So. Today was the book bounce. It would make my Dad's evening, make his night, if we sold ten more books before the sun went down in Central Texas. Twenty more might even spill his happiness over into the morning. SO, go, now! Buy it! You won't regret it, I promise. And if you do regret it, well, you just may be a few sandwiches short of a picnic. So, go type in "Grid" in the searchbox on Amazon.com and buy it. Watch this first....
Until Next Time,
Tracy Bunker
My story for a Farmhouse I saw today.....
As I was riding back from Brownwood today, I saw an old, broken-down farmhouse. I thought of how beautiful it must have been, and wondered why such a house was so close to such a busy highway. Then I realized that the house was older than the highway, and that the highway must have ruined the effect the house once held. I felt sad that such a house much endure the disgrace of a busy highway being so close. So when I got home, I wrote this. It is a little disjointed, but I wrote it fast, so maybe I can trim it up later.
This story may start anywhere, really.
A young couple stretches their wings.
They find ranching land,
They make a plan,
And they build on a hill in the trees.
They work all day in the hot Texas sun,
They build according to dream.
They laugh as they work
And sometimes they don't
But they know that they're quite a team.
A house takes form slowly but surely,
They saw it in their mind's eye.
The Good Lord has blessed
They're hard work and efforts
They did it, they didn't just try.
Summer comes quickly in this part of Texas,
And so did the bugs and the heat
But another blessing
Is on it's way soon
A blessing with small hands and feet
A small Texan family farms on a hillside.
They work and they play in the sun.
The family grows,
Slowly but surely
And everywhere small children run.
The children grow up and times, they change.
The children begin to yearn.
They wonder just what
Is outside the farm
And they leave, wanting to learn.
One day they come home with new ideas,
They startle the tender old couple
Progress is coming
Coming to Texas!
To the parents, it just sounds like trouble
Now a farmhouse once run by a loving young couple
Is now run by humming machines
They purr and clank
And they all seem so loud
The "Good Life" breaks all old routines
The old country road that runs by the house
Was once a place to wave to good friends.
Now it is blacktopped
And cars scream by
And frankly it now just offends
The couple is told they were poor, but not anymore
They don't really understand how they are richer
And they slowly grow older
Among the new gadgets
And don't really believe their life is better
The couple that once was so very happy
Pass away in the farmhouse they built
The children soon sell
The dream of their parents
And it sits and degrades and it wilts,
People speed by on the highway and see a young couple's dream
Slowly fall down with time and with age
It is the brand of the era
And people scoff
And they are glad that times have changed.
I have imagined this story for a house on the hill
It may be close to the truth, it may not
But now the house falls
And is in disrepair
Imagine your own story, if you want to give it a shot.
Hope you enjoyed it, Tracy Bunker
This story may start anywhere, really.
A young couple stretches their wings.
They find ranching land,
They make a plan,
And they build on a hill in the trees.
They work all day in the hot Texas sun,
They build according to dream.
They laugh as they work
And sometimes they don't
But they know that they're quite a team.
A house takes form slowly but surely,
They saw it in their mind's eye.
The Good Lord has blessed
They're hard work and efforts
They did it, they didn't just try.
Summer comes quickly in this part of Texas,
And so did the bugs and the heat
But another blessing
Is on it's way soon
A blessing with small hands and feet
A small Texan family farms on a hillside.
They work and they play in the sun.
The family grows,
Slowly but surely
And everywhere small children run.
The children grow up and times, they change.
The children begin to yearn.
They wonder just what
Is outside the farm
And they leave, wanting to learn.
One day they come home with new ideas,
They startle the tender old couple
Progress is coming
Coming to Texas!
To the parents, it just sounds like trouble
Now a farmhouse once run by a loving young couple
Is now run by humming machines
They purr and clank
And they all seem so loud
The "Good Life" breaks all old routines
The old country road that runs by the house
Was once a place to wave to good friends.
Now it is blacktopped
And cars scream by
And frankly it now just offends
The couple is told they were poor, but not anymore
They don't really understand how they are richer
And they slowly grow older
Among the new gadgets
And don't really believe their life is better
The couple that once was so very happy
Pass away in the farmhouse they built
The children soon sell
The dream of their parents
And it sits and degrades and it wilts,
People speed by on the highway and see a young couple's dream
Slowly fall down with time and with age
It is the brand of the era
And people scoff
And they are glad that times have changed.
I have imagined this story for a house on the hill
It may be close to the truth, it may not
But now the house falls
And is in disrepair
Imagine your own story, if you want to give it a shot.
Hope you enjoyed it, Tracy Bunker
Meet Spunk, our very own Wilbur, of sorts.
I have a story to share..... Last Friday, while doing a evening watering of our small herd of Duroc pigs, we found a piglet running around the pen aimlessly. We watched him for awhile, and he seemed hopelessly confused and out of sorts. I expected the mama pig, whoever she was, to call to him or come get him when he squealed for her, but it appeared he didn't belong to anybody in particular. I started scanning the potential mamas for sagging teats or other signs of recent birth, but wasn't able to find any obvious signs that any of them had had a piglet recently. I knew one of them had, but I didn't know who. I had been up at the pigpens just that morning and had not spotted this little newcomer. So, cautiously, I walked in and scooped up the little guy, expecting him to scream bloody murder and for his Mama to come running. He just grunted a bit, and none of the females even paid any attention. Well, night was fast approaching and I didn't like the idea of just leaving him out there to sort it out himself, so I decided to take him in and see what I could do. The Siffords were kind enough to let me have some of their goat milk, and I offered it to him in a bottle leftover from previous piglet experiences. He was very hungry, and after eating a hefty meal, settled down and went to sleep. We puzzled about who the mother might have been and why she didn't seem to care or even know about him. After closer examination, I found he had the same faint stripes down his back as had had an earlier set of piggies born here. I did the math and found that those piggies were approaching the age of being able to reproduce, and after much thought, decided it must have been an early pregnancy between brother and sister litter mates. The faint stripes were signs of a mating with a feral hog, and the little pig now asleep on my porch must be a grandchild of that union. So without further ado, may I introduce the little confused half-breed, Spunk. He is now something like a pet, drinks goat milk from a bottle whenever he so much as makes a peep, and sleeps in a box of straw by Sugar's crate on the porch. He is quite the spoiled brat.
(On a bucket of Snap Pea sprouts. Hahaha, get it? ;) )
Anyways, spring has sprung here on the Ranch, and as usual, the children are planting seeds everywhere, and we have containers of little sprouts in every windowsill. It is really nice to see the children succeed and to see their faces when the plants give forth produce in the summer.
I took some pictures of the seedlings that are scattered about the kitchen:
(On a bucket of Snap Pea sprouts. Hahaha, get it? ;) ) The first tomato of the season.
Well, Until Next Time,
Tracy Bunker
Pictures of the Young'uns
Jen, 13 
Robert, 12 
Sarah, 7 
The 'crew' 
They are cute, but don't tell them I said so.
Sorry I have a lot of pictures to post and I will have to do them in several different posts. You can comment on any one of them.
Spin it!
When Dad and Mom went on their trip to Waco, they stopped by Brazos De Dios to talk to some friends there and to check out their new General Store that recently opened up. I have been looking into processing the wool from our Dorper sheep, and did some washing/carding experiments. So Dad picked me up a "Drop Spindle Kit" there, which included and handmade wooden drop spindle, some washed and carded wool for practice, and this book.....
I really enjoyed this book, it had really easy to follow instructions on carding, washing, dying, preparing for spinning and spinning. It had info on how to hand spin, spin on a drop spindle, and so much more.
*side note* I thought the editor had a pretty cool name, too. Traci Bunkers, of Bonkers Handmade Originals. Funny.
Anyways, I worked on it for awhile and am finally getting the hang of it. I did one skein of their yarn, that was included washed and prepared, and now am looking for some new cards so I can get some wool from our sheep to work with.
With the skein I made, I ended up doing some crochet testing, so to speak. It was pretty cool. I will have to post pictures if I remember.
Alrighty, y'all have a blessed day.
Tracy Bunker
And the Winner is....
I did the raffle thingy this morning and the winner is....
LadyWhy
Okay, Ladywhy, I have your book packed up and ready to be shipped. Just please email me at lil_bunks@yahoo.com with your mailing address and I will ship it off.
Thank you all for your entries and participation.
Now a little rant:
Today is the book bomb. I would expect a large part of you readers know this and have already gone and bought the book. Thank you, if you have done that.
For those of you who have not, go do it. Here is some quick figuring I did:
I figure my readers are split into two main groups:
1. People who know my father and found my site through his blog or facebook.
2. Close family and distant family who read this blog to keep tabs on their strange granddaughter\niece\cousin just to find out just how nuts she really is. (Hi, Grandma!)
To the latter group,
Go buy the book. Do it because I asked you to, and because you take pity on a poor, crazy teenage girl who you are sadly related to.
And I digress.
March Forth!
Tracy Bunker
LadyWhy
Okay, Ladywhy, I have your book packed up and ready to be shipped. Just please email me at lil_bunks@yahoo.com with your mailing address and I will ship it off.
Thank you all for your entries and participation.
Now a little rant:
Today is the book bomb. I would expect a large part of you readers know this and have already gone and bought the book. Thank you, if you have done that.
For those of you who have not, go do it. Here is some quick figuring I did:
I figure my readers are split into two main groups:
1. People who know my father and found my site through his blog or facebook.
2. Close family and distant family who read this blog to keep tabs on their strange granddaughter\niece\cousin just to find out just how nuts she really is. (Hi, Grandma!)
To the latter group,
Go buy the book. Do it because I asked you to, and because you take pity on a poor, crazy teenage girl who you are sadly related to.
And I digress.
March Forth!
Tracy Bunker
Closing Time
The givaway is now closed. Thank you all for your participation.
I will announce the winner either later today or early tomorrow.
Blessings,
Tracy
I will announce the winner either later today or early tomorrow.
Blessings,
Tracy
A Book Giveaway....
Okay, I've never done this before, so bear with me here.
I am giving away a "Pre-Book Bomb" copy of my Dad's new, totally awesome book. (Believe me, I know, because I already read it .... Well, most of it anyways.)
I am giving away a "Pre-Book Bomb" copy of my Dad's new, totally awesome book. (Believe me, I know, because I already read it .... Well, most of it anyways.)
So here are the ways to enter.
To enter once, just leave a comment on this post.
To enter more times, you can,
1. Post about the book on your blog. Leave a seperate comment here telling me you did with a link to your blog.
2. Email 3 friends about this book who you think may be interested. Leave a seperate comment here telling me you did. I'll believe you.....
3. Follow the Surviving Off Off Grid book on Facebook here. Come back here and tell me if you do.
The limit is four entries per person.
Deadline for entries is March 3rd.
I will announce the winner next weekend, Lord Willing.
Mrs. Stonger over at Nourishing Days is doing a another, bigger giveaway so go check it out.
The book bomb is March 4th. Click here to go to the new book website.
Until Next Time,
Tracy Bunker
A Revolution....
* super deep movie preview guy's voice*
In a Land where covetousness rules the mind,
Money rules the heart,
And the Television keeps man's mind sufficiently numbed to reality..
One man stands up to say,
No
So, I am asking you,
Will you...
Join the revolution?
March 4th
Back from the Project with something to say.....
Well it was the longest December Project yet, and we made it. Well, we more than made it, we enjoyed it very much. In fact, other than writing this blog, I didn't miss much of anything. Things at the Ranch have been a bit icy over the last week, and that extended the DP an extra week. Always the klutz, I ended up slipping on the ice and injuring my shoulder in the first few days. I was calmly walking up to check on the pigs, and I lost my footing, and landed right smack dab on my right shoulder. It did bring tears to my eyes. But only momentarily. The pigs ended up being warm and cosy in a pile in some straw in their house. I trudged very carefully back up to the cabin and complained of an achy shoulder the rest of the week.
I did get a bit of writing and reading done, and I thought I might share a thingy I wrote over the long cold days. Hope it is okay. Enjoy, y'all.
American Woman;
Weakened by Power
I have a good friend. This friend asked me to come over and help her butcher a troublesome rooster. She had never butchered anything or watched an animal be butchered. She is very squeamish about these things, and was unable to watch some portions of the butchering. She helped me when I needed an extra hand, but seemed a bit distressed about the whole affair.
I was pondering all this awhile later and decided I was angry. Not at my friend, no, I like her very much. I had decided I was angry at the society for stealing from women. For while the feminist movement portrayed women as a fragile creature and called for us to gain the courage to stand up, be strong, and do things that we couldn't before, all it did was weaken us. Now we can sit at Congress and be governors and maybe even be President, but we can no longer butcher a chicken. We cannot gut a pig because we think that is gross. We cannot ( or will not ) clean a chicken house or muck out a horse stall. We can't make cheese or bread or candles, weave fullcloth, braid baskets, grow gardens or even educate our children. We rely on a faulty system to feed our families and shape our children's minds while we are away running companies, fighting wars and leading countries.
But if you ask us, our chests swell with pride and we say we are free, strong, and powerful. But it is still not enough. Say, why can't we play football? We have fooled ourselves into thinking the feminist movement has done so much for us,
made us strong and independent. In all truth, it has made us slaves. We have sold and lost all that was admirable about the classic American June Cleaver. We disdainfully think of how our mothers and grandmothers slaved away and they couldn't even vote! What these women don't realize is that the very things they despise about the pioneer woman were her virtues. And, really, if any early nineteenth century woman saw us today, she would have to laugh at how very soft and helpless we are.
So why are we surprised when we find out the food we feed our children contains so many body destroying substances such as corn syrup, MSG, aspartame, aluminum, and so many others? Could we expect much more?
Of course it should make sense when we look at the current teenage generation and a shudder runs down or spine. What will happen to us when these kids run everything? If the pregnant, drinking, smoking, foul mouthed, depressed, brain dead young woman we see every time we go to Walmart had had the womanly influence she needed that her mother could have provided, maybe she would be a very different, happier person. If her mother had not just raised her and actually trained her, maybe things would be a bit different. Maybe. We should not be startled when a small child asks us where milk comes from or if eggs come from trees. It's not cute, it is disturbing. Women are largely responsible for our new generation of confused youth.
If we talk to our grandmothers they may tell us of a time when we knew exactly what went into our children's minds and mouths because we were there, raising them in the honor and admonition of the Lord. We fed them from the wholesome bounties of our home grown gardens. We taught our daughters and passed on skills and wisdom. We raised our sons to be men. We loved our husbands and worked to make our houses homes. We fought a more important war on the home front. We fought a war in our children's minds, in our youth's hearts. We barred the way of Satan's inevitable tries to corrupt our children, the next generation. We were strong, and we did our God-given duties. What could be more admirable?
But we nervously laugh and say we are glad that age is over.
I did get a bit of writing and reading done, and I thought I might share a thingy I wrote over the long cold days. Hope it is okay. Enjoy, y'all.
American Woman;
Weakened by Power
I have a good friend. This friend asked me to come over and help her butcher a troublesome rooster. She had never butchered anything or watched an animal be butchered. She is very squeamish about these things, and was unable to watch some portions of the butchering. She helped me when I needed an extra hand, but seemed a bit distressed about the whole affair.
I was pondering all this awhile later and decided I was angry. Not at my friend, no, I like her very much. I had decided I was angry at the society for stealing from women. For while the feminist movement portrayed women as a fragile creature and called for us to gain the courage to stand up, be strong, and do things that we couldn't before, all it did was weaken us. Now we can sit at Congress and be governors and maybe even be President, but we can no longer butcher a chicken. We cannot gut a pig because we think that is gross. We cannot ( or will not ) clean a chicken house or muck out a horse stall. We can't make cheese or bread or candles, weave fullcloth, braid baskets, grow gardens or even educate our children. We rely on a faulty system to feed our families and shape our children's minds while we are away running companies, fighting wars and leading countries.
But if you ask us, our chests swell with pride and we say we are free, strong, and powerful. But it is still not enough. Say, why can't we play football? We have fooled ourselves into thinking the feminist movement has done so much for us,
made us strong and independent. In all truth, it has made us slaves. We have sold and lost all that was admirable about the classic American June Cleaver. We disdainfully think of how our mothers and grandmothers slaved away and they couldn't even vote! What these women don't realize is that the very things they despise about the pioneer woman were her virtues. And, really, if any early nineteenth century woman saw us today, she would have to laugh at how very soft and helpless we are.So why are we surprised when we find out the food we feed our children contains so many body destroying substances such as corn syrup, MSG, aspartame, aluminum, and so many others? Could we expect much more?
Of course it should make sense when we look at the current teenage generation and a shudder runs down or spine. What will happen to us when these kids run everything? If the pregnant, drinking, smoking, foul mouthed, depressed, brain dead young woman we see every time we go to Walmart had had the womanly influence she needed that her mother could have provided, maybe she would be a very different, happier person. If her mother had not just raised her and actually trained her, maybe things would be a bit different. Maybe. We should not be startled when a small child asks us where milk comes from or if eggs come from trees. It's not cute, it is disturbing. Women are largely responsible for our new generation of confused youth.
If we talk to our grandmothers they may tell us of a time when we knew exactly what went into our children's minds and mouths because we were there, raising them in the honor and admonition of the Lord. We fed them from the wholesome bounties of our home grown gardens. We taught our daughters and passed on skills and wisdom. We raised our sons to be men. We loved our husbands and worked to make our houses homes. We fought a more important war on the home front. We fought a war in our children's minds, in our youth's hearts. We barred the way of Satan's inevitable tries to corrupt our children, the next generation. We were strong, and we did our God-given duties. What could be more admirable?
But we nervously laugh and say we are glad that age is over.
" Just think of doing all that work from dawn till dusk. All that slaving and sweating? And for what?"
Titus 2: 4 & 5 " That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children; To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the Word of God be not blasphemed."
We should do it because it is our duty. We should do it for the Honor and Glory of the Lord.
A worthy cause to say the very least.
Blessings to you and yours.
Tracy Bunker
Titus 2: 4 & 5 " That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children; To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the Word of God be not blasphemed."
We should do it because it is our duty. We should do it for the Honor and Glory of the Lord.
A worthy cause to say the very least.
Blessings to you and yours.
Tracy Bunker
Blessed News
Hello there.
So I have returned to what has become a "sometimes monthly" blog.
But this time I have blessed, exciting news to share.
The whole "Betrothed" concept is very new and exciting for me. There are so may side roads and traps the World has laid to distract young people such as myself from the Way, and I am ever grateful to my parents for keeping my feet straight and searching out the Biblical Paths for me. I thought there wasn't any other way besides courtship, which seemed a lot like dating to me anyways. I was interested, but not surprised to find that the Lord had created a perfect way. There is an article on this topic linked on Dad's Blog under the "Update: Cistern, Garlic, Stuff, Betrothal and More Stuff " Post.
This week seems to have just flown by. We have been working on keeping the smokehouse going to continue curing the sausage and cheese. The sausage is absolutely delicious, but I have yet to try he cheese. Hopefully it will come out just as good.We bottled the wine from the root cellar all day today, and that was an interesting procedure. We ended up with a pretty good bottle count, and the wine came out very nicely. We made Agarito and Blackberry wine this year, and hope to try out making grape wine next year.
Well, that's all I will write tonight. Some time next week I will try to do a big update blog with the pictures I spoke of. Stupid Daylight Savings Time has messed me all up, as it does every time, and I am sleepy even though the clock tells me it's earlier then it feels.
-Tracy Bunker
So I have returned to what has become a "sometimes monthly" blog.
But this time I have blessed, exciting news to share.
I have become betrothed to Mr. Mark Contra during my long hiatus. How's that for an excuse? I wasn't thinking about my blog, I was too busy walking on cloud nine, thankyouverymuch.
The above picture was taken at our Betrothment Celebration/Dinner. That was the night I received a beautiful Rosewood Hope Chest. I teared right up like a baby when I saw it. It was exactly what I wanted, and he had picked the perfect one. I tried to take pictures of it today, but got frustrated because I couldn't get a good one, and then I got an at least acceptable one, and now my computer won't transfer it. So, I will keep trying to post that picture and some of all the pretty things that were inside the Chest.The whole "Betrothed" concept is very new and exciting for me. There are so may side roads and traps the World has laid to distract young people such as myself from the Way, and I am ever grateful to my parents for keeping my feet straight and searching out the Biblical Paths for me. I thought there wasn't any other way besides courtship, which seemed a lot like dating to me anyways. I was interested, but not surprised to find that the Lord had created a perfect way. There is an article on this topic linked on Dad's Blog under the "Update: Cistern, Garlic, Stuff, Betrothal and More Stuff " Post.
This week seems to have just flown by. We have been working on keeping the smokehouse going to continue curing the sausage and cheese. The sausage is absolutely delicious, but I have yet to try he cheese. Hopefully it will come out just as good.We bottled the wine from the root cellar all day today, and that was an interesting procedure. We ended up with a pretty good bottle count, and the wine came out very nicely. We made Agarito and Blackberry wine this year, and hope to try out making grape wine next year.
Well, that's all I will write tonight. Some time next week I will try to do a big update blog with the pictures I spoke of. Stupid Daylight Savings Time has messed me all up, as it does every time, and I am sleepy even though the clock tells me it's earlier then it feels.
-Tracy Bunker
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)