The Garden and Critters Are Growing... Township Circus Continues...

Justin's Hand Crafted and Painted New Sign! 

Well, Pinky and Twinky, the pigs, are doing amazing!!!

They are happy and healthy and getting big.  We are calling them "veggie-saureses" to coin a phrase from the original Jurassic Park. We tried to give them some beef liver and they wouldn't touch it, but a handful of weeds send them into fits of joy! 

They are fun to watch and both have amazing personalities. They especially love to play with and interact with all the visiting canines through the fence! 

Yup, that's Nuala meeting the pigs for the first time. Princess, Zeke,Laycee, Sadee and several others have made their acquaintance. I got to tell you it's hilarious to watch! 

Coming Soon!!!! We've got a humorous video coming out to explain the crazy "courtesy" violations that range from silliness to outright lies. But hey, we here at God's Lil' Acre don't squander a moment to chuckle a bit, so look forward to this one! (as they say, if you don't laugh, you'll cry, and it feels a whole lot better to laugh at those who come against you than to crawl up in a corner and cry... ) 

WE HAVE FREEDOM RANGERS!! I ordered 25, but they packed in a few extras. These are our happy, growing meat birds. They just graduated from the above brooder that handy Kansas Matt built (it's a ma-zing!!! THANKS SO MUCH)  and now get to roam and begin to forage a bit for some of their food. !They will have much happier and healthier lives than the cramped, indoor only raised birds that end up with broken legs and big breasts that cause them to lay permanently on their bellies. Yuck!! Why We Haven't Seen The Inside Of a Factory Broiler Chicken Farm 

Austro is down to 3 healthy babies. A hawk and Jasper each got one, but hey, that's nature. We were sad and shed a few tears but are happy to have the 3!!  Austro finally went back into the coop on her own and we've been integrating the 3 chicks in with the big girls. One is not quite so ready to leave mommy!!! 

Flowers and plants are GROWING LIKE CRAZY!! We've got giant potato plants, cabbages that shouldn't be this big until July, squashes that seem to grow inches overnight, and strawberries and cherries to pick!! 

We haven't had cherries on this tree EVER!! It's our oldest tree, the first one we planted here over 10 yrs ago and we finally got cherries!! I know it's all thanks to Justin's bees!! Praise the Lord!!

Ahh... and here is where we are at as of

 6-5-2015. The new guy, I guess his name is Brian Elliff, has come in to take Lou's job as township zoning admin. Fresh off the presses, his first day was May 27th. He is on a one year probationary try out. Mmmm,... Not impressed with his first week. 

He, however, says he is "impressed" with our "power point presentation" but then referred us to 519.21 section B... oh oh section B. I smile here and laugh to myself, wondering, how these "experts" and professionals get such big heads that they can't see past their own noses. New guy, got to prove his snuff, trying to tell those little farm girls what's what. 

Well, I called down to the County Tax map ONCE AGAIN.... *sigh*... to get one more person to tell me exactly what these two phrases mean: (B) A township zoning resolution, or an amendment to such resolution, may in any platted subdivision approved under section 711.05, 711.09, or 711.10 of the Revised Code, or in any area consisting of fifteen or more lots approved under section 711.131 (division without a plat) of the Revised Code that are contiguous to one another, or some of which are contiguous to one another and adjacent to one side of a dedicated public road, and the balance of which are contiguous to one another and adjacent to the opposite side of the same dedicated public road regulate:

ONCE AGAIN, I am verbally told what a "Platted Subdivision" is: a subdivision as you and I know it to be. I am then told that 711.131 could not in any way apply to us as we are a plat. The nice gentleman on the phone then began to tell me that there is a definition for subdivision that can mean any subdivision of property, but I needed to know EXACTLY what was a "platted subdivision," and can I get that in writing? He kindly referred me to a WONDERFULLY nice and helpful lady named Gail at the county planning commission... FINALLY!!! Angels singing... I have the definition in legal writing. Black and white, ain't no room for grey! 
We spoke for a few moments as I explained the overview of what was going on. She asked me if I was having a township issue or a neighbor issue and I told her it was a neighbor who was bullying the township. I told her about our neighbor who calls up all the time and makes the ladies up there want to cry. Yes, he's that bad. She completely understood and said "he's just being mean..." and the truth is, that's the bottom line. Some people are just bullies. As my other neighbor pointed out, "If he wants to live in a subdivision, he needs to move."

She understood when I told her we don't want to get cancer in our 60's because we digested chemically laden foods. She understood when I told her that there was a secret group of backyard chicken people in Miami Township and I had been pressed ganged into joining them through laced chicken eggs that tasted so good I just had to be able to raise my own! Ha! What a nice lady!! 

Okay, ya'll... here it is, the end all, be all... can we all just get along proof... 

Please notice where it says Part (1).... this refers to TWO TYPES OF LAND SUB-DIVISION, 'minor subdivision" (also known as lot splits or cut ups) and "platted subdivisions" (also known as formal subdivisions) ... 

SEE THE WHOLE VERSION: 

http://www.clermontcountyohio.biz/AdoptedSubdivisionRegulationsFinalEnacted2012.pdf

When I spoke with the gentlemen at the county tax map office, they both looked up our property and said that we were, and I quote a "stand alone property."   We have never been a part of a subdivision. Ever. 

This is exactly what the expert at Ohio State told me via e-mail... HIS QUOTE:  "Platted subdivisions were often created when a developer linked a bunch of properties together to get them through the zoning process. The properties can be in the country and the properties may not even look like they are connected." 

https://ask.extension.org/questions/226724#.VXKZVs9Viko

So, where are we at now? I can't really tell you except we are right, the township is under a delusion and now has a vendetta, be it through the "new guy" who wants to prove himself as the all powerful oz, or the neighbor. Either way, God will be glorified and we pray everyday "Lord, thy will be done. We know you are asking us to live as self sufficiently as we can, to educate others to the best of our ability, and to treat your creatures and creation with the utmost respect and honor..." That is the mission here! 

I have a call out to Peggy Hall, the top most expert about how Ohio 519.21 is applied, and I will be getting a phone call from someone from the county planning commission to see if they can help us clear things up with the township the easy way...

As Paul said, we are willing to go before Caesar if need be... as the Lord leads. We just want to farm in peace!  (BELOW, the farm we get our manure from...so beautiful!) 

Michelle and I have been reading a lot of John Locke recently. He was quoted by the founding fathers only second to the Bible. Locke's views of Nature, Natural Law, and the rights of the Individual, including to their own Property (whether physical or internal), shaped our great nation. Jefferson quoted from his Second Treatise of Government to pen the Declaration, Samuel Adams said that it should be studied and every father teach it to his son and mother to her daughter... The phrase "all men are created equal and endowed by their Creator to LIFE, LIBERTY, AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS, is directly quoted from Locke, although, he uses the word "property," and all encompassing word that the founders thought was better represented in the term "pursuit of happiness..." 

Yes, 519.21 DOES apply to us. But what of all the others in this country? We fight DAILY, HOURLY, on our knees in prayer for the gross injustice done all over this great nation. Our founders believed in INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS, most importantly, the right to own, keep, and do what a man needed to provide for himself and his family on his own land. 

I leave you with a quote from our beloved Locke: 

" Tis plain in Fact, that human Reason unassisted, failed men in it's great and proper business of Morality. It never from unquestionable Principles, by clear Deductions, made out an entire Bod of the Law of Nature. And he shall collect all the moral Rules of the Philosophers, and compare them to those of the New Testament, will find them to come short of the Morality delivered by our Saviour, and taught by His Apostles." 

- John Locke, The Reasonableness of Christianity..