Nothing to do, new farm toys

The weekend is upon us already. January is gone and the first week of February has evaporated before our very eyes. I was telling Mama yesterday afternoon that I could not think of any projects for this weekend but when I got home I realized the door to the shop is not aligned properly. We have been having trouble closing it for a couple days. I will get that fixed. Then I realized the Flex is long overdue for an oil change. I will fix that. Trade Days will be going on tomorrow. I could spend a few hours there.

Then I realized it will be warm enough to till some manure into the garden. I can do that too. Then I thought about the calf lot needing cleaning again. I should add that to the list. There is still stuff in the farm house that needs to be sorted through, animals to feed and clean up after, etc., etc., etc. As you can tell, once I got away from my tunnel vision, I will have a full weekend just doing what it takes to keep up with a farm and a home. I love it.

Tomorrow afternoon Mama and Victoria will be going to Ft. Worth for a baby shower. She is meeting one of the ladies from the church and they will ride together. I do not expect them back until late in the evening. I should be worn out by then.

Last night Mama and I went and bought a stock tank heater. I should have had one long ago but I have put it off for no good reason. I had to do some rearranging of the lights in the barn to get a place to plug in an extension cord to power the device but that did not take too long. I had plenty of extension cords on hand to make the run to the large tank in the calf lot. Having to work around five curious cows was a little challenging in the small space where we feed them, but all in all, it did not take very long.

I am anxious to see the outcome. We set the heater on top of the ice in the tank. It was thick enough that neither mama nor Victoria could break it up. I am not surprised. It did not ever get near freezing yesterday, warming up to only 24®F from the morning low of 13®F. Everything was frozen hard and thick. Mama will give me an update this morning on how the heater performed.

It may be a moot point at this time. The daytime temperatures are expected to be above freezing for the next ten days or so and the nighttime temperatures will be at or near freezing so the water troughs should not freeze hard. Whatever does freeze will melt by mid-day.  Still it seemed like a good time to try this idea out. We will have it available next winter even if it is used in a limited manner this winter.

Mama will be cooking for our RU meeting today. I think she really enjoys it. I know it is a blessing to the leader and his wife. We are still small in numbers but we will grow through faithfulness and prayer. Right now there are two couples that come regularly. It is exciting to see them grow spiritually. There is one young mother that has come but is struggling to stay faithful.

Mama and I are slowly setting up to run the children’s program but for now we have four little ones under five to entertain during the meeting. It is difficult to follow a program designed for children eight years old and older when the oldest we have is five years old and the youngest two are only two years old. We have a good time but I am ready to have the children’s program up and running.

Patience. Like things on the farm, I do not want to grow faster than our ability to keep up.