Grand Quotes

Sierra: I wish I had doors on my nose so I could close them when it gets windy.

VOP had a program this morning in which ben made a very interesting comment. I didn't catch it but the other guys did. If I would have caught I am fairly certain I would have not been able to control my laughter.
VOP has been setting aside funds for the last several years to help needy causes. At the present time it is Ben's job to tell the audience about the need we are supporting. Today Ben told the audience that: "We are supporting an english speaking stool in Poland." He then went on to talk about the school and how they are using the school to reach the community.
What is your grandest, biggest public speaking blunder?

Garbage Sale Complete

Well, that is over. Everyone did very well I think. I brought home a lot less stuff then what I took up there which is always a plus.
Maybe we will do another one in the fall.
Tomorrow we, VOP, have a program in the morning and then another one in the evening. So, tomorrow will be another very full day.
Well, I am very weary so I shall close this short epistle. So long, farewell, etc......

Garbage Sale

Tommrow we are planning on having a garbage sale. Okay, it is really a yard sale full of things we no longer want. My siblings and their familys will be partcipating as well. This will be one of those Large 3 Family Yard Sales and will be located between Browns Mill Road and Rt. 24 on Wisecarver Rd. Please drop in and see what kind of things we now consider junk. You may find a grand treasure, but I doubt it. There will be hotdogs and sodas available for your munching and sipping enjoyment. There will also be some baked goods and and lots of 0ther things to purchase....

French Muffins

I have no idea why this has turned into the Greatest Foods Of All Time blog lately but here is one more grand food that needs to be made. I don't know where my mother found this one but it is very good. When I was growing up she made this quite alot. When she was to busy to do muffins she made it like a cake. However, they are not as good when made that way because the butter and sugar coating doesn't soak in as much. Here is the recipe.

One third C. shortning
Half C. sugar
One egg
Half C. milk
One and one half C. flour
One and one half tsp baking powder
Half tsp of salt
One fourth tsp of nutmeg
Mis first three ingredients add the rest. Mix only until blended. Bake @ 350 for 20-25 min.
Topping =
Half C. sugar
1 tsp of cinnamon (This may vary depending on how much cinnamon you want.)
Immedietly after baking dip the muffin (roll) in melted butter (half C.) Then roll the muffin in your sugar cinnamon mixture.
Excellent choice for any meal......

Baked Potato Topper

1 C. shredded Cheddar cheese
One fourth C. soft butter
One half C. sour cream
Onion chopped (optional)
Whip cheese and butter until fluffy. Add sour cream and whip together. Add onion if desired. Serve on baked potato.
There it is folks. Copied directly from The Basics and More cookbook.

Have you ever wondered were these recipes come from? Who would think to add half a teaspoon of something? Who would think that adding half a teaspoon of something would make a world of difference in the taste? These people must be geeks/nerds or something of that nature.

Chess Pie

Here is the recipe for the one and only pie.....
Fourth cup of margerine.
Half cup of sugar.
One cup of brown sugar.
One eighth teaspoon of salt. (This is to offset all that sugar.)
Three eggs.
One teaspoon of Vanilla.
One tablespoon of flour.
One half cup of milk.
You place all of these ingredients in the blender and then blend it.
Bake it at 375 degrees until the knife comes out clean which is 40-50 minutes.

Lynchburg Livestock Market

Korwin, my nephew, Sierra and I took three cows to the Lynchburg Livestock Market this evening. 27 was rather frail and gaunt and brought a mere 25 cents a lb. She weighed in around 1200 lbs. The second cow of mine that went through the ring was Patricia. She topped off around 1400 and some odd lbs and brought 48.5 cents per lb. The final cow of mine was rather large. She weighed in at 1665 lbs. That is very close to a ton. Gin brought a very fine 53 cents a lb. I enjoy going to the market because the auctioneers are extremely good. They don’t mess around trying to get that one more cent they just sell it. Of course when you have several thousand head to sell you would want to keep the show on the road. Have you ever been to a livestock auction? By the way, you may want to check your hamburger the next time you go to McDonalds. You may be eating hamburger from Airy Mont Farm. Oh, wait, they don’t stamp that on the meat do they……

Lunch

Due to sickness I stayed home from church this morning with three children. I can enjoy cooking when I have the time/energy. Plus I enjoy surprising the lady when she gets home. So this is what I did. I was browsing through the Basic's Cookbook when I noticed a recipe for Baked Potato Topping. I thought baked potatoes sounded really good so I took five nice red potatoes and wrapped them in tin foil. I then fired up the gas grill and placed them in there for about an hour. While these red orbs were baking I pulled the left over cube steak out of the fridge and placed it in the oven to warm. At the last minute I decided we really needed some green beans so I made a mad dash down to the basement and returned with a quart of green beans. I threw together the afore mentioned Baked Potato Topping. This was capped off by a lovely Peanut Butter Pie that my wife told me to make. Peanut Butter Pie is really a very simple thing to make. (It helps when the wife has a pie crust in the freezer.) She was very impressed with my culinary skills and is threatening to give me one meal a week. What really surprised me was the oldest daughter telling me You make really good food Daddy!

Equipment Part II

I am sure you are all dying to know what happened today. I arose this morning and headed off to my trusty NAPA store to pick up some parts and some oil that was compatible with a hydrostatic system. I found what I needed and upon arriving back on the farm I proceeded to put oil in the Bobcat. I was hoping this would fix the problem. The problem consisted of the lift booms and tilt cylinder not lifting. Also the brake would not release. I perched on the seat and started the machine. Nothing had changed. I had a Bobcat that runs well but won't move. I bypassed the emergency brake feature and tried again. This time I can move the skid loader but am unable to move the booms. After much headache and tribulation I come to the conclusion that it is a safety feature problem somewhere else. Their are so many safety features and I dread trying to trouble shoot to locate the problem. I think it maybe the switch in the seat but I am not positive. Monday I will try again. Does any one have experience with this kind of situation?

Equipment

Two years ago my 863 Bobcat blew a head gasket. Hired man changed the head gasket and boss has head machined. Hired man puts pieces back together and we use Bobcat. Six months later Bobcat is using oil like a sieve. We park worthless machine in shop. Boss goes to PA and buys a Thomas Skid loader. Boss plans to sell worthless Bobcat after he gets it fixed. Boss runs Thomas and Bobcat sits in shop for a long time. This winter hired man finally gets the engine back into Bobcat. Bobcat still not run but looks nice with new engine. Boss and hired man baffled. (The engine needed to be overhauled due to massive engine problems. Big gap in the rings, sleeves were shot, etc.) In Feb. Thomas starts to feel overworked and gets a little hot under the collar. We keep giving him water but he continues to steam. After trying several remedies, none of which work, the boss notices today that water pump is losing water like a well. Boss listens to Thomas grumble and steam and decides Thomas needs some time out. Boss realizes Bobcat must run. Boss had tried to crank Bobcat earlier but it would not run. It sounded flooded. Boss is a mechanical numb skull.... Boss gets neighbor who is good mechanic. Mechanic get Bobcat to run. Now Thomas can sit in shop for long time like his buddy Bobcat. Boss not happy with his equipment. Tomorrow boss will try again.....

Cell Phone

Yesterday I lost my phone and this is the secod one I have lost this year. I hate it.... For starters my wife and I are under contract with All Tell so we cannot cancel the phone without paying a $200 disconnect fee. I also did not want to go through the headache of filing an insurance claim. So we decided to switch my phone # to my wife's phone. My wife's contract ends in June mine ends in November. This, hopefully is the cheapest thing to do at the moment. We are planning to cancel her phone when the contract expires. I must say that these phones have not been lost. They have fallen out of their puny, worthless, and frail holders. If you think I laid the phone down and could not remember where I had been laid, you are wrong. I need a phone holder that would hold a phone in the proper place through a tornado. Where can I find one? You would think people who are smart enough to get man to the moon would aslo be smart enough to make a phone holder that would hold a phone securely.

Mower

About four years ago I decided I was finished playing around with junky mowers. I was sick and tired of Murray and Dynamark mowers. They are junk. So, I went down to Good's Lawn and Garden and purchased 0 degree turning radius, hydrostatic Great Dane commercial lawn mower. This machine is an incredible machine. I have had very little trouble with it and it mows great. Today I took it down to their repair shop and had it serviced. The blades were shot so we put new blades on it and adjusted a few things. I have one complaint, I think this is becoming more of a problem with all makes, there are too many safety features. We were having trouble with the machine starting with the key and were jumping it at the starter. I discovered their is a button under each steering lever. If these buttons are not depressed the machine thinks it is not in neutral. One of these was out of adjustment. The mechanic, Jerril Good, took his expensive adjustment tool, a pry bar, and fixed the problem. I could have done that at home. I have lots of pry bars......
Anyway, if you are searching for an excellent mower give Jerril a call, he would love to sell you a mower.

The Beginning

In the last 6 months my wife and I have decided that we wanted to move across the street to the house located on the farm. The big problem with doing this is the condition, teeny tiny, of the house. My dear brother-in-law drew up some plans for remodeling and adding on a very nice addition. Today they dug the footers. So, we are beginning a journey of remodeling and building. I will gladly keep you updated on the progress. Maybe I will even post some pictures......

Hiccup

I am currently having a rather acute attack of the hiccups. I hate hiccups. I am one of those who will have a monstrous hiccup and then they will be gone. Tonight, however, appears to be a different story. I have had them for several minuets now and it is growing rather old. One night I had a really bad case of them and my wife finally told me to "Go eat a tablespoon of brown sugar." (I really like brown sugar!) I, being the skeptic I am, responded with much scorn and doubt. Because I like the taste of brown sugar I decided it was a good excuse to splurge. I hiccuped my way to the cupboard and took a rather large spoonful of the malty sugar. I was much surprised when my case of the hiccups immediately ceased. I have no idea why but they did. I am now going for the brown sugar with a large spoon.....

Easter Message

I had the privilige of listening to my father preach this morning. He had four main points out of which really only remember one. The point that struck me was this: Jesus did not promise to take away our troubles when we come to Him. He only promises to go through the trouble with us. He faced trouble the most obvious of which is the cross. He understands hopelessness and the feeling of being forsaken. Why God chose to make life a life full of trouble I do not know or understand. I am thankful that Jesus promises to be there as we face the troubles in our lives.

Easter Beliefs

Another interesting easter belief is really unbelieveable. It is the belief that the hours between Christ's death and the resurection their is no God. He is dead, therefore there is no God. In fact the people that believe this stay in the house these hours. Buisness shuts down. How absurd! I wonder where such myths are born? How many of you knew that some people believe these sorts of lies? How many of you knew there was such a lie?

Good Friday

I don't know how many of you are aquainted with Haven Today, a thirty minute radio program. The other day they were talking about being Easter people instead of Good Friday people. The host, Charles Morris, proceeded to inform his listeners that in the Phillippines their were ten people, one of them was a lady, that were going to be CRUCIFIED on good friday. He went on to say these people were doing so they would be more acceptable to God. They would hang their for 15-20 min. It is hard believe some of the things people will do in order to be in God's good grace so to speak. How do people come up with such odd and, I think you could say, heretical beliefs? Why are they so misled? We try to do things to gain Salvation. There is nothing I can do that will make me holy or help me get to heaven. It is crying out to the one whose death and resurection we are remembering this easter season. Cry out Be merciful to me, a sinner....

Full Moon

This was taken off of the deck in the back of the house. We literally watched the moon rise. It seemed to rise within two-three minuets. It was really amazing. I was very pleased with how well the picture turned out.

 

Stephen

Acts 7:54-60
This is the account of Stephen's murder. Just before he "fell asleep" Stephen said "Lord lay not this sin to their charge." My question is this. Will God honor Stephen's statement? Will he not lay this sin to their charge? The same question can be asked concerning Jesus and his crucifixion. He made the same request.

Dan Lucarini

I was given a book to read by one of my good friends. This book was written by Dan Lucarini and is titled Why I Left The Contemporary Music Movement. First I want to give a few historical facts. Mr. Lucarini started his music career in the Rock and Roll industry. He was a song writer/musician/vocalist. When he became a Christian when he was 23. After his conversion he found it hard to give up his rock music. However, he was able to fill this void with CCM. He became heavily involved in praise & worship and became a worship leader in the church he was attending. He says in this book that CCM and P&W music is divisive and the cause of many church splits. He was a part of three or four splits and blames CCM and the worship team’s lack of communication for all of them. He based this on the fact that CCM caused a huge rift because they wanted to quit singing traditional songs and leading a traditional service. He talks about the basis of CCM and the culture it is born out of. He claims that CCM P&W is based on immorality and selfishness. He is currently not involved in the music ministry of his church because he unintentionally brings this style to the music and he doesn’t believe this is the kind of worship God wants. In fact, he pretty much says that CCM P&W is not worship. Here is a man who was a part of this music culture and is now condemning it. I have not listened to CCM for a long time and have never enjoyed P&W. The main reason I didn't listen to these/this style had nothing to do with religion. It was more I just didn't like it anymore. In conclusion, I highly recommend the book. It has given me a different perspective on music in general.

What A Woman

What I found when I got home for lunch =
1. Fresh granola
2. Whole Wheat Bread (Warm/Fresh)
3. Laundry on the line
4. Happy girls
I told her, my wife, that it looked like she had gotten a lot done this morning.
Guess what I had for lunch.
Granola and toasted cheese sandwich. Very good.

Hopeless

This morning our Sunday School lesson was taken from Job. We had an excellent discussion on hopelessness. Is it okay to feel hopeless? Is their a difference between hopelessness and discouragement or depression? Is it okay to tell God you feel alone and forsaken?
Thoughts anyone?

Pies

Tonight we decided to make some pies. So I dug out my faithful Farm Journal Best Ever Pies: Over Four Hundred Tried and True Recipes. This book came along with a subscription to Farm Journal. This subscription was made in 2000 and we were going to make one pie a week and then write a short note about the pie. If the pie was good we wrote that down. If the pie was delicious we wrote that down. This way, when a pie did not set well with the taste buds we would not torment them a second time. Well, tonight we made two pies. The first was a fairly standard Apple Crunch Pie. The only thing about the pie that crunched was the crumb topping which did little crunching. We should have added more brown sugar and less flour. The second pie is really good. It is an Apple Blackberry Pie. For some reason this pie has a budding relationship with my tasting buds. It will be interesting to see how this relationship develops. My favorite pie is Chess Pie which is the king of all pies. The combination of Chess Pie and a cup of coffee has far surpassed the developing stages of a relationship with the palette. They have been married for 25 years or so.....
What is your favorite pie?

Date Night

We are scheduled for a date tonight. This scheduled date revolves around getting the chores done in time. We don't want to get left to late. We have been taking turns with my sister and her husband. (Bools Blog) They go one month and we go the next. We baby sit their children and then they baby sit ours. This has worked really well and we look forward to these once a month periods of aloneness. Where to go is always a problem. I would like to try Panera Bread. Any thoughts concerning this restaurant?

The Good

This is the best cow in my herd. She milked a 121 lbs on her first test. She is in her 2nd lactation. She has an excellent udder. If I was able to milk a herd full of cows like her I would probably have a problem with pride.....
For those of you who want to know she is a Jazzy daughter.

 

The Bad

This ole girl would also be known as an Alley Rat. She is a little wide in the udder and would not score very well if a classifier saw her. She is milking really well....

 

The Ugly

This has to be the ugliest cow/camel I have ever milked.

 

Para Plow

I have been trying to Para plow this week. A Para plow is a plow that does not turn the soil over. It does not make a furrow. I am pulling my five bottom Para plow with 150 horse power four wheel drive White. It is aptly called a 4-150. Now, I was told that March of 2006 was the driest in 100 years. I don't know if this is true or not but I do know the ground is very hard and it is very dry. In fact I was a little surprised the plow even went in the ground. The first day I made one round in the field. The first pass down the field went really well and I thought hmm this won't be to bad! When I got to the other end I made a big loop and headed back across the field. Before I had covered 100 feet I discovered it wasn’t going to be as nice as I hoped. The tractor bucked, snorted and used other forms of movement to let me know this was quite a challenge. I spent most of my spare time today bouncing around the field. This plow is a cross between a V Ripper and am old fashioned plow. IT is designed too crack the subsoil and not disturb the top soil. IT shatters the soil about 15 inches in the ground and allows the rain to be soaked in and because the surface is not affected much there is very little erosion. This is an excellent piece of equipment. If I can keep it moving forward......

Amish Transportation

The cousins got a ride last week at grandpa's.

 

Tim Rumsey

I know some of you, you may be few, but some of you none the less are interested in the recital we attended yesterday. As you know VOP has asked Mr. Rumsey to arrange several songs for us to use on our last two albums. We asked him to do one arrangement for our Reunion album also. Because we have recorded/sung his arrangements he asked us if we would be willing to sing a couple of them at a composition recital he was putting together. The recital began at 3:00 and lasted until 4:30 or so. The recital consisted solely of works he has written or arranged. They concert started with a couple pieces composed for the organ before moving to two chorale pieces. The chorale pieces were sung by the high school choir. The title of the first piece was Worthy Is The Lamb and the second was the Traveler's Prayer. The choir did a fantastic job and these pieces were not easy. This was followed by 12 short pianoe pieces. I love the pianoe so I enjoyed this as well. After intermission there were two instrumental pieces. The second of these used "Glass". The glass consisted of 20 or so glass goblets which were filled with water. The level of the water determined the pitch. There 5-6 people that played the glass along with a soundtrack and some other instruments. (I do not know what they were.) After this a handbell choir played Angels We Have Heard On High. If you have never seen a handbell choir play you should go hear one sometime. It is amazing.....
We were last on the program and sang two songs. Come Thou Fount Of Every Blessings, and Oh For A Thousand Tounges.
Tim Rumsey is a very talented man. He is only 28 years old and has written quite a bit of music. I recommend his two cd's to you. One is a band playing hymns. It is very nice. The other is a Christmas work called Emanuel. Just use the link on the side bar called Tim Rumsey for more information.

Random Thoughts

First, I will post more on Rumsey's recital at later date. We did survive....
Second, I am home again.
Third, so is my family.
Fourth, those of you who have never been separated from your spouse, are missing out on something that will add a new dimension to your marriage. It is good, I think, for time apart. I am very thankful for my wife and our children. It is grand to have them home again. Tomorrow when I return from the barn the house will not be empty. What more can I say.....
Till next time

Practice

We met at Alive Studios and are using the conference room for our practice room. We started singing this morning at 10:30 and have been singing ever since. My voice is almost gone and I feel rather hoarse. The two Rumsye pieces are beging to sound like songs, thank goodness. Hopefully we won't make complete fools of ourselves tommorow. Once again I sighn off as the
Random Pitch Maestro
Because I feel like that is what I have been doing all day. Hitting pitches at random......