Distractions, escapees

Mama has never been a fan of flies. Lately we have been dealing with some huge ones. Fortunately we see then only one or two at a time. When we see them in the house a murderous attitude comes over Mama and Rosie and until the buzzing pest is sent to the fly afterlife there is no peace in the house. Such was the case last night at FBI; only multiplied by seven since there were seven women there including Mama.

It is not surprising that a fly got into the fellowship hall where we have our class since we sit right by a set of double glass doors. The doors are not opened too often during class but it happens often enough that bugs find their way into our private meeting. Last night we had one fly swatter and ten attendees whose distraction because of the fly buzzing about caused a very aggressive spirit to come over the meeting.

I am one of three males in attendance and young Ryan had the fly swatter in hand when things almost got out of control. We sit in three rows of two tables per row. Mama, Victoria and I sit in the middle row with Erin Echavarria and Ryan sits on the back row. While chasing the poor creature, Ryan ran to the front of the class and performed the most unusual ballet moves for us in his attempt to strike the fly in flight.

Ah, the benefits of youth. I would not have been able to get out of bed this morning if I had tried the leaps and pirouettes Ryan performed for us. Needless to say the mood instantly changed and we should have paused the instructional DVD we were watching but we were so captivated by the moment that no one thought to do so.

Mama kept saying, “Give me that thing! I’ll kill it!” She did not get her chance to exercise her lethal desire because Ryan chased the fly to the far side of the fellowship hall and smashed it into the floor – from mid-air. We all had a good laugh; until we discovered there was a second fly among us. Fortunately class was almost over. I have to assume the second winged intruder died of natural causes.

While she was home yesterday Victoria let the pigs out. Their enclosure is surrounded by chain link fence with a gate at the building; however, the gate does not quite meet up with the gatepost so we have access blocked by a cinder block and a piece of plywood. Once Victoria moved the block and the plywood and opened the gate they happily began to roam the property.

My greater concern is that they will end up eating the bulbs we are hoping to put in the landscape. Mama obviously shares the concern because as they slowly made their way around to the front of the house Mama had Victoria put them back in their pen, close the gate and replace the block so the gate could not be opened outward.

But pigs are pretty smart and it did not take long for them to figure out that the gate could be pulled inward allowing them to roam freely once again. They did not go anywhere they were not supposed to but the rest of the day was a repeat performance of putting them up only to find them free once again. The pigs rather enjoyed it.

I put a bungee cord on the gate last night but I would not be surprised if they meet Mama at the door this morning.

Insurance, RU news, a full day

We will find out today if insurance is to be reinstated on Victoria’s house. I am certainly hoping that we get the policy in force otherwise we will have to scramble to get coverage before the bank has to act “in their own interests.” I am not quite sure what that means exactly but it not good for us. The Lord is still in charge of how things turn out so we are hopeful that the issue is settled.

Friday evening we had a new couple show up at RU. It was very exciting for all of us in that ministry but especially for Lee and Laura. They are an unusual couple; one of the “live off the land” type but without the hardness that excludes those of us who are used to buying our milk and our meat. Mama and the new lady talked tanning hides, milking goats, cooking raccoon stew, caring for chickens, etc. I do hope they continue to come. That has not always been the case with those who visit RU.

Mama and I had a long profitable, hard day on Saturday. I got the tractor early and moved the stock trailer – which was still loaded with items from the old farmhouse in Bowie – and moved it out from under the carport so we could unload it. I honestly expected the belongings in there to take more room in the garage than they did but ended up pleasantly surprised by how little it swelled our accumulation.

Of course, some of the items went to the well house and some into the house, but still, it is done and we can finally work through the rest of the stuff that we originally packed in New Jersey – four years ago. Most of the items that have never been unpacked are pictures. Mama was very excited to see the ones we did unwrap. I will work on getting all of them placed over the next several weeks. It will be good to have them out on display again.

After we were about two thirds of the way through the stock trailer Mama had to go to Bowie to rescue Victoria – she had forgotten her wallet. I also needed a can of Fix-a-Flat so I could use the dolly to move  a couple heavy items to a new storage location. I got the trailer emptied and moved while Mama was gone and used the tractor to park it in the lot with Daisy and her calf.

When I brought the trailer into the lot to park it Daisy came over and started hopping and spinning as though she were very excited to have the trailer back. She anxiously smelled all around it for over half an hour. The only thing I can guess is that she may have thought I was bringing back Baby Huey, but that would be giving a lot of credit to her memory of him having been loaded in the trailer.

I worked on getting stone and brick put into a hole Terry Cobb dug for us for that very purpose. There were a lot of brick in the back of the property that I did not want to have around so it was nice to have the tractor to move them to the hole – three loads worth. I have room for plenty more.

After Mama and I rested a few minutes we started working in the garden. We were just finishing up on that when Victoria came home about 8:30 pm. It was a long day.

Roof repairs

I am back in the office after two days off. I had to take the time off to do some repairs to Victoria’s house so we could get the insurance reinstated – thereby keeping the loan active at the bank. I think Mama found out about the insurance on Monday when she went to the office of the writing agent to ask why we had not gotten notification about the ongoing cost of the coverage.

She was told by the agent that he had written the policy for the closing and only afterwards had gone to look at the house to get the particulars. When he saw a large patch of shingles missing from the porch roof he cancelled the policy without any notification to us. The bank called the next day. That was Tuesday.

I was thinking about taking off Thursday and Friday but when I got up Wednesday morning I was so worn out after having a very rough night that I moved the timetable up. So Wednesday we got the supplies and I started really evaluating the job – after we had visitors.

Wednesday Erin and the kids were over at the house to watch Big Hero 6. Victoria had set up the play date before she knew I was taking the day off. They had a good time while I was getting tools and supplies together for Victoria’s house. I think Mama and Victoria were finally available to help me somewhere around the two o’clock mark. Mama insisted that I not even attempt to do the work alone – that is, without her supervision.

As Erin and the kids were leaving I told Mama I was headed over to the house to get started whereupon she said, “Okay. But don’t do anything until I get there.” When I just looked at her with a characteristic smirk Erin was really amused. So she added, “Just stand there and stare at it until she gets there.”

When I got up on the roof on Wednesday  (properly supervised) I realized I would not be able to keep from sliding off the roof without some help, so I had to regroup. Yesterday I got some two by fours and attached them to the roof to give me the stability I needed to stay up on the roof steadily and I began the repairs in earnest.

It took me all day to get the repairs done as well as to patch the one offs on other parts of the roof. All in all it took a little over four bundles of shingles to make all the repairs. But now they are done; and I have the pictures to prove it.

Mama is coming to collect the pictures this morning and take them to the insurance agent who promised her that upon receipt of those pictures he would reinstate the policy and appease the bank. I certainly hope that is true.

She spent all day yesterday watching over me. She even insisted that she could bring me things as I needed them to save me trips up and down the ladder but one trip up the ladder convinced her otherwise. Her knees are in no shape to make that climb even a few times. I have no idea how many times I was up and down the ladder. I did not keep count but this morning I am convinced that my legs kept pretty accurate record of the total use.

They remind me every time I stand up.

Our sunny swamp, job news, lost bird, stretching

Yesterday turned into a beautiful day. It was the first warm, sunny day we have had in the area for quite some time. Today is predicted to be the hottest day we have had in over four months. The temperature will get to 85®F with abundant sunshine. The fact that it will only last one day is arguably irritating, but those days are soon to come in abundance. By Wednesday evening another front moves through that will drop the temps back into the sixties.

Since our back yard will take several months to dry out sufficiently to get rid of the swamp, it was at least nice to have a sunny swamp to look at. The hole we will make into the koi pond holds water pretty well. If the calculations are correct – and I have no reason to doubt them – it contains over one thousand gallons of water. At least, it will when I finish it to the specified dimensions. I had to re-borrow a pump from Lee Davis so I can empty it after the rain pass through tomorrow evening.

I have been hearing little bits of news on the progress my company is making in notifying persons of their job losses. So far my division as a whole has not been in the mix very heavily. It is a good time to let poor performers go, so they have been the first names on the lists. Several areas of the company are going to be offered for sale. Again, none of the areas in my division.

I have had several communications from the hiring manger of the posting I applied for back in early February; mostly to keep me abreast of the ongoing developments as people are interviewed and considered. I am still a contender for the post so we will see how it all plays out over the next several weeks. The timing would be good for me to get a new assignment.

Yesterday evening Mama and I went to the barn to check on our little bull and found him in good health – we are not able to even get near him, which troubles Mama a good deal. While there, we discovered that another one of the loose, barn chickens is missing and presumed dead. We have gone from three to only one over the past several months. It will be sad to lose this last one but it appears inevitable.

Both Mama and I are having trouble sleeping lately. She has a persistent cough and I am having trouble with my legs. The best night sleep I remember getting was after we all got on the rug in the living room and tried to stretch out our backs and legs. Boy, would a video of that have qualified for America’s Funniest Home Videos?

There was no hope of me being able to touch my toes. It was all I could do to bend at the waist, keep my legs straight and touch my knees. Victoria did slightly better. Mama could actually put her open hands on the floor. (Showoff!)We will have to go through the exercise again to see if it helps me sleep but I will have to make sure all phones are turned off.

A grown man can suffer only so much embarrassment.

Kitchen work, babysitting, fire, more rain

I took off half a day on Friday and cut up the kitchen cabinets to put a microwave above the stove for Mama. We have had a microwave sitting in the butler’s pantry since November but it proved to be too large to put over the range in the kitchen. It would have required me to cut out a portion of the wall behind the cabinets and that turned out not to be possible since it was carrying the wall on which the cabinets were hanging.

So Mama and I met at Lowe’s and bought one that would fit and I spent the all the time I had that afternoon to get it into place. I had everything but the plug ready to go by the time we left for RU. I asked Mama if Victoria would notice it when she got home later that evening. How could she miss it – especially since I had a power cord strung across the counter?  As it turned out she did not even go into the kitchen when she got home.

I spent two hours Saturday morning after bus visitation getting the power to the unit in proper fashion. It turned out that when I tore out the cabinet over the stovetop I found a wire stubbed into the wall that made a perfect connection for the plug I needed to install. So while Mama took Gracie and Luke to meet Misty – Wes still has her in Bowie – I kept the napping baby and finished what I had started.

It is always a fun experience to keep young ones on the home but Mama is not in her prime anymore and it always taxes her more than she expects. Had Victoria not been home it would have been too much for Mama because the littlest one, Joseph, is still petty afraid of the dogs; especially Kira. I would be surprised if Joseph weighed less than twenty five pounds so he is a lug for Mama.

By the end of the day Joseph was less timid around Kira (although he still preferred to be carried around)and Kira seemed to understand that her presence was intimidating so she tried to keep her distance from him – for the most part. When we all went outside late in the day Joseph did not even react to Sam and Sasha. That was good because both of them really like to do a close inspection of little visitors.

About three o’clock we started a fire in the front yard and burned the unusable branches of one of the trees we had laid over last week. The kids really enjoyed that. The fire lasted for several hours but was eventually extinguished by the rain that had gradually increased through the evening. We were all worn out by the time Sam and Erin came for the kids.

When we woke up Sunday morning the entire patio was flooded, the koi pond hole was completely full and there was at least three inches of water on the outer edges of the patio. I told Mama that the line we cut out that was put in to drain the area really was doing something after all. I will have to do something to help the water get out of the yard but I will not replace that pipe.

We have something larger and more permanent in mind; reshaping the back yard.

Getting moving, eggs production, weekend plans

Yesterday evening started off kind of blah. Neither I nor Mama wanted to do any real work – although there is always plenty to be done. But she did want to go to a sundry store in Bridgeport to look for a couple items for the coop. So we made the trip and it was only after we got home that she realized she did not look for the one item the initiated the trip. I am not totally innocent because when we got there I could not remember why we had come.

The trip stirred us up enough that I got changed and went out to work on the stack of lumber that still sits on the flatbed gooseneck trailer. I decided to give a few minutes to seeing if I could get the switch installed on the tractor since I was out – and since we are expecting a lot of rain over the next several days. The installation turned out to be quite easy. I had the tractor running in about twenty minutes. That was a blessing.

When I started on the lumber I was pleasantly surprised at the ease with which all the nails and screws were coming out. I did not get very far into the load because of the late start but it was very encouraging to get something done. I will have a large stack of boards when the trailer is unloaded but it will take a while since all of those boards have to be cleaned of the nails and screws. This is the type of project where Grandpa’s help is invaluable just by virtue of the hours he can dedicate to it.

Terry Cobb cautioned Mama to avoid even walking on the backfilled areas for several weeks. I think that is wise because the ground is soft, saturated and unsettled. So we are avoiding those areas even though overall the dug up portion of the back and side yards is a very large area in total. For the moment it is not hard to stay away; the entire area is a slimy mess from all the recent rains on the exposed dirt.

I do not have any official numbers but it seems to me that we are slowly catching up to the reduced rainfall of the past four years. It is difficult to tell where we are right now but I am guessing the tanks on the farm in Bowie are filling back up. I would be a blessing to Danny to see them stay full. I have not been out that way in months.

Mama has continued to let her chickens out on the evenings that we are home. In total they are not out for more than a couple of hours but they enjoy it enough that they are laying a dozen or more eggs daily. The couple that operates one of the Chinese restaurant in Decatur really like that because they buy the eggs from Mama every chance they get. They have told Mama that at first they got only enough to feed them to the baby but now they have enough that the whole family gets to enjoy them. They do not like the store bought eggs; nor do I.

Mama and Victoria are babysitting tomorrow. Erin Echavarria will be dropping off the kids in the morning and leaving them through most of the day. Mama also has worked out a time with Wes to go see Misty. Wes is training her so it will be interesting to see how that is going. She, Victoria and all the kids will be going on that outing.

I will be at the house working all day because I want to get the microwave installed in the kitchen.

What a mess, lunch, help (?)

I am relieved that we got everything covered up before the rain started but the exposed dirt is now wet and muddy. It is impossible to get to the well house without going through the mud and the ruts we made in the back yard are now deep pools of water. It will be several weeks before we are able to do anything in the yard.

In fact, the entire yard seems to be draining to the hole that was dug for the koi pond. At least it has somewhere to go where I can deal with the flow. It does give me some idea how large a project it will be to eventually terrace the yard for drainage. It is a blessing to have the new septic system but it came with a big mess attached. This too shall pass. It is just the flip side of the benefits of rain.

Mama and I went to lunch yesterday and discovered an Italian place in Decatur that is at least equal to the one we found in Bowie. Since it is much closer and they have several items we really like, it will be a frequent stop for us – probably on Friday nights when we have RU. It certainly is popular with the High School students.

While we were there Mama started coughing and ended up wetting herself to the point that it soaked through the skit she was wearing. She needed to go potty badly but refused to go with a wet backside through a crowded eatery. So, we finished lunch and ushered her out of the restaurant. Later I guess she told Peggy about the incident because yesterday evening Peggy called to tell her she had found a coupon for Depend adult diapers and was saving it for Mama.

While she and I were out I also got the parts I need to repair the tractor and brush hog. We stopped at Lowes and got a blind for the bedroom but I had to shut Mama down when I saw her slip into shopping mode. We were on my lunch hour after all. It is nice to be this close to my work so Mama and I can have those times without it costing her all afternoon in travel just to meet with me during the workday.

From second hand reports I am hearing it appears that Grandpa and Norman are buying windows and doors for Victoria’s house in their travels around West Virginia. Victoria is a little concerned about the quality of the acquisitions especially since she has not seen any of the items that Grandma tells her are “really nice” or “just beautiful”.

I have advised her to encourage them to keep going; to maintain their focus. Anything they bring will be used in one way of another on one of the two properties. It won’t go to waste and as long as they are enthused enough to purchase the items and set them aside for the house we should keep the momentum going; but she does feel left out. (Welcome to my world in dealing with my in-laws.)But I never turn down their help.

God has mysteriously clever ways of using these times to our benefit and His Glory.

Shopping, cutting up, chicken roundup

Mama and Victoria went out shopping yesterday and to hear them tell it they made quite a haul. They spent the day in Denton going to some shops they knew and then took the time to look into several others, one of which was a furniture store they were very impressed with. Mama found a dining room table there that she would have bought right then – I did not say yes. It was the only one they had in the store. L

They did not get home until an hour or so behind me. In that hour I manually rolled a round bale of hay about 100 yards from where we store the bales to the next lot so I could get it to our heifer. She had eaten the last one down to a few handfuls of hay and was searching for any little sprigs of grass to fill her belly. I learned that round bales are not easy to roll at all.

In fact they are only round in the sense that they are not square. My shoulders were worn out by the time I got it into place. Mama’s request was that I put it in the barn so it would stay dry; another 60 yards through manure and muck. I did not get that far.

Once they were home and I helped get the groceries and sundries unloaded I got the chainsaw and cut up the tree that had been removed from our driveway. I had cut up the dead tree he dug out for us the day before.  Once we get the tractor running again (one of the kill switches went bad) I will load it all up and move it to the pile we have been accumulating. We are getting quite an impressive pile.

It will become more so as I take out several other dead trees as well as a few living ones that are in our way. Add to that the hundred or so small trees that need to come out by the dam and we should have many cords of wood available from our initial culling of trees.

My hope is to sell enough of the firewood to buy a pellet stove insert for the fireplace. I had been thinking of getting a wood burning insert but in future years I think it would be much easier to have the pellet stove. I had not really considered the pellet stove until Terry Cobb suggested it again to me. I can always use split firewood to heat the shop when I get that built.

In spite of the head start I was given on the koi pond I still have several days of work to complete it. Rain through this week and next will ensure that that is postponed for the present but it is a pretty obvious project since it sits right outside our large window that looks from the living room to the back yard.

Mama has been letting the chickens out a couple hours every evening we are home. They have certainly enjoyed it. We will not be able to do so for much longer. Once she starts on the landscaping she will not want them to go scratching through her bulbs and bushes. Every evening is a challenge to get them all back into the coop. They have not figured out how to get there on their own so they require some coaching.

The night before last, one of the chickens spent the night in the garage. I saw the door open when I left for work and shut it before I pulled out. When Mama and Victoria opened the passage door from the house to the garage later that morning, the chicken was looking for a way out. Last night it was the very last chicken to leave the coop and the very first one to return.

Our garage must have been terribly frightening. I can only hope it did not look into the freezers.

Covered up mess, tree removal, koi pond, feeling better (?)

When I got home yesterday afternoon Terry Cobb was finished covering up the trenches and holes he had dug for the septic system. It was not overly pretty but we can take it from there and do the finishing touches. He also had taken out the brick wall at the entrance to our driveway. That was a real blessing to have that gone. Mama said it took him about fifteen minutes. He dug a hole in the middle lot to put the bricks into. I thought that was a pretty good idea. We have a lot of other bricks and such we can add to the hole before we cover it up also.

He was waiting on me to help him take out a couple trees in the front of the house. One was a dead tree in the front yard. The other was the tree in the center of the driveway. I rode up in the bucket of the backhoe and looped a chain around the top notch of the tree and he backed out as far as the chain would allow and began to pull. In order the minimize the damage to our driveway I cut the base about half way through and the tree leaned cooperatively into the pull of the chain and fell into the circle of lawn in front of the house. I will have to grind out the stump later.

The other tree was a dead tree so we thought it would not be a problem. We were all wrong. He tried to push it over but it would not budge. He dug a bit and pushed a bit until he had dug about three feet deep all the way around the tree before he was able to push it over. It proved to be the most difficult of all the ones he removed for us. I used the last of my energy to cut it into pieces before I quit.

Earlier in the afternoon Terry spent about ten minutes digging out the open circle in the patio so I could put in a koi pond. It needs to be finished out but it is about four feet deep at this point. I am not sure how he did it because the bucket on the backhoe is almost the size of the opening he was working in. I could have it finished in a couple weeks. With all the extra work he did and parts he bought to make repairs he still only charged us a little over $5000. I was very pleased.

The back yard is still a gouged up mess both from his machine and our tractor. He believes the sprinkler system has been leaking for years causing the ground to be saturated. I noticed when we had the tractor in the yard the sod would wave and buckle underneath it as it moved through the grass like we were driving on a layer of cloth placed on top of sand. I will have to investigate it more but I believe we eliminated the lines to the sprinklers. We took out almost everything else.

We did not go to FBI last night. I am still feeling pretty badly and Mama and Victoria were not enthused about going – each of them is feeling poorly also. They were supposed to go shopping yesterday but neither of them felt up to it. I am pretty sure that will change today. Mama told me yesterday that she had not been out of the house for three days and I told her it reflected very positively in out bank accounts.

We are all feeling better but not by much.

New septic –what a mess, new calf, same old crud

I took Friday off and it turned out to be a very good day to be at home. The man doing the septic system, Terry Cobb, was out the day before and got the two tanks set in place and connected so we could use the system as normal. That was a blessing. Friday he was going to dig through the side yard where the electrical and water lines ran. He has a really large backhoe and I was not sure I understood how he was going to be able to be careful enough to dig around the lines. What I did not understand is that he had no intention of avoiding anything in the ground.

It was not long before he tore through the electrical line to the well. It was only at that point that I really began to understand his method. There was never an intent to avoid anything. He would rip through whatever he encountered and then repair it as needed. In doing so I ended up redoing the electrical supply at the well house – new line, new conduit, and new breaker box. The finished product is excellent. Better in fact than I had planned to do.

Fortunately he did not catch the water line on Friday so we had water through the night. However, it was not long on Saturday before he found the water line and we had to start the repairs on that. Again, we dug up all the lines at the well and repaired the broken lines as well as replacing several minor issues with the supply to and from the softener. We also removed several wires that had been taken out of use years ago. It all looked neat and well defined when we were done.

By Saturday evening he and his son had dug all the lateral lines (the leach field), put down the pipe, backfilled it with gravel and put the cloth barrier on top of the gravel to hold the dirt out of the system. It should be inspected today. Then he will start the process of covering the entire area back up and smoothing things out. Right now it is a real mess but that is what it takes to get this done. So far I have no idea about the price except that it started at about $4250.

Whatever the price, there is so much to be thankful for because of the way he did the repairs, the way he ran the gas line and the way helped me understand exactly what we have at this property. It is all done more properly now and the repairs should last us many, many years. It would have taken me and Grandpa months to do what has been done in only three days.

Mid-afternoon Saturday Mama and I went over to check on Daisy and found that she had just had her calf. She chose the far side of the dam and the brush that we have there to deliver her first little one – a bull calf. He is beautifully shaped and solid black. I am guessing he weighs less than fifty pounds. I have to guess because we cannot get near enough to him to do any hands-on evaluation.

Mama and I got sick together overnight Saturday night – with a cough and stuffed up head. Neither of us went to church Sunday. Joyce Horton told Mama that there were a lot of people in the church who were sick with the same thing.

It has been a long time since we had this kind of crud.

Travel, good news

I made a quick trip to the panhandle yesterday to deliver a letter that no one, including me, wanted to see done. It was not a pleasant meeting but it is done now and we will await the outcome to see if the message or intent of the meeting and the rebuke will accomplish its purpose as intended. It was a long drive over as I thought and prayed about what to say; about the heart of the individual I was having to deal with.

It is never pleasant to confront a person with wrong. It is even less pleasant to do so when they are convinced they have done no wrong; which is exacerbated by the fact they have gotten away with their actions for an extended period of time. Only the Lord can bring about the restoration we desire and the contrition needed to enable such a restoration.

While I was in the area I got with the man who does our taxes and completed the paperwork needed to get them filed. I was very pleasantly surprised to find out that what I had thought was a schedule for repayment of taxes due for 2014 through 2015 was actually a schedule to pay taxes for 2015 on a quarterly timetable. What that means is that Mama and I only owe a few thousand dollars in taxes for last year rather than the ten thousand I had thought. One check and we are done. That is a blessing.

When I told Mama she was ecstatic. I do not how many people she called but last night everyone I tried to tell at church already knew. That is as it should be. Now if I can find out about my longevity in my current job we will have two of the major financial questions answered for this year; at least, those we know of at this point.

On the way back yesterday I stopped in Quanah and bought a yard ornament for Mama. She wanted to celebrate our tax news – not that we did not owe anything, but that we did not owe as much as I had thought. It was one that I had looked at every time we go through the area so I stopped to ask the price. I already had a price in mind and what they asked was pretty close, so I bought it and brought it home. Mama loves it.

Shortly after I got there the young man from the tree service company showed up with the stump grinder and chewed up the three trunks to about six inched below grade. The machine made very quick work of the job. He was done and packed up in less than an hour. Mama and I can now make plans to plant in those spots.

Last night before church we went to Peggy’s house for a quick dinner. While Mama and Victoria had been at her house the other night Victoria had mentioned that she was looking for a recipe for chicken and dumplings. So, yesterday Peggy made some for us. They were very good. I thing Victoria has finally found her recipe.

The man installing our septic system should be at the house this morning. We are all pretty anxious to get that done.

Lost sleep, breaking and entering for FBI

Last night was even shorter than Saturday night. On Saturday night we lost one hour because of Daylight Saving’s Time; which I still contend is an outdated, unproductive and inconvenient waste of effort on a national level. Anyway we got in later than usual from FBI because Kaylen was not able to get into the classroom at the church where the TV we use was locked up.

Even though several of us tried various methods of opening the door, credit cards wedged into the latch, picking the lock (only the two ladies that play the organ and piano tried that) and oiling the uncooperative key, nothing worked. Finally someone showed up with another key and jammed it pretty forcefully into the lock and got the door opened. We shortened breaks and plugged through the three hours and were finally home a little after 10pm.

Prior to class I took Mama and Victoria to Peggy’s house so they could take proper showers. We are still waiting on the septic system to be installed. I lowered the tank level enough to be functional for several more days – especially since it is just me Mama and Victoria, but it will be nice to finally get the bathrooms and laundry back in service without the constant worry.

Grandma and Grandpa made it to West Virginia safely but they were held up on the second day by a flat tire. I do not know exactly what happened but I heard that they ran over something in the road which cut the nearly new tire open. I do not know if Grandpa had a spare or not but that seems to have held them up for several hours while they replaced the ruined tire.

Victoria got tires on her car yesterday. Grandpa had ordered them last week but they did not come in until yesterday. I called Mama to tell her that the man doing the septic was at the house to get the information he needed to apply for the permit. She had to turn around and backtrack to the house because she was following Victoria to the tire shop so the two of them could do some shopping while Victoria’s car was being fixed. They still managed to get their shopping done.

Tomorrow is going to be the first dry, sunny day we have had in several weeks. I am hoping the septic system redo gets started tomorrow.

Mama, busy day, Grandma and Grandpa

Mama made it back home safe and sound – and it is good to have her back. She and Victoria spent Saturday morning at Trade Days while I stayed at the house. Most of their time was spent talking to the Skill family about relevant farming topics, not the least of which concerned caring for sheep. Victoria is anxious to get a little flock started. Her property is actually closer to being ready for sheep than ours because of the fencing she has there. I have cautioned her to wait a bit and see how things work out.

Saturday was as busy as I had expected at the house but we are still waiting on the septic company. The crew did show up to cut down the three trees that were too close to the back of the house. There were seven guys altogether. Six were Spanish speaking and one was an old cowboy; a head taller than anyone else in the group.

They went right to work and got the trees out in about two hours. When they left they had stacked all the wood, raked the grass to gather the small twigs and debris and they had blown the patio and the roof of the house clean of the sawdust. A second crew will be back tomorrow to grind down the stumps. The patio looks very different without the trees but it turned out to be a good call to take all of them out.

Of the three, only one was healthy and it was the one that was beginning to damage the foundation so it was coming out regardless of its health. Of the other two, one was hollow from the base to the uppermost portion of the trunk and one was completely dead. When they laid it over the limbs on top splintered into small pieces. Only the lowest part of the trunk was solid. I am relieved that they are gone before the warm weather storms come to the area.

When they left I took my chainsaw and cut up the tree that Grandpa and Victoria had laid over by the garden. It had been struck by lightning some years ago and needed to be taken down. Between the four trees we have quite a bit of firewood. Now I need the fireplace insert.

Since we did not get the septic work started I borrowed a little pump from Lee Davis and lowered the level in the second tank to allow us to shower Sunday morning. I thought about doing a quick repair to the line coming out of the second tank to the leach bed but I did not take the time to do that. I was too tired to deal with it right then - as suggested by the picture Victoria took. Instead I covered back over the holes Grandpa and I had made with the tractor bucket when we were looking for the leach field several days ago.

There is still a massive hole where the second tank sits but we are leaving that open until the new septic system is installed and working. Then, I will empty both the old tanks once more and backfill them with dirt and stone so I do not have to worry about they caving in sometime in the future.

Grandpa and Grandma left yesterday morning long before daylight. Grandpa has not been feeling well for several days now but he was very anxious to get to work with Norman and Seth so he and Grandma can get back to Texas around the middle of April – cash in hand for fixing Victoria’s house.

We see how all that works out.

Mama, anxious for repairs, less than pleasant news

Mama comes home this evening. I do not know if she is ready but I sure am.

I got home late last night after attending a makeup class for FBI and heard the toilet in the hall bath being flushed. The toilet in the master bath gurgled in response. That is not a good sign. I told Victoria to be on the lookout for the septic tanks to back up today. We only need a few more days of limping by. I hope to have the new system in service very soon but so far we only have a wet mess in the back yard left over from our attempts to discover the problem.

Things at work are moving slowly along although we are all waiting to hear if we are among the ones who will be laid off in the first round which commenced this month. If we survive the first set of reductions we still have to look over our shoulder for the second round coming in the fall. I know it will all work out in God’s timing and according to His plan.

Over the past year Mama and I have been careful to limit the debt we have and ensure that what we do have is the kind of debt that will pay us back – like the farm/home mortgage. I think that will put us ahead of the curve when things get difficult but time will tell. Not having car payments and greatly limiting our credit card purchases will only help in the long run.

As our asset leader gave us the less than pleasant news yesterday he attempted levity at the conclusion of the meeting by telling the following story. He woke one morning last week to find the pet rabbit of the neighbors across the back fence in the jaws of his dog; dirty and obviously dead.

Rather than go to the neighbors and apologize for the crime committed by his dog he took the dead rabbit and washed it thoroughly in the kitchen sink, dried it with a hair drier and carefully climbed over the fence and placed the now freshly cleaned animal into the cage that had housed in the other family’s back yard.

Later that morning, he saw the police at the neighbor’s house. They were also in the back yard looking at the rabbit in the cage. Fearful of the outcome of such an investigation he went into his yard and began to pick up sticks and such so he could eavesdrop on the conversation. The neighbor lady was very upset, almost inconsolable. She was worried some satanic cult was behind the horrible prank.

As it turned out, the rabbit had died several days ago and the family had given the poor creature a sad farewell as they buried it in the back yard. For it to turn up in its cage cleaned and washed was almost more than the woman could bear. The moral of the story, tell the truth and take the consequences. It is better than any other possible outcome.

The morbid humor did carry on through the day.

Mama comes home, bad weather, Grandma and Grandpa

Mama comes home tomorrow. I sure am ready. They went to the beach yesterday and all five of them got sunburns; Mama, Cori and the kids. Meanwhile, back in Chico the weather turned nasty and covered the roads with ice by the time Victoria got off work at 5 pm.

She had taken the truck at Grandpa’s insistence because he thought the tires on her car would not be trustworthy in the snow. By past experience, I know the truck does not do well at all in bad weather condition, especially ice, so I drove to Bowie during my lunch break and swapped the van for the truck. Even with front wheel drive she still had trouble getting out of the slick parking lot.

We went to church even though the weather conditions were bad. In case we did have services I wanted to be there. Victoria got home in time to change and go with me. Surprisingly, there were about forty people there. It was the last night of our revival – and it was worth the trip. It always is. We abbreviated the service and were back home by 8:30. Roads were terrible.

Saturday it will be nice to have Mama back at home because we have several irons in the fire and I really need her to help me coordinate the crews we have coming out that day. The crew doing the trees is slated to be done by 11 a.m. I am not sure it the septic company will be there or not on Friday or Saturday or perhaps Monday but they are going to start working soon.

Grandma and Grandpa are talking about leaving for West Virginia on Sunday. There was a time when he would not have considered traveling on Sunday but those days are long gone. They will be with Norman and Seth until mid-April. At least, that is the word for now. Grandpa hopes to earn a wad of cash to spend on renovating Victoria’s house while he is there. I hope that works out for him. Pray for them as they travel.

I believe his long range plan is to get the house in shape so Norman and Seth can live there when they move to Texas later in the year.  I have not been told but that is what I read between the lines. Victoria is okay with that for now…as long as the renovations meet her expectations. After all, it is her house.

Grandma went to church with us Sunday evening and just before service the pastor asked her to hold her peace. She did, but it bothered her. (Her amen-ing and co-preaching can be quite distracting because it is never quietly done.)  The preaching -which she totally misinterpreted - bothered her. She did not say anything to me but Victoria caught the brunt of her criticism the following day – all day. It may be a while before she comes back.

Her and Grandpa’s argument has always been “where’s the love?” This only fed their disdain for churches in general. But for the rest of the attendees that night it made the service more enjoyable. The next night Dan Martin, the evangelist, preached on why people quit on God. The root cause is that they are offended; offended by preaching, offended by something said, offended by the Word of God, offended by the Lord and His requisite standards. Too true.

I came to the office late this morning and at almost 10a.m. I am still the only one here. It is rather nice.

Help, hauling scrap, revival

Yesterday was eventful. There were two companies at the house looking at the septic lines. A couple of workers showed up before anyone was up in the house and they dug around until they uncovered the line from the septic tank going to the leach bed. The only problem is that the line and apparently the entire leach field is running uphill. As they uncovered it to reveal the break in the line the water was draining out of the leach field towards the tank. No wonder we were having problems. The fact that it was working at all was almost unbelievable.

The man that Lee recommended to me is the one I gave the replacement job to. Both companies were about the same price but this individual seemed to really know what needed to be done and where to put the new leach field. It will still cost me about $4000 but it will be done right and Mama and I will not have to worry about it again.

When I asked Mr. Cobb how soon he could get started he quickly replied, “Right after this storm passes.” Referring to the forecast. When I asked the other company how soon they could get started it was a far different answer; 48 hours to wait on a line find company to clear them to dig, one day for the permit and at least a day or a couple more days to lay out the system, the current tanks would have to be cleaned and collapsed, etc., etc., etc.

I also called the tree company and had them put us on the schedule to have the three trees in the back removed; and I think Mama spends money fast.

As quickly as I got home I went with Grandpa to pick up our gooseneck trailer at the Krum yard. The office there was made up of modular pieces which are being removed and they tore off the front and back porch/decks for removal. There was a lot of good wood in the structures so they loaded the scrap onto the trailer and we hauled it to the farm.

It was a heavier load than I had expected but we got the trailer set in the center lot and disconnected from the truck pretty easily. When I was jacking up the trailer I got a little worried that the hitch was not coming free of the trailer but was rather lifting the truck so I set it down and tried again.

What Grandpa and I figured out was that the load was setting heavy enough on the truck that it looked like we were pulling up the truck when in reality we were not yet to the point that the truck normally sets when it is empty. Once we got that in view and the block the trailer jack was sitting on stopped sinking into the ground the trailer came free of the hitch.

I had to hurry to get ready for church but Victoria and I got there in good time. Quite a few of pastor’s preacher friends came last night.

It was a great crowd, especially for a Tuesday night.

Mama, no repairs yet, tree work, future plans

Mama is having a great time in Florida. It always comes at a cost but I have planned the finances for that. Even though it is not the most financially prudent expenditure it keeps peace in the home and joy in Mama’s heart as she sit with her grandchildren and helps out Cori and Nate – not to mention a quick run to the beach. I am still wondering just what the real purpose of this trip was. It certainly did not meet the objectives as outlined in the beginning. If Cori can slow Mama down for the next couple days I will have less to make up for when she gets back home but we will manage either way.

The person I contacted on Friday to come and look at the septic system came yesterday. He did not like what he saw to the point that he hustled away and has not called me to discuss it. I am still waiting on another man I called to come out. He had jury duty yesterday but is supposed to get with me today to look over the system and tell me what he recommends.

I was impressed with him in our initial conversation because he treated the whole mess as a problem that could be solved without it seeming too distasteful to him. Everyone else I talked to likes to put in new systems – clean, unused, unsoiled systems. This individual seemed to realize that this is a part of life and seemed willing to really look into the issue with the intent of fixing the problem with as little disruption - or drama - as possible. Hopefully, we will meet him today.

With the change in weather we are expecting that the repair, unless it is a very minor one, may not happen this week. Rain starts this evening. The temperature is supposed to fall from a high in the fifties to the mid-twenties through the day Wednesday. We are expecting an accumulation of ice and snow by morning on Thursday. We already have plans in place to close the office early tomorrow and start late on Thursday.

I also had an individual come out yesterday to look at the three trees near the back of the house that we need taken down, partly to save future damage to the house and sunroom and partly to save our next leach field. He gave me a fair price for the work. Interestingly enough, the price is lower if I keep the firewood from the felled trees; which he will cut to length for us. That sounded like a good deal to me so I will call him back today and set the time.

Grandpa is trying hard to get Norman to relocate to Texas. Part of the draw is fixing up Victoria’s house so the four of them can live in it while Norman restarts his business here. Additionally, Victoria is looking into getting started in a lawn and landscape business; although she is not enamored with the idea of going into business with Norman (a wise decision) as Grandma is pushing hard for her to do.

They are looking at houses in the area as though Norman could buy one when he moves here and Victoria is wondering if Grandpa will lose his drive to get her little house repaired/restored to her liking as he gets distracted by more interesting - and less time consuming and less costly - projects related to Norman and Seth. We will see how it all works out in the long run.

Past practice has been long on dreams and short on delivery, but this could be different.

Posted late; Yesterday, tomorrow, septic plans

Mama and Grandma had a very busy day yesterday. With the septic system out of commission they had to go to Decatur to do the laundry. They had decided to only wash at the Laundromat and do the drying at home. That all started about 10:30 a.m. While they were out the title company called to say that we could close on Victoria’s house at 1 pm. Then all the hustling started.

We finally got the details worked out on how Victoria would get there from Bowie and how I would get there from work since I had driven the company truck back to the office that morning. As it turned out, Victoria picked me up at the office and we went down the street a short distance to the title company to meet Mama and Grandma.

The closing was uneventful other than the fact that we showed up at the former office of the title company – not knowing they had moved since we closed on the Chico house. We were standing in front of the old office for a few minutes before I looked in the window and saw that the rooms were completely empty. So Mama called their office. It turned out that they had relocated just two doors down so we were not far off.

Victoria is not the deed holder of record on the little house off of County Road 1560 – also in Chico. In total we area about five miles apart. She is excited. Grandpa and Grandma are ecstatic. They have very ambitious plans for the little property and I think many of those plans will work out very well. The first thing we have to do is secure the house to keep out the young people who have been sneaking over there to smoke.

On the home front, the truck came to pump out the septic tanks – at a cost of $275. The best he could tell, the leach bed is overgrown with tree roots and probably collapsed when we had the tanks pumped out the first time. Someone is supposed to come over today to give us an estimate on putting in a new leach bed. Mama is making a second call to have the man that installed ours at the farm come also to give us an additional estimate. I do not expect the job to be cheap but I do know that God’s timing is always perfect, even though in this case it would not appear so from my point of view.

I am planning to take the day off tomorrow. I am not entirely sure at this point that it will be possible. There are a few things happening at work that require immediate attention. For now I and my group of direct reports are not part of those discussions but that could change at any time. I have been asked to keep my phone charged and on my person at all times for now; nothing unexpected, yet nothing welcome either.

Mama flies out tomorrow. Please pray the flight is not delayed. Weather is temperamental at the moment. Her arrival creates a “just in time” arrangement for Cori and Nate.

Also pray that nothing hinders us from getting Mama to the airport in plenty of time.

Weather, Airport delays, still no septic

The weather became a major issue for Mama on Friday. It was supposed to turn bad but the worst weather was not supposed to get to our area until the afternoon – or at least the late morning. That was not the way it happened. The temperature was in the high twenties as we left the house in Chico at about 8:30. Mama’s flight was scheduled for 11:40.

The freezing rain came in from the northeast as we neared the airport and quickly covered the roads with ice. Mama and I got to Terminal E at DFW in plenty of time for her to get checked in but with the construction being done at the terminal and with the difficulty in finding a place to park we ended up having to walk a good distance to get her to the proper gate. Once she was headed to security I headed back home. That it when the fun really started.

By the time I got to the highway I needed to be on for the drive home the roads were miserably wet and slick. I slipped and slid around at least twenty accidents within the next forty miles and drove at a leisurely top speed of about 15 mph.  It took me three plus hours to get home. Meanwhile Mama’s flight had been cancelled and she had been rerouted to another terminal for a stand-by status on another flight – which also did not work out. Six cancellations later she was still at the airport.

I let her know that there was no possible way I could come back to the airport to get her, especially after dark, because all the major roads to the airport were shut down by wrecks and tangled traffic from the afternoon when everybody headed home from work and school. The last report I heard on the traffic said that the accident total for all DFW was well above 2500. The police were overwhelmed, wrecker services were overwhelmed and still people involved in fender bender accidents refused to move their vehicles off the roads; making traffic scoot around them on the icy roads. The total precipitation was between three and four inches of snow and about a half inch of ice.

Mama did finally get to Pensacola at 6 pm Saturday evening. The whole weather thing interfered with the original excuse for her trip but that was a moot point by then. She will be coming home on Friday. Hopefully the weather will be better this time although we are expecting another blast of snow and ice on Wednesday. The temperature on Wednesday is supposed to fall from fifty degrees into the twenties by midafternoon with a wintery mix to accompany the frigid temperatures; lovely.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch we still have no functioning septic system. The two tanks are slowly filling up and no one has been able to look at the issue and give us an estimate on the repairs. I hope we will get that number and commitment today but with the weather we are expecting it could be another week to ten days before we get the repair done and in service. I am tempted to set up an outhouse  but that would be really miserable.

It’s life on the farm.