My apologies for the lack of posting, I've had lots to say but have been receiving some very unwanted correspondence through this blog and just haven't wanted to post anything until that was dealt with, now, hoping that it will no longer continue I hope to write here a little more often.

To the person who has written the undesirable comments and letters, I suppose you will read this and you certainly know who you are, as well as most of the people who read this blog. If you contact me again I will not keep your correspondence private, it will be posted and the embarrassment will be all yours. I won't ask nicely again.

It's the time of year that the colorful garden catalogs fill the mailbox and I spend hours and hours pouring over the descriptions and deciding what to get,of course I tend to want far more than I really need or am able to care for so I always write out the orders and look at them for a month or so, culling things as I go along. Last year my garden was a smashing success, almost too successful because I still have an enormous supply of garden things that I can't possibly finish eating before the new crop comes in. I'm still eating fresh zucchini, potatoes, carrots and squash, I have buckets of raw pickles of all varieties from beets and beans to cucumbers,onions and herbs. I've got boxes of frozen peas,corn, beans and strawberries and I don't even have to ration them! This year I have set a goal of saving seed from nearly everything so I have been ordering seeds accordingly. Open pollinated varieties and only one of each thing because I don't want cross pollination, it's going to be interesting to see how it all works out this summer and next fall. I've also been browsing the poultry catalog and the list of birds I want is long and expensive. The problem is that I have to order a certain number of birds of each so that they can be shipped and keep each other warm. I can combine whichever varieties I like, just as long as I have the required number of geese,turkeys, chickens and guineas. So unless I can find someone willing to split an order with me I am going to have a lot more birds than I really need or want, but I guess things could be worse, I'm glad we can still order birds!
It was really nice for a while when it was so warm outside, I got lots of things done outside, now that it's so cold I stay inside! I was working on my little Volkswagen, and as soon as it's warm enough to go out there and work for a little while I'll have it on the road again. I'm not in a hurry to get it going because its cold enough that I don't want to mess with starting it,being a diesel it's not the easiest machine to use at 20 below zero,not to mention gelling fuel. I am taking the time to improve on the car a little, new head gasket, thermostat, and I am going through anything that might be worn or has a tendency to fail and am replacing it now so I know it's all new, I'll keep the used but still good parts as emergency spares. I also have finally built a proper generator frame so the charger isn't walking all over the place, before I just had the various parts, engine,generator,switches,fuel tank etc. screwed or strapped to boards and those nailed to a pallet, then after that fell apart I just had the engine sitting on the ground and the generator wedged so the belt would only slip a little bit! It was terrible but it worked. Today I finally finished the frame so I can bolt the engine and generator to proper steel and tighten the belt properly. It only took a few hours with the torch and welder along with a few pieces of scrap metal that I had already so I don't know why I never did it before this.
For those of you who haven't heard, Jenifer finally had the baby, another red headed girl! Amylia Grace ( I think that's how they spell it) Babies are nice, I am glad I don't have any at the moment, but if I had a wife to help I would want at least a dozen.
The first visitors of the year stopped in the other day, Terry Hunter and family, it was great to have someone over, I almost never do, in fact this was the first time I had ever had someone come over who stayed long enough to come in the house and sit down! The problem, I have two serviceable chairs! Certainly not enough for 5 people! The piano bench worked and buckets finished off the furniture,I should get something better, not that I have enough visitors to justify it but I might someday.
David's visit was great, though he has changed a lot. We did manage to drag him into the Christmas program, which was a good thing because I didn't have to sing alone! It was a reasonable success I think, mostly because Rebekah had the solo part and her voice is superb.
While David had his pickup here I got him to help me pick up my horses,which was something I couldn't do with my truck because the hitch is too high for the trailer. We got them home safely (A team of Belgian draft horses) and into the barn, but somehow didn't manage to get the barn as secure as it should have been. That was a problem because these horses had never been touched (read-completely wild) and had just that day been weaned from their mothers. They got loose that night and what a disaster! Thank God for snow! I got my sister's riding horse(that hadn't been ridden in years) and took off on their trail, after riding all day I found them but that was the easy part,getting them home was interesting to say the least! It worked out,with a lot of help from Kyle and they were back in the barn late that evening (long after dark) I was about dead though, I hadn't ridden in over a year and Jenifer's horse is the most miserable horse to ride I have ever seen or heard of. She is fine with a saddle,but the saddles were all burned in the barn fire so I was bareback, I had nasty bruises where bruises don't belong and I didn't walk much for a few days. It would have been fine if I hadn't been trotting, galloping, jumping fences and ditches and lunging through deep snow,whirling around like a cowboy (which is something I am not) trying to keep the other horses heading the right direction. Now things are fine, I am recovered, the horses are tame and will begin real training this spring as soon as the snow melts. I am going to use them for farm work, and I've already been asked to do something in a parade, I'll also use them for generating electricity so I only have to run the diesel generator on very rare occasions,like when I want to use the welder. I think horses are a good alternative for someone who likes them(I do) and is willing to deal with them. The fuel is free, just go cut hay! It's also not subject to the pricing whims of multinational mega rich oil companies and overseas oil supplies, parts regrow themselves and replacements can be raised every year! Or additions to the herd, whichever is needed. Cost is less because I can sell babies, I have a stallion and a filly so they will reproduce.(God willing)

Time to go, I've been attacked by a nephew.