"Sweet Dreams are made of this..."

The gear arrives on site, brought by "The Bee Man"

More than three years ago, before we moved to Montana, the dream was planted in our oldest daughter's heart to pursue beekeeping as a hobby.  If I remember correctly, she mentioned it casually in a conversation one day.  That week, I grabbed a book from the library for her — "Beekeeping for Dummies", I think (though she's certainly no dummy).  From that point on, she began a voracious appetite for knowledge about bees... an "independent study program", if you will.  So naturally, upon arriving in these wide open spaces, she wanted to take the plunge and acquire a colony of her own, ASAP.  Being big fans of local honey, the Dear Bride and I agreed we would help her pursue the matter, in God's timing.

As it turned out, we have become acquainted with a wonderful family with much experience in the the Bee-o-sphere (among many other skills like canning/preserving, gardening, etc).  The Dad is someone I also happen to work with at my job with the Martin City Water District, near Glacier National Park.  Anyway, to make a long story short, this "Bee Man" (not his real name, of course :-) has hooked us up with his supplier, and our adventurous daughter now has her own colony!

The two boxes with the removable frames inside, will make up Emily's hives.  The other box — the screened one with the can of sugar syrup in the middle — will be discarded once the colony is transferred to the hives.

The queen was lucky enough to get her own little "travel suite" for the journey, which the workers are quick to cluster around

Look closely... the queen inside the box has a green dot on her back, indicating that she's young, and ready to do her job.

Getting ready to shake them in

The stragglers need a little more persuasion

Mama and the girls look on...

Emily is fearless!  :-O

Looks like the girls want to join F.B.K.A....

"Future Bee Keepers of America"  :-)

"If you build it, they will come."

 The next day, we went to check on "the ladies" to see if their queen had situated herself... She had!  The weather was cold and breezy, which helped calm the hive, it seemed.

Congratulations, dear daughter.

Clearing the Land

A few weekends ago, we found ourselves trudging through the light mud and melting snow to fell a few trees that were either too close to our "house-pad" or causing too much shade over our future garden location.  Most of the larger trees (12"-16" diameter), we merely felled, de-limbed and cut into 14' sections, which will be laid together and "seasoned" until we decide how to use the timber.  More than likely, we will "mill" them (if we can find an economical way to do so -- maybe this), and then "sticker" them for drying and later use.

Here are some pics...

Starting the Log Pile

"Working Smart"

The much-needed arrival of a necessity.

The Pile gets bigger...

This is where the house will sit.

I installed a tree swing for the kids.

We'll be doing lots of this, I'll bet.

Where the pavement ends, our bliss begins -- 1.7 miles down the dirt road.

Everyone's working together (except my dear and very pregnant Bride.  She's supervising.  :-)

Pulling up roots...

...So we can "put down roots."

 Have a great weekend!

What do YOU call it?

Dear friends:

I greatly desire us to be educated and committed in a certain manner of thinking, speaking and doing. Here it is...

This Sunday must be called RESURRECTION DAY, not "easter". The latter word has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with WHY the day is commemorated. The day is set apart from every other day of the year, ONLY because it is a celebration of the physical and bodily resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God, the Word Made Flesh.

Not because of bunnies. Not because of eggs. Not because of buffet brunches... although I like those things as much as the next guy. :-)

Rom 12:2 (ESV) "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect."

Those of you who are Christ-followers, stand up and be counted. REFUSE to call this Sunday "easter", and refer to it boldly as "Resurrection Day" instead.  Well-meaning people -- even church-attenders and pastors (!) -- will inevitably dismiss you, give you trouble or ridicule you for taking this stand. Let them. Remember that *words have meaning*, and continue to call it Resurrection Day, knowng that the very phrase points everyone DIRECTLY to the Gospel of the Only Savior, Jesus Christ -- WITHOUT taking a confusing and conformist detour through paganism.

Mat 12:36-37 (ESV) "I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

Thank you for your consideration. Have a blessed week.

--Ric

Little Hobby

I have a little hobby, a little game I play in my head... which surely my musician friends will understand.  Heck, they might even try it, too.

It's called: "What Chord, O Conductor?"

It is best played in a generally quiet, rural area, either early in the morning or late at night.  The Conductor mentioned isn't that of an orchestra, but that of a locomotive.  Yes, the game is thus:

Can I identify the exact chord played by a train whistle? (Extra credit is earned if no piano or other point of reference is used :-)

This morning, I heard the lonely wail of an A-minor-seventh (Am7) chord, in second inversion (E-G-A-C)*.  Each train's whistle evokes a different mood -- sometimes whimsical, sometimes weird.  But usually, they consist of 3 or 4 tones in a tight cluster.  I often wonder whose job it is to tune those whistles to play those chords, and does each "train-whistle-tuner-person" have their own personal favorite tone grouping?

If you know anything about that the train-whistle-tuning process, please post a comment.  In the meantime, there's music all around us... Happy listening!

* (Yes, I suppose this could be a C6 chord in first inversion, but I digress.)

No, not the one in Scotland.

Heading out to Eastern Montana, in a 4-seater Mooney, like this one.

Today's post finds me at the end of a two-day out-of-town tower-work gig in Glasgow, MT.  (Excuse my gratuitous use of hyphens.)  The daytime temp is in the 50's, the sky is clear and blue, and the wind is tolerable.  However, being on the eastern part of the treasure state, the topography is not quite as eventful as it is in lovely Flathead County.  Here's a picture I took... now imagine a 360° view of this:

...Yes, that's Valley County in a nutshell.  The upside of this terrain is that there's nothing — and I mean nothing — to obstruct the view of Montana's "big sky".  Taking in landscape like this makes one feel... well, in a word:  small.

Sunset

Here's another something that made me feel small today:

...Watching my boss climb halfway up a 200' tower.  Not for the faint of heart.  The highest I've been on an edifice was about 160'... but that one had stair steps.  And handrails.  Today, the boss-man had neither of those.  It was an impressive sight to behold.


Tomorrow, we head back home.  No one wants to stay in a faraway hotel any longer than one absolutely has to.  We'll have to come back here again soon, for there's more work to be done.  But since the Dear Bride is due to give birth in late April, these trips will have to wait, when that time comes.

Thank God it's been a safe trip.

We Did It.

Well, we did it.

One of the things we came to Montana to do, is done.

We have officially purchased our first piece of land -- "1.456 acres more or less" -- just outside of Whitefish.  Not only is this the first plot of land we've bought, it will contain (Lord willing) the first house we will have ever built...  which will also be the first home we will have ever bought.  Yes, this piece of wooded bliss will come to represent the end of 20+ years of paying rent.

Hallelujah.

Here's a picture, courtesy of Gogle Maps (boundaries are approximate):

"The Calvi Homestead"

As of today, our names are on the title.  Now it's our turn to "fill the Earth and subdue it."  :-)

"Many are the plans in the mind of a man,
    but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand."
-- Proverbs 19:21 (ESV) 

Winter Plowing

(Little Miss makes a snow angel...)

Dear friends:

I have received word that our land tract of 1.5 acres has now been parsed off of Uncle Dave's land, and that we now have our own physical address!  One giant step forward.

Here are a few pics that our oldest daughter snapped, while we were getting ready to plow all-Winter's snow from the homestead driveway...

 

This is the driveway to Dave's pad... covered in 1-2' of snow.

 Around here, giant piles of snow means endless opportunities...

...to build Quinzhees!

Meanwhile, Dave and I got busy, putting chains on his tractor for the winter.

...And off he went, to plow a ton of snow off the driveway...

And then (as if the Google+ image enhancer knew what was going to happen :) it started snowing again, just as he was near the end of the driveway:

__________________________

Please pray for us, as we organize the myriad of details involved in building the "Little House in the Big (Mountain) Woods."

--Ric

The View from the Living Room window...

What in the world is a "Frolic"?

 Photo from AmishAmerica.com

I was talking with a couple of my brothers in Christ recently, when the subject turned (OK, I turned it :-) to the building plans for our home in the woods, beginning in the Spring/Summer/Fall of this year.  I told them that it became clear to me LONG ago that there was no way I could accomplish this endeavor with my pea-sized knowledge of construction (or lack thereof).  I then asked them, if I put a date on the calendar (say, over the course of some upcoming three-day weekend), would they come out and help us "raise the roof" and eat a bunch of food?  One of them, who's had extensive interaction with the Amish in both Montana and Maine, said, "Absolutely!  The Amish call it a 'frolic' or a 'work-bee' ".  They were both quite enthusiastic about the possibility of helping building our home, which came as no surprise to me, given the reality of the love and Spirit of Christ operating in their families' lives.  (Not to mention that they both have some serious labor forces in their families!  :-)

Then I got to thinking.

God has blessed me with such dear family-in-Christ in other locales as well, several hours' drive away, but reachable nonetheless.  I suspect there may be many who would like to visit Montana in the Summer (a gorgeous time to visit here; isn't it always?), and perhaps swing a hammer or heft a saw in productive fellowship on the outskirts of beautiful Whitefish, Montana.

So, here it is:

If you're interested in being a part of our family's biggest project to date, a labor of love that will represent the culmination of a lifetime of prayers and dreams, please consider joining our "Frolic" this Summer.  If you are seriously considering making the trip to join the effort and fellowship, please leave a comment on this post, or send me an email, letting me know when you might be available.  If you are unable to attend, please pray for the Lord's protection, provision and wisdom as we build.  This will undoubtedly be a very long project, overall, but we would be honored to enjoy your company for even a small part of it.

Thanks for reading, and I look forward to hearing from you soon!

Spring is looming...

Photo from JDPayne.org

...Yes, Spring is looming in the near future, and today I am feeling like a deer in the headlights.  For starters, I have a monstrous head-/chest-cold, that makes my head feel like it's in a vise, and my torso is tired from cough spasms.

But more notably, there are a LOT of things heading my way this Spring:

• The home birth of our 6th child.  All of our other children were born in hospitals, so this is a bit of a leap out of our comfort zone.
• The beginning of construction of our home in the woods near Whitefish, MT.  I know virtually nothing about house-building.  I'm very nervous.
• Both of my jobs really tend to ramp up in the Spring, Summer and early Autumn months.

I know I should be extremely excited about all these things, and I truly am, but it does feel a bit overwhelming at times.  Your prayers for health, wisdom, provision and protection would be greatly appreciated.

Happy New Year!