Looking for employment – Life on the Farmlet

As you know from previous posts we have been experiencing some really difficult (for us) times. Higher insurance costs, lack of time for working on the mountain and most recently, Bob’s unemployment.

What you didn’t know is, that Bob has been lamenting his lack of time to enjoy our surroundings. Lack of time to go and get some work done on the mountain, and a seeming lack of energy to accomplish his desires even if he had the time. His lack of work has changed that. He has been getting more rest and feels more fit. Feeling better has given him the energy to get out and work both here and on the mountain. He really had only one other lament:

“If I go back to work, then I won’t have time to work on the mountain again. I would really like a 4 day work week so I could have Fridays off…”

The following is an interesting fact that you may not understand, but it is who we are. We are Seventh Day Adventists and keep the *Biblical Sabbath. This means we do not work from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday. Living here in the Bible Belt of the South means that most folks here work Saturday but never on Sunday, and this makes it a bit more difficult to find a job. However, it doesn’t make it impossible.

We have prayed about our wants and needs. Some of you have told me that you prayed and or sent good thoughts too.

Thank you!

We believe and have faith in the power of prayer, and guess what? Bob has a new job!

Details:

He starts in early January
He has a 4 day work week
They have a company insurance plan

As we have aged, he has also commented on the fact that all he knows about his craft will seemingly die with him. He is old school, in that he started on the shop floor and worked his way up over the years. He is a skilled metal worker, at a precision capacity, and with almost 40 years in the field he has a great desire to pass that on. Do you know how hard it is to find young people who want to learn a valuable and necessary craft? No one cares. Do you know how hard it is to find someone with even minimal math skill and who can read measurements on a ruler? It is scary out there folks…

To get this job Bob had to take their simple math test. In one of the questions he had to find some measurements on a ruler. There were examples of what the increments looked like and a ruler to find them on. The lady in the office said that many applicants can’t do it. (Note: I was teaching my 2nd graders to read a ruler!)

Part of Bob’s new job will be training the new staff how to run the equipment.

Having been unsatisfied at his old job, and being the proactive kind of guy he is, Bob had applied to this company (and others) almost a year ago and never heard anything back. Then a recruiter called him for a programmer’s job at the same company. He went in for the interview and was told that they had filled that position from within (good companies do that, BTW). However, as they talked he said he thought he’d made a good impression. By the end of the interview they said they were interested but weren’t sure exactly how they wanted use him.

Financially, this time off will be a strain, but physically and realistically it is a boon. We now have time to get some serious work done.

“We’re OK!”

😀

*In case you were wondering, I will share the following about my beliefs and without preaching:

The Biblical Sabbath is the fourth commandment given to the Israelites after their freedom from bondage in Egypt.

“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work …. For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” —Ex. 20:8-11

We believe that the Ten Commandments were given to us as guidelines by God. So far as I know, all Christian faiths believe in them and use them as a guide for their daily living. However, the Seventh day Baptists and the Seventh day Adventists, among others, still keep the original intent of the fourth commandment; honoring the seventh day, Saturday, as the original Sabbath.

We also know from history that the Sabbath day was changed by Constantine On March 7, 321, to Sunday, the day of the sun, and it was declared an official day of Christian worship. However, don’t take my word for it. Look it up for yourself.

Some of you may wonder if I am a vegetarian. No, I am not. None of the original 10 commandments tell me I can’t eat meat. The tendency of members to abstain from meat is for health and was advised by Ellen White an early founder of our faith.

This is how I think, I make no claim on being right, but it sustains me. 🙂

“We’re OK!”

Around Halloween I was spending way to much time on Facebook. I tend to get sucked in when I am depressed. However, all the moping and browsing uncovered a little Youtube gem that I will share with you!

Although the film is listed as a “FAIL”, I believe that with his attitude he is a WINNER in my book!

I watched it and laughed. A good belly laugh which is something I haven’t done in far too long. That old saw “Laughter is the best medicine” is not far from the mark. We need to laugh. A good laugh, or cry, is a catharsis for our system and, I believe, vital to our mental well-being. I shared these golden 16 seconds with Bob and it had the same effect on him.

For several days we could be heard to follow a negative remark or situation with,

“I’m OK!”

These comical outbursts were soon followed by laughter, or at least a smile.

We are grateful for many things we did prior to his loss of work, and this brutally cold and early winter weather:

We ordered broilers for our winter food supply.

I am not happy that they are currently in my living room while waiting for all their feathers to come in, but it is too cold for them in the barn even with heat lamps. I anticipated them being freezer ready before the winter temperatures set in. (I’m OK! 😀 )

We prepaid for our propane this year. We will stay warm and not worry about that mid winter refill.

We are not idle.

We are working on getting projects done both here and up on the Mountain Farmlet. We’ve transplanted our soft fruits, and begun planting the steep slope that is impossible to mow by the cabin.

This slope doesn’t look so bad in the picture but mowing is impossible and weed whacking too strenuous for us at 60+. The wiser move is to plant the slope in native shrubs and ground covers, to hold it in place, and let it keep itself looking good! 😉

While we were there we primed the old well pump and found that it works!

However, in spring we will need to get in there and clean out all the years of moss growing down on the sides and floating on the water’s surface, because it promptly plugged up the spout! 😉

Bob has drawn up plans for the new Chicken Tractor on AutoCad and we have begun construction on it. Those chickies are growing fast and need more room to move! While we work hard we pray for warmer weather so we can send them out to the barn, because even with feathers it is still very cold!

Bob and I carefully measured the lean-to portion of the cabin and Bob once again put his AutoCad skills to work.

He marked door openings, a proposed new wall for between the kitchen and the washroom, a walk-in pantry…

We found room for it in a surprising place!

This entryway room will be divided and the new pantry accessed through this existing opening in the kitchen.

And, of course we will be reusing the original door!

He also added the space for a new door to replace this old hobbit sized model and more!

If you recall, it was the one I told you was 5 ft 4 in tall and that could make a polite lady swear or a grown man cry.

We have the propane man scheduled to come out soon to check our lines, add a line for the stove and turn on our gas. We will be warm while we work on the old farmhouse this winter!