Ransacked!

Yesterday, I used the word "ransacked", and my 4-year-old daughter ("Little Miss") asked me,

"What's ram-sapped?"

I explained to her that it's when someone breaks into your house, and leaves a big mess, while looking for something to steal from you.  (One of my favorite little mental games is trying to break down complex words or ideas into a sentence that even a 4-year-old could accurately understand.  What can I say, it keeps me occupied.  ;-)

Well, that same afternoon, it became obvious that our garden had been "ram-sapped"!  You see, yesterday was, in the words of Winnie the Pooh, a "very blustery day".  Apparently our deer netting had blown down at some point in the last 24 hours, and our all of our kale, carrot tops and some of the outer leaves of our red cabbage were stripped bare by some wild and reckless herbivore. Even some of the parsely was gone... I guessed that devious creature wanted to have sweet breath after such a bountiful feast.  So, we pulled the carrots -- a fine lot of orange, yellow and purple specimens -- pulled the worst-hit cabbage and prayed that the kale plant, with its stalks intact, would continue to grow more leaves.  Yes, it is the end of the growing season, and the nights here are dropping below freezing, consistently, but the kale has been thriving in spite of the cold, and was producing some very dark, sweet leaves that we were thoroughly enjoying.  We'll see what comes of it all.

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Saturday, November 9th will be "hunting day" with my 14-year-old son (the "Man Cub").  I've read that the cattle on a thousand hills belong to our Great God... I'm hoping he'll bring one or two near to our muzzles, for a harvest.  Should we be blessed in such a way, I'll post pictures here.

Have a blessed day, and remember, "my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus."

Well Update

A couple of weeks ago, we had nothing but a 360' pipe in the ground.  As of last week, we have...  (drumroll, please):

Water!

Granted, we still need electricity to get it out of the ground, but we'll be working at that issue from all sides, as well...

Just thought you'd like an update.  Thank God for progress!

"Excuse Me."

"In the multitude of words sin is not lacking,
But he who restrains his lips is wise."
(Proverbs 10:19, NKJV)

You know, interrupting someone -- especially a peer -- in the middle of a sentence is, generally speaking, very rude.  A few days ago, listening to a gaggle of self-informed college students discuss the finer points of mobile hotspot (WiFi) connectivity, it occurred to me how often they would cut each other off with remarks like "I know, but...".  As a matter of fact, I've become irritatingly aware of how often I have been inclined to interrupt someone before they pause in their speech, even when my intentions are deemed (by me) to be noble.  So today, as though providentially reminded by the omniscient Spirit of God, I will endeavor to not interrupt anyone**.  I hope you will be challenged to do so, as well.

**(This does not include using parental authority to interrupt the occasional foolish/disrespectful talk exhibited by my children... Sorry, kids.)

"WELL" UPDATE

After drilling down deeper-than-a-football-field (!), U.D. was able to obtain a flow rate of 30gpm!  Woohoo!

Here are some pics of the process (Click the photos for full-screen):

The drilling begins...

Me & Little Miss, checking things out.

The view from Uncle Dave's house site

Looking Southwest

Looking Southeast

Checking out Uncle's site, ready for building the crawlspace

Standing "in" our future home!

 

Breaking Ground

Here are some photos I promised.  These were taken when we were first digging into our house building site, checking to see how far down we might be able to dig for a basement.  So far, what we were seeing looks promising.  Time, and a professional excavator, will tell how much earth we can move.

(Click any of the photos to see them full-screen.)

Enjoy!

 Taking down a tree inside the building site.  We decided not to build around it.

 Moving trees, the modern way.

 Levitating chains with my mind-powers...

...Levitating trees proved a little more difficult, so I called Uncle Dave for help.

 Everybody's diggin'!

 Little Miss "crosses the line"

 Building the fort...

Attack of the Killer BackHoe!!  AAaaaaggghh!!

Stay tuned!  The next photo album will feature pics of the water well digging.

See you then!

Well, well..

Summer hasn't quite left us yet, here in the Flathead Valley.  People are still hittin' the River: fishing, hiking, rafting.  The "Fresh Huckleberries" signs are still posted up en route to Glacier National Park, and there are still a few tourist RV's left in the motor park down the road.  And as long as the ground isn't frozen, some people are still making the most of the ever-shrinking window of opportunity to build.  That's where we find ourselves, now.  The word around here is, all bets are off after Halloween.  That's when the weather could turn foul at the drop of a hat.  Some daring folks, though, will build all the way up until Thanksgiving.

Photo from ga.water.usgs.gov

Tomorrow, the digging starts (!) for the water well we'll be sharing with U.D. (Uncle Dave) (see last post).  The local well logs in the area indicate an average depth of 267 ft. (standing water level average = 94 ft.), with an average flow rate of about 20gpm -- that should be plenty 'nuff for the foreseeable future, Deo Volente.  (I've been eyeing the "Simple Pump" as a reliable means of pumping the water up, with or without electricity.  The benefits of such a system would be enormous.)

We've consulted with an excavator, who believes that the ground on our plot may be "un-rocky" enough to dig down for a walk-out basement.  If this is accomplished soon enough, there may be time to build the basement, and perhaps live in it while we build up the rest of the house.  I've gathered that this is not the best of living arrangements, but it could save us some money in rent, for sure.  I hope it would be a beneficial trade-off, that wouldn't rob us of our sanity and family cohesion.  :-)

That's all for now.  I'll try to post more pictures soon.  I know you like pictures.

Moving Forward!

(Our Future Driveway.)

Good day, dear friends and family!  Many apologies for the lapse in time since my last post.  So much has been happening, that I have been admittedly intimidated by how much writing I've needed to do, just to bring you up to speed with what's new with our dreams and goals.  Let me start with a little background...

Since my dear bride and I were married, we have dreamed of having a home in an area full of what we like to call "Wide Open Spaces".  However, in the many years that we lived in Southern California (for a multitude of reasons that could be summed up, in hindsight, as Providence), that dream was never realized.
Then we moved to NW Montana.  And we started to get our bearings.  I found work (I now have employment in Kalispell and Martin City), and our family found encouraging relationships with genuine Christ-followers here, people of all different kinds, with wonderful histories.  During that time, my parents and my Uncle Dave had followed suit in relocating to the Flathead Valley.  After he had purchased 10+ acres of "raw land" just west of Whitefish, Uncle Dave invited us to consider purchasing a portion of his land (given some pretty amazing & unbeatable terms), and to build our future home there, adjacent to the one he was planning to build.  After seeing this beautifully-wooded place and dreaming a lot, we agreed to "partner" with Uncle Dave, who was repeatedly proving to be an instrument of God's grace and provision.

Now, he was waiting for his home in Oregon to sell, before he could "pave the way" in developing that land for use in construction (bringing in an electric line, digging a well, septic, etc) and beginning to build his "mountain house".  So, we waited too.  For over a year.
Then, suddenly, Uncle's house went into escrow!  So, for the last couple of weeks, my Bride and I have been putting our heads together -- and praying a LOT -- over plans to build our home in the woods.  We have staked out the dimensions of what will become our South-facing house...

 

(This is pretty much the exact spot where our home will be built.)

...and have found an amazing local draftsman/engineer/designer who is consulting with us over the continual floor plan revisions and "tweaking" necessary before we build.  He never complains about our barrage of questions and changes; and, he never charges us a penny.  "Who is this guy?", you ask.  Well, we like to call him:
"Uncle Dave".  That's right.

(Uncle Dave, on the left, with us -- visiting an Off-grid friend in Eureka last year.)

And now -- drum roll, please --  Uncle Dave's escrow on his former Oregon home closes tomorrow!  Praise God from Whom all blessings flow!  We are planning to celebrate his "ground-breaking" this Saturday morning.  Of course, our home will probably not begin construction until next Spring, but lots of our prep-work (Septic system, electrical decisions, excavation, etc) will be going on this Summer and into Autumn.

Please continue to pray for us.  Here's what we need prayer for:

• God's divine protection, provision and direction.  (John 15:1-17; Philippians 4:4-13; Proverbs 3:5-6; Psalm 37:4)
• Friends to help us with the labor, when construction begins
• Cooperation from Ric's employers as we work out a harmony of schedules that will accommodate our home-building
• That we will keep Christ at the center of all we do.  (Psalm 24)

Keep this blog bookmarked in your browser, so we can keep you up-to-date on our progress.  May the Lord bless your efforts to serve Him.

--Ric

 

(Clockwise from Left: Chloe, Jenna, Ric, Emily, Caleb, Cassandra and Sophia)

Law vs. Grace... Off with the Kid Gloves!

Friends:

Yesterday, I had an intense conversation (a "holy argument" that made my wife a little concerned, as she observed) with another believer (an acquaintance) after a church service: a continuation of the pastor's examination of Grace and the Law.  This brother was asserting that the measure of a believer's true walk with Christ was that he would have a greater and greater desire to follow the Law -- i.e., the Ten Commandments.  I stated that "no, the measure of a Christ follower is by how much his life emulates the grace and truth of the Savior.  We MUST ask for the Holy Spirit's empowerment to follow God from the heart, not merely aim for keeping His law.  GOD IS NOT THE LAW, AND THE LAW IS NOT GOD."
Unfortunately, after my "discussion" with this brother, I learned from the pastor that the brother said he could no longer attend that church.  Being somewhat of a newcomer to that fellowship, I apologized profusely to the pastor.  To my surprise, the pastor smiled and warmly told me no apology was necessary.  The pastor then informed me that his own attempts to break through the man's legalism were met with equal resistance, and he believed the man to be trying to clean out dust specks out of the eyes of others, while being visually impaired by his own log-ridden myopia.  God's providence prevailed, he told me.
Lest I think that I have "won" or "arrived" (hardly!) in this familiar issue of Law vs. Grace, as of today I'll be studying -- taking a HARD look at -- the New Testament book of Romans with my Bride (and my children).  First off, I'm telling you this for accountability's sake.  Feel free to ask me how it's going.

Secondly, I think it'd be great if you would join me; that is, if you're not already into a book study, of course.

Let me know how it affects you...

Have a fruitful day.

--Ric

www.ADifferentLegacy.com is temporarily "ADifferentLegacy.wordpress.com"

Since I am unable to renew my domain name as of yet, the address for this blog will be:

http://ADifferentLegacy.wordpress.com/

You can also find us at:

http://thecalvihomestead.blogspot.com/ 

...at least until further notice.  (Yes, I know that ours is not a "homestead" in the most literal sense of the word.  Literal is so boring... don't let it trip you up. :-)

Be sure to "bookmark" either of those pages.  Have a great day!

Skill of the day -- Squirrel Pole

Right up front, let me just say a few things:

1. I prefer eating the conventional meats (beef/chicken/pork) as much as the next guy.
2. When given the path of least resistance, I'll probably take it, same as anyone.
3. I did not grow up on a farm, in the backwoods or in a third-world country.  I'm a Southern California native, who has taken up residence in NW Montana for the past 2 years.
4. I have never eaten squirrel meat, so I don't know how it tastes -- but I'm curious.
5. I have eaten wild rabbit, which I have hunted, dressed and cooked myself, on more than one occasion.
6. If you are offended by people harming furry little forest creatures, please stop reading now.
7. Always practice safe trapping and hunting habits.
8. I believe there's room enough for all of God's creatures... right next to the mashed potatoes.

OK, now that that's out of the way...

Today, I decided to try my hand at making a "Squirrel Pole" trap. Of course, I used "found" materials: a ratty old 2x4 and some old electrical wire.  The wire sheathing was a nice shade of "forest brown", which I figure will serve to camouflage the snares.  Apparently these type of traps are supposed to use several of these "nooses" down the length of the pole, but I was feeling lazy, so I only used 2 -- top and bottom.

Why in the world would I want to trap -- let alone eat -- a squirrel or two?  Well, there are a number of reasons:

1. Squirrels are plentiful, and generally very healthy.  They're everywhere!  They're also "cage-free" and "free-range", fed on natural fruits and nuts.  From what I understand, most states (at least mine) don't require any licensing or "tags" to hunt or trap squirrels.
2. Trapping is silent, productive and (mostly) free.  Nothing attracts unwanted attention like even a single gunshot, even from the humble .22 rifle.  If we ever find ourselves in a situation (like during the Great Depression) where many, many families only had food on the table if they could hunt/trap/gather/grow it themselves, I want to be prepared to feed my family without having to rely on whether or not the grocery stores' "cellophane-wrapped meat packs" were available.  While hunting can be effective (if one is skilled at it), it requires constant maintenance for the duration of the hunt.  Trapping is more efficient in that (a) you can re-use your "ammunition" (traps);  (b) you can effectively harvest from several places all-at-once, thereby increasing your take; and (c) you "need not be present to win", so to speak.  Set the trap now, check on it later -- even 24 hours later, if the weather is cold.
3. Squirrels are very easy to "process".  They are much, much easier to handle (field-to-freezer-to-table) than are deer, elk or any other larger game.  Heck, my 7-year-old daughter could skin & gut a squirrel... and probably will, at least once, if I have anything to do with it.  (Yes, that is one of the requirements of growing up in my household: getting exposed to dressing wild-caught game, large and small, on land and in water.) 

There are probably many more reasons to familiarize yourself with the hunting/trapping of wild food sources... what do you think?  Leave a comment below, and let me know about your experiences.  I'll let you know what ever came of my modest attempt at squirrel trapping, ASAP.

Have a productive day!
Psalm 24:1