Planting, shopping, doctor visit

Saturday was a busy day. Mama and I were up early and out early. We got the trailer hooked to the truck and went to Nocona Building Center to get the lumber to finish the fence for the little garden. I was also able to buy the roofing I need to finish the porch roof on the apartment. Unfortunately, I was not able to work on either of those projects.

When we got back and dropped off the trailer I loaded up the truck with two hot water heaters and an old dishwasher to take to the salvage yard in Bowie. We got almost $20 for the three items but more importantly we got rid of them before they became an eye sore or a point of contention.

Then we were off to Walmart to pick up some fruit trees to plant in the little orchard we are starting – again. We bought two semi-dwarf peach trees and two blueberry plants. When we got home Mama went to lie down. She was not feeling very rested from the night before and needed her afternoon nap.

I planted the peach and blueberry plants while she slept. I also went to the front of the farm and dug up several wild plum trees so I could transplant them close to the house where we could tend to them a little more carefully.

As I was digging them up it dawned on me that they might not be the trees I was expecting them to be so some time this summer I will have the evidence I need to either keep or uproot them. We will know them by their fruit. It is a well-established Biblical principal. I did not want to wait until this fall to transplant them because they are just the right size now. Oh, well was only an hour of my time to get the work done.

Sunday we went to Costco between services. Victoria was not feeling well but she came along anyway. We ate at Chipotle for lunch then spent a little over an hour at Costco. The only problem is that we always spend too much money when we go there. Granted, we did not buy anything we did not actually need – other than the Danishes – but things add up fast at $10-20 per item. I had budgeted for most of it so it was not too alarming.

Victoria will go to the doctor today after she and Mama meet one of the ladies of the church for a guided tour of nearby Justin, TX. There are multiple boot shops in the town that is known for its boot factory. Mama had been wanting to go for some time so they finally worked it out for tomorrow.

Victoria is still getting some drainage from her ears as well as some knots around her right ear. Mama and she will go to the ENT doctor sometime today. This will make the third trip for the same problem. Each past visit has been treated as though there was nothing remarkable even though Victoria is still very uncomfortable. We are hoping to get some answers this time. We will see.

They will have Mama to deal with if the doctor is nonchalant this time.

A good visit, hurrying, chores ahead

Mama had a good visit with her friend. It was so good in fact that she had not even left her house by the time she was supposed to be meeting me in Bowie. I was not surprised at the delay. She did make it home before we had to pick up Victoria – at 7:30.

We left the farm to go to Walmart to pick up Victoria after a brief look at the chicken coop – for gathering eggs and filling water dispensers. Mama had a list of food items to get so she could prepare the meal for RU tonight. It was not a long list but it did take longer than I had expected. Victoria was well past ready to go home by the time we checked out.

She was doubly anxious because she had rented a copy of the new Thor movie and was anxious to get started watching it. I knew it was going to be way too late for me to participate so I was not as concerned about rushing around. It was delayed anyway because Victoria wanted to go to Subway for dinner. That took an additional fifteen minutes. It was past 8:30 before we got home. I went to close up the chicken coop while Mama unloaded the groceries and Victoria loaded the movie.

While Mama was with Kim Cantrell she found out that a neighbor, the son of the owner of the property the Cantrell’s are purchasing, has recently set up a mill to cut and finish cedar wood – both aromatic and western cedar. She brought home some scraps which turned out to be much larger than I had anticipated. Mama and I will use them on the garden fence by the apartment. Now I will not have to travel as far as I thought to get the cedar I need for future projects.

I hope to complete the fence around Mama’s special garden this weekend. We will plant the flowers and bulbs she bought for that purpose after the area is secured by the fence. I think it will come out pretty nice. It will give Mama an immediate view of something colorful as soon as she opens the bedroom curtains every morning.

We are planning on working in the vegetable garden this weekend also. I will stop on the way home to get some seed potatoes from the feed store we frequent. They are now on sale so I feel a little better about paying the reduced price – which is still pretty high. If we do not get them in the ground soon we will have to use a lot more water to get the crop to maturity.

Victoria has to work this Saturday so I will have to muck the stalls in the calf barn by myself – with Mama operating the tractor. It should not be too bad since we have been keeping up with it pretty regularly, but it will have to be done before we get to the garden. There is a remote chance of thunder storms for this afternoon. That would cause us to rework the schedule a bit but we will happily accommodate the rain.

So far, we love rain delays.

Malaise, oops, encouraging a friend

For the past week or so I have been feeling less than my best. Some days it is more obvious than others but there has been a constant sense of not particularly feeling well. Headaches and overall weariness are the most persistent symptoms; dizziness is the most troubling. This too shall pass; sometime.

Last night at church we had someone fill in at the last minute on the piano. He and I worked out the song service. I had to select a different song for the invitation so he would be comfortable playing for me that evening. As we sang through the first two songs I did okay but on the last song my eyes skipped over the selected song and went straight to the one we had eliminated from the list and I announced it as our next song.

He and the organist hung in there with me and we sang through it. He did fine and the congregation really liked the song – even though it was a new one for them. After the service I still did not realize I had made the mistake. It was on the way home that it dawned on me what I had done. I will see the young man that played the piano on night at RU – I will get to apologize and get the egg off my face then.

I am not inferring too much into the lapse of memory, i.e forgetting the conversation we just had about the music selections for the service, but there may be something there worth considering. This one I will chalk up to the fact that I get nervous when I am up at the pulpit to lead the singing. I will have to give permission to the musicians to correct me if I go off track that badly in the future. I would be far more comfortable with that – and take care of my mistakes in the moment. All is well. It just leaves me feeling a little foolish.

We did get rain yesterday – finally. It was not much, only .3 inches but it was enough to puddle on the ground in places and settle the dust. For Mama it was a mess. With the three dogs having to go in and out of the apartment – which is now surrounded by wet dirt – she was constantly having to clean them up before letting them back inside. I don’t think she really minds all that much but for me it would be a chore. Actually, they would have to find a place to stay outside if I were the one having to wipe dirty paws all day.

Mama is going to visit her friend Kim Cantrell this afternoon. She lives a little less than an hour from the farm. She and her husband have been going through some really rough times of late and she really needs the encouragement. It is one of those time that cause a believer to question where they are and what they are doing because nothing seems to be adding up right.

Those are the time when faith kicks in and we just keep doing right (because it is always right to do right) and stay where we are until the Lord opens up our vision so we can see how He is ordering things concerning our work and witness. I spoke to a friend yesterday at work and he confessed that he is having trouble keeping his walk where his talk is – trusting God to lead him and having the faith to obediently follow.

He and I agreed that in retrospect, regardless of the situation, God has never led us wrong or caused us to suffer any loss that was not for our benefit and His glory. Keeping our faith tuned into that truth is the most difficult thing we do on a daily basis.

Remembering that not only is God able to lead you and keep you from falling, but that He is willing would give us some much needed respite.

Meetings, new employee

Yesterday flew by. I was in a meeting all day – even through lunch. It was a productive meeting; the outcomes of which will set a process that will be followed for many months to come. I was hoping it would change the involvement I have in a process I do not enjoy but it looks like I am stuck with the tasks I was trying to find a more appropriate home for.

The meeting will continue this morning and I am hopeful the outcomes will be followed through. One of the persons in the meeting has a high enough position to persuade a large enough contingent of personnel to carry out several of the recommendations we are suggesting, but she is new to ConocoPhillips so I am not convinced she will have the support to completely follow through. Time will tell.

I had a new employee start yesterday. I barely got to say hello as she was taken through the steps to get her set up as an employee. The entire process takes several days as permissions are granted to computer applications, work schedules are approved, credit cards are ordered and phones are set up – both desk phones and cell phones. One of my newest employees handled all the transactions and I got to approve them this morning.

In order to accommodate the new employee I had to let one person go. She was working as a contract employee for us so it is an easy process as far as work is concerned; emotionally, it is not so easy. She took the news well and elected to leave as soon as she and I had talked. She felt confident that she could get back into the nursing position she had previously held. I hope things work out for her.

Hopefully I will have time this afternoon to spend some time getting our new person settled into her role as we begin to move tasks over to her. She will be completely overwhelmed for about six months. I am hoping about that time she will begin to see her role clearly and begin taking on assignments she enjoys doing along with the ones we are assigning to her. Again, time will tell.

I did not get too much done last night. I set four posts for the fence I am putting around Mama’s special garden. I am trying to complete it by the weekend so we can set out the plants she has already purchased for that area, but I do not know if I will get it done or not. I still lack some lumber for the railings of the fence and I have held off buying them until I can use the truck and trailer to go and pick up some longer two by fours than I can carry in the bed of the truck; maybe tomorrow evening.

As for the main garden, Mama and I are ready to plant some of the seeds we still have. Last night she went through them to make certain we do not need to get any more for this year. She told me all we need are tomato plants which the nursery told us will be ready to go this weekend. It should be a good weekend to get that done.

The weather is forecast to be warm and breezy – imagine that.

Invaders, experiments

Sunday afternoon we discovered our little herd in the meadow. We keep them out of that area for a variety of reasons; we want the ground to be used for hay production, the fence at the south end is not in the best of shape and the long horn herd across the south fence needs little excuse to invade our green meadow. It turned out that we should have probably been more proactive in getting our cattle back where we normally keep them – but it was Sunday.

Yesterday afternoon Mama called me in a panic. The long horn herd was in the meadow grazing their way to the other fields on our property. I told her to get our few head back into the pasture where they should be and shut the gate to the meadow so the long horns would not get too far onto the property. I am not worried about them doing any damage but they are far less predictable than our bottle raised herd and the further they got onto our farm the more difficult it would be to get them back home.

We called the owners and they came right away to get their herd back onto their property so no real damage was done but it highlighted the fact that we need to get the fence repaired at that end of the property. The actual repair is slated for when Grandpa, Norman and Seth come late next month. I have yet to purchase the materials but I have money set aside for them.

Mama was no worse for the exercise she got getting the herds separated. In fact, she was baking up a storm when I got home. She had some type of pineapple cake in the oven along with some fruit muffins. I am not sure what has gotten hold of her but I am certainly enjoying the benefits – as long as I do not overindulge.

When I got home I started on a simple enclosure for the flower garden we are planting just outside the apartment. If we are to have anything grow I will have to cordon the area off with some type of physical barrier to keep the dogs from making their beds in it. I feel a little pressed to get the barrier built because we have plants that need to be placed there rather than sitting too long in the pots they are now in.

We bought some elephant ear bulbs several weeks ago and I have been anxious to get them planted in that area so them have time to get to maturity before the first frost kills them back. Mama also has some annuals she wants planted in the same area. It is all part of our larger garden strategy. We put all of our efforts in the garden plot last year when we should have placed plants in different areas of the farm to have the best chance at actually succeeding. This year we are going to try different areas for different types of plants and see what works best.

Over the next several years we should be able to get the routine down pretty well.

“Life on the farm is kinda laid back” - NOT

I did end up taking most of the day off on Friday. We had a large contingent of people coming to the office that would arrive before any of the ladies that sit in the front get there and I wanted to make sure that they were able to get into the office without trouble. The secure door on the front of our building does not release until 7 a.m. so someone has to be in the office to open the door for early visitors. I got back to the farm about the time Mama and Victoria were going out to feed.

I did not get an awful lot done because I was not feeling very well but when I tried to lay down to rest I was not able to do that very well either. I did pick up the lumber to build the alcove I wanted to place in the garden to help guard the plants against the blistering heat and wind. It is not large, just eight feet square, but I hope it will help us in the garden this year.

Mama helped me get the pieces to the garden and I got them placed as I had planned – it looks pretty small in that large garden space. We have seeds that I could have safely planted in the area I prepared but I did not get that done. I was able to till a large patch for the potatoes and onions I hope to set out this week. We were waiting all day for the rains to come but they never did. Not much was predicted but we still hoped we would get something wet from the overcast skies.

On Saturday I covered the area outside the kitchen windows with dirt to level it out for future use. I am planning on potting the tomato plants we are going to get this weekend and put them in that area so I wanted it to look somewhat ready. I spent a good deal of time leveling out the dirt I put there with the tractor but a couple hours late you could not have told. Once the dogs and the chickens rearranged the fresh dirt it was quite a mess to look at.

By Saturday night I was feeling pretty bad. Victoria and I went out to do the evening feeding and get everything ready for Sunday. That was when we discovered Misty down and could not get her up. We called Wes Bowman but he was in Ft Worth and could not get to us for a couple hours. He called Tim Cleghorn and as soon as Tim got the call he headed our way. By the time Tim and Steve Schnell got to the farm it was nearly dark and we had been struggling with Misty for about an hour.

While Mama and I were greeting Tim and Steve and apprising them of the situation, Victoria walked into the calf lot with Misty in tow. We began to walk around in order to relieve her colic. Tim, Steve and Victoria took turns and continued to keep her moving for several hours. About the time I gave out Wes showed up and began doing his assessment – and it was not very good. It was after 10 pm when they hooked the stock trailer to our truck and loaded Misty for a late night visit to the vet.

The vet saw something no one else did. He asked Mama when Misty had gotten stung. When Mama showed surprise at the question he showed her a couple dozen sting marks on her rump and lower legs. He concluded that that was the cause of the colic and gave Misty a shot for pain to relieve the gas pains as well as the bee stings. They were all back at the farm by about 11:30.

Misty is doing well now but we have her cooped up in the barn lot so we can monitor her bowel movements and regulate her feed carefully – at least through today. I will have to go on the hunt to find the bee hive or wasp nest in her pasture in order to keep this from being repeated too soon.

With my allergy to such stings it will be and interesting hunt.

 

Work plans, little chores and helpers

Well, I ended up having to come to work this morning in spite of the plans I had to the contrary. There are only a few things that I have to get done and I should be able to get them completed by late morning. I am hoping to get back to the farm by lunchtime. Mama was not thrilled with the change in plans but she is pretty accommodating. After all, this is how I support my real interests.

Last night I swapped vehicles with Victoria on my way home. She had driven the truck to work after she and Mama picked up Sam. She really liked driving it but with the heavy tinting on the rear windows and the back glass I was a little worried about her being able to back the truck out of her spot in the parking lot. I probably should not have been concerned but it was an easy swap to make.

Once I got home Mama and I cleaned the chicken coop; she had saved that chore for me to help with. She is very thoughtful that way. I hung the gate we have had standing in the gap from the driveway into the  calf lot and I finished early enough that I got out the tiller and broke up the soil in front of the apartment.

I need to get the level down quite a bit so we can get ready for the concrete to be poured for the porch. I am leaving a portion on the north end for a special garden so Mama can have plants just outside of her bedroom windows. The only problem we were having is that Kira really liked the loose, cool dirt and kept speeding through the broken soil getting in my way.

When I began to gather the loose dirt for the portion I will make into raised beds for the garden she wanted to help me a little too much and I ended up having the chase her off pretty sternly. Some of the dirt I shoveled up into the wheelbarrow and moved to the south end of the porch to help level the ground there; that I let her play in to her hearts content.

Mama got out the mower and rolled over some grass that was really too short to cut. It was good practice. If the warm weather holds and we get the rains predicted for this weekend she will have to begin mowing in earnest very soon.

I am hoping to work in the garden this afternoon – after I get home early and before I have to get ready for RU this evening. I have plans of setting up a little arbor in the garden so we can begin to set out seeds and young plants. So far I have been thwarted at every turn but it has all been for the best. The weather is only now beginning to show signs of allowing spring to take hold.

Mama shared something she had seen on Facebook. It was a sign at a nursery. It read, “Spring is here. I got so excited I wet my plants.”

Hurrying around, guardians, gardening

This has been a hurried week. For the second time this week Mama and I did not even have time to eat dinner after I got home from work before we had to leave for some appointment. Last night it was church. The night before it was to get the dog to the vet. On Monday night it was to drop off Victoria’s car for service (we ate after we got back home). I am unsure if we have anything pressing tonight. It has been very busy of late. Sometimes just the hurrying is harrowing.

Mama and Victoria are picking up Samson from the vet this morning before Victoria has to go to work. She found out late yesterday that the total bill for his nurturing is $418. That is almost triple what I had planned for based on the price of the surgery. Mama was not happy with the total but I warned her to be careful in how she deals with her shock because this vet and his office staff have been very good to us. Those are the kind of relationships we need to nurture especially with living on the farm as a long-term goal.

Sasha has been moping around the farm for the past two days. Mama is convinced she misses Sam and I can go along with that assessment - reluctantly. It is a lonely vigil through the night and the two of them keep each other stirred up and active the whole night long. Mama was convinced early on – when we just bought the pups – that there needed to be two of them. I suppose it has worked out well to have them both at the farm, but it has been expensive to maintain.

I am planning on taking tomorrow off. There are a lot of little things that I need to get done at the farm, besides, I really need the break from the office. I am hoping Mama will let me use her new mower – even though I bent it the first night we had it on the farm. If not there are plenty of other implements I can use – not the least of which is the tiller.

We really need to get started on a garden. I have wanted to plant potatoes and onions for weeks now. It is a good thing I have failed in that effort because we have gotten some late freezes in the past several nights. It is one of those times of year that the weather changes are drastic.

Last week we had one day of 86®F followed by a light freeze that night. The next several days were in the mid-sixties; overcast and dreary feeling even thought there was no rain. This weekend is going to follow the same pattern; Friday and Saturday highs in the mid-seventies with nights just above freezing followed by highs in the mid-fifties for Sunday and Monday. It will be windy regardless of the ambient temperature.

Mama is looking forward to me being off – and being at the farm. Some of it has to do with the fact that we like each other’s company but part of it is because we have a lot of cooking to do for our RU meeting tomorrow night. We enjoy doing that together.

Regardless we will enjoy the day to the best of our abilities.

Yesterday, fixes and repairs

We had a lot going on at the farm yesterday morning so I ended up going in late. The biggest concern was getting Victoria to work after we had dropped off her car at a mechanic last night for the air conditioner to be replaced. The other was the delivery of the mower I had bought at a dealer here in Decatur. I wanted to be there for the delivery because Mama feels better if she is not alone at the farm when these things happen.

Unfortunately, the young man that was set to deliver the mower was sent out on a service call first thing yesterday rather than being sent to deliver the mower. Both Victoria and I needed to get to work before the mower arrived. Mama is thrilled with the mower when it did finally arrive. I am pleased we now have the machine we need to keep the farm trimmed up.

The only bad news in the arrival of the mower is that I will have to level out the yard to use it effectively. Right now it is a pretty rough ride as you pass through the areas we are going to mow. The yard took Mama about three minutes to get done with the 60” cut of this mower. I got on it for a few minutes last night and promptly ran the discharge shoot into the upright of one of our trailers. It bent it up a bit. Now I suppose I have to keep it.

Since I was late in getting to the office I stayed a little later than I usually do. On the way out of town I stopped to look at a ladder a friend of a friend has for sale. I found the place where the ladder was supposed to be but I did not find the ladder. I could not linger too long because we had an appointment to drop off Samson at the vet by 5:30 pm so I hurried home.

Mama and I ate a quick bite of dinner and we loaded up Samson on the back seat of the truck and headed out. He was easy enough to handle but it was clear he was not thrilled about the situation. I will have to get one of those sticky pad rollers to collect the hair he shed in the truck. Fortunately it was only a ten minute trip.

We elected to have the vet keep him overnight since we have no good way to contain him at the farm. He will have surgery today to keep him from producing offspring and hopefully settle his wanderlust when those scents are in the air. He will not have fond memories of this ride. It is one of those necessary things to get done. It will eliminate a lot of problems in the future.

I am supposed to meet with the lady who is selling the ladder today but I will not be able to take the ladder at this time. I brought Victoria’s car today since the rear driver’s side tire picked up something that is keeping it from holding air. Mama will take it to the shop this morning to get it repaired. Hopefully it is an easy fix.

If the ladder is something I can use. I will have to work out a day to get it later on.

Travel, truck, troughs

Mama and I did not get to head home until a little after 11 a.m. Friday morning. We stayed in Amarillo finishing errands and stopping at Cracker Barrel for brunch. On the way over from the farm we stopped at the Cracker Barrel in Wichita Falls and ordered the Country Boy breakfast; pork chops, grits, fried apples, three eggs, hash brown casserole and biscuits and gravy.

It was almost more that we could eat that morning. We liked it so well that we repeated the order in Amarillo. It was just as good the second time. I am afraid we are going to be like Pastor and Wilma Parrish and stop at Cracker Barrel every time we travel.

It was good to finally get back home Friday afternoon. It was very short lived since we had to be at RU in Decatur that evening. We finally got home that night at 11 pm. Mama and I were both very worn out and vowed we would sleep in in the morning. Both of us woke before 7 a.m. For me that is sleeping in – not so much for her.

We accomplished a lot of little things while in Amarillo last week. We met with Chase and Makaila several times, Mama did a lot of shopping, we visited in the evenings and we bought a truck. We were finally able to trade the Flex for a truck and we came out better than either of us had expected. The truck is a 2007 Dodge Ram Megacab Diesel. It is a big truck. It was a little bit of a challenge this morning to get it into the parking space I normally take in the office parking lot. Tomorrow I will park it in a more conveniently located space.

We clocked the mileage on the way home from Amarillo and it was about what I expected; 14 city and 17 highway. The first time we filled it up it cost $113. The dealer put only enough fuel in it for a test drive or two. Oh, well. We did not buy it for the fuel economy but rather to serve us on the farm – and we are both excited about having it available for our use…finally.

I am still going to have to get a smaller vehicle to make the commute to work. Mama and I are praying about what that vehicle should be. I know what I want and she has her preference also but we need something that serves dual functions. I need something I can wear out over the next several years and Mama needs something she can put children in to make doctor and dental visits if we are able to enter the foster care program; assuming we get smaller children. It should also serve as a church commuter for us.

Since there is a limit to how much I am willing to take on for maintenance and insurance we will be limited to only one more vehicle. In that we must choose wisely. We are both leaning toward a mini-van but neither of us is willing to make the commitment to that style of vehicle. In this selection we will want decent gas mileage and some prospect of longevity. Other than that we are still praying and waiting.

Lee Davis came out to the farm Saturday to install the water heater in the trailer. It had been out of commission for three weeks now so it was a real blessing to get it back in service. I am planning on taking the old water heater and having it cut in two long ways so we can make two feed troughs from it. We had several of those on the farm in West Virginia and they work well for just about every animal kept as livestock.

It will be a practical reminder of our farm there.

Travel, trucks, Chase, rocky bananas

Mama and I traveled yesterday as planned but not to Houston. At about 2 pm I got an email from a contact in the Borger office requesting I meet with him and the building owner at 10 a.m. Wednesday morning. I asked my boss which he preferred I do, attend the meeting in Borger or the training in Houston. He picked the Borger meeting.

Mama decided to come along since she can do some visiting and shopping here. We brought the Flex even though the vehicle is in bad need of new tires, so we could look into trading it off for a truck at one of the many dealers in Amarillo. Since all the hotels were booked in both Borger and Dumas we ended up staying in Amarillo. Mama was really happy about that.

We went to one dealer we always check out in Amarillo and found a truck we had not heard of before. It was the third or fourth one we had looked over and for some reason it caught Mama’s eye. It was a Dodge 2500 Diesel Megacab. The cab is huge for a truck. The back seats actually recline back or fold down forward to make a large flat surface. Mama and I were both very impressed. It, like all other trucks right now, was not cheap but Mama is headed back this morning to see if she can work out an acceptable deal.

We met with Chase by himself at the hotel last night and talked for over an hour. Mama came away from the conversation a little relieved about the pending nuptials but we are still a little concerned about the lack of any spiritual focus in the lives of Chase and Makaila. We are praying that that will change as the Lord begins to work in their lives. We (our family) will be their only source of encouragement on that front since her family does not go to church and Chase and Makaila are struggling just to make it to Sunday services.

While here Mama is also investigating the cost of blocking out rooms for those we will have traveling to the wedding. With the ongoing demand for hotels in the area it is going to be quite costly. We will work it all out but I will have to set aside more than I had originally thought. Not a big issue, just an adjustment so we can enjoy the wedding – and visiting family.

I am working out of the Borger office this morning and Mama and I are planning on returning to Bowie tomorrow morning unless our personal business in Amarillo keeps us here through Thursday. I can always work out of the office here for an extra day if necessary and head back to the farm on Friday. We will plan on leaving earlier than we did last time we were here so we will not miss RU.

Lee Davis is going to come to the farm on Saturday and replace the faulty hot water heater so Victoria will finally have the basic amenities for the mobile home. With that we will be set for a decade or more with hot water service – I hope. When I told Lee about the mix up he got a really good laugh. It took me a little longer to see the humor when we got home that Friday night but I eventually got there.

I was not mad at Lee. I was really frustrated with myself for not catching the error in communication that seemed so obvious when I played back the many conversations we had about the needed repair. Perhaps it will make a good storyline someday.

Blake just asked him mommy why bananas are so “rocky”?

After some discussion she figured out he was talking about the curve of the fruit, like a rocking horse.

I am not sure how she finally answered – once she finished laughing.

The weekend

The weather turned cold and windy this weekend so I had decided before we left the farm Saturday morning to go to Trade Days that I would go with Mama and Victoria on their shopping trip to Wichita Falls. There was not much I could get done at the farm and the only pressing thing on the agenda required that I have help; and I had given my help the day off.

While at Trade Days we came across a vendor selling some very new looking ladies boots. She gave us a running commentary on the history of the boots after announcing that the price was $75 which somehow dropped to $60 per pair very quickly. They were the perfect size for Mama but a little too big for Victoria. Mama ended up getting two pairs. We had set money aside for such purchases so it was readily available for Mama to spend. It was a pretty cheap price to give for the bragging rights she had Sunday morning.

We got some honey also but not from our normal vendor since they did not have the kind that Mama and Victoria favor. We did get some honey along with several other small items from a stand set up by one of the families that live at BBTI. On our way out we bought a piece of pottery from a lady that is there every month. Every month we stop by her stand to admire her work and yet have never bought any of the pieces she displays.

This time we did even though we do not need the piece we bought. I told her we stopped back by to encourage her because we really do like the pottery she makes. We found out she is only a few miles from us in Montague. Mama is going to stop by her shop and visit with her one afternoon. She really does make some unique and beautifully colored items.

When we got to Wichita Falls Mama and Victoria were in full shopping mode but I am the one who benefited the most from the trip. Mama got a couple tops and Victoria got several outfits but I ended up getting a nice suit coat, three new silk ties (that I had no part is picking out) and a couple pairs of dress pants from the 60-75% off racks in several different stores.

While we were away Lee Davis was replacing the hot water heater for us and I was excited to get that done. It was when we got back that I realized there had been a serious error in communication. He replaced the new hot water heater we had just recently installed in the apartment rather than the one that needed replacing in the mobile home. So we are back to square one. We still have a new tank. It is sitting in the shop not doing Victoria any good. Oh, well. We will get it put in the right spot soon.

On the way home we rented a movie. It was pretty good. The only problem was that after watching it Mama and I sat down and both began reading totally forgetting the time was going to change that night. We both stayed up way too late and were suffering for it Sunday morning. We got up on time – even with the time change – but we were very tired through the morning.

The alarm clock that I have used for years is programmed to make the change automatically so we had at least one clock set to the correct time Sunday morning. I set everything else when I got up and only waked Mama when it became necessary. We both really enjoyed our nap Sunday afternoon.

Tomorrow we leave for Houston so I can attend a training class on Wednesday. It is a sort of mini-vacation for us and hopefully a good chance for Mama to shop in the big city. Victoria will hold down the fort for us until we get back Thursday evening. I am planning on taking Friday off but that remains to be seen.

It will be another busy week.

Vehicle news, grandchildren, shopping

It was nice to spend the evening at home last night. It is the first such evening since last Saturday. I did not get much of anything extra done, but rather took the time to relax for a few minutes. Mama and I watched an episode of NCIS and I read a few chapters in the third book of a series I am finishing up – slowly.

Mama went to look at a particular truck yesterday but we were not impressed enough to seriously consider buying it. Right now, trucks, especially used trucks, are commanding a very high price; almost ridiculously high. Although this truck offered almost all of what we needed, it lacked some amenities that we are looking for. After all, vinyl seats are not at all appealing.

Having done that, Mama took the Flex to the mechanic. She used the truck to putt around town and meet Victoria for lunch. While she was shopping in town the mechanic called and told her that there was nothing wrong with the car that new tires would not cure; no additional repairs are required at this time. That was very good news.

Next week when Mama and I go to Houston, we will probably take Victoria’s car so we can wait another week on buying the tires for the Flex. If we do trade it off I do not want to have spent almost $1000 for new tires only to lose that money in the trade. Mama and I are still debating the merits of a diesel vs. a gas engine and it is difficult to look far enough down the road to see if we would need the diesel engine enough to pay the difference in both initial purchase price and the long term fuel costs.

From the pictures and texts Maggie is sending out it seems she and Aaron are starting to really enjoy Catherin. Now that the first several months are under her belt, Maggie and baby are starting to get to know each other. To me, that is the most special time; when mama and baby understand each other’s needs and begin to communicate to each other with less urgency than is generally present in the first several weeks after birth. It is not unexpected. It is not uncommon. It is always delightful to witness.

Cori has shared several fun things with Mama lately. She took a short video of her trying to get the kids to speak pig Latin. That was hilarious. She also shared Mykenzie’s newest work – awkward. After chasing Blake around the house on morning trying to examine a pen mark he had on his face Cori called a time out for lunch. Mykenzie pointed out the mark to her mommy who did not seem nearly concerned enough. “It’s alright,” mommy explained. “It is just a little mark. Blake will be fine.” Upon which Mykenzie responded indignantly, “I just wanted to help. I mean, this is really awkward.”

Trade Day’s is tomorrow and both Mama and Victoria have money to spend. Both of them are excited about the event. I have money too but all I am looking for is a pitch fork of a certain design. After Trade Day’s they are planning a shopping trip somewhere – they offered so many options that I quit registering the conversation.

I am planning on staying at the farm.

Terminal, back-up plans, rain, clocking time

The answer came back from the mechanic concerning the little truck and it was not the news I had hoped for. The head gasket is leaking; letting water from the cooling system into the cylinders. That water quenches the spark from the spark plug (in whatever cylinder/s it is leaking into) causing the engine to misfire. It makes for a rough ride. Speaking of the truck, in his words, “She’s used up.”

With body and frame rust and the engine leaking oil there is no need to attempt repairs. My little truck will die a slow death on the farm as we use it as a four wheeler and to pull the hay rake or trailer as we put up hay this season. It was fun and helpful while it lasted but that puts a serious damper on my plans of using what we had, vehicle wise, to make it through this year.

Mama is going this morning to look at a big pickup to trade the Flex against so we can have a truck on the farm that is equipped to haul the trailers we have ready for use. We have tried this before but we are so upside down on the Flex that it usually makes the deal untenable but we are past “it would be nice if we could” and have jumped straight into “we really need to” do something.

The pastor asked the question last night, “Did it ever occur to you that nothing ever occurs to God?” He already knows because He is already at the end of time eternal looking back at today. He is still at the beginning of time eternal looking forward. He is present today seeing eternity in either direction. Every event that has happened or will happen is known to Him and He has provided the way through the trial if we will trust and follow His leading.  Since He really knows it would make sense to take His advice.

As we drove home from church last night we actually had to use the windshield wipers. It was a light rain and the ground did not even get thoroughly wet but it was moisture that made it all the way to the ground – and we were excited about it. That may not thrill many of you but for us it is a real blessing for us.

It may put a damper on the plans I had to work in the garden tonight, but we can find other thing to do to make use of the time this evening. It has been more than a week since I have been able to do more than the minimal required work on the farm; the evening feeding of our stock, filling water troughs or setting things up for Mama to do the same in the morning.

At least starting this weekend we will have more daylight in the evenings. We set our clocks forward this weekend. I would be fine with eliminating daylight savings time. I do not think it serves any real purpose or provides any real service to us as a nation, but it is one of those things that we have always done and no one wants to evaluate the value of the process.

One of the other guys that gets to the office about the same time I do was telling me that it took a week to get his young children on a workable schedule when we set the clocks back several months ago. They wanted to go to bed at their accustomed time and get up at their normal time not realizing that they were an hour early at both ends of that schedule. It was our fault – we are the ones that changed the way we set the time. So they fought to keep the boys up an hour past when they wanted to go to bed so they would not get up an hour earlier than their parents schedule was set for. We live by a clock that has not relevance to them.

Now they will have to do it all over again – in reverse.

Errands, time constraints

I took a half day of vacation yesterday since there were so many things to get done in Bowie and I had the car Mama needed to get them done. Not having the little truck as my transportation to and from work really puts a kink in the works for Mama’s errands – and we really needed to get these errands taken care of; paying our taxes, voting in the primary election, and getting the truck to a mechanic.

We headed for Montague first to get the taxes paid for the farm. It is really convenient in Montague County. We went into the new courthouse and immediately inside the door is the tax and title office. We were able to pay our county taxes and step to the next window and pay the registration fees on our trailers and the little truck.

About a half mile away is the tax office for the school taxes. That’s where we owed the bigger tax payment for property – land and buildings. I was getting ready to write out the check and the lady helping us told me an amount that was about half of what I was expecting to pay. When we asked her to double check she explained that the taxes owed for the mobile home had been paid by the company that holds the loan on the mobile home. Paying half of what I expected was a real blessing. Mama and I were so tickled that it really made her day. (That does not happen to her very often.)

Voting in the primary was different. There were six or seven pages to the ballot since some of the numerous races had seven or more candidates on the ballot. It took me several tries on the internet to find a cheat sheet for the primary elections – of candidates recommended by a conservative group. Without that help it would have been extremely difficult to know who to vote for in all the races.

Mama and I went to the post office to get some packages mailed out then back to the mechanic. We had left the truck at his shop earlier but continued on our errands since no one was in the shop at that time. When we swung back by he was back in the shop so we talked about all the vehicle needs we had to get taken care of – ending with the little truck.

We left our contact information but have not heard anything from him yet. I have mixed emotions about fixing the truck. I have asked the Lord to let me continue to use the truck through this year but it is all in His hands. Mama and I have set an amount we will be willing to pay for repairs, but beyond that we will let it die a slow death in service on the farm. It will be interesting to see how God works this out.

Tonight will be our final revival service for the week. Tomorrow our pastor and several men from the church are going to a local prison for evangelistic services. Pastor Horton and Lee Davis really love that ministry and God really blesses that time for them.

Tomorrow night will be the only weeknight I have been able to get anything done on the farm for two weeks now – and there is a lot to get done. Friday night is RU at church and Saturday is Trade Days so there will be limited time to get anything done on the farm. We are also expecting rain – only a little – but the positive impact it brings to the land produces a negative impact on the work I need to be doing.

Next week Mama and I go to Houston so I can attend training there. It will be another short week on the farm.

I love this life.

Church services, travel issues

The last few days have been rushed because of the revival services we are having through tomorrow night but we have managed to get everything necessary done and still made it to church early. All the services have been good and last night was no exception. Meetings of this type are always tiring but they are rewarding.

I was delayed a couple hours getting to work yesterday because of the icy roads but I left the office at the same time as usual since it was going to be a short evening at home before leaving for church. By the time the afternoon rolled around the roads were clear even though the ambient temperature never got above freezing. It is at times like these that I wish we were closer to the church but that seems a brief and fleeting thought. Perhaps God will see to that in the future but for the moment we have no unction to sell the farm in order to get closer.

I remember many such times while we lived on the farm in West Virginia. It was a shorter distance to Ripley than it currently is for us to travel to Decatur but the time it took was almost the same. We did that for almost ten years – and loved almost every day of it. Like the sunset picture enclosed, there are moments that are worth all the little issues we face form time to time.

I have always lived a pretty good drive away from work and generally lived a good distance from church and we have always made the best of it. The current distance gives Mama a chance to put on her makeup as we make the drive to church. She likes the natural light.

I had planned on taking the little truck this morning but as I drove it down Hwy 59 towards Bowie I could tell that something was not quite right. I turned around and went back to the farm to get the car. Mama will be disappointed when she sees that the car is gone but I did not have much of a choice. She had a good deal of running planned for today and I have taken the best mode of transportation for her to get those things done. Oh well, we will work something out.

I really need to start praying about another work vehicle. Grandpa has advised that I not do anything costly to the little truck and he is right in thinking so. It is a ’94 model Ranger after all, but I will miss it.

Now the quest begins to find an acceptable substitute that has the same monthly payment - $0.00.

Mama’s and my week in the panhandle went very well for both of us. She got to go shopping and did a lot of visiting with friends in Amarillo. I got to go to work and have a little over twenty separate meetings. Some of those meetings were very difficult because they were something close to a reprimand to the individual in question. Not the type of meeting that is warm and fuzzy.

Mama and I met with our CPA on Tuesday evening and got all our tax information to him. He called with a couple questions but other than that he got right to work on our file. He had it ready by Friday morning and Mama and I were able to sign off on the paperwork. For the first time in several years we actually got a refund! I was very pleased about that turn of events.

We went to church at Central Baptist Wednesday night and had a great time there with the friends we still have in that congregation. It put us back to the hotel at a little after 11 pm but it was worth the time to get Mama there. The last time I went to a Wednesday night service everyone wanted to know about Mama. This time they all got to catch up on life events – it took a while but it was a good time for Mama.

On the way out of town Friday morning we stopped in Borger so I could look at a rifle a friend of mine had. It was the caliber I had been looking for and was in the perfect price range for me. I told Mama I did not need a Weatherby or something fancy for no more than I get to hunt. The rifle turned out to be a Vanguard – manufactured by Weatherby. God is very good.

We took a friend of ours on the trip with us. Kim Cantrell has children and grandchildren in Pampa so she hitched a ride with us. It was a pleasant trip. I am sure we will repeat the process in the future. The Cantrell’s were missionaries in Ecuador until Kenny’s health forced them to come home. They now run a ministry to police, firefighters and first responders as well as military personnel. It is called Boots and Badges. They are great people. Kim has become a true friend for Mama.

We are having revival services at our church this week. Yesterday God really moved in the morning service. Mama, Victoria and I went home excited to come back that evening, but we did not make it. The weather turned very bad Sunday morning and it took us almost an hour to get home. We did not try to get out after we slipped and slid out way to the farm. We will make it the rest of the week but we really hated missing last night.

This morning I had to wait until daylight to drive to the office. The roads were not too bad, but I am glad I drove here in the daylight. On the way I was listening to a report of a thirty mile backup of cars on I-45 heading north from Houston into Dallas . Many of the people in that idled traffic had been there for over twelve hours.

I cannot imagine what that would be like.