The chickens are starting ...

... to get really plump. I'm not sure, though, but I think there has been some genetic engineering going on with my chickens. They are eating like pigs.

Seriously, we feed them a ton (okay, not literally) in the morning, then in the afternoon when the boys get home from Grace Academy. But I was off work on Wednesday and so I fed them two additional times through the day, and they ate it all. I've been trying to get them to say "Oink, oink," but they are too busy chowing down to work on their speech lessons.

Speaking of being off work, I got a lot done. The barn was needing a real good clean out to get ready for hay storage, and even animal shelter during the coming winter. It was full of this-and-that, plus a lot of parts from an old Honda that I got from the Missouri Rev. after it had been wrecked. It will supposedly save me on used car parts on the 1990 Honda that I still hope to get some more miles on. (It presently has about 500,000 ... kilometers, that is. About 310,000 miles or so. I'm hoping for a few more years ...) Anyway, I got a whole bunch of cleanup and restructuring done, and then when the teenager got home from school, we managed to get the doors, bumpers, roof, and trunk lid up into the attic of the barn. I tell you, that teenager is strong. And a monkey. He routinely grabs hold of the rafters and swings from place to place, way above the ground. When I was his age, I could run. Played good baseball, and had good hands for catching a football. Even played decently at basketball. But I didn't have anything like his upper body strength. Anyway, with his help, we got it to where there is lots of open room for hay.

And this morning when I was out taking care of the animals (before daylight ... I wish the sun came up earlier so that I could see what I'm doing out there), I did notice that the neighbor from down the road had finally got by and mowed the pasture. It is very difficult to get someone to make hay on a mere 3 acres that isn't totally flat. But I think (at least I sure hope) that what he is charging me is less than I would spend for the hay if I bought the hay. Hopefully if the weather holds it will be hay in the barn very soon. And if the weather doesn't hold ... God has some purpose.

Growing into agrarian things is not easy ... especially since I have spent a quarter century in jobs that are mostly office related. Exercise is measured in keystrokes. But there is a joy in accomplishing things that will provide food for my family. And as the Missouri Rev. noted in the last paragraph of today's post, there are more health benefits in it than just growing healthier food. May God be gracious to us and bless us and cause his face to shine on us, so that the earth will yield its increase, and all the nations praise him for his kindness. Amen.