Home, missing out, the garden

It was good to get home yesterday evening. By the time I got there Mama was dressed and ready to go to Decatur for a ladies function at the church. So, in an effort to get the company truck back to the office and save Mama an extra trip to pick me up, I drove to Decatur and rode home with Mama and Victoria. I worked on catching up to email during the time they were at the meeting. To their credit, they left halfway through the affair to get me home at a semi-decent hour. It was still about 9:30 before we got ready for bed.

My time in the panhandle was a pretty productive time. I always spend more of my time in hallway discussions and ad hoc meetings than actually in any planned meetings but the time always produces great benefits. I have a lot of friends that it is important to keep up with as I have opportunity – and being there provides the opportunity.

The men of the church who were able to get away are on a father and son fishing trip at Lake Texoma. They headed out on Thursday evening. I have wanted to go for several years but have not been able to work out the timing. The meeting that required me to be in Borger was another of those poorly timed, but required meetings that interrupted the fun.

There is another church event where a group from our church goes to Nazlini, Arizona to do Vacation Bible School for the fledgling church there. I am hoping to go to that but it is about ten days all told and I am not sure if I will get the chance to participate in that either. With the recent trip to Florida and the additional time off for Chase and Makaila’s wedding I have a difficult time arranging that many days off in a short amount of time. I need to reserve the time for Mama and I to visit Maggie and Aaron later this year.

Mama and I do not have a big weekend planned but we are planning to go to Brad, TX to pick up some cedar posts. I will have to call the seller today to make sure he will be available to meet us but I have needed to get some of these posts for months now. I will use them to repair and strengthen our fence in certain areas; more work for me on the farm.

I also know that we will work in the vegetable garden to get the majority of the weeds out. It is nearly impossible to clear out all the grass and weeds but we need to make a very concerted effort in order to maximize the limited water we have for the garden. I also need to get the supports up for the peas and the beans. They are already reaching out for something to grab hold of.

We have had enough rain to keep the ground sufficiently watered and the garden definitely reflects the moisture we have gotten this year. By this time last year we had abandoned the garden completely. This year it looks like it will be worth the effort.

Whether or not we will ever get Mama’s flower garden to succeed is another question.

Hay successes and failures, lots of little things

I left work a little early on Friday to get the equipment prepped for putting up hay on Saturday. A friend at church volunteered to help and he was a God-send for us. I had never run the equipment to rake and bale the hay. I had always arrived when the task was almost done. This time it was me and Mama all the way and it was a great learning experience. His help was more than appreciated; it was invaluable.

As we were baling the field Mama and Victoria decided to take the trailer to the barn from the field and so Mama started backing up the truck – never thinking that the trailer was attached. It was only when she could not back up any more that she realized what she had done.

The trailer jackknifed into the truck and crumpled the truck bed on that side along with putting a sizable gash in the metal above the rear tire. The bumper was slightly bent but not as bad as it could have been. It was pretty discouraging to see the thing happen in slow motion. The truck is still drivable but it definitely caused cosmetic damage we will not be able to hide. It could be a costly repair. Mama did not realize how bad it was but she was cringing as she pulled the truck forward to get the trailer pulled away from the bed and bumper.

All in all, we got one hundred and one bales off of the field. I was praying for one hundred and twenty five. I am convinced that if we had gotten the hay done before we went on vacation, we would have had the additional bales in the barn but that was not to be. Now, however, we are ready to cut when the hay is ready since all the equipment is in service.

Yesterday we were up pretty early and got a lot of little things done around the farm. Mama and I cleaned out the shed near the apartment and set it up for the little pigs. They needed a better home than our laundry room was providing. I changed the oil in her mower since it was strongly to do that after ten hours of operation. I hung the ceiling fan in our bedroom – having brought it back from Florida – and we cleaned the barn. Late that evening we worked in the garden. It was a full day.

This morning I drove to Borger where I will meet with the building owner to look at an even smaller portion of the building to house the staff we have here. It is one of the ongoing assignments that I have not pleasure in doing since it affects the lives of so many. It may be a small thing to have to move offices but it is usually the small things that cause us the most angst.

Late Saturday we got a call from the mechanic working on the Uplander. We delivered the car to him because of a worsening noise that seemed to be the power steering pump. We weren’t even close. But to our credit he had his wife drive the car while he stuck his head out of the window to analyze the noise.

He supposed it was a brake noise when he got a good chance to hear it and when he pulled off one front tires the problem was obvious. Someone had put ten inch rotors on a wheel that required twelve inch rotors. Only half the brake pad was gripping the rotor when we were braking. It had quickly worn down the pads. It is a wonder that we drove safely from home to Florida and back on that jerry-rigged system.

I will be in the panhandle for a couple days handling several more people issues but should be home Thursday evening.

Hay, Mama’s shopping habits, mending fences, pig news

Between Mama’s and my efforts we got all the hay cut yesterday. That’s the good news. The bad news is that the rains that were predicted to start on Sunday evening have moved into the area faster than expected and there is a good chance of rain this evening and tomorrow. If the rains do hold off until Saturday night I should be able to get the hay baled and into the barn before they start; if not, I will have to leave the cut hay sit until next weekend before I can get it baled. I would never pray that the Lord hold off the coming rains, but a minor delay would be most helpful.

Mama did find her purse yesterday and was choosing between two when I called – after my late meeting of the day. The caveat is that by the time she had completed the purchase she was no longer thrilled about the purchase and is now needing to return it to the store. I have never understood that about her but I have come to accept the fact that she is required to make two to three purchases – and the subsequent returns – before settling on a final selection.

She and Victoria got home from Wichita Falls at the same time I was finishing up cutting the meadow. It took a combined effort of about six total hours to get the cutting done. It took me a full hour to get the mower taken off of the tractor and set in a way I was confident would secure it until the next cutting. I am hoping Grandpa will help me service it before we use it again – if he comes down next month.

As I was briefly online yesterday I found a man selling the cedar posts I have been looking for. We had one previous contact but that fell through last month. I called the man and asked enough questions to assure myself that he could really supply the posts so Mama and I may go down to get the first batch on Monday; if he is available that day.

I have an enormous amount of fence to repair and upgrade, and the posts are the key to getting it done at a coat I can afford. The fortunate part of all this is that we have such docile cattle that the fencing has never been an issue even though it is in poor condition. There is one pasture that we do not let the cattle graze because we are concerned the fence would not hold them, but that has not been an issue thus far. If we can get that repaired I will have an extra five acres or so to let them eat down.

Mama is contemplating selling the little pigs but before we go there she is taking them to the vet to diagnose the constant itching that has caused the two of them to scratch themselves bald. I am not opposed to keeping them but I have no facilities for them and have no good prospect of getting a pen build in the very near future. If we keep them we will eventually have a home for them, just not right away.

Memorial Day is upon us already. Where has the year gone?

Mama’s mower, Mama’s mission

Mama has been enjoying having her big mower. She mowed the pasture by the apartment the other day as I was experimenting with the disc mower in the big meadow. Yesterday she mowed the little meadow by the apartment. Grandpa and I had our sights on the little meadow for hay but the last time we cut it we got only three bales off of it; hardly worth the effort. It looks pretty good after Mama added it to her mowing area.

She is going to do a little cutting in the meadow this afternoon and I am planning on completing the task when I get home later today. I can appreciate the effort Grandpa put into the farm over the last couple years. It is a lot of ground to cover. I regret that he did not take the time to teach me the nuances of the equipment, but God will send help from other parts when I need it.

Grandma and Grandpa are talking about coming down in late June. It will be good to have them here if they do come but those plans are still up in the air. Grandma’s heath may derail those plans. I have heard that Norman is planning a trip to the Ukraine early in June so it will be beneficial to have coverage in West Virginia in his absence. I still do not know for sure why he is going but he has his own reasons and we will pray for safety there and back.

Mama and Victoria have to get the little van to the mechanic today so he can look at the power steering pump. It is making a noise that is getting progressively worse. I was out doing a couple errands in Decatur yesterday and had the windows down. I got to hear the noise it is making very clearly and it concerned me enough that I feel like we need to get it attended to. We will wait and see how that turns out.

Later today Mama and Victoria are planning to go to Sam’s. At least that is what I have been told is the reason for the trip. I know Mama has a little money from a couple refund checks she plans to spend on buying a purse. She has been after me to get her a purse since before we went on vacation and when she gets an idea like that stuck in her head it is better to let her get it done.

Maybe today that lingering need will be fulfilled.

Grant, hay cutting, BBTI

It seems that Grant is fully on the mend – as of last night. He still is a little dehydrated and will be required to drink more water in order to qualify to be sent home but the IV was taken out last night and he was playing a little. Cori said he improved greatly when they began to give him some Tylenol for the headache. It may still be several weeks before he is his old self but he is on the road to a full recovery.

Mama called the gift shop at the hospital and ordered a balloon with a small stuffed animal. The animal was a monkey dressed in a hospital gown. Cori said it both timely and well received by Grant. It will be something he can take with him as a reminder of the hospital stay. At his age I do not think he will house too many unpleasant memories; time will tell.

Last night at the farm I hooked the disc mower to the tractor and began to cut the field we will hopefully bale this weekend. I had to have the hydraulic cylinder rebuilt in order to use the mower and I finally got that done last week. With Mama’s help I got it installed on Monday night. Everything seemed to work well after I got all the arms and levers attached properly.

On the first pass the PTO fell off and I had to work to get it back in place. As I did I realized I had not properly attached and locked in the three point hitch. Once I got that all aligned and secure I was able to cut for a little over an hour. There is a lot more to do and I hope Mama can help do the cutting while I am at work. It will expedite the process and at least give me more flexibility to complete the whole chore. It looks like we will get a pretty good amount of hay in this cutting which is good because the horses are already wanting more than they are getting in grazing their pasture.

I was scheduled to go to the panhandle this Thursday for a short meeting with the building owner in Borger but we are so far behind now that I have had to take that off of my schedule and postpone it until the following week. I have to get the hay into the barn before it begins to rain Sunday evening. Pray God will give me the wisdom to use the baler correctly. I have never done that part of putting up hay.

We are expecting several inches of rain from Sunday through Tuesday; we need it badly. I am hoping my timing in starting the hay is not bad timing, but I can live with the outcome whatever it may eventually be. I do not think I should have waited any longer because things are dead ripe now. Having begun, I am committed to completing the process.

After I got off the tractor Mama and I went and said goodbye to another family at BBTI. They will be leaving for Ohio this morning and will be on deputation for the remainder of the year. We may get to see them again as they pass through the area early next year but there are no guarantees. For Mama it was a very bittersweet moment. It is so at the end of every year at the institute.

We took over some snacks for their travel and some eggs we collected for them. As Mama was cleaning out some of the drawers in her dresser she found some jewelry that she has never worn and took it for the mother and her two daughters to use. They were thrilled; which thrilled Mama even more.

This family will be friends for many years to come.

Grant, farm living

Cori and Nate had quite the day yesterday. They took Grant to the hospital because he had fallen out of his top bunk headlong onto the floor. Though he was admitted, they were eventually sent home but the vomiting and headache Grant was suffering from due to his fall and resulting head injury had them worried enough that they took him back to the hospital where he was readmitted, not for the injuries sake but for dehydration. A note from Cori last night said that he slept through the insertion of the IV.

 I do not know what they gave Grant to allow him to sleep but I am sure his parents were happy to see him finally resting. He has not been able to do so at home because although the injury was done to one side of the head in the fall there is always a “companion injury” on the other side of the head in such an injury. I am not sure if the brain actually bounces off the inside of the skull but it can be visualized that way.

The x-rays done at his first evaluation confirmed that he had a fracture in the skull but the fracture was not a worrisome one. The trauma doctor felt confident that it would heal quickly without any resulting bad effects. Cori told Mama that the bruise on the side of Blake’s head was a sizable one; but again, the doctor felt that it would heal without any lingering effects.

Mama and I prayed together last night about the situation and I prayed for Mykenzie and Blake who are on the outside looking on. I am prayerfully concerned Mykenzie will overhear conversations in which the worst-case scenario will be discussed by some well-intentioned individual and will be scared more than she should be.

While we were in Florida we came home late one evening to find that the dogs, Kira and Bella were not in the back yard. It was already near dark. Mama panicked and began to bemoan the potential of Victoria losing Kira after losing Dodger. Mykenzie and Blake were extremely upset – having lost their dog Sarge recently.

About the time I got the kids together and began to pray that God would intervene and help us find the dogs Nate got back from scouring the neighborhood with the dogs in tow. A neighbor had found them loose and taken them into her back yard to hold them for the owner she knew would come looking for them.

Yesterday morning Mama was an emotional wreck. She called me as she was gathering eggs to report that she was done with the farm. When she had looked into the laying boxes she saw not one but two large snakes resting there. She was in such a state that I left work to help her out. I got the two large rat snakes out of the chicken coop and killed them, but I told Mama I felt very bad in doing so. They were there to eat the mice that had been running free in the coop but had since turned to eating the eggs.

I certainly could not let them live with Mama in the panic she was in, but I still did not think I had done well in exercising a final solution. As it turned out I got a chance to redeem myself later that day when she found two more rat snakes about the same size in the coop. Mama got me a pillowcase and I put the snake in it once I got it out of the nesting box. Getting the snake into the bad was a little tricky since Mama refused to even hold the pillowcase as I tried to get the snake uncoiled from my arm as I still maintained a grip on its head. When I asked her to help she did her little no-way-I-am-even-going-to-touch-that-thing dance, waving her hands with a panicked expression on her face. I took it down the road to release it after I did manage to get it off of me and into the pillowcase.

Mama will have to deal with the other one this morning.

Vacation notes, Grant’s special need

Since I left work on Thursday May 1^st we have traveled almost three thousand miles, been to two wedding and a graduation and made five trips to the airport. It has been a very busy two weeks. Chase and Makaila’s wedding started the entire process. It was on May 3^rd in Amarillo so Maggie, Aaron and the baby flew in from Juneau and Brittany flew in from Mississippi. Cori, Nate and the kids drove over from Florida and Joshua came by bus from Victoria, TX. Mama had six of her seven children in there.

On the Monday following the wedding Brittany flew out first and while she was getting checked in Maggie and Aaron checked their baggage. We went to breakfast and made a return trip to the airport to drop off Maggie, Aaron and baby Cathryn several hours later. Meanwhile Cori, Nate, Joshua and the kids shopped nearby. We all hooked up at the outlet malls and went to the Lego factory and the aquarium to kill the time needed until we dropped Joshua off that evening at 6 pm at the bus stop in Denton.

The grandkids stayed with me and Mama at the farm for a couple extra days while Victoria went to Florida with Cori and Nate. Mama and I drove to Florida with three children and two dogs – it took a total of sixteen hours to make the trip. All in all, we had a great time with all our children and the grandchildren through the entire visit. Mama came back with her requisite sunburn and a box of shells.

While we were away a truck plowed through the corner of our property and knocked down the fence and gate which allowed out cattle to get out. They were herded up by one neighbor and another neighbor fixed the fence and put the cattle back in our pasture. It was a good thing we let them know we would be away on vacation so they knew we needed the extra help.

We got back late Friday evening. We took some extra time that morning to say goodbye over breakfast at Chick-fil-A so we knew we were in for a late arrival back at home. On Saturday we attended the graduation at BBTI and met the family of the young lady we have been taking to church for the last nine months. They are missionaries to the Sioux Indians in northern South Dakota.  It is a lonely and discouraging ministry they have but they are a faithful witness to the people there.

After the graduation we went to a wedding of one of the children of the staff at BBTI. I am glad we went because there were very few attendees. Most of the people there were the ones we had just seen at the graduation. Mama and I really did not need to attend but we felt that it was important to support the family. I am glad we made the little extra effort.

Mama and I got up this morning to the news of our grandson Grant being placed in the hospital for observation because he fell from the top bunk of the bunk beds the boys share. There is some concern that there is bleeding on the brain as a result of the fall. The neurosurgeon will be looking him over today and we will know more at that time.

Please remember them in prayer.

New arrivals, surprise visit, errands, chest pains

We were all home from church pretty late last night. I was in bed as soon as I was able to change and get things setup for this morning; it was after 10:30. I think Mama waited up for the grandkids to arrive; for my part that was not going to happen. Cori called us as we were heading home from church and they were about an hour out of Dallas. If they made it by midnight they made very good time. What I do know is that their little van was parked in the drive when I left at 5 a.m.

Although things were still flooded when they left Milton yesterday they were able to get through Pensacola via the single open lane on I-10 heading west. Once they were out of that area they had no issues with the lingering effects of the storm that soaked the panhandle. I know they are not looking particularly forward to the drive to and from Amarillo (neither is Maggie for that matter) but we will all make the sacrifice together.

While we were driving to church last night Mama and Cori were conspiring to go to Amarillo tomorrow evening to surprise Chase and Makaila. I am not sure of the many conversations that took place leading up to the decision to cancel the rehearsal dinner and come just in time for the wedding on Saturday, but until the conversation last night that was the plan. That will make today a busy day and tomorrow even more so.

I am picking up Brittany this afternoon and meeting Mama and Cori in Decatur so they can all go a party. Cori and Mama set up the gathering to market the nail things Cori is selling. One of the women in the church offered her house for the occasion; hence the return to Decatur for the event. I am not sure how the timing is going to work out but Brittany and I will try to meet the schedule.

Tomorrow I am heading east to pick up fence posts. Mama was supposed to get them on Tuesday but did not go for fear of missing her eye appointment that afternoon in Decatur. Now I will have to make the trip – about a three hour round trip – in order to meet the expectations of the man we have asked to put together the order for us.

At the same time, Mama and whoever wants to go with her will go to Denton to pick up Joshua. We will be getting into the station there at about 7 a.m. By the time I get back we will have to pack up and head to Amarillo to follow through on the plan to crash Chase’s wedding rehearsal. It should be a real fun day.

I told Mama, as I sat in church last night, that my chest was hurting a bit more than normal. I tried to think of anything I have done on the farm lately that would cause the increase in pain levels but was coming up empty. I had to smile as the answer came to me. I had been holding Cathryn a lot lately – with my left arm – and she is not lightweight. I suppose it can be diagnosed as grandparenting pains.

I can live with that.