Tubing, pig pens, heat

I took Friday off so I could go tubing with Mama and Jake. Mama found a place about an hour away on the Brazos River but she did not really want to make the drive or the tubing trip by herself with Jake. So I elected to take the day so we could do it together and check it out for use in the future.

We got off to a late start because we had to go to an ATM nearby to get cash – the place only takes cash - and we did not take enough with us to cover the cost. We also spent some time getting parked in the correct spot. Not that the RV portion of the business was necessarily booming at the moment but I initially chose a spot they were not thrilled about. But when I went back to the car to move it the key I had removed from the remote – since we were going to be in the water – did not work in the lock. Fortunately Mama had rolled her window down to the point that I could reach in and unlock the passenger door.

Before we took off I asked about the river condition and the length of the trip down the river. The full trip normally takes five to six hours and at low water levels requires a good bit of pulling yourself through the shallow spots – which can be quite a distance. The shorter trip takes about three hours and has the longest parts of deeper water. We chose the shorter trip. And it did take about three hours but we had a great time. There were some areas of quickly moving water and some area where we dragged the bottom but all in all we floated for the better part of the distance. Fortunately none of us got sunburned.

Mama and I had Jake and Victoria to help at RU that night. Victoria had run home about 2 pm because of reports of a fire on County Road 1560 – which is just across Highway 1655 from us, but the fire was far to the west of the farm. Since she was home, Victory elected to stay home so we got her help that night. It was a good night with the kids but they area a challenge to teach. I tried to tell the story of Ruth but got almost no interest from the children there. Maybe I am losing my touch.

Saturday I started on the pig pen. We had the pallets required to make the enclosure so all I had to do was get them lined up and fastened together. It took me about seven hours of labor in the heat but I was able to complete the pen with a shelter for the feeder pigs. The total perimeter took thirty two pallets. It is about 20 by 30 feet with an eight by eight shelter. I have yet to put a roof on the little shelter but I should have that soon.

Mama and I tried to catch the pigs to pit them over into the enclosure but that was upsetting them too much so I detached a pallet from the new pen and loosened a panel in the old pen and we ran them through that opening into the new area since I sat the pens side by side. Now both sets of pigs are happy. The feeder pigs have their own home. The little one is with the two larger ones – hopefully it will still get enough to eat. And the pot belly pigs have their entire space back.

I was pretty worn out after getting done – both from three hours on the river and seven hours arranging pallets, but it was a good weekend.