Author Jim Geyer says he has two blessings in life. The first blessing was godly parents who daily instilled in him biblical and moral values by both word and example. The second blessing was being raised on a farm where he was taught informed by God's marvelous creation.Travel with Jim Geyer to a time when a man's word was his bond, when a handshake was all that was needed to consummate an agreement, a time when doors were seldom locked and windows were often open to catch the warm evening summer breeze. A time when growing up was a fun, carefree time.Consider today's culture and you immediately see a marked decline in the strength of families who each evening gather around the supper table. There is an observable decrease in honesty, integrity and accountability. Dad & Mom's Country Wisdom offers pleasant memories of your parents' childhood. This book will bless you with many Scriptures that have and still do relate to our daily experiences and challenges you in your personal, family and business life.

What does it really mean to be a good father? What did your father tell you, that has stayed with you throughout your life? Was there a lesson from him, a story, or a moment that helped to make you who you are? Is there a special memory that makes you smile when you least expect it? After the publication of Tim Russert’s number one New York Times bestseller about his father, Big Russ & Me, he received an avalanche of letters from daughters and sons who wanted to tell him about their own fathers, most of whom were not superdads or heroes but ordinary men who were remembered and cherished for some of their best moments–of advice, tenderness, strength, honor, discipline, and occasional eccentricity. Most of these daughters and sons were eager to express the gratitude they had carried with them through the years. Others wanted to share lessons and memories and, most important, pass them down to their own children. This book is for all fathers, young or old, who can learn from the men in these pages how to get it right, and to understand that sometimes it is the little gestures that can make the big difference for your child. For some in this book, the appreciation came later than they would have liked. But as Wisdom of Our Fathers reminds us, it is never too late to embrace it. From the father who coached his daughter in sports (and life), attending every meet, game, performance, and tournament, to the daughter who, after a fifteen-year estrangement, learned to make peace with her difficult father just before he died, to the son who came, at last, to appreciate the silent way his father could show affection, Wisdom of Our Fathers shares rewarding lessons, immeasurable gifts, and lasting values. Heartfelt, humorous, engaging, irresistibly readable, and bound to bring back memories of unforgettable moments with our own fathers, Tim Russert’s new book is not only a fitting companion to his own marvelous memoir, but also a celebration of the positive qualities passed down from generation to generation.

These stories not only share the wisdom but also heartwarming examples show how Country Wisdom was put into practice in the Good Ole Days.

"A few weeks after Dad passed away," says H. Jackson Brown, Jr., the compiler of A Father's Book of Wisdom, "we found eight shoeboxes in his closet filled with scraps of paper all covered with ideas Dad thought were profound, interesting, or merely amusing." The result is one father's view of life and what he thought about the importance of self-reliance, commitment, love, generosity, and success. It contains 159 quotes from Socrates, Eleanor Roosevelt, Andrew Jackson, Mother Teresa, and many others covering such topics as achievement,courage, happiness, parenting, success, and values. Quotations such as "If you're looking for a big opportunity, seek out a big problem" and "Life doesn't come with an instruction book - that's why we have fathers" communicate an upbeat, positive view of the world that will inspire and charm the reader. It is the perfect gift book for Father's Day, graduation, or any time of the year, and may even inspire you to jot down a few notes of your own.

"This diverse collection of heartwarming photography, true stories, and uplifting mottoes is the perfect way to show gratitude for the moms in your life."--

Folded Wisdom is an inspirational testament to the depth of a father’s love for his children, and an intimate look into beautiful, raw, human communication. Within the pages of this book, Joanna Guest shares the insightful notes her father drew for her and her brother Theo every day for nearly 15 years. For her entire childhood, Joanna’s father, Bob, had a ritual: wake up at dawn, walk the dog, and sit down at the kitchen table with a blank pad of paper and plenty of colored markers to craft notes for his two children. Over the years, word games and puzzles for five-year-olds morphed into thoughtful guidance and reflections for his teenagers approaching adulthood. Now, with more than 3,500 of her father’s colorful notes in hand, Joanna has decided that the lessons tucked inside are worth sharing. Folded Wisdom highlights the collection of Bob’s notes, telling a story filled with universal values that encourages meaningful self-reflection – about how we all face successes and failures; express happiness and sadness; and communicate frustration, praise, and love to one another. Heartfelt and full of possibility for the future, a father’s folded notes and drawings are timeless reminders of love.

What happens to Queen Bees and Wannabes when they grow up? Even the most well-adjusted moms and dads can experience peer pressure and conflicts with other adults that make them act like they’re back in seventh grade. In Queen Bee Moms & Kingpin Dads, Rosalind Wiseman gives us the tools to handle difficult situations involving teachers and other parents with grace. Reassuring, funny, and unfailingly honest, Wiseman reveals: • Why PTA meetings and Back-to-School nights tap into parents’ deepest insecurities • How to recognize the archetypal moms and dads—from Caveman Dad to Hovercraft Mom • How and when to step in and step out of your child’s conflicts with other children, parents, teachers, or coaches • How to interpret the code phrases other parents use to avoid (or provoke) confrontation • Why too many well-meaning dads sit on the sidelines, and how vital it is that they step up to the plate • What to do and say when the playing field becomes an arena for people to bully and dominate other kids and adults • How to have respectful yet honest conversations with other parents about sex and drugs when your values are in conflict • How the way you handle parties, risky behavior, and academic performance affects your child • How unspoken assumptions about race, religion, and other hot-button subjects sabotage parents’ ability to work together Queen Bee Moms & Kingpin Dads is filled with the kind of true stories that made Wiseman’s New York Times bestselling book Queen Bees & Wannabes impossible to put down. There are tales of hardworking parents with whom any of us can identify, along with tales of outrageously bad parents—the kind we all have to reckon with. For instance, what do you do when parents donate a large sum of money to a school and their child is promptly transferred into the honors program–while your son with better grades doesn’t make the cut? What about the mother who helps her daughter compose poison-pen e-mails to yours? And what do you say to the parent-coach who screams at your child when the team is losing? Wiseman offers practical advice on avoiding the most common parenting “land mines” and useful scripts to help you navigate difficult but necessary conversations. Queen Bee Moms & Kingpin Dads is essential reading for parents today. It offers us the tools to become wiser, more relaxed parents–and the inspiration to speak out, act according to our values, show humility, and set the kind of example that will make a real difference in our children’s lives. Also available as a Random House AudioBook and as an eBook

Reminiscent in both spirit and design of the beloved Whole Earth Catalog, Country Wisdom & Know-How is an unprecedented collection of information on nearly 200 individual topics of country and self-sustained living. Compiled from the information in Storey Publishing's landmark series of "Country Wisdom Bulletins," this book is the most thorough and reliable volume of its kind. Organized by general topic including animals, cooking, crafts, gardening, health and well-being, and home, it is further broken down to cover dozens of specifics from "Building Chicken Coops" to "Making Cheese, Butter, and Yogurt" to "Improving Your Soil" to "Restoring Hardwood Floors." Nearly 1,000 black-and-white illustrations and photographs run throughout and fascinating projects and trusted advice crowd every page.

"Growing Up On the Farm" - in Rosebud, Texas - in the 1940's and 1950's has been enthusiastically received by readers, especially those who lived on farms during that period of our American History. Every story is about real people and things that actually happened. Even though "Growing Up On the Farm" has humor from beginning to end, I mostly make fun of myself. Believe me, in a 20 year period I made enough humorous mistakes to provide plenty of interesting material for a book. I have received many compliments including one in which the reader states that, "She felt she was sitting across the kitchen table from me telling me stories of my childhood." Another said that in writing my stories, "I did myself proud." Drayton McLane, owner of the Houston Astros, McLane Wholesale, and McLane Trucking, stated, "Yes, that once he started reading "Growing Up On the Farm" he found it hard to put down." Drayton McLane grew up in Cameron which is the next town South of Rosebud and I got that response from him in the U S Mail 5 days after I mailed him the book. I touch on just about every facet of being a kid on a Texas farm in that era and have had warm responses from readers from coast to coast and from Canada to Mexico. Two stories that people seem to relate strongly to are about butchering a hog and washing clothes with homemade lye soap in a wash pot in the back yard - heated by a fire from burning logs. I also describe doing daily chores on the farm, playing on the farm, churning butter, raising baby chicks, plucking and butchering fryers, being born at home in a house without electricity or running water, attending a one room public school without running water - where our bathroom was an outhouse, my older brother riding his pony Sally to school each day, chopping cotton, picking cotton, milking cows, working in our huge garden, canning food from the garden with our mom, and doing quite a few tasks that were beyond today's expected skill levels for someone my age. I cover walking one and one-half miles home from school in the first grade and hitch-hiking 6 miles to town to play Little League Baseball at the age of 11 and 12. I felt truly rewarded for being able to contribute in such a meaningful way to the family's lively hood. A significant amount of coverage is given to some of my teenage responsibilities like hauling the entire corn crop to market each year beginning at the age of 13, along with some quite humorous mistakes that I was responsible for. Of course all teenagers do a few things they never get around to telling their parents about and I did a few of those myself. Since almost all of the adults from those bygone days are now long deceased I can cover them and enjoy making fun of myself. Obviously I also cover my immediate family in detail and most of my extended family. I believe another interesting use that can be made of this book is as reading material for the grandchildren of people that lived on farms in the 40's and 50's. This is history that very few children will ever again experience. In talking to people from that era I have found that very few parents told them many stories from their childhood. Yet people that grew up on farms from across the nation have told me again and again that my stories were very similar to their experiences. Once children of today read these stories they are much more likely to discuss their grandparents experiences with them while they are still alive to tell their tales. I live in Houston, Texas today and I am now giving a series of talks on "Growing Up On the Farm" and can be contacted at [email protected] if anyone would like more information or would like me to mail them a signed copy. I would welcome individuals recommending this book to public and school libraries, high school FFA programs, retailers and their friends on my behalf.

What book would you want if you were stranded on a desert island? Widely regarded as the 'bible' of off-grid living, The Solar Living Sourcebook might be your best choice. With over 600,000 copies in print worldwide, it is the most comprehensive resource available for anyone interested in lessening their environmental footprint and increasing their energy independence. The Solar Living Sourcebook-14th Edition is the ultimate guide to renewable energy, sustainable living, natural and green building, off-grid living and alternative transportation, written by experts with decades of experience and a passion for sharing their knowledge. This fully revised and updated edition includes brand new sections on permaculture and urban homesteading, and completely rewritten chapters on solar technology, sustainable transportation and relocalization. It also boasts greatly expanded material on: Natural Building Permaculture and biodynamics Electric and biofuel-powered vehicles Passive solar Solar water heating Grid-tie photovoltaic systems -- plus maps, wiring diagrams, formulae, charts, electrical code, solar sizing worksheets and much more. Whether you're a layperson or a professional, novice or longtime aficionado, the Sourcebook puts the latest research and information at your fingertips-everything you need to know to make sustainable living a reality.