Puppies, repairs, hogs

A large portion of Saturday was taken up with the puppies. We had to wait through the morning for two people to come to get a puppy. Those two had already either spoken for a pup or had purchased one. They were waiting on us to give the puppies their first shot. Mama, Victoria and I teamed up to do that early in the day. Along with that we had two other people come to the farm to look at the pups. One purchased a puppy and one declined to take a pup home. At present, we have five puppies still at the farm; two of which are spoken for. That leaves three to sell and that could be accomplished this week because one of the families that purchased a pup put out an ad on their Facebook page that sparked an interest in looking at the remaining puppies. I think Victoria got several phone calls as she was convalescing from a dental visit earlier that day to have a tooth extracted; but that is a whole different story.

Grandma came over to go with Mama to Walmart to see if they could sell a pup or two but our Pastor and his wife came over about the time they were going to leave and we gave them a tour of the farm so they could see the updates we have made. They came initially to tell us they were praying for us and saddened by our loss; but also, rejoicing that Dad is in Heaven. There is not much grieving to do because of the nature of Dad’s slow decline and the loss all of us felt as he slipped away from us, but Sunday morning as we sang songs about the hope we have in Jesus, I struggled through a couple hymns (Standing on the Promises, He Hideth My Soul, I know Whom I have Believed) as I thought about not seeing Dad again this side of Heaven and the joy he now has in possessing that for which we continue to hope.

Between puppy chores I struggled to get the tractor started; finally succeeding late in the morning. I tried to jump it with the truck but did not have any success. When that failed, I started to look at all the battery terminal connections, cleaned them thoroughly and made sure all were secure. Somewhere in all that, I must have gotten the right one because the tractor finally fired up. With that working, I was able to get the tire pulled off the trailer. Then I pulled the front tire off the tractor and took both for repairs. Sadly, only the tractor tire could be fixed. It was filled with stop leak because there were multiple little holes in the tire from mesquite thorns and cactus quills. The trailer tire was split along the sidewall; so, it was junk. I could not afford a new one but I did have a spare on the trailer so that was put into service while I look for a good used tire to ensure I will have a spare the next time I need one.

Late Saturday evening, very near dark, the large male hog came back. This time I took the time to get the laser sight on the .22 working. In the low light conditions, it is a big help in ensuring accuracy. I had to wait for about half an hour near the back fence but the hog came back and I did get a clear shot at him. This time I know I wounded him, but he still managed to run off. Still, not a bad thing. On Sunday, one of the church members who lives near us asked if we had seen any hogs. He had a group of more that forty that are starting to frequent his creek bottom because, like our property, the acorn trees produced a bumper crop this year. I can’t blame the hogs for wanting to eat. I just do not welcome the destruction they cause as they root up our property when they come through by the dozens.

At least I got to sting one of them.