Travel, moving, chickens, pottery

Mama and I are going to be in Decatur for business this Thursday and Friday. I will leave Borger Thursday afternoon after I officiate our monthly safety meeting, so we should be leaving around 1 p.m. from Amarillo. It will give us a chance to get the trailer title and plates worked out in Decatur and to check on the dumpster that was to be placed at the farmhouse. Grandma and Grandpa will be using the farm dumpster so they do not have to pay extra for trash pickup at the rental house; a pretty good idea. Grandma also told us last night that they were going to use the farm address as their permanent address; another good idea.


We got another piece of good news yesterday when Mama talked to our landlord about our intent to move out of the house at 1909 S Fairfield. He told her that not much money would have to change hands since we would be getting a $500 deposit back. So our out of pocket expense for the half month will be about $125. That will be a big help in paying the fuel costs of the move for Grandma and Grandpa.

Grandpa has the trailer we bought looking pretty good. We bought a light kit yesterday and he has it installed already. We also bought some black paint to repaint the entire trailer and Grandpa has that already done. The wheel bearings are repacked and short of having to replace one tire, it is ready to go. Mama, who was questioning it at first, is now very pleased with her purchase.

We went last night to a home here in Amarillo to look at chickens. This man and his wife have several dozens of chickens ranging from incubated eggs to six month old laying hens. They have about six varieties of chickens as well as four kinds of ducks and three kinds of turkeys. What drew Mama to the add was the guineas he has for sale but once we got there they took a back seat to all the other fowl in the building.

I think one of the primary focuses of the farm will be readying the chicken coups for new arrivals: which we did not purchase yet. We learned which breed laid the earliest, which laid the most consistently, which was the most docile, which was good for eggs and meat, which laid the largest eggs and which Mama and Grandma liked the best; Buff Orpington. Chickens should be less work than cattle or hogs which I think will come very soon.

One of the things I anticipate as we develop the farm is the influx of undesirable critters. It will not take long for the mice and rats to find out there is food and water being delivered to a group of laying hens. It will not be long after that that the snakes see a feasting ground in the same area. So things will spiral up the food chain because both water and food are scarce in the area. I am interested to see what creatures move in and how soon. Chicken’s mortal enemies include skunks, weasels and minks, raccoons, foxes, coyotes, birds of prey, and certain snakes which will eat the eggs and the chicks. The battle will begin soon so stay tuned for updates.

Maggie is getting into pottery with some of her friends from church. I am anxious to see what comes out of that since I have never credited Maggie with a high level of creativity. (Shame on me!) I do remember when Mama and I were into ceramics – as it was called at the time - and we thoroughly enjoyed it. Joshua was just a toddler back then – that’s how long ago it was. I suppose pottery has a more “green” sound to it than ceramics.

I think Maggie is interesting Mama in the pursuit.