I had trouble with something on the server, so my sites have been partially to totally down due to dependence on the thing I had trouble with. It’s back up and working now. 
I found what happened to our pullet. The puppies got her. I have a page I constructed for that occassion here. [It'll open in a new window if you just click from a normal browser, unless you've over-ruled page behavior with your browser settings!]
It was a very sad find. I only found the evidence once I decided to stop looking for a whole chicken.
It’s been cold again lately. We ran out of firewood by the close of the evening last night, and Frank has business to attend to all day that didn’t get him home with more wood until early evening. A day late and a dollar short for any help today 
When it’s cold at night, the downstairs area really chills down heavily. The morning brings promise with the sun rising. As long as it’s clear, the kitchen and dining room are tolerable to some degree, depending on the outside temperature. But if it happens like it did today, the promise of good sunshine began, but was quickly snuffed out by heavy gray overcast by mid-morning. My feet were so cold I had to take off my shoes and go sit in bed with my computer or a book. If we’d had wood, I could have tended a fire in the dining room and it would have taken the edge off of anything the gray cold kitchen could throw at me. Ho hum. Tomorrow I have wood at least!
Accuweather said that “today” it’d be Mostly Sunny. It sure was NOT! Tomorrow is supposed to be Partly Sunny. Based on today, that’s not good news. As I said above, at least we have wood for tomorrow.
I have dinner going all day for tomorrow. Pulled Barbeque Pork. I’m just letting it go in the crock pot all day and night, and I’ll pull it in the morning. I’m using a bottled sauce this time, it’s Vidalia Barbecue sauce, a natural, no preservatives product we picked up at Harry’s. (It smells so good! I think it’d be best on grilled chicken, but it’ll be fine with pork too.) They are now owned by Whole Foods Market, but retain their original good food, broad ethnic varieties, fresh veggies galore, and grand selections of wine, cheese, etc. It’s just a better place now that there is some Whole Foods Market stuff going into Harry’s, a very good wedding of services and foods. We used to go to Whole Foods Market some times, but find Harry’s ultimately better now. Before it was occassional Harry’s, and more Whole Foods, but WF’s has made Harry’s the one-stop place for us the last year or more.
Well, apparently things are going on politically that I’ve not had first hand attention paid to. The D. Caucaus, and the State of the Union address. I’ve mostly heard other people talking about them, read commentary of regular folk, etc.
I don’t usually talk about politics here, but I will say a few things now. For years we were staunch conservative Republicans, and proud of it. In 2000 we voted for Bush, and by the time the inauguaration rolled around, we were not so proudly Republican. We’d bandied about with some folks on the internet over third party vs. Republican. We found that we had changed our position a bit to incrementalism, choose the best of the worst. So it wasn’t too much further we had to go, that last Presidential election did it for us. For me in particular, I was sick of it all, and pretty much said I’d not vote anymore “unless” …
Unless what? I don’t know. It’s not out there yet. I haven’t determined that any third party actually deserves a vote. My NOT voting is perhaps the most stewardship acting of all, to me. It’s not a message, it’s what’s right as opposed to what’s wrong.
A label for me is “Paleo-conservative” I have no possible party affiliation. No group stands but the “Constitution Party” but they aren’t it, in my estimation. I believe in grass-roots, not trickle down.
Frank and I are debating whether to get an absentee ballot or not this year. Hedging toward doing so. That way we can mull it over in the comfort of our home. Why not just get the ballot info ahead of time, and vote IRL? Because it’s just not the same. I want the actual ballot and me knowing that I am voting correctly or not. Internet and phone at hand with an at home ballot, one will find the answers one is seeking, and not overlook something and goof up as I would be privy to doing in a public anxious setting.
One thing about this is the way this State handles politics. In Florida you were registered to vote as whatever you were. You declared, basically, Republican, or Democrat, or Indepenent, others as well I suppose. We moved to Georgia, and you register to vote, that’s it. It was that evil “Motor Voter” program that signed us up too. Urg. We’d have sought out the right place to do it, we do believe that only those who desire to vote, and understand it should vote. Motor Voter is too easy.
So then on voting day, the precincts are just voting places, not particularly partisan. Weird.
That probably played a part in the toning down of our politics. We are fervent still, just in a better way. What the difference between Dems and Reps? Not much. Maybe 10 to 20 years. Or a way of dressing or talking. We are not inbetween those two. We are outside of the established political environs. We listen to Hannity on the radio sometimes, and it’s funny, he’s so, well, that’s enough.
It’s hard to be able to describe this. I’m more conservative than ever, yet more liberal than that. You know it’s really a true right and middle position all at the same time. It’s something that is not Libertarian, but somewhat similar in SOME ways. It’s just not so simple anymore. And THAT is alright. More black and white, less gray, some darker grays than lighter grays.
So a grass-roots method is what is best. That means doing the right thing right where you live. Local elections, local buying, selling, living, supporting. Our communitites breed the next leaders. Grass roots. Raising a family to God’s standards is exactly that.
