The Big White Farmhouse

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For the past few weeks, I’ve been on a economic deep dive and the consensus is very disheartening.  Words like recession/depression, job loss/unemployment, housing market correction, small business closures, massive credit card debt and inflation are all spoken about.  Regardless of who becomes president in November, this problem will not suddenly disappear…so what to do?  Even though it all seems overwhelming, I think a return to the “old ways” seems a prudent course to take.

I’m calling it the “Weather the Storm Challenge” and am focusing on debt reduction, food storage and saving money.  Those seem like big goals to accomplish all at once, but my motto has always been “little by little” – every day, we do one small thing to get us closer to our objective.  A few things I’ve accomplished this week:

• started a gratitude journal to remind myself of all the good things in my life
• made broth from chicken backs (when we cut up our birds for pieces, we bag up and freeze the backs for just this purpose – nothing goes to waste!)
• gave myself a hair trim
• made granola to use up Greek yogurt we still had in the fridge
• sold eggs to friends
• inventoried the pantry and made a list of items to stock up on for soups and stews
• started using up some instant coffee that wasn’t my favorite but is still drinkable
• made banana bread from overripe bananas
• listed a few more items on ebay/Poshmark/Pango

So many are just one job loss away from being in dire straits (I’ve thought often about this documentary, shared a few weeks ago).  I hope we can work together to avoid that hardship for all of us.

Hoping to document the abundance around me all year long!

Around here, abundance looks like…

+ all hands on deck to get farm projects done.  We put broiler chicks out to pasture, hauled woodchips to the permanent pig paddocks, weeded the garden, moved pigs to new pasture and started the prep work for chopping firewood.  Many hands make for lighter work!  We also talked about hard decisions for 2025.  As of right now, I think we’ll be taking a break from broiler chickens (for a year) and focusing instead on pork production.  Feed is just too expensive and our sales are too unreliable to take on that expense.

+ sharpening a ton of colored pencils.  My kids like to draw and we’ve acquired quite a few colored pencils over the years.  And while everyone loves a brand new set, we still have more than enough to use up.  I spent a looong time sharpening by hand…just a little more to go.

+ neighborly generosity.  Our neighbor has been so amazingly kind to us.  In just the past few weeks, he caught the pesky fox that has been killing our chickens and he stopped to help my son replace a tire (after being driven off the road by a construction truck!).  We brought over some of our chicken/pork as a thank you and came home with his venison and cucumbers!  What a gift.

+ selling eighteen unneeded items for the Car Loan Payoff Plan: 14 books, two pieces of clothing, a piece of homeschool curriculum and an educational puzzle.  After shipping and fees, I made $69.02!

Reading //

• One Dozen Eggs Please from Grandma Donna // “If we stop listening to that negative person in our head that makes us worry, and find something that is so interesting that we cannot stop reading, or do some genealogy and get on a trail that we don’t want to stop researching, or become determined that we will learn to make a pie crust and find that it was so simple that we cannot believe that it was so simple, or sing a song to a bird or frog or any kind of creature and not care if anyone can hear us. Then we will have found our way to to contentment instead of worry.”
• The New House, The New Life from Anthony Esolen at Front Porch Republic
• Towards Full Enjoyment: Use the Nice Dishes from Patricia Patnode at Theology of Home // “Nice dishes were meant to be used, to hold the meals that nourish family connections. Yet they spend most of their time hidden away, protected from the wear and tear of daily life. But what good is a possession if it’s only admired from afar, tucked away for fear of a chip or a crack?”
• A Stalled American Dream from Chris Arnade at Chris Arnade Walks the World // So very, very sad.

New Additions to The List // 

• Nostalgia: Going Home in a Homeless World by Anthony Esolen
• The Wings of the Dove by Henry James

Watching/Listening //

• Episode 79: Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie from The Literary Life Podcast
• Swedish Death Cleaning: 5 Lessons From Cleaning Out Mom’s House from Joyful Living with Jen Lefforge // Very thought provoking and has inspired me to keep decluttering.
• Paradiso Cantos 10-33 of 100 Days of Dante from Baylor Honors College // DONE!

Loving //

• this air-dry clay // Great price for five pounds of clay and surprisingly easy to work with.  We made prehistoric “tablets” in history and will be using the rest for volcanoes next week!
• this memory game // Working on our recall while learning the names of dog breeds too.  (Adding memory practice to our school week was inspired by the articles linked in this post.)
• pizza puffs // My teenage boys have made these multiple times and they are delicious.
• this quote from The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien:

That’s what stories are for.  Stories are for joining the past to the future.  Stories are for those late hours in the night when you can’t remember how you got from where you were to where you are.  Stories are for eternity, when memory is erased, when there is nothing to remember except the story. (p.36)

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Monday began our eleventh homeschooling year and it marked a bittersweet moment: the last first day of school with all six of my students.  (My oldest is a senior!)  Sometimes I just can’t believe we’ve reached this point already.  The days are long, but the years are so short.

Anyway, we began the year with our traditional cinnamon roll breakfast and were back to the books.  Things went smoothly for about three days…and then the wheels fell off the wagon.  Most of my kids got sick, my pigs escaped their paddocks and frolicked across the property multiple times, we had an issue with our freezer… I had to laugh because man, this is the life!  If this is any indication of how the school year is going to go, we’re in a for wild ride.  Bring it on.

Hoping to document the abundance around me all year long!

Around here, abundance looks like…

+ a new-to-us toaster.  My oldest son was visiting a friend’s house and overheard that they were getting rid of their toaster because they upgraded to some sort of an all-in-one appliance.  He asked if he could take it and they agreed!  Our two-slice toaster had recently had the handle ripped off (thanks, boys) so this was great timing and even better: it was a four-slice version!

+ purchasing a new dryer after two months without one!  It’s been so frustrating to have appliances wear out so quickly and not be able to fix the problem long term.  I was committed to air drying our clothes until we hit two criteria: pay cash and wait for a sale.  The stars collided this week with enough money in the bank and $200 off the sticker price.  We jumped on it and they delivered the next day!  I have never been so grateful for a piece of modern technology.

+ selling twelve unneeded items for the Car Loan Payoff Plan: eight books, three pieces of clothing, and one textbook.  After shipping and fees, I made $52.42!

Reading //

• Rethinking Childhood from Mary Catherine Adams at The Interior Life
• The Transformed Child from Katherine Johnson Martinko at The Analog Family // “Your screen-addled child is a very different child than your screen-free, or even “screen-lite”, child. So, while your screen-addled child will most definitely be at loose ends initially without their device, they will not stay that way. They will undergo an inevitable transformation, as one does whenever a lifestyle change occurs, and you will soon have a different (read: easier) child to contend with, one that is slowly developing the skills to entertain themselves without a device in hand.”
• How a Kansas humanities program shaped a generation of Catholic leaders from Perry West at Catholic News Agency // “The overarching theme was to immerse the students into the good, the true, and the beautiful, so that we might ask the big questions: ‘What is life all about?’ ‘What is death?’ ‘What is eternity?’ ‘What is evil?’ ‘What is good?'”
• Disabusing the Most Abused Question in Schooling: What Am I Going to Use This For? from Aaron Ames at Circe Institute // “…when you limit education to the knowledge needed to make a living and for mere survival, you limit the meaning of life itself to these things. But surely no one actually lives only to make money. Love, friendship, beauty, laughter, family, faith, these are the things that make life worth living. These are the things that give life meaning. And the true purpose of education has everything to do with the meaning of life.”
• Inside the New Wave of Old-School Education from Julia Steinberg at The Free Press
• Project 333 Challenge: 3 Methods To Help You Get Started // Thinking of doing this challenge for autumn.

New Additions to The List // 

• Black Woods, Blue Sky: A Novel by Eowyn Ivey (comes out next February 2025)

Watching/Listening //

• Some thoughts of preparedness (let’s chat) | VLOG from Roots and Refuge Farm // I agreed with so many of her thoughts, especially her feelings of defiance and this quote: “I want to live my life in such a way that I can thrive no matter what happens.”
• Paradiso Cantos 1-9 of 100 Days of Dante from Baylor Honors College

Loving //

• Shop at Sullivan: The Official Anne of Green Gables store // My daughter is on a huge Anne Shirley kick and I found this amazing website for kindred spirits.  Bookmarking some ideas for her birthday.
• I Kept Track of Every Single Item That Entered Our Home Over a Month // I loved Torrie’s experiment and want to try it myself!  Maybe in September…

This post contains affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission of any sale made at no extra cost to you.

A theme I keep coming back to in 2024 is the idea that despite what society tells us, we are not machines.  Have you ever noticed the language we’ve adopted that is completely technology/machine-focused?

• well-oiled machine
• a cog in the wheel
• pulling the plug
• brain download
• run out of steam
• push someone’s buttons
• firing on all cylinders

I am not a machine.  I am a human person.  This revelation (and what a crazy revelation to have!) has transformed my expectations for myself and my children.  Our value does not come from what we do or accomplish, but who we are fundamentally: souls made in the image of our Creator.

Being in the image of God the human individual possesses the dignity of a person, who is not just something, but someone. He is capable of self-knowledge, of self-possession and of freely giving himself and entering into communion with other persons. And he is called by grace to a covenant with his Creator, to offer him a response of faith and love that no other creature can give in his stead. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, §357)

So in that light, I’ve been pondering how to proceed with the upcoming school year.  This time always feels like a mini New Year, a time for re-orientation and new focus!  Here’s what I’ve got so far:

For my little boys: I’ve been heavily inspired by John Senior and his Integrated Humanities approach to education.  While these boys may have reading challenges, that does not negate their ability to engage with good ideas!  I want to increase their exposure to good things, both in the physical world and in story.

For my middle kids: This is a a transitional time of maturity.  I want to help them understand the complexities of growing up, teaching them discernment and prudence.  They also should be intentionally exposed to good things, especially outside the tempting realm of technology.

For my high school kids: As these boys grow older and more independent, I want to focus on relationship and life skills.

And for myself: I no longer want to live a stress-filled life.  It’s not a healthy behavior and I certainly don’t want it to be my legacy.  Instead, I desire an increase in discipline and wisdom.  Two mottos to repeat often: “one task at a time” and “does it ultimately matter in the eyes of eternity?”

Hoping to document the abundance around me all year long!

Around here, abundance looks like…

+ receiving a ChipDrop!  We use woodchips in many areas around the farm and I’ve waited patiently all summer for a delivery.

+ using my “New Walls Fund” to pay for renovation supplies.  I mentioned last year that I was saving the cash back from our credit card rewards program to eventually hire a professional to fix our walls.  Fast forward to today and I’m DIYing the walls myself!  I was able to use that savings account to pay for putty knives and painting supplies, making the project “free.”

+ rain from Hurricane (Tropical Storm?) Debby.  SO MUCH RAIN.  We even had a tornado warning with an actual on-the-ground sighting about 45 minutes away from us!

+ selling thirteen unneeded items for the Car Loan Payoff Plan: two pieces of clothing, nine books and two pieces of movie memorabilia.  After shipping and fees, I made $75.37!

Reading //

• Home Is Where the Welcome Is from Gregory Thompson at Comment // “For my entire life I craved these moments with desperation and, when they came, experienced them wistfully as mere fleeting reprieves from the howling loneliness I believed to be the inescapable core of my life. But what I could not see—not until I was invited to see it—is that these were not, in fact, transient aberrations in a life of homelessness, but were, to the contrary, fixed and constant invitations to the reality of home. They were reliable witnesses to what I most longed for but least believed: that the story of my life is not a story of unwelcome, but of welcome. And that this welcome will be found not simply in one, but in a thousand shining doorways.”
• The hidden economics of kinkeeping work from Jim Dalrymple II at Nuclear Meltdown
• Resisting the ‘Machine’: An Interview with Peco Gaskovski from Jonathon Van Maren at The European Conservative // A new dystopian novel to add to the list!
• St. Michael’s Lent from Around the Year // Starts August 15!
• Quality Against The Machine from Hadden Turner at Over the Field // “The ultimate question, therefore, seems not to be ‘how can the Machine be defeated?’, but ‘how can we develop habits of healthy disengagement?’, ‘How can we become expertly attuned to recognising when the costs of utilising the Machine outweigh the benefits?’, and ‘How can we reflexively turn it off when the Machine starts to erode what is good?’. The success or failure of our modern age may well be hinged on how adept we all are in answering these questions — and how steadfast we commit to our costly and difficult conclusions.”

New Additions to The List // 

• Program or Be Programmed: Ten Commands for a Digital Age by Douglas Rushkoff
• Beauty Will Save the World: Recovering the Human in an Ideological Age by Gregory Wolfe

Watching/Listening //

• The “Modern Day Slaves” Of The AI Tech World from Real Stories // Eye opening.
• underconsumption core // reverse haul & tips for frugal living from Gittemary Johansen // This is the first I’ve heard of this social media trend and I love it!
• Purgatorio Cantos 17-33 of 100 Days of Dante from Baylor Honors College // Two-thirds of the way done!  On to the Paradiso…

Loving //

• this household planner // I’ve tried many different homemaking plans and this one is my favorite.  I’ve used it off and on for years and while it’s no longer a free download, I felt it was worth the investment.  Right now, it’s 50% off and goes until December.
• Samplize // I purchased a handful of samples last year during a sale and with the wall project now in full swing, I’m finally able to use them!  Decisions, decisions…