Rough weekend, chores, traveling again

Mama, Victoria and I had a pretty rough weekend. I came home not feeling very well; some type of stomach bud. Mama got it that night and spent the night up and down between trips to the bathroom and trying to rest. We were blessed that we had a pretty small group for RU Friday night – only the twins and baby Fiona. Neither of us was feeling up to too much more than that. Victoria got the bug the following day and spent most of the day Saturday and all day Sunday in bed recuperating. I hope everyone is okay now but it made the weekend pretty disappointing.

We did get a few little things done over the weekend. Mama and I went early to Brad, TX. It is about an hour drive south of Bowie near Possum Kingdom Lake. I had come across and ad for posts and we wanted to check out what the man had. It was well worth the trip. The older couple marketing the posts made the visit and purchase delightful. We came home with forty three inch cedar posts and another twenty stays. The posts will be used to strengthen the fence and the stays will be used to place in areas where the fence is sagging but otherwise not too bad.

I closed off half of the chicken coop so Mama could let her little ones out of the cage they have outgrown. Most of them were happy about the liberation but a couple were very slow to vacate the cage they have called home for a month. I had to set up extra roosts in the open part of the coop but the chickens are slow to adapt to the change. They prefer roosting on the nesting boxes; Mama will have to clean them out much more often until I reopen the other half of the coop.

While Mama and Victoria bathed the pigs I put in two of the posts we had bought earlier that day. Later we worked in the garden for a couple hours. During our vacation to Florida the weeds really took over the garden and we are struggling to take it back. We managed to clean up three rows in the time we were out there and we hope to get the remaining rows freed of weeds through this week. Mama and I have yet to start on the flower garden. It looks pretty pitiful.

On Friday I received a shipment of plants I had ordered last week. I got two cold-hardy avocado trees and a few ever-bearing strawberries. The trees looked pretty good when I opened the box. I cannot say as much for the strawberries. I will probably have to ask for a replacement of those plants.

I am a little anxious about the avocado trees. Mama and I will plant them in pots so they can be brought in during the coldest part of the winter – they are good down to 15®F but last winter we got below zero a couple times. The instructions sent with the plants were quite specific on what will help or hinder the trees so I have a good bit of information to start with. The best part is that I have a one year guarantee replacement.

There is no shortage of things to do in the life we have chosen. Unfortunately, I will be out of town most of this week also. I have meetings in Oklahoma City with the leadership of our division starting tomorrow afternoon through Thursday afternoon. It will be a repeat of last week in the timing away from the farm.

On the positive side, this week will be a lot less stressful since I have a very small part in the meetings we will be having.