Cheese and Stuff...

12/29/06 - 6th Day - Preparation of the Sabbath - Midday. The prognosticators had predicted all sorts of rain for us, but we have received only a trace. That is good I suppose, since the Ante's are moving down tonight and we really don't need a bunch of mud around. We could get more rain tonight, but after that it is expected to clear up. We are expecting the Ante's at about 8pm or later.

Today we made cheese and butter. You have to give it to God. He really outdid Himself with cows. I mean... you can eat them, and you can get milk from them, and their poop is good manure for your crops. The milk can be skimmed for butter, then you can make cheese from the milk, then you can make ricotta from the whey, and you can take whatever is left and feed it to your chickens or pigs! I never cease to be amazed. So today we made butter from the cream and we are making some cheese. Now that we have the root cellar semi-enclosed, we can start storing some cheeses down there to age. I look forward to canning some meat, butter and other things to start filling the root cellar as well.

Too much to do to prepare for the Sabbath... I have to run.

God Bless,

Michael Bunker

The Tyranny of False Fellowship

12/28/06 - 5th Day - mid-Morning. The prognosticators say the rain should roll in tonight, and that we are most likely to have rain for the next 24 hours. We certainly need the rain, but I hope this does not make it more difficult for the folks moving down this weekend. I keep saying I will get pictures posted and I keep not doing that very thing, so today, after I finish this post, I am intending, if the Lord wills, to get some new pictures posted here. We have been working on my root cellar, Josie's cabin, and the foundation for the new milking shed. I am trying to get the door on the root cellar today before the rains hit. Yesterday I slipped and took a tumble into the entrance tunnel of the root cellar. I received a slight hip bruise, but landed on my feet on the ladder about 5 feet down and was basically unhurt.

Careful around big holes in the ground!

This is the big weekend upcoming, when the newest homesteaders will be joining us here at the ranch. The Antes from Iowa (5) and the Sustaires from Ft. Worth (2) will be added to the numbers here in the community.

An interesting note about Separatism

We have, in great depth, explained and taught the Biblical doctrine of separatism. The Bible is clear just from what and from whom we are to separate ourselves. Yet I have noticed something interesting. The world (specifically worldly "christians" - which we call "professing unbelievers") gets very upset when you separate from them. While they claim to love God's
Word and to read it and heed it, they are quite put out when you choose to have nothing much to do with them. World-loving "christians" not only want to disobey God's commandments and ordinances themselves, but they want YOU to disobey God's Word too. For example: We have had people leave or stop supporting the ministry due to what we teach, or due to the ramifications or practical application of what we teach. But no one has ever formally separated from us because they could show us our error and prove that we were teaching something that is wrong. We have had people say, "Oh, you believe in predestination and election, or in limited atonement, or in God's sovereignty... we don't believe that so we aren't going to listen to you or support you any more". We have had people say, "You are teaching separatism and we disagree with that, so we aren't going to participate on your forum or websites any more". But no one has ever come to show us our error Biblically, and then separated from us Biblically because we don't agree with them. Although it has never happened, if someone said to us, "Hey, here is where we believe you are wrong, and here is what we believe the Bible teaches, and if you continue in what we believe to be error, then we are commanded to separate from your company and have no fellowship with you", then we would agree that, according to their understanding, our separation from one another is commanded in the scripture. We would not be offended in the least bit if someone Biblically separated from us. But that has never happened. Not once in all these years. Why not? And why are people offended when we separate from them? Don't they read their Bibles. We do not demand that they agree with us at all, but can't they see that if we believe what we teach, then separating from the ungodly, and from worldlings, and from those who carry another gospel is something that our conscience and the Word of God demands? Why would they be offended at us obeying our understanding of God's Word? I mean, I am not offended when a Mormon, a Carpenterite, a JW, a Seventh-Day Adventist, or some other person or group refuses to have fellowship with me. They shouldn't. We believe completely different things! Can two walk together except they be agreed? (Amos 3:3) Why would I be offended that someone is living according to their convictions?

The problem is that modern religious worldlings have no convictions and no conscience. They want us to be forced to fellowship with them, based solely on their profession and not on the details of what we actually believe. They believe that two should walk together, even if they are not agreed. Fellowship is forced and communion is mandatory because of cultural and societal pressures. We are, then, slaves to convention, emotion, and tradition - and not to Christ.

If we separate from you because we believe you are in gross error, or because we believe you are a heretic, or because you live an ungodly life, or because we are not agreed on the fundamentals of our faith, or because we desire to protect ourselves and our families from being tainted by worldliness, or because the Word commands us to reject, mark, and avoid you... you should be glad that someone out there really believes the Word of God, and that they are applying it according to their understanding and according to their profession of faith and according to their conscience. I am pleased to see people live according to their convictions instead of according to the rudiments of the world. Do I care if a heretic separates from me? NO. It saves me the trouble of separating from him. So why be hurt if we separate from you? Why force fellowship with someone who doesn't desire fellowship with you? Will you be a tyrant too?

Just something to consider.

Michael Bunker

Busting at the seams...

12/25/06 - 2nd Day - After Breakfast. At our Lord's Day gatherings we were busting at the seams. There were 17 of us for singing, fellowship and for the impromptu sermon. Since it was quite chilly out, we had to meet in our enclosed porch which is 12 x 16. Good thing we are all friendly. The singing was great, and I had the idea of maybe recording it so you might all listen in some day. I will have to ask permission though. People might think that just being around me is probably violating their privacy quite enough.

For fellowship dinner we had tender smoked brisket, jalapeño poppers, a rice dish, pinto beans, ambrosia salad, green salad, cornbread, and two types of cake (chocolate and red velvet). Make you want to come visit?

For the sermon the men selected John 6:51 concerning the eating of Christ's flesh and the drinking of his blood. I hope to get this sermon posted soon.

This morning the north wind blew in, and although temperature-wise it is not too cold (about 38) the wind is howling pretty good and the wind chill is around 25 degrees.

Today we will be gathering stone for "slipforming" the low portion of the stone walls for the milk shed. We will need a whole lot of rock. We can't go to any stores today because of the worldly and secular holy day being practiced by the world. Maybe by Wednesday things will be close to back to normal. If the Lord wills, we will post pictures as we begin the stone wall project for the milk shed.

I also hope to post some pics of the root cellar again soon.

I pray all is well with you all.

Michael Bunker

Change, Change, Change...

12/24/06 - 1st Day - Before Breakfast. We are entering a phase of great change here at the ranch. In the next week or so, if the Lord wills, we will be undergoing a growth spurt here at the ranch. Chris moved down a week ago and will begin moving on to his own land and working on it after the first of the year. The Antes (Logan, Kris and family) will be moving down about a week from now and will immediately begin work on their home on their land. The Sustaires also will begin moving on to their land in the next week. If the Lord wills, In just a few short weeks, our regular numbers here will have doubled - not counting some regular visits from friends and brethren. At Sabbath breakfast yesterday we had 15 people, and we had the same amount (minus the children) yesterday night for Q&A. Praise God.

We have 3 projects currently going on here at the ranch. We have continued working on my root cellar. On Friday I got the north (front) entrance dried in except for the steel door which I have not yet purchased. Hopefully in the next week or so we will have the root cellar dried in and will be working on the entrance landing, stairs and upper door. At the same time, we continued working on Josie's cabin, and started building an oak pole garden box on the north end of the cabin platform. Over near my corral, we started digging the footing for a milk shed that will be built in an "old style" of stone, concrete and logs. We will be trying some new construction techniques (new to us, but not new at all) on this milk shed, and I am looking forward to learning through the process.

Spring Ranchfest 2007 Information

Michael Bunker

Scattershooting Rant in late December...

12/20/06 - 4th Day - After Breakfast. We've had rain the last two days. Not a lot, but enough to help with the land. We had very warm weather the week before, and then this rain - if we don't have a major freeze in the next week or so we will have green grass again. They are saying we might have snow in the forecast for Sunday though.

I went to town yesterday and picked up some books on cabin building and framing. It's always good to have good ideas to blend with my own concoctions. Today looks like a day of reading since it is so muddy outside. I got up at 3:20 this morning to bail water from the catch barrels, and it looks like we caught about 200 gallons. The rain is probably over for now though.

I am not depressed...

Depression is when you think about yourself and your life and you aren't satisfied with things. Depression is caused by pride. If people don't treat you as well as you would like, or don't do what you say, or things don't go as well as you would like... and you think you deserve better, then you are depressed. Depression is founded in the idea that you DESERVE better, and therefore it is impossible to be depressed if you have a proper Biblical Worldview and view of self.

Despair is a total loss of hope or to be utterly at a loss.

Despondency (or more properly "despond") is different. To be despondent is to be "cast down" in the spirit, or to be dejected in the mind; on the verge of giving up all effort and to cease action.

2Co 4:8-9 "We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed"

So, I am NOT depressed.

I posted this rant on my other blog, but I thought I'd post it here too since it is what I am thinking right now...

Agrarianism and Technology

I know that I have written about this at great length, but once again we must emphasize that we are not "anti-technology". There is a really sick kind of institutional (colonized) stupidity that assumes that any limits put on the use of technology and the world is automatically hypocritical. Let me explain this in the illogical steps followed by world-lovers:

Step 1: "Oh, you are an 'Agrarian'... like the Amish. That's interesting."
Step 2: "Well why are you on the internet, and why do you have a truck?"
Step 3: "If you are going to preach that all technology is evil, then you should get rid of all these things"

So, according to the modern world-lover, if you reject a home phone and grid electricity because you do not want to allow some ungodly company to wreck your land and destroy the view by running poles and lines on your property, then you are a hypocrite and you must also reject frying pans and matches. Since any simple machine or tool can be considered "technology", and since the worldling wrongly assumes that you reject all technology, then you are automatically a hypocrite even if the only technology you use is a stone wheel to crush walnuts. According to the modern world-lover ALL technology must be embraced without question. To your accusers, Industrialism and "advancements" are a complete and inviolable package, and with every toothbrush you must also warmly receive bluetooth technology. Regardless of the criteria you use, or the philosophy behind your thoughts in rejecting some so-called "advanced" time-saving gadgets (a lie if there ever was one), and accepting some others, you must realize that you are a hypocrite if you do anything more than stand naked and starving in a cave, defecating on yourself until you die.

Stupid, I know, but that is what the modern worldling thinks of you and your way of life. When they accuse you of hypocrisy, it is because they do not know what you believe (nor do they really care). They accuse you of hypocrisy, because if they do not believe this of you, then they are faced with examining all the lies they have believed, and all the truths they must avoid. The principle truth that they must never, ever consider about themselves is this:

1Jo 2:15 "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him."

They defend this world and its ways because they love the world. That is a fact. They will not listen to your reasoning as to why you have rationally and reasonably come to reject their worldview. They must not listen, because if they do - they will come face to face with their primary love... their love of the world. They must embrace this world and never for a minute weaken their grasp on it, because it is all they have. Never mind that:

a.) their culture is crumbling around them.
b.) with all their time and labor-saving devices, they must work harder with less (in real terms) to show for it. Their families suffer, their marriages are temporary, their children reject God (or embrace a fake 'god' of their own mind), and they can't stop for a moment on the treadmill of this worldly life or they will be crushed under the weight of the cost of their lusts.
c.) their religion is designed to fit neatly in their faux worldview. It is rubber and flexible and doesn't for a minute challenge the world that it fits so wonderfully. In fact, modern "christianity" is the religious arm of the industrial world; a fully owned subsidiary of the world system that hates Christ (Luke 19:14, John 7:7).

False Christianity is a world-loving, technology embracing, scripture twisting, industrial monstrosity. But no one dares expose it, lest they become the focus of its wrath; and to those who are fully and completely brainwashed and colonized by the industrial religious cult, any defection from complete and idolatrous worship of technology and the industrial Leviathan is treason of the highest order.

Hypocrisy...

So do these world-loving accusers embrace ALL technology without question? Of course not. Go to your professing "christian" accuser and ask him or her if they have already received a Digital Angel personal tracking microchip. Ask them if they will allow such a chip to be put in their hand to be used for monetary transactions, and if they do not already have one of these, ask them why not! HYPOCRISY! I saw a chef on a television show one time who used a hand whisk to beat eggs. Why? He said it was because it made the eggs lighter and fluffier and allowed him to have better control of the texture of the final product. Hmmmm... So, let me get this straight... virtually every intelligent and sentient being makes value decisions about their use of different technologies and how they fit into their particular worldview, and how those things are used in the process of work. This is a fact. So if we are free to make value decisions (according to our worldview) in the technologies we embrace and accept, why then are we attacked for the same thing?

I will tell you...

We are NOT attacked because of the technologies we choose to reject or accept. We are attacked because our choices condemn and expose the lies of industrialism and the love of the world. When someone hears that we do not have grid electricity or a land-line phone, they hear:

YOU ARE BAD AND WICKED AND EVIL AND YOU LOVE THE WORLD

Now, if this were not true, they would not care and would not suffer much over it; but they know that it usually IS true, and that is what they are really defensive about.

You will notice something... when we are attacked by someone; whether he be a toothless, anonymous internet coward (like the Kinist poet-laureate "Scorebored"), or a Biblically ignorant hyper-Calminian pharisee (like Marc Carpenter and his band of nitwits), they will never want to address their own loving embrace of industrialism and the anti-christian worldview that sustains it. Suburban internet terrorists love to have pet battles to fight, where no one of weight and substance shows up, and nothing of lasting import ever happens. No real change (in life and living) results from their frothing at the mouth over their pet-peeves. In their distinct versions of "separatism", there is no real separation from the Wal-Mart, cable TV, women dressed like either men or whores, hormone-laden foods, or microwaves. They can continue to work at worldly jobs and they can love the world and all of its dainties - because their "christianity" allows a man to have two masters - so long as he hates God-haters in his free time.

You see, then, why they must hate any man who chops down a tree with an axe.

Enough of that for now... I may pick up this thread later on.

Your servant in Christ Jesus,

Michael Bunker

Hubbub...

12/18/06 - 2nd Day - Before Breakfast. Our rapid "change" here at the ranch is underway. This past week Chris from Illinois arrived and will be joining the fellas who are working and learning here at the ranch. On the 5th day Danielle and the children returned from Smyer where they were packing up many of the things in our old house. The next day our friend Logan arrived from Iowa (Logan, of the "Ante Agrarians" blog) so we went and helped him unload his camper into a mini-storage in Coleman. Logan, Kris and family will be moving down at the end of the month. Our friend Jay from Snyder showed up that evening for a weekend visit, so as the Sabbath began we were packed in on the porch for the first night of Hanukkah.

Logan's plane was leaving out of Ft. Worth (DFW airport) on the Lord's Day, so David and I drove him up there to catch his plane while the fellas finished off the final touches on the platform for the cabin we are building for one of the ladies in the community. David and I then went to CheaperThanDirt in Ft. Worth to pick up a few items. I bought some utility cord and a small gun repair tool kit. It was about 3 hours each way, plus the hours in Dallas/Ft. Worth traffic, and believe me, that is a dose of "city" I can do without. I lived in DFW for over 4 years and I don't like going back. So we returned last night in time for the candle lighting.

Today we will begin building a footbridge over one of the creeks, and Chris will begin checking out my pickup to see if he can fix it.

I have been remiss in working on my root cellar, and in writing these blogs, and in writing many articles that I would like to write.

We have had unseasonably (but pleasantly) warm temperatures. It was 81 degrees on the Sabbath, and in the high 70's on the Lord's Day. The prognosticators are calling for maybe some rain this week, which would be nice.

I hope all is well with y'all - leave a comment and let us know.

Your servant in Christ Jesus,

Michael Bunker

Busy... and Moron Carpenterism

12/14/06 - 5th Day - After Breakfast. I haven't posted in a few days because we have been very, very busy here. Danielle and the children went to the old house in Smyer to pack up some things and help get it ready for my dad to work on it to try to sell it. So for the first few days it was just me and the fellas here. Then Mark went to San Antonio to visit a friend and it was just Mihai and I here to do all the work until yesterday around noon when Chris from Illinois (who is moving down) arrived. So a good part of the day yesterday was spent showing Chris around, then we had to go to Coleman to get supplies - all the while the domestic duties aren't getting done because Danielle and the children are gone. So we got back and got to work on supper and cleaning and some house chores.

All the while, I have been engaged in a roaring controversy with the "Carpenterites" and with Carpenterism . It takes of HOURS of time to try to engage in any meaningful discussion with a Carpenterite... for example, here are some actual quotes from one of the Carpenterites:

Yesterday, the Carpenterite said:

"u have moved away from discussing the atonement and lied and said i believed a person believes the gospel and then after that becomes regenerated - i checked my e-mails- i never said that.i would NEVER say or believe that."

So, this guy believes it is a lie to say that he believes that someone is regenerated after they believe the gospel. Ok, clear enough, so I produced this quote from the same guy from his first post on my website (the post that got him banned):

"The true believer is saved AFTER he hears the true gospel."

So, you would think that the guy would either a) deny that he ever said that, or b) deny that I lied in saying that that is what he believes. Right? NOOOOO... not when dealing with a Carpenterite:

"yes it's my mistake that allowed you to do this, i admit it... because i should have put when instead of after may allow u to lie and decieve people"

Sooo... telling people what he said is lying and deceiving people! My using his words to prove that he is not telling the truth is ME lying!

So, he says that he said "after" on accident, and that he really didn't mean that. In the mean time he says he MEANT to say "when" and not "after". However, the word "When" used in that sentence, still means "After"! Time doesn't freeze on the account of the Carpenterites. If I say, "When the phone rings, I will answer it", it means "after I hear the phone ring, I will answer it." If the Carpenterite says, "True believers are regenerated WHEN they hear the Gospel", then logically it can only mean "AFTER" they hear the Gospel. Think of it - maybe you have heard of Pavlov's dogs. Pavlov trained dogs that they would be fed WHEN they hear a bell ring. Pavlov learned that the dogs could be conditioned to begin salivating WHEN they hear a bell ring (because they associate the bell ringing to getting fed). So if a dog salivates WHEN he hears a bell ring, doesn't the bell ring first? Doesn't the dog salivate AFTER he hears the bell ring?

Point #2 - Even if this Carpenterite meant "When" instead of "After", it still means AFTER. But did he really mean "When"? Notice the emphasis placed by him when I give you the context of the sentence:

WHEN does one become saved?

Ephesians 1:13
"AFTER that ye heard the word of truth, the GOSPEL of your salvation: in Whom also AFTER that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise"

The true believer is saved AFTER he hears the true gospel.

The Carpenterite really meant "AFTER", or he wouldn't have underlined it twice in his proof text. But he accuses me of "lying" and "slander" for stating that he believes that the true believer is regenerated after he hears the true gospel.

So that is what I have been dealing with, and it is why I wrote my first little article about Carpenterism, and why I predicted:

Michael Bunker on December 8th:

"Now, you must understand that any attempt to define Carpenterism will fail (to Carpenterites), because Marc Carpenter and his 20 or so adherents ARE Carpenterism, and they refuse to be defined. Talking to them is like trying to nail Jell-O to the wall."

Here is what I said on the 11th:

The biggest problem is the one I originally talked about in the Q&A. Talking with a Carpenterite is like trying to nail Jell-O to the wall. Deny, deny, redefine, twist, countercharge, etc. This is the playbook of Marc Carpenter and his ilk. You may not refute him or challenge him unless you are willing to only use his words and only use the words according to his definitions.

Now we find out that I was wrong. I said that you may only refute him if you are willing to use his words and only his words. Now we find out that you can't even use his words! If you use his words you are a liar and a slanderer!

So, I apologize for being absent. I have had my hands full.

Here at the ranch things are about to get busy. We will have a bunch of folks here this weekend, and our numbers at the ranch are increasing. So I ask you all to pray for me.

Michael Bunker

Morning Chores, Junk Stores and other Stuff

12/10/06 -The Lord's Day - After Breakfast. This morning we had fried grits, farm-fresh eggs, bacon and hash browns. We still haven't been able to get the pig into the butcher, so I let him out every morning to free-range. Pigs are smart and have interesting personalities. I have also moved Pita (our Longhorn that is 1/4 Watusi) down to the corral so I can give her some more intensive training. She is weaned now, and she is kind of like a pet dog. She runs up to me every morning for a treat, and if I have hold of her halter she leads perfectly. I also have trained her by voice command, but she still needs work... mainly on WHOA. She is a big heifer, and she gets bigger every day. Her horns are already about 3 inches long. I really think she will be ready to pull very soon. We started training her to have something on her back the other day. I would hold her halter while Mihai would put Robert up on her back. At first she didn't like it and tried to run out from underneath him, but once she realized that we weren't going to quit, she walked around fairly calmly. We will continue to work with her and I will keep you updated on her progress. I pray that (if the Lord wills) one day you will see a picture of me riding Pita on this blog, along with pictures of her being used for work on the farm.

Our morning generally goes like this... at around 5 a.m. Danielle rolls out of bed to start breakfast. Right now we are not milking in the a.m. so no one has to get up to milk. Generally I get up sometime between when Danielle gets up and about 5:30. I start to go through my email, and sometimes will begin writing my blog entries for the day, or if I have some article or post to write, I'll write that. The fellas are usually up around this time to let out the chickens, and they have to start a fire in the fire chimney for heating water for the chickens and for making coffee. Breakfast is usually at 7 a.m. and then the fellas head up to the top pasture to take the other calves off of their cows and tie them off where they can eat separated from their mothers (henceforth the word "dam" and not "mother", since "mother" is incorrect). We take the calves off of the dams so that the cows can be milked at about 3:30-4pm each day. After breakfast the children clear the table and begin to clean up and do the dishes. Danielle goes to her chores, and I either a) work on the computer, or b) head out to start on whatever project we are working on. This Lord's Day the fellas had to take the turkey off of the smoker where it smoked all night and get it ready for Danielle to put it in the propane oven for a couple of hours. This is usually a good time for me to finish any blog posts, or address any emails that will take more time. On the Lord's Day we try to have the chores finished by 10 a.m. which is time for group singing fellowship.

The last couple of weeks we have been visiting some area "antique" and "junk" shops. I have found that, for the most part, "antique" shops are junk shops that are kept neater and where things are more expensive. It is shocking to see the price disparities between a "junk" shop and an "antique" store, and even between different antique stores. I found a carpenter's brace at one junk store for $15. They had several that were in very good shape. Notice at Lehman's a good one cost $89, and this is for one of superior quality. So I bought the $15 brace and at the next store we went to, they had one that was almost identical for $65! Danielle found Sarah a pair of tiny mud boots for $4. She saw the identical pair (one size larger) in another store for $35. At junk stores you can find Dietz oil lanterns for between $8 and $13.00 and you don't have to pay shipping; just make sure that they don't leak or aren't broken. You can buy ones with broken globes for just a few dollars, then you can buy replacement globes at Lehman's. Junk stores are good places to find "off-grid" or non-electric items and tools that may be way too expensive to order new. However, that is not always the case. Some things that people buy just because they are "old" (like enamel ware) are actually cheaper to buy new. One junk store had several old laundry rinse tubs for well over $100 and they were old and rusted and trashy. You can buy brand new ones for $119. It is impossible to find an old butter churn that is affordable, and if you do find one it is usually cracked or otherwise unusable. Better to buy a new one. The prices on butter churns at "antique" stores are so ridiculous that you could buy a new one at Lehman's (or elsewhere), use it for a couple of years, then sell it for probably what you paid for it. People don't pay this huge money for a butter churn so they can churn butter. They want to put it on a shelf somewhere and look at it!?!

Oh, I highly recommend that you look into using olive oil lanterns for heat and light. I bought some olive oil elements and wicks and I am very, very impressed. The most impressive thing is that included in the instructions is a statement on other things you can use for wicks that you have around the house (like yarn), and you can easily make the elements yourself once you see how they are made and the purpose behind the design. I could make these with paper clips. Anyway, we bought a bunch of old fancy jelly jars for 25 cents each and you make your own olive oil lamps out of them. They burn very little oil, the wicks are basically free if you start to make your own, and they burn pure and scent free without any toxic byproduct. That is hard to beat. Now these will not provide enough light for you to read by, but several of them will light up a room enough for you to have some pleasant conversation and get around. For those of us who are off-grid and predominantly non-electric, this is a very good thing. The best thing about this is that we did have kerosene lamps in the motorhome for the children, which made us very nervous. If a kerosene lamp falls and breaks, you have an instant "molotov cocktail" fire on your hands. If the olive oil candles tip over or fall, the flame goes out. Here is another option... floating wicks for olive oil. We use these too and they are great. The cost works out to about .03 apiece and you can float 3 of these in a jam jar or large glass container or bowl, thereby providing more heat and light.

Anyway, I didn't intend this to turn into a lighting advice column, my point was that many things you can buy cheaper new and get a better item.

I am still working on a new donation system. Until then I can only accept donations via snail mail:

M. Bunker
1251 CR 132
Santa Anna, Tx. 76878

More later...

Michael Bunker

Root Cellar Days

12/07/06 - 5th Day - Before Dinner (Lunch for you Yanks). Yesterday we worked pretty hard on the root cellar. We are done with the south wall, and we began work on the north wall. We started by putting in forms and beginning the process of pouring a footing for that north wall, since it will be the wall with the door in it, and we want to make sure as little water and weather as possible can ever get through. We finished the footing for the two sides of the door entrance, and we will have to wait to start on the main entrance footing until we have some money for more concrete.

The next step will be to start framing up the north wall and shelves, and to frame up the north door. Then we will have to purchase or build a solid door to install. Then we frame up the entrance way, and begin to backfill the north wall and around the entrance area. Then we will be framing in the top (ground level) door, and concreting in the surface area over the north wall and around the entrance.

The weather isn't overly cold, but the wind is howling today, and that combined with the temps in the high 40's makes it seem much colder than it is. The fellas are working on Josie's cabin foundation, and Danielle has gone to do laundry. I am about to head back down to the root cellar to work on it.

Yesterday we had soft tacos "homestead style", which means everything was made from scratch, even the taco seasoning for the longhorn/watusi hamburger. It was incredible. We voted to make Wednesday taco day, and we hope that that comes to pass.

Ok, I know that there are many of you who are regular daily readers of this blog. The blogs were originally set up (along with the News from the Ranch on BA.com) to limit the amount of emails I receive in a day. I found that when people know what we are doing (and how) that it cuts my emails down substantially (not that I dislike emails, but sometimes I would receive the same question 20 times in one day). However, because of the (relatively) new format with BA.com and the blogs, we get very little feedback at all. So your job, if you read this blog daily, is to post your comments or questions on this blog.

I am also going to be starting a section on this blog called "How do y'all do that?", which will be a section of a blog (maybe once or twice a week) where I answer a question from you all, like... "How do y'all heat the cabin?", or "How do y'all use the internet when you are off-grid?", or "How do y'all do dishes?", etc. For agrarians, this will be a good way to share ideas, because if you are living an agrarian life (or heading towards it), you can comment on how you do things (or how you will do them). So go ahead and submit questions for "How do y'all do that?".

Our best regards and prayers towards you all,

Michael Bunker

Steak Dinner for Ten

12/06/06 - 4th Day - After Breakfast. We had the Siffords over the other night for a steak dinner. This was our first taste of steak from the side of beef that was donated last week, and it was quite tasty. This cow was 1/2 Longhorn and 1/2 Watusi, so it wasn't quite 100% pure Longhorn beef, but it was very, very good. It was our Maria's 1/2 sister, so it was like eating family. The dinner consisted of some awesome pinto beans, Caesar salad, and baked potatoes.

Yesterday we mainly worked on starting our friend's cabin, digging holes, etc. Today we should be finishing closing in the south wall of the root cellar, which means that I should be able to start in on the north wall in the next few days, including beginning to frame in the door and stairs. I don't know if we are on track to finish this by J1, but I hope we do.

We moved Pita down to the corral and she kept us up all night bawling for Maria. We can here Maria yelling from the top pasture too. After a few days of that they should calm down and accept that it is weaning time and they will just have to get over it. I will be working with Pita to start some more intensive training with her (Lord Willing).

The children are doing well and continuing with their schooling, and things are going well on the homestead front. The fellas are looking forward to being joined this week by a new addition, and we are all getting prepared to the new folks moving down towards the end of the month.

Hope all is well with you all,

Michael Bunker

The Process...

12/05/06 - 3rd Day - Before Dinner. Back to work at it today. We finished another slab of the south "face" of the root cellar roof yesterday. We are low on concrete and the ladies went to showers this morning, so the fellas got to work on the foundation holes for a new cabin for one of the ladies in the community.



After a chilly night, it began to warm up a bit. At 1:33 it is 59 degrees outside. These pictures are from around 9 a.m.



Here is the second "slab" of the south roof. It is prettier because we did a better job on the consistency of the concrete. It will be 2-3 feet underground, so that is a shallow victory.



Here is Pita. She is now over 4 months old and is getting BIG. We brought her back from the top pasture to start training her more, and to wean her.



So, we hope to get back to the root cellar work later today. The ladies just got back from showers, and it looks like we'll have enough money for another load of concrete bags.

Michael Bunker

Pics of snow and cellar

12/03/06 - 1st Day - After Dinner, Before Supper. Lord's Day. Here are some picture updates from the ranch.

This first pic is of the solar trailer and root cellar area during the snow/ice/sleet mix we received on the 5th day this past week.



Here is another pic of the weather...



In this next picture you can see the roof on the root cellar and us laying the first of the slabs on the south side.




More later (DV)!

Michael

Robert Soccer, Comanche, and Root Cellar news...

12/03/06 - 1st Day - Before Breakfast. Good morning to you all on this Lord's Day. The weather here has improved during the days. T-shirt weather again, usually by noon or so.

I guess the biggest news is that we were blessed by God as Robert (7) was tossed about by a few of the Longhorn cows yesterday, but was, for the most part, unhurt. Tracy and Robert had gone up to the top pasture at around 4 p.m. to milk Holga and Ami. Longhorns are remarkably gentle animals, and the children have been milking them for 5 months, so we felt pretty confident in letting the children go up there by themselves. The children usually rotate milking duties with the "fellas" (Mihai and Mark) every other day. Mihai and Mark had gone to do laundry, so they asked me if I would go do "calf duty" which entails putting the calves back on the mommas after the milking is finished. The children had been gone about 30 minutes or so when David came out of his camper heading up to move the calves. I told him to wait and that I would walk up there with him. As we got 100 yards or so from the pasture, we heard Robert and Tracy screaming and we saw the cattle all rushing into an area of woods. David and I sprinted up there (but we are close to 40 and sprinting is really a misnomer... we ran though) and as we got near Tracy had gotten Robert clear of the cows and was walking him back through the fence. Robert looked like he had been kicked around the pasture like a soccer ball. He was covered with dirt and mud and had a shocked look on his face. Well, it turns out that Robert had made a few key mistakes and was blessed to get out of there with his life. Generally one person milks while the other person keeps the other cows away. They have a "pecking order" and if you are feeding grain to one cow and another cow wants the grain, you have to keep them away and from spooking the cow you are working with. The children had finished milking and had decided to move Pedro by themselves. Tracy was tying Pedro to a tree branch in the woods, when Holga (Pedro's momma) became very interested in getting to Pedro (they had been separated all day). Robert, seeing Holga move towards Pedro and wishing to give Tracy more time to tie Pedro off, made a running motion towards Holga. Pedro did not back off. So Robert sort of lunged towards Holga. These actions are the sort of actions a coyote or other predator would make, so Holga charged him, and seeing that he didn't smack her with a whip (Tracy had dropped the buggy whip when she began to tie off Pedro) Holga tossed him with a horn and began to push him around, trying to stomp him. Now, cows who feel they are being attacked by a predator, will then attack as a group, so Rosa joined in and Quitachon (the bull) also headed in. They pushed Robert around like a toy for a few seconds until the screaming and Tracy running at them caused them to back off long enough for her to get Robert up off the ground. He was remarkably and miraculously un-killed and uninjured. Once the children were up and together the cows realized that they were not a threat and walked off.

Robert was shaken up a bit, and had a few bruises to his face and back where he was kicked, but, like I said, he was remarkably well.

David and I arrived just as Robert and Tracy were walking back to the fence. Tracy was crying and panicked, but Robert was just wide-eyed and dirty. I told David, "Well, Holga will need to be taught a lesson. I know that it was natural behavior, but she needs to know that she may not do that to humans." I picked up a shovel and rang her bell pretty hard. So hard the shovel broke. She will associate the shovel smack with the screaming and such and hopefully learn not to do that. If she does it again she will be hamburger. We also shuffled up the milking duties so that an adult is always present during milking. Praise God that Robert is ok, and that the lesson he learned did not cost him much more.

This is one of the reasons why we need a milking shed very soon.

We had heard from a friend that there were pigs sold at the Livestock Auction in Comanche, so, after breakfast yesterday we loaded up the whole household and drove to Comanche. Well, we learned a lot at the auction, not the least of which was that they do not sell pigs at the auction in Comanche. It has been interestingly painful to try to find anyone selling pigs around here. We are told that pigs are "cyclical" with the market basically disappearing after a period where the market is glutted. Well, right now,the market seems to be disappeared, because we can't find pigs anywhere. We may end up driving a ways to find some pigs, but I have every intention of raising free-range pastured pigs for meat and for sale. Our current pig (Mr. Pig) is ready to go to the butcher when we find a butcher that isn't too busy butchering deer.

This morning I have been studying more about icehouses, since we plan on building a mini icehouse into the root cellar. I will be writing more about that in the future.

The root cellar is coming along. We began sealing in the south wall (the east and west walls are completely done. and we poured the first of four roof slabs for the south wall on the day before the Sabbath. It is our hope that the Lord will enable us to finish enclosing the root cellar in the next two weeks. The entryway passage, stairs and doors can be finished at our leisure, but we would like to have the cellar enclosed and sealed by Jan. 1st if the Lord wills it. The picture at the top of this blog entry is of the roof going on. We finished the roof in the middle of the week. I hope to post some new pics today or tomorrow. We also started digging the foundation holes for a cabin for one of the ladies in the community on her land. We will be building her cabin over the next few months too.

I hope all is well with you all.

I remain your servant in Christ Jesus,

Michael Bunker