The move, rain, days off

Mama and I moved the last of the items out of the house on Jennie yesterday evening. We were running pretty late so we did not make it to church. We both wanted to hear Bo York preach but that did not happen. We invited Chase to the hotel to eat dinner with us since a meal is served weeknights at the Homewood Suites. He got changed there for church, but he was late getting there after spending a few minutes with us and then going to pick up Makaila.


In the move out of Amarillo, Chase ended up with our microwave, our toaster oven and various plates, utensils and cups. I think he got outfitted pretty well. While we were at his apartment getting the last of his items in place Mama could not help arranging the cabinets, setting up the bathroom, straightening out the closet, etc. Some of her fixes will never be touched. Some of them will not last through the weekend. Such is life with Chase. I suppose he could count it as a birthday present. His birthday is Saturday – the same as Mama.

Mama has to get the cleaning done this morning and pack up the refrigerator and freezer items before we lock the keys in the house and drive away. I was a great place to live for the past year. It was not as nice as the house on Fairfield, but it saved us enough money to be able to afford the farm. It was a good trade off.

I will do the Safety Meeting in Borger this morning which will keep me here until about noon. Mama is coming to get me around that time and we will leave from here to drive to Bowie. My office is packed up but I will have to leave a couple of boxes here until I come back over since we have no room in the little car to pack them. We even left five boxes of items in Chase’s closet to be retrieved on our next visit. We are both still getting used to the little car. Downsizing has its drawbacks.

Both Mama and I are hurting. I am more so after the last night trying to sleep on the hotel bed. Mama went to the chiropractor yesterday and felt much better after the adjustment. I elected to forego the treatment because I know for me it is better to get adjusted only if I can rest afterwards. That was not going to be the case. I was not sure last night – as badly as Mama was hurting – if she should have waited also.

We have rain here this morning and Mama and I are praying hard that we are getting rain in Bowie also. The seed Grandpa sowed in the meadows requires the ground to be warm (above seventy degrees) in order to germinate. It also requires moisture. So far we have met the temperature conditions but we have not met the moisture requirements. Mama and I will get to see it tomorrow morning but we are still praying for rain – especially while it is still warm.

I will be off tomorrow. My days off from work do not usually entail a complete disconnect from work, but rather present a day out of the office. The emails still have to be answered. The phone calls have to be taken or returned. Questions still have to be answered.

But, at least, we will be at the farm for the weekend.

Little things, shopping, farm issues, Mama’s Birthday

By the time I get back to Amarillo this evening, I will have driven enough miles to have driven to Bowie. As I got the keys out of my pocket this morning to unlock my office door (in Borger) I discovered the car keys were there also. Since we have only the one set of keys with us on this trip, I had to drive back to Amarillo to get the keys to Mama. Since she has no phone, it was the only option I had to rectify my oversight in not getting the keys to her after we got home last night.


It is the second time the single key has caused us a moment of dread. As I was testing the capacity of the car to handle two of the longer fishing poles on Monday morning, I lost track of the keys. I looked high and low realizing that I rarely lay anything aside carelessly. With the packing going on in the house there was no real hope of finding them in any of the usual places I could have laid them so I began to think they were locked in the trunk of the car. As we thought about what our options were Mama noticed the key tucked in my shirt pocket beside my wallet; disaster avoided. Next time we travel I will make sure we have both sets of car keys.

Mama and I went to a car lot last night to see what they might have in used trucks. The prices were ridiculous. For about fifteen percent more we could have bought a brand new vehicle instead of a used truck that was two to six year models old. I looked at a 2006 F250 diesel that was in very good condition but when I lifted the hood there was oil sprayed everywhere in the engine compartment. With that much blow by it would have to be a giveaway price, right? When the salesman helping us came back with a price, there was no way I would have considered it.

Grandpa says the calves are hungry all the time. They are having no trouble getting any of them to eat. We have not had the opportunity to participate in the feeding but both Mama and I are looking forward to it. I am curious how the donkeys like having the young stock at the farm. They have been guarding cattle for all of their lives – except since we have had them on our farm. They recently stomped a skunk to a pulp. The only things recognizable at the scene of the assault were the tail and the stink.

I am also curious how the big dogs are responding to the little ones. The two of them have made a sort of truce with the cattle across the road. It is more often that the calves chase them than the opposite. But with the size of the calves we are now feeding, the relationship could be different since both species are roughly the same size at this point. Dodger is still a concern, but I have heard no negative news about his behavior.

The house on Jennie will be empty tonight. Mama and I will go to a hotel. Chase will go to his apartment. Our life in Amarillo is over for now. I am happy to be at the farm. I am somewhat overwhelmed by the magnitude of the work that is yet to be done there. Once it is done, we will reap the rewards of that labor for years to come – God willing.

I am convinced that I need to have the apartment done as soon as possible so Mama can have a private space to escape to when the need arises. With the winter approaching quickly I cannot leave her confined to life in the mobile home on a twenty four/seven basis. I am expecting a very wet but mildly cold winter. She will need her space. We will need a kitchen so we can cook foods beneficial to me and Mama.

It is a lot. Please pray for us.

Mama turns fifty on Saturday. Unfortunately, we have no plans for a birthday party or any special presents. It is rather sad to think of passing such a milestone without some recognition, but it will have to wait – unless something pops into mind when I am less distracted by the move and work.

Still packing, phone service, Cinderella, far away

I am back in the Borger office today. Mama and I spent the day yesterday helping the guys who are packing up our house. We were a little shocked at first that it was only the two men but as it turned out, the two of them were sufficient; and we were not stumbling over each other as the rooms filled with boxes. Mama and I spent the night in the house last night but it will probably be our last night there. Mama needs a real bed.


I spent an hour on the phone yesterday in a meeting. I had to sit in the detached garage to hear the conversations about the training coordinator’s position within the company and how that role is being realigned. It will ultimately work me out of that role altogether. I am not sure how that will affect my boss and his decision to move me to Decatur, but I still have my other fulltime job to keep up with.

Mama is without a phone today – I think. She had Chase cancel her phone service with whatever plan she was on so we would not have to pay for the coming month. She is disappointed with both the service and the phone when she is in Bowie. We had planned on getting a straight talk phone and activating that but when we started to think about it; Grandma already has a phone that will work for Mama so they are going to share until we decide what to do long term. I do not know if you will be able to call her on her old number today. I am pretty sure you will not be able to tomorrow.

At work I got notice that the company is going to offer iPhones and iPads to some levels of management. I am very interested is getting back to the iPhone. I am just too cheap to buy my own at this point. Hopefully I can switch over this month. Since the Blackberry I have is starting to give me problems, it is pretty good timing.

I know Grandpa and Victoria went to pick up claves late yesterday evening but I have not heard any more about it yet. The contacts Mama and Grandpa made with a dairy farmer in Windthorst, TX really paid off. The family operating the farm understands our little operation and our desire to work our way into the cattle business so they are going out of their way to help us out. Of the four calves in our first lot, three are four days old and one is ten days old. That is great for us. The older they are the less risk it is for us.

There will be another four calves ready for us to pick up on Friday which works out pretty well since Mama and I are planning on going home Thursday afternoon. Mama is a little jealous of Victoria getting to make the first run. We will have to get a better way of hauling the livestock as the weather gets colder. The way we have the utility trailer fixed up right now is not the preferred method.

Cori was telling us a few days ago about a rough morning for her and Mykenzie as they were doing schoolwork. Since there was some sort of attitudinal disconnect Cori asked Mykenzie to sit at her little desk, fold her hands and lay her head down for a few minutes. When Cori thought about it further she decided to take Mykenzie to her room and have her refold the clothing in one of the dresser drawers. It had not been properly put away and needed to be corrected. Since Mykenzie knows what to do, no further instructions were needed.

Cori walked away for a few minutes because she needed the break also. When she went back to check on her daughter, Mykenzie was about half way done with the chore. She looked up sadly at her mother and said, “Right now I feel like Cinderella.” Cori, to her credit did now burst into laughter as we did when she was relaying the story to us, rather, she looked sternly at her daughter and said, “Well, if you were Cinderella, you would have a good attitude.” Then she walked away and laughed.

Grant is still in withdrawal from the farm and cannot understand why they cannot come to either Papi or Grammy’s birthday. Blake, who has obviously heard the explanation countless times, simply told his brother, ‘Fa’way, Gant. Fa’way.”

It is indeed a challenge to be far away.

Day off – sort of, newborns

I am officially off today even though I have sat in a meeting for an hour, answered twenty emails and answered three phone calls. We have two delightful gentlemen at the house today packing all of our things into boxes to be shipped to the farm – in a couple months. Much of the house is done and the attached garage is done. They are now working on the kitchen – that is the part Mama hates the most so she is thrilled someone else is doing it – and the detached garage.

I know there is a lot of stuff here but I also know that we hauled a lot of things to the farm already and in the move from Fairfield to Jennie, we threw out a lot of little things. I have a feeling that when we go through the boxes after they arrive in Bowie, we will be walking some of the things to the dumpster there. We have so much; much less than when we moved from Victoria to New Jersey, but still way too much.

I am stumbling across so many things that need to go to one of my daughters – or to Chase. I cannot find anything that needs to go to Joshua, but that is a good thing. All of it will be in Bowie by the year end and the only child who will not be closer to us there is Brittany - until she and Andrew relocate to Mississippi by February of next year. I just hope we can find the boxes then.

Victoria called a few minutes ago to tell me that the dairy farmer called today to tell them they have three at one farm and another three at the brother’s farm. So this evening they will go to pick them up. The first calves are from seven to ten days old.  The work has begun. Be praying that the calves do well and we are wise in their care. Now Mama wants to be there right away.

I will be back at work tomorrow…it will be less confusing to stop and write.

Birthdays, concrete, Brittany and Andrew, Chase

Birthdays really are for children. Thank you to all of you that called to wish me Happy Birthday yesterday. I even got a call from our insurance company. It was a good day after I got away from the office. We practiced saddling the horse and rode him for a few minutes. We went fishing for a little while. Mostly we just relaxed through the evening.


As we were down at the big pond (as Victoria calls it) we were talking about the farm and all that the Lord has given us. It is like the gift that keeps on giving. Grandpa and I have talked over and over about what was left for us to use in the way of buildings, the big pond and the way it was designed and all the fish in it, the calf barn and the loading chute, the chicken coops and the three sheds, the fencing and cross fencing, the garden, etc. When we go on to look at all the trees and ponds on the property, it is humbling to see how God has blessed us. I am pretty excited to be the steward of this little patch of earth.

I suppose my birthday present was the concrete that was poured yesterday. The men who worked it did a terrific job. I do not recall having a slab done to the degree that they worked this one. It looks polished. It was pretty spectacular to see it glistening in the evening sun. I think you can see it in the picture.

The bucket in the slab is set over the shower drain line in the rough plumbing. This is a common practice which will allow the final plumbing to be adjusted after the slab is poured. In case the rough plumbing is off by a little. The man who did the rough plumbing sent out a helper to put a box over the stub to keep the concrete away from the line but the dog tore it up before morning. Grandpa put the bucket I cut for that purpose back before the concrete crew arrived.

There was enough excess concrete to pour a floor in part of the shed we plan to use for the calves. It is not as smooth as the slab but it will provide a concrete floor to work off of as we bottle feed the calves. It also filled in the holes left by the dogs when we kept them there last year. The contractor gave us estimates for the two pours required to finish the slab for the shop and offered to pour a floor in the adjacent part of the shed with the excess when he works the final pours.

Mama and I are heading to Amarillo today. The movers will be in the house on Monday to start packing up all we have left there. It is not as much as when we left Victoria, TX, but there is still a fair amount. It should take them Monday and Tuesday to get the packing done. The truck will be loaded on Wednesday – if all goes as planned.

Brittany and Andrew are coming down to Amarillo this afternoon. Brittany was planning a surprise party for Mama but I did not see a way to convince Mama to arriving in Amarillo in time without going to extreme length so I told Mama they were coming. Because of the move, it will be the last time we will be only six hours from the two of them. Though it will not be the last time we are in Amarillo, we will no longer have the house to share with them. It will be all hotels from here on out.

Chase is moving this weekend – I think. It would be wise to have all of his stuff out of the house before the movers arrive. There is not a lot of stuff that he will be taking but we have been through this before. There is no telling where things will be after they begin packing.

Today is Becky’s birthday. Happy Birthday Becky!

Tomorrow is Nate’s birthday. Happy Birthday Nate!

Cattle news, concrete today, bird woes, sad news

Mama and Grandpa spent most of the day at a stock sale yesterday learning what the going rate is for cattle of all kinds. They also stopped at several farms on the way home. One of those farms was a dairy farm. When they asked about buying some new born calves they were told the going price was $50 per head for day olds and $60n per head if they were several days old. The guy running the farm said they have calves born almost daily but they have a regular buyer. We are going to see if we can get in on that and start building a herd.


What Grandpa and I have been talking about is getting six at a time every six weeks. When we have one group on feed and out to pasture (usually about six weeks) we will get another group. From those purchases we will select the best to keep for a herd, keep one or two to raise for beef and the rest will go to sale. We should be able to double our money since we will sell about two thirds of the cattle purchased. With the sale money we are planning to purchase a good bull.

It is a longer range plan than buying bred heifers to start a herd but we will at least know what we have since they will have been raised from newborns on our farm. It is at least one way to ensure we can pick the best of what we have to start with and since we will have had them from infancy, they should be easier to manage. Not necessarily pet cows, but cows that will be very familiar with us and our farm. There is a potential we will be able to get started today.

That, as it happens, is problematic. The contractor will be at the farm today around 8 a.m. to pour the slab. I am sure it will take a couple hours to get the rebar set in the form but I fully expect to hear that he is done by early afternoon. Unfortunately I will not get to see the actual work being done, but I will see it complete when I get back home this evening.

I am excited. It is the first of many steps to transforming the buildings on the farm into usable space for future ventures. It is actually a small step compared to the full extent of the work we are planning, but it is one of the keys to getting Mama and I settled on the farm permanently. It is a little later than I had originally planned but the timing seems perfect. We will have to lock all the dogs up until tomorrow morning to keep from having their paw prints permanently embossed in the concrete.

The guineas are off again, gone again. Grandpa had them put up but Mama let them out. They were not even in the yard a few minutes before the dogs ran them up a tree. Now they are foraging somewhere else in the county. No one has complained about them so I am not worried, but I cannot convince Mama to just leave them in the coop. “They like to eat bugs.” She explains; so do chickens but they are not left to roam freely because the dogs would kill them. At least the guineas can get to the tree safely, but they have more freedom to eat safely in the coop; albeit, not bugs.

We got some sad news at work yesterday. The wife of a coworker of mine went in for knee replacement surgery yesterday. All went well until they had her in the recovery room. At that point she had a massive stroke that lead to dangerous swelling on her brain. She we pronounced dead at 2:30 that afternoon. She was in her mid fifties. Her husband sent out a short email that said, “Diane passed away today at 2:30 pm. I appreciate all your prayers and concerns. She was great wife and my best friend.”

For the rest of us life goes on. For him, it is put on hold indefinitely.

Fishing tales, farm plans

Grandpa and I worked on the apartment forms yesterday evening for an hour or so. Neither of us was really interested in going too far. He will do some leveling on the gravel backfill today after he and Mama get back from a cattle sale they are going to. We will be ready for the contractor on Thursday. It will be good to see it done.


Mama and I spent an hour or so down at the pond and caught fifteen bass. Mama caught four or five and I caught the rest. We were using lures so there was no live bait involved. Mama really got into it after the first bite. It was all catch and release but we caught three that would have been keepers if we were looking to eat the catch. Most were smaller to little to little bitty but they put up enough of a fight that Mama was thrilled by it.

Dodger went with us and I really wish he had not. Everything to him is a game of “catch”. Even as Grandpa and I shoveled dirt in the forms, Dodger had to pounce on each and every shovel full of dirt as it landed. It can be very distracting. Anyway, he got to the pond well ahead of me and Mama and was pacing up and down the shoreline waiting for the fun to begin. On my first cast I hooked a pretty good bass and he knew what was coming.

Of course, I released the bass and Dodger went after it. I gave the pole to Mama as he swam back to shore and it was not long before she hooked one. Dodger was shivering and whining in anticipation. He dove after that released fish also – and so it went on throughout the entire time we were down there. When we were not reeling in a catch he would whine and pace until he knew one was hooked, then he assumed his pouncing stance ready to make every effort to catch something, anything.

As we were leaving, Mama walked up on the dam to see how Grandpa was doing. He was mowing the pasture below the dam at the far corner of our property; outlining it for Mama to finish up today and tomorrow. I had to make one more cast. It was a good cast and I hooked a fair sized bass. As I released it I gave Dodger a sporting chance. I usually throw the fish into deep enough water to let it quickly get away.

This time, instead, I put the fish in at the water’s edge and Dodger was on it in an instant. Between the fish splashing in his frantic effort to get to deeper water and Dodger splashing in his frantic attempt to contain the wriggling fish, I got thoroughly covered with muddy water. The fish got away unharmed. Dodger was finally satisfied. I wiped the mud splatters off of my glasses, gathered the tackle and tackle box and headed to the top of the dam to catch up to Mama. Everyone had a good time – except the fish.

My guineas came home yesterday afternoon. Grandpa put them up in the coop they consider home now, so we could look them over. They appear to be fine and Mama and I are talking about getting three females to go with what she is convinced are all males. Regardless of which is which, we will attempt to get the ones that Mama says look different. It would be nice to raise our own. I am told that the islanders really like to eat roasted guinea. I will have to try it.

Mama is also convinced that she will get the fainting goats when and if we start a herd. So convinced she will not hear about any other variety of goats being purchased for the farm. Again, I will have to eat one to see if it is a viable option. It would be impractical to have a farm filled with pets. We are not trying to mimic the “Little patch of Heaven” farming model.

At least that is not my intent.

Flashy, Dodger, Cori’s Birthday, news about my dad

Mama told me Sunday that Flashy had gotten hurt somehow. She had a tear right at the top of the hoof and was limping badly when she saw her Sunday evening. She called Wes who came and took her to the vet yesterday. It turned out to be less damage than he had first expected but the vet said that the wound was at least three days old. Mama was amazed because we had been tending to her on Friday evening and Saturday morning and did not see anything out of the ordinary.


Wes was not the least upset. He explained that horses are like all other animals; they get hurt. Flashy, he told Mama, has a real bad tendency to eat on the other side of the fence and has gotten tangled up in a fence in the past. It will probably happen again. The vet was able to patch her up without it costing too much so Wes had them run a pregnancy test – and she is pregnant. She will foal in the spring. For now, Wes is going to keep her close.

Grandpa and I worked a little on the forms for the apartment last night. He had worked most of the day for a local realtor so he was as worn out as I was but we did get the forms leveled. We also checked if they were square. To check for square you measure diagonally across the form. As it turned out, we are off by less than a quarter of an inch. That should help when the walls go up. Both of us were pretty relieved that the measurements came out so well. We are still on the schedule for Thursday for the pour.

My guineas went walk about again. I can’t blame them. The dog will not leave them alone. Dodger we are able to call away when he looks like he wants to chase them, but the two big dogs will not interrupt their train of thought regardless of what we do to stop them. The birds will probably be back after a couple of days but I do not know what I can do to help them. I am concerned about how to keep them through the winter.

Victoria was up at 5 a.m. this morning; somewhat because of her cough, but mostly because Dodger was restless and hurting. He has an ear infection that we cannot seem to get rid of. We assume it itches him constantly, which would be a bother to any of us. Victoria put the prescribed medicine in the ear and finally let him outside. I hope she and Mama got back to sleep.

Today is Cori’s birthday. Happy Birthday, Cori!

I think Mama got the card in the mail but it requires far more planning here than it has anywhere else we have lived – since the last time we lived on a farm. We will eventually get the hang of it but for now it is a “learn as we go” routine – especially for Mama. Add to that Mama’s desire to placate Grandma’s constant neediness and you can understand her distraction. Don’t get me wrong, Grandma is a big help to us. She is also a big consumer of emotional energy.

We are routinely getting ten eggs per day. With seventy eggs per week on average we have been giving the excess to the Bible Institute located in Bowie. Right now there are three families and two single ladies in training there along with the regular staff of three or four families. It is our little mission’s project to share our abundance with them. I am not sure how far into the winter the hens will continue to lay, but we will continue the practice while we can.

I called my dad last night to see how he was doing. He is undergoing chemotherapy for prostate cancer so he and Mom are driving to College Station (about a three hour round trip) five days per week for the next four weeks. Mom said the treatments take only a few minutes per visit but they get little else done each day when you figure in travel time and waiting room time. She sounded worn out. They talked about coming over for a couple nights after the treatments are done so we can show them the farm. I asked Grandpa about taking his truck to drive them around the property. He agreed, of course. Then he told me he had never taken Grandma around to see the farm either. She has no idea what we are talking about when we talk about the big pond or the lower pasture.

We can easily take care of that – and we should.

Wounded calf, wounded horse, Mama sick, coyotes

Saturday morning Grandpa and I worked on the utility trailer to make it usable for picking up the calf we were anticipating taking home. By the time we left to go get the calf it was near 10 a.m. and I was afraid it was getting too late; especially when you consider the morning milking probably started at 4 a.m. When we got to the farm where we were to pick up the calf, the farmer Mama had negotiated with was not around. I talked with a couple hands (they spoke very little English) that were still cleaning up from the morning milking and got the number I needed and called the farmer. I ended up leaving a message. The farm is only about eight miles from our farm so it was not a lengthy trip.


Before we left, Grandpa and I looked in the calf barn at the dairy farm and saw the calf we were expecting to buy. It was in pretty bad shape. There were about a dozen others that looked pretty good but, sadly, the one we were looking to take home was not going to make it. We found out later when the farmer called me back that the calf had been stepped on. The farmer apologized but explained that he was not going to let us buy it because he could not be sure it was going to survive. He has thirty cows due to calve this month and he is going to hold two of them for us to buy. The trailer is ready and the lot is ready. We have the milk replacer to feed whatever calf we get, so we will wait.

Saturday evening I went down to the pond to fish for a while. I took two poles because I was not sure if I wanted to use live bait or try a lure. I ended up starting with grasshoppers and caught two very nice bass. One was about fourteen inches long and pretty fat. The light was hitting the water in such a way that I could see the bass moving in the shallows. This was obviously no time to be chasing grasshoppers; it was time to switch to artificial bait.

I put a lure on the line and caught a couple small bass but after a couple more casts I hooked something that bent my pole over double. I took my time trying to land the catch but as I was struggling with it the line broke. After I thought about it, I have come to the conclusion that it was probably a turtle because it eventually broke the line and took my favorite lure.

I got another lure out of the tackle box and went back in the same area. I caught several more bass of various sizes. All were released but at least three were big enough to keep and eat. Since I am the only one who likes fish taken out of the water vs. fish taken out of the freezer packaging, I am hesitant to keep any of them.

Mama and Victoria missed church last night because both of them had severe headaches. Mama does not miss very often so I know she was feeling very badly. I do not know how she is today but yesterday was a struggle for her so keep her and Victoria in your prayers.

Mama told me last night, when I got home from church, that Flashy split a hoof and was limping pretty badly. She called Wes and he is going to come over tonight to look at it and tell us what needs to be done. We have not ridden the horses since the kids were here but we have enjoyed having them on the farm. With so many things going on it is difficult to make the effort to catch them, saddle them, ride them, then unsaddle and put everything away afterwards. It is something we will have to decide to do on a regular basis or it will not be worth having them.

On my way to church I saw a coyote run off of our property, cross Paddack Road and disappear into the overgrowth on the north side of the road. That is a little too close for comfort. Grandpa said that the yips and howls are slowly getting closer to the farm but the big dogs are matured enough to take them on. We could get to find out pretty soon. It is why they are there.

I just hope Dodger does not end up in the fight.

Hurry to catch up, Mama’s adventures, cattle – sort of

I have been in training for the past two days. It has been a good refresher of the safety focus we have as a company; a focus I have to promote as a supervisor, so it was a good use of the time I put into it, but it was a lot of time away from the jobs that I am doing. Now I have to play catch up in order to keep up.


While I was away Mama had an almost disastrous chicken adventure. She insists on letting the chickens out of the coop into the open. It usually works out pretty well since the flock does not wander too far – it has been too hot. Yesterday, it was not hot and the hens were ready to frolic in the open far more adventurously than at any previous time; especially the one young chick we have.

It appeared that the dogs were also quite energized by the cooler temperatures. While she turned away to get water for the chickens the chase began. Dodger, to his credit, stops his pursuit as soon as his name is spoken. Samson and Sasha do not respond to any commands, calls, criticisms, directions or instructions. It is a constant source of frustration for all of us.

Mama is not presently in shape to compete on foot with the dogs and Victoria is also almost always outdone. No chickens were hurt because the big dogs have no intention of hurting them, but the chick barely made it into the garden enclosure where access is limited – but not impossible – for the dogs. She and Victoria – who was ready to go to work at the time – managed to catch the little one and return her (I think) to the coop but it was another lesson in how quickly things can get out of hand when Mama assumes all the animals want the same things she wants. Unlike the story book ending, the dogs and the birds have not yet become friends. I have a call in to Disney to see if they can help us out.

Mama and Grandpa found an ad in the Shopper that caught their attention. It was for some cheap T posts and corral panels. When they arrived at the farm selling the items they realized they had found a pretty good deal. Although they had to pull up some of the posts themselves they felt rewarded fro the effort. Several of the posts were too difficult to remove but they did manage to get fifty on the trailer. My only mistake was telling Mama where my money stash was and how much was in it. There is nothing in it now.

Grandpa and Mama also stopped by a local dairy farm and got to talk to the owner about a bull calf that at that moment was 30 minutes old. If I understand correctly we are going back to purchase that calf tomorrow. It will have to be bottle fed for several week but Mama and Victoria are both thrilled. We will have to see how long that lasts. The farmer also has several larger calves to sell that Grandpa is going to go back for. Grandpa and I will finally have some cattle on the farm and Mama will have a short term petting zoo; another win-win

We are supposed to get two estimates on the concrete work today. I have only a slight idea how expensive the work might be so I am anxious to see what the rates for such work are at this time. I expect we will be getting our own crew together to do the pour but it does not hurt to ask. Right now I am so overwhelmed by work that I am having trouble juggling objectives which makes it very difficult to plan ahead – especially since we have so many irons in the fire.

It will all work out. God is good.

Sad news, construction projects

Sad news on the farm yesterday. One of our guineas was found dead. Mama launched an investigation into the death but since all of her suspects were canines, the results were inconclusive. Our Great Pyrenees were found guarding the carcass and Dodger had only been out for a short while. Grandma and Grandpa said there was quite a bit of commotion at first light when the guineas would have been coming off their roost, but we are not sure what happened. The loss was significant; 25% of our flock lost in one night. I am starting to think that people who have large flocks have the same thing happen; they are just not able to tell.


I will head back to Amarillo/ Borger this afternoon. I have two days of classes to take in Borger. It is something I have been scheduled to do for over five months and classes are difficult to get into since it is a requisite for working in the field for ConocoPhillips. It is not a bad thing since we still have the house in Amarillo. Next month could be different. At that point I will have to stay in a hotel each time I go. Hotels are fine, they are just not home.

Yesterday a man from the mobile home place came and spent most of the day repairing some of the damages that occurred when our mobile home was being set. The siding does not match the original siding – which is no longer available – but he did a good job in the repair. It was ripped open in three places when the driver rubbed the home against a fence and corner post while navigating a tight turn. All of the damage was in difficult places – in the back corner and under windows – which provided a challenge for the man doing the work.

We also got a new back door and Victoria’s room got a new door. It too does not match the rest of the doors but it works well and that is what matters most. The back door took a lot of work since the original frame was installed so badly. He had to remove the frame, reinstall it and then try to get the door to match up to the opening. It works now, but it took a lot of effort and a lot of caulk. The first blowing rain will tell us if it was a success or not.

There is rain in the forecast for Thursday into Friday with almost a quarter inch expected. That is not a significant rain in my estimation but it would be enough to get the seed which we recently sowed in the meadows off to a good start. Right now it looks bad. All the grass is kind of crispy but we know from experience that is only takes a little moisture to wake up the dormant plants.

A concrete man is supposed to come to the farm on Friday morning to give us an estimate on the job. I have some idea what to expect but the price could be anywhere from $800 to $2000 depending on how the person sees it. There is no cost for him to come and look and I will have a feel for what I am up against in future concrete projects.

We got an estimate for the large garage door we want to put on the south side of the shop – towards the house. We are planning on it being a twelve by fourteen opening with a garage door opener. The estimate was for $2000; roughly what I expected. The door at the other end, a more standard eight by ten, will cost about $1300. Both of those prices include installation. No one said this would be cheap.

With the apartment and shop laid out, Grandpa is planning other projects as well; additions to the calf lot building to house the baler, expansion of the hog building, construction of the barn using the log package – with it being the horse barn. Mama is even more excited about that one than the apartment.

We will be busy for years to come, Lord willing.

Travel, sowing, Mama’s birthday, false alarm, goats

I traveled back to the farm with a loaded pickup on Friday afternoon and got there in time to help Grandpa put out the coastal seed we had bought last week. The seed is tiny and difficult to broadcast. It takes less than the lowest setting on the seeder we have to get it distributed and if the seed had not been stained blue by the inoculation agent applied to it, there is almost no way to detect how well or how poorly it has been applied.


Compounding the effort was a cold front I had just barely managed to stay ahead of throughout the three hundred mile trip. I had either just missed or stayed just ahead of the rains associated with the front so we were hoping to get the seed out in case the rain followed me home. Sadly, it did not, but we got all the winds the forecasters had promised. It was a late night for us putting all the equipment away.

Saturday morning we were up early to get to Trade Days before the man from our church who runs a plumbing business was scheduled to get there. Mama and I had a great time. We really took a much longer time than we usually do. We bought stirrups for our saddle, a bridle, four laying hens – which were terrorized by the hens we already had – some beads for Mama’s watch making, and several miscellaneous items. (We even went back for an hour with Victoria on Sunday afternoon.)

While we met with Victoria for lunch on Saturday the plumbing was roughed in and it looks good. Grandpa and I will backfill the forms, level them out and see when I will have time to get a crew together to make the pour. I will be in Borger Tuesday through Friday this week and I am not sure we will have the form ready for the pour on Saturday. Next week, Mama and I will go back to Amarillo to get ready for the final packing in preparation for the official move.

Brittany is trying to line something out for the evening of the 21st to celebrate Mama’s upcoming 50th birthday. I do not know if we will get it all worked out but it would be the last chance for her to meet with us in Amarillo – which is about five hours closer to her than Bowie. She is planning on being there on Friday and Saturday. Mama does not know.

On Saturday morning as we got the tractor fired up Grandpa and I were concerned that something had gotten to our guineas because of the number of feathers on the ground outside of their roost. As it turned out, they are all okay. It was a false alarm. It appears the wind on Friday night blew the molted feathers out of the coop unto the ground making it look like an attack had taken place. They showed up later that day in the hog building. I think we have now been adopted by the birds. The biggest problem is that I cannot find anyone who can tell us definitively whether we have males or females or a mix.

We are drawing closer to getting goats. Mama took the grandkids to look at a herd that is down the road from where Grandma and Grandpa used to rent. Unbeknownst to her, they are fainting goats. She enjoyed the visit immensely. If she has her say, those are the only goats we will ever own. Before we do buy some and start a herd, I want to find out how to market the animals. I really want to find out if we will eat them. If they cannot be used as food for our family, there is little use in raising them.

I am not interested in sponsoring a petting zoo.

Schedule conflicts, Becky prayer needs, moving

I have not gotten to spend as much time with Chase as either of us would have liked to. It seems my work schedule is not compatible with his social life. Last night I got away from Borger about 5:30 p.m. Chase, Makaila and Jace were planning on going to a football game at Amarillo College and leaving at that time I would not have been home before he had to leave to make the timing work out with the other two people involved.


So we did not see each other last night. Today he goes to work at 11:00 a.m. and I will not be leaving work until about then on my way back to Bowie. I am planning on going by Sear’s on the way out of town to say goodbye. At least we got to spend a few minutes together on Wednesday evening before church. I will be back next week – maybe then we can visit.

He will be moving out of the house on the 14th of this month. He has what he considers a pretty nice apartment. When I am back next week I hope to be able to help him move as well as see his new digs. When Mama and I are back at the end of the month to oversee the packing of our household items, we will have a little more freedom to spend some time with him – and Makaila. At that point we will be leaving Amarillo. I anticipate a bitter sweet moment.

I seem to be having the same problem with getting together with Joshua. He was due to come up during the week Cori, Nate and the kids were here but that fell through because the tickets did not get to him in time to make the original departure. Rescheduling was too costly in his opinion. Now he will be coming to the Dallas area this weekend and Mama and I are not going to be able to get over to see him because of the work we have scheduled at the farm. (Too short of notice. Too short a visit.)

I am hoping that my October schedule is a little less full. Since we came back from vacation in Florida we have been in a constant race to keep up with the demands of work, the farm, church functions and family needs. I am not complaining. Everything that has been happening has been good – for the most part – it is just wearying to bounce from one event to another. It is also expensive.

Becky has called several times recently and I have not been able to take the call. She finally left a message requesting prayer for a new job offer Charles has. It is an oil field job working out of an office in Oklahoma. I am not sure of the details but I know he really needs to be working. I know she really wants him to go to work. With the past family problems and the lack of work in the area, it may be time for them to consider moving somewhere where there are more opportunities. South Dakota would be good. Becky can finish school in a number of other places.

Mama and Grandpa went to look at a stock trailer that we thought he might be interested in. Turns out he was interested. I do not have the money to get it right now but it would be a good one for us to have on the farm. We are praying that it stays at the dealer where it now sits until we can come up with the cash. It would complete our transportation fleet.

I will be traveling back to the farm today. I do not know how much I will be able to take with me on this trip since I will be loading all the items by myself. I need to get my dresser and clothing to the farm rather than having them packed up by the shippers. The same goes for Mama. We may not be able to get our things delivered until November, at which point I am pretty sure we will need our winter clothing. Mama will anyway.

Mine all fits in one closet.

Meetings, Chase, church, plans

Yesterday was a blur – of sorts. I left the farm and drove to Borger where I spent the rest of the day in meetings. I excused myself from dinner with the group that evening so I could go to church. I have to pick up on the meetings this morning in a few minutes. This meeting is scheduled for the entire day. It is the conclusion of the assessment we did at the beginning of July and it continues to tie up about thirty people. Hopefully the outcome will yield the benefits that are expected.


I got to spend a few minutes with Chase last night before he had to go pick up Makaila for church, but he seems to be doing very well. He was most encouraged that his snake is shedding – a sure sign of growth – and that the snake is eating live mice. That kind of feeding is so much more fun to watch than seeing it eat a thawed, very dead mouse.

He is prepping us for missing both thanksgiving and Christmas with us as he tries to arrange his work schedule for maximum earnings through Black Friday and the Christmas season. Mama will be disappointed, but I expected as much. Money is more important at this point than family. Besides, if he and Makaila stay together he will have family to spend the holidays with. I am certain they will not mind.

Mama and Grandma went to church in Decatur last night. Victoria did not get off in time to make the trip. I guess things at Wal-mart got too busy to let her go at the appointed time and Grandma and Mama could not wait, but Mama said the service was great. The pastor’s son preached and they really seemed to enjoy it.

I enjoyed the service at Central Baptist also. It was encouraging to see the Faith Promise commitment made for the coming year - $166,500. Attendance last night was way down and I couldn’t help but wonder at the magnitude of the commitment, but the church has met its commitment year after year and God is still the greatest enabler known to mankind. We will be a part of the Faith Promise at our new church in Decatur this year. I will have to ask what their commitment is for the year.

I had to leave before the service was over because they were serving communion and Central Baptist is closed communion. Since I am no longer a member I would have been asked to leave so I left at the altar call. I have no problem with the practice of closed communion, but I still do not see it in the scriptures the way Pastor Chadwick does; even though he says it is very plain to see. With our church in Decatur I will not have to answer that question since it is not their practice.

Tonight and tomorrow I will pack up some things at the Amarillo house for transport to the farm. I am trying to be careful to bring only what we either can readily use or what we have room to store because there really is no good place to put extra things.

We are making progress on the shop and apartment but it is much slower than I had anticipated because the amount of travel required of me this month. The plumbing is set to go in this Saturday and I am hoping to get the concrete down next Saturday. I am not sure how much Grandpa will do without me, so the real construction will not begin until October.

Mama and I will be in Amarillo together the last week of September to oversee the packing and shipping of the items we still have in the Jennie Ave house. I am planning on those items being stored until after Thanksgiving – at which time I hope to have the apartment ready.

Even that seems very ambitious at this point.

Fun week, work ahead, sad news for our church

Last week was a fun and productive week for us at the farm; putting up the first hay from our meadows, getting the shop ready to set forms, horseback riding on our farm for the first time, sharing the farm, the animals and the pond with Nate, Cori and the grandkids. On Saturday, as they traveled home, Grandpa and I worked on setting the forms for the apartment. We finished getting everything level and square late in the evening. Now we are in a holding pattern as we wait on the plumbing to be done. I really needed Sunday to rest up.


I hired out the plumbing under the slab to a man in our church who has just started his own business. He came out early Monday morning to look the job over and give me an estimate. The only caveat is that he may not be able to get to it until Saturday afternoon. With that time table I will not get the slab poured until the following weekend – unless I can find someone to do the pour for me. I have not found anyone yet and I will be in Borger for the better part of the week next week and the week following. I have to trust it is the Lord’s timing even though I had different plans.

Through our church contacts, Mama did find a place where we can buy some piglets for a very good price. We will probably start back with two pigs pretty soon so they will be the right size before it gets too hot next summer. (Grant seemed to get over the fact that we were eating the pigs whose pictures still adorn his bedroom door.)

We will also look into getting another six laying hens at Trade Days this weekend or next – I still cannot figure out how they do the “Second Monday Trade Days” on whatever Saturday they pick. Since we are here it will be no real issue for us to go whenever the activity is scheduled, but I have yet to figure out just how they schedule it. October should be a month in which we take full advantage of the many items offered for sale there – especially for doors and kitchen counters. We will supply much of the rest of the cabinets and such from IKEA – which Cori helped us find.

Mama and I spent the majority of the day shopping yesterday. I spent a good bit of time at Lowe’s where I picked up some stakes to reinforce the forms. The only problem is that the ground is so hard that they cannot be driven into it. I also bought a framing nailer that I found on sale. I have wanted to get one for years but have not been able to justify it. With the framing work we have ahead of us, I thought it was the right time. It will save Grandpa and I a lot of forearm strain not having to drive every nail with a hammer. (I replaced my stolen air compressor with that thought in mind – even though I had no idea at the time we would buy a farm.)

When we got to church Sunday morning we got some bad news. On Saturday afternoon a young man in the church was killed in a motorcycle accident. He was Victoria’s age so she knew who we were talking about then we told her later that day. She was not with us because she is still quite sick with some respiratory infection. He was the youngest son of one of the church families and since there are several branches of the same family in the family in the church, the loss was significant to the congregation in general. On Friday the same family had a grandson born to them. This life is truly unpredictable.

On the same morning our church entertained a missionary family that has a ministry to the military. They were a delightful group; the husband, the wife and the fourteen children.

Mama and I only made it half way there.