This Week at Our House #18

I was thinking about the people who have said that during World War I and the 1918 Spanish Flu, people thought it was the end of the world, but it wasn't. Then again before and during world war II people thought it was the end of the world but it wasn't and therefore the 2020 pandemic is not the end of the world. I am guessing that people mean that Christ would come. I don't think Christ is coming anytime soon, but I look back to those times in history and know without a doubt, they were times of great evil and great sorrow and should not be

dismissed from our minds.

As Americans, we like to think all is well, and in those times, some in America were very well and some were not, and it followed a time of great prosperity. So we forget what has happened around the world.  After World War I and World War II, much of the world experienced death., dearth, and a loss of freedom. They did not experience the prosperity that Americans did.

For example in Russia after World War I, Stalin took power and killed millions to establish his communist dictatorship. In the Ukraine beginning in 1929, Stalin removed farmers from their homes and fields and made them community farms. People who were unfamiliar with farming had to run the farms. They produced little and the people were starving. Then to punish the Ukrainians  for not growing enough food, Stalin took all of the food they did grow. 4 million people died of starvation in the Ukraine by 1932.

Communism spread like a disease in years following World War II and it caused innumerable deaths, disease, starvation, depression, pollution, etc. Eastern Europe and Asia after 1945, and many people suffered for many years because of this. One only needs to read the warnings of the prophets in those days to gain a small understanding of their sorrow for those people. The suffering did not end for years and in many places, still has not ended. Just because Christ did not come the world still changed and changed for the worst and millions upon millions lost their lives.

Therefore, I cannot look so lightly upon the past two months and feel like all will be well and we will go on as usual. I feel certain that's not the case. I cannot see the piles of dumped potatoes, the wasted vegetable crops, the piles of dead pigs, the spilled milk, the killing of the millions of chickens and believe that we will not have serious consequences for this. Evil is growing again. The sun seems to be setting and taking much knowledge with it. And I fear for my children and my country. This is not born of nothing.

Now to the fam:

 

We had a pleasant week reading together, playing together, drawing together, etc. We got 10 more baby chicks. So now we have 10 ducklings, and 20 chicks. We slaughtered Joseph's roosters because we could not keep him from attacking Gideon, Sam, Susan, and Arwen. That was more smelly, but much less hard and terrifying as I expected. The meat was very hard because he was a free ranged, exercised bird, though the flavor was stronger than store chickens. We ate much of it and then fed the rest to the cats. Nothing went to waste,

even the bones were used.  Joseph cried for a bit, but he's okay now. The yard has been much more peaceful without that rooster. Still, we got three more. One is named Solomon. One is Colonel Sanders and the other I think the kids named Happy Meal or McDonald's. 

Ruth's working on coloring pictures for my chicken book. She's spent a lot of time contacting old friends and chatting with them through zoom and skype, etc.

Kate has been caring for one of her ducklings that has not gotten enough food. Helping in the home, reading, and working on her art, writing, and illustrations.

Johnny stays up late at night most nights discussing the scriptures with John.

Adam has been digging up more sod for more garden space for me. I needed a sunnier spot for some tomato plants that just weren't growing, and a place to thin my thriving corn out, so we can keep all of the plants. Adam also helped me transplant some baby trees. We'll be doing more of that. 

I sent the kids out to the woods for an explore and a picnic. Rachel adored that and did the same thing for the little kids again on Saturday.

Anya spends hours and hours drawing everyday.

Joseph got grounded from all computer games and until he fixes his behavior. He fixed it immediately, but I am making him wait until he has more time to prove his sincerity.

Joshua and Arwen have been coloring books about chickens. Josh has 20 or more. Arwen just started.

After eating two ice cream cones, Susan said to me that she was never going to eat again. When I questioned her, she said, not for a long, long time. When Ruth was making cookies, Susan said, "If you let me help you, I'll let you play with my unicorns. I have two purple and two blues." Susan has been drawing a lot too.

Sam thinks that he should watch tv everyday. I usually make him wait until dark, so he'll play outside as much as possible.

Gideon is sooo big and active. I rarely remember that he's only 15 months. He's as big as or bigger than all the girls were at two. We keep missing lots of silver ware. Kate finally found a bunch inside the hvac vent. Gideon watched her pull it out and cried as if she was stealing from them.

This field is only about a fifth of our yard and that makes me happy.

This Week at Our House # 17

We enjoyed a full week of freedom. I am reading Winnie the Pooh for our first summer book and the lots of time in our yard. I mowed and weeded. I went grocery shopping alone again. Life continues to be strange when ever we leave the house. Protests broke out across the nation because people want their freedom. One thing is clear: absolute power corrupts absolutely. People online are crankier than ever before. I may have thought the whole world was in commotion before, and I now it seems to be spinning.

There have been weird stories of meat chickens and egg hens being ordered to be slaughtered in the name of not enough demand while food prices rise and stores ration what can be bought. I have also heard about cows and pigs being slaughtered, potatoes and fresh vegetables thrown out and milk dropped down the drain. We are not in for a good future. Last I heard, there were 26 million more people out of work. Some places are talking about allowing people to work and some people are risking arrest in order to work.

I'm grateful that we have such a cheap and nice property right now. It gives me peace of mind.

The kids are all doing fine. They're enjoying the nice weather and the baby animals we have. We bought 9 hens and one new rooster. Hopefully they will all live to adulthood. If the garden store gets another shipment, I will buy more, I think, given how uncertain things are on a global scale right now.

The kids are doing well enjoying the spring. They're missing beach trips

and trips to the store, but they have 3 acres to explore, ducklings, chicks, and kittens to play with and plenty of books to read and games to play. I feel almost guilty. I have hugs and kisses and conversations all day long in isolation and other people are stuck in a world of loneliness.

We showed Sam pictures from this blog from years back. he said every baby was Gideon and Johnny, he almost always called Joseph. He would say that Josh was Sam and Anya was Arwen a lot. He called Arwen and Susan from 3 years ago, both Susan. He almost always got Ruth no matter the age, but called Kate Rachel a lot.

Gideon is starting to talk. I can tell him to say the names of his siblings and he gives it a try. He calls Adam Dad and Dad dad. He calls Sam sssss and Susan susu. It's adorable.