Goodbye, Nevada

We found our Holstein a good home with some folks where I'm sure she'll be happy and appreciated! Makes me feel jolly just thinking about it :)

Love is not Safe

There is no safe investment. To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket - safe, dark, motionless, airless - it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. The alternative to tragedy, or at least the risk of tragedy, is damnation. The only place outside Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers and perturbations of love is Hell.

— C. S. Lewis


…great joy through love seemed always to go hand in hand with frightful pain. Still, he thought, looking out across the meadow, still, the joy would be worth the pain – if, indeed, they went together. If there were a choice – and he suspected there was – a choice between, on the one hand, the heights and the depths and, on the other hand, some sort of safe, cautious middle way, he, for one, here and now chose the heights and the depths.

—Sheldon Vanauken

Pursue with All Your Might

But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness."

1 Timothy 6:11

What are we to flee?

"...controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions and constant friction...

1 Timothy 6:4b-5a

Pursue...

... Righteousness... I need to run to God's Word for the answers.

Godliness... What would Christ do in this situation?

... Faith... Fear, doubt, worry, stress... I need to turn every worry over to the one who hears and cared enough to die for my sins - every other concern pales in comparison to that. Even when I am working to do the right thing, and all my strength and effort is poured into this life and all the toil that we must face, my God is the one that I lean on.

Love... How do I love my parents, siblings, friends, and future mate with unconditional love? A love that does not treat them like dirt... a love that listens... a love that does not expect anything in return... a love that never raises its voice in anger, even when you are verbally trashed, day after long, endless day. This kind of love will keep on loving, even when there is no end to personal hurt.

... Endurance... When hope is hard to hold on to, when you think that no guy will come along who will see into your closely guarded heart and treasure what he finds - a love for God, and a different countenance from those witty, cool, beautiful girls that the world is full of. Perseverance to go on living and working in a world that is falling apart at the seams, and you're one of the few who remain to hold things together while the rest go blindly off the edge of a cliff of our own making.

and Gentleness... "Make every effort to live in peace with all men... Heb. 12:14". Living among my neighbors in quietness, simplicity and humility. Not raising a ruckus at every little problem that I see in other people, but taking the log out of my own eye first. Meekly listening to what other's have to say, without blurting out my opinions. Being teachable. Friendly. Gracious and bearing with others' shortcomings, knowing that I will receive an even stricter judgment.

"Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth"

Funny how you can pursue all these things, and yet be still before God.

It's a kind of heart stillness, that gives the controls over to the Mighty One and walks always one step behind Him as He breaks new ground. Always listening to His voice, not worry, noise or busyness.

"Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."

Philippians 3:12-14

Great news!!!

Mattie is four months pregnant!!!



Monday afternoon I poured out my heart to God, kneeling before Him, humbled in the realization that all my dreams and plans are nothing to Him. His Will will be accomplished whether by my life or my death.

Yet still, He chooses to give and take away. Recently He has chosen to give me hope in my dairy business by showing Himself mighty where I am weak.

Mattie and Jani spent some time with a bull back in September, but we had to send the bull back after only three weeks, so there were no guarantees that they successfully bred.

And then Jani shows signs that she is not pregnant. Ugh. There were also some indicators that Mattie was not - I was devastated. My options were to keep trying AI on both, or get another bull for six weeks and pay an arm and a leg to feed him. And then Mattie did not show signs of heat, and I thought, "oh no, not again". Last year there was actually half a year where she wasn't cycling, and we had a hard time getting her going again, so my mind was overwhelmed at the thought of having to go through that again. She is what is called a 'hard breeder' and throws 'silent heats', so AI is not usually an option.

I resigned myself to the possibility that we would simply have to sell one or both cows this next year. It would break my heart, but I run a business, not a petting zoo.

Then God came through - a friend came over to do AI on Jani and preg. check Mattie on Monday evening. She told me that Mattie is four months along... I laughed, I cried, I went into the house and fell on the couch in hysterics.

Yep. That's me.

Mom and Dad looked at each other... "was that what we were like finding out about each one of the kids?" Dad wondered out loud, "I wonder what she would have done if BOTH cows were pregnant."

LOL

Lately I've been wondering if I'm not a human, or whether I'm just so individual that the chances of finding another dairy cow fanatic like me are one in a million. :P

Some Like It Raw Video

http://aloveproduction.blogspot.com/2011/01/some-like-it-raw.html

I can't figure out how to post the video itself, but copy and paste the link, it's worth it :D

Maple Almond Granola

12 cups rolled oats
4 cup blanched slivered almonds
1 cup wheat germ
8 C. unsweetened medium shred coconut
1 cup unsalted hulled pumpkin seeds
2 C. pure maple syrup
1 1/2 C. coconut oil
1/2 C. water
2 teaspoons salt

Combine oats, almonds, wheat germ, coconut and pumpkin seeds in a very large bowl (I cook for 10, what can I say? Feel free to half the recipe for a smaller family.). Combine remaining ingredients in a sauce pan and heat over low until coconut oil is melted. Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients, and spread on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake at 250 until dry, stirring occasionally.

Enjoy! Yummy.

Caption???

I need a laugh today. Have a good caption for this photo?

Shiloh Knoll Farm Newsletter

Shiloh Knoll Farm
Winter 2011 Newsletter

Hello Friends,

I'm grateful to God for allowing my family to live in this beautiful part of the country, and for giving us the means to provide a little real food for folks like you who take responsibility for your family's health and choose a better option than conventional fare. I applaud you, this country needs your wisdom and encouragement to do better.

Spring saw the arrival of our first batch of broilers. Believe it or not, I actually enjoyed processing the birds! Well, that and tasting the final product... I couldn't believe the flavor and how my body reacted positively to meat that was free of hormones, antibiotics, unnatural feed, and raised on green clover rather than in confinement houses. It's not all roses, though. We faced a lot of trials this year, with weather and varmints causing the most trouble, yet through all of my mistakes I gained experience. Because of that, I am confident and excited about raising chickens again, and hopefully will have pasture-raised and home processed chicken and turkey for you next year. In a few months I will send out an e-mail where you can place an order!

Summer brought three new calves to our farm, who are now happily bouncing around the field and growing into big cows as I write this! This is definitely one of the perks of farm life. Our Jersey cows, Mattie and Jani, went on another journey with me this year, as I learned about and started implementing managed-intensive grazing. They learned how to respect the halter, and I learned to respect all that they give us – real milk, beautiful calves for future milk and beef production, valuable fertilizer for healthy grass, and lessons in patience and perseverance. I couldn't count how many times they have made me madder than a hornet, yet cause me to turn right around and laugh at their antics. Animals are a blessing, not a production unit to be exploited.

Fall brought the taste of blackberry blossom honey from our bee hives, and homemade applesauce with honey and cinnamon topped the list of family favorites. Our second batch of broilers, turkeys, and three pigs lived happily and fulfilled their purpose... :) Hearing people rave about the flavor and deep color of milk-fed pork makes me want to raise pigs again in the future. We'll have to see what next year brings! Another arrival was our short-term milker, the Holstein, Nevada. She was a great experience for me, learning how to handle and care for a much larger cow, and she fed our calves well. I'm transferring her to another good home and hope to add Opal the Jersey to our herd in April! Exciting times.

And now this Winter season of cold mornings also teaches me many things. The sky proclaims the handiwork of the Creator as the sun rises, gleaming red on new snow. The bees, barely moving in their hives, yet staying alive and waiting for the first pollen rush of spring teach me the need to have a season of rest. Studying human and animal nutritional needs shows our complexity that no scientist will ever be able to totally define in a laboratory. God knew better than man when he designed calves to drink real milk, chickens to scratch at bugs, pigs to dig in the dirt, and cows to eat grass. My job is simple: learn more and more how to follow His perfect design.

Blessings to you all, and once again thank you for a great year!

~ Emily Sauble
Shiloh Knoll Farm