Giving, hunting, the Uplander

True to his word, my coworker brought a load of camping supplies to work yesterday and Mama and I took the load to BBTI. There were sleeping bags and lots of bedding, mats to put on the ground under sleeping bags, cooking implements and utensils, a potty and two rafts – and lots of other things accumulated over years of using the equipment. The people at BBTI were very excited. It will be the best supplied Jungle Week the students there have ever had.

After we got back home I had to go on a mouse hunt. I knew I would eventually get my prey because the mouse I was hunting was already dead. It had been smelling up the mobile home for several days and Mama was determined to deal with it – so she commissioned me to deal with it.

She had actually called an A/C man who told her to look in the vents by using a mirror and light – something I had spent countless hours doing in my work in South Charleston for Union Carbide. He said he could do it for us but the two guys that worked for him were total wimps and did not like dealing with dead mice.

I cleaned for about an hour going from vent to vent and checking all the ductwork and the A/C unit in the process. I found nothing that could be producing the smell. When I was cleaning under the sink it dawned on me that there could be an opening under the cabinet Grandma had in the kitchen so I moved it out from the wall and found the offending rodent.

In the process we got the vents cleaned and a lot of other neglected areas cleaned up. I am not entirely certain the one dead mouse I found was the real source of the smell so tomorrow night I will have to look under the mobile home to see if Allie has a small rabbit stored for future consumption. The dogs seem to like them well dried out – when they are past the rotting smell and really chewy.

After all that we took a break and checked out the van we bought. Mama wanted to see if the DVD player worked. It took us a few minutes to find out how to get the sound system working – by setting the appropriate channel on the radio – but when we did we were both very impressed. Mama is really thrilled with the vehicle. I think it will be a good one for us for the next several years.

Before I went in for the evening I took time to look over the garden to see if we have any new growth. We have a little life showing from the seeds we recently planted but it will not be until we get back that we will see many of the new plants above ground. We are still working on getting someone to tend the animals and plants in or absence.

We will be taking Victoria to Ft. Worth tomorrow for her Pharmacy Tech test. After that things get really busy at the farm as our children start to arrive for the wedding next weekend.