Chickens & Rabbits

Praise the Lord!

We did very well this past month. I am hoping that the video can speak for itself. 

My wife really did a great job leading the building of the chicken coup and rabbit hutches. We have a lot of old barn wood on our land where there was (what we think) an old hunting cabin. She used scrap wood (much of which she found free) and the barn wood, along with some extra siding to complete these projects at very little expense! 

As you can see, we also have a dog! Her name is Teka (after St. Kateri Tekakwitha). She is a golden retriever just 3 months old. We love her! 

Some things not shown in the video that I worked on are: 

1. Finishing up the Bathroom

We have the water lines connected and running water in the kitchen. Once I finish putting the drywall and put the tile floor down, we will have the toilet, utility sink, and washer/dryer combo connected! We will also need to do the drywall and paint. Through God’s providence, I met a local guy who works at Ace Hardware in Iron River who has been helping me out with the construction. We have become good friends and I am learning a lot from helping him out.

2. Studio Floor

I installed vinyl plank upstairs in my home studio. It looks good and I am excited to begin recording. 

3. Writing New Songs

Wow! I had been hoping to record but I ended up starting to write some new songs. They have a lot of potential and I am excited to finalize them. I am really hoping that I can get into a very productive routine for recording the guitar and vocals of these songs so I can share them with you.

4. Concerts

I did a concert in Antigo in late August that went awesome. Fr. Joel is the pastor of the Antigo churches. It was great seeing him again as he was a good spiritual leader to me in high school when he was assigned at the Newman Center in Oshkosh. My family would go there for the Sunday Evening Mass many times and we got to know him well. He also was the priest at my sister Julia’s wedding. The concert was outside in the patio area of a local restaurant. I enjoyed it a lot and hope to do a concert there in the winter again.

In the middle of August, I performed a short concert for Bishop Doerfler (Diocese of Marquette, MI) and the parishioners of St. Agnes Parish as he came to visit Iron River for the installation of Fr. Jose as the new pastor. (St. Agnes in Iron River & St. Cecilia in Caspian). One great surprise was that Bishop Doerfler also can play guitar. He did a cover of some classic songs that were great! 

At the end of July, I was able to play three songs for the open mic night in Iron River. Expecting maybe 20-40 people, I was amazed to see 100-150 people in attendance. I received a lot of affirmation by Catholics and non-Catholics alike. It was a great event and I was told that I can come every other month to perform. It also turned out that sometimes they get over 300 people!

I hope to have at least one brand new song for you to enjoy by October 1st. I have also been encouraged by some of you to keep making videos about our homestead. I plan to do so but am not sure when the next one will come out! 

God bless you.

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