Our Airplane

 

 

The Dumbing Down Of America

For years, Americans concerned with declining educational standards on the primary level have watched as politicians in bed with the teachers unions continually make excuses for poor performances and promise to "fix" discrepancies with "more money" and "more teacher training."

Nothing has worked, even though the United States spends more per student, per capita, on primary education than any other industrialized nation. U.S. students still lag behind those of developed nations.

Meanwhile, the ruling class and financial elite continue sending their kids to swanky, expensive private schools on the primary and secondary levels while doing little to nothing to fix failing public schools that do not prepare American kids to compete with children in other developed countries for higher-end employment or to be the next generation's leaders.

Eggs

When your chickens are laying well, sometimes you can start to get more eggs than you’re able to use. When you go to use the eggs in your recipes, it’s good to be able to tell which ones are getting old and which ones are still fresh.

Although it’s not obvious to the eye, eggshells are porous. Each egg has thousands of tiny pores in its shell. This allows the egg to “breathe,” letting out carbon dioxide and moisture and taking in air. When you consider that the role of an eggshell to protect and help provide a nurturing environment for a developing baby chick, then it’s easy to understand why eggshells are porous: a developing chick needs to be able to breathe.

When you get eggs from your chickens or from the grocery store for eating, ideally, you will store the eggs in such a way as to keep them fresh. A fresh egg that has just been laid has either a very small air cell or none at all. But as it first cools and then ages, an air cell will form and increase in size. The size of the air cell gives a good indication as to the age and freshness of the egg. A smaller air cell indicates a younger, fresher egg.

This makes it easy for you to test how fresh an egg is. Take a chicken egg and place it into a bowl of slightly warm water. If the egg is very fresh, it will sink and lay on its side at the bottom of the bowl.

An egg that sinks but doesn’t lay flat on the bottom isn’t as fresh, but it will still be okay to eat. Actually, eggs at this stage are ideal for cooking as hard boiled eggs (but not ideal for use as poached eggs). It’s hard to cleanly peel off the shell on a very fresh egg that’s been hard boiled, but if you let your eggs age a little, then hard boil them, they will be much easier to peel.

If the egg floats in the bowl of water, discard it. It’s unlikely that it will float on top of the water, but even if it just floats up toward the top of the bowl, it’s not very fresh, and you shouldn’t use it.

Pears

I picked these pears just a little while ago. A friend of mine has a huge tree in her backyard. I have David peeling and cutting them as I write this post. I am going to start my crockpot, and get these pears cooked and canned for pear preserves.
Recipe
2 lbs. pears
1/3 cup water
1/4 cup honey
zest of 1 lemon
Put all ingredients in a crockpot and turn on high for 4 to 5 hours. put in jars and place in water bath for 20 minutes.

Garlic Health Benefits, Tips, and Tricks

• Garlic might help prevent hair loss! Massage garlic oil into scalp.
• Garlic is definitely a low calorie food with 4 calories per clove.
• If you put a slice of garlic over a splinter and cover it with a bandage, it will help the skin push it out.
• Garlic has its own day of recognition! April 19 is National Garlic Day.
• Garlic is rumored to ward off mosquitoes and other vampires.
• Garlic helps babies gain weight while they are in the womb.
• Rub garlic on a cold sore to get rid of it.
• Put a slice on a skin tag and cover with a Band-Aid to get rid of it.
• Garlic is high in iodine – good for the thyroid.
• Garlic is high in vitamin C.
• Garlic doesn't need to be refrigerated.
• Avoid CHINESE GARLIC!
• Garlic helps to regulate blood sugar.
• There are 300 varieties of garlic grown worldwide.
• Garlic has been grown for more than 5000 years.
• To quickly peel an entire head of garlic, put it in a jar and shake until the cloves come loose and the skin comes off.
• Grow a new bulb from any clove that sprouts.

Garlic is my go-to herb for many ailments, and I eat it every single day. I put it in my salads and in the foods I cook. I eat it raw and cooked, but more often raw. I use it to reset my gut flora (click to read more), I use it to detoxify my body, and I use it to make food taste better, but it does so much more.

 

Being Accepted

Lots of us struggle with trusting the truth that we’re acceptable to and accepted by God. We are accepted not because of what we do or don’t do; we are accepted not because of how we succeed or if we’re good. We are accepted not because of who we are, but because of who God is.

God loves us with an everlasting love (Jeremiah 31:3) and to as many as receive Him, He gives the power to be sons and daughters of God (John 1:12). Talk about accepted!!

We are not only accepted "in" the beloved, we are accepted "by" the Beloved Himself!

My Scrabble word "accepted" reminds me I already have what I want. When I am feeling less than acceptable, I hold it in my hand, wrap my fingers around it and the truth it represents, and tell myself, "This is what God gave me. This is who I am."

Can you take that truth in?

If you feel invisible, it may be because, deep down, you never really embraced the truth about yourself — that you are accepted by God, admired by Him and have His full and unconditional love.

Just like Lisa glued the word "accepted" to a Scrabble ledge for me, ask God to glue the word "accepted" to your heart so that, with every heartbeat, this truth is reinforced and becomes woven into the very fiber of your being.

Oh my friend, you are accepted by God. That is your reality.

 1. Chickens slurp grass like spaghetti.

When living in their natural environment, chickens will spend the day foraging for bugs and slurping down fresh blades of grass.

2. Chickens LOVE dust baths.

It may not sound very appealing to you, but chickens take so much pleasure in digging a shallow pit in the dirt, spreading their winds and rolling around in it. Dust baths help chickens maintain proper feather insulation and ward off parasites. I’ve known chickens that have spent their entire life cooped up in a cage but when given the chance to be free, one of the first things they ever did was give themselves a dust bath.

3. Chickens have complex communication with specific meanings.

When you spend enough time around chickens, you’ll start to understand their many different vocalizations, from calling their youngsters to alerting others of the whereabouts of food.

4. Chickens like to play.

When given enough space, chickens will run, jump, spa and even sunbathe. Unfortunately, around 95% of all chickens raised in the United States spend their entire lives in tiny cages no bigger than the size of an iPad.

5. Chickens talk to their unborn babies.

In a natural setting, a mother hen will cluck to her chicks before they have even hatched and they will churp back to her and to each other through their shells. In factory farms, a chick will never get to meet his or her parents because they are taken from her as soon as they are laid and placed in large incubators

This is the dollhouse that my husband built. Isn't it a beauty? This Victorian handmade, shake roof doll house would appeal to girls and women of all ages. If you are interested please call David at 270-799-7922

 

Alex this morning at the Cross Country Meet.

Dylan at practice last night playing the French Horn.

 

Feeling less than likeable? A far cry from beautiful? Today’s encouragement from God’s Word might be just what you need to change your view.

First, the Lord takes pleasure in you. He doesn’t simply accept you, forgive you or put up with you. He delights in your company. He celebrates your place in His kingdom. "As a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you" (Isaiah 62:5b, NIV).

What about your family history, your personality, your popularity? People worry about those things, but not the Lord.

So, your education, your resume, your bank balance? Impressive or not, none of that changes how God values you.

Even your behavior doesn’t alter His kind affection for you. His love is unconditional and irrevocable. God doesn’t love you because you’re wealthy or clever or good. He loves you because you’re His. "See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!" (1 John 3:1a, NIV).

You’ve probably heard a successful gardener explain how crushing and dispersing egg shells in plant soil can help with calcium absorption in plants. It even helps keep pests away. But could it benefit a human? The answer: Yes. Recent research has shown that eating egg shells can help with calcium levels, just like with plants.

Benefits of eating egg shells including pain reduction in women with osteoporosis and slowed bone loss

Osteoporosis is a degenerative disease that decreases bone density, leading to an array of problems. Decreased bone mass can lead to fractures. While women are more prone to Osteoporosis, it’s a common disease for men as well. Though Osteoporosis is prevalent in people over 60, it is generally seen as preventable by maintaining proper bone mass early on. (1) So how can egg shells help? One egg shell contains twice the amount of daily calcium required.(3) Egg shells prepared correctly can add to your daily intake of calcium. Without proper amounts of calcium in the bloodstream, your body begins to borrow from bones in order to maintain healthy cells. (1) Studies show that using powdered egg shells reduces the amount of pain in many women with osteoporosis. It also helped in joint function and slowed bone loss.(3)

Using eggshells for calcium because of increased absorbability, rather than a standard vitamin supplement

So why can’t calcium from your daily vitamin suffice? A female adult ages 19-50 should get about 1,000mg of calcium daily, the number increasing to 1,200mg at age 51.(4) Many daily vitamin supplements don’t contain enough calcium. In addition, it has been proven that the body can more easily absorb calcium through food than from supplements. (1) So your body might not even be utilizing all of what a vitamin offers. The absorption rate hovers around 90% if the source is through food.(2) It’s also important to get enough Vitamin D since this is what allows the body to absorb the calcium. (1) Overall, nutritionists insist that food is the best way to get enough calcium. And egg shells are an excellent source.

The process of grinding eggshells for calcium

Don’t go leaving the shell on the egg to eat. Since it’s easier for your body to pick up the calcium in a powdered form, the process involves grinding them up. First, you’ll want to boil them in water for around 5 minutes. This kills any bacteria that’s lingering on the egg shells.(2) By spreading them on a baking sheet and heating for a few minutes, the shells become crunchy- the texture you want. Then grind them in a magic bullet or coffee grinder and you’ve got a thin egg shell powder which can be added to food for proper calcium intake!

Today, I picked raspberries at a friends house after yoga class. Aren't they beautiful? I am going to make a raspberry cobbler with them. Thanks Julie! 

Every day I get the opportunity to start new. Every day I can begin again. Maybe I missed it yesterday. Maybe I got too busy or I got sucked into Facebook, or I just didn’t want to go to Bible Study.  Those are the moments that keep me up at night. Those are the moments I need God’s grace to cover me so I can start over. I need His help every day.

We will have things and times and decisions we will regret over the course of our lives. The key to really living, to living regrettably, is not to have no regrets, it’s to know and choose to begin again. It’s to be fully awake to our decisions. It’s to choose the direction of our lives the best that we can, with who we are and where we are. It’s to trust God, walking forward in faith, knowing that He delights in us as we delight in Him and the good things He gives us.

We can live in such a way that at the end, we can die satisfied with how we lived.

The Bees
September
The population of the hive is beginning to decrease; older bees that die off are not replaced in the same numbers by the new brood. Drones are being removed in numbers from the hives by the workers to conserve winter stores. Nectar and pollen sources are becoming more scarce as the cooler weather moves in and plants begin to die off or go dormant.

The worker bees will begin to bring in large amounts of propolis to seal the hive against drafts for the winter and on cold nights they will begin to cluster inside the hive. There may be intense robbing activity if you have a weak hive in your apiary - take steps to equalize colonies or prevent robbing.
Remove all honey supers before the end of month (if not sooner) to allow the bees to fill the brood chambers with the winter honey/pollen stores.

You have a lot to do this month. First, you should be pulling off all honey supers and be either securely storing them or extracting them. This will prevent the bees from wasting nectar/energy filling a super/frames incompletely and allows them to build up their stores for winter survival.

Wisteria

 

This has been a strange year. My Wisteria is just now blooming.  Wisteria blooms in Spring. No pears on the trees. No peaches on our tree. Loads of unexplained rain.
After an exceptionally long, cold winter and a wet start to spring for most sections of the U.S. and Canada, you might be yearning for summer and wondering what’s in store. That's what I read. Pretty typical. Now with Fall coming on. It seems to be hot and dry.
California could get hit with an El Niño stronger than the monster El Niño of 1997 that caused mudslides, flooding and $500 million in damage. What's a person to think!

Beautiful.

I immediately thought of our children as they head back to school. Our culture’s obsession with external, physical beauty can put them in a place similar to the beggar. Ads, TV and social media constantly shout what acceptable looks like. And it doesn’t stop there. They might even receive signals to become beautiful from friends and yes, even from us, their family.

Other times, pressure to arrive at Beautiful comes from within. Every day many of us go to our closets, mirrors or make-up bags for the tools we think we need to achieve beauty.

The gate called Beautiful might be the scale we hope will tell us the right number, the gym we join to become the right size or the mall we cruise through looking for the right outfit.

We go to the gate Beautiful and there we beg for what we need for that day: acceptance, approval and affirmation. It’s not enough to sustain us, though. Tomorrow, searching again, we’ll return.

We’ll go back and so will our children. They’re watching us, taking their cue on how to be acceptable from us.

We each desire value and significance. As our children head back to school, they also need to find approval in their world.

Yes Isabelle we see you!

Unlike humans, chickens don’t sweat, but like humans they depend on evaporation to stay cool – by panting. As they pant, moisture within the chickens’ lungs evaporates and is moved out of their bodies. This is also why it’s harder for them, like us, to stay cool when it’s humid.

The best way to know if your chickens are getting too hot is to watch their behavior.

Are they panting? Are they hanging their wings out a little distance a way from their bodies? These are early signs that they’re having to work harder to stay cool. If they’ve become listless or their breathing has become labored, then they’re experiencing heat stress – that’s harmful to them. Hens that aren’t able to stay cool enough will slow and stop their laying, and chickens that get too hot or stay hot for too long can die from heat stress.

So, how do we keep them cool?

Housing

First, make sure your birds have plenty of space. Chickens have a natural body temperature of 107° (F). They put off a lot of heat and moisture. Put too many chickens in too small of an area, and it will be difficult for them to stay cool. For full size birds, we recommend a minimum of 4 square feet per bird.

Next, make sure the coop is well-ventilated. Good airflow will help to move out both the moisture and the heat put off by the birds. If you’re not able to get enough airflow with natural ventilation, consider creating a breeze with a fan.

Third, when possible, position the coop and the run under the shade of a tree or a building or other structure. Placing the coop and run beneath a shade tree can make a big difference in temperature. Also, position the coop where it will catch a breeze.

Water

It’s always important to give your chickens plenty of access to fresh water. But in hot weather, this is even more critical.

Put waterers in the shade so that the water will stay cool. Chickens may be reluctant to go out into the hot sun to get a drink – so having water in the shade is critical. Keep the water fresh and clean, and fill waterers with cool water if possible. On excessively hot days, replace warm water with cooler water again during the hotter part of the day. Your chickens will drink more water when the water is cool, and the cooler water will be more effective at helping them stay cool. If needed, you can even add some ice.

 This egg basket sets on my hutch. It contains the first egg that each chicken has laid. Am I sentimental or what? 

 Here is Bessie and Lulu.

 My beautiful sunflowers and pole beans.

Can you believe this tomato plant! It is 8 feet tall. My tomatoes produced 60 pints of salsa and spaghetti sauce. Yes!

When Does Your Yoga Class Begin?

When does class begin? Is it when you walk into the yoga room, choose your space, place your mat, stretch out on the floor, and close your eyes? Is it when the teacher says, "Come to standing position?" Is it when your mind starts clearing from the obstacles of the day and the first drop of sweat falls from your brow? There are numerous cues and clues to when class begins, but ultimately it is up to you.
"When does class begin?" Is an important question. It is not just the scheduled time. After all, most people don't show up knowing what to expect and they miss having the best possible experience. Yoga is a highly personal experience and one that everyone needs to try. I have been in a yoga class for 3 years now. I am very flexible and attribute this to yoga.

Back To School



Here we are again. August! With its sweltering temperatures and made up holidays (National Underwear Day August 5th)  I know you really needed to know that. August symbolizes different things to different people. But for a huge segment of society, it has come to symbolize "back to school." Now when I was in school, we started the year off the day after Labor Day. But we have to go with the flow. This is just the way it is. I have one going to high school this year. One in junior high, and one in fifth grade. And another boy who will be 1 soon. My, how time fly's.

My Beautiful Terra Cotta Birdhouse

 

Are you a planner? Good for you! Plan away, but hold those plans with open hands and a heart ready to wait.

Are you frustrated by a lack of plans? It’s okay. Really. God is no less in control of your life than the other planners’ lives around you. Wait. Watch for Him, and let His plan unfold. You’re probably better off than we planners who constantly struggle to let go and recalibrate as God works. You can help your planner friends relax and go with God’s flow!

Look at these chickens go! They absolutely love sunflowers. 

Chickens will peck sunflower seeds right out of the head. Since the seeds consist of 26.3% protein, they make a great addition to a chicken diet.

In the fall, we cut them and hang them to dry, and then, through the winter, when the chickens don't have much else to do, and they might be prone to start pecking each other from boredom, I hang them just up above head height, so they have to stretch to peck them, and they swing a bit. The seeds fall out and they all run them down, and then start again with another peck. Gives them something to do.

What’s Really “Natural”?

A carton of eggs labeled “vegetarian” means that the chicken was fed a diet free of animal by-products. In addition, all USDA Certified Organic eggs must come from chickens fed a completely vegetarian diet consisting of certified organic grains (3).

That sounds fine and dandy until you realize that a chicken in its natural environment is NOT going to be vegetarian and that “vegetarian” eggs probably come from chickens that are not allowed to free-range. By default, the diet of a honest-to-goodness “free-range” chicken will most definitely include creepy-crawlies of all kinds.

So while it’s nice to know that commercially-raised chickens fed a vegetarian diet aren’t eating rendered dogs and cats for lunch, that label doesn’t necessarily mean that they are a whole lot better off than their other commercially-raised buddies. And I personally think that chickens need meat bits and insects in their diet if we are sticking with the “natural” way of doing things.