Newsletter #267 2024 July 19 Friday
Calling it a big week is a serious understatement; life goes on for most of us.
Primal Woods
Everything is moving along, the Farmhouse, milling, pigs, chickens, etc. It’s been wet of course, but thankfully we are in a bit of a drier spell.
Sawmill Services
A big week for milling this week; one job in the books, another job on tap.
One, big Red Oak, about 32” in diameter a couple of feet above the ground. Leonard cut three 12 ft. logs, with the smallest end at 24”.
I’m onsite by 8:30 am, the mill is typically ready to go by 9:00 am. We got started a bit late, 9:20 I think it was, because even the skid-steer could pickup the individual logs; Leonard had to push them into position.
It was a good day all-around with Leonard and Alice; this is the second time I milled for them.
Today I skidded some logs to the milling location, using the Kubota; while accomplishing this task I had to put three plugs in the front left tire (see picture at the top), and at the end it is flat again. I’ll take the wheel and tire in Monday for repair or replacement.
Homestead Rebel Farm
Broilers
Like the pigs, almost, the Cornish X are growing very, very quickly. Slaughter and butchering are scheduled for August 28th if my memory serves.
And the Layers are hanging out in a usual spot for them, under small patch of shade thrown by some tall decorative grass just outside the screened-in porch.
Pigs & Oxen
The pigs are happy and healthy, October 28th scheduled butchering date, and it looks like they’ll be BIG at the rate they are growing. I haven’t had to feed the Oxen hay since I turned them out into the tall grass last weekend. That’s a bit of a load off.
Men’s Retreat
As a reminder, our next Men’s Retreat is on the calendar for 12-15 September. And we have now added 2025 dates; 20-23 Feb, 5-8 Jun, and 4-7 Sep. If you or someone you know might be interested, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
Farmhouse
Let’s see, I don’t think I had to touch the Farmhouse this week! More guests this weekend, and Geri and I will be giving them a farm tour later this evening.
News
We all know what’s in the news; the attempted assassination of presidential candidate Trump. I let several days go by, and then wrote a post on the subject. Call me a “conspiracy theorist,” but to believe that another “lone gunman” got into position, this time in the open, and inside a “secure” perimeter, with a long gun and range-finder, seems only possible if one is completely in the dark with respect to Kennedy’s assassination. And a reminder; the intelligence community has still not released all of the Kennedy-related documents, even though by law they were required to by 2017. Sixty years, and we still are not allowed to see the evidence. We may never be allowed.
Another curious factoid, maybe I just missed it, but I have not heard from the Left, or the Right, one. single. call. for more gun control in the wake of the assassination attempt. Seems odd, don’t you think? They are for some reason, letting a perfectly good crisis go to waste.
Regime Change and Coup d'état
“We know that they are lying, they know that they are lying, they even know that we know they are lying, we also know that they know we know they are lying too, they of course know that we certainly know they know we know they are lying too as well, but they are still lying. In our country, the lie has become not just moral category, but the pillar indu…
Books
I finished Weapons of Mass Instruction, by Gatto. Very informative, from an insider and state of New York Teacher of the Year. In other words, he as the credentials. I wrote some on this subject a bit ago (see below), but I will complete the review of this work soon. In the book are some leads to additional resources, so I will be availing myself of those.
Putting Away Childish Things
So. I’m reading Weapons of Mass Instruction: A Schoolteacher's Journey Through the Dark World of Compulsory Schooling. I’m about to get into some of my contemporaneous thoughts; this is not a book review, it’s only what’s going through my head right now. First though I will make clear a distinction between “schooling” and “education;” these are not the …
The Department of Education
The Department of Education was never a good idea, and still is not, and it never will be, even when judged by its own measurements. Recently James and I watched the documentary Schooling the World; it was the second or perhaps third time for me, but I wanted to introduce it to James.
All the best, and may God bless you and yours,
John & Geri
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