HOA 2021 - Packed Event!

HOA sold 5000 tickets for this event expecting that 15-20% of tickets sold would end up as no-shows. Well... all 5000 showed. I think it demonstrates that many sense there is something very wrong in our country (and world) and want to learn how to be more self-sufficient and maintain a healthy immune system naturally.  Speaking of which, notice no masks anywhere.  No social(ist) distancing.  We were elbow-to-elbow with 5000 people for two days.  No major outbreaks of disease -- just a lot of comradery, education, laughter and fun.

The first day took the organizers by surprise.  Cars were lined up early in the morning, with up to an hour wait for parking.  Then once parked, into a nice long line for ticketing.

One does not get a good sense from this shot, but dozens of vendors crowded the Front Royal Fairground, along with several large tents for the various session venues.  They also had specific sessions for children - "Kidsteaders" - which were excellent.

One of the session venues - "The Big Barn".  I believe this was a session by the popular Homesteading vlogger Justin Rhodes.

Mia and her Alpacas

The Meaning and Purpose of Lent

"Our spiritual life is long.  Our entire life is not enough for it.  It is necessary for us to know what is expected of us.  What is expected of us is not mere ordinary faith, but the life of holiness, and the life of holiness is the state of continual grown that does not stop at any limit."

A New Find

I am excited to read this book.  With so many of our poor young people getting their heads twisted around in what now parades as higher education, it is good to be reminded that there is another way, a more rooted and timeless way, to make a living for one's family and live a happy and fulfilling life.  We need to get back to these things, if even just outside of the "day job", to rear healthy children, good families, and turn the tide of our declining civilization.   The family is the nucleus of society.  The Marxists along with all of the forces of hell know this which is why the family is the prime target in any social revolution.  History has shown us as much.  We are living it now.  Focus on family, stay rooted in reality, center everything around Christ the King on the altar.  This is how we make a difference. 

2021 Lepanto Recitation

Every year on October 7, the Feast of the Holy Rosary, our family recites the poem Lepanto by G.K. Chesterton in honor of the great naval sea battle.  The Christian fleet was led by a very young, but capable Don Juan of Austria.  Had it not been for this victory, ultimately won through the intercession of Our Lady, Rome and Europe as a whole would have fallen into the hands of the Turks.  The importance of this victory to Christianity, Europe and the New World for that matter cannot be understated.

On this particular anniversary we happened to be in Virginia.   After the ladies arrived home from their beekeeping workshop and we all had some supper, we got down to the task.

  

2021 Homesteaders of America Conference - Pre Conference Workshops

While Leslie and some of the other children were settling into the frontier house, Meghan and Mary Catherine went off to a beekeeping workshop for the day, and I went off to a gardening workshop.  There were several excellent hands-on workshops offered the day before the start of the conference.

2021 Homesteaders of America Conference - The Digs

I mentioned in an earlier post our family adventure last October to the Homesteaders of America conference in Front Royal Virginia. This trip was partly vacation and partly education. We have not had a family vacation for several years. The house we rented dates back to the pre Revolutionary War era and is nestled in the rolling hills and pastures of the Shenandoah Valley.

going... going...

Thomas on his perch

Eve conquers in Mary

A tradition, which has come down from the apostolic ages, tells us that the great mystery of the Incarnation was achieved on the twenty-fifth day of March. It was at the hour of midnight, when the most holy Virgin was alone and absorbed in prayer, that the Archangel Gabriel appeared before her, and asked her, in the name of the blessed Trinity, to consent to become the Mother of God. Let us assist, in spirit, at this wonderful interview between the angel and the Virgin: and, at the same time, let us think of that other interview which took place between Eve and the serpent. A holy bishop and martyr of the second century, Saint Irenæus, who had received the tradition from the very disciples of the apostles, shows us that Nazareth is the counterpart of Eden.

In the garden of delights there is a virgin and an angel; and a conversation takes place between them. At Nazareth a virgin is also addressed by an angel, and she answers him; but the angel of the earthly paradise is a spirit of darkness, and he of Nazareth is a spirit of light. In both instances it is the angel that has the first word. ‘Why,’ said the serpent to Eve, ‘hath God commanded you, that you should not eat of every tree of paradise?’ His question implies impatience and a solicitation to evil; he has contempt for the frail creature to whom he addresses it, but he hates the image of God which is upon her.

See, on the other hand, the angel of light; see with what composure and peacefulness he approaches the Virgin of Nazareth, the new Eve; and how respectfully he bows himself down before her: ‘Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with thee! Blessed art thou among women'! Such language is evidently of heaven: none but an angel could speak thus to Mary.

...

Thus, as the great St. Irenæus and so many of the holy fathers remark, the obedience of the second Eve repaired the disobedience of the first: for no sooner does the Virgin of Nazareth speak her fiat, ‘be it done,’ than the eternal Son of God (who, according to the divine decree, awaited this word) is present, by the operation of the Holy Ghost, in the chaste womb of Mary, and there He begins His human life. A Virgin is a Mother, and Mother of God; and it is this Virgin’s consenting to the divine will that has made her conceive by the power of the Holy Ghost. This sublime mystery puts between the eternal Word and a mere woman the relations of Son and Mother; it gives to the almighty God a means whereby He may, in a manner worthy of His majesty, triumph over satan, who hitherto seemed to have prevailed against the divine plan.

-- Abbot Gueranger, O.S.B.

Mid-Lent Thursday

 

Beasts and all cattle

Praise the Lord from the heavens: praise ye Him in the high places ... For He spoke and they were made: He commanded and they were created... Mountains and all hills: fruit-bearing trees and all cedars.  Beasts and all cattle: serpents and feathered fowls ... His praise is above heaven and earth.  

---

from Psalm 148, prayed every morning all over the world by priests, monks, nuns and lay people in the Divine Office at Lauds.

Garden Expansion 2021

Renewing some of the original Homesteading/Self-Sufficiency/Subsidiarity aspirations from our original move here, 2020 saw a re-introduction of the vegetable garden, but small enough to keep it focused and increase the chance of success.  The goal of 2021 was to take our modest success in 2020, double the growing space and increase the edible varieties.

With the doubling, we introduced 3 raised beds. They not only kept the local moles from disturbing the plants they contained, but also allowed us better control over the soil ecosystem.

In the space that once contained our old garden, we installed a crop garden for pumpkin varieties and butternut squash.  We used the "Melon Pit" method advocated by David The Good (ostensibly originating as a planting method of the American Indians).  It is genius and worked unbelievably well.  In short, you dig 2 foot holes (pits), add dead twigs/branches/leaves, set ablaze, and then add organic kitchen scraps, including and especially old leftover meat.  You then fill the hole, mound it, and plant right on top.   The rich compost created underneath is then there to fertilize the plants as the roots grow.

As one may conclude from the image above, there was no tilling or amending of the soil in this space.   We simply dug a series of pits, planted, and kept the grass trimmed all around throughout the summer.

I am a cabbage kisser of old.  Or an old cabbage kisser, depending on how one looks at it.

All in all, a successful year with more learnings under our belts and a drive to keep going.  One of our skill-up resources, Homesteaders of America, was invaluable.  HOA provides many learning resources itself, plus, by extension, connects many other homesteaders who all share skills as a community.   We were able to attend their big conference in Virginia with almost the entire family.  More on the 2021 HOA conference in a separate post.

+St. Isadore the Farmer - pray for us and our efforts to further nourish our family off the land that God has provided!

Spring 2021 Cornucopia

Presenting here a fairly random selection of images from late winter/spring 2021.  We have the end of Lent, our Easter baskets all ready to celebrate the greatest of Feasts, maple production (a terrible year for maple), garden starts, spring chickens and, of course, snow covering the vegetable garden in mid-April!  Last year was all about kicking our homesteading efforts up a notch.  This year we are doing the same.

Life is Messy

When I started this blog many years ago, I intended it to chronicle the growth of our family and to share events, thoughts, and experiences with family and friends.  This all primarily within the context of our Catholic faith and a desire to live a life closer to the land and reality.  My wife and I decided to move to our present rural setting specifically to make the altar the center of our lives, and to become more self-sufficient.  

One problem with blogs (and social media in general) is that they tend to show only the neat, bright, happy side of a life and often leave out the messy bits, the daily struggles, the disappointments, and the failures.   Life is messy.  In our own lives, plans and aspirations have not always turned out as desired.  Therefore, I want to state here and now that this family has its struggles.  We have family struggles and we have individual struggles.  It is messy, and in a way that is good.  It has reminded me that when I rely on my strength alone to do something, I am left disappointed.  Everything takes God.  We cannot fulfill our duties without Him.  He provides the Grace.  He provides the strength.  He gives the increase to every good work that is offered and united to Him.

For the last few years, posts to this blog have remained relatively sparse.  Some of that is because of various struggles that have obscured the original vision we had when we moved here.  Life is messy and sometimes life even gets in the way ... we get choked by the cares of the world as Our Lord describes in the Parable of the Sower of Seeds.   Despite my wrestling at times over the years with the idea of blogging family life, I am glad that I did.  I will return myself to this blog on occasion as a reminder of some really wonderful times as a family; and, especially to remind myself of the many things that went right -- particularly on days full of temptation where I am spending too much time dwelling on the things that went astray.   It also helps remind me of the original mission and inspires me to get back on track and keep going.  The work is far from finished.  There is still time to win the race.   

We had some exciting events last year.  I intend once again to do a little catch-up and post some pictures and commentary of highlights.