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.