Thursday, July 3, 2014

Good afternoon from the mountain and would the French take us back...

Good afternoon from the mountain a very pleasant 77 degrees F on July 3, what could be stranger than that, well I am really not sure.  Nice though to not be sweating, but disturbing to the wildlife.  Speaking of wildlife, we picked the first hornworm off our tomato plants in the front garden.  It seems as though everything wants to eat my tomato plants.  I still have not caught the coon and I planning on a different trap, truly it is frustrating, but I am willing to fight for my food. 

Aside from garden issues, we are getting along well; Michael has made real progress on the new kitchen.  He has taken down a section of the outside wall and soon he should have the first sliding glass door in.  I will have one on each side of the building, and it will allow me to see from one side of the farm to the other.  It will also allow me to have excellent air flow in the kitchen that means less AC more baking.

 I miss baking bread and most days it is too hot to do so.  The new kitchen is based in old knowledge, in the before days people would have a kitchen separate from the main house to keep the main house from getting too hot or in the event of fire, you would not lose your central structures.  Only the well to do could do that back, and we are far from well to do, we are more like the people from France that first settled Arkansas all those years ago.  What brave pioneers they were to live is this area, surrounded by bears and other wild animals that were nearly eaten into extinction during the depression in Arkansas.  This state has a dark past.  Below I have placed a picture of one of the very old cabins from the ear that the French were still here, which predates the Napoleonic era.



Just to let you know the French are amazing people, they loaned America so much money in her little breach of contract with Britain, which later became the Revolutionary War that they never recovered.  This was the true reason that the French revolted in what is now know to us as the French Revolution.  By the time of the Napoleonic era, funds were tight and as we all know war is very expensive, especially when you are trying to concur Euro-Asia, better known today as Russia.   Sadly we all know how this ended…

Perhaps the same thing will happen here in American since she did not learn this lesson of history, perhaps American Presidents never played the game of RISK as children, and you could hold every land until you went after Euro- Asia.  It is funny to think the game could be so accurate. Maybe the French will take Arkansas back.  Via La France....!

I left the farm today, by myself to run some errands and check on the grapes, which are still not ready.  The store prices have gone a bit crazy; fish and fish products have dropped since last week; red meat has risen.  Bread seemed to be in short supply, the holiday I imagine is the cause of that, and at least I hope so.  For weeks, I have been posting that there is less and less bread upon the shelves of the stores.  I know that many crops were ruined here in the states; they have not said how bad the damage is.  I am guessing this is to keep people from panic, much like the petrol prices. 

I am not worried; I can bake, but I will soon have to make my own fuel if this keeps up, it is a good thing that I have an old Jeep that can run on alcohol.  She is very old and lovely, and she was made with pride in a time when America made things that lasted.  As you have I am sure noticed most I have a lot of old things, it was a choice, and I got rid of many new things that never worked well or lasted.  My stove included.  I had a very high end oven that was digital.  It had a timer you could set to turn it on to cook and tell it when to stop.  It was a nice toy, but that is all, it had to be fixed at least once a year at a cost of around three hundred dollars.  It was insane to continue putting money into it, unlike my 60 year old; it was showing its age and it was hard to find parts for it.  The door shows signs of rust on its brackets, so to the yard it went.  I cook with two stoves (ovens) now; one burns wood and the other is a Westinghouse stove from the late nineteen forties.   The wood stove could use re-oiled or painted, but the electric needs nothing and runs like a top and she has never had a part replaced.  It says volumes about our country to see that a new stove has a life of just five years.

 My friend came over tonight to pick up some birds and noticed the stove was in my yard and said, I guess you were mad at it.  I guess I should take it away for scrap.  Of course, she also commented on the animals and children visiting while we sat under the trees outside.  Our Calf came by and our horse, plus the dogs, it also gave us a chance to look at my pond and some of the smaller gardens.  She seemed amazed at the fact we had pumpkins close to ripe.  I am glad as I will have them for the fair.  I do wish we had more planted; I may plant some more out in the fields if I get time. 

Well, I should get off of here and get Dinner made; we are having breakfast for dinner, some turkey ham, hash browns, and fresh duck eggs.

Be Blessed Dear ones
Shekhinah


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