mommato3boys

Monday We were up before the chickens yesterday and ready to pull out after breakfast. Mr. S said that it wasn’t too far to Daylily’s place so it would not take all morning. He was pleased to see so many people had turned out to help. He did tell us that they had some logs cut and one cabin just needed a roof so that would make things go a good bit faster. It still amazes me how beautiful the valley is; it is like each area had its on special appeal about it. The valley floor with the river running through it is so peaceful. The northern mountains with their majestic water falls and the southern mountains with their gently flowing streams and massive amounts of wild foods and wild live. As we rode along the valley came to life around us as the sun rose in the sky. We arrived just as they finished their morning chores. I think it was Daylily’s husband that was picking on Mr. S and said I see how you are you wait till all the hard work is done then show up. We all laughed when Mr. S said of course did you expect anything more. The women stopped the men before they got started and asked where we could set up camp and cooking we were directed us to an area that was far enough away form all the construction to keep the little ones safe but still close enough that we could not have to carry food and water. As the women set up camp the men divided up into teams. One team started on the roof, two teams started working on the barn and one started another cabin. By dinner time the roof was almost finished, the multipurpose building (which will serve as a barn and still have rooms one end for several people to live in) had walls almost head high. The cabin will have three rooms, it will have two bedrooms one on each side of the great room which will be kitchen /sitting room. It took them a little longer to get started on the cabin since they had to work around the idea of adding a fireplace. So they started work on three walls and put the older children to gathering rocks for the fireplace. The men also worked on getting fire wood gathered. None of the trees cut would go to waste everything was going to be used. Even the children helped they gathered fruits and nuts. Supper felt like old times, we all sat around and talked about our trips here, what we had been able to do this summer as well as what we might be facing this winter. Mr. S said he had spent a couple weeks in the fall and winter here and he said one year they had snow around the end of October. Snow is a four letter word and being a southern girl I do not like snow, it is cold and wet. Listening to Mr. S tell about his time here made me thankful we were able to accomplish as much as we have. Someone asked if he had heard from Mother’s clan yet and he said no and asked all to continue to pray for their safety and travel. We could all tell he was concerned but it had been their choice to leave. He did say that we must get together and harvest the garden that was left behind. He did not want that food to go to waste that it would be needed this winter. He has put Chef in charge of storing the food and dividing it out to those in need. As we cleaned up from dinner the men turned to tomorrow activities. Their goal was to have the buildings up and roofed by tomorrow evening. Then they would start on the insides. Tuesday The men started work as soon as it was light enough that they could see each other. It was a chilly morning so many mommas let the little ones stay in bed. We were not the only ones to bring rabbits so there were several pots of rabbit stew going already this morning. Today was going to be a long day. We all kept looking back towards our end of the valley. There was some black clouds rolling over the mountains and as much as we could use the rain we really wanted it to hold off until the roofs were on these buildings. We could hear the thunder rumbling far off no lighting yet. The rain arrived around lunch time and last a couple of hours it was a cold rain. Thank goodness it wasn’t a hard rain. The roofs were not on the two new buildings yet but that did not stop the men from working. They finished up the walls on the barn and was ready to do the roof the cabin was taking longer they decided to put a wood floor down in the cabin. By dinner time the barn had a roof and the cabin almost had a roof. The chimney was coming right along SF seems to think they will be able to finish the chimney tomorrow and get the roof finished before supper. For tonight it just has a tarp. Wednesday Man oh man it is cold this morning, I can tell a low pressure system is moving through my bones hurt. The men are working on the inside of the barn today. They are building stalls and finishing up the living quarters on the back of the barn. The chimney is now about the roof line so they can finish the roof while the chimney building group works on the fireplace on the inside of the cabin. Daylily was excited that the root cellars did not take in and hold water form the rain yesterday. She said they had been concerned about that but she guessed that they got the angle o the door correct. There was enough wood left that they were able to build shelves in the root cellars. Several groups were leaving in the morning so tonight’s dinner is going to be special. There is deer on the spit roasting; we are going to roast corn and potatoes. All the women are making pies and dump cakes. The men were a little disappointed at lunch they had been smelling the food all day and all they got was leftovers from supper and breakfast. They all went back to work grumbling but the women promised supper would be served early and there would be lots of it. Three days and lots of hard labor we all felt better that Daylily’s clan would we dry and as warm as possible this winter. The walls and roofs were finished and none too soon. During supper we could hear the thunder rolling again but it had not crossed the mountain ridge yet. Supper was delicious then afterwards the fun began some had brought music instruments so there was dancing and singing, story telling and dreams for the future. It was just a very enjoyable evening. As much as I enjoyed the past couple of days I was missing my babies. SF and lay in the wagon listening to the children as they slept. I told SF that I was ready to go home. He said he was too he missed his girls. So we decided to pull out after breakfast in the morning. SF climbed out of bed and I asked him where he was going and he said he was going to tell the others in our group we were leaving after breakfast. He wasn’t gone very long as he climbed the wagon he back chuckling. I asked what was so funny he said he met P & R outside they were coming to tell us they were leaving in the morning. It seems that P met R on the way over and P told R he and Beth planned on leaving in the morning R said that what he was coming to tell us and then I showed up and told them we were planning on leaving. He was still chuckling; he said great minds think a like. I said or lonely hearts and aching backs. He laughed even harder and I poked him and shhhh’d him I told him if woke the children I would skin him alive.

What a whirlwind week. We have dealt with apples and pears all week. I dug out my printed material from the National Center for Home Food Preservation and we made fruit leather Directions follow for making fruit leathers. Fresh, frozen or drained canned fruit can be used. Leathers From Fresh Fruit Select ripe or slightly overripe fruit. Wash fresh fruit or berries in cool water. Remove peel, seeds and stem. Cut fruit into chunks. Use 2 cups of fruit for each 13" x 15" inch fruit leather. Pureé fruit until smooth. Add 2 teaspoons of lemon juice or 1/8 teaspoon ascorbic acid (375 mg) for each 2 cups light colored fruit to prevent darkening. Optional: To sweeten, add corn syrup, honey or sugar. Corn syrup or honey is best for longer storage because it prevents crystals. Sugar is fine for immediate use or short storage. Use ¼ to ½ cup sugar, corn syrup or honey for each 2 cups of fruit. Saccharin-based sweeteners could also be used to reduce tartness without adding calories. Aspartame sweeteners may lose sweetness during drying. Leathers From Canned or Frozen Fruit Home preserved or store-bought canned or frozen fruit can be used. Drain fruit, save liquid.Use 1 pint of fruit for each 13" X 15" leather. Purée fruit until smooth. If thick, add liquid. Add 2 teaspoons of lemon juice or 1/8 teaspoon ascorbic acid (375 mg) for each 2 cups of light colored fruit to prevent darkening. Applesauce can be dried alone or added to any fresh fruit pureé as an extender. It decreases tartness and makes the leather smoother and more pliable. Preparing the Trays For drying in the oven a 13" X 15" cookie pan with edges works well. Line pan with plastic wrap being careful to smooth out wrinkles. Do not use waxed paper or aluminum foil. To dry in a dehydrator, specially designed plastic sheets can be purchased or plastic trays can be lined with plastic wrap. Pouring the Leather Fruit leathers can be poured into a single large sheet (13" X 15") or into several smaller sizes. Spread pureé evenly, about 1/8-inch thick, onto drying tray. Avoid pouring pureé too close to the edge of the cookie sheet. The larger fruit leathers take longer to dry. Approximate drying times are 6 to 8 hours in a dehydrator, up to 18 hours in an oven and 1 to 2 days in the sun. Drying the Leather Dry fruit leathers at 140ºF. Leather dries from the outside edge toward the center. Test for dryness by touching center of leather; no indentation should be evident. While warm, peel from plastic and roll, allow to cool and rewrap the roll in plastic. Cookie cutters can be used to cut out shapes that children will enjoy. Roll, and wrap in plastic. Chances are the fruit leather will not last long enough for storage. If it does, it will keep up to 1 month at room temperature. For storage up to 1 year, place tightly wrapped rolls in the freezer. We also made apple butter and apple sauce; We also made pie fillings and dried fruit. I tried something new pear sauce, I did it just like I did the apple sauce and it turned out pretty good. Even made pear butter using Darlene’s apple butter direction from Mrs. S. That is yummy on toast. Half of us rode out early this morning heading to the lodge. We were meeting up there with some others to ride over to Daylily’s place tomorrow and help them get under a roof before winter hits us. V and K are staying on the other side of the river with B as guard. A is staying on our side with Abby since she is going to use this time to get settled in the cabin. N and Kyle are staying behind as guards on our side of the river. N has officially moved in to the barn. Well the back of the barn. There is a large room behind that was built we would stay there until we finished the cottage. But until we get back N will be staying in the cottage. We left the twins with V and they were having a ball with Zoe. We brought the rest of the children with us. SF just didn’t think a barn raising was the place for the girls. He said 6 were enough to keep up with at least they were old enough not to need naps during the day. We brought along corn to roast, potatoes, beans, squash and greens. It felt funny packing up the wagons again with all of the camping stuff. P, W &N took the younger boys “hunting” Saturday they came back with about a dozen squirrels and 4 or 5 rabbits. So we will be having squirrel dumplings and rabbit stew. Mr. S said plan on being there 2-3 days he is concerned that we are going to have bad weather soon and he wants make sure everyone is under some type of roof for winter. He said that Doc and Mt. Rider and their group were pretty much set since they were cave dwellers. And if need be they could take over Mother’s place. He wasn’t too worried about them or any of the others that come in since they already had someone in the valley. Daylily’s was the only lone group to come in. SF has been holed up with Mr. S and some of the other guys here they are still working on the ethanol situation; however, I think that is going to be a bust. They can’t seem to get the mixture right to run power tools. Thank goodness only one of the chain saws was a sacrifice. Between us we still have 3 or 4 and enough gas to run them for a few hours. Hopefully it will be long enough to get the logs cut and notched. Well I am headed to bed. The men folk are still down stairs going over formulas trying to work this out. Personally I think we just need to chalk it up as a no can do and move on. But its men and their toys we are talking about.

Short cut for copy and paste...high light right click your mouse. I don't know if Mac's have that or not but of you right click you get the get the edit button screen with right mouse clicks.

oops double posted.

Messenger arrived early this morning. It was actually Mr. S. he come to check and see how the wedding plans were coming and what he needed today. He also said starting Monday we would be doing barn raising for Daylily and their group. He wants to get a barn each built for them. He said it would be a multipurpose building this year but it would at least get them under a roof. He wanted to know if we had any gas left for the chainsaws. SF told him a little but he had ethanol just about ready to try. SF said he didn't know how well it would work. This has been a community project here on the mountain between all the men folk here and Mr. Q and Jerry they have worked to set up a steal. My stipulation was it was far away from where the kids played. They decided to set up in a cave between the Q's place and our place. It is on our side of the stream and at the far corner of our property line. The children know they are not allowed over there. Any way here is SF's directions....(IRL it is from http://chemistry.about.com/od/chemistryhow...ht/ethanol.htm) 1. If you are starting with whole corn, you first need to convert the cornstarch into sugar by 'sprouting' the corn. Place the corn in a container, cover it with warm water, and drape a cloth over the container to prevent contamination and conserve heat. Ideally, the container will have a slowly draining hole at the bottom. Add warm water from time to time as the liquid level falls. Maintain the setup ~3 days or until the corn has sprouts about 2 inches long. 2. Allow the sprouted corn to dry. Then grind it into meal. Alternatively, start with cornmeal. Other grains can be prepared in much the same way (e.g. rye mash). 3. Mash or mush is made by adding boiling water to the corn meal. The mash is kept warm to start the fermentation process. Yeast is added, if available (half pound yeast per 50 gallons of mash, for example), and sugar (variable recipe). With yeast, fermentation takes about 3 days. Without yeast, fermentation could require more than 10 days. The mash is ready to 'run' once it stops bubbling. The mash has been converted into carbonic acid and alcohol. It is called 'wash' or 'beer' or 'sour mash'. 4. The wash is placed into a cooker, which has a lid that is pasted shut, so that it has a seal which can be blown off should internal pressure become too great. At the top of the cooker, there is a copper pipe, or 'arm' that projects to one side and tapers down from a 4-5 inch diameter to the same diameter as the 'worm' (1 to 1-1/4 inch). The 'worm' could be made by taking a 20 ft length of copper tubing, filling it with sand and stopping the ends, and then coiling it around a fence post. 5. The sand prevents the tubing from kinking while being coiled. Once the worm is formed, the sand is flushed out of the tube. The worm is placed in a barrel and sealed to the end of the arm. The barrel is kept full of cold, running water, to condense the alcohol. Water runs in the top of the barrel and out an opening at the bottom. A fire is maintained under the cooker to vaporize the alcohol in the wash. 6. The ethanol vaporizes at 173°F, which is the target temperature for the mixture. The spirit will rise to the top of the cooker, enter the arm, and will be cooled to the condensation point in the worm. The resulting liquid is collected at the end of the worm, traditionally into glass jars. This fluid will be translucent, and about the color of dark beer. 7. The very first liquid contains volatile oil contaminants in addition to alcohol. After that, liquid is collected. The containers of liquid collected from over the wash are called 'singlings'. Liquid collected toward the end of this run is called 'low wine'. Low wine can be collected and returned to the still to be cooked again. The initial collections are higher proof than those collected as the distillation progresses. 8. The singlings tend to have impurities and require double-distillation, so once the low wine has been run to the point where a tablespoon or so thrown on a flame won't burn (too low proof), the heat is removed from the still and the cooker is cleaned out. The liquid remaining in the still, the 'backings' or 'slop', can be recovered and poured over new grain (and sugar, water, and possibly malt) in a mash barrel for future distillations. Discard mash after no more than eight uses. 9. The singlings are poured into the cooker and the still is returned to operation. The initial collections can approach pure alcohol (200 proof), with the end collections, using the flash test on the flame, at about 10 proof. 10. The desired proof depends on the application. The highest proof usually obtained from a still is 190 proof. For using alcohol as a fuel alternative, for example, addition purification with a sieve may be required to obtain 200 proof ethanol. SF told Mr. S we are on day 9 and that he hopes to try it out tomorrow or Friday. If it works then we will be able to use it to run the chainsaws to make the construction of the barns go faster. Mr. S suggested that we take what gas we have left and do two parts gas to 1 part ethanol to start with until we get the machines adjusted to the richer higher octane gasoline. Mr S. and SF headed over to the still and I went back to reading about how to clean wheat. We have got to get it cleaned and stored before wet weather sets in I do not want it to mold. We had another frost the other night and this one was thicker than the last one. It is getting cooler during the day and the days are getting shorter. Time is getting short and we are no where near ready. So much to do. The apples and pears are ready to harvest and I still don't have all the summer harvest dealt with. Looks like I will be drying lots of apples. I want to get apple butter and apple sauce made. SF loves apple butter and everyone loves apple sauce. I need cider, vinegar, and juice put up also. I have an apple press around here somewhere I think it is still in the barn down and "W's place. Sure which I could survive on no sleep for the next few weeks.

This past week was finals, next week grades are due then graduation Saturday and I am JUST the secretary Hopefully after this week I can get back to writing. I have one more wedding also the wheat has to be dealt with and we are still working on the water issue.

P's wedding day....September 5, 2010 Wow what a day. We arrived at the Lodge early. We left so early we had to use flashlights first thing. There were so many people oh my goodness. As soon as we pulled up Chef was there directing people to unload our wagons. He shooed me upstairs told me to take the little ones and go lay down. Which was good because they were all cranky from having to get up early. So I took the Miller children and our clan up stairs and put them down for naps, I joined them. We had one of the large rooms that had double beds so I put the Miller girls in one, the boys on the floor with blankets and the twins and I took the other bed. SF brought up the bags that had clothes in them so we could change for the weddings. R&V were not there yet but we expected them shortly. I woke a short time later and went in search for SF. I let the children sleep. By this time R&V and clan had arrived. The tables were laden with food and our wagons was loaded down with gifts for the newlyweds. There were baskets and boxes of jars of vegetables, jams, jellies, preserves, pie fillings, cookbooks, linens, blankets, guilts, I even saw a dutch oven. R&V’s wagons looked just as loaded. I saw Mr. S and he hugged me and asked how I was holding up. I told him I was ready to get the show on the road so I could have peace and quite on the mountain. He laughed and said that would not happen until October. I told him not to remind me. At least I had 5 weeks before we had to do this again. He laughed. I asked if he has seen SF and he said that he was with the guys in the barn looking over some animals. I went around to the side where the service would be held and was surprised. Some one had constructed an arbor arch and it was covered with flowers. V was there with E and they were just as amazed as I was. Some of the ladies were setting up chairs and tying ribbons on them. They shooed up back inside and told us to go and help the brides get ready. I saw P and told V&E I would catch up to them later. I headed over to speak to P I noticed he had his black jeans, white shirt and bolo tie on already. I told him his vest was upstairs. He said he would be it before the wedding. He handed me Beth’s bouquet and asked me to see that it was put in water until the wedding. It was beautiful. Ray walked up and handed me E bouquet also he had been hiding around the corner. It seems they saw us before we saw them and they didn’t want E to see the flowers. I told them I would take care of it. I told them the ribbon was in the bag upstairs with P’s vest. And I would make sure it was all put together before the wedding. On the way in I asked Chef for a big bowl of water for the flowers. He said he would send one right up. I still didn’t see SF but headed back to check on the children. It was a little strange. They decided to have two separate ceremonies Ray and E went first. She was beautiful in her mother’s dress. It was an ivory lace that was altered to a tea length dress. Not by choice but because E is 6 inches taller than her mom but they wear the same size clothes. E wore birdcage veil which went with the lovely dress giving her a 20's style. Ray gave E his mother's wedding rings and they fit perfectly. Beth’s dress was long but hers was more along the style of a Irish maidens dress. Instead a veil she wore a cape. Both girls were beautiful. The guys both wore black jeans, white pin tucked tuxedo shirts, with black leather vest and bolo ties. Very handsome if I do say so myself. P gave Beth his grandmother's rings again a perfect fit. Each couple had written their own vows. It was quite comical in a way. Neither couple knew what the other one’s vows were but they used the same scripture. Both used Song of Solomon for their vows. The ceremonies were beautiful words fail to describe them. I did pull out my black and white film and took some pictures. SF said we would set up my developer and run it off the gennie to develop the pictures. The women of the valley were wonderful. They handled everything. They did a beautiful job of decorating. Some had help chef with food and had made extra cakes also but Chef’s cakes were master pieces. I believe there was enough food there to feed the valley for a week. It reminded of the wedding feast from biblical times. You know the ones that went on for days. The couples rode out earlier in the evening but I doubt they will have much quite time. It seems the single people had be reading what happen in the pioneer days when a couple was wed. So they have gather horns, music instruments and other various noise makers are have headed to the new couples homes to “welcome” them. It was late evening when we finally pulled into the yard. The sun had already crossed the mountain top so we hurried to feed the animals and make sure they were all tucked in for the night. SF just pulled the loaded wagon in the barn for the night. He said he would take it over tomorrow and unload it on P’s porch. They could deal with it then. We could still here the noise all over the valley. The singles were having so much fun. SF and I sat out on the ledge and watch as the single people headed back towards the lodge. I was worried about them crossing the river but they crossed at a swallow place and used a barge that R, B and Ray had constructed to move animals and things across the river. It was kind of quite now we could still hear laughter and music as the singles headed back to the lodge but it was fading quickly. It was almost completely dark there were no clouds it is almost the new moon so all that we see is stars lots and lots of stars. It is getting colder at night. We have started having light frost some nights and tonight may just be one of those nights. As we headed back to our cottage, it was with peace knowing boys had each found someone to share their lives with.

Hurry Back you have to help me with this wedding LOL....my kind of wedding all on paper no stress not fights....wish it was that easy in real life LOL

The riders have worn a path out from the lodge to our cottage with messages as to what everyone is bringing to help celebrate the weddings this weekend. Beth and E have been in tears over the generosity of the people here in the valley. N and Abby have been getting along better. She is really working on not being so abrupt and tomboyish. She is taking lessons from Beth whether she realizes it or not. Abby has noticed how soft spoken Beth is and how she gets more done with a soft voice and please than Abby gets with her temper tantrums and demands. Abby has been working on her attitude and there has been much change in her since they arrived in the valley. Yesterday N didn’t realize his and Abby’s conversation carried the yard but we heard just about all of their conversation. He asked her would she marry him that they could get married Sunday also but she turned him down he started to walk away but she stopped him. She said it is not that she didn’t want to marry him it is just she didn’t want to get married at the same time or even in the same month as her sister. They rode back to the Lodge and talked to Mr. S and now they are planning a wedding for October 3rd. Abby will be staying at the lodge until the last week in September then Nick will move into the barn while Abby stays at his place. That will give her a chance to get her stuff unpacked and put away. When they arrived back from the Lodge they had brought some of the larger items with them in the wagon. But all of her personal stuff is still at the lodge. We were still in the midst of trying to get food put up for the winter, the fields that had been harvested were being turned under and winter foliage for the animals and to avoid erosion during the winter and spring when it rains. The days are getting shorter and the nights are cooler. We still need to check on the Q’s but I fell better knowing they have more help than just the children now. I know their son has been a blessing to them. Well I know it is a short entry but I really need to be cloned 3 or 4 times over for this week 2 or 3 working the garden, one working on the wedding and one tending children and doing day to day chores. Plus I have a quilt I need to finish for the newlyweds. I have one finished and one on the quilt frame that I need to finish but my eyes refuse to see straight so I am headed to bed.

Journal Entry August 27 (Disclaimer: By no means am I suggesting any of this as birth control. This is just what I have been able to find on the internet. DO NOT I repeat DO NOT take this as gospel. I have never used any of these methods no do I know anyone that has used them- please do your own research and talk to your medical person…now with that said on to our UNREAL discussion) V, E, Beth and I spent the day with Q and we dug through our "women" books looking for answers to birth control and women issues. What we discovered is a lot of the information was lost during the witch hunts and when many places banned mid-wives. I wish I had paid better attention to my grandmother when she was trying to impart her Native American mother’s information to us granddaughters. My head is still spinning from all that we read and discussed today. We were able to find a little bit of information. Not only herbal but we discussed natural methods also. First we made a list of NATURAL birth control like Ovulation Method, also known as the cervical mucus method, this technique is not for every woman. It requires a woman to be very comfortable with her body since she will need to regularly check her cervical mucus. But it can also help a woman become much more attuned to the changes that happen within her body every month. This family planning technique is based on the idea that a lack of cervical mucus indicates that an egg has not yet been released by the ovaries. Additionally, without the mucus, sperm will not be able to survive inside a woman until the time that an egg is released. Calendar rhythm method relies upon calculating a woman's fertile period on the calendar. Based upon her 12 previous menstrual cycles, a woman subtracts l8 days from her shortest menstrual cycle to determine her first fertile day, and 11 days from her longest menstrual cycle to determine her last fertile day. She can then calculate the total number of days during which she may ovulate. If a woman's menstrual cycles are quite irregular from month to month, there will be a greater number of days during which she might become pregnant. The calendar method is only about 80% effective in preventing pregnancy and when used alone is considered outdated. Basal body temperature (BBT) method is based upon the fact that a woman's temperature drops 12 to 24 hours before an egg is released from her ovary and then increases again once the egg has been released. Unfortunately, this temperature difference is not very large. It is less than 1 degree F (about a half degree C) in the body at rest. The basal body temperature method requires that a woman take her temperature every morning before she gets out of bed. A special thermometer that is more accurate and sensitive than a typical oral thermometer must be used, and the daily temperature variations carefully noted. This must be done every month. To use the basal body temperature as a birth control method, a woman should refrain from having sexual intercourse from the time her temperature drops until at least 48 to72 hours after her temperature increases again. Symptothermal method combines certain aspects of the calendar, the basal body temperature, and the mucus inspection methods. Not only are all these factors taken into consideration, but so are other symptoms such as slight cramping and breast tenderness. Some women experience lower abdominal discomfort (in the area of the ovaries) during release of an egg (ovulation). Withdrawal method is where the man withdraws his penis from a woman's vagina before he ejaculates so that the sperm released from his penis does not enter her vagina. Withdrawal is also called coitus interruptus. There are problems with using withdrawal as a contraceptive method. First, a man may release sperm before he has an orgasm. Secondly, a man needs self-control and a precise sense of timing to be able to withdraw his penis from the woman's vagina before he ejaculates. Because this can be difficult for the man to do successfully, the withdrawal method is only about 75-80% effective in preventing pregnancy. Lactational infertility is based upon the idea that a woman cannot become pregnant as long as she is breastfeeding her baby. It is true that a woman may not ovulate quite as soon after giving birth as she would if she were not breastfeeding. Women who are breastfeeding usually start ovulating again between 10-12 weeks after delivery. A nursing mother may start ovulating again and not realize she is fertile, as ovulation can occur prior to the return of her menstrual period. If this happens and the mother has unprotected sexual intercourse, she can become pregnant at the same time she is still breastfeeding her baby. If a nursing mother does not wish to become pregnant again, she must again start to use an appropriate method of contraception. We did discover some herbal birth control but we don't know what we have available here in the valley. The following we discovered are more like herbs that cause miscarriages. Vitamin C - no buffers or fillers. Dose: 500 mg every hour for 12 hours up to 5 days. Toxicity: possible kidney irritation, loose bowels. Ginger - Zingiber officinale, Dose: 1 oz. fresh or dry root to pint of water. Toxicity: possible light-headedness. Pennyroyal - Mentha pulegium & Hedeoma pulegiodes, Dose: 1/4 cup of herb to 1 quart water once a day for no more than 6 days. Toxicity: nausea, numbness in hand and legs, liver irritation, kidney and bladder irritation, diarrhea, the essential oil is fatal internally. Contraindications: kidney conditions. Angelica root - Angelica archangelica, Dosage: 1/4 cup herb to 1 quart water as tea. Tincture - 10-20 drops every two hours. Dried root less toxic than fresh. Toxicity: irritant to kidney and liver, not studied as much as pennyroyal. Contraindicated in diabetes as it raises blood sugar levels. Mugwort Leaf - Artemisia vulgaris, Dosage: 3 teaspoon per cup tea, 3 cups per day, for no more than six days. Toxicity: higher doses can cause liver damage and convulsions. Nausea. Contraindications: Uterine inflammation or recent pelvic infection. Black Cohosh Root - Cimicifuga racemosa, Dosage: 3 teaspoons per cup, 4 times a day. Tincture 20 drops every 6 hours. Toxicity: Diarrhea, dizziness, headache, decreased pulse rate, tremors, fatalities can occur in large enough doses. Tansy - Tanacetum vulgare. Note: Do not confuse with tansy ragwort, Senecio jacobaea, which is a poisonous plant known to cause death in cattle thru liver failure. Dosage: Tea, 4-8 teaspoons per qt. sipped throughout day. 10 drops tincture in warm water every two hours til bleeding commences, for no more than 5 days. Toxicity: breast lumps, possible hemorrhage, liver irritant. Essential oil is fatal - do not ingest. Another herb that we found that was a “natural herbal” birth control is wild carrot aka Queen Anne’s Lace (Daucus carota - QAL for short). However, it is more of a morning after “pill” than something to take before hand. QAL has a reputation as an effective contraceptive. A teaspoon of crushed seeds of QAL has long been used as a form of natural birth control. Research conducted on albino mice found that wild carrot disrupts the implantation process probably due to inhibition of progesterone, which reinforces its reputation as a contraceptive. It has been found that 1 teaspoon of QAL seeds, freshly ground just before use and stirred into a glass of cold water is the most efficient dosage. Drink one glass, 8-12 hours after intercourse, or at least within 24 hours. Traditionally, dried or fresh seeds were chewed, 1 teaspoon per dosage. But, if vaginal dryness occurs it is recommended to crush seeds. Take one to three doses after intercourse. It is noted that wild carrot may be less effective if taken daily. It appears to be at its most reliable when used simply as a "morning-after" herb, taken 8-24 hours after intercourse, up to 3 times within a minimum of 24 hours and a maximum of 72 hours. All methods of usage are limited to 1-3 times after sexual intercourse. We had a history lesson out of all of this. We discovered what the condoms and sponges were used way before modern times….Long before the condom and diaphragm were developed men and women utilized barrier methods of birth control. The first condoms were made in France out of animal gut tissues. It is said that these condoms were made during 1640 to protect soldiers from contracting sexually transmitted disease from prostitutes during the war. Women have utilized barrier methods since prehistory. The most common was the use of pessaries, any device inserted into the vagina to block sperm penetration, made of seed wool. Back in the 1500s women ground dates, acacia tree bark and honey into a paste and apply it to the wool before inserting. Studies have concluded that "since acacia ferments into lactic acid, a well-known spermicide, this method may have been effective." Sea sponges, often used in combination with lemon juice as a spermicide, have also been used successfully as sperm barriers. Cervical caps made of oiled paper or beeswax was common in the Orient and Europe, and both have proven to be effective. Beth and E both came to the realization that there was no sure fire way of not getting pregnant if they were going to share their husband’s bed. However, both believe with a combination of these methods they can avoid getting pregnant for a while. Both really want to wait until we all see just how harsh the winters, E is used to a very mild winter she is from south Alabama and Beth is from South Carolina her winters were a little harsher but she is certain that it will be nothing like this first winter. Not only that but Beth wants to be more comfortable using a wood stove, hauling water and milking goats. She comes from a pampered lifestyle so she had to get her feet under her so to speak. We also discussed wedding plans. E is way taller than her mother so her mother’s wedding dress is more a tea length. It fits her so we are going to alter the hem some and make it a nice tea length dress. She had opted out of a veil; she wants to just wear her hair. Beth is going with a nice simple white dress she has. It has spaghetti straps and a shawl but she wants to turn the shawl in to a veil of shorts sort of like a veil from medieval times. Something that would just cover the back of her hair. Q made some suggestions and we worked the rest of the afternoon trying to get the girls dresses ready. Ray and P are going to do an OLD fashion tradition they are going to pick the girl’s bouquets themselves. They have their eyes on some wild flowers and herbs they are trying to keep the goats away from them. LOL. We have received notes from many of the women telling us not to worry they were bring this or that for the dinner. Chef has decided he is going to try his hand at wedding cakes. That should be interesting. The guys are digging the pits next week and we will roast two pigs and make pies to take with us. V is going to handle the vegetables. I can’t believe it just over a week and P will be married…..sighhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Sorry I have a post ready but I forgot to post it Thursday before I left work and I didn't back it up on my flash drive so you will have to wait until I get to work tomorrow morning. It is on birth control so just giving everyone a heads up. It will not be for the faint of heart. Sorry Michael but a girl has to think of these things. I will try to get another post ready next week but it is the end of the semester for me and I don't have a lot of time at least not until after graduation. But I will post something on the wedding soon too. This next week is the last week of classes then finals start. Graduation is the weekend after mother's day so hopefully I will be back to writing then. If I survive that is. The whiners are driving me crazy (and no I am not talking about the students LOL)

P, Beth and Abby were the only ones that went to the lodge yesterday. They went to get the rest of Beth’s personal stuff. She and Abby have put a real feminine touch on the cabin. She has curtains up now rugs on the floor and little knick-knacks sitting around. She has made it real homey and warm feeling. I sent a note with them to give to Q if they saw her or any of he family if no one was there they were to stop back by and drop it off at her house. It was just to let her know we would be visiting later in the week. We are taking our herb books over and some of our other “women” books. We are still looking for natural birth control. We are working in overdrive trying to get the gardens empty. Still need more wood. Also need to get curtains made to help keep the cold out. Need to get draft stoppers made. Using the yard to crotchet blankets, just using chain stitch since that is about all I know how to do but hey it works. Started stitching together the denim squares that I brought with me to make a king size quilt but I am going to make two twin quilts for Connor and Aidan. They are going to need warm bedding this winter. Washing…I must do washing tomorrow or we will have nothing to wear. Sure am missing that electric washer and dryer; made shelling dry peas easier too. I remember my dad and mom putting bags of dry peas in the dryer and running them about 20 minutes and the hulls would split open and all we had was pick out the hulls and the peas were ready to store. SF and I sat down with R&V and worked a breeding schedule with the animals. We are trying to avoid later winter deliveries. We really don’t want any babies before March at the earliest. April would be better. So for now the males and females have been separated. For the goats and sheep they will be put together in October and left together until the end of January. The cows have already bred for the season. So we will just leave them together. The horses we hope are bred and will keep them separate until spring. Their gestation is almost a year plus we want to give them time to build back up after the long trip here and all the hard work this summer. They are not used to that. The oxen well from what I can find their gestation is the same as cows since they are part of the bovine family. The chicken and ducks are on their own. The sows we will put with the boars in January and leave them together until all females breed. We will have a total of 6 sows breeding twice next year so there will be a lot of bacon on the mountain. We normally would not breed them twice but we have a waiting list for piglets. So we will breed all six sows the first time then hopefully we will only have to breed 1 or 2 after that. The later females will be first timers so we want to wait until the weather is warm before they deliver. Something else I miss is the constant of the computer. Now we are back to doing it the old fashion way. I WANT MY EXCEL spreadsheets back. It would be so much easier. Well must fall into bed tomorrow is another early day. Laundry day yippeeee

1 – tomato 2 – tomato 3-tomato MORE….. I am having horrible flash backs to my childhood oh wait its not flash backs we are really up to our elbows in tomatoes. LOL The past few days we have been so busy fighting the wild life off our crops and trying to get as many put up as possible. The guys are taking turns in acting as scare crows at night. N brought down a big buck last night. It was eating the bush beans. We sent the older children to pick plums today. We wanted to gather the plums while they were still slightly green so they would last longer. We found newspaper that wasn’t used for Sasha and the puppies so we are wrapping fruit in it and storing it in the cold cave. We will dry most of the fruit. But I still want some fresh fruit for the children to eat through the winter. Today at lunch R&SF went and dug around in one of the potatoes hills and they decided that we would dig them the week after the wedding. SF said we would dig all the root crops then…the onions, the potatoes and the carrots. One task was done. All of the wheat and oats are cut and stacked. This afternoon after lunch we started harvesting the field corn. But that won’t take long it will be cut and hung from the rafters in the barn. It will be animal food for the winter. After supper I thought I was going to get to bed early but Beth caught me and wanted to talk. She said she needed a woman to talk to since she didn’t have her mother. So we walked out to my ledge and sat down. Thank goodness I was sitting and was not close to the edge because her first statement threw me…”I don’t want to get pregnant.” I must have a shocked look on my face because she laughed. She then said well not this year at least. She went on to explain that when she come to the valley she had not thought about marriage and family so she is not “prepared” I told her I understood now that we were on the same page and she giggled. I went on to explain that birth control is relatively new. I said follow me, we went in the cabin to my bedroom and pulled out several boxes of books that I have just for emergencies. Well not so much as emergencies, I just did not want them to fall into little hands if you know what I mean. Before we left I visited a used book store and found a goldmine in women’s health. There were several on natural family planning, natural child birth – midwifery and well amongst other things. So I loaded up. I opened the box and started handing her books. She was thrilled. I asked her if her and her mother had ever talked about marriage, birth control, child birth and family planning. She turned beet red and said no. Her mother never had “the talk” with her. And here I thought I had gotten off lucky since we had all boys and that SF’s job. We talked for several hours until P finally knocked on my bedroom door and said they had to go or he would not be able to see to cross the river. After they were gone SF asked if everything was ok. I told him yes it was just a girl thing. As we lay in bed I told him my heart went out to all of these young mothers and girls that were just having babies or not married yet and dreaming of having a family. We had it so easy. The best medical care, and here we didn’t even have an extra machine. It was scary to think what these mothers would be facing when it came time for them to give birth. Oh I know women have been giving birth for thousands and thousands of years it is just one area that I was not really prepared for. My childbirth years are over with and I really hadn’t given thought or preparation for this aspect of life. I guess I need to get with Q and discuss some of this with her.

Journal Entry for August 11 So much is going on too many irons in the fire so to speak. I totally forgot to write about R&V additions. They took in a brother and sister, they are preteen/teenagers. Margaret (Maggie) is 12. She just turned 12 last month and Murphy is 14. Sweet kids, but like the other orphans they are all out of sorts. One minute Maggie is a happy smiling child, the next she is angry, then in a blink of an eye she is crying and gnashing teeth. Murphy flip flops between being angry to withdrawn but he is always protective of Maggie. It seems their family had lost their home and they were living on the streets when their mother and father were killed. Murph as we have all started calling him has bonded with R&V’s son B. Actually I think B just took him under his wing. There is only 3 years difference in their ages so they get along rather well. Maggie on the other hand does not want to get close to anyone. The best we figure she feels like if she gets close to anyone she will forget her parents. I feel like I am sleep walking ok maybe sleep writing. My thoughts are so jumbled. I had just finished a note and sent Conner over to the Q’s with it. I wanted to let Q know there was going to be a wedding. And to plan on being at the lodge Labor Day Sunday. Abby and Mr. S arrived with Beth. P had brought up his clothes and bed roll over and at first he was going to sleep in the barn but Ray talked him in to staying with him. N tried to get him to stay at his cabin but P said he would be too close to Beth so he decided to go stay with Ray at night. I was floored by all the stuff that Beth had. Mr. S laughed at my expression. He said no they did not bring all of that with them, their mother and father had sent it all to the valley a couple of years ago when they were making plans to come here. Abby has the same amount. He said their parents made sure the girls would be able to set housekeeping. There was a spinning wheel, a churn, cast iron cookware, wash tubs; all the stuff that they would/could possibly need. Beth came over and said that she would need lessons on how to use all of that stuff. Bless her heart she is so overwhelmed and heart broken too. I could tell she had been crying. P said she has cried off and on for the past few days because her parents will not be here for her wedding. While Mr. S, SF and P, Beth and I were all standing around talking we heard raised voices. We turned just in time see Abby slapped N. I just knew he was going to slap her back. We have taught the boys they are never ever to strike a lady. But there was steam coming out of his ears. I have never in all HIS life seen him this angry. P and Sf went after him. Mr. S was yanked Abby back from going after him and was chewing her out. N was so angry he didn’t take time to saddle the horse he was ridding bareback. Thank goodness he had grabbed Mister. Mister comes when SF whistles no matter who is riding him. I thought for a minute Mister was going to unseat N because he was fighting him to keep him from going to SF but he just slid off of Mister and headed out on foot. He had gotten as far as the small pond where the moose water each morning. P caught with him and stopped him from leaving. Next thing we know Mr. S was dragging Abby down to the pond where P and N were demanding that she apologize to N. I asked SF if he thought one of should go down and he said he would. He still had Mister so handed me the reigns and headed down. It all happened in slow motion after that. SF was about half way to them when P & Mr. S turned and headed back up the mountain. They had taken 4 or 5 steps when the yelling and screaming started again. Abby drew back to smack N again but he was quicker this time and penned her arms behind her back, picked up and threw her in the pond. I tried to yell a warning, P saw me reach my hand out as if I could stop it from where I was. He and Mr. S turned to see what was going on just as Abby splashed. N stormed away. No one stopped him this time. Abby came out of the water stomping her feet and fussing, I don’t know if it was Mr. S’ look or if he said something but she turned and followed N. She was jogging trying to catch him. He as half way to his cabin when she finally caught him. There were a lot of flying arms pointing fingers and stomping away. Well they each tried to walk away but the other one would not let them. We all stood on the ledge and watched the drama unfold. Mr. S chuckled and said all we need is the signs and we would have the silent movies again. We all laughed. I asked SF if he thought they needed a referee and him and Mr. S both said no at the same time. Mr. S said that Abby had to learn she could not go throw her weight around and demand to get her way. She was too old for temper tantrums. N side stepped Abby and walked on to his cabin. She stood there a minute turned and ran after him. She leaped and landed on his back knocking him down. That spurred Mr. S and SF in to action. Both grabbed horses and headed down. We watched as they barreled down the hill pulled up short and turned back towards us. Mr. S reached over and slapped SF on the back. When they rode back in the yard SF said they had worked things out just fine. We all chuckled Beth was jumping up and down. Right in the middle of the drama R&V and their group showed up. W&A arrived and the twins woke up. I could tell this was going to be a doozie of a day especially with all of the drama before breakfast. After breakfast we canned and canned some more then we canned even more. We had both water bath canners and pressure canners going. The children were shelling peas and snapping beans, some of us worked on tomatoes, some worked on pickles and some worked on beans. All in all we had a very productive day. Tomorrow will be more ketchup, tomato sauce, and spaghetti sauce. V and I tried pickling okra. Nellie had sent her pickled okra recipe so we tried it out. SF loves her pickled okra and was thrilled when he found out we were going to try it. 3 1/2 lb. sm. okra pods 4 cloves garlic 2 sm. hot peppers, cut in half lengthwise 3 c. white vinegar 3 c. water 1/3 c. canning salt 2 tsp. dill seed Pack the okra 4 pint jars straight from hot from boiling water. Leave 1/4-inch head space. Put 1 clove garlic and 1/2 hot pepper in each jar. Boil water, vinegar, salt and dill seed. Pour into jars, remembering to leave head space. Remove air in jars. Water bath process 15 minutes. We dried okra and also canned okra. I have never canned okra but my mother used to can it so that later she could fry it. I can remember her opening a jar and laying them on top of black eyed peas when they were just about done. We would have black eyed peas and boiled okra. V is going to be here early in the morning. We are going to make a list of what we have done and what we have to do. Oh the guys surprised us today. The guys took a break during the heat of the day and built storage boxes. We were concerned how we were going to store all of the food and they built storage boxes. Well they are more like trays. They used 1x4s and screen wire and built stackable trays. It is more like a big shifter. They used 12-1x4s between the first second rows they placed screen wire so that air would circulate. Then they stacked 1x4s on edge using dowels and glue to hold them together. It was great we could layer all sorts of fruits and vegetables in there and stack them. They even built a platform to stack the trays on so that they would not be on the ground. Now we have trays of squash, melons, and fruits. We just about filled them up. The guys will have to build more when we harvest the potatoes. But for now this is a good start. Things are still touchy between N & Abby but they are holding hands and sitting by each other. It is funny in a way when Abby on a tare N would just look at her and say Abigail. She would settle down. Beth just watches them and smiles. After supper Beth was talking and told us that it was about time Abby found someone that could handle her. That she was wild child and needed a strong man that would not cave to her drama. She said their daddy had spoiled Abby, she was his little princess. P told her she was spoiled too. Beth just smiled and said in a way but she had been groomed to take over daddy's business. Actually she had been groomed to marry the guy that would take over daddy's business. She said she attended all the country club and other club meetings with her mother while Abby was out swinging from trees. Beth said that her mother had called a wild-child more than once and every time her mother would get on to Abby their dad would come to Abby's defense. There was sadness in Beth's voice as she talked about her parents. I could tell this had been harder than anyone realized. She felt responsible for Abby felt like she had to protect her. Beth was way more mature than her 23 years.

Journal Entry August 10 With the reality that Mother and her family were gone I just could not get in the grove of things. But V and her girls and A got behind me and pushed all day. We divided up into teams. Everyone was working the garden. Some gathered and put in storage. Some just gathered and toted to the summer kitchen, by the end of the day I was feeling better about our chances of survival this winter. The biggest project was the wheat. Since we were harvesting it by hand we wanted to harvest it as early as possible to avoid as much loss as possible. So last night after my melt down when I finally cried out and fell asleep. SF pulled out the book on wheat and read about harvesting it. It said watch for the signs that the wheat is ready to be harvested. It should have a large, brushy top full of grain seeds and beginning to turn golden yellow. The seed is ready when the grain is hard, but you can still dent the seed with your thumbnail. Use the scythe or sickle to cut the stalks of wheat close to the ground. Bundle the wheat into large stacks and tie each stack with a length of heavy string. Stack the bundles upright in an area where they are protected from moisture. Allow the wheat to cure thoroughly before attempting to thresh and winnow. The wheat will be hard and you will no longer be able to dent the kernel with your thumbnail. So early this morning SF went down to the fields and decided that we should go head and harvest the wheat. We took over half of W’s barn so that we could store the wheat until it had a chance to dry. Thank goodness he has a large barn. All the guys worked at harvesting the wheat until lunch. When the grains (oats, wheat and corn) were planted they were planted acre fields alternating fields. So by lunch time with they had knocked out about a 1/3 of the wheat. At lunch the discussion turned to the oats. We would need some for human consumption but most the oats were planted for the animal grain. Did we want to leave it in the field or cut it…that was the topic of discussion. They finally decided to cut it and sack the grain and then bale the stalks for grain. Thursday they hope to harvest oats. The field corn is going to be left until the last so that it will dry faster. The women and children worked hard also. They gathered all the fruit that they could find that was ready. Then headed to the gardens, the melons, squash, peas and beans had to be harvested today as well as the tomatoes, okra….eeeekkkkkkk…looks like everything is coming in at once. We need longer days and more bodies. It looks like we will all be working from sunup to past sundown the next couple of weeks. What is scary my bones are aching which means a storm is coming. At least the ripe melons are in and they will not burst from the added moisture. We will have to stay on top of the tomatoes gathering the ripe ones daily so if it does rain they won’t burst. V is coming over tomorrow to bring more canning jars and all of their canners. We will be doing beans and tomatoes tomorrow. I need more drying racks, what I would not give for an electric dehydrator or two about now…. We still have potatoes, peanuts and carrots to dig. But they can wait a little longer if need be. We don’t have that many peanuts planted but I want to make peanut butter. Elizabeth arrived later in the day and stayed for supper. She and P dropped the bomb shell on us. They plan on getting married on Sunday during Labor Day weekend. That is 26 days away (fainting here) they have worked out all of the details with Mr. S and I have been told he couldn’t be happier. I asked Beth if she and Abby were speaking again. She said sort of, Abby was being stubborn. Both P and Beth looked at N then. He looked up and said “What?” We all chuckled. Ray cleared his throat and announced that he and E were getting married the same weekend. N caught on and said NOPE not going to happen NO WAY. That woman will drive me to an early grave. Everyone laughed but we could tell that he was hurt. Beth told me later that N had made several trips to the lodge to see Abby but they were getting no where. As she started to leave she asked if it would be ok for her and Abby to come and help with the harvest. She wants to help especially since she will be part of this family soon. I told her the more the merrier. I told her we would be working with tomatoes and beans tomorrow. Beth said she would bring her stringing and snapping fingers. LOL. Thank goodness supper was light and everyone pitched in to help because I think I would have fallen asleep and drowned in the dishwater. As I dropped into bed later I told SF we needed to slaughter one of the pigs and pit cook it. He said he was thinking the same thing. He asked did we have meat for lunch tomorrow. I told him yes we had jerky that I had planned on soaking and making burritos out of tomorrow. He said good then he and the guys would take care of preparing the pig tomorrow afternoon and putting it in the pit overnight. That way it would be ready for lunch. He told me that Beth’s visit tomorrow will serve two purposes one is to help but P told him that she was also bringing most of her stuff down here. He said P would be moving into our barn for a few weeks and Beth was going to go ahead and move into the house. She is hoping Abby will come and keep her company. I was a little surprised but SF said that she had not unpacked anything since their arrival and she wanted slowly unpack and get things in order so that they will be set for winter. Mr. S told her that after Labor Day we would have 6-8 weeks at most before winter sets in and we have snow. I fell asleep with 9-11 weeks running through my head…9 weeks – 63 days…oh man I like the 9 weeks better, 3 months sounds even longer. Either way you slice it we have little time left to prepare for winter and the question is will we be able to make it. So much to do….zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

I was devastated. I cried all the way home. We went by the hill and no one was there and as we started up the trail to mothers and ran in to Chef and Mr. H they said they had already left. LEFT? But how did they get up the hill. Mr. H said they went out the north side down a fire trail. Mother left without saying good bye? Tears were streaming down my face. Mr. H and Chef both were choked up. Chef said Mother had left something at the lodge for me. We turned and rode back to the lodge with Mr. H and Chef with me crying the whole way. We didn’t stay long at the lodge. Only long enough for Mr. S to hug me and hand me the package that Mother had left. He also told me that P had been to see him and asked to marry E. I felt bad but I told him Abby and Beth had had a big fight last night and we would coming back to lodge today sometime. He just nodded. He said P had said something about it. I didn’t know what else to say so I took the letter and the package and climb back atop Mister and SF and I started back home. I felt totally lost it was like I had lost one of my own family members. I couldn’t believe she was gone. I know in her position I would have done the same thing but…. We passed Beth and Abby on the way P and N were riding with them back to the lodge. Beth said that E had come over to stay with the children. I could tell things had gone from bad to worse the girls were not speaking. Abby was riding in the wagon with N and Beth was riding a horse along side P. We stop and I hugged their necks and told them they were welcome back anytime. Beth said she would be in touch concerning the wedding. She wanted a small affair. I laughed and said that would not happen. Everyone would want to attend. He and P just looked at each other. I told them it did not have to be fancy they could get married in jeans but do not deny these people something to celebrate. Smiled and nodded. As we left the kids I cried that much harder because mother would not be here for the wedding. SF pull his horse closer and wrapped his arm and me and said maybe we should have stayed at the lodge and I just shook my head. He chuckled and said maybe we should have brought the wagon and I shook my head again. He asked if I could make it I just nodded so we picked up the pace and headed home. After the children were bathed and in bed I took the packages and letter to the bedroom and read them… Dear M23B, Since you are reading this letter you know we left the valley. I am sorry we didn’t have time to tell each and everyone of you good-bye. I am not really sure I could have said good-bye in person. Each of you mean so much to me. I will send word as soon as we arrive. Please keep us in your prayers and we will do the same. I will always carry with me the memories of the trail ride here and the many nights spent around the campfires. Mr. S is holding another puppy for you if you want it if not he will find it a home. I knew you were wanting another puppy for Aidan. The packages are quilts for the P&N I saw how they were looking at Mr. S’ goddaughters so I gather there will be weddings soon and it my way of saying thank you to them for helping the rest of my family to get into the valley. Take care and remember to check on Quilty. Love Mother SF found me curled up in a ball on the bed with more tears streaming down my face. He scooted me to the center of bed and laid down beside me and just held me while I cried.

We had so much fun gathering wild greens. We even found milk thistle. I remember my grandmother rubbing the sticky substance you get when you crush the stems and leaves on my hand one time when I burned it. It took the pain away and it didn’t blister. Well we were able to pick tomatoes today. I didn't realize it but we have a lot of tomato plants. It was like they all turned red at one time. We canned tomatoes today...tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, tomato paste and ketchup. My hands are so raw it is not funny. I forgot I how allergic to tomato juice I was until I started peeling tomatoes. Oh well it will be all worth it. The green beans were ready also. So we taught the children how to make leather britches. They had fun "sewing" the beans. The next couple of bushels of beans will be canned. The field peas will mostly be left to dry in the fields but some of those will be canned also. I also made more pickles today. The early summer squash is just about finished producing but I have planted a several more plants in the green house. Hopefully those will start producing here soon and we will have a second harvest. But for now all of the squash has been gathered either dried or divided among us and stored in root cellars or cold caves. SF and the guys harvested the sweet corn and the white corn today. they cut stalk and all and hung them upside down in the cold caves or in the root cellars. They should last several months that way. The field corn will be left to dry in the fields then shelled as needed to feed the animals. The brussel sprouts that were planted in the gardens have been harvest. But we also planted some in all the green houses. Next to be harvested will be the root crops. SF dug a few potatoes today and they are various sizes. Yesterday evening I did get onions bulbs planted in the green house. Between hay, firewood, and gathering in the harvest and getting things for winter we are staying busy. It is hard to believe that is the middle of August. So much to do and time is getting short. I worry about Mother leaving the valley so late. I wonder how far they will have to travel and if their family will have sufficient food for the winter. I wish they would stay till spring, but I know they want to be there and settle before winter so that they can start planting in spring. I am envious of her in a way she will have all of her family together. As much as I love my children and so thankful they are with me I wish I could be closer to our families. Tomorrow SF and I are leaving at first light to ride over to Mother’s to see if she needs help. We will leave everyone here. Beth and Abby have agreed to watch the children. I have made sandwiches for SF and I to take with us and we will be going by horseback so we can travel faster. It will still take us half the day to get there. Today P& Beth had a big blow up but I think they finally said how they feel about each other. One minute they are arguing and yelling next minute they are lip locked and didn’t look like they were coming up for air any time soon. Well that was until N yelled get a room and cracked up laughing. P glared at N and mouthed some words that would have gotten his mouth washed out with soap and Beth turned 50 shades of red. Every time they were together after that there they were either holding hands or had their arms around each other. Now if the other two would just follow their lead things on the mountain would be a lot more peaceful. May be not as entertaining but more peaceful. After Abby and Beth retired for the evening P asked to speak to he dad alone. I just smiled and headed inside to check on the twins. After P left SF told that he had planned on riding to the lodge tomorrow to talk to Mr. S and ask for her hand in marriage. It was about that time we heard yelling and screaming outside. We rushed out to see what was going on and Abby and Beth were arguing. It seemed Beth told Abby that P had asked her to marry him and she said yes. Abby turned to us and announced that when we returned from Mother’s that she and Beth would be moving back to the lodge. SF and I were speechless but told the girls if that is what they felt they must do then we would help them. Abby stomped off back to the tent leaving Beth standing with us in tears. She apologized for disturbing us and headed back to the tent. SF and I both went to bed with heavy hearts. So much was happening in the valley that was beyond our control.

Dear Journal, Was so busy yesterday to finish writing last night. Yesterday we worked at unloading the wagon and getting the stuff stored. One of the crates contain fruit trees well small saplings. It will take years before they produce. But it is fruit that will thrive in this zone. I laughed when I saw how the boys had transported the canoe. They were able to obtain some yeast, baking soda and baking powder. Oh sugar, powder sugar, brown sugar and granulated sugar. There were a few other things but I don’t even remember now that I am writing. The rider arrived early this morning he came with shocking news. Mother and her clan was leaving all of them. I was crushed, I couldn’t believe they were leaving. The Q's and family arrived a short time later. I was surprised when she brought the children with her but she said that she wanted them exposed to the chicken pox since they could not remember having itchy red spots. I couldn't blame here I did the same thing with my boys. I wanted them to have them when they small so that it would not be so bad on them. Today the women, V,E, K, Q, A, Beth and myself all went to gather wild greens and herbs. Abby stayed behind with the twins. The guys went firewood hunting. They wanted to get everyone at least 12 cords before winter set in. As we gather wild herbs and greens I couldn’t help but think I sure wish Mother was here. I had my herb book with me and tags to put around the plants so I would know what they were when I got back to the green house. We gathered some young plants so that we could plant them in the green house. That evening I told SF I wanted to ride over to Mother’s before she left. He said we would leave at first light and head that way. They would have to go up the hill so we would go by there. Sf told me that each family has at least 3 wagon loads (which he figured was 9 cords) of firewood. They even gathered some for the Q’s.

I had to move, I couldn’t lie here anymore. I needed to find out if I was dreaming last night of if the boys were really home. I quickly dressed and headed to find SF. As I walked out the front door there sat our wagon loaded down and SF, P&N sitting in the summer kitchen drinking coffee. N asked me if I was awake this time and I told him yeah I thought so. They were telling their dad what it was like outside the valley. Everyone especially Mr. H had tried to get the Rocks to come on this trip but they are still holding out. Mr. H seems to think they are waiting on someone but he didn’t know who. They said T was at the farm when they got there. He had been able to secure some stuff for Mr. Rock but wasn’t able to get all that I had asked for. N said he had gotten a call from his CO while he was there. His CO was just checking to see if the cell number was still good. He has six months left on his recall contract. I smiling like the cat that got into the cream and said well it doesn’t work here so they can’t call you. We all laughed until P reminded me that they could track the GPS. I reached over and took the phone from N and took the battery out. P said mom they probably already have his coordinates and could find him if they wanted to. I glared at him and said only as far the Rock’s ranch. I didn't tell them but my stomach did flip flops and sank to my knees at that tidbit of news. I asked N how he liked his new cabin. He said it was great and he was really grateful to those that helped rebuild it. P said he like having the separate bedroom. The original cabin was sufficient but he liked having the separate bedroom instead of sleeping in the loft. He will now use the loft as a storage and extra sleeping space. I asked N if they build his cabin with a loft. He said no but he did have a large room with a kitchen off to the side with a storage room there. Plus he has a large closet storage area in the bed room. They both said it would last them until they were married and had children. We moved on to discuss what still needed to be done. W had arrived by now. He said A was keeping the kids home so they would not bother the twins. SF said that 3 of the 4 lofts were filled with hay. W’s barn needed hay and his loft was the biggest. It would probably take what is left right around us to fill his loft. R&V are using caves for barns and storage and they have their hay gathered The field corn is being left in the field to dry as long as possible then it will be cut and hung in the barns to finish drying. P&N each still need a smoke house and root cellars so those are top priority right now. They are going to go look at W’s root cellar today. Since W’s will serve a dual purpose as a storm shelter as well as a root cellar. Ray was the topic of discussion next. SF told the boys how he had pitched in and helped while they were gone and we felt obligated to offer him some produce as payment. They all agreed on that. Ray had told us that Mr. S had said he would provide for them the first winter since they were brought along as security and hired hands. But the next year they would be expected to provide most for themselves. Ray had also selected land across the river and was helping R&V well actually he was helping K&E more since they had their own place. P&N raised their eyebrows at that. My boys were overprotective of K&E they were like their sisters. I told them that E was probably the reason Ray chose the land that he did. They just looked at each other. W spoke up and said he was a great guy and was treating K&E rather well. That seems to appease P&N. The topic moved on to water storage. SF explained what he wanted to about the water tower. P said that we could dig a well by hand. SF said that would work for down in the valley but we are sitting on the side of a mountain…rock…lots of rock. They started discussing possibly tapping in to the spring and running water into the house but then again we come back to what happens if the spring freezes or it source freezes. We were all stumped. It is hard to pump water hill but that looks like what we may have to do. Talk moved to winter foliage for the animals. SF suggest the fields that are planted in wheat and oats be turned and winter grass be planted for the animals. We have enough grass seed for a few years. Especially if we sow it thin and let it fill in. I changed the topic to food for the humans. We started discussing what canned, stored and dried. We talked about what plants were going in the green house, and then came meat. I did not want to use the freezer. SF said that he was pretty sure that the meat could hang in the smoke house through the winter. We were high enough that the weather would be cold enough to keep the meat at a safe temperature. We discussed how much meat we would need. I said I did not want to butcher any of the livestock this year well except for the boars. I wanted to up the number of sows to 4 and breed them twice next year. The goats we would need to breed as often as possible to increase our stock as well as the sheep. So far in the valley and on the mountain we have seen goats, sheep, elk, moose and deer. Just out side the valley is bison but it would be too hard to get in to the valley. But it would be nice to have a large animal like that one would feed half of us for almost the entire winter when supplemented with the elk and deer. P said he would talk to Mr. S but he was against going out right now. Even close to the valley are poachers and renegades. It would be too dangerous to go out and try to bring a bison in. It was going to be a very long day and we had not even gotten started unloading the wagon….so we were off to take care of that right after breakfast.

It was dusk and the girls and I were in bed. They were asleep and I was just on the edge of sleep when I heard the dogs barking. I couldn't wake up enough to go and see what was happening. Then I heard voices some one was here. Its dark something must be wrong I needed to get up but my body would not cooperate. They continued to whisper but I recognized those whispers then I was wide awake and sat straight up in bed. That was N I knew that laugh anywhere. I scooted to the end of the bed grabbed my robe and tripped all over myself trying to get out of the room without waking the twins. I opened the door and literally feel right into P's arms. I was crying they were laughing Abby slipped behind me to check on the twins and close the door so we didn't wake them. I kept pinching myself to make sure I was awake. I couldn't believe it they were home. I don't know who was more shocked P or N when I turned called the girls Beth and Abby instead of Elizabeth and Abigail. The girls blushed when I introduced them. Then I realized they remembered each other from the last WT. I just couldn't believe it they were back. W&A and their family were there, along with R&V and their whole clan. P handed me a thick letter from T it was more like a book. I laid it aside and said I would read it later. Then I noticed this strange guy standing there I didn't recognize. Every one noticed me staring and P spoke up and introduced Jerry. Jerry? Wait are you Q's boy? He nodded and said yes ma'am. He didn't stay long he had just ridden in with P&N he wanted to get home before it was too dark to see. I told him to tell his mother we would see them all Friday. He said he would and then he headed out. Everyone sat around talking and I fell asleep in the rocking chair with P&N sitting on the floor on either side of me. SF woke me and he guided me to bed. I said I wanted to stay up and talk. He laughed and said they had all left but would be back for supper tomorrow. My boys were home FINALLY we were all back together safe and sound.

Back up back up back up…the draft horses were good at this but then again we have done this many times before. Things were going smoothly today except for one of the first wagons. It was heavier than we expected. We will be breaking for lunch soon. If we didn’t need so many people we would eat in shifts and keep working stopping only long enough to change out horses on the counter weight. N has some of the group and all of the animals around and down the long way. He said he would be back up top after lunch. Our two wagons will be the last to go down. Whoa boy it’s okay just a little more and we will down the hill with this one; only about half dozen more to go. You will be home tucked away in your stall tonight with an extra portion of grain. Yeah you like that don’t you ol’boy well looks like that wagon is down the hill, well one more then lunch time. (Mean while at the bottom of the hill) Hey N, Hey Jerry glad to see you made it. How are you settling in? Good, it is great to be back with Mom and the kids they took in are quite entertaining. Wow N have you ever seen so many pretty girls in one place. N had noticed that a lot of people were here since he knew his family wasn’t here he hadn’t been looking for anyone. Well he did look for Abigail but he didn’t expect to see her since Mr. S was at the top. He was disappointed in a way. Uh no Jerry I can’t say I have seen so many pretty girls in one place. You don’t really see them do you N. Humm not really, oh I looked when I first come down but no one caught my attention. So who is she? Jerry I think you have taken too many knocks on the head. He does protest too much. N looks long and hard at Jerry…Marine staring down Army but rank/age won out. Maybe there is, maybe there isn’t. Come on give a name. Fine Abigail. Whoa Mr. S goddaughter? Yeah you know her? LOL yeah I got to know her and her sister at the ranch, you will have your hands full with that one buddy. Me???…P is smitten with her sister. Elizabeth? Same one. Man you guys are braver than I am. First of all those two are spoiled brats and two they are Mr. S goddaughters, that would be like dating the general’s daughter. Well Jerry I dated a master sergeant’s daughter and lived to tell about it and P dated a colonel's daughter and lived so I guess I will have to deal with the spoiled brat. Jerry shakes his head and walks off mumbling something about him not being the one with too many knocks on the head. N watches him as he leaves then heads over to get something to eat. Just as he gets his plate he feels a slap on the back it was P he had come down with the last wagon to eat. They have brought all the women, children and animals down. How many wagons are left P? About half dozen two of which are ours. Mr. S thinks we will be finished in 4 or 5 hours once we get started back. Good we will be home before sundown. Stop looking around P they are not here. I wasn’t look for them. Oh don’t go there Jerry has already nailed me to the wall. He is here? Yeah he said something about going on and driving a couple of the wagons down. Maybe I will see him at the top then. We switching after lunch P? Yeah I guess. We will change out the horses too. Oh Mr. S told me on the way down that our team of oxen and wagon will be used to haul stuff to the lodge and we can pick them up there. Ok maybe we will ride in together and pick it up later in the week. I was just thinking that N. Well looks like everyone is finished. Let’s get this show on the road. I am so ready for my bed in my new house. Oh that’s right N you haven’t seen your new house. Well you did run back to get your rifle. Wait that was still up the mountain at mom and dad’s wasn’t it. Yeah it was I rode past it but it was dark so I really didn’t see it. I heard Mr. S remodeled yours also. What?!?! Yeah dad said something about Mr. S adding on to yours and putting the finishing touches on that you didn’t get to before you left. Now this I have got to see. Well the sooner those wagons are down the sooner we can go home. Well what are you waiting on N Christmas? (at the southern most end of the valley up on the mountain…) You are up early M23B. I guess I am Abby. The girls slept better last night so I was able to cat nap. I need to get my days and night straight especially since we are going wild green gathering Friday. I figured I would take a nap this morning then go to bed with the girls, we will sleep in my bed that way if they wake up they will wake me up. So what is on the agenda for today? I feel like I have lost a week, I never was any good working the night shift. Abby and Beth looked at each other (they had hoped to surprise M23B with the laundry but now that she is up they didn’t know how that would work.) Beth spoke up and said well since you are up you and Abby can check out the lower garden and see how the corn is coming along. And see if there are anymore strawberries you would probably want to dry some more. Abby jumped right in and followed Beth’s lead and said yeah Beth can stay up here and entertain the twins. Sounds good to me let me grab some baskets and then we will head down. Abby jumped up and said I will get them I will meet you at front. Ok?!?!? (something was up but I didn’t know what) I will look in on the twins and then we will head down. Where is SF and the boys? They are cutting hay again today. They almost have all of the hay lofts full. I think they are working on W’s now. They filled yours Monday then yesterday they were able to P’s and half of N’s filled so today they are finishing N and starting on W’s. SF said he wanted to get all the lofts filled before fall and before the rain gets here. He said that it looks like it will rain tomorrow. Oh I hope it does rain tomorrow that means it will make transplanting wild plants easier. Plus we need the rain. Abby was back with the baskets so we headed down the mountain to the first plateau to check on the garden there. The girls were acting strange but I couldn’t figure out what was going on. Maybe they are ready to move back to the lodge. So Abby how are you liking the valley? Well to tell you the truth I am not sure. It is totally different than what we are used it. OH honey it is different that what any of us are used to. Remember we were used to having running water and a toilet that would flush. Abby laughed and yeah I guess you were. But I meant we grew up with servants and we didn’t have to do anything but be social butterflies. This life style is so different so demanding. I didn’t know what to say to Abby. She didn’t realize it was different and demanding on all of us. We were quite for a few minutes then she said something that surprised me…Yes I like the valley. There are some really nice people here. There are some really nice guys here to…real southern gentlemen. She blushed when she said that. Abby I don’t how to say this so I am just going to ask it flat out. She looked at me kind of funny. I took a deep breath and said how much longer to you and Beth plan on staying with us. She looked hurt before I could finish. I went on to explain that we were concerned about them staying in the tent and we did not want them to get trapped at this end of the valley without some type of solid roof over their heads. I told her it is not that we don’t enjoy having them we were just concerned about their safety if bad weather set in. She smiled then and said they had been talking about it and would like to stay until the harvest was over then go back to the lodge. I told her that SF said we were just going to have to add another addition on to the cottage for them. She laughed and said no that we wouldn’t have to do that. She said they were actually using us to learn all they could because there were a couple of certain gentleman they wanted to impress. I told her I thought that usage was a two way street. They had been a BIG help to us not only with the gardens but now with the twins. She asked me if I thought life was like this when the settlers first started coming west. I told her I was pretty sure that every time a new settlement was started from the pilgrims to those that settled in California and Alaska it was done this way. We worked in silence for a while longer then moved on down to the lower garden. SF and the boys come by and stopped to help gather corn. SF told that he had planned on cutting the stalks and hang them in the barn to dry. Then we could shell off corn to grind this winter for cornmeal. Right now I was just working on getting enough for a couple of meals. We rode back up the mountain in the buckboard as we pulled in we caught Beth hanging the last load of clothes then it hit me what they were up too. I hugged both her and Abby and told them they didn’t have to do the laundry but I surely appreciated it. I think it embarrassed Beth that we caught her. Lunch was fresh vegetables. We grilled corn, and stir-fried green beans and grilled squash. We even had a couple of ripe tomatoes and red onion. And there was muskmelon. Yummy juicy muskmelon. The watermelons are not ready but that was the best muskmelon I had eaten in a long time. The twins loved it I think all they ate was corn and muskmelon good thing there was two of them. Labor Day we should have a good supply of corn, watermelon and muskmelons. The okra is coming in I will need to start canning and drying that next week. There is so much to do and right now all I can think about is a nap.

Peeking in on M23B's mountain. Well girls how were the patients today. They were not as cranky earlier today, but this evening their fever spiked again. Abby is M23B still asleep? Yes sir the girls were clinging to her this morning and didn't want her to go to bed so it was almost lunch time before she went to sleep. I appreciate you girls staying and helping. I don't know what I would have done with you. V is tied up helping K with Zoe, she has a bad case and is really cranky but at least she doesn't have to watched 24/7 kept from scratching. That is true and there is only one of her. LOL Beth that is so true. Well lets see what we can come up with for dinner. Oh M23B made hobo dinners and stuck them in the fire pit she said they should be ready by dinner time. SF I am worried about M23B she doesn't look well. Beth she is not a night person. She tried working night shift before and nearly drove us all over the edge. Well Abby and I could switch with her. Good luck Beth but I think she had rather do it this way she can handle the girls at night by herself but they need one on one during the day. Plus this way she can can stuff at night when it is cooler. I saw all the beans this morning she had canned. Yeah Connor and Aidan had picked them yesterday. She also sliced the squash and zucchini and set it to drying. Well girls let's let her sleep a while longer are the twins alseep. Yes Beth and I gave them another oatmeal bath and then Beth read to them they have been asleep for about 30 mins now. Well lets go outside so we dont' wake them.

Checking on with P&N (around the camp fire at the top of the hill).... Hey P can you believe it we will be home in our beds in less than 48 hours! Can't come soon enough N. I am so trail weary I don't think I went to see a wagon or saddle for the next 6 months. LOL P what are you going to do ride you bike? Or walk...as much as I love horses I am tired of traveling. Say N what are you going to do when we get to the valley? I have been thinking about that at first I thought I would look up Abigail but I think I would like sleep and a hot shower and shave first. Yeah she would probably appreciate the hot shower and save (whoomp...towel bounces off P's head) Yeah well at least I remembered soap on this trip. I can't help it we used all of mine on the last trip. So P what are you going to do once everyone is down the hill? Probably the same as you but you know we will have to stop by and see mom before heading to our place. You don't think she is already at the bottom of the hill? You have a point ok so we will have to go and have dinner with her and we will have to deliver all of her stuff. Dibs on the canoe... If you think for one moment that mom is going to let you have that canoe you are crazy anyway if she doesn't want it I get it. You just how do you figure that Well N I am the oldest and I figured out how to get it here. Excuse me but it was my suggestion to tie the hammock to the bows of the wagon cover and store the canoe in the hammock. Fine if you are going to be such a baby and you are the baby of the family then I guess we can share it. Emma and Sophie are the babies now. I wonder how they are doing. Think they have forgotten us over the last 5-6 weeks? I doubt it but who knows. Oh darn N please tell me you remembered to pack those dolls that got left behind. Dolls what dolls (P gives N dirty look) Oh you mean those dolls. Of course, some brother you are just now remembering them. Hey at least I remembered the perfume and nail polish for Abigail and Elizabeth. Fine we will call it a draw. Hey P what do you think of Abigail? N you could do worse. What do you think of Elizabeth? You could do worse. (The towels lands on top of N's head) Do you think they have taken to valley life yet. Oh gag me with a spoon we live in the "valley" LOL (N just shakes his at at P as him does his Valley Girl impersonation) Well N since you don't like my valley girl impersonation I am turning in. Hopefully we will be able to get an ealrly start and get everyone down the hill. Just as P started to climb in to the wagon Mr. S rode up. Well boys looks like it is finally the end of the trail for now. Yes sir hopefully the next group will be the Rocks. I hope so too boys. Well I come to give you some news. No sure if it is bad but the twins have the chicken pox they woke up Monday covered in spots so your family will not be at the bottom of the hill. Mr. S, yes P, do they know we are here. No your dad delivered a wagon and a team of oxen Sunday but at the time I wasn't expecting you to next Monday so I told him y'all would be here within a week. He had already left when the messenger arrived letting me know you were 3 days out then when your dad arrived to give the news of the chicken pox I wasn't at the lodge and Chef didn't think to let him know you would be here today. Wonderful...P looked at N...Wonderful? Sure P don't you see we can surprise mom. She doesnt' know we are here. Hum boys do you really want to do that I mean she has two 3 yrolds with the chicken pox. Sure we do. Mr. S you don't know our mom. We never get to surprise her. She always figures things out. Never once have we been able to give her something without her figuring it out before hand. Wait P there was that one time we hid her box of chocolate in the freezer under all of the eggplant. LOL oh yeah N I forgot about that but she had had the flu the whole week before Mother's day that she could have cared less if we knocked the house down around us as long as we let her sleep. When was this boys? Uh...well Mr. S I guess that would have been last year. LOL Ok well I will let you boys turn in I want to start at sun up so we can be through before night fall. Mother's clan is here to help along with a few others. I know you parents are going to be upset with me for not letting them know but I know they need to focus on the twins right now. And there are plenty of strong bodies to help this time. Mr. S did Jerry and the mule team make it oka. Sure did N. Jerry said they came on with no problem, well of to bed boys this time tomorrow you should be in your own beds. See you in the morning Mr. S. Night boys

Well SF and I finally got to talk this morning. He joined me on my “ledge” this morning. He asked if I had gotten any sleep. I told him not much the girls had been restless all night and had cried in their sleep. I ended up sleeping in their room. I put them both in the same bed and took the other bed. He told me that I should take a nap with the girls today that I looked dead on my feet. I laughed and gee thanks honey I love you too. He chuckled and said he didn’t mean it that way he just meant I looked exhausted. And he was right I am exhausted. We chatted about the visit yesterday. He said he got a chance to talk to Mr. S and told him what he would like to with the water tower and Mr. S was interested. He said that is something that needs to be looked into. SF said he explained to Mr. S about trying to obtain metal bands and Mr. S said he would see what he could do to about locating some. Mr. S told SF that he would send Mr. Rock a message and have him start looking. Mr. S also thanked him for bringing our wagon and a set of oxen. He told SF that he expects the WT within the week. SF told me he saw Mrs. Q and said she would love to go gathering wild plant life. I told him we should go Friday especially since the WT would be here within the week. I want to get as many of the herbs gathered so I can dry some and also transplant some to the greenhouse. SF said he would ride over this morning and tell her. He also told me that all the men were going to gather firewood. SF wants to move to gathering wood between our cottage and the back of The Q’s. He and Connor have already gathered a lot of the dead wood between us and the river. SF said there is probably another 4 or 5 cords but he wants to check out the other side of us. I told him that I am sure the Q’s need help gathering wood. SF said when P&N get back they are going to start at the trapper’s cabin and work around to the river. Making sure everyone has at 12 cords of wood. R said they had been working on their wood and pretty well set. So far he B and Ray had gathered 10 cords gathered for K and 8 for R&V. Ray has 5 cords. I was glad to hear they had been working like crazy getting ready for winter. As SF and I were talking I noticed E and K crossing the river and headed to the garden they were in the strawberry patch. SF told me that V said they would be ok come winter. Her and the girls were trying to put up 3 months of fresh food each. They didn’t want to take away from our family since they came with lots of dried food. Said they would need mostly fruits and meats. They would like some potatoes, onions and winter squash but would not be upset if there was not enough for them. She wants us to give any extra to Ray. V sent word that she would be over to help me put stuff up that she needed the practice. I told SF I was glad that V and family came prepared that I had been worried about not having enough planted for everyone. SF said that he was sure they would be ok through this winter and through the summer until next years garden started producing. I told SF that once I was sure we had enough to see us, P&N and W&A through winter and into next summer then I would send the extra over to Ray. SF said that V wants to go with us when we gather the wild plants. He said that Ray hold told him the women over the river had been busy getting the green houses up and going. They had turnip greens, collards, onions, along carrots and other winter crops. That made me feel so much better. I don’t know why I was worrying about them they lived a farmer’s lifestyle and knew the dangers of not being prepared. Out of the blue SF started laughing, I asked him what was so funny. He told me that he saw Mt.Rider and she was asking about the weather at this end of the valley. She wanted to move down here because of the wind. I laughed and told him did he tell her that the wind had been nasty at this end also. He said yeah and said she just huffed. He was still laughing. I said they must have had some strong winds earlier this week. He said they probably got the brunt of it since it was blowing from the south. I told him come winter she will be glad she is at that end of the valley. We will get the northern wind and freeze out butts off. SF said he doesn’t know how the boys are going to like living near the river this winter. That wind off the water brrrrrrr. SF surprised me and said he was concerned about some of the people in the valley. I just looked at him. He went on to explain that he heard people talking about how they were going to barter for what they needed this winter. I didn’t say anything I just kept quite and let him talk. I didn’t tell him that is what had concerned me the most. I knew Mr. S&H had stocked the lodge with supplies but with so many coming on WT 2&3 those supplies will be put to the test. SF was shaking his head and said unless Mr. S asked us to barter he really didn’t want to not this year. We really didn’t have anything to barter other and a few pigs but he wanted to make sure all of our clan had plenty. We really didn’t have the herds to slaughter this year. Other than the 12 roos that I was going to cull we really couldn’t cull the chickens. R&V brought a couple steers but that is just enough for each family to have a side of beef and the single members will only get a ¼ of a side. It was decided when they arrived that the beef would be divided based on size of family. Sf told me that R&V had been approached by Mr. S about taking in a couple of the orphans coming in. I asked what they said, he just grinned and said what do you think they said. I smiled I knew they loved kids as much as we did so they will be getting a new family. We continued to discuss the storage situation when we heard Connor hollering. We took off running. SF and his long legs ate up the ground faster than I could so he arrived about 10 paces ahead of me. Emma and Sophie stood in the door crying and covered in spots…Chicken Pox. Abby and Beth had heard Connor hollering and come running also. Beth said they had the pox so they would help with the twins. Great I sent Beth to boil some oatmeal I told her to make it thin and then pour it in the tub. I told her to strain the mush through cheese cloth and then tie the cloth up and toss it in the water. SF went to get the tub ready. The girls were covered from head to toe. I asked Connor if he had ever had the Chicken Pox he said that he got them from Aidan when he was a baby. Thank goodness. I asked him if anyone at the ranch had spots on them. He said that one of the worker’s kids had had them before they left. SF was back and I told him what Connor said about the worker at the ranch children having spots before they left. He said he was headed to The Q’s now and warn them. He would also go by and let K know so she can keep an eye on Zoe and he would let W know so that they can watch their kids. He would also ride to the lodge and let them know so the messenger could be sent out. I cringed when I thought of all the children that had come in on WT#2. SF asked what I wanted to do about the plant gathering hen party, I told him to tell Q we would schedule it later, Abby told me to keep the date that she would stay with the girls while we were gone. That she knew we needed to get those herbs gathered. I smiled and told him to tell Q we would go Friday if none of hers were sick. By then the girls should be over the worse of it. We would have to keep in out of the sun. SF went and run a cord from the converters to the girls room and set up a fan that he had brought with us. He said they needed to be kept cool and if need be we would unplug the freezer. He said it was time those solar panels were tested. Beth came and said the bath was ready. She had also made dry toast. The boys ran to do chores, SF headed out to deliver messages. That left Abby and I to bathe the girls. SF had to tub full of cool water and I noticed a cheese cloth full of oatmeal. I left Abby to watch them in the tub while I made some Chamomile tea. I hoped to get a couple of tablespoons down each one of them both were running fevers. The cool bath would go a long way in bringing down their temperature but they couldn’t stay in there all day or they would get chilled. I headed to drag out the medicine tote, I was pretty sure I had come calamine lotion. We will have a body painting party they will like that and they both love pink. Oh socks for the hands, can’t have them scratching. I also went and found a couple of SF’s white undershirts for them to wear. With my stash in hand I headed back to the tub to help get the girls out. Both Abby and Beth were with the twins so I ask them just to wrap the girls in towels and bring them into the cabin. I handed Abby and Beth each a cotton ball and the bottle of calamine and told them to dab each spot and to let it dry before dressing the girls in the t-shirts. I headed to get their tea and toast. When I got back they looked so cute in their pink polka-dots. After we were sure the lotion was dry we had a tea party at the kitchen table. They didn’t like the tea though it was diluted but we did manage to get a good bit down them along with their toast. Abby read Dr. Seuss books to them. I now know why I hung on to those books even after all these years. After One Fish Two Fish both girls were asleep. It was still cool in the cottage so we didn’t turn the fan on. Abby join Beth and I in the kitchen and we discussed what would need to be done for the next few days. This little surprise has set us back but nothing to be done about it. I pulled out my herb book and showed Abby and Beth the elderberry pictures and I told them where I had see them. Beth knew exactly what I wanted. She said that her grandmother made elderberry juice and had helped pick the berries when they were little. That was until their mother saw their hands and refused to let them help anymore. So they headed out to pick berries so we could make elderberry juice. V arrived a short time later with the makings of chicken soup. K had taken Zoe back to home and told her mom what was happening at our place so V come to help. We talked a few minutes and I told that Abby and Beth were gathering elderberries for juice. We talked about her new family then she sent me back to bed and told me to rest since I would be the one on night duty. Before going to lie down I showed her my stock of Chamomile tea and I told her they girls had willow bark tea and toast about an hour ago. She shooed me off to bed and headed out to the summer kitchen to make chicken soup. A couple of hours later I hear the twins stirring so I went to check on them and they were still running a fever. I had children’s liquid Motrin and liquid Tylenol but I wanted to give the tea a chance to work. I have them some strawberries and Chamomile tea and we were reading Green Eggs and Ham when Abby and Beth returned. Abby come to check on the girls and found them in bed with me. She said they were working on the juice now. The girls dozed off again but it was a fitful sleep so I knew they would not sleep long. V come back in the cabin and said the soup was just about ready. She said she cheated and had about a half gallon of juice just about ready. I just looked at her, she said ok so I didn’t let it set over night and I squished the berries before boiling them. She said that the girls had picked enough berries to make about 2 gallons of juice so she has some going the old fashion way and then she rushed some so the twins would have it to drink today. I told her their temperatures were not coming down with the tea so I was going to give them some children’s Tylenol if that didn’t I had the liquid Motrin also. I told her about the freezer and asked her to freeze some water in some zip lock bags. I told her if the fever didn’t come down then we would pack them in ice. I gave her a box of quart size freezer bags and asked her to freeze about a dozen bags. She laughed she said she couldn’t believe we had brought a freezer. I told her it was a tiny one only 5 cubic ft and it was a chest freezer. That is where we have been keeping the meat. Call me paranoid but until the weather drops and it starts staying in the 30s the freezer will be used. I went on to explain how we got it here and she couldn’t believe that W had rigged the wheels of the wagon to charge the batteries. I told her that he had been a life savior that I had hit a big reduced meat sale just before we left and didn’t have time to can it so we froze it all and brought it with us. She went to fill the bags with water and freeze them. When she came back she said that she had only filled them half full but had laid them on their side so they would freeze faster. The girls were up and crankier so we feed them soup and elderberry juice which they loved and I gave them each a dose of Tylenol. So we went back to bed and read and colored. They were asleep again in about an hour. This time I slept with them. It was later when I woke and I was alone. V had Beth and Abby give the twins another bath this time it was with cooler water and she put baking soda in the water. They were still running a fever but it wasn’t as high. She dressed them in t-shirts again and Beth was reading to them in their room. Abby and V were working on dinner so I went back to bed. V left later in the evening and Abby and Beth entertained the twins until bed time. I had slept most of the afternoon so I was ready for night duty and as cranky as they were I could tell it was going to be a long night. SF said he would take their room and they could sleep in our room with me. We gave them another bath and painted them pink again. Put socks back on the their hands to keep them from scratching and we were having a tea party when SF came in. I told him I was trying to get the Chamomile tea down them to help them sleep tonight. So he joined the tea party. I had added a little honey to their tea to help sweeten it. We were able to get a whole cup down each one of them. SF tucked up in bed and we read some more in about an hour they were asleep. By morning I felt like I had newborns in the house. They were awake every two hours last night and they were miserable. But between the tea and calamine lotion we had survived the first 24 hours. Abby and Beth were back on duty. So I headed to bed. SF stopped and told me that Megan had said they had all had the chicken pox. A said that Sean and Kyle had both the chicken pox so it looked like the only ones we were worrying about now was the twins and Zoe. Our worst fears were confirmed about an hour later when Ray rode into the yard. Zoe woke up this morning covered in spots. V sent word that she was staying with K today and they had everything under control. I asked SF if Q’s group had had the chicken pox and he said he didn’t ask he just told them that the twins had broke out and that Connor had said that one of the kids from the ranch had had the spots before they left. He said he would check on them later. But for now I was to go to bed.

(IRL have pulled my back sneezing. Stop laughing it is pollen season and I have been having sneezing fits) Emma wasn't feeling up to snuff this morning so SF took Connor, Aidan Beth and Abby and they rode to the lodge. The twins and I stayed at home. SF wanted to talk to Mr. S and I asked him to drop a note off there for Q asking her if she wanted to go with me to gather wild greens and herbs. SF told me not to worry about food for them they would make do with sandwiches. I made blueberry muffins last night and used some of my long term storage sausage and make a breakfast casserole. I knew we would be leaving early so I fixed it last night and set it in the cave so it would be ready to eat this morning. I left beans on the cook stove cooking over night to make burritos for lunch today. After SF and the others left both girls were cranky so we went back to bed. We curled up on my bed and read to them until they were both asleep. Moved them to their bed and then set up my quilting rack by the fireplace. I wanted to get several more quilts made before winter. I had quilts and blankets for our bed but needed quilts for the children's bed. In the last delievery of fabric there was some fleece in there to make blankets and sheets out of so I will need to get those sewed up soon. Right now I am working on a jean quilt. (IRL) I took all the worn out jeans that the guys had and cut them into squares and am making a quilt. This also gave me time to think about what is left to do before winter. Mr. S told us we would probably start having freezing temps at night around the middle of October if not before. He also told us not to be surprised if there was snow on the ground before Thanksgiving. Here it is the first of August and we have 8 weeks of good weather. So much to do so little time. We need more firewood. SF has gotten us up about 5 cords of dead wood but that will burn fast since it is so dry. We need at least 10 more cords. SF said he probably could get 5 more cords of dead wood but then he would have to start cutting trees. Neither of us really want to cut trees. Meat we were going to need fresh meat for the winter. It is still too hot to go hunting. Hopefully after the harvest is in then the guys can go hunting. I have about a dozen chickens that I am going to cull, too many roos. We have a couple of lambs we will cull this winter also. They are males and have been casterated so SF doesn't want to feed them through the winter. Plus we have all those pigs but we are hoping to use some of them to barter with. Darn I forgot to tell SF to put a sign up at the lodge about the pigs. I know we need to send a couple to the lodge. The twins were still asleep so I headed to the garden. Beth and Abby had picked a bunch of cucumbers yesterday and they said they left quite a few because they were not sure if they were big enough. I don't want them too big for pickles. There were a bunch of little cucumbers that would make perfect size sweet pickles. Two buckets later the twins were calling me. So I headed back to the cabin. I figured they would be hungry so I sat them at the table with milk and muffins. I sat about making bread and butter pickles and sweet pickles. I plan on using the cucumbers the girls gathered yesterday for the bread and butter pickles since they are bigger and the baby cukes I gathered for the sweet pickles. I dug out my bread and butter pickle recipe and started to work. 25 or 30 med. cucumbers 8 lg. white onions 2 lg. sweet peppers 1/2 c. salt 5 c. vinegar (white 40 to 50 grain) 5 c. sugar 2 tbsp. mustard seed 1 tsp. turmeric 1/2 tsp. cloves Wash cucumbers and slice thin. Chop onions and peppers. Combine all with salt and let stand three hours and wash and drain. Combine vinegar and sugar and spices. Put in large pot and bring to boil. Add drained cucumbers. Heat thoroughly. Do not boil. Pack while hot in sterilized jars and seal. I set about cutting the cucumbers and copped the onions and peppers and added the salt and let them standing. I turned my attention to the sweet pickles. For this recipe I am going to use the little cucumbers. This is my grandmother's recipe. 1 qt. vinegar 4 c. sugar 2 tbsp. salt 1 gallon cucumbers, sliced(or 8 pounds of baby cucumbers the no bigger than your little finger) 2 tbsp. mixed spices Combine vinegar, sugar, salt and spices and bring to boil. Add cucumbers, heat until cucumbers are hot through or turn color, not more than 5 minutes. Place in sterilized jars and seal. Process jars for 10 minutes in a boiling water bath canner. By the time that SF and everyone was back the twins and I had 24 pints of sweet and crunchy pickles canned and had started working on the Bread and Butter pickles. I hope to put up at least 24 more pints of each. I also need to put up pickle relish and a few pints of dill pickles. We don't each many dill pickles the guys eat them mostly with BBQ sandwiches. I need to send word to V that her and her girls need to come and gather cucumbers. I am sure the ones down the mountain need gathering also. While I finished the bread and butter pickles Beth and Abby set about making burritos. They were disappointed that I didn't wait on them to do the pickles but I told them that there were plently more out that and I still wanted to make another batch of both. Plus we needed to make relish and dill pickles. The twins were still cranky so they were put down for naps. Abby said they would not go down for naps yesterday so that is probably what is wrong. I agreed but we will see how they are tomorrow.