Freedom!

Good Morning:
Well we were there - when they opened I-5 to the truckers. We stood on the over pass and waved as they went past. What a site. And I know they were very glad.

It was alot of fun to watch the trucks go by.

This is the bridge the morning 1/9/09 Water going down.

I went to market with David on Sat. We did pretty good for this year, but we are about 1/2 of what we did last year. Now the gas prices are going up and that means feed will go up and so will other commodities. David had a guy yesterday say to him we should just have a straight gas price of $3.00 a gallon. David said sure that would be great..... we could all stay home, have no fresh produce (that you could afford), and the small farmers go out of business because grain is to high for us to affordably feed our stock. And for the diary person - we have stainless steel equipment and filters and rubber stops and chemicals to clean with. And then the cheese side its the containers, bags, processing equipment. All these things drive the cost of our cheese up and then no one can afford it. Thus the big guy wins again..... and the little guy gets lost in the dollars. Who can we trust to take care of us if we can't take care of ourselves? God! I can for sure say it doesn't matter if we are farming or not - that MY God will take care of us no matter what the economy is doing. AMEN!

Alright off my soap box. Just one more word..... shop the farmers markets this summer ..... WE NEED YOU! And while your at the market why not thank the farmer for his hard work to bring you good quality food.

David got to come home on Friday. He was sure glad. Thats why I know the truckers were glad to get on the road. He sold in three days $25 dollars of cheese - though it paid for two nights in a motel and ate six meals too and bought toilet things. Crazy. Oh well- God is Good.

Have a Great Day.

The Flooding!

This is Ali and her glowing hair. A covered Bridge at 3:30 today

Heading twords Adna, Wa.

The water is covering fields.

Good Evening to you all. To let you all know we are high and dry this flood around. We got up this morning to rain and the knowlage that the rivers were going to flood. So we decided to take a drive after chores this morning. We couldn't get very far from home. We tried going across I-5 at exit 68 and there was a road block. Then we went to Winlock and tword Toledo and viewed the Cowlitz River - it was pretty high. Then we went on Jackson Hwy and had to drive through three water over the road area's. (we could see the yellow line and we went slow). Then we headed out tword Adna and viewed the corn fields flooded and the ducks and geese and swans swimming on them like no big deal. We went on to a road called Twin Oaks and came to the road block. At this point there was alot of water rushing over the road. A house was surrounded by water and the barn doors were open with water rushing through the barn. Then we turned around and went through Napavine on hwy 603 to look out over the ridge. It looked like last year. It was pretty bad. I know Black Sheep Creamery got their flock out and to high ground and they got everything in thier house moved upstairs and I am sure they got evacuated out. When we came home it was raining again. We watched movies and played games on the computer and worked on our puzzel today. David on the other hand is still stuck up in Seattle. He stayed in a motel last night and went back to the market this morning to sell cheese. He said he wasn't sure if he was going to stay another night in a motel or try and get through. He said he needed to go get a shaver and shaving lotion and a tee shirt to wear tomorrow if he stayed.

So the girls and I did all the chores today. I have to say I am glad its David that is stuck - cause I wouldn't do very good in this situation - by myself.

I turned my cheese today, and froze milk from this morning. Tomorrow will be the same as today.... Hopefully David will be able to get home.

Have a Great evening.

Rain - Can we get a break - weather wize!!

The Before Picture of Danyel's hair and the after picture of Danyel's hair. She is giving about 12 inches of hair to Locks of Love.

Hello again. Well everyone's eyes are on the rivers around here. The rain total is getting higher and higher. We sit on a hill why would we be worried about rain totals? Well the water runs off the last year tree harvest area above us. We are keeping an eye on our back property for that river trickle that turned into a major water way flooding our basement.

As of 1o:30 the radio said we have had 1.75 inches of rain in the last 24 hours. We took Danyel to Napavine school for her class. Her school is one of the few schools that haven't sent children home yet. We are going to go drive around and take some pictures when we pick Danyel up from her class. We have loaded the girls 24 hour Civil Air Patrol packs and our boots and rain coats in case we see a need we can help.

Our goats are dry and the chores are all done. David went to Seattle to Market today and his report from there is that the wind is blowing really hard. Its not raining so much but very windy. We will keep him posted on the water issue so he can get home tonight.

Our big thing yesterday was getting Danyel's hair cut. She hasn't had it cut since she was very small, around 3. She loves her hair cut too. Ali had to have something so she bought hair color and dyed her hair very gold blonde. She looks fine - but I think she is glowing.

As for David and I we think we look fine and decided to let the girls have thier fun.

I'll give you another up date on the flooding tomorrow.

Have a great day and stay dry.... take an umbrella out with you today I think it might rain.