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News From Our Home to Yours June 15, 2009 CONTEST WINNERS ANNOUNCEMENT Well, after much deliberation, we are pleased to annouce the winners of our story contest. The winners of the cash prizes are: Jaime Robertson, First Place ($75) David Winnes, Second Place ($50) Sally Wood, Third Place ($25) Congratulations to our winners! And thanks to all who entered -- you had some great stories! If you provided your address, you will receive a free copy of the book whenever it is completed. And while the contest is over, we still need more stories. There won't be any more cash prizes, but we will still send a free copy of the book to anyone who contributes, so please do send in your stories. And pass the word to your friends -- anyone is welcome to write! The Castleberrys OUR BLOG We have started a blog so you can keep up with farm and family news. Please note that we are still figuring this out, so it doesn't always look the greatest. You're welcome to leave comments or ask questions. We're excited about this new way to let you keep up with us!
ARCHIVES Family Letter, December 2008 *NEW November 19, 2008 As Thanksgiving approaches, we all have so much for which to be thankful. One of the greatest blessings of our lives will be missed by us all this Thanksgiving, however, as Steve’s mom, Katie Castleberry, went home to be with her Lord and Savior in early September, the day before her 80th birthday. Some of you may remember that she had been diagnosed with terminal cancer two years ago, and every day was such a gift to still have her here on earth. We are thankful, though, that she is now rejoicing in the presence of the Lord, with no more pain and suffering. We are grateful that we all got to visit with her at an early birthday party, just two weeks before she went Home. Nine days after her party, she had a stroke, and Steve flew down to be with her. God was so gracious to allow Steve to spend much time with his mom during those last few days, and she was an example of love and trust to Steve and his brothers. May it be a reminder to me to spend every moment the Lord gives to me in ways that are pleasing to Him. We thank all of you who asked us about her, and for all of you who prayed for Mrs. Castleberry. Heaven seems much sweeter now than ever, and we look forward to worshiping the Lord with her at the foot of His throne. Here on the farm, the girls have just this week finished all the canning, freezing, and drying of food for the winter. We plan to butcher a cow this week, and we already have several deer in the freezers – or what’s left of them, anyway – we do seem to go through meat quickly! The big boys harvested oats this fall, and have plowed up the remaining half of our hayfield, to repeat the process in the spring. The younger boys have dairy calves to feed and raise, and we have a new milk cow (we had to replace one of the older ones). I’m teaching three of the children to drive, and I am enjoying the one-on-one time with each of them so much. What a joy and a privilege it is to have these days with our children all still at home. We’re not going to be able to have a new book ready for Christmas this year, due to many factors, including the time Steve needed to spend with his mom this spring and summer. We do have a special for you, however, that we hope will help a little bit, especially if you are looking for gifts. Please click here for all the details. We pray God’s blessings on all of you as you remember the bountiful gifts God has given to all of us. May we treasure each day we are given to love and serve Him and our families. In Jesus, P.S. Jeannie has posted new pictures for you – please click here to see them. August 21, 2008 Hello again! Those of you who are on our email list know that we had a special sale two days ago. Wow, did you keep me hopping! We sold out in one day. Thanks for your orders, and I'm sorry if you were one of the disappointed people who were too late. There were very few of those titles to begin with. Two things: First, is there a lot of interest in the Orchard Lane Series? "In the Spring of the Year" was the first book, and it didn't sell too well. (We didn't have a lot of customers then, either!) We haven't written any more books in this series, but we may do so if there's enough interest. They would be geared toward a slightly younger age group than the Farm Mysteries. Send us an email with your thoughts at info@cfpress.com. Secondly, have you checked out our web links lately? I'd like to draw your attention to a new one: Paperback Swap. This site is amazing! We use it all the time. You can get rid of books you no longer have (great for those yard sale finds that ended up not being so great!) and get books you do want, just for the price of postage. Check it out. You can find a lot of books for homeschooling, too (coming up soon!). And what's really neat is that if you go through the links on our site, we'll get free credits for referring you! Have a great day, everyone! Jeannie (your webmaster, order filler, and general handygirl) August 6, 2008 Hello to all of our friends and customers! We hope you enjoy our updated pictures.* We are having a beautiful summer here in northern Wisconsin, and the Lord has blessed us with sufficient rain this year. Everyone is busy on the farm – the big boys are cutting, raking, and baling hay, cutting and moving firewood for fall, fencing pasture and hauling water for the cattle. Younger boys are helping weed the garden, putting up fencing for the goats, taking care of chickens, assisting Dad with projects around the house and outbuildings, and having a wonderful time working on the VERY small barn and cabin they built themselves with scrap wood. Our girls are swamped with projects as well – making butter and cheese, picking and freezing produce, weeding the garden, helping move cows, sewing, and painting. Steve has been busy with projects around the house (like remodeling the basement bathroom), university duties, flying to Tennessee to care for his mom and some of her needs, and keeping us all on an even keel. I’ve been running to the farm implement store, taking boys to hayfields, trying to keep up with household needs, planning for the school year ahead, working in the flower beds, picking and freezing produce, sewing, painting, and just general management. (For those moms of large families out there, you know what I mean!) Besides all the home and farm work she does, Jeannie also runs lots of errands and takes care of all the orders we receive. Sometimes I wonder how we will ever get everything done when the children begin to marry and leave home, but the Lord will work it all out. I need to just enjoy today, and be grateful for the wonderful gifts He has given. And they are truly wonderful gifts, aren’t they? We hope you enjoy the pictures, and that they will give you a glimpse of our summer farm life. God’s blessings to you all as you seek to serve Him. In Jesus, *P.S. from the website designer ☺ -- click here to see the new pictures. I don't put them on the main page because they take a long time to load, especially if you have dial-up!
April 22, 2008 Well, we survived our first conference. It was a new experience for all of us, and we learned a lot! Thanks to everyone who came by our booth -- it was a blessing to meet so many like-minded people, and to share testimonies of what God is doing in the lives of His people. A special blessing was having a booth next to the Alzen family and hearing them play their instruments. We also enjoyed visiting with the Maxwell family during "slow" times (and our fun, impromptu jam session! Thanks, Maxwells!). To see some pictures from the conference, click here. We'd love to get to know you all better, so send us an email! May God bless you as you serve Him and raise your family for His glory. The Castleberrys March 27, 2008 Come See Us! We're going to be exhibitors at the MACHE conference in Duluth, MN on April 18-19, 2008. This will be our first time to sell our books at a conference, and we're excited! If you attend the conference, be sure to look us up -- we'll be at booth 106. We will have discounted prices during the conference, and of course you won't have to pay shipping. And we'd love to meet you! The Castleberry Family February 15, 2008 Our Latest Book We used to be able to send notes out to our friends that said, “We have a new baby!” How we miss those days. A new book is not nearly as exciting or as much fun! But we do have a new mystery, just arrived from the stork – er, printer. Castleberry Farms Press is happy to offer our latest mystery in the Farm Mystery Series, Lights Out! To read the first chapter or order via PayPal, go to our Farm Mystery Series page. For a limited time, we are offering free shipping on orders of two or more books (expires April 15, 2008). Farm and Family News Winter still has northern Wisconsin in its icy grip, although for most of you it may be warming up a bit. Snow still covers the ground here, and should continue to do so for another four to six weeks. Yes, we have a long winter! But the beautiful spring, summer, and fall in this part of the country make up for that. The boys are sledding on the pasture hill, the girls take walks on the frozen river, and we build many fires in the fireplace. Gardening catalogs are stacked in the bookshelf, the girls are looking at quilting patterns, the boys search the papers for a round bale trailer and draw plans for a bull pen. Oh, and in just a few short weeks, we’ll begin making maple syrup. Actually, the children will make maple syrup and Steve and I will pour it on pancakes and french toast. Hey, those are the perks of having older children living at home. We highly recommend it! Hello to the Ritter family, new friends of ours from Missouri. This sweet family has 22 (not a misprint, 22) adopted children. We had the privilege of staying with them as guests in their bed-and-breakfast north of St. Louis. What a blessing they were to us . . . please see pictures of their lovely bed and breakfast at www.grandvandaliahotel.com, or check out the miniature breed puppies the Ritters sell on the family website at www.cornerstonefarms.net. We pray God’s blessing on your families as you seek to serve Him and raise up your children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. In Christ, Steve and Susie Castleberry March 24, 2007 We're still working on the new Farm Series mystery novel. Hope to have it ready in late Summer. Sorry it's been delayed due to lots of things going on around here. Good news about my mom. Thanks to God's blessings her cancer has been greatly reduced! Thanks to those of you who have been praying for her. Steve (for all the Castleberrys)
December 1, 2006 Hi all, Just wanted you to know that we changed our shipping costs. We went from $2.00 for the first book to $2.50 for the first book. This is the first increase we've had on shipping since 1998. But we also changed it such that if you order 10 books, shipping is free (it used to be 25 books for free shipping). Hope you understand why we had to do this (postal rates just keep going up). Steve September 26, 2006 Days are growing shorter and cooler, the hay is in the barn, and late summer flowers are blooming. We are enjoying these last warm days of summer as school begins again, and hope you are, too. We ask your prayers for Steve’s mother as she begins chemotherapy to help with easing the symptoms of advanced terminal cancer. Steve’s mom is the dear lady who inspired Steve to write our book Call Her Blessed. She has taught all of us so much about loving the Lord and living for Him over the years. She continues to do that to this day, even with the news she has recently received. Her children and grandchildren truly do “rise up and call her blessed”, and she in turn continually points us all to Jesus. None of us fear for her in any way, because we know that she is going Home, and that underneath her are the Everlasting Arms. We will miss her dearly, however. Cherish the time that you have with everyone around you . . . it is limited in this life.
We hope all is well with all of you, and that you are growing in Jesus. May this find you serving Him with all your heart, mind, and soul. In Christ, Steve and Susie Castleberry
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