Welcome Winter 2026!
Brrrrrr…. two storms here in SC already. One nasty ice storm and one good snowstorm giving us about 4” of beautiful soft snow to enjoy. The temperatures have been in the teens with a windchill factor dropping it close to ZERO! Thankfully we are well provided for and safe so we give all praise and glory to God.
2026 is shaping up nicely. No injuries to report, no major catastrophes. A few health issues in the family but none for my husband or I. We look forward to the New Year with great hope in God to continue to direct our future endeavors. We are making small plans for the future, finishing up the major projects here on Didaskalos Farm and hopefully by Spring we will finally put this big old house on the Market. We have weathered 12 years here and it has been both difficult and rewarding.
Let me share with you all where we were and where we are now. With God’s abundant provisions we have invested most financially in the truly important things to do in this house. When we arrived here in this 7 bedroom, three bathroom 5000 square foot house there were lots of things to accomplish. There was no well only city water, a 20+ year old furnace system, a metal roof that was probably 50 years old, a barn that desperately needed an electrical upgrade. The septic systems were original when the inside plumbing was installed, made of bricks from the 1900’s. Sadly there were two ceiling leaks that were hidden that our inspector some how he missed them. They would end up causing a lot of damage down the road. The cottage had a very antiquated electrical system that was dangerous to say the least. All three bathrooms were from the 50’s and 60’s. The attics (all three had no insulation). The water heaters were almost 40 years old so needless to say there was ALOT to do.
We replaced the entire roof all 5000 sq feet of it in 2025 it is warranted for 50 years so the next occupant will be very thankful. We installed new 40 foot gutters on the front of the house. We rewired the entire barn, drilled a 700 foot well, installed two brand new Septic systems. Poured a solid concrete pad with electrical access for our 50 amp RV. As well hook up to the second septic. We rewired the cottage for 200 amp service. We have upgraded ALL three bathrooms. Brought the washer and dryer upstairs, installed 2 new water heaters for the house. We have added water spigots to the gardens so plenty of access for plants and animals. We installed double electric ovens in the kitchen and a gas stovetop. We put in a large wood burning stove in the Ladies Parlor. We upgraded the furnace system and put all new duct work under the house. We insulated all three attics with green foam. Put in a stainless steel dishwasher to upgrade from pathetic plastic. Everything will get a fresh coat of paint and hopefully all 25 trees that Helene took down will be firewood before we leave. Whew! That is just amazing when I look back what we have accomplished here. Time for a new owner with a vison to bring this old home into the next phase of her existence.
Well thanks for reading my Blog post this far. I greatly appreciate that. Looking forward to new and exciting things this year. I bought myself a new Ankarsrum mixer and retired my 35 year old Kitchenaid. So back to my love of baking once again. Lord willing I will purchase my bread oven this year. Praying for that.
Long overdue update...
Greeting Farm Followers,
It has been quite some time since I have been able to write a Blog post. God continues to sustain us every day to which I cannot express in words my overwhelming gratitude for the Blood of Jesus Christ. Over the last two years my responsibilities have continued to increase. My father-in-law died about 6 years ago which made my mother-in-law a widow. A path I have not walked myself. My father-in-law managed almost every aspect of their life together which sadly left a very dependent woman with no real relationship to Christ herself, now to be able to direct and care for herself. Needless to say it was disastrous for her and since my husband is an only child the load fell upon us. I say “us” because my husband and I are one, we share all of the burdens and blessings together.
Now we have 5 married children, 20 grandchildren and a real homestead here. This endeavor requires a good deal of care and management something we feel very privileged to have. God has given us have goats, several cows, ducks, chickens, quail and turkeys to manage each year. We routinely raise and process about 2 batches of 25 meat birds yearly. We raise about 10 or more organic turkeys for the holidays as well. We process all our own poultry and fowl here on farm so all of these things take a great deal of time of their own. Add in another full time responsibility and your time has now become even more precious. Two years ago my mother-in-law was diagnosed with advance colon cancer. She decided to opt out of conventional treatment so we brought her to live with us to be able to minister to her serious situation. We completely changed her diet, found a new Primary doctor and thank the Lord with her help she took her off at least 6 medications in one day. By God’s amazing grace we can shout His praise today she is 100% healed from any evidence of cancer at all. God’s wonderful blessing of a totally clean diet along with the abundance of faith and prayer saved her from a painful cancer eating death. Sadly she has a multitude of medical problems from years of believing the medical propaganda and the constant low end cheap food diet of the average American. For the last 80 years she has acquired quite a laundry list of diseases and they are quite profitable to the medical establishment and she was pretty indoctrinated. However, we have gained much ground and we humbly trust her soul to the Lord and His desire to see her changed and renewed.
Fast forward to October 2024 when Helene struck here in the Upstate of SC. We lost power for 11 days, had over 25 huge trees come down by the roots. I was called outside by my husband into one of our pastures to assist him in getting some lady goats back into their enclosure. Their electric fence was no longer able to keep them in with no electricity so they began testing their limits. No we did not want any baby goats so we had to move fast. Our Anatolian named Anna decided she needed to add to the excitement so as I was trying to wrangle her out I sustained a fall resulting in a dislocated left shoulder and a trip to the ER. I won’t go into that experience because the incompetence caused a much more severe problem down the road. 4 dislocations later I was diagnosed with a fractured humerus, a chip in the head of the humerus from the subsequent dislocations, a severally torn labrum with multiple complications. Two months in a sling, a three hour surgery and sixteen weeks of physical therapy left me partially disabled. Fast forward 8 months and God has taught me so much. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Do I have limitations physically ABSOLUTELY but God is able to sustain and care for us.
As we continued to navigate the new normal my mother-in-law has a stroke in late June early July. Praise God he once again spared her life and the damage considering was minimal, that being said I took another fall in the hospital visiting her and apparently fractured my right shoulder. After some tests it was revealed that indeed I fractured my glenoid bone and would require at least 4 weeks in another sling. Now by this time I am totally in denial and trying my best to minimize it all. BUT GOD….. He supplied everything I needed and now I am on the road again to recovery.
There is sooooo much to say, God loves His children and He knows best what methods are effective to transform us into the image of His dear Son. In glory I will understand but until then I trust God and try not to question His providences.
Thank you for reading this blog post. I have such wonderful thought I want to share but this post is LONG enough already.
Mad days of Summer…
Greetings Farm Followers! It has been quite a bit of time since I last checked in. So much has happened here on the Farm. In the last year or so. My husband and I are very busy trying to keep up with all the chores. I had a life changing accident in October 2024 during Hurricane Helene that set me back so we are trying to adjust to the way I have to modify my farm responsibilities. God is gracious and He teaches us everyday how truly blessed we are. Considering what has happened in Kerr County Texas we have much to rejoice in. Many folks met Jesus during that flood as either Savior or Judge so we are thankful that many children who drowned are with Him now. Such a tragedy reminds us very soberly that life is but a vapor…
We are busy caring for our ever expanding livestock. We have chickens, ducks, turkeys, quail. We have adult Oberhaslis goats that I probably will try and sell. They are beautiful goats but we have little farm help here so for me to breed them and start milking would be too much. Our Jersey milk cow is dry but I do intend to breed her at least once more and then probably sell her as well. Unfortunately we lost both of our beehives during the storms so no bees again for now.
We have a small garden this year because I did not know exactly how much I was capable of doing. Given my limited movement of my left shoulder and the crazy heat and humidity here in the Upstate of SC it was better to think small this year. Praise God I was able to get up to the Asheville Herb Fest and get some wonderful organic plant starts. Our garden is producing well overall. So once again God continues to show His faithfulness.
My Einkorn FB group is alive and well and our Corgis are flourishing. Sophia will be one year old in September and we plan on breeding her to Ariston in 2026. We hope the Lord blesses our endeavor and we will have the joy of having our first litter of Corgi pups. So life on the Farm is still in progress.
We have purchased an RV and we have decided to use it for some trips in the future. We are also pouring a concrete pad to set it on and we will have electric, water and septic availability there. Wi-Fi is accessible and potentially access to laundry facilities. We are praying about short term rentals for College families when visiting since there is little in the way of lodging in this area. We are changing out all the bedding to organic materials and we are going to make sure that all cleaning products both for humans and household are 100% organic and safe for our environment. Our Farm uses ZERO toxic products on our land so we will be very particular about who we allow access to it. It might sound “Crunchy” but we believe God grants us stewardship of our land and we take it very seriously. We have a 700 ft drilled well but we will keep a Travel Berkey water system in their as well as other things needed for a proper stay. Look for further details in early September.
Well, thank you for reading my Blog today. Please feel free to touch base with us if we can help in any way.
Spring has sprung!
Greetings blog followers!
Life has been a challenge physically for me thus far in 2025. After 16 weeks of physical therapy I decided to try and rehab the rest of the way on my own. The surgery to repair my left shoulder created a great deal of limitation in itself, it created a great deal of tension in my muscles. It is almost impossible to gain full function of my shoulder without a miracle. I have not given up but I am more realistic about what disability I am going to have to accept going forward. I know my God has His own purposes that He is working out in this trial and I am trusting that His grace continues to be sufficient till I make it to Heaven. My shoulder will be healed 100% there so it will not matter anymore. But I am still sojourning here and want to be a useful to my Lord as I possibly can. So I press on…
My husband and I have set a two year timeline to complete any renovations here and to find 60 acres of land to set up our possible final homestead here. We know that the Lord will work out all the details and we continue to push forward. Till then I am pushing forward with my gardens for food and medicinal plants. I am still actively working on getting my milk cow back in production. We are getting ready to process our first batch of meat birds. We are going to be raising organic turkeys again for Thanksgiving. We are hatching out some more Coturnix Jumbo quail. I continue to stretch myself in my baking of breads and such. So all in all we continue to push on.
If we can be of any help or assistance please feel free to reach out. Any suggestions for this Blog would be helpful. Thanks for reading it and giving up some of your precious time for me. It is appreciated.