The Neely Team

A few months ago, Michael McCourry, a well-satisfied customer of Accurate Innovations, loaned us one of his specially developed “elephant” rifles to shoot. We enjoyed that immensly, and shot a video entitled “The Big Gun” which we then posted here. Shortly after that, Mr. McCourry decided to send us his largest caliber rifle – a .500 MDM Ultra – warning Daddy not to “let any of his daughters shoot this one!” So on a day when we had several friends and family members here, including Dad’s sister and two of her boys, we tried it out. Here are the results…

The Bigger Gun from Neely Team on Vimeo.

Here is a short video that we recently put together as an advertisement for Accurate Innovations. It’s our first attempt at anything like this, but we enjoyed it, and hope to be able to post more videos in the future. For more information about custom rifle stocks, visit AccurateInnovations.com.

Ah-choo!! Sniffle, sniffle. Ah-CHOO!! AH-CHOOO!!!! I blow my nose. I can’t talk to anyone more than a sentence without stopping to sneeze. My eyes are red and watering, and sometimes unbearably itchy. Ugh!! I love Spring-time… but the pollen is terrible!! Can’t anybody tell me of a way to stop this reaction, OTHER than with regular allergy medication???

That was my story several years ago. Actually, that was me last year. Well, I have to admit, that was me just last week.

Don’t get me wrong; I love Spring – I really do! I love the smell of the cool, refreshing breezes that blow on otherwise warm days, watching the grass grow greener daily, seeing the flowers that are popping up everywhere, observing the birds that are “house shopping”, preparing their nests, hearing the pitter patter of the rejuvenating rains on the porch roof as I watch the storms blow across the mountains, anticipating just when the little knobs on the tree branches will burst into bloom……… I love the excitement, the thrill, the newness of it all! But along with all of the beauty comes… yep: pollen.

Some people are blessed to not be allergic to pollen. We have some of those people in our family. But we also have several who, like me, have strong reactions to it. And it can take away from a lot of the enjoyment of spring. For a LONG time, I have been wondering, What can I do about this? I don’t like to take all the expensive, chemical-laden, commercially produced, temporarily-symptom-fixing products that we can buy at the store. Granted, I think those things have their place, and I’m all for using them at the right time. There has been many a time, even this week, when they come in extremely handy for “emergencies” – those times when I would really rather not be blowing my nose and crying and sneezing all the time… like when I’m singing special music in church or teaching piano lessons. But to live on them all through the pollen season??? Well, that’s not my first preference.

So that’s why I’m writing this: to let you know about something that I’ve found just within the past several days. It’s an amazing substance. It’s sweet (although slightly sticky, as most sweets are), delicious, good for you, and 100% natural!!! How much better can it get?? Would you like to know the name of this wonderful stuff? Actually, you probably use it all the time; you certainly know what it is; it’s usually a “pantry item” in most homes. At our house, we jokingly call it “partially digested bee food.” But the more common (and certainly more appetizing!) name is: honey. That’s right! Just plain old, regular honey. I love it. So when I looked up a remedy for allergies in a home remedies book, I was delighted to find this listed first. Actually, the book says to take a 1-inch cube of honeycomb, swallow the honey, and chew on the waxy part for about ten minutes. (This HAS to be local honey – the stuff produced by the bees in YOUR area – so that the allergens  it contains can build your immune system against the pollen that you deal with in your area.) Do this every day for a month or two before the pollen season, so that when it starts, you already have built an immunity to at least some of the problem.

Well, I didn’t discover this until a few days ago. And I was reading the page between sneezes and through watery eyes. But I decided that it was worth it to give it a try. We don’t currently have any honey in the comb, so I used the next best thing – a spoon. No, I didn’t chew the spoon. But I stuck it in the jar, pulled it out, spun it around several times until it quit dripping, and then enjoyed the wonderful sensation of eating something that I really enjoy, and hoping that it would help my problem! I did this four or five times the first day, three or four the next, once the next, and once or twice every day since. And guess what? My symptoms have pretty much all disappeared!!! It’s been several days now; I’ve been able to take walks, work in the yard, and flop on the grass, with everything blooming and a strong breeze blowing right in my face, and I usually only have a tiny bit of trouble (if any) when I come back inside later! It’s such a relief, and I’m just praising the Lord for every clear breath I take!!

Now I’m not going to dogmatically say that the honey is what did it. And even if it was, I’m not going to declare that it will do it for you, too. But I just wanted to let you know, because if you are at the point where I was (and usually am every spring), you’ll probably want to at least give it a try!!!

Proverbs 24:13 – “My son, eat thou honey, because it is good; and the honeycomb, which is sweet to thy taste…”

(P.S. And if it works, let me know. I’d be really interested in hearing if this helps anyone else!!)

Doesn’t everybody know about Mayfield Dairy products?? Aren’t they just a normal part of every American’s everyday life???

This is what we used to think, as Mayfield has been one of our favorite ice cream sources for a long time , but about two years ago we were shocked to find out that not everyone has had the opportunity to experience the fantabulistical taste of  Mayfield’s ice creamier and milk. Why? As we soon discovered, Mayfield is only in the Southeast! There are three processing/packaging plants: one in Athens, Tennessee (we toured it in 2009), one  in Birmingham, Alabama, and one in Braselton, Georgia. Mayfield has a commitment to only delivering their products to stores that can be reached easily – without too much time spent in transit – to ensure that their products are always fresh and have a longer shelf life.

This last weekend during a short family “get-away,” we had the opportunity to tour the Mayfield Dairy plant in GA. Having loved our tour of the one in TN, we were  curious to see how much of a difference there would be, how much more of the process we would be able to witness firsthand, etc. We arrived just in time for the last tour of the day, and thoroughly enjoyed it! If you ever get the opportunity to tour one of the three plants, take advantage of it! The tours are free and absolutely fascinating, the gift shops are fun (for those of us who enjoy things like that ), but, of course, the best part is the ice cream parlor!  Mmmmm…. you have to experience it to know exactly what we’re talking about…

While touring, we found out some incredible facts that were absolutely too interesting to not share. Some of them apply to the dairy industry in general, but most are individual to Mayfield.

~ Mayfield milk contains no artificial growth hormones

~ The plant can process and package 150,000 gallons of milk on an average day

~ 1 milk truck (you know, the ones you see on the highway that just look like sparkly-clean gasoline carriers) holds 6000 gallons of fresh milk

~ The milk trucks have no cooling system, but are insulated, like a thermos

~ The average cow can give 8 gallons of milk every day

~ It takes all the milk given in a day by 750 cows to fill just one milk truck

~ The plant gets about 20 full trucks every day

~ The milk for this particular plant can come from farms as far away as Indiana, but can only be transported a maximum of 96 hours

~ Milk, arriving in the trucks at above 42 degrees F, is rejected (If that does happen sometime, doesn’t it make you wonder what they would do with 6000 gallons of warm milk?? We didn’t get a chance to ask that question…)

~ Once arriving at the plant, the milk is transferred from the trucks into gigantic, metal towers that are kept exactly 23 degrees F even on sweltering summer days (talk about a powerful refrigeration system!!)

~ Mayfield milk gets it’s “distinctly-fresh-all-year-long” taste from a system unique to them, called Aro-Vac. It is a process that heats the milk and removes the steam, which actually serves to withdraw all unusual flavors in the milk that result from undesirable things the cow has eaten (such a onion grass, etc.). Even though this plant packages milk for other brands (particularly Great Value – from Wal-mart), the Aro-Vac system is still used exclusively on the milk labeled Mayfield.

~ Mayfield milk is always packaged in yellow jugs, which keep UV light rays from affecting the taste and decreasing the nutrients

~ The bottling system at Mayfield can produce 6000 sealed, “ready to purchase” gallon jugs every hour, or up to 300 pints a minute

~ Mayfield stamps an expiration date for exactly 18 days after the milk is sealed inside the jug, but the milk is usually still good for 5-10 days after the expiration date

~ After the milk is processed and packaged, it is sent to a giant refrigerator that holds approximately 600,000 gallons

~ Mayfield milk isn’t processed on Wednesday and Sunday

~ Mayfield’s total annual production is 69 million gallons of milk, and 28 million gallons of ice cream!

We thoroughly enjoyed our “get-away,” and learned a lot in the process! For your information, Mayfield tours make great home school field trips!

An interesting thought: next time you have the opportunity to visit or tour any sort of factory, plant, museum, etc., TAKE NOTES and ASK QUESTIONS on what you hear and learn. In our individualistic society, this can have a great impact. No one is used to seeing and meeting people who are interested in the lives of others or things other than themselves. We found that when the guide saw that we were actually interested enough in what he was showing us to WRITE IT DOWN, he was noticeably impacted and we were able to have a more powerful influence for Christ. Plus, I think he threw in a little more interesting trivia, just for the notepad!!

About 28 hours after the Conns left, we had the joy of hosting the Staddon family for a few days!! While passing through on their way back to West  Virginia, they blessed us by spending their New Year’s Eve with us! It would take hours to tell about all of the JOYFUL activities that took  place; but we’ll spare you the time and just give a few highlights.

- watching “The Star of  Bethlehem” and then discussing the incredible power, sovereignty, majesty, and wisdom of our Creator

- playing many games, including Dutch Blitz, Occupation, Catan, Duck-Duck-Goose, Swap, Kings-and-Peasants, etc. 

- listening to the Staddon family practice beautiful family harmony – with voice (esp. the quintet ), piano, violin, and handbells

- getting to feed many large appetites

- spending quality times around the table, reading the Bible, relating our most embarrassing moments, sharing spiritual insights, singing, laughing, writing  lists of everything else we wanted to do, etc.

-gaining experience and knowledge regarding photography and operating a website and blog (special thanks to James and Robert!)

- staying up to a record time of 4:00 a.m. on New  Years  Eve

- blowing up our gingerbread house

  Well, needless to say, when the “Staddon  Wagon” pulled out of our driveway on Friday, we were left with a sense of loss but also one of having been wonderfully refreshed! One   particular thing we appreciate about the Staddon family is their constant JOY!! (That comes from having Jesus first, Others second, and Yourself last.) Whether in helping prune our fruit trees, eating a peanut butter ball, helping  clear the table, or playing Catan, they constantly had smiles and words of encouragement!  Thank you, Staddons!

Note: For more stories and  pictures, please visit the Staddons’ blog!! (We promise, it’ll be worth it just to see the incredible gingerbread-house-explosion shots!!!)