Newsletter #293 2025 Jan 27 Monday
To say that it has been a big week on the political front is perhaps the understatement of the twentieth century. Still, the jury is out on if and how the fiscal state of the union might be restored.
Geri’s 2011 Honda Pilot just will not die; in fact it runs very well and she just ticked over 300,000 miles! All I've done is regular oil changes, belt and plug replacements, etc. We bought this vehicle from my parents over a decade ago, because I needed Geri to have 4WD on this property, and it has served us very well.
Primal Woods
Pure Maple Syrup
We made it through the cold spell, and now we see highs above freezing for the next few days. The 10-day goes out to February 5th, and I’m guess we’ll see sugaring season not much past that; 2-3 weeks from now. I’d guess sap will be flowing Thursday and Friday, but we’re not tapping just yet.
Homestead Rebel Farm
Firewood is still a chore; today I spotted a couple of large-ish standing-dead Ash trees relatively close to the house and driveway. The rounds pictured above came from the south end of the property and are nice and dry, even if it’s 1.4 miles round trip to fetch them.
Pigs
The pigs are nibbling on some potatoes that had sprouted. Let’s say this, when you have pigs and chickens food waste does not go to waste. I had to put off pig butchering by yet another week; hopefully this will be the end of the delays and rescheduling. Without chains on the tractor moving the stock trailer to the High Tunnel proved to be too difficult, and risky. I did buy chains for the truck, because come what may, I’m making it up the big north-facing hill will the stock trailer behind the truck next Monday.
Oxen
I hauled round bale #14 to the oxen this afternoon. Boris and Elmer have had no apparent trouble with the weather; I’ve been making sure they are getting more than enough hay to stay warm, and of course hauling water to them twice a day.
Farmhouse
Geri just registered a stay for March, which is good news. Pretty soon we’ll have to do some math on how the Airbnb did in year one. If we can’t get to positive cash flow as an Airbnb, we will have to look at another use; hopefully it won’t come to that.
Looking at the picture above, I love the four roof lines from right to left, no including the roof over the garage. The highest roof line is over the two upstairs bedrooms and bathroom, next lowest is over the family and conference rooms, then the Master Bedroom, and finally the screen-in porch.
News
News is coming fast and furious, and I’m not sure anyone is able to keep up with it all. I posted several Notes, and I won’t repeat them all here; just the high points.
DEI is getting a lot of attention…
We may finally know the whole story behind the assassinations of JFK, RFK and MLK. But I’m not holding my breath.
And in a totally expected development, The Science now indicates that the nutrition guidelines we’ve been led to believe for 50 years are based on junk science. #whodathunkit
Word that the Department of Education is closing, freeing up $90 billion per year, which could be used for many purposes, one of which I discussed in my post 18 months ago:
The Department of Education
Books & Such
I’m not far into The Mystery of John Colter: The Man Who Discovered Yellowstone, but…an interesting thing about this biography is that Colter himself added nothing to the historical record; not a single word. Everything about him comes second-hand at best, starting with the journals of Lewis & Clark, and other members of the Corps of Discovery. My favorite book on the Lewis & Clark Expedition is Undaunted Courage, by Stephen Ambrose; if you haven’t read that book, I strongly encourage you to do so. What these men (and one woman) accomplished, and what we humans are capable of, will astound you.
All the best, and may God bless you and yours,
John & Geri
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All the best, and may God bless you and yours,
John & Geri
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