Home, little accomplishments, Dodger

It was nice to get home last night. At this point I do not plan on traveling for at least a couple weeks. The men from the church are at a campground about an hour from the farm for a weekend fishing trip. Mama wants me to go tonight to fellowship with the group, but I do not know if I am up to any more miles or late nights. I will see how I feel tonight and what time I get out of the office. Mama has to pick me up tonight since I drove a truck to the office this morning. That may postpone my departure somewhat.

Not much got done on the apartment while I was gone. Grandpa has not been feeling well for the past week or so. I did get the good news that even though an inch of rain fell in the span of less than an hour on Wednesday night the apartment and shop were completely dry. I felt a sense of accomplishment in that. Now we can proceed with some confidence as we complete the insulation and sheetrock throughout the apartment, laundry room and shop.

I do have to admit to being a little discouraged with the project. It has taken a lot longer than I originally anticipated and some of the delays have been weeks long. I will keep pushing through and eventually we will get done but it has been a little disappointing that much of the work has had to wait on me. I think my dad must have felt the same sense of frustration as he worked on the house in Chappell Hill over the many years that project was going on, but he persevered – as I will also. It will be worth it when we do finally get done.

When I called Mama yesterday afternoon she and Grandma were at the vet’s office waiting news on Dodger. He had been in quite a bit of pain through the morning and Mama assumed that there was something stuck in his mouth but she and Grandma could not give him and relief. The vet’s diagnosis was that he had been bitten in the face by a copperhead. He will survive but he will still be in some pain for a couple days longer.

He seemed okay when I got home last night but Mama was following the doctor’s orders to not feed him for 24 hours so he was very hungry. The only way I could tell that he was hungry was that he followed every person who headed that direction into the kitchen. Then he would stand at his bowl and look up at each of us. It was kind of pitiful. As I left this morning he went out with me as he usually does, but I am not sure I did the right thing in letting him follow that routine.

I will find out sometime later.

More travel, storms, family news

I rode over to Borger yesterday with a coworker from the Decatur office with the intent of getting a truck here and driving it back for use in the Decatur office. That part is going to work out well. Today I will travel most of the day visiting my staff in Guymon, OK and Dumas, TX. Tomorrow will be in Elk City, OK and then home. It is the second week I have been out of the office and away from the farm and Mama.

Last night I texted Chase but I did not think he texted me back until this morning when I saw his reply. It would not have been a good evening to get together. There was a storm blowing through the panhandle with very fierce winds. Amarillo looked like it was being swallowed up in a sand storm as I drove in late in the evening yesterday. The real storm came through after 10 p.m.

I left one of the windows in the hotel room open a little to watch the storm as I lay down to sleep. My room is on the fourth floor of the hotel facing west. I was wakened at 11 p.m. or so by the tornado alarms sounding and the violent rain beating against the window. I learned this morning that no tornados touched down in Amarillo although there were numerous funnel clouds spotted. I am still not sure how that is done after dark, but that was the official report. The real damage was done by softball sized hail.

The forecast for the farm is for the same storm to strike there today as it tracks slowly east. I do not know if the intensity will be the same but I do hope the rainfall will be as heavy as it was here. I did not hear how much rain fell but I am pretty sure it was over an inch. As I drove in this morning, there were multiple signs set up to warn of high water – which had run off since the signs were originally set out. It is not the most comfortable way to get rain but it seems like the most common in this area.

Brittany and Andrew are now in Mississippi at his new assignment. I think it will be a four year stay. They are very happy about the housing they have and the proximity to Cori and Nate makes it an easy trip to go over and hang out with them in Pace, FL. They were all at the beach yesterday and Mama was very jealous. I am not sure how the beach would be for her right now but I have a feeling she would make due – recent surgery or not.

She got her stitches out yesterday so she feels free of the constraints they imposed on her to keep them dry at all times. Showering was her biggest concern so now she can do as she pleases without the additional worry. She is attempting more range of motion but has to avoid any twisting or pivoting on the knee. We are not sure how long that motion will continue to hurt but the constant nagging pain of the joint is gone. Recovery is on the way.

I hope to concentrate on the apartment over the next several weeks and set a move in date for the first week of July. Considering I have been working on this for about a year the whole occupancy thing is kind of anticlimactic.  It will be nice to have a comfortable place of our own. Maybe Mykenzie, who was not at all impressed about the past two places Grammy has been living – the rental house in Amarillo and the mobile home on the farm – will feel better about this home for her Grammy. Grant and Blake could not care less about where they eat or sleep. They love the play opportunities the farm gives them.

Viva la difference!

A short long weekend, Mama, the contest

Even though this was a long weekend it was still too short to get everything done that I had wanted to accomplish. I did manage to get the roof sealed up in a way that should be more or less permanent. It will be less of a problem when we roof the taller portion of the shop but for now it should be rain resistant (vs. rain proof) for the time I will need to count on it alone. I was on the roof or the ladder from 8:15 a.m. until 4 p.m. to get it done. Then I worked inside the apartment and finished up the insulation. I quit about 7:30 p.m. I was so sweat-soaked that Mama had me hang my cloths outside until they dried. She has special gloves for handling such items.

Only two more plugs to wire in and the electrical work will be complete also. Grandpa was hurting too badly yesterday to do much. He tilled the garden on Saturday while I was working on finishing up some last minute items in the apartment and it may have been too much for him. The garden has never looked better. Right after he got it done we got a little over a quarter inch of rain; perfect timing for once.

Mama seemed to be hurting a little more this weekend than in previous days. She will see the doctor today so we will be updated on what should be hurting and how much it should be hurting. She will get the stitches out during this visit which will help some, but it will not affect the deep hurting she has been feeling in that knee.

Saturday evening she was feeling poorly so I went out to shut up the chicken coop and gather the last of the eggs. I found four in one nesting box and saw two in another – along with a pretty large rat snake. It was near dusk, and very low light so I could not be sure it was a rat snake. I went to get a hoe and a short stick to handle the snake and once I got him out of the nest I cut off his head. At that point the egg he was swallowing popped out of his mouth.

All during the cornering and pinning him, throwing him on the ground and lining him up for the fatal blow, he kept the egg in his mouth without breaking it. I took the egg to Mama along with the other eggs but she would not keep it. That one was fed to the dogs. What was weird is that as I pinned him to get a grip on him to get him out of the next he raised up his head and it looked like I was dealing with a cobra because of the way the egg he was swallowing distended his head.

I wish he had elected to eat the mice in the coop rather than the eggs but it was a poor choice on his part. I am not sure which Mama dislikes more, the mice and rats or the snakes. I think right now the prize would go the mammals, but it could be a close contest.

Speaking of contests, while Norman and Seth were here they issued a challenge to Mama, Victoria and Grandma. Each of them would set aside twenty five dollars in a pot and whoever lost ten pounds first would win the pot; one hundred and twenty five dollars. So far Mama has gained one pound and Grandma had gained two.

I do not think that was the point of the contest.

Travel, medical issues, more travel

I got home from Eagle Pass yesterday in the early afternoon. It was about nine hours on the road and other than seeing multiple police check points and dozens of officers either clocking cars with radar, in pursuit of offenders or talking with someone they had pulled over, it was pretty uneventful. I drove a little over 1100 miles round trip, but it was well worth the effort. Now I have to catch up to my regular work.

Lately I have been getting a rash on my shoulders, my upper back and my chest. It has been recurring for about a year now. At first we thought it was an allergic reaction to something in the t-shirts I was wearing so Mama changed laundry detergent – several times. Still it persisted. We looked at just about everything I could think of. When we showed the rash to Grandma a couple days ago, she knew what it was: shingles. That made perfect sense. It does not help me deal with it, but at least it identifies it. Mama is after me to show it to a doctor and I probably should but there is very little they can do to treat a viral infection.

Grandpa took Grandma to the doctor while I was away and they did an ultrasound on her gall bladder. It will have to be removed soon. The surgery is listed as “emergency” for scheduling purposes but that means something different to the hospital than to Grandma. She has been telling everyone she talks to that she is having emergency surgery - sometime next month. To her it is really funny. If she tells you, be sure to laugh.

Mama is doing much better. Rather than get her stitches out yesterday, the doctor’s office moved the appointment to sometime next week. It did seem a little early to have the stitches out only ten days after the surgery, but I do not make those decisions. At any rate, she is on the schedule to have them removed at a later date. Until then she will have to shower with care. That is the part she likes the least.

She has been walking without any assistance of crutches or canes although she takes a walking stick with her as she moves about the farm. She still has a slight limp but that is going away. She is still not able to pivot on that knee. It may require physical therapy to start developing that strength, but she is not in pain any longer. That is the best part. She is planning to have the right knee done as soon as possible. I am thinking October or November but she is thinking sooner. I have a feeling the doctor will be on my side but we will find out.

I will be heading to Borger next week – after the Memorial Day Holiday. It has been too long since I have been there. Over the past several months I have had pressing work related matters to deal with as well as awaiting word from Licensing, so I have not been able to venture far from the office. Now that several of those matters are settled, or well under way, I can get back into a routine of making my rounds every month or so.

Grandpa made progress on the apartment while I was gone but with doctor visits and other matters of the home, he did not get too much further. I still have some work to do to seal the roof edges so we do not get any rain finding its way into the shop. One hard, wind driven rain got the shop and apartment pretty wet. That kind of shut Grandpa down on any sheetrock work.

Further sealing that edge will be the focus of this weekend.

Progress, permanent guests, travel

There was a lot of progress on the apartment this weekend. Norman and Seth did most of the sheetrock on the ceilings throughout the apartment while Grandpa worked on all of the electrical runs. The wiring is almost complete. I still have a few outlets to cut into the laundry room since Grandpa thought the ones I had cut already should be moved and we still have the oven wire to pull into place. Other than those few items we are done there.

While they worked inside, I worked on sealing up the roof. I was on the roof in the hot sun most of the afternoon and at one point I got pretty overheated. I took a short break while all the rest of the crew went to Nocona to celebrate “Fun Day”. I learned about the event when I had gone to the lumber yard early that morning. Even Mama went. Seth piloted her around in a wheelchair.

I did get one part of the roof (where the two buildings that make up the whole shop are connected) sealed up for good but there is still more work to be done.  All in all, I did about a quarter of the work in one day. It will take putting a roof on the tall part of the shop to finally seal up the connecting edge but that will not happen soon.

I will look today when I get home where Norman and Seth left off on the sheetrock because they worked through the day yesterday while we went to church. I did not go out and look after Victoria and I got home from the evening service. Mama did not go. She was in a good deal of pain and the knee was pretty swollen after an active morning.

Norman and Seth will be leaving this morning so we said our goodbyes last night. He felt badly that he had not gotten more done and I told him I felt that way every weekend. I assured him that he had done what it would have taken me four or five weekends to do. I consider myself a month ahead because of the effort. Now Grandpa can work at a slower pace to get more of the sheetrock done and I can do the tape and mud in the evening when I get home. I am very pleased.

The really odd thing about Norman and Seth’s visit is that Grandma insisted on keeping Moca. I have never known her to be so taken over any animal but she is definitely taken with that little dog. The dog sleeps in her bedroom on a special bed. Grandma hovers over her whenever she has to go out to use the bathroom. It is a big dangerous world out there and anything could happen to the tiny pooch.

In ways she is right to fret some. My biggest worry is a hawk getting Moca. She is not much bigger than a medium sized rabbit. Norman said that one night not too long ago an owl was making its approach for the kill when he stepped out of the house. His sudden appearance dissuaded the owl from its prey. That was all Grandma needed to hear.

Even though we are ahead for the moment I will not get very much farther this week. I have to leave tomorrow to drive to Eagle Pass, TX. I am slated to participate in the rollout of a new driving monitoring system the company is installing on all company vehicles. Not the most pleasant assignment. In the location I am traveling to there are sixteen vehicles. In my location I manage one hundred and seventy five. The scale up could prove problematic but I have until the week of the 23^rd of June to get a plan together.

The following week I have to go to Borger for some prep work there. The only bright spot in the two week period is Memorial Day. I will be off on Monday the 27^th so I will have two full days to work on the apartment over that long weekend.

We are not in the final stretch but we are a lot closer.

Brittany and Andrew, Norman’s truck, Mama

Brittany and Andrew were at the farm when I got home. Brittany came out to meet me so she could be the first one to give me a hug – no competition from Mama with her bum knee. (That used to be a competition the kids had with each other and Mama.) I got to show them the apartment and shop. It was fun for Andrew since the last time he was here he helped nail up a lot of the OSB sheeting on the exterior walls of the apartment.  At that time, the frame was all that was on the slab. He enjoyed his work being put to good use.

They are on their way to Andrew’s new duty station in Mississippi where he will be in flight school. They have metered their trip there in about six hour legs. The first leg was from Colorado Springs, CO to Amarillo, TX. There they visited with Chase and Makaila. The second leg was to us, in Bowie, TX. The third leg will be to visit friends in Hot Springs, AR. Then finally to wherever it is they are going in northeast Mississippi. Norman and Seth stayed the night at a local hotel to allow Brittany and Andrew to have the bed he was sleeping on.

After arriving home from spending all day in Dallas yesterday looking at trucks, without success,  Norman got online again and found a truck for sale that had been posted only about four hours prior. It was in Decatur, so they all got back in Grandpa’s truck and headed over. It turned out to be the one he was looking for. It is not the one he needs to haul hay down to us, but it is a great truck to support his landscaping business back in West Virginia.

It had been used by a company that does custom combining of grain. They are the original owners. They had used it for a service truck so it has an air compressor with an electric starter, a fuel tank with an electric pump and a large tool box bolted in the bed. It was perfect for him and Seth.  We were all pretty excited and relieved that he now has it especially considering that they actually bought and drove away with a truck in Dallas only to have to take it back because something was wrong with the engine. (Fortunately, the seller gave them their money back.)

Grandpa is starting the electrical runs in the apartment and Norman is talking about following behind putting insulation and sheetrock. Today they will get off to a slow start because Grandpa and Grandma are going to take Mama to her follow up appointment with the orthopedic surgeon. Grandma wants to see if there is any help for her with this doctor so I am sure that will be discussed while they are there.

Last night I got the tub set up with a chair so that Mama could shower without getting her knee wet. The doctor’s office told her she could remove the wrap and bandaging so she could clean up so we did –after her shower, just to be certain we did not mess up. Grandma had helper her wash her hair earlier in the day so last night she felt like a new woman.

I do not remember a week without a shower bothering me that much.

Rain, the search goes on, Mama

Well, we got rain last night. As I was leaving the house to go to church I was listening to the radio. The announcement was made that the storm headed our way in North Texas was producing tornados on the front and back sides of the of the storm line. The farm was a little to the west of the heavy thunderstorms but I called Mama to let her know. The funny thing is that I had just told her that the front headed to us was not expected to produce any tornados. I think everyone was caught off guard by the intensity of the storms that hit through the night.

On the way home from church I got into the heavy rain. Everyone that was still moving was going about thirty miles an hour because it was nearly impossible to see in the dark with the blowing rain. Water covered both lanes and the lightening was intense. Even the big rigs were pulling off to the side to wait it out. I only had to cover about fifteen miles in those driving conditions to make it to Bowie, so I kept going. It is a rare thing in this area to not be able to drive out of a storm within a few miles.

It was when I was going through town that I really got into some trouble. All the streets I normally take were flooded so had to pick a way home and stick with it. At several points I drove through two feet of water and I had to run a stop sign to make it through one intersection where the water was deeper than two feet. Once I got to higher ground I was okay and I did get clear of the storm as I made my way through town. The car got a thorough rinsing off through it all.

When I got home the power was off and had been for some time. Victoria was sitting in her car charging up her phone. She does not use it for making calls. She uses it as a net reader so her reason for maintaining a charge is dramatically different than Mama’s determination to keep her phone active. Anyway, we all made it safe through the storm and even got a good night’s sleep.

By this morning the power had been restored and sometime today Grandpa will look at the rain gauge and give Mama an update on total accumulation at the farm; I will get the news from her. I am excited to see the big pond. With a runoff like we had last night I am hoping its level rose noticeably. At the very least, the garden and the meadows got a good soaking. The news now is that more of these storms are headed our way tomorrow through the weekend.

Norman is getting a little discouraged because they looked at ten or more trucks yesterday and none of them worked out right for him. The ones he really liked were just out of his price range and the ones he could easily afford were not worth the price being asked. They spent all day in Dallas and Ft. Worth looking but came home without the prize. I am not sure if they will go back out today or not. He has a deadline of next Wednesday to get this done or go home empty handed for this trip.

Mama is getting along much better. She will see the doctor tomorrow. They will change the bandages and evaluate the incisions. It will be the first time Mama will see the surgery sites. I am not sure what she is expecting but I know she will be shocked by the size of the cuts vs. the pain she has endured as a result of them.

I am curious to know how much improvement she will see once the healing process is done.

Hay – Not, truck shopping, missing Mama

On two fields that should have produced between 800 and 1000 bales of hay, Grandpa was able to put up twenty seven bales. I am going to see what relief there may be at the county level to re-coop some of the loss due to the drought. There may not be any, but it would not hurt to ask. It makes our grand plan to haul hay from West Virginia to Texas seem like a very practical enterprise.

We are expecting rain today but that has been the case for weeks now. There seems to be about a fifty mile wide bowl we are sitting in that is being denied the showers the surrounding areas are getting with some regularity. But even those areas are suffering from the overall lack of rain. Grandma and Grandpa passed miles of flooded lands along the swollen Mississippi as they traveled south. Norman and Seth are heading back to West Virginia in a week hoping things have dried out enough to allow them to get back to work; not so much here.

Today Norman and Grandpa are going to Dallas to look at several trucks they have found online. They have already walked away from about half a dozen that did not quite meet their expectations. I am glad they are being so particular because they can only spend the money in Norman’s pocket once. They are looking for a truck that would allow them to hitch up a large trailer and haul several hundred bales of hay back to Bowie for sale, not your everyday, run of the mill puck up.

Hopefully, once the truck is bought Grandpa, Norman and Seth will get to the wiring, insulation and sheetrock in the apartment. It is nice having help.  Even last night as I was putting a tarp over the south garage door opening I had Seth helping with the tarp and Grandpa holding the ladder I was on. It made the work a lot easier and the results of that work a lot nicer; especially since there was a twenty mile an hour wind blowing against us.

Mamas’ chickens are really missing her. I do not know how they can tell but they are not laying as well the last several days – since she has been laid up. All of the baby chicks are growing at an unbelievable pace even without her careful attention, but the older ones know she is not the one coming to check on their needs. I think there are ten baby chickens and four guineas in the lot of little ones. I am hoping the guineas are females and the large one we now have is a male so we can hatch and sell our own at some point but that may be wishful thinking.

Grandpa is back in full farming mode and he is very pleased with the calves Mama has tended in his absence. We are going to wait until September to butcher the large steer and we will keep one of the little bulls until he is over a year old – just for grins. So we still have four little steers to sell late this summer.

If the dairy we have been working with gets back into the breeding program they followed last year we should be getting some bottle babies in the very early fall; probably around the end of September. Then we get to start all over again. Maybe when the grandkids come up in the Fall we can go get some baby pigs to complete our livestock program.

Time will tell.

Safe home, Grandpa in church, putting up hay, Mama’s surgery

Grandma, Grandpa, Norman and Seth arrived safe at the farm Saturday evening. The trip took its toll on Grandma but all in all, they were in good spirits when they arrived. We spent the evening walking around the farm with Norman showing him the sights and looking over the meadows. Grandma sat down in the recliner and started talking and did not stop for the entire evening. Moca came with them. She is Grandma’s special pal now because the two of them spent so many hours together while the men were out working.

I asked Norman if he was going to church with us and he said he would. Grandma was not to be left out – especially since it was Mother’s Day – and for the first time in over a year, Grandpa went to church also. Nobody went back to Sunday night services with us, but they all made the morning service.

Grandpa, Norman and I started working on the mower after lunch Sunday afternoon and replaced a couple of parts Mama and I had gotten while they were in West Virginia. Then he got started on the large meadow and did not get off the tractor until just before we got home from church that evening. Today they are going to rake and bale what was cut. Tonight, Lord willing, we will get some of the predicted rain.

I was off yesterday for Mama’s surgery. It went well but we were at the hospital from noon until a little after 6 p.m. for a thirty minute procedure. I finally got her home around 7 p.m. She spent a lot of time in recovery. When they called me back she was trying to wake up but she was not trying very hard. So I had to encourage her to fight through the anesthesia and get ready to go home.

When she did get out of the bed to go to the bathroom she got very nauseated and the attending nurse gave her something for the nausea. He had left the IV in just in case we had that problem. She was almost instantly better and I was dispatched to the car with all the items we were taking home with us. We met at the entrance and got her carefully loaded into the car for the ride home.

At the house we were met by Seth holding a welcome home sign. He had Grandma’s wheelchair out in the driveway and a set of ramps laid out for the wheelchair to ease Mama up the steps and into the house. That went pretty well. Mama will not be coming down those steps for a couple days at least and if she does not improve her technique with crutches, it could be longer.

She is not to put any weight on the knee for at least 24 hours. After that she can begin to use it as she is able to tolerate the pain. She is absolutely not to twist the knee for a couple of weeks, at which time we will begin therapy. The doctor told me this is a temporary fix which will prolong total knee replacement for several years. (He does not know about the herbal regimen we are going to put Mama on.)

He also said that weight loss is the key to prolonging any further remediation of the knee issues with Mama. Grandma has committed to getting on a better diet and losing weight with Mama. That will be a difficult thing to do when her normal breakfast is an oatmeal cake and a cup of sweet coffee. Although Mama’s diet is much better than that, she still likes sweets far too much.

It will be an interesting couple of months.

No rain, Dodger, girl’s day out, big plans

Once again all the rain we were predicted to get passed us by. The grass is dead or dormant again; which is bad news for the hay crop we were hoping to get. I told Mama that we really needed to put it up a week ago but Norman needed Grandpa in West Virginia too badly. I can understand in part, but what is being done there is not as time critical as putting up hay. We will at least get something usable from the fields this year but it is pretty thin. On the bright side, it will not take too much time to dry out before we can bale it.

The dogs have been polluted lately with little burrs – Dodger especially. For a couple weeks now every time Mama or Victoria reached out to pet him they immediately pulled their hands away because of the hundreds of burrs lodged deeply in his coat. So yesterday he went to the salon and got a summer hairdo. Mama dropped him off at about 9 a.m. and we went to get him a little after 4 p.m. Was he ever ready to get out of there!

I put him in the car while Mama and the grooming lady talked about the dog she was working on at the time. He hopped onto the ledge at the back window and was sleeping by the time I got Mama out of the shop.  When we got him home, he ate a little, drank a lot and flopped down on the floor – right in the middle of the walk way – and promptly fell asleep. It was a trying day for the poor guy.

He did manage to stir when Mama and I went out to feed the animals. As we walked into the shed in the calf lot where we keep the feed Mama started screaming and prancing because she saw something really big moving in the hay. It was a half grown rabbit, but she had not had time to focus before she panicked.  I tried to get Dodger on its trail but he was distracted elsewhere. It would have been a great chase to watch.

Mama and Victoria are planning on shopping this weekend. I have no idea what they are shopping for but I do know how much Mama can spend and most of that will be given to the gas station to get them there and back. All of what I have left until payday will be spent on feed for the cattle and chickens.  I get paid next week so her timing is pretty bad. But I am sure she will find a way to cope.

The West Virginia crew will be in late Saturday night. At least that is what I know at the time of this writing. Norman and Seth are planning on returning to West Virginia in two weeks driving a truck they are planning to purchase while they are here.

Bold plans.

Maggie and Aaron, Grant

Maggie called yesterday to bring me up to date. She often talks with Mama but I do not always get those details. She told me that one day recently Aaron got granted “sunshine liberty”. That is, he got off work early because the sun was actually shining. It was bright and beautiful. In order to use the time to their advantage they went to Douglas Island.

Douglas Island is a tidal island just west of Juneau. At low tide the island is connected to the mainland by an exposed strip of land that disappears when the tide comes in. Maggie said they hiked a little but mostly drove around to see the sights. I was reading that one of the attractions is a real sand beach – the only sand beach in in that area – which is made of mine waste rock (tailings) that are accumulated there. There is a point on the island that is familiar to the locals where you can watch the whales. That would be fun.

She was also telling me she has felt the baby kick hard enough that it can be felt on the outside of her belly. Aaron has not been successful in feeling that movement yet but it will not be long before both of them are less enamored with such antics from their first child. Maggie still has about five months to go so there will be more than ample opportunity to get kicked and punched by the little one…at least for Maggie and Aaron. Still it is exciting to know a little baby is being “knit together” in her womb.

Cori also called because Grant had something to tell me. When they all went out yesterday Cori watched the car in front of her swing wide in the lane as if to avoid something. She was concentrating on that when Grant called out “Turtle!” He has spotted the box turtle in the lane so Cori turned back to “rescue” the reptile from almost certain death. After it finished peeing on her – a most unpleasant habit of turtles and frogs – they took it home to watch it crawl about the yard.

Grant told me the details in a non-stop narrative which was quite fun to listen to. When I asked if they were going to try to keep the turtle, he told me matter-of-factly that Sarge would not quit biting it. So the poor box turtle went from almost certain death to relatively certain death. At least there were no plans of a permanent relocation to the Mortenson back yard.

So now we know the answer to the age old question; why did the turtle cross the road? To let Grant find it and play with it until it made its daring-  albeit, cumbersome and slow - escape.

I hope mommy got some pictures so he can put them on his bedroom door.

New computers, new friends, surgery prep, Grandma Kline

Almost everyone in the office here got new computers in the last two days. Many of the machines are not “new” per se, but they are new to us. IT decided that in order to roll out Windows 7 to the entire company the best way was to convert everyone from Dell computers to HP. There is a significant difference – not in the computers, but in the operating system. So we are all struggling to get going again in the new programs. Once we get this working they will start over with something new;  job security.

The man who is taking the role of Training Coordinator seems to be a good guy. He lives nearby so the job was perfect fit for both us and him. I am relieved to be seeing some relief from the more cumbersome duties of that role but I am a little concerned that my workload has diminished somewhat. There will be enough projects in the works to keep me busy for the remainder of the year so I will not have to invent things to do, besides my boss now seems to find value in the position I have.

Anyway, Curtis Boone stopped by my office last night to talk for a while and we got to talking about what we were both doing in our off hours. It turns out he enjoys woodworking and has a pretty complete shop set up at his house. He offered to come by the farm and help in the projects I have going right now. I could certainly use the help and having someone with some shop skills would be a great benefit. We will see what comes of the conversation.

Mama has been in a state of panic for days now with the anticipation of the surgery she will have on Monday. I am not sure I should have let her drive to Decatur yesterday considering her frame of mind. She called me late in the day to tell me that she had stopped at a red light to turn left and seeing no traffic went ahead and made the turn – on the red light. She was shocked that she had done it and was quite apologetic about it, but that will not lower the fine when it is assessed. Oh well, maybe the intersection cameras were not working yesterday.

The nurses at the hospital told Mama that she was not to shave her legs between now and Monday to prevent the possibility of nicking the skin with a razor. Such a cut would lead to the cancellation of her surgery in order to prevent the onset of any hospital related infections – which have become more and more common. Now Mama has that added to her list of worries. I can hardly wait to hear what she tells her friends at church about not even being able to shave her legs on Mother’s Day. Bring out the Cowboy boots and pray for cool weather so the heavy panty hose are not too unbearable.

She left Decatur only a few minutes before me so I met her at Wal-Mart where she was talking to the pharmacist and giving Victoria her car keys. We did a little shopping for a few items she needed to make dinner and went home. After she put the ingredients together we went out to feed the calves, the chickens and the dogs. I had planned on working in the garden again last night but I did not see the sense in planting any more seeds in the pulverized, dusty soil in the garden so we decided to wait until this weekend to see if the predicted rains made it to us. If not, I will plant in what I have and hope for the best.

I was told last night while talking with my sister Sarah, that Grandma Kline is still in the hospital. I had Mama call to see why I was not getting anyone to answer the phone at their house. My mom has an arrhythmia in her heart beat that has the doctors a little worried. Sarah told Mama that there is a possibility that she will be released today but there was no guarantee. If she is able to more around well enough to suit the doctors, then they will let her go home. Knowing the setup of the house she and Grandpa Kline live in, I am relieved they have held her back for the last few days.

It is good to know that all things work together for our good.

Licensing, gardening

I finally got the call from licensing yesterday. I was told that all the spots are filled for this year. It was not the answer I was looking for but I know the Lord is in control so it is the answer I needed for this time. I called Mama right away. I also let my supervisor know – as well as several people I work with – so we could all adjust our plans accordingly. Everyone I told was disappointed for me but greatly relieved that I would be staying in my current role. My emotions are somewhere between disappointed and relieved.


I am disappointed to not get the job with the financial and professional advancement that it offered, but I am relieved at not having to work out all the domestic issues of mortgage payments, routine bill payments, etc. while living abroad. Not to mention the family issues we would have to deal with very long distance. Mama is disappointed to not be going to Australia – always the practical one, that woman. I am relieved as well at staying in my current location which will allow me to keep whittling away at the projects we have on the farm. I am not sure what the future holds economically so being in a stable place is reassuring. Everyone at church will be relieved.

Mama really searched me out last night to make sure I was not too disappointed. I assured her that if “no” was the answer God had given then it was the best possible answer I could have gotten. I did not get the impression that there was any future commitment to an offer from the Licensing group either. So for the time being, we will continue as we are and watch as the Lord makes up the difference in all areas of our lives. I am convinced we never suffer a permanent loss when we follow the leading of the Lord.

I had a very busy day at the office yesterday. All our computers are being replaced with updated models using Windows 7 and Office Suite 2010. It is quite a switch for many of the operators and those less computer literate. I did not get mine done yesterday but I coordinated the process for many others. Also, yesterday our new training coordinator arrived on site and I got him setup and running. He will take on the role I have been doing for training. I will settle back into the Business Support role as my only job. My boss is happy with that; another relief.

Mama and I worked in the garden last night. I re-tilled some ground and we planted four rows of corn. Mama wanted to do the same amount of green beans but I did not have that much energy to offer. If the weather continues as it has, we will do the green beans tonight. The winds were so light last night that I got out the regular sprinkler – the kind that slowly cycles back and forth – and watered the newly planted rows. It was as much to settle the dust on the rows as it was to water the seeds.

There are some pepper plants I need to get in the ground and it is a good thing we have them since the last frost killed everything I was not able to cover. We have Trade Days this weekend and if there are any vegetable plants offered I will buy some to finish out the garden for this spring. It will be too hot soon for many of the plants we want to grow to make it to harvest. We are already making plans for a fall garden to compensate for the loss.

Right now moisture is our greatest concern. Grandpa has us a little worried about overusing the well to water the garden when we need the water for so many other more important functions, but we still do enough to keep everything alive.

We are really praying for rain – and lots of it.

Ready, Grandma, weaning woes, Andrew

This weekend was a little more relaxed than the last. I spent the entire day working on the apartment but it was small finish up items; nothing urgent. It was a day of “punch-list” items. Those are the last little detail items that have to be done before completion. In this case “completion” meant being ready for electrical and sheetrock work to begin. I had hoped to get the other garage door opening done but the winds gusted in excess or fifty miles per hour so any outside work – especially requiring large pieces of OSB or plywood – was pretty much shut down.


I have heard murmurings of help on the way but that remains to be seen. Grandpa, Grandma, Norman and Seth are supposed to be heading this way on Wednesday morning. Grandma went to the emergency room on either Saturday or Sunday morning due to chest pains but it turned out to be nothing urgent – according to the hospital. Grandma was clearly dissatisfied with the diagnosis, but with the diet she and Grandpa have such pains seem to be commonplace.

One minute she is telling the story about a cardio evaluation in which she was told that she had the heart of someone many years younger in spite of the fact that she cooks everything with lard. The next minute she is having chest pains that are more severe than anyone who has ever lived has ever felt, followed up by the acclamation; “Look at me. I’m 67 years old and I get around better than my grandchildren.” Then she can’t get out of bed the next day. All I am saying is, it is difficult to tell what is going on.

I would appreciate the help on the apartment, but I am not putting all my hopes in that basket. Grandpa, Norman and Seth have big ideas about whirling through the apartment and getting it finished in a week. It will be interesting to see what happens to be the first thing they find that thwarts those ambitious plans. Like I said, I would appreciate the help.

Though Mama weaned all the calves on Friday, they are not fully adjusted to the idea of not getting their morning and evening bottles of warm milk so every time we go to the calf lot to feed we are harassed by slobbery mouthed calves that are desperate for that bottle of milk. They are worrying us a little because two of the younger ones still do not eat their feed as well as we had hoped they would.

Giving them another bottle is out of the question. It would only start the cycle over again. Yesterday morning we fed before getting dressed for church. To do so we locked the younger calves in the lot until they got the idea and ate the grain we put out for them. After we got dresses none of us wanted to go down and let them out of the lot because of the dread of having calf slobbers smeared all over our backsides. It was not real hindrance to them except that they would not be able to graze until they were let back out. So by the time we finally got home they were ready to get out and eat some grass.

Yesterday we had Andrew with us because his parents were out of town. He is al ways fun to have around. I am not sure if more of his company would wear out the welcome, but in small doses he is pretty funny. We took him to CiCi’s Pizza for lunch yesterday. He ate a more than a dozen pieces of pizza lathered in ranch dressing; nothing else; only pizza. He ate only the “good” part of the pizza slice and left the accumulated crusts on the plate. Then he took a spoon and cleaned out the bowl of ranch dressing Mama had gotten for him.

He was a slight mess after all of that, but he got cleaned up before we came back to get him for evening services. I told Mama he is quite the contradiction. He loves playing Halo but his favorite TV show is Wings Club. He was even telling us as we dropped him off after lunch that he had only two hours until the show came on TV that afternoon.

From Halo to Tinkerbelle, what an interesting combination of interests.

Bad day, travel non-plans, weather woes, non-news

Yesterday was not a good day. Aside from losing the sheep, which I had to take care of when I got home, I opened the mail and saw that we got a bill for the MRI of $3500. I had to work through the doctor's office and the billing department of the diagnostic imaging office to finally confirm that the bill is paid in full, but it was a pretty big shock last night. Additionally, the doctor’s office immediately scheduled Mama for arthroscopic surgery in a couple of weeks. She will be doing all of her pre-op work next week.


After being led to believe that the damage was minimal and the only question was how we were going to mitigate pain issues, the news was much worse for Mama than expected. It is not a horrible prognosis, just worse than expected. When you are having a bad day to begin with it seems more discouraging than it typically would.

So, financially, with the diagnostic expenses and the coming hospital bills, we could be in pretty sorry shape for the remainder of the year. Mama was trying to sound encouraging, reminding me it was only money and that it would all work out. Then I reminded her that the trip she was planning to Florida in June and the trip she is planning to Alaska in the late summer both require money out of the same pot we use to pay the medical bills, the farm costs, the construction costs, our living expenses, etc.

For the moment, her travel plans are on hold for the remainder of the summer. Add the financial issues to the recuperation time from the surgery and Mama will be settled into farm life for a good while – at least three months. Her assurance of my ability to “figure it out” only meant that, in her mind, her travel plans are still at the top of her list while I work out the money issues. I will work toward getting Mama to Alaska for the birth of Maggie and Aaron’s child, but I cannot make any promises to do more than that until I get a handle on the medical bills.

Mama is traveling (at least locally) to the farm in Weatherford, TX this morning to take Lily back home. Last night she was struggling with the decision as though we were giving a child up for adoption. I asked her not to ask the family there to keep her for us until we are ready to take her back. I have neither the time not the money to build the fortress necessary to keep sheep out of the reach of coyotes; at least not at this time. So unless she wants me to dispose of Lily’s remains, we had better send her back home.

On the cattle front, all the calves will get their final bottle either today or tomorrow. I do not remember what Mama told me she had decided would be the cut off date for bottle feeding. They are all looking good for the moment. With the unseasonable cold we are experiencing right now that is subject to change, but we will celebrate our little victories. The older three are doing very well but we will have to start feeding them hay next month if the rains do not come. The grass is withering pretty quickly in the blistering winds.

Yesterday the wind speed was over thirty miles per hour throughout the entire day and night. Today is supposed to be about the same. Whether hot or cold, the wind has the same effect; it

sucks all the moisture out of the ground and vegetation. Our garden is not doing well at this point with the high winds and low temperatures.

Monday I asked (via email) if there were any updates from the Licensing group. I got the response this morning. They will be getting back to the potential candidates next week. I find little assurance in that, but at least they responded.

Mission’s conference, overfed, a big day for Mama

Missions Conference ended last night. We will really finalize the conference when we give our Faith Promise commitments for this year on Sunday morning. Mama and I are pretty sure what we are going to give but there is still time to pray about it. It was a good conference. We got to meet some great missionaries. Hopefully we will be able to take them on for support in addition to the 115 we already support.


One idea that was repeated during this conference is not a new thought but one that bears repeating. Great men of God have said, and I believe rightly, that God calls enough men in every generation to evangelize the entire world. The problem is that many are not willing to answer that call. That thought ought to make us appreciate even more those who will go.

I do not know if I got overfed spiritually speaking, but I definitely got overfed physically speaking. The food just got better and better each night. I did not load up my plate, did not try everything offered, did not eat dessert each meal, but it was still more than I am used to; much more than what I needed. I will eat minimally for the next several days. That may still not be enough to compensate for this week, but it will be a good start.

One of the stunning disappointments of getting older is that I cannot eat as much as I used to and maintain my weight. I do like to eat but I am adapting to the “eat-to-live” mentality while I attempt to abandon the “live-to-eat” philosophy that has driven me for the last many years. It is also a little disappointing to further limit my intake of certain types of food – mostly the really good tasting variety. Mama has scolded herself a lot lately and wished to be put in isolation on an island where only fruits and vegetables are available for her to eat until her tastes in food change. I am stating to warm up to the idea myself.

Mama is coming to town today for a follow up visit with the orthopedic doctor. With both the x-rays and the MRI results they should be able to discuss applicable treatments for her knees going forward. I am a little relieved that the degradation is minimal to this point; however, we still have to find a repair solution that can mitigate the pain she deals with off and on. At least we have found a medical professional who is more holistically inclined vs. an over-prescriber.

Her biggest concern in the appointment is the timing. It is at 9:30 a.m. In her estimation she will have to leave the farm really early (8:45 a.m.) to make the appointment. I suppose in farm time that is a little early since breakfast is not normally served until 10 a.m. She will have to leave right after the morning feeding is taken care of, but she should be able to make the appointment, shop, have lunch and get back home in plenty of time to take care of the evening feeding and related chores. It will be about the same time I will get there.

This may not seem like a big deal to any of you but I have picked up the mail out of the mailbox at the end of our road the last two days because Mama has not left the farm at all. She really prefers it that way. With a routine like that I can see why the events of today are a pretty big deal; not necessarily a hardship, but a pretty big deal.

Mama called me a few minutes ago to tell me that the older sheep we were hoping to start breeding to grow a flock for our farm were killed and torn apart by coyotes last night. So much for that grand plan. More digging for me when I get home. Lily survived the attack since she was kept in a different area.
We will sell her and abandon those dreams for right now.

Eating out, health news

Mama has been cooking a lot lately. It is not for us directly but rather for the meals we have been enjoying at the church each night before the Missions Conference. Neither of us is used to eating that much which is one of the reasons Mama has gotten out of the habit of cooking through the day to prepare for an evening meal. She is more of a breakfast and lunch person. I am more of the dinner person.


Many have been the evenings that I would come home from work and fix dinner for everyone. Not that Mama did not want to; she just could not think of anything that interested her based on the available ingredients. Eating out has always been her special dinner interest – breakfast and lunch too, for that matter. But this is like eating out, or a picnic with friends; something along that line. It has been fun and tiring to participate since my turn around time is about an hour from the time I get home from work until the time we load up and leave for church.

Last night was “Texas” food with a special focus on charcoal grilled, bar-b-qued and/or deep fried items. One item I had never seen before was deep fried bacon. I avoided that but I found the idea interesting. There was so much food it was overwhelming. I did not eat too much but there was enough that I certainly could have. For the occasion Mama made a Texas Sheet Cake. It turned out very good. All the left over’s were set in the fridge to be set out again tonight. The theme tonight is International food.

On the health new front; Grandma Kline came through her surgery well. Yesterday the nurses had her up walking around a bit. After open heart surgery, that is pretty amazing. She should get to go home this weekend. Full recovery should be about six months. This will be a pretty special Mother’s Day.

Becky went for a surgery consult yesterday and got a very good report. The nodules on her spine seem to be shrinking and there is no need for surgery at this time. I am not sure if her original supposition of cancer is or was accurate but for the moment the doctors are electing to let the body continue the healing process. (She and Charles remain at odds but maybe less so than before.)

Maggie had her twenty week ultra sound and was excited to see the baby moving about in the womb. I know I was told the name they have chosen for the baby, but I do not remember. Everyone is sure it is a little girl. Mama is excited to travel to see her, but we have not made any plans yet. It will probably be Mama going alone for the first trip. My travel plans are on hold pending updates from work; which have been painfully slow in coming. I am also working on setting aside the money required for the travel.

Brittany got a clean bill of health after a pretty significant scare. The doctors had told her she had a cyst on one of her ovaries that would require the removal of the ovary to ensure the cyst could be effectively dealt with. On her last visit she was told that the danger was past and that the cyst was no longer a problem. I am not sure if it is totally gone or significantly reduced in size but the fear of losing a reproductive organ is lifted from her. She and Andrew are planning on delaying children until he completes Fight School. We will see if that plan works. Mama and I are ready anytime for more grandchildren.

April is over and gone for 2013. Wow!