Work worries, seeding, good fences, animal news

With the split of ConocoPhillips at the end of this month there have been some unusual challenges presented to me, not the least of which is the shuffling of personnel. I will lose one of the ladies who has been the backbone of my group as she takes on new assignments in another group in a few days. The loss has caused me a good deal of concern. I know things will work out eventually, but in the short run things could get a little chaotic.


I talked briefly with Becky yesterday and she said things are better for her but I remain unconvinced. I had always assumed hers would be a rocky path in life but it is difficult to watch it play out. There is little I can do but pray. Thankfully, that is more often than not, the best input we can have in any individual’s life since God is fully aware of the need and eminently capable of meeting that need.

My time here is running out. I will have to return to Amarillo on Saturday or Sunday. Mama will not be coming back until several days later so she can help with the final move into the mobile home. I am not sure how much good she can do since she is having problems with her left knee. She is walking with more difficulty than Grandma in spite of how well she says she tolerates pain. Although I do not necessarily care for the office here I do enjoy going to the farm every evening – obviously, so does Mama. Last night was no exception.

Even though it rained Monday night, the ground Grandpa had prepared with the disc soaked up the rain and compacted in a beneficial way. As I arrived yesterday evening, he was using the drag to level the ground in the final step before sowing seed. Hopefully the seed will go on the ground today and be compacted in by the cultipacker. It will then be a matter of waiting for the seed to germinate – fourteen days in most cases.

The man that owns the pasture to the south of us has offered to go halves on repairing the fence between us. His concern is that the young bulls he is raising will push down the fence to get to the grass we will be growing in the meadow. I am inclined to believe him so next month we will get the materials and manpower together to repair that fence. There is nothing we can do to keep the deer, turkey and other miscellaneous animals out, but they will cause far less damage to the young grass as we nurse it to full growth. Grandpa and I see it as our cash crop. For that reason more than any other it needs to be protected during the first few months of its establishing root in our meadow. The old adage is that “good fences make good neighbors”. His concern shows he wants to be a good neighbor. We need to protect those relationships.

As we watch the Jerusalem donkeys we have eating the grass in our pasture we are having a hard time deciding if they are just getting fat or if they are pregnant. They are not tame enough to let us inspect them closely, but as the weeks pass by it looks more and more like the two younger ones are going to have babies. That would be fine with us; we are just not sure what the offspring would be. Our hope is that it would be a full blood Jerusalem donkey, but it could be a mule depending on the sire. Time will tell.

The big dogs destroyed another of my grape vines Monday night. I suppose it as an acceptable loss for the work we are expecting them to do for us in guarding our farm, but it is a frustrating trade from my perspective. At least they are not chewing down the fruit trees.