Behind the Scene at Church

We have a very small Ozark church that we have attended since moving here seven years ago. And it has gotten smaller in attendance (30). But when it was built in the 1980's there were over 300+ active church members. So the large building has four air conditioning units, four different makes, filters sizes and locations within the building, offices, classrooms and chapel. We used to pay for a local AC company to maintain them when there was income and interest. However that AC company was not doing its job and cost hundreds of dollars for doing nothing. When the man who oversaw all the building maintenance work died we sought volunteers to take over this enormous task. Since we live in the Ozarks we are blessed with many skilled DIY type of people. We volunteered to clean the air units and replace filters, even ones in the ceiling. This is my husband pulling down the filters, cleaning the coils and looking for leaks. None of the air units have any water catch pans under them.

How fun is this replacing monthly AC filters in the ceiling. Can you say stupidly built?

Cleaning coils

Hot sweaty mouldy work

Since I have fallen through 3 ceilings I no longer go up into ceilings of any kind.

Putting in the new filters in unit one.

Unit two was on the ground, with the wrong metal filters on it.

Coil cleaner and cleaning the intake.

Headlamps come in hand not just on the farm.

Dirty filters on unit three.

We ran out of coil cleaner on unit three and used Simple Green instead. Much cheaper and got most of the caked on dirt of the filthiest unit so far. Have to order yet a third size filter set for this unit as well.

Unit four was behind a ton of classroom clutter. It cools the offices. The problem is that you can't get to any of the coils to clean them. We will have to find someone we can trust to work on this unit. It was out of our skill set.

We now rely on volunteers to take time to fix things at our church. Along with a full time job and a farm that is hard to do for many. Also, our volunteer pool most are over the age of 80. They still work and volunteer but can't climb up into ceilings nor do heavy lifting. It is a lot to ask of people trying to keep their church open and running. The diocese gives nothing to keep up the church, that is our parishes job. I think it has always been that way. But when people die, move away to be closer to their families, lose interest in the church that pool shrinks. Many of our church members wear many hats. I clean, do the bulletin, e-mails, phone calls, keep up with the church members, settle in the new priests and sing in the choir. My husband fixes the computers, piano, plays the music for the choir,  and fixes any broken machines. And somewhere in there we remember to pay attention to God's message, love your fellow man and pray.

Stormy Ducks

Last weekend I was very busy prepping my gardens with my seedlings. We had a late, cold spring in April and could not put in our seedlings. May was very hot and stormy in the Ozarks.

In the morning dark came and dropped little rain and then the sun came out and so did I.

But late afternoon the clouds rolled in again. My shepherds hid, the winds picked up, my chickens ran to the coop and thunder clapped.

Then this rolled right over us. I watched this spin, the winds were wild but silent. No thunder just this huge swirl of twisting clouds.

It moved to the east of us and touch down. It took out some trees in our town but no one was hurt. There was no warning, no alerts, nothing. Just me snapping shots of this cloud as it passed over us. then the winds and rains came with a vengeance.

My Rouen ducks all stood like this as the sky poured cold rain and hail.

My Indian Runners loved this.

Feasting in the rain.

Indian Runners to the left and Cayuga, Rouen and Campbell to the right.

Radish Me, Baby!

After lots of heat in May, I have  French Breakfast Radish to harvest. Lots of them in fact. They pop out of the ground when ready. They are a milder radish almost sweet in flavor if picked young. 

I have grown also grown Daikon Japanese radish. My first one was too small to harvest but was wonderful raw. But guess what? Daikon smell awful in the fridge if left open. I read up on Korean Daikon fermentation and yup, it reeks. But the Daikon is very mild and worth the smell- if you pickle. They are a refreshing way to get your veggies.

Now back to the pinks. So what to do with all these French radish? Pickle them! Since this is my first go for radish, I chose the refrigerator picking for try outs. They stained themselves pink in the jar, how cool is that?  I will try the sauteing of onions and butter with toast and poached eggs next- traditional French Breakfast radish fare.

This was a great way to get my feet wet pickling something other than a cucumber. Worth the effort of growing them. Radish are ready in 30 days time. And my rabbits can eat the radish leaves, of which there are many. 

I also planted 3 kinds of cucumbers, 4 kinds of pumpkins and 3 kinds of eggplant this season. Along with cabbages, lettuce, green beans, tomatoes and herbs. Yes, I am finally achieving my gourmet garden. All thanks to a tiller, horse/rabbit/chicken manure, sweat, cuts and bruises and lots and lots of mistakes and sweet tea along the way.

Church Changes

Since we have moved here to the Ozarks we have seen a dramatic shift in attendance not only our church but other faith churches as well. A movement away from "going to church". The older ones either die or move closer to their children away from here. Their children ages 30-50's do not go to church on any regular schedule if at all. Grand children are shuffled off to sports events, school activities or the ex- spouses. And our priests are from other countries and do not last long in the isolation and culture shock of the area. The elderly experienced patrons of the church never made any preparation for the next generation taking over after them. No one was groomed nor practiced in the church procedures/traditions. So when the old ones die, who is left to carry on with the church? Who changes the flowers, the linens, the books,the candles or the banners? Who sews the vestments and gets the mass ready? We have no head usher, no full time secretary and no cleaning service. We run only on all volunteers. Our new priests are not skilled to do anything but know theology. They can't clean, barley cook, can't fix anything. (Note: I was raised around Jesuit priests who could plant a garden, do the taxes, change a tire, play sports and shoot a gun all before breakfast and mass.)

We will be getting our next new priest at the end of June. He is the 3rd one in less than 6 months. We will try to help get him situated and taken care of, but in the end -the loneliness and lack of people and things to do is what sends them running away. We do have a handful of people keeping the candle lit and the church running. But it is very expensive to keep two buildings open with no income. I think if we installed some gas pumps out in the parking lot, we might fair better down the line.  The photo of Mary is from the May crowing. There is one lady who has make these flower crowns for the last 20 years. She sees no reason why she needs to train someone else to do this. Her house is for sale and she is moving away to live with her adult children.

May makes Green

The potting shed, flower bed and veggie garden

Constant companion, heavy rain

Our ducks love the rain and bugs. 

Clematis scaling the deck post

The trees have never been so happy.

Poppy leading me around the farm.

Inspecting his domain.

Zilla eating a cow leg, her favorite treat from the abattoirs. She loves when I come home with a five gallon bucket of bits. This gives her something to do when the rains come and the poultry goes in the coop early.

May Showers Makes What?

It has been the rainy season here in the Ozarks. So much rain that my garden has been flooded out several times a day. Hard to grow stuff that can't swim. The good news is that hay season should be great this year. Our pastures are green tall and lush for the horses. Our ducks are loving this wetness and bugs. 

9pm at night and this is a thunderhead moving in with lightening bolts and bugs.

Cotton Pickin'

Cotton is munching on the overwinter herbs in my house.

Love her green eyes. And she is very soft to pet.

A Rustic Wedding

Last weekend we were invited to share in a church wedding and then the rustic reception. It is in a rustic looking barn in the middle of nowhere with all the state of the art amenities called "Rubydoo's" in West Plains, Missouri.

It was so very Ozark on the outside but inside was very romantic. It was a very fun and simple reception with great music after the meal. 

Outside of the barn.

How cool is this cake topper?

Bride and groom.

So want this for my barn.

Soft lighting and lots of room

The sun set behind the barn that overlooks a lake. Just perfect for a springtime wedding.

Running of Ducklings

Baby Indian Runner Ducklings in one of the bathtubs. Cotton supervising this swim.

Eight 1 week old runners.

About 4 years ago we bought four assorted ducklings at a fair in the summer. It was hot, they were dehydrated and very quiet. We have raised ducks and know how to deal. They lived and are still on our farm laying eggs and thriving, except for the Indian Runner duckling.

This one was weak as a yearling, had an upper respiratory problem. We brought him into the house to clear up his breathing issues. But he never got better and then died in our recoup nest box inside our house. He was a lot of fun to have around the house. I used the duck diapers to keep my house clean. 

So this time we got older baby runners in ivory and tan. They are very afraid of us as they were older. Not much human contact before us. But they are smart. They went back into the coop after the 2nd night on their own when old enough. It usually takes 3 nights of us chasing them back into the coop. I have since become hyper vigilant about coop cleaning with ducks and chickens. I used pine shavings and clean out often. Feed and water outside the coop only.  The end result is healthy,happy poultry, bugs eaten and eggs a plenty. 

Hostile Death

I have noticed that a lot of people are hostile about death. Maybe their death, or their friends impending death, or an adult child's death. Lately death has been hard at work taking away many people we know via cancer. People my age and people in their 80's. Death comes swift for some and slowly and painfully for others. Funerals come and go, far flung family arrives, emotions are allover the place. Sometimes you are asked who you are and what are you doing here by a relative. I say, I was here when your loved one was dying. He or she asked for XYZ and I got it done. You are now here and you can carry on with your grief. I am only a friend who was there at the end. Some endings have been salvation, other endings painful questions. But the worst are the accusations from other friends about my choice to overstep their feelings and get the job done. Be it prayers, getting a priest, grocery, farm work, blanket making I get the job done. My friend is dead and I have to live with that person no longer in my life. But you do not know that as you do not know me. Your mom or dad or grandparent or uncle or aunt was my friend and they died. And I hope when I die they are waiting for me on the other side of life with the big man upstairs. I guess I am a fixer. I get the job done. Sometimes I find what was lost, a person, an object, a place, a song or a photo. I bring a moment of peace of mind to that person I got to know while here on this earth. But I am happy in my work as I work around death in all his forms. I can see when he is near and I let him do his job. But I am not hostile to it for I know one day he will come for me.

Cottonwood Books

Sometimes you have a favorite store and it is always there. You can count on the owner being there, he knows your wants, he can get you what you are looking for and tell you where to find what you need if he does not have it. Danny is that guy and his store is Cottonwood Books in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The guy is one of a kind and he has that knack for knowing just about everything published. Worth the drive to visit. Just ask Tom Hanks.

Twenty-Four Eyes

Saw a wonderful vintage Japanese film (with English subtitles) called Twenty-Four Eyes. It is based on a tale written by Sakae Tsuboi and the film directed by Keisuke Kinoshita about a rural school teacher in 1930's Japan and their lives through WWII. It was so neat to see what farm life was like, the seasons of Japan and their rural culture. It is a long movie but worth it to see how it all unfolds. The protagonist is a female teacher and a great role model even for today's times. Only wish it was in color to show the beauty of the rural panoramas

It's a Wes Wes Wes Wes Anderson World!

If you love Wes Anderson movies you will love this Honest Trailers of all his movies. What is not to love?