Another Reason

Two days ago I experienced another reason to eat local and fresh foods. I got food poisoning. The only thing I ate different then the girls were green beans straight from the can. The girls ate them too, only after I cooked them well. To keep it short and not GROSS I will just say I thought I was going to die! Stomach cramps, explosive diaherra, dizziness and passing out.... I am much better today. Just feeling tired and weak. Thank goodness for Beky and her help.

The government wants to control the food we eat and where we buy it. They say it is in the name of "food safety". I have NEVER been sick from eating food I grew, raised or processed myself, or boughten from local farmers and producers. I have been sick several times from food I have boughten in stores from "big ag" (never as bad as the last time).

Please people... KNOW where your food is coming from. TRUST yourself and the people you buy from. The government is not who we should trust to keep us healthy and safe. DO that for yourself!

Did you notice the soapbox I'm standing on? Want to join me? Get involved! This is an issue in every state!

Now, no one die of shock........ I really am updating this thing. One of my goals this year is to update at least once a month. Now that I have "said" that out loud, I really am going to have to do it!
We have had lots of things happen since August.

Lyle is still working in North Dakota. The "obscence" amounts of money never materialized. In fact I worry (but I worry all the time any way). He is on a 20 day on and 10 day off schedule. So the 20 days gone stink, but the 10 days home are wonderful. He is still Lyle..... and I'm glad!

Levi was married on August 22, in Juneau. I'm not sure how it happened, but they had sunshine for the wedding. Our new daughter in law is Colleen Windom (now Williams of course). She is a nice girl and we are happy she is part of our family. They live about three miles from us. That probably won't last long since both of them pine for Alaska. Levi still works in the oil/gas fields near Big Piney/Pinedale WY.

Jake and Crissy are now in Washington. But just until Jake finishes school. He is going to wooden boat building school. He will be a journeyman carpenter when he finishes, but his love is boats. Crissy is due to have a little boy in March. Of course we are all excited about that! Juliet is two. She is the cutest, smartest little two year old in the world. Now does that sound like a grammy?

Beky is living home with us. I am sooooo happy about that. Since Lyle has been gone she is a huge help here on the farm. She is working at a coffee shop in town. Her calling at church is the ward young single adult rep. Not her "dream" calling but she is doing well with it.

Biff was married in May. She lives in Evanston. We are happy and really like our new son in law, Chris. They are going to be parents in May. She has her ultra- sound on the 17th and we are taking bets on the baby's gender. Biff is working at the same coffee shop as Beky.

Hannah just turned 7. She is growing so fast. We are doing homeschool. She is already looking forward to being 8 and being baptized. Her imagination is growing just as fast as her body. Hannah is rarely Hannah. Some days she is a knight, a prince, tarzan or a million other characters.

Sarah turned 5 in October. She has started phonics and is learning to read. She definitley is a princess, just ask her. She still wishes she had repunzel hair.

I am still doing what I always do. Being the mom, being Lyle's wife and I LOVE IT ! Until next time......... Jana

Big Changes

Big changes at the Williams house. Lyle was offered a job in North Dakota. As he says "they offered me an obscene amount of money" so he could not turn it down. Also Lyle has been out of work since the first of January. I will be taking care of the farm with the help of Beky, Hannah and Sarah and my mom. We all are missing Lyle terribly already. He left at noon today. So wish us luck in our new adventure! Change is a good thing!

Cheyenne ...Here we come

Well he did it. Lyle threw his hat into the ring. He is running for state senate. The primaries are in August. This quote from Ronald Reagan was the final decision maker... "If not us, who? If not now, when? The family is of course behind him 100%. Not sure how a campaign is run, or what we will need to do. But Lyle is an honest, intelligent, moral, hard worker who really believes in our country and will do what he thinks is best. The constitution and his conscience will always guide him. Any support from our friends and family would be appreciated.

"mis-directed" chicks???

We finally got the call from the post office that our chicks were here and ready to pick up.... and oh by the way, they are all dead. Our chicks were suppose to be here on Friday. The lady at the post office said they were "mis-directed". Since they had no food or water for 6 days they died. Don't you think the post office workers would recognize a box with air holes and LIVE ANIMALS printed on it and take a little extra care to get them where they are suppose to go? hmmmmm government can't get live animals to the right address, but we are suppose to trust them to make decisions for us like health care, what food is healthy and what medicines are safe..... Can we all say "connections"?

More skunk wars

Lyle and I attended the interm ag committee meeting on Monday. The little girls stayed home with Nana (they were VERY happy not to go with us). Beky did the farm chores for us while we were gone. Monday morning there was an uninvited guest in the chicken brooder. A skunk had dug under the building and got in where the little baby chicks were. Beky tried to get the dog to chase the skunk out, but he would not even go in the brooder. Maybe Gus is smarter than we give him credit for. So Beky got the shot gun and let the skunk have it. The room is pretty small so Beky 's ears were ringing and she of course smelled really bad, but the chicks were saved. We really appreciate how much our children help out on the farm. Without them we would not be able to do everything we need to do.

Just a note......... Beky does not smell like skunk any more, but the whole shop does, especially the brooder.

"I have not yet begun to fight"

The last few weeks have been an education. On the 12th of Feb we received notice from the Farm to Consumer Legal Defence Fund, an organization "For Farmers and Consumers Defending the Right to Buy and Protecting the Right to Sell Nutritious Food Directly from the Farm", that the Wyoming Food Freedom Act was being considered by our State Legislature. The bill would exempt from all government inspection, licensing and other interference, any food as long as there was only one transaction between the producer and the final consumer. Basically it would allow those of us wanting to opt out of the industrial food system to do so. We contacted Frank Wallis of E Z Rocking Ranch www.EZrocking-Ranch.com to see how we could help. On Tuesday the 16th, the State House Ag Committee was going to hear public input before voting on whether to send the bill to the whole house, so off to Cheyenne we went. I learned at the meeting that my opinion of politicians was going to have to be adjusted. There are actually elected representatives who aren't just there to see how much power they can amass. Of particular note was Sue Wallis, the State Representative who introduced the bill. The bureacrats however exceeded even my worst expectations. The Fuehrer, oops I mean Director, of the State Health Department and three of his minions contrived to use up as much of the allotted time as they could. They explained to the committee that we lowly subjects weren't nearly bright enough to make our own food decisions and must be protected from ourselves.
The committee thwarted the Fascist Coaliton by scheduling a second day for input so on Thursday we made another trip across the state in the name of Liberty. This time we were able to put in our two cents worth and ultimately prevailed. The committee voted to send the bill to the House and there it passed by a nearly 3 to 1 margin. Next it went to the Senate Ag committee for consideration. When we travelled to Cheyenne for a third time we discovered that The Senate was generally opposed to the bill because they had been lobbied hard by the Wyoming Meat Processors Association. It seems that someone in the State Department of Agriculture had called all the meat processors in the state and told them that the USDA was threatening to shut them all down if this bill passed. When asked to produce the communication from the USDA making that threat, our State Ag people where unable to do so but it was too late. The bill died in Senate committee. The battle rages on. Next year will see another attempt to restore the Right to What's for Dinner to the people of Wyoming. In the mean time we will try to gather grass roots support for our efforts and to educate more people about the sorry state of both their food and their government.