New experience

Yesterday was a first for me. I spent the better part of the day on a golf course. I did not play. I never have, but I cheered, cajoled and critiqued through eighteen holes in 107 degree heat. It was part of a team building exercise connected with operations overview we had gone through the day before. I enjoyed the time with all the guys from the different areas of our operation, but I still have no desire to take up golf. When I was asked by the individual I was riding around with what I did for a hobby. I told him, I work.

I cannot imagine being so frustrated and so passionate at the same time about any activity as some of the players yesterday were with game of golf. Most of the sixteen guys had not had their clubs out for a minimum of a year; some for considerably longer. Most of them hated their game but said they loved the game.

They played a scramble, where the best shot of the group of four was played for the next shot. Much of the time was spent looking for balls to determine where the next shot would be taken from. That was perhaps the funniest part of the game to me. I cannot critique a golf game but I can give someone a hard time about not being able to find their ball. “You better drop back about forty yards, there’s no way you hit it this far.” Or “The water trap is this big and the fairway is this big. That was a great shot to hit in the center of the pond.”

 John Eieknbary – the organizer and the man I spent the day with – is an avid golfer but because of a recent injury was unable to play, served as “marshal” for our group. He bought 48 golf balls for the round. At the end of the course he had four balls left; the rest were lost somewhere along the course. I was one of two persons who had on jeans. I was the only person in long sleeves. I was pretty comfortable throughout the morning. It was a pretty interesting day.

I had not slept much at all the night before so after the game ended and we ate lunch together I headed home. I lay down on the living room floor and slept for a couple hours very soon after I arrived. I did not do anything in the apartment and since I was home a little early I felt guilty about being so lazy, but I will get over it.

I did sleep very well last night so today should not be too much of an endurance contest, but we will prove that out through the day. I am looking forward to the weekend. This weekend will close out June for 2013.

That is hard to believe.

Some completions, trip prep, Mama and the tractor

Even though the plumber that did all the work on the apartment was a little leery of using the fittings Mama had gotten from the local supply shop, I had her go ahead and get the tool required to assemble the fittings and put them on. The supplier gave us a video with step by step instructions for the use of the tool and it really was a big help. I easily assembled the tank side of the gas line but waited on the house side of the line to show Grandpa how the process worked. He was very impressed. The line as fully assembled and pressure tested.

Grandpa had loaded the Lincoln on the flatbed gooseneck trailer so that he could haul it to West Virginia in order for Grandma to have something to drive around while they stay there, but it proved too much for the truck so I helped him take it back off of the trailer soon after we did the gas line. I guess Grandma and Mocca will be lonely housemates while the men are out working all day. In the long run it will save Grandpa a lot of gas money.

Grandpa attached the brush hog to the tractor so Mama could test her abilities to use it on the fields. We were not sure her knee would handle the clutch but it was a pointless worry. The more worrisome part of her using the brush hog is her tearing out the fence. In the short tome she was operating the tractor last night she turned over a pile of barbed wire we have in accumulated in the horse pasture – almost tearing up the brush hog. Then she smashed the water barrel we use for the horse.

I don’t know how many times I told her to slow down; which brings me to a point of constant contention. As her husband I am supposed to heed every word that she speaks but the reciprocal communication is not generally heeded. I can tell her to slow down and her immediate answer is, “I was not going that fast.” “Did you knock over a water barrel and a plie of barbed wire? You were going too fast.”

Her response, “Grandpa told me to keep it in first gear at 1200 to 1500 rpms. That’s how fast I have to go.” “Were you at 1200 or 1500 rpms?” “1600” “Then slow down. Not even Grandpa goes as fast as you were going.” “Well, I don’t think I was going that fast.” And so it goes. Fortunately, there were no animals and no farm implements harmed during the test run – although Misty had to be avoided several times as Mama mowed her pasture.

We were able to access that she will be able to use the tractor so equipped. It did not appear to hurt her knee to use the clutch. I was more concerned with her getting on and off of the tractor than actually operating it, but she is determined to go ahead and clean up the pastures.

What can I say? She won’t listen anyway.                    

Mostly done, Grandpa and Grandma leaving, Jake coming

Saturday was a flurry of activity for us. On Friday evening Grandpa used the potato plow to start a ditch for the gas line to go in and when I go home that evening I completed it. Saturday morning I got a very early start but because I knew Lee Davis was planning on coming out that afternoon to complete the water hookups and hook up the propane to the apartment I did not want to get into anything I could not quickly lay down so that I was available to help him so I tackled some odd jobs.

I got the front door deadbolt installed as well as installing the door knob on the temporary door on the shop entry. I took down the insulation in the ceiling where we needed to open it up so we could run the line overhead. I rearranged the shop in order to clear the wall we needed access to in the shop. I also got the washer and dryer out of the farm house and the shed to put in the laundry room to see how things are going to fit.

That turned out to be a disappointment. With the size I built the laundry room we will not be able to accommodate everything I had thought I could. We will end up having to get a stackable washer and dryer set in order to make it work. With the two appliances we now have the washer will crowd the area I set up put a toilet. So I either abandon the idea of having a toilet in the shop or I make accommodations to make everything fit. Mama thinks it is important to keep the toilet available in the shop. I have to agree.

When Lee did get to the farm it took only a couple of hours to get everything done and the completed project looker very nice. I was not able to get the gas run completed because we lacked a couple fittings to get the final hookups done but what was needed in the apartment was easily done. I will get the two couplings to finish the gas line sometime this week. That will seal it all up. I will also be able to put up the final pieces of sheetrock to complete the walls in the apartment. Hallelujah!

So the ditch for the gas line is mostly covered – waiting on parts to complete the final connections. The sheetrock is mostly done – waiting on about five pieces to be cut for the ceiling in the kitchen to complete the entire apartment. The shower is mostly done – waiting on the surround to be purchased and installed. The water lines are fully complete and hooked to a full hot water tank – the positioning of which prohibits setting up the laundry room as originally planned. We are getting close.

 Grandma and Grandpa are leaving for West Virginia tomorrow morning. They are planning on being gone for the entire month of July, hoping to return to the farm August first or second. In their place Jake is coming to stay with Mama (and me by default) on Tuesday of next week. He will be with us through the month of July – including the trip to Florida in the middle of the month. Mama is gearing herself up for the barrage of conversation.

 We will see how well she is prepared once the talking starts.

Sad day for the little bulls, upgrades, spraying the meadows

Mama’s hoarse calf is still without a voice. Grandpa and I were working on making a small ramp at the loading chute so he could load the bulls this morning to take them to the vet. They will come home steers; sad but necessary. As we were working on that project we did hear the little one try to bawl and it was a pretty pitiful sound indeed. I did not think it too chicken-like but it was definitely something you would expect to emanate from a little bull calf.

We have elected to take the bulls to the vet to be cut because the price they charge for doing the service is very reasonable and they are much more efficient than I would be at the process; besides, Mama hates to see the dogs eat what is cast away from the cutting. Mama set up to have our little heifer vaccinated during the same visit so we will be up to date on all our vet needs for the cattle on our farm and everyone will go in the same trip.

The big steer we are keeping to butcher is running with the herd and Grandpa is not sure we can keep him out of the mix during the loading process. If he does stay with the bunch we will not try too hard to separate him. Grandpa will tell the vet that he came along for the ride. It is the only time he will make a return trip to the farm once loaded.

Grandpa moved the propane tank yesterday. It used to sit by the road but we elected to relocate it closer to the apartment in order to make a more direct run for the gas supply to the shop and apartment. Lee Davis, a licensed plumber in our church, is scheduled to come out Saturday afternoon to make the connections for the gas line. We should have the ditch dug and the line laid to the apartment this afternoon.

I am looking forward to getting the gas and water lines completed. It will clear the way to complete the sheetrock and start installing the kitchen cabinets. Mama is getting really excited now. I still need to take the time to get to IKEA to buy the sink she wants for the kitchen. I have avoided the trip simply due to the time it takes away from the work I am doing to get us to the point of installing the kitchen sink, ergo, needing to make the trip. Besides, I have not decided what kind of counter tops we are going to use.

Yesterday evening Grandpa got the sprayer going and put some AgGrand fertilizer on the upper meadow. I am still impressed with the sprayer he has built for our use. We are trying to get a good feel for just how much it will improve the yield of hay. It is not necessarily an inexpensive treatment but it is far less expensive per acre than any conventional fertilizer. My best guess is that it will run us about $1200 per year to treat the meadows the way we would like to.

Though it will offer a great improvement to the quality of the hay we are able to harvest, whether or not we will get a marketable return on that money is what we are trying to evaluate.

Animal references, remembering Africa

I called Mama yesterday morning before I got tied up in meetings. I usually make the call between 8 and 8:30 a.m. Mama was just getting out to tend to the animals and some of them were complaining. After all, the sun had been up for several hours by that time. The horse was stationed by her feed box, nickering. The chickens were clucking and crowing because they had heard her voice and were anxious to be let out. The calves were bawling in protest of the lack of sweet feed in their feeding box. All this going on and the first words out of her mouth to me were, “We have a horse calf…and it sounds like a chicken.”

For those not used to conversing with Mama that particular statement would be difficult to digest, but I have grown adept in “Mama speak”. I just smiled. ‘A horse calf?” I asked. “Well, you know what I mean. Speckles is hoarse this morning and his bawl sounds like one of the young roosters trying to crow. I just thought it was funny.” She was right. It was funny.

In other animal news Mama sent a bag of plastic turtles to each of the grandsons. At least that is my understanding. I never got to see them. Anyway, the boys were both thrilled to get them, especially Grant who has a large collection of animals of every sort. They were immediately set out in order – in a circle. “Turtles,” he explained “always get in a circle.” A circle of turtles sounded good but I took the time to look up the proper definition of a group of turtles. It is a bale or a nest of turtles. Since nests are generally round, he is quite correct in encircling them.

It put me in mind of the words we use to address a gathering of animals, etc. We know many of the common references like a bevy of quail or a flock of geese, but there are some really good references: an army of frogs, a murder of crows, a bed of clams, an intrusion of cockroaches, a business of flies, a clutch of chicks, a brace of ducks, a cast of hawks, a convocation of eagles, etc.

Several on the more interesting side are a wake of buzzards, (It may take a minute to get that one.), a charm of finches, a scold of jays, a tiding of magpies, a bask of crocodiles, and a plague of locusts. I am not entirely sure if the naming references above are generally accepted but the list I found seemed pretty complete. It was fun to reacquaint the associations of words and creatures.

At church last night we had a missionary from Uganda. His visit brought the remembrance the many memories of people I was introduced to in my youth because of my father’s interest in world missions. Many of those memories are of two particular gentlemen from Uganda, Gus Marway and Phillip Pagibo. Both are long ago gone home to be with the Lord.

Their memory still stirs my heart for the people of Africa.

Sudden changes, future changes

I found out last night that Grandma and Grandpa are planning to go to West Virginia next week. That came as a bit of a surprise since Mama has been planning a trip to Florida for the middle of July. Needless to say, we cannot all be gone from the farm at the same time so if Grandma and Grandpa do go someone will have to stay home. It should be fun working out those details. Of course it is all contingent on Grandma and Grandpa actually going to West Virginia.

I feel badly for Victoria if Mama’s plans fall through. She has asked for the time off based on Mama’s plans. Changing those plans makes the arranging of time away from work extremely difficult for her. In the end, it will probably be Mama and Victoria going to Florida and Daddy staying home but that could become the norm if I go into Licensing. Only God knows and this is one of those times that I really would like a hint at what is to come.

I do not expect to hear anything from the Licensing group this week and based on their interest in me, things could get a little difficult to coordinate on the familial level, but I do not see a major issue. It will only make the decisions more restrictive on when I can go where, when and for how long. As far as Mama and Victoria planning time away from the farm, it will have to do more with Victoria’s schedule than with mine.

If I do have to stay on the farm in Mama and Grandpa’s absence, it will not be all bad. I will have plenty of company; twenty chickens, four dogs, six steers, a heifer and a horse.

Who could ask for more?

Weather, technology, Sam

I have not kept up on the weather in other parts of the country lately but we are having fantastic weather for this time of the year. We got over a half inch of rain yesterday and possibly that much again overnight. I left the farm in a gentle, steady rain this morning. Dodger usually goes out every morning as I leave but this morning he charged the door as I opened it and stopped dead as his head moved through the plane of the door into the rain. He elected to remain inside; smart dog.

I went to bed early last night. Mama gave me the evening off since I had worked so hard through the weekend. With the rain we were able to test the caulking job I had done on the windows and it seems we are fully sealed against the weather but I will remain on high alert as we move forward with the project. These things have a way of cropping up unexpectedly.

Grandma is using a sort of “go” phone that Victoria has been buying the monthly cards for. This last go round she bought a $30 card with 1000 minutes on it. It was a fifteen dollar saving for the month. Well last night as Grandma was talking to Norman the minutes ran out and the phone cut her off in mid-sentence.  She could not imagine that she had used one thousand minutes in less than one month but Mama researched it and found it to be true.

I was more shocked that the minutes had not been exhausted sooner. She was a little incredulous. I explained that if you talk for thirty minutes over twenty days that you will use six hundred minutes. So if, on average you talk thirty minutes a day on the phone you will need twelve hundred minutes every month. The numbers must have made sense to her because between her and Grandpa they talk more than thirty minutes a day on the phone. It does not seem like much but it accumulates quickly.

Last week I told you I was concerned about Mama taking Sam, our male Great Pyrenees, to the groomer to have his hair shaved off for the summer. It actually turned out pretty well. The dog gave them no problems as long as Victoria was in the back seat of the Lincoln with him. He stood well for the groomer but was not enthusiastic about the flea dip he got after the sheering.

Because of the dip he had to be left with the groomer for thirty minutes to allow him to dry off.  Mama and Victoria went other places during the hold period and when they came back there were welcomed to the shop by the most sorrowful moan coming from the back of the shop. It was Sam. He had been howling out his captivity the entire time he was caged in the back of the shop. The shop owner thought it was cute; pitiful, but cute.

Mama said it was hard to contain him once out of the cage.

A long weekend

When I got home Thursday evening Grandpa was finishing up the last of the hay he had baled. We got a total of fifty eight bales, mostly of good quality alfalfa. They were pretty heavy – either that or I am pretty weak. I guess the average bake was around seventy pounds with several breaking one hundred pounds. All in all, it was a worthwhile effort on Grandpa’s part and we did beat the rain which was just enough to ruin the hay if we had not gotten it in the shed.

On Friday he worked on the motor of the sprayer to get it into shape for spraying the meadows after he helped me unload the thirty sheets of sheetrock Mama and I had gotten in Nocona.  I did not talk to him about the results that evening. I was in the apartment until late in the evening and by the time I got in and cleaned up he was down for the night. On Saturday I do not think he left the bedroom. He is having more good days than bad days right now but the bad days are the ones that seem to get our attention.

Grandma spent the last few days doing a cleanse for the gall bladder. She told me last night that it did not help her like the last time she did the same cleanse. I suggested that the problem may not be the gall bladder but something else. Maybe it is a good thing she did not have the surgery to remove her gall bladder. She does feel better having completed the routine, but she is disappointed that the results were not more dramatic. Both she and Grandpa are becoming more aware of how poor their diet really is; changing to a better one will be problematic.

At church on Sunday I talked to the man who is doing the plumbing for us. He will be out on Saturday afternoon to install the valves for the water and to hook up the hot water tank. He will also run the gas lines. I left out several pieces of sheetrock to allow the installation of the gas line but I have the pieces cut and ready to install once he is finished. I am hoping to put them I place while he is there so he can get the valves installed on those lines also. That will complete all the plumbing for the shop and apartment.

We managed to use up all thirty sheets over Friday and Saturday. Victoria helped me with several on the ceiling of the laundry room. It is reasonable to assume that I will have all the sheetrock hung by Saturday. I still have a couple small leaks I am dealing with, but they will be resolved quickly. The hard rain today will tell me how much I have left to do on that. For the sakes of the building and the ground I am glad for the timing.

We spent every evening this weekend watching the first season of Downton Abby. Victoria rented it along with another movie. I had heard about the series on the radio and Victoria had heard about it through Cori. It was a very well done soap opera. I can see now why everyone was talking about it. It gave me a chance to cool down before trying to go to sleep after spending the day hot and soaking wet.

Now that the weekend is over I can rest up at work. With Father’s Day sandwiched into the event schedule it kept us pretty busy throughout. I got calls or texts from all our children and several cards with gift cards and cash in celebration of the occasion. Mama has determined the money will be spent on a new pair of work boots. It is a good idea.

I have pretty much worn out the last pair I bought over two years ago.

Snakes, other projects, Mama’s recovery

As Mama went to gather eggs yesterday morning she found another snake in one of the nests. Fortunately she was not bitten, especially since this snake was a young copperhead. I was very surprised to hear that it had crawled up into the nesting boxes. I will have to see if there is any way we can prevent that in the future.

Mama is on high alert since the recent snake bite of one of our friends. The man is fully recovered but he went through a lot to get to the point of recovery: several days in ICU and an enormous amount of pain. He was bitten on the hand by a Water Moccasin.

Grandpa has now cut and raked the meadows. The upper meadow still looks pretty thin. It will take a lot of work and fertilizer to get it to produce. We will have to determine whether or not it is worth the expense. The big meadow looks much better than last time we cut but it is still pretty sparse. I expect we will get fifty to sixty bales total and we will praise the Lord for those because they are very high quality. But we will keep praying for more.

We should be picking the bales up tonight or tomorrow afternoon depending on how aggressive Grandpa is in getting it baled. Either way, it needs to be gathered before Saturday when we are forecast to have several thunderstorms. We do not want the little supply we have of hay to get wet. It is one of those pressing, unavoidable matters that will take me away from the construction for a half day; life on the farm.

Mid-recovery has Mama a little discouraged. Her knee is not giving her much pain – unless she moves wrong – so she feels like she should be able to more than she really can. She does not want to admit it but we are looking at the end of August before she is able to really begin using the knee fully and it will be year-end before all is back to what God originally intended. Her biggest disappointment is not being able to work outside. She is not a person who likes to be cooped up and she is running out of the emotional energy required to be cooped up in the present company. Soon I will have her painting the apartment, but not yet.

The garden is in need of tending and I have not been very attentive to it, neither has Grandpa. Both of us have had time consuming projects of late and Mama is watching from the couch as it slowly gets away from us. That really bothers her. I will have to spend some time this weekend getting the potatoes out of the ground and planting another several rows of corn. I will even try and put my heart into it.

I am taking off tomorrow. I have run out of materials in the apartment and have completed all the little projects I can without a fresh material supply. Tomorrow I get paid and will be able to move forward again. I do not need much to finish but it is at one of those obvious points in the completion where the lack of completion is painfully obvious.

At least it is to me.

Trouble starting, bigger than expected, getting hot

I really did not want to get to work in the apartment last night but if I don’t do it, it will not get done – literally. I did get to work eventually but I dragged around for about an hour before I got started. I took Mama down the road just past Montague where I had seen a small boulder laying in the ditch. We wanted to see if it was small enough that I could lift it into the truck and take it home for her rock garden.

When we got a closer look it was bigger than I had expected. I knew I could not lift it by myself and even if Mama was in top shape, which she is not due to her knee surgery, the two of us could not have lifted it. She did find a stone to take home during the expedition so it was not a wasted trip. After we got back we drove down to the big pond to see the water level. It is looking better and better.

When I did get into the apartment to work I was drenched pretty quickly. I told Mama I was washing the apartment floor one drop at a time. I finally finished the insulation throughout the apartment and laundry room. I took time to caulk the windows so we should not have any rain find its way into the apartment; although that will have to be tested and proved in the next downpour.

I will be taking Friday off so I can work on the apartment. If I counted correctly last night I will need an additional fifteen sheets of sheetrock to complete the walls and ceiling. Mama asked me why I was so far off in my estimation. I told her I bought what I could with the money available at the time I made the purchase and I knew I would be short on sheetrock, I just did not know how much.

If I can get as far as I am hoping I should be able to get started on the kitchen cabinets next week. I am still waiting on the gas line to be run but I should have that complete by mid-week. Right now I can get started on one wall in the kitchen. That will help us determine where we can set the sink and how large a sink I can put in the kitchen. Mama and I were talking about it last night and she is very excited about getting things done.

Mama and Victoria are planning on taking the big dogs to get them shorn at a local groomer. I am less optimistic about the process than either of them seem to be. I cannot imagine it being an easy matter to just get the dogs into a vehicle much less get them to stand still for their hair to be cut off, but we will see. I know it will help them. Right now they are digging caverns in the yard in every shady place trying to find relief – and it is not really hot yet. If we do not do something soon, I will have to order dirt to backfill their excavations.

Maggie called last night after I had come in and cleaned up. She was hot and there is no air conditioning in the apartment where they live. I assume there are not many air conditioned homes in the area. The temperature was seventy four degrees. Mama told her when we get to that temperature we will open up all the windows and turn off the a/c.

It is all a matter of perspective.

Goofs, grass, gaining ground, adjusting

Yesterday evening I made my first bad cut while cutting to place a piece of sheetrock since the project began. I am not sure how I messed up as badly as I did but it just about ruined one piece of the green sheetrock completely. In the larger scope of things it is only a $12 loss although some of it I can reuse elsewhere. Since it was the first piece I have cut for the ceiling I will have to consider it a practice piece. I did get the bathroom exhaust fan hooked up so we can have the “poopie light” in service when needed.

If I can get help this evening I will try again. It is a difficult piece to get in place – over the shower and vanity area in the bathroom. With two cutouts for lights and the stub outs for the vanity drain and the shower head to work around, it takes some maneuvering to get it into place. I got the first one up and fitted only to discover that I had completely missed one of the light boxes. It was not my best moment.

Grandpa started cutting the upper meadow last night. It will yield more hay than the last cutting but it is still very thin. Grandpa was telling me that our neighbor to the south had his hay cut and baled by a third party and he got only 30% of what he normally would get. (The man who did the cutting charged him the full price per acre so they were pretty expensive bales.) I think we are about the same percentage yield but I had hoped for more. We should be able to get a couple hundred bales if we stick to cutting every twenty eight days as Grandpa has been told is the optimum.

It was obvious that Grandpa was feeling much better. He is not quite willing to admit that it was the tincture that got him there but he is willing to concede the coincidence is notable. Yesterday he used the weed eater to trim around the house and grapevines. He also cut down the growth in the area of the shop where we have yet to pour the slab. He finished up by trimming the area where the propane tank is sitting. It looked very nice.

I think tonight I will get with Grandpa and clear out the area where we are planning on relocating the propane tank and have that ready for the plumber when he get to the farm to run the gas line. I am waiting on some of the sheetrock until that line is in place but there is still enough to do to keep me busy every evening this week.

Mama and Maggie were talking plane tickets last night. Maggie is a little worried that Mama does not have her ticket to fly to Juneau in hand yet. Maggie was excited because she had found a ticket at a rock bottom price of $818. I am having to make some huge psychological adjustments to recognize the value there but the two women doing the shopping are convinced that it is a real bargain.

I am still working that issue.

A busy weekend, visitors, Grandpa

I took a ½ day vacation Friday so that I could get some extra time to work on the sheetrock in the apartment. The remainder of the sheetrock and insulation we picked up while Norman and Seth were here were on the trailer we need for picking up the hay we are hoping to cut this week so I needed to empty the trailer to have it available for farm use.

I also took the door I bought to be the entry door for the shop and put it up in the opening facing the mobile home. Until now the only access to the shop has been through the apartment since I have the garage door opening sealed up with tarps. As I begin to finish out the apartment that was not going to be very functional. I was going to frame up the opening to house the door but in the interest of time I simply cut the tarp to fit around the door and resealed it over the remainder of the opening.

It was a good thing I took the extra time on Friday because Saturday we went to Trade Days and met a family from church there. They came over for lunch and stayed until later in the afternoon. (The young father of that family helped set the original plumbing – before there were any slabs poured. He was impressed with the progress.) I got to work about three hours and another family came over to the farm after they shut down their booth at Trade Days. They stayed for dinner and left about 7:30 p.m. They are the family we bought our sheep from some months ago. They are a very delightful family.

Both visits were a lot of fun. Grandma got to tell the same stories over and over. She had children in each visiting group and adults that had not heard the stories either. It was great fun for her. I am not sure the children enjoyed her “teaching stories” because she tends to be a little intense at times, but she enjoyed telling them. She even got to tell the one about her loving the game of baseball but not being allowed to follow her dream because girls were not allowed to play baseball. If you have not heard it she will not mind recounting it for you.

Grandpa was thinking about cutting the meadows on Saturday but the forecast was for rain so he waited. We did get rain – 1.5 inches on Sunday morning. Now, the hay may have to wait until the ground dries out a bit; no sense laying fresh cut hay on soggy ground. Fortunately, as far as hay is concerned, we will have perfect weather over the next ten days; hot and dry with mild winds.

As Grandpa and I talked late Friday evening he was describing the symptoms he was fighting. They all spelled out Lyme disease to me; aching joints, lack of energy, trouble breathing, headaches. I cannot diagnose but I suggested that he start taking the tincture of Teasel to see if it would help. Victoria made him take it twice on Saturday. By Sunday afternoon he was out walking the farm to see how the hay looked.

That was the most he had done in several weeks.

Memories, work, work, work, Mama’s big dream

The temperature was near sixty degrees this morning and the air was thick and wet. There was a heavy dew on everything. The feel and smell of the air brought back a flood of memories of West Virginia. There, I would leave the house at 4 a.m. on my day shift rotation and most all of those mornings the air had the same feel and smell. They are good memories of the farm and the woods, Mama’s and my first home together, tough times and good times. It is fun to remember. It is even more fun to have the person still beside you with whom those memories have been made.

Each night I have been doing a little bit more in the apartment. I am still working alone so things are slow, but it is not unpleasant to be working alone. It gives me time to pray, gives me time to think, and gives me the time to concentrate. It is difficult to remember measurements for the cut needed around an outlet box or a light switch when you are in conversation. As it is I still have to measure several times to get it right, but so far everything has fit properly. There are only ten pieces of sheetrock left on the trailer and I will go through those this weekend – Lord willing.

At that point I will know how much more I will need. I am pretty sure I am short on materials needed to finish, but I will be pretty close. I am picking up a few pieces of green rock for the bathroom today. I did not order any of that in the initial purchase of the materials that have gotten me this far and what I get today will not complete the bathroom, but it will get the wet wall sealed and ready got the valves to be put in. My end-of-the-month move-in target looks doable at this point but time will tell.

I will not get a full day in on Saturday since it is Trade Days and Grandpa is going to cut hay. The morning will be taken up with breakfast – which I do not get except on weekends – and Trade Days. The late afternoon will be taken up with the initial cutting of the big meadow. I may be able to work a couple of hours on the apartment throughout the day but life goes on in spite of my urgent projects. The old adage “You have to make hay while the sun is shining” is still very true. There is no age-old adage for going to Trade Days, but is an urgent matter none the less.

After I work a couple of hours in the apartment I am a sweaty mess. I have to lay my sweat-soaked clothing on the floor beside the laundry basket so that they do not stink up the cleaner dirty cloths already in the basket. I worked Monday and Tuesday night and had my wet clothing laid out as specified. On Wednesday they had not been washed so I asked Mama to clean them before the dogs thought they had acquired an indoor toilet space. They were in the wash a few minutes later.

Mama is wanting to race to Pensacola after this big storm passes through in the hopes of finding some big and unusual shells. I will not be able to make that happen but we did spend some time talking about it last night.

Maybe someday.

Cowering, planning, confliction needs, my Mom and Dad

Since Mama was not feeling well and there were predictions of severe storms we did not go to church last night. Mama is terrified of traveling in the rain, much less a storm. The rains did come last night but not until after midnight; which would technically make it today. Neither of us felt we had made the right choice not to go to church. That will not happen again.

I am thinking about taking off tomorrow so I can have two full days to work on the apartment. The biggest challenge is that I am out of money. I still need several items to do final completions but those purchases will have to wait until next payday. There is still plenty to do without the final items in hand so I will study on it today and see what the best course of action would be.

Grandpa is planning on cutting the hay on Saturday so it will be ready to bail on Monday. The fields look a lot better this time than when he first cut them several weeks ago but there still will not be many bails. I am guessing there will be one hundred or so. Our initial expectation was that the large meadow would produce between three hundred and fifty and four hundred bales of hay when fully developed. If we exceed one hundred this cutting I will be very pleased, but at least we are getting something for the effort and seed we put in them.

There is an expectation that I will buy the AgGrand fertilizer so we can spray it on the fields, but I will not be able to do that for some time. For me, the apartment and shop need to come first. I am not sure that is the way Grandpa sees it but that is the way I need to go for now. The fertilizer is about the same price as a ticket for Mama to fly to Alaska – so you can see the straight I am between.

I see no change in the balancing struggle for at least the next three years. As we continue to develop the farm and the many building programs that will require compete with the attention Mama and I want to give to our children and grandchildren we are going to wrestle with the strain of meeting expectation for both needs. Family will come first, but it will still be a case by case decision what can wait or be given up to meet each immediate need.

The sizable and money hungry projects on the farm will eventually be done so there is a point in the near future when the decisions will not be so conflicting, but that is not where we are at the moment.

I called my Mom and Dad last night. Mom is doing much better. She is up and around but gets tired out pretty quickly. Dad says there is a lot filling in of tissue still to come as she heals from the open heart surgery. She says she feels much better but is definitely sore – all over. There was a sense of joy in their voices as is talked to them. That is what I was most thankful to hear again.

Our new bodies are on order and we will be occupying them soon.

Mama, bad news for Grandma, weather woes

Mama and Victoria enjoyed their time with the little one from the church yesterday. I probably should not call her a “little one” because she is seven years old (I think), but she is a tiny thing. Mama said she really began to open up to them as they were concluding their shopping spree in Wal-Mart. It was a good experience for all three of them.

After the party Mama went to see the doctor because she is having problems with her recovery from the recent surgery. The knee seems to locking in place at times. The knee cap has a mind of its own and does not prefer its assigned position. While the doctor was looking at her knee he was pushing about on the knee cap and it popped into place giving Mama immediate relief.

The x-rays were all normal so the doctor was not overly concerned. He did take time to explain the she had quite a bit of debris cut away during her surgery and the resulting insult to her knee will take a longer time to recover than someone who had less repair work done. (She has to bear that in mind when comparing surgeries within a group of fellow suffers.) I think that eased her mind. The doctor did tell her that she should avoid walking on uneven ground for the next several weeks; a difficult task while living where we no live.

Grandma and Grandpa went to the Medicare office in Wichita Falls yesterday to see if they could improve the coverage they are now receiving through the program. Sometime last year they had me look up Humana insurance – a Medicare supplement. When I explained that there are over fifteen different programs in the Humana system and that they needed to get some professional help getting in the correct program they did not understand what I was trying to say.

Now, Grandma has been denied surgery because they do not have the right coverage and since the system cannot be reset until open enrollment in October, they are stuck with what they have until then. They did like the woman who they met with in the office and I am sure Grandma will keep that line of communication open. This year they will get the help I suggested last year.

I worked in the apartment for a couple of hours last night. I got everything on my list done plus I sealed up the roof edge on the outer wall of the south side of the apartment. We are supposed to get some very strong storms tonight and I wanted to make sure that was done prior to any more rain. I probably did not need to worry.

The weather forecasts have not been overly accurate- especially in predicting rainfall – but everyone in the area of north Texas through the upper plains have been on high alert because of the severity of the storms that have plagued the area for over a month now. The forecast tonight is for damaging thunderstorms. There are not forecasts for tornados but damaging winds and large hail are in the summary that has been issued. Having had a truck recently damaged by large hail, I am more cognizant of such information.

We will see what happens.

One more time, the big pond, Mama’s treat

Sunday afternoon as I was watching something on my phone I got an email alert from work. I have my account set up that when a job opening is announced that fits within a certain range of core skills I get a notification of the posting. That afternoon I got the notification that a posting had just been announced for the very position I was told was unavailable only a month ago – as a Licensing Specialist. I immediately applied knowing I could follow up on Monday morning.

When I emailed the head of the group he informed me that there was an unexpected retirement in the group and they needed a person to backfill the spot. I do not know if they are interested in me particularly but the job he described is more in line with what I have been praying for. They want someone to go to Australia until late in 2104 then take a rotation in Southern Louisiana for a two year stint.

The posting closes on the 17^th of June so I will not know any more until that time and based on the last run I had with the Licensing group, it could be August or September before anything is settled. I do not have my hopes too high but I cannot say the same for Mama.

After I had worked a couple hours on the apartment last night I drove Mama down to the big pond. I wanted to see how much of the recent rains it had caught. It was considerably higher. As soon as we got there I realized I should have brought my .22 rifle. There were at least a dozen turtles lining the banks and maybe that many more in the water. While we were there we saw a fish pop out of the water. It was encouraging to see the level up and the inhabitants still surviving.

We will try to go down to keep an eye on the mini lake more often. Maybe when the weather cools down in a few months we will set up a picnic table and sitting area down there. It really is a pleasant place to spend an evening.

Mama and Victoria are going out to lunch today with one of the little girls from the church. A couple months ago the older sister in the family got the same treatment from a Mama and Mama is determined to keep things fair between them. Besides this little one is shy and very quiet so I have a feeling she can get passed over pretty quickly. They are eating Mexican and then going shopping for an outfit. The little one who is six or seven years old is very excited.

Maybe not as excited as Mama, but still very excited.

Rained out, Dodger and snakes, Mama’s recital

I think I slept in later on Saturday morning than I have I quite some time. It was almost 8 a.m. before I got out of bed. Mama and I left for Nocona Building Center shortly after I did get up so I could get the green rock I needed for the bathroom. On our way there we ran into some serious rains. We were praising the Lord for the rain but it did keep us from getting any materials. I had to regroup and work on other things – of which there are many.

This week I need to get to the point that the plumber who is doing the work for us on the apartment can put in the shut off valves for the water in the kitchen, bath and laundry room when he comes out to do the gas line. We had a quote of $969 to run the gas line from the gas company, but I am sure we will come out much better with Lee doing the install. I just want to be ready for him so he can complete the work while he is there. It will save him a trip to the farm and it will move me along pretty well at the same time.

Dodger is fully recovered of his snake bite. It was a great relief to all the women in the house to see him back to normal. The entire experience has left him a little skittish. As Mama and I were taking care of the chickens, Dodger was sniffing around and stepped on one of the Devil’s Claw plant pods. When it moved in the grass he jumped away at a pretty impressive speed. It reminded me of the old rock song, “Once bitten, Twice shy”.

Perhaps not as fortunate is the man whose wife sold us the sheep. Mama received a text last night telling her that he had been bitten by a copperhead and had spent the last three days in ICU. I am pretty sure Mama will get more details today so we can pray more effectively, but that is a pretty harrowing experience for the entire family.

So far on our farm, Grandpa has seen two copperheads; mostly when he moves equipment. That is probably where Dodger got his bite because he follows Grandpa around while he is working. So when Grandpa hooked up the brush hog for the first time this season, Dodger was right there and the snake was on high alert having been so abruptly exposed. Dodger is always looking for rabbits and mice. The snake was a new experience.

Mama was in a group of four or so women on Sunday morning discussing the issues she is having with her knee. It is locking up on her at certain times. We are not sure what the issue but the women were adamant that she needed to see the doctor about it before too much time went by. Each had a relevant story to share with the group so they could compare notes. As I watched from a distance away I started talking with one of the older gentlemen there and he asked me what was going on with Mama. I explained that she was giving her organ recital to the group.

He laughed until he was coughing.