I want to note the passing of John Taylor Gatto. Gatto was one of my heroes. We do not home educate because the schools are bad, but Gatto’s savage expose’ of the philosophy behind public education strengthened the hand of many homeschoolers and gave them a high profile advocate for the destructive effects of the compulsory school system. Gatto’s books are brilliantly effective myth-busters of common beliefs about government education and our reliance on it. His books have ch

The idea for this hike was cooked up by my Dad. He had done the Berg lake trail in his teens and wanted to give us kids the experience. How he roped the Loudens in to joining us I have no idea, but they came and more then doubled our party. The plan was to rendezvous at the bottom, spend the night, hike up the mountain spend three nights at different campgrounds and hike down the forth day. Sunday Excitement and bravado was high even in the face of cold weather the night befo

Well it seems I take pictures faster then I can edit them. So the photos from the trip are coming out in a drip drip fashion. This week are the scenic shots. Next week the stories and the people. Enjoy and come back next Monday. #MercerMondays

We hiked up and down the Berg lake trail, survived the cold and came away with some great pictures. It's going to take me a bit to edit them, so this misty morning shot will have to do for now. #MercerMondays

Tomorrow my family (minus Celeste who is in Bolivia.) is heading on a short trip across the prairies to Alberta and the eastern fringe of BC. We will be seeing some sights, attending a conference, going on a hike, and then hightailing it home. The van is mostly packed already. The tomatoes are made into Salsa. Matching camera bags stuffed with gear. Tomato leather. We'll see how it works out. Backpacks, backpacks, backpacks. #MercerMondays

The tour season is over. I did not work on the front lines this year, so I'm not as worn out as some of my family, but as always we are glad to have a quiet yard once again. That said it is a great privilege to be able to teach and serve so many right at our home. A bit of time off will be good but we will be ready for another great season next spring. I know it's sad that it is all over. The second last bus of the year pulling out. #MercerMondays

The end of June means a few free days for our family! We took full advantage of that and went down to the cabin at West Hawk Lake. Every day was good beach weather. Jump and splash! Sonnet loved playing in the sand. For hours at a time she would shovel, pick up sand and play with water. Phoebe digging a hole to put Sonnet in. Parenting hack: Don't want to worry about your kids running away? Put them in a pit. Works like a charm. When you can watch yourselves set up for a fami

Saturday was the second Liberty Film challenge, and the extraordinary part was the fact it was not overly challenging. Caleb Mogilvesky did an excellent job of planning and running the whole affair. The group of thirty was divided into 4 teams. The morning was dedicated to brainstorming, settling on an idea, outlining and scripting, as well as prepping any props and locations that would be needed. The white board is a key part of that processes. After lunch the filming began

Monday flew by so fast, blogging did not cross my frontal cortex in the least. Today I was rebuilding the water pump for my tractor, but you don't want to see that; the sunset is way more pleasing to the eye. I'll post next Monday. I promise. #MercerMondays

On Wednesday I helped out on a short film that a few of my friends were involved in, and got to meet a few new people that share some interests. I'm doing video more and more. It's a great life. The audio engineer in his natural habitat. Saturday's bomber game was interesting to say the least. The cold does seem to make it easier for players to get hurt, which happened a bit too much. The team is now in the playoffs and hopefully get healthy and play well, come November. W

There was some good stuff and some hard stuff today, but there is beauty in it all. The sun will rise and we'll do it all over again tomorrow. #MercerMondays #2017Trip #Travel

Some of you are farmers, but many of you don't have much connection to some of the forage work I do. I have my own hay making equipment, but I spent about a month working for a farmer using his much more expensive stuff. I did a large number of jobs, but most of my time was spent baling. Baling is a love of mine. If everything works, it's an easy job. #Inmydreamsthingsdontbreak When combines harvest a field of grain, they leave a swath of straw behind. The baler comes and pi

My feet are in a basin of water to lessen the pain caused by excessive bare foot running, and I have a slight sunburn (quite rare for me), but my heart is full. We spent the weekend camping at Riding Mountain, with a pile of good friends. Herds of kids were loosed on bikes to take over the roads, we played hours of volley ball, sang great worship songs, and took some knock out pictures. Thanks to all of you who spent the last few days with us. I got my phone wet in a despera

Summer was glorious. I had a tough patch when I had to split my tractor, but I live a most blessed life. The people and opportunities I have are something I take for granted, but that is an oversight on my part. Psalm 19:14 Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer. As they should, these towels bask in the sun. The shock after the cry. A Kombucha trifecta. Psalm 19:4 Their line is gone out t

I made some doughnuts on Sunday. It really takes faspa up a notch or two. It's not hard at all. Just don't forget them in the lard. Deep fryers are so great. I love 'em. I made two kinds (as you can see above and below). Both tasted delicious. Takis dug right in. #MercerMondays

The crop dusters have begun their rounds this week. On Sunday we woke up at 5:45 to the roar of the propellers. As much as the aerial application of tons of chemicals does not stir up joy in my heart, it is impressive to see the speed and agility with which the job is done. So we watch and pray that no one crashes, and that not much roundup is dropped on our pastures. So long! #MercerMondays

Saturday was the Liberty Film 24 hour film making challenge. It was a pile of fun. If you want to see the final product right away, click here. I packed this mess up, so I had all the stuff I could want. We started the morning by being split into teams and brainstorming ideas and then writing a script. Although, we say "lights, camera, action", sound is really one of the most important parts. There is always time for a good laugh. One of the other groups shooting outside. Sta

Things are a bit wild here, so it's going to be a short post. Below is a family pic that the Facebook algorithms seem to like. I put it on the Morning Sound Farm page and it was seen by north of four thousand people. The second is a cute look at Sonnet trying to get rid of the first rabbit she ever met. Photo credits for both go to Elsie Thiessen. Sonnet will learn to love animals over time. And we will bug her til she does. ;) #MercerMondays

On Saturday Avril had a big birthday party. Each of us has had one when we turned 13. We put together a fantastic tea table, and served a great meal. Avril is growing up! Photo credits Elsie Thiessen. #MercerMondays