Christmas Eve, 2014
Dear Family and Friends,
Christmas greetings! It’s
been quite the year for us, especially beginning in late April when we closed
on a house just outside the tiny town of Bunn, twenty miles east of Wake Forest.
Called Kleinshire, it’s the beginning of a subsistence farming enterprise that
we’ve long dreamed about. Rosemary was so excited that she purchased Nigerian
dwarf goats even before we closed on the house. Thank God we did close, as
there were some complications at the last minute! One little doeling spent its
first few weeks in the dining room of our suburban rental.
The boys absolutely love
the freedom of the large yard and the pastures of Kleinshire. One of Franz’s
first projects was a play fort, complete with a large slide. Cyprian rides his
bike up and down the driveway and has already taken to building things with
hammer and nails. He is also progressing nicely with his reading and with math,
most recently subtraction with the help of an abacus. A little more reluctant
with Rosemary’s school lessons, Clement prefers to build forts out of laundry
baskets and sheets and to do battle as a combination of Batman and St. George,
with his costume paying homage to both: sword in holster, shield in hand, and
cape tied round his neck. Cletus, for his part, is happy to join his brothers
in whatever mischief they’re at. His favorite activities include tearing out
all the toys in his room and singing lustily in church (and pretty much
everywhere else, too).
Our biggest news, of course, is that number four will be
arriving toward the end of next month. Rosemary’s pregnancy is going well, and
she’s working w
ith a midwife to prepare for the birth. Boy or girl? Your guess
is as good as ours. In fact, if you’d like to join the guessing pool, send us
one dollar together with your guesses for the date and time of birth, the gender,
and the weight. Besides homeschooling the boys, preparing for the new baby, and
continuing with Tae Kwon Do, Rosemary is busy with her numerous homesteading
activities. In addition to the goats, who provide us with milk, we now have a
dog, a cat, two horses, three guineas, and a flock of egg layers. We’ve also
been raising organic broiler chickens to sell through the parish and Franz’s
school, processing a new batch every two or three months. Another big project
this past fall was processing the two pigs that we raised, including learning
to make everything from lard, to bacon, to headcheese. Finally, this spring
we’ll complete the farm by breaking ground for a full-sized garden.
Besides all the house upkeep, the maintenance of fences, the
construction of the chicken run, etc., Franz is busy with teaching and coaching
at St. Thomas More Academy. He had a full load of philosophy and Latin classes
this fall and is looking forward to adding a Southern Literature elective in
the spring. He hasn’t made much progress on the dissertation recently but plans
to get back on track over Christmas break. So, it’s a busy time for us, and it’ll only be busier once
the new baby arrives. But there’s so much for us to thank God for as we
celebrate the birth of our Savior.
Franz, Rosemary, Cyprian, Clement, Cletus, & baby on the way
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