekend Projects
This weekend EJ and I discussed projects that we need to accomplish and when they need to get done.
We have three vehicles but to save money we have insurance on only two of them. EJ and JJ both need vehicles to get to work–and, in JJ’s case, to school–but I really don’t need a vehicle very often. Any driving I do can be done when there is a vehicle free. We keep the HHR in the garage during the winter months because the Suburban and Xterra are both four-wheel drive and can handle deep snow. Now that the weather is warming, EJ will soon start driving the HHR–since he has further to drive and the HHR gets the best mileage. We discussed which vehicle to put into the garage for the summer months, and finally chose the Suburban since it needs some maintenance.
However, before we stop driving the Suburban, we need it to transport supplies for projects. Yesterday we went to Lowes to get fence posts for the chicken coop enclosure. We are going to put the coops where the previous owner had his dog pen and turn the two sturdy dog houses he left behind into additional chicken coops. We are going to remove the old fencing and use it to make fruit tree cages to protect our fruit trees from deer. Once the older fencing is taken out, we will build a smaller enclosure to put the coops in. Before we left home, we measured out the enclosure and then checked the Lowes website to see what fence posts they had and how much they cost. We decided to get twelve 10 foot posts for about $15 each. When we got to Lowes, we saw 8 foot landscape posts for less than $5 each. We decided that 8 foot posts would work just fine so we bought those instead of the more expensive ones.
The landscape posts were in the outdoor gardening section of Lowes and while we were there, EJ saw fruit trees. We walked over to check them out, and we saw that they had really cool apple trees called Apple Twist Combos, in which two compatible apple varieties are planted and twisted together. The two varieties pollinate each other so only one Apple Twist is needed to produce fruit! Since we had saved a lot of money on the fence poles, we decided to get two Apple Twist trees. We got one that combined Honeycrisp and Honeygold varieties and the other that combined Gala and Braeburn varieties. We had intended to get a Gala/Cortland because EJ prefers tart apples–JJ and I like sweeter apples–but we got the Gala/Braeburn by mistake. We might go back and get a Cortland combo–or maybe a Granny Smith if they have any. In effect, we got four trees for the price of two, which is a really good deal.
So now we have cherry trees, hazelnut trees, and apple trees lining our driveway. As I wrote recently, besides allowing us to grow and enjoy our own fruit, we are using the trees as anti-erosion measures. Last year we spent several thousand dollars buying tons of gravel and topsoil and we spent hours and hours shoveling it into the deep gullies to stop the erosion. We can’t afford to pour money and effort into repeatedly fixing the driveway, so we are doing what we can to prevent the soil from washing away. Planting trees is one of the methods. I’m considering planting some lavender along the driveway as well because it does well in sandy soil, which we have, and I always wanted to have lavender. I tried to plant it at our old house, but we didn’t have enough sun.
After Lowes, we went to the farm store for fencing. We had also looked up their products and pricing before we left home. We talked with the farm store employees and they gave us a lot of helpful advice. One guy said he has used the heavy stiff fence panels and it kept out the predators–but they were more expensive and would be difficult for us to transport home with the Suburban. So we decided to get a roll of fencing, which was much cheaper and which the farm store guys said would work just as well. EJ said he wanted to get tall fencing because he plans to bury a foot or so of it into the ground to prevent predators–like coyotes, wolves, or cougars–from digging under the fence. One guy warned us that we also have to be careful because foxes can easily climb trees and fences and get into the enclosure. I had just recently read this about foxes at a website about raising chickens. I knew foxes were clever but never knew that they could climb! EJ was already planning to put fencing on top of the enclosure as a roof to prevent foxes, or owls, or other predators from getting our chickens and ducks from above. The guys said that nothing would keep out weasels so hopefully we won’t get weasels–or cougars or bears. They also said we could get little pinwheels from the Dollar store and put them at the top of the enclosure because that scares off the predators. It’s very helpful to talk to people who are knowledgeable.
The farm store guys helped us load the fencing into the Suburban, which was already loaded with fence posts and apple trees, and then we drove off for home and unloaded our supplies. EJ and I discussed the best place to plant the apple trees. The woman we had talked to at the nursery the other day had told us that it can get so cold in our area (as low as -40) that even fruit trees for our planting zone can get damaged. She said that cold sinks into the valley so fruit trees are actually safer on a hill. So we planted the apple trees along the driveway up toward the top of our hill.
I had noticed that our duck Peeper had dried poop on his bill, covering one of his nostrils. Cuddles is more gentle and lets us pick her (or him?) up, but Peeper is always very vocal, assertive, and avoids being picked up. I lured the ducks out of the coop in the garage with lettuce and easily captured Peeper…this time. EJ was sitting in a lawn chair in the garage and I gave him Peeper. He used the wet paper towel I gave him to clean off his bill. Then he held Peeper on his lap for a bit and Peeper seemed to be fine with it. We really enjoy all of our birds, but the chickens are more skittish. Peeper and Cuddles have such strong personalities that they are becoming pets.
Besides using the Suburban to get the coop supplies, we also need to haul some stuff to the township “clean up day” in a couple of weeks. During clean up day, township residents can haul junk to the designated spot to get rid of it at no cost. We don’t have a lot of things, but we have a few things to get rid of–like an old disintegrating buckboard wagon that was left here by the previous owners, and maybe the old yucky hot tub that was also here when we moved in, and a few things like that. We also need to drive down to the old house to get EJ’s left behind tools and toolboxes. I’m not looking forward to going to the old house.
This morning EJ helped me clean out the coop in the garage. It’s difficult to clean out the cage where there are so many birds in it, so we lured out Cuddles who came out eagerly. We couldn’t get Peepers to leave the coop–maybe he had enough cuddling yesterday. After EJ cuddled Cuddles a bit, he put her (or him) down and together we lifted the cage slightly and moved it over so the wet bedding was outside the coop. We were careful not to hurt the birds inside, of course. Then we put Cuddles back inside the coop and EJ shoveled the old bedding into the wheelbarrow while I put new bedding in the coop and refilled their water and food feeders. It went a lot faster with EJ’s help.
Later, Danny needed to go outside, so I went out with him. He first went to the garage door which was closed today because the weather is cooler. The ducks and chickens inside heard him and started chirping. After a moment he wandered off to “do his business” while I wait for him at the top of the hill. My attention was caught by a huge bird flying towards me. It landed on a tree not far from the garage with a flapping sound, sort of like the sound a sail makes in the wind. I couldn’t see its head very well, but I am assuming it was a turkey vulture because it was so big. It occurred to me that it had heard and/or smelled the little ducks and chickens in the garage and came to check them out. I told EJ about it when Danny and I went back into the house. EJ said he has seen it sitting there several times in the last couple of days. So turkey vultures are another of the many predators we need to keep our birdies safe from.
I learned that the movie, Batman v. Superman, was showing at a local movie theater this week, so we decided to go. Because the theater has only one screen, they don’t play movies the day they come out nationally. If they did, they’d have to keep it for two to six weeks depending on the company and the contract. To get the most variety of films, they wait about three to five weeks before playing new releases and they usually play them for one week only. The theater was built in 1940 and has a very quaint, old-fashioned feel to it. The tickets and the cost of snacks is very low, so it’s very affordable. They have two kinds of seats: in the outside sections, they are regular seats, but the middle section has rocking chairs. Of course we chose to sit in the rocking chairs. Because we went to the matinée, the theater was not full, which is nice. This is our favorite theater.
Spoiler: We loved Batman vs Superman. JJ knows a lot of superhero lore so he picked up on things EJ and I didn’t. Even so, I loved the movie. Of course, I like superhero movies anyway, but I thought that this movie was especially spiritual. Superman was in the role of God/Messiah, and the movie addressed the common question that if God is all-powerful and good then why is there evil? And if there is evil then perhaps God is either not all-powerful or not all good. People struggle with these questions so I think it’s ok to address them. In the movie, Lex Luther tried to manipulate man (Batman) into killing God (Superman). When Batman didn’t kill Superman (although he came close), Lex said that since man wouldn’t kill God, he’d let the demon do it. Superman did get killed and was buried, but the final scene hinted that he would rise from the grave. Very interesting and, as I said, very spiritual.
Passover
Tonight we celebrated Passover for the first time in our new home. Last year we weren’t able to celebrate it at all because we were living apart–EJ was living in in a motel while he started a new job and looked for a house for us. JJ was with him. I remained at our old house taking care of the pets and packing in preparation for our move. The year before that we had a very simple Passover at JJ’s bedside as he fought cancer. It was nice to finally have a real celebration again.
I felt kind of scatterbrained this year because, as I said, it’s been awhile since we’ve been able to celebrate Passover. I kept forgetting items I needed. For example, on Wednesday I realized that I had no horseradish, so EJ and I went to the store to buy some. Thursday I realized, “Oh, no! I need walnuts for the charoset,” so I went back to the store again. Today I discovered, “Yikes! I have no parsley!” so when JJ got home from college, I drove to the store and bought some. I also bought a colorful bouquet of flowers to beautify our table. I really don’t ever buy flowers, but they were so beautiful and I decided that I really wanted our table to be beautiful. With all my running to the store, it’s a good thing the store is very close.
And then as I was setting the table tonight, I couldn’t find our shank bone, which is used to symbolize the sacrificial lamb. I thought creatively, “Well, I can just get a bone from the chicken, which was cooking in the roasting oven. However, just before I called the guys to the table, I saw that the chicken wasn’t done enough to pull out a bone. By the time we got to the actual dinner, the chicken was roasted perfectly but we had to pretend we had a bone for the seder. EJ ad-libbed, “And our imaginary bone symbolizes….” and we laughed. Earlier in the day Danny had found a deer bone in the forest, and we joked that he had been trying to provide us with the bone for our seder.
Probably none of this makes sense if you’ve never celebrated Passover. Passover is the retelling of the Exodus story, but in a way that involves your senses. Every item on the special seder plate has a deep meaning that is enhanced by seeing, telling/hearing, and tasting that helps participants experience the truths of the Exodus. (There is an interactive site where you can learn about the items on the seder plate and their symbolism here.) For example, parsley dipped into a bowl of salt water is a reminder of the tears caused by slavery and the green of the parsley represents freedom and new life. Horseradish brings tears to the eyes and recalls the bitterness of slavery. Our horseradish this year was so potent that it really did bring tears to our eyes when we ate it–as well as caused us to gasp and choke.
I’m not Jewish, but as a follower of the Jewish Messiah, Passover has deep meaning for me. In fact, I confess that I find it much more meaningful than the traditions of Easter.
JJ wasn’t feeling well–he has come down with some sort of respiratory infection. He said, “I’m feeling sick. I hope you don’t mind if I don’t dress up…” but we were just glad that he was able to join us.
We had a lot of fun and laughter celebrating tonight. Our “screwups” just made it more memorable.
A New Home
Saturday EJ and JJ put together the chicken coop in the garage. We will eventually move it outside after we get the enclosure built to make the chickens and ducks safe from predators. On Sunday we decided to move the birds into the coop in the garage. The ducks, especially, were getting too big for the horse trough and the chickens were tapping morse code on the sides hoping that someone would set them free from their boring prison. Plus, I read that chickens kick up a fine dust, and I think that’s what was making EJ sneeze a lot and me cough. It was nice to get the entrance hallway back to normal.
The nights are still cool but the days are warming up. I turn the heat light on in the coop when it’s cool, and I also put the large cardboard box that the coop came in next to the coop to help hold in the heat. On warm days I turn off the heat light, remove the cardboard, and open the garage door so the birds can enjoy the sunshine. They seem to be happy enough in their new home, although we really need to get a small swimming pool for the ducks. The coop has a second story that is currently unoccupied. I don’t think the ducks can get up there with their webbed feet and the chickens haven’t found it yet.
Although Danny doesn’t get to visit them as often, he can sit next to the coop and visit with them face-to-face. The birds aren’t scared of him at all, and even come right up to “talk” to him. Danny is so in love with the ducks and chickens. I had to laugh because usually he goes down the hill with me when I get the mail. Yesterday, however, he was torn between coming with me or staying with the birds. I saw him watching me from the top of the hill and then he turned and went back to the coop. I also always let him outside when EJ arrives home from work. Usually Danny runs straight to EJ, but yesterday he ran to the chicken coop. EJ thought I had forgotten to let him out to greet him. We can see where Danny’s loyalties lie.
We gave the ducks some lettuce the other day as a treat. They loved it and now they complain if we don’t bring them any. This evening we went to the store and I bought some lettuce. I offered them each a piece and they got really excited and gobbled it down. Apparently, I didn’t bring enough because they then tried to eat my camera.
Sunday was JJ’s first anniversary of moving up north. EJ had come north in early March last year to begin his new job. JJ joined him a month and a half later. They stayed at a motel while EJ looked for a house for us. I stayed at the old house to take care of things there. I moved north when we closed on our house.
JJ is still enjoying his new job. It’s nice working at a grocery store because he can buy good food to eat on his breaks. The store is very close to us so we shop there often. Cashiers cannot ring up their own family’s purchases, so whenever we buy anything, he has to call someone to take over. JJ said that his co-workers refer to his Dad and me as “the happy people.” EJ said, “Yeah, duh. Of course we are happy. We live here.”
Peeper & Cuddles
Since EJ didn’t have to work today–it being the weekend and all–he was able to enjoy the ducks’ swim time. I actually asked him to carry the ducks, one by one, so I could video them. The ducks are forming their own personalities. One is very vocal, yelling “PEEP, PEEP, PEEP!” very loudly like an alarm. We call him “Peeper.” The other is quieter and more cuddly and we have named her “Cuddles.” Of course, we don’t really know their gender, but we think of Peeper as a male and Cuddles as a female. We could be totally wrong.
The little chicks are growing. They now have most of their feathers. They do not yet have as much personality as the ducklings and they are more skittish and harder to photograph, but I was able to take a video today while the ducks were swimming in the bathtub:
JJ got his first paycheck from his new job yesterday. This first time was an actual printed check instead of direct deposited so he had to drive to our bank this morning to deposit it in his account. The bank is located clear on the other side of the Emerald City. Since JJ had offered to pay for half of the chicken coop EJ went with him so JJ could pay him–plus, JJ wanted the company.
I stayed home and made homemade pizza for lunch.
After lunch, EJ and I drove to the farm store to get food for the ducks and chicks and cats and dogs. Also, EJ wanted to get a few cherry trees. EJ bought a few hazelnut trees at the farm store, but he decided to go to a nursery for the cherry trees. We drive past the nursery every time we go to the Emerald City but had never stopped. They are just getting the plants in this year. I had thought the nursery was just a little farm stand alongside the road, but it stretches for several acres behind the buildings that we see along the road. It is actually one of the biggest nurseries I had ever been to. Eric bought two large-ish cherry trees and another hazelnut tree.
We had a nice conversation with the woman at the nursery. We told her that we had just moved to the area last year. She asked what made us decide to move up here and we explained about JJ’s cancer, EJ’s job–and that we had just always loved this area and wanted to live here. We continued to chitchat while we found the trees we wanted, and mixed in with our conversation she explained that even though the trees are rated for our zone, it sometimes gets so cold in the winter that the trees get frost-bitten or frozen. They will probably do better at our place because we live on a hill. The cold tends to sink into the low valleys. How cold is cold? Two years ago, she said, it was about -30 to -40 F. She sounded as if that is quite normal. Brrr. This last winter was quite mild because of El Nino.
But today was a beautiful Spring day with temperatures in the 70s. We opened all the windows in the house and wore T-shirts.
When we got home, JJ helped EJ plant the trees. They planted the cherry trees along one side of the driveway and the hazel nut trees on the other side of the driveway. Besides being pretty and providing us with good things to eat, it is our plan that the trees’ roots will be another measure to hold the soil and prevent erosion. Our other measures included–last summer–filling in the deep gullies that had nibbled away at our driveway with gravel and topsoil, putting potato rocks along the driveway to slow the rush of rain water, and planting grasses to hold the soil.
I asked EJ, “Do bears like cherries?” He said yes. Yikes!
After EJ and JJ planted the fruit trees, they put together my chicken coop. It went together amazingly quickly and looks really cute. We needed to get it together soon because on April 27 we are getting more baby chicks. Our current chicks were “straight run” chicks, which means they could be any gender. They could be all hens or all roosters or some of both. Since we want our chickens to lay eggs, we decided we ought to make sure we actually have some hens so EJ ordered some. Our current chicks are New Hampshire Reds. Our new chicks will be Rhode Island Reds. When the new babies come, we will need to move the ducks and older chicks into the coop so the younger ones can have the horse trough in the hallway.
We have thought and discussed and debated where to put our chicken coop. We finally decided to put it where the previous owner had his dog pen. Danny never uses the dog pen–he’s always with us. EJ is going to put the coops inside the pen, but he’s going to rebuild the pen with sturdier posts and fencing so it will be as predator-proof as we can make it. The previous owner left behind two very sturdy dog houses and we are going to convert them into additional coops. Our cute little coop only fits 4-6 chickens and we will have 10 chickens and two ducks. We plan to let our birds roam free during the day, but at night they need to have secure shelter.
While we were outside, JJ pointed out a large wolf spider in the driveway. I yelled, “Kill it! Kill it now!” but EJ and JJ refused. I grabbed a shovel to hit it with, but JJ blocked me. It has always been our family policy that we kill creepy crawlies in the house but let them live outside. I told JJ that the policy is totally voided when the spiders are really big, but he didn’t listen and the spider ran away. Ha! I told him that I will kill the spiders when he and his Dad are not around. Also, I have chickens and ducks that will eat bugs, including spiders.
See (No) Evil
Usually I write about the day-to-day happenings of my life, but occasionally something happens that vexes me. Usually it involves the topic of abuse. It feels like a sliver in my spirit and the best way I know to get it out is to write about it. However, it is always such a hugely immense topic with so many thoughts and sub-thoughts that I don’t know how to write about it. When I try, I feel inarticulate and inadequate. And even if I did write about it, I have found that the most common reaction is a total lack of understanding. It feels like an uphill battle that is impossible to fight and most of the time I just give up. But, still, sometimes I try because it’s very important.
Today I am trying.
Throughout this post I’ve often linked to articles that describe the concepts I’m trying to explain in more detail. Just click on the links to read more.
Recently someone on FB complained that some Christians were not forgiving him, wanted nothing to do with him, and were not giving him grace. Immediately, he was encouraged by some Christians who tut-tutted that they couldn’t understand how any Christian could be so unwilling to give grace. I wanted to ask (but didn’t), “Did it ever occur to you that those people you are condemning might have a very good reason for not wanting this guy in their lives? EJ and I know this person very well, and we know that he has taken advantage of the generosity of people who have tried to help him in the past (including us). He has lied, manipulated, used, defrauded, stolen from, and destroyed property. He talks about being a Christian but his life doesn’t reflect it. And even though he occasionally “apologizes” he hasn’t really changed.
Because of this incident, I want to talk about abusers and the church. Again. This is not Christian-bashing, by the way. I think that if any person, group, or organization is doing something wrong–including and especially the church–they need to honestly deal with it, not sweep it under the rug. It seems to me that people are reluctant to point out abusive behavior because 1. they are afraid of judging (I’ll address that in a bit) and 2. they are afraid it will reflect badly on Christ to bring things out into the open. However, covering up evil actually reflects more badly on Christ. Besides, I don’t think that everyone who calls himself a Christian, or every place that calls itself a church, actually is one. A true believer’s life will reflect Christ…but I don’t think it always looks like what many people think it does.
Even though Christians theologically and theoretically speak of evil people, few seem to actually believe that they exist in real life. I’ve found that if a victim speaks of an abuser, he is usually told by Christians that “no one is perfect,” “we all sin,” “don’t judge,” “he’s just wounded,” “we just need to give him grace,” and other such things. However, the Bible is filled with descriptions of both righteous and wicked people. That means that there are actually righteous and wicked people out there. Surprisingly, I’ve encountered more nonChristians who believe in the actual existence of evil people than Christians. Just talk to the average abuse survivor–they know.
It seems to me that we wouldn’t be given descriptions and warnings about wicked people if we couldn’t judge between the wicked and the righteous.The Bible warns against wicked people with such phrases as Be Alert! Be Aware! Watch out for! Avoid! Stay away from!
Which brings me to the topic of judging: I’m sure we have all suffered wrongly from people who were, in fact, self-righteous, arrogant, judgmental, condemning. That is a wrong type of judging which God says don’t do. However, people have become so afraid of judging wrongfully that they have, apparently, lost all discernment and common sense. The Bible never says that we can’t judge at all. (Again, if we can’t judge at all then why tell give us descriptions and warnings about the wicked?) Instead, the Bible tells us that we must be very careful to “judge righteously.” The “judge not” and “consider the log in your own eye” verses that so many fling around is actually addressed to the hypocrites who were ignoring their own evil to point out the small specks in the lives of the righteous. Evil people are now using these very verses that were directed at them as weapons to divert attention away from themselves and to accuse their victims.
Oh, and yes, hypocrites. Every so often memes like this one appear on my FB page:
This meme reveals an ignorance of what hypocrite actually means. A hypocrite is not a believer who honestly longs to follow God but who sometimes sins–and then genuinely repents. Those genuine but imperfect believers are, indeed, like the out-of-shape people who go to the gym in an effort to become healthier. Conversely, a hypocrite is someone who deliberately wears a mask, who intentionally pretends to be something he is not, who purposely seeks those whom he can devour. In other words, a hypocrite is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. If a church has hypocrites in its midst, it has a very serious problem and it needs to address it before the flock is ripped apart and destroyed. A person who doesn’t want to attend a church filled with hypocrites is wise. He is the sheep who smells a wolf and runs.
An ex-police detective once told EJ that one of the favorite hunting grounds of predators (abusers, sociopaths, psychopaths, narcissists, molestors, con men, etc.) are places like churches. Abuse experts say the same thing. The reason predators love churches is that they find people there who are willing to love unconditionally, to forgive without requiring repentance, and who are tolerant and reluctant to talk negatively about others or to judge. Love, forgiveness, and refraining from negative talk and wrongfully judging others are good things unless they are naively used to aid abusers. Christians can (and have) develop a gullible “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil, judge no evil” mentality that makes them easy prey for the wolves and put the vulnerable at risk. There is no virtue in letting yourself become a predator’s victim or helping them oppress others.
Remember, we are warned in the Bible that evil people will disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 11: “For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness.” Peter said in 2 Peter 2: “But among the people there were also false prophets, just as there will be false teachers among you. Under false pretenses they will introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, and thus bring on themselves swift destruction.” Let it sink in that these people appear to be very righteous people but they are false. Because of predators’ ability to appear righteous and their ability to remove opposition, they often rise to positions of leadership.
Abusers tend to “groom” their victims to accept abuse, which is a tactic of overcoming a person’s defenses by slowly desensitizing his or her natural reaction to abusive behaviors. A predator will identify and engage a victim and work to gain the target’s trust, break down defenses, and manipulate the victim until they get whatever it is they are after. I often wonder if the message of “cheap grace” has been taught by false teachers so that their flock will accept their abuse. If a Christian is taught not to judge, to never offend anyone, to forgive without requiring repentance, to accept all people without reservation no matter what they do, they lose the ability to see, recognize, or resist the wolves.
Pretending to be righteous is one tactic of a wicked abuser. Another tactic is to pretend to be the innocent victim to gain pity. An abuser will accuse the victim of judging him and of not showing him love, grace, forgiveness, reconciliation, submission, etc. He will insist that none of us are sinless and that God uses less than perfect people in His Kingdom. What is not acknowledged is that God used each of these people when they humbled themselves and REPENTED. God says He is opposed to the proud and arrogant and unrepentant. Pitying an evil person and giving him grace is just what he wants.
Even if pity [some Bible versions say “grace”] is shown to the wicked, he still doesn’t learn what righteousness is. In a land of uprightness he will still act wrongly and fail to see the majesty of Adonai.(Isa. 26:10)
Because of the abuser’s ability to appear righteous and/or the innocent victim, he can skillfully and deliberately manipulate people into supporting him against the victim. The niceness of the “nice people” actually becomes a tool that the abuser uses to oppress and enslave his victim. As Narcissists Suck has written, “It can be nearly impossible for a victim of a narcissist to press their claims when so-called good people form a protective ring around the evil-doer and divert the slings and arrows back to the victim. This behavior of the ‘good’ people actually guarantees the narcissist will continue to have access to his or her victim as well as access to new victims in the future. If that isn’t evil in itself, I do not know what is. If we do not exercise our frontal lobes, that is, our ability to judge between things, then we guarantee that evil will prosper in our presence.”
Many churches do not understand abuse. Many times their teachings actually supports and empowers the abuser and causes his violence against his victim(s) to increase, and even become life-threatening. (Click here to learn what a victim can expect in a typical church.) At the Cry for Justice website, one woman shared her experience about what happened when she tried to get help with her abusive husband. Her story is told here and is just one of many. Abuse victims often share their stories in the comments under the posts at this site.
It is appalling and very serious when a person or church sides with the abusers against victims. Psalms 82 says “How long will you go on judging unfairly, favoring the wicked? Give justice to the weak and fatherless! Uphold the rights of the wretched and poor! Rescue the destitute and needy; deliver them from the power of the wicked!” Psalms 97:10 says “Let those who love the LORD hate evil, for he guards the lives of his faithful ones and delivers them from the hand of the wicked.” Ps. 11:5 says that “The one who loves violence His soul hates.”And Ps 12:6 says “Because the poor are oppressed, because the needy are groaning, I will now rise up,” says Adonai, “and grant security to those whom they scorn.” Ally yourself with an evil person and you put yourself in direct opposition to God.
Many times I see memes at Facebook that make the assumption that people who stop attending a church are leaving merely because of hurt feelings, or because their eyes are on men rather than God, or because they do not want to hear “The Truth.” I’m sure that is sometimes the case. However, I think it is arrogant and simplistic to assume that it is always the case. The Bible warns “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.” (Matt. 7:15). The Bible also says “For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.” (2 Tim 4:3). Finally, it says that the true sheep hear and follow the voice of the true Shepherd. (John 10:27) Did it occur to anyone that maybe the reason many people leave a church is not because they have hurt little feelings or are rejecting God or His truth, but because they do not hear the voice of the Shepherd in that place and they are fleeing the wolf-led flock? Maybe God is rescuing the sheep from the wolves by leading them away. Ezekiel 34 has this to say:
Thus says the Lord God: Ah, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep? You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat ones, but you do not feed the sheep. The weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the injured you have not bound up, the strayed you have not brought back, the lost you have not sought, and with force and harshness you have ruled them. So they were scattered, because there was no shepherd, and they became food for all the wild beasts. My sheep were scattered; they wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. My sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth, with none to search or seek for them. “Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: As I live, declares the Lord God, surely because my sheep have become a prey, and my sheep have become food for all the wild beasts, since there was no shepherd, and because my shepherds have not searched for my sheep, but the shepherds have fed themselves, and have not fed my sheep, therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: Thus says the Lord God, Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will require my sheep at their hand and put a stop to their feeding the sheep. No longer shall the shepherds feed themselves. I will rescue my sheep from their mouths, that they may not be food for them.
We once attended a very small church. As time went on, alarm bells went off inside of me. The pastor was extremely controlling, uncaring of the needs of the congregation, and unethical. At first I ignored the niggly doubts about him, but they grew in number and intensity. When I told close friends about my concerns, they said things such as: “No pastor or church is perfect. We need to submit to and support church leaders. How do you know YOU aren’t the one with the problem…?” I struggled with this, but we ended up leaving. The advice from my friends made me question how a person could ever stand against false teachers if they were supposed to see not, hear not, speak not, judge not, and submit? People sometimes wonder why a victim remains in abuse, but is it so surprising when they receive advice like this? I remember when the cult leader Jim Jones led more than 900 of his followers into committing suicide by drinking poisoned Kool-aide. Jim Jones started out as a methodist minister. I have sometimes wondered how many of his followers had had doubts about him when his teaching first seemed “off,” and might have escaped, but were urged that no one is perfect and they needed to submit to their leader?
As for those who think that Christian grace and love means never offending and always keeping people in our lives no matter what they do. It is true that God has made us accepted, has drawn us near to Him, and made us part of His family and kingdom. However, these are promises given to those who become His children. These promises are not for the unrepentant. As Luke 17:5 Ministries says, “There is NOT ONE INSTANCE in Scripture of the Lord forgiving anyone who remains ‘stiff-necked’ (stubborn) and unrepentant.” In addition, when God became “the Word made Flesh” and walked among us, He actually offended more people than He attracted (John 6:66, etc).
Furthermore, the God who includes is also the God who separates. From the very beginning, He has separated light from dark, the water from the land, Israel from the nations, the righteous from the wicked, the sheep from the goats, etc. We are not unloving or unChristlike when we choose to separate from those who are wicked. To pressure victims to remain with the abusers who enslave and mistreat them is not following the God who declared that He loves the downtrodden and brokenhearted and that He came to set the prisoners free. In fact, we are told to rebuke and separate from evil people. Here are just a few of many verses:
Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you…2 Cor. 6:14-17
Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers… (Ps 1:1)
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Say to the congregation, Get away from the dwelling of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.” Then Moses rose and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israel followed him. And he spoke to the congregation, saying,“Depart, please, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest you be swept away with all their sins.” So they got away from the dwelling of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. (read the whole story in Numbers 16)
But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud,arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. (2 Tim 3:1-5)
Don’t make friends with an angry man, and don’t be a companion of a hot-tempered man. (Prov. 22:24)
Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.” (1 Cor. 15:33)
“Moreover, if your brother commits a sin against you, go and show him his fault — but privately, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won back your brother. If he doesn’t listen, take one or two others with you so that every accusation can be supported by the testimony of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to hear them, tell the congregation; and if he refuses to listen even to the congregation, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax-collector. (Matt 18:15-17) How were pagans and tax-collectors treated in Bible times? Click here: Ancient Tax Collectors.
If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.” (Luke 17:3-4) [Repentance, by the way, doesn’t mean just saying, “I’m sorry.” repentance is turning away from the wrong behavior. It means genuine change.]
There are many, many verses about separating from the wicked. I could go on but you get the picture, I hope. We need to stop being naively deceived by appearances, we need to stop unquestioningly pitying the abusers, we need to stop allowing ourselves to be their tool.
This might seem to some as if I’m describing a God who is mean, and unforgiving, and merciless. I’m doing just the opposite. He is a God who cares deeply for the oppressed and He will defend them against the wicked.
I wish Christians would educate themselves on the topics of abuse, of good and evil, and the other things I’ve mentioned in this post. Two good places to start are the websites, A Cry for Justice and Narcissists Suck. Both address these subjects Biblically. As A Cry for Justice warns in its post She’s Marrying a Sociopath and There’s Nothing We Can Do to Stop it: “Churches, Christians, pastors, elders!! We must STOP closing our eyes to evil among us in our churches! We must be done with this foolish naiveté about wickedness. We must learn about sociopaths and psychopaths and narcissists and abusers and we must become expert — wise as serpents the Bible calls it — in discerning the tactics of these vermin. They are oppressing the sheep that the Lord has charged us with protecting.
GPS Meltdown
JJ had his periodic appointment with his oncologist today to make sure he is still cancer free. I went with him because he doesn’t want to go to medical appointments alone–especially not to oncologists. I wouldn’t want to either.
We’ve only been to this new oncologist once, shortly after we moved here last June so we used the GPS on JJ’s smart phone to make sure we found our way. We got there with 15 minutes to spare, which is about right. I like to get to appointments a little early, but not too early. When we went up to the building, I was surprised to find the door was locked. Then we noticed a sign that said their offices had moved.
Yikes! I was afraid that the offices might be clear across the city and we’d be horribly late. JJ programmed his GPS with the new address that had been listed on the sign on the door, and we learned that the new office was only about 3 miles away. The GPS (whose name JJ said is Sasha) calmly gave us directions until suddenly she had a complete meltdown. “Turn on M– Street!” She yelled. “Turn on M– Street! Turn on M– Street! Turn on M– Street NOW!” “Calm DOWN!” we told her. Sheesh. She acted as if she was having an anxiety attack. She was stressing us out.
The oncologist’s new office was located in a brand new Cancer Center attached to the hospital. It was really nice. The oncologist is really nice and good at explaining stuff to us. He’s only met us once, and he said he couldn’t remember my name. I said that my name is TJ…or Mom. He told he me would call me “Mom”–even though he is about my age. It’s easier to remember. He said JJ health looks good. He had JJ get a blood draw afterwards to check his cancer markers, and has ordered a CT Scan and chest X-ray in June to make sure everything is clear. Assuming the tests all come back good, JJ’s next appointment with the oncologist is next October.
On the way home we stopped at our favorite restaurant. I didn’t order anything because I was going to eat supper with EJ at home, but JJ wouldn’t have had time to eat at home before he had to head for work–so he just ordered take out and ate as we drove home. We got home about 30 minutes before he had to leave for work. Days when JJ has medical appointments and tests are always difficult days for him, but fortunately he only had to work four hours today.
Every morning I carry the ducklings to the bathtub for their daily swim. I can’t believe how quickly they are growing. They are losing their yellow downiness and getting more and more of their white feathers. They are also developing separate personalities. One duck loudly screams a piercing “PEEP! PEEP! PEEP!” as I carry it to the bathroom. The other mostly just rests its head against my arm.
The chicks are also growing fast, although not as fast as the ducks. They are mostly feathers now. I always talk to them when I check on them. I can’t get good pictures of them in their horse trough in the hallway.
Danny is totally fascinated with the birds. He always wants to come into the bathroom to watch the ducks as they swim. He hardly ever makes a sound, but he has begun whining as he observes them. He also insists on going into the hallway whenever I go out to check on the ducks and chicks. Tonight Danny was a little upset with a cat who was eating from from their dish on a bench next to the trough. I think Danny thought the cat was too close to HIS birds.
Here is one of this morning’s videos of Danny watching his ducks.
Ducklings in the Bathtub
Yesterday was JJ’s first official day on his new job. He came home happy. He really likes it at the new place.
It snowed again today. We got several inches–and I think we are expecting several more inches. There is a Winter Weather Advisory for our areaWinter just doesn’t want to let go.
EJ said that when it got warmer, we’d buy a little pool for our birds. I got to thinking that the large bathtub in our master bedroom looks a lot like a pool. It’s so large that it takes forever to fill it and we have only used it once. (We use our separate shower instead.) I suggested that the ducklings might enjoy swimming in it. So we put a few inches of water in the tub and put the ducklings in it. They had a wonderful time swimming around. After a while, we lifted them out onto towels on the floor and watched them dry their feathers.
I think we make terrible farmers/homesteaders. Our “livestock” become our pets.
Duck Love
It was very foggy and rainy all day today. I think the fog makes the landscape very pretty, although I worry a bit when my guys have to drive through thick fog.
Because of remodeling we had done over the years at the old house, we couldn’t get our box springs downstairs so we had to leave them behind. EJ built a platform for our mattress here in our new house. At first it was ok but over the months it has gotten more and more uncomfortable and we weren’t sleeping well. I finally googled box springs last week and discovered that they didn’t cost much at all. (We had ordered our left-behind box springs with the mattress several years ago and all I remembered was that it was rather expensive.) Anyway, we ordered new box springs last week and I eagerly counted the days–er, nights–for them to be delivered. It was today! Yay!
I had read in an email that Sears sent me that before the delivery guys showed up, pets had to be contained. It only makes sense. They wouldn’t want to be bitten or blamed for letting pets escape the house. So as soon as I saw the truck coming up the driveway, I yelled for JJ to help me put the cats in his room, and I put Danny in the hallway. The delivery guys wanted to see where they’d be putting the box springs before they got it out of the truck, so I let them in the house to show them. As soon as Danny heard them, he came rushing through the cat door. I told the guys he was friendly and they petted him. Danny has always loved people and used to greet everyone he encountered when we walked in our old town. Up here, he rarely sees anyone so when a stranger appears, he wants lots of lovings.
One of the delivery guys said that he had delivered our washer/dryer when we first moved here. They set up the box springs for me, helped me put the bed skirt on them, and then put the mattress in place.
Our little chicks and ducklings are growing up. Every morning they are noticeably bigger than they were the night before. The little chicks are beginning to get tiny feathers. We give them lovings everyday. EJ and JJ always hold the ducklings, which are their favorites. I always hold a chick or two so they don’t feel left out.
Danny loves the little birds as well, and insists on accompanying us whenever we go look at them. We put boards on top of the horse trough that we put the birds in. We weigh it down so the cats can’t get it off. Tonight one of the cats was on top of the horse trough, which upset Danny so he snapped at him. JJ gets nervous if the cats are too near also.
I took some videos of our EJ, JJ, Danny, and the ducklings.
JJ, a duckling, and the chicks
EJ and a duckling. The duckling keeps biting his beard.
Today was JJ’s last day of work at his company. He told me they all gave him hugs when he left. He starts his new job tomorrow.
Enchanted Homestead
Downstate we had friends who lived in the country and had chickens for a few years. I thought they were very beautiful and interesting. I decided that if ever we lived in the country, I’d raise chickens. The eggs are healthier than store-bought eggs and if we had extra eggs, I could sell them and maybe make a little extra money.
Our new neighbor across the road has chickens. Every time I hear their roosters crow, I think, “I would like to have chickens! Well, today I was browsing on the Internet, and I found a cute little chicken coop on sale at a local farm store. We could use some of our tax refund to pay for it and JJ said that if we bought a coop, he’d help us pay for it. So EJ and I jumped in the Sub and drove to the farm store and bought the coop. We will have to put it together, but one reviewer on the website said that she and her husband easily put it together in 45 minutes.
There were baby ducks and chicks in horse troughs at the farm store. An employee told me that they’d be there for the first week or two of April–or until they were sold. So we decided to buy some today. We bought four chicks and two ducks. When we got them home, EJ moved an old horse trough into our unheated hallway that connects the rest of the house to the garage. He had bought the horse trough several years ago at a garage sale and had used it as a raised garden bed at our old house.
JJ had just enough time to look at the chicks and ducklings before he had to leave for work. He thinks they are cute too.
Timmy and Little Bear are interested in the new babies, but EJ constructed a cat-proof lid for the trough. Danny is also interested, but he is so gentle that I don’t think he’d ever hurt them. I showed him one of the chicks and he sniffed it a little.
I think our little babies are adorable. I have never lived in the country before or had chickens. I am excited about starting a little enchanted homestead! Hopefully we can keep our chicks safe from foxes and coyotes and owls and bears.
I told EJ that I would like to consider raising bees for honey. One of EJ’s sisters raises bees, and maybe she could teach me.
Cousin Jenny’s Pasties
The snow that was dumped on us this week is already beginning to melt as the temperatures warm. There are still several inches of snow on the ground, but it is shrinking a bit and in the driveway it is slushy.
EJ’s birthday is Sunday. Yes, JJ was born a week before his Dad’s birthday. Since JJ didn’t have to go to school or work today, we celebrated EJ’s birthday tonight. He asked for a Pennsylvania Dutch Apple Cake, which is our favorite cake and very yummy. I made it this afternoon.
EJ got out of work early today because there wasn’t much work for him to do. We had to do some banking, so we left for the bank soon after he got home. Afterwards, I was looking at the stores that we were driving past, and I saw a restaurant called Cousin Jenny’s which sold a meat pie called a pasty.
The name Cousin Jenny and the pasty comes from miners from Cornwell, England. When the tin and copper mines failed in Cornwall during the mid-1800s, many Cornish men and women immigrated to the mining frontiers of North America. They were called “Cousin Jacks” and “Cousin Jennies” in the new territories. When Cornish miners migrated to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, they brought with them their beloved national dish: the pasty. The Finnish miners that followed adopted these meat pies as their own. The pasty is often made of beef, rutabaga, carrots, onions and potatoes. The shape and construct of the pasty made it not only portable, but if it should get cold, it would be relatively easy to warm up. In the mine, this was often done by putting the pasty on a shovel and holding it over a head-lamp candle. In the workplace, a pasty wasn’t eaten with a fork; it was eaten end to end, held upright to keep the juices in.
Pasties are especially popular in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, but you can find them in Northern Michigan as well. EJ’s mother used to make pasties as he was growing up and he loves them. They are one of his “comfort foods.” It seemed the perfect birthday meal for him, so after I spotted the restaurant, we knew we had to stop in. The owner gave us a choice of having cooked pasties or uncooked ones that we could take home and bake ourselves. Since we had to stop at the grocery store on the way home, and we wanted to take one to JJ, we chose to buy uncooked ones that we could bake at home and eat hot. I told the owner that this was our first visit to her restaurant and that it was EJ’s birthday. She gave him a large free cookie as a gift, which we divided and ate as soon as we got in the Sub.
As soon as we got home, I put the pasties in the oven to bake. Oh, my goodness, they were delicious! I think Cousin Jenny’s will become a favorite restaurant.
After we ate our pasties, we sang ♫ Happy Birthday ♫ to EJ and then enjoyed his cake and ice cream.
Afterwards, I made homemade bread.
Yesterday & Today
JJ needed to get his driver’s license renewed. With his busy schedule, it’s difficult to find time to do extra activities but since he didn’t have to work last Monday, I went with him to the Secretary of State’s office. (That sounds very official, but Michigan’s Secretary of State is what other states call the Department of Motor Vehicles, or DMV.) We celebrated JJ’s birthday last Saturday, but his actual birthday was Monday and the last day he could get his license renewed without a late fee.
At the Secretary of State office, we sat in the back row of chairs while we waited for JJ’s number to be called. I leaned over and whispered, “Today you get your Big Boy’s license. Cool.” In Michigan, teens have a youth license until they turn age 21. It is taller and narrower than the adult license. JJ said, “You are so weird, Mom.” When it was his turn, he went up to the counter alone while I remained seated. “If you need me,” I had told him, “just flash me the Bat Signal.” I just about cracked up when I heard the SOS clerk tell JJ, “Ooooh! You get your Big Boy license today!” It seems that Moms will be Moms. LOL.
Officially, JJ stops working at his current job on March 31 and begins his new job on April 1. However, the new manager had asked him, if possible, to come in before his official first day for training. JJ said he could come in on Wednesday afternoon. He actually ended up training and working from 4:30 p.m. until 10 p.m. He came home in high spirits. He said the people are all nice there, the customers were nice, and it was an awesome place to work. He was also excited that his job is local so there is a chance he can meet people in our own community.
We have been enjoying Spring weather during most of March. The temperatures warmed up and the snow all melted. Although I knew that it was still early and it was very likely that winter weather would return, I couldn’t resist setting up our patio furniture and park benches outside. I tried to resist, but it was quite impossible. It was nice trading in our coats for jackets, and our boots for shoes. Last night winter returned for another punch. It snowed all night and day and we have gotten close to a foot of snow. We have also gotten freezing rain. EJ said that the drive home today was quite treacherous. JJ’s college class was canceled today–since he was homeschooled, this is one of the first “snow days” he’s ever had. With the weather so bad, he called his current job to tell them he wouldn’t make it in. I took pictures yesterday before it snowed and pictures of the same scenes today to show the difference between yesterdays and today’s weather. A day really makes a difference!
The good think about snow in the Spring is that we know it won’t last. Sooner or later, Winter will loosen its grip.
Life in March
Wow. It’s been more than a week since I’ve last written. An awful lot has happened in that time.
We had some warm weather–warm enough for jackets and shoes instead of coats and boots. It melted all our snow, which is wonderful because I’m a bit tired of four-wheeling up and down our driveway–although I did enjoy sledding down it. The weather was so nice that I sort of got Spring Fever and I brought took our patio table and park benches outside even though I know it’s only March and we could still get more winter weather. Sure enough, “an accumulation of snow” is forecasted for later this week. Oh, well.
I have been keeping busy crocheting. I had an order for 50 apple bookmarks and another order for 20 daisy bookmarks. That kept me busy. I didn’t have to get the apple bookmarks finished until autumn because they are being given as Rosh Hashanah gifts, but I like to get my orders completed as quickly as possible. After I finished those bookmarks, I designed a cherry bookmark. There are a lot of cherry orchards in my area–and even a Cherry Festival–so I’m hoping to sell some of my bookmarks locally as well as through my Etsy Store. I might also sell the pattern if I can get it written up. I haven’t gotten the bookmarks at the store yet.
For the last month or so, EJ has been building me library shelves. When we first moved here, I considered buying shelves or bookcases from a store, but we have a lot of books so I’d need several floor-to-ceiling shelves. Most bookcases are only 6 feet high and even cheap ones are expensive and would have cost a lot of money. So eventually we decided to just buy brackets and boards and built our own for much less. We don’t need anything fancy, we just need shelves to hold our books. EJ is building very sturdy bookcases. As soon as he gets each shelf completed, he lets me put books on it. I have emptied many boxes of books already. However, I still have many boxes left so I think I’m going to run out of shelf space before I run out of boxes of books. However, EJ and I will sort through the books and sell any duplicates or books that we no longer want.
At our old house, our library was tucked away upstairs. I’m really excited about having all our books just in the next room, and very accessible.
JJ’s 21st birthday is tomorrow. We celebrated this Saturday, however, because EJ was home and JJ didn’t have to leave for work until mid-afternoon. In our family, the birthday person gets to choose his birthday meal and the type of cake he wants. For several years I made a unique cookie cake that I had created–I put a large brownie covered with chocolate frosting on top of a giant peanut butter cookie. It was delicious, but very rich.
This year, however, JJ wanted something different. He chose to have a homemade pizza and a carrot cake. I found candles at the store that had different colored flames. It was cool. Because he had been so busy with work and college, JJ also said that he would prefer to stay home and have a Doctor Who marathon. So that is what we did.
JJ currently works at a store that is very well-known nationally. However, a competing store opened last November just a few miles down the road. The new store has everything JJ’s store has and much, much more, and business at JJ’s store dropped 50% after it opened. Many of his co-workers have found other jobs or have been fired. JJ has been wanting to find a new job, since he’s not sure how long his store will remain in business. Months ago JJ applied for a job at a little grocery store just a few minutes from our home. It is the store we usually shop at. Last week they called him and asked if he was still interested in working for them and when he said “yes,” they set up an interview for the next day. After the interview JJ said that he wasn’t sure how well he had done so he wasn’t certain he’d get the job. However, Friday they called to tell him that the job was his. He is really excited. The store is only two miles away instead of the 20 miles he now drives, which will save him time and money for gas. Also, there is a chance for advancement at this store. He has given his two-week’s notice at his current job and begins his new job on April 1.
