Rain, up again-down again, hogs

The forecast was pretty accurate for once and we did get more than the inch of rain they had predicted. It is difficult for us to gauge the wind where we are now living. On the farm in Bowie we caught the brunt of the wind because we were a little elevated and had no trees to attenuate it. Here, we are in a small bowl with higher ground on the north, west and south sides and there are plenty of trees to slow the wind. I found that it was blowing pretty hard only when I got out on the main road.

We took precautions none the less with the little metal shed we are building. Mama and Grandpa worked on in yesterday between runs to Denton and Dallas looking at trucks either Norman or Victoria had found. (Norman wants to buy one.) Since the shed is made of sheets of metal that are just thicker than aluminum foil Grandpa and Mama took apart the partially built shed so that we did not have to watch the wind destroy it. It would not have taken much.

They did discover yesterday that we had a couple pieces of tin set improperly so the predrilled holes did not align. Once they corrected that they discovered the path forward to getting the little shed put together – only to take it apart for safekeeping until the rains abate and the winds die down. They have also formulated a plan to reinforce the shed with lumber as they put it together. That should happen Friday and Saturday.

Meanwhile we are working on getting Victoria qualified to buy the little house near us. At the moment the banker is working the numbers to see if she is financially solvent enough pass muster on the loan request he is putting together for his underwriters. All the paperwork he requested is in his hands.

We will request that out insurance agent look at the house this morning to see if he can underwrite it from the home owner’s insurance side of things. All of this has to be done by Wednesday of next week or we lose the earnest money we have put down to hold the property as we do our due diligence. It is a little unnerving but Mama and I have done it multiple times in the past – with good success. This is Victoria’s first time through the process so she is very nervous. Plus, she really wants the house.

I found a plan to build an inexpensive hog trap. I would like to take the time to try to trap the little ones we see in several litters around us, but I have not had the time to really look into it as we try to get the buildings and sheds built. It does not seem to be too urgent since the hogs seem to travel in a large loop and only show up every week or so.

The problem is that if all the ones that are now running with their parents live for the next six months or so they will be big enough to have litters of their own. At that point we will have a real problem. Last time Mama and I took the time to count we saw as many as nine little ones with a mama and daddy and another group of at least fifteen without any adult supervision.

That’s a lot of breeding potential.