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Friday, June 30, 2017

Hands on, busy Mama


The drive to and from Abilene was uneventful on either leg. The time spent in training there was very helpful. I spent a lot of time out in the field actually learning how to do what our line locating training talks about. The overarching difference between writing a training module and performing the task is the difference between a seeing a photograph and standing in the scene the of photograph. The hands-on experience will change the approach I will take in the presentation of the material we are preparing both for the class in Alabama and in our online courses. It was well worth the time spent in the field. I elected to spend all of my time in one of the two areas I will be presenting because I had no experience at all to fall back on for embellishing the training presentation I will be giving. Now I have a few hours of sweat and trial and error with the locating equipment to fall back on in referencing questions and relating to stories from a class.

Mama called me to tell me she had gone to feed the cattle this morning and was pleasantly surprised to find that #75 was the only cow in the corral in the barn. That was a blessing because we need to get her separated this weekend so we can put the other cows and calves on the adjoining property for the summer. We are feeding out #75 to take her to the meat market on the 11th – when I will be in Alabama for back to back classes in two different cities. Mama has already arranged for Grandpa to help with that.

Additionally, the Bantam chicks we ordered have arrived so Mama is getting them setup in cages in the garage until we acclimate them and find them a more permanent home. We ordered fifteen and are hopeful that a good portion of them will be hens. With the Bantam’s the hatcheries do not sex the chicks so all that can be ordered is a straight run. We will not know for several weeks what we got but I wanted at least eight hens – hence the order of fifteen. The roosters will be processed for meat; as will the roosters that we got in the batch growing in the west side of the chicken coop. I think there are eight of them to process soon.

Along with all of that, Mama has been trying to find out what size tire is required to replace the one on the front of the Zero turn mower. She told me she took pictures of the tire and whatever information she could see on it and sent the picture to the guy at Decatur Tire for him to interpret. I am not sure how all of that will work out but we will eventually get that taken care of. I put a can of Fix-a-Flat in the little tire a week ago but I knew it would not last since I could see the fluid coming out of the tire through a fairly large hole. It at least lasted long enough for Mama to get the mowing done.

Looking at the weekend ahead, I seem to spend all my time catching up to the little items that could have been done during the week if it were not for travel and VBS. Oh, well. That is what Saturdays are for. I have a long list of things that need to be done but some are weather sensitive so I have a backup list for items that are lower priority but can be done regardless of the weather. I know I will have to clean the shop before I leave for training classes in Alabama because we have contracted a concrete man to pour the floor while I am away. I did not plan it that way but that is how it worked out. Mama will be quite busy over the next couple weeks – especially with Jake coming in on the 7th.

Mama showed me a video Cori sent recently. It seems Savanna had a greater appreciation for clothing than for body parts. Cori discovered this when Savanna began to complain that her “pockets” hurt. What Cori finally figured out was that her hips were hurting but she did not know the word for that area of her body. What she did know was that the pockets of her skirt were in the same general location as the hurt.

So, when you tell be that your pockets hurt I will understand.

Wednesday, June 28, 2017

Time’s march, VBS news



This year is almost half over. It is hard to comprehend just how fast the months go by. At this point in time, I suppose Brittany has the best grasp on the issue of time’s unrelenting march forward as she approaches the delivery date of the twins and the increasing overcrowding problem her womb is experiencing daily. But I also think of all my grandchildren and just how quickly they are growing up. I will not be too long until all of us get together and lament the fact that we did not take better notes of the funny incidents that passed by before us as they grew; of the funny way words were used as they learned to navigate everyday English; as life touched them and taught them one valuable lesson after another. Sadly, we will remember only a very small fraction of those times.

With the advent of Facebook and Marco Polo I am left out of most of those daily stories because once it is shared amongst the registered users in my family, one moment is quickly forgotten as one just a humorous replaces it in the queue. Mama had me sign up for Marco Polo but after I got the fiftieth alert (within two days) that someone was available or someone was sending a video or someone had just joined our ever-expanding group, I deleted it from my phone. I want to stay connected but I am not looking for another full-time job. If you have something to share, give me a call. I’d love to chat. I cannot find the emotional energy to live life 177 characters or 1 MB or less at a time.

VBS last night was well done. (It was live and in person.) This is the first time Bro Zach has done a Vacation Bible School. Sadly, last night is the only night I will get to go since I will be leaving town this afternoon. From what I saw, he was doing a great job. The theme is Hudson Taylor: Missionary to China. Last night for the skit, three teens were in a johnboat mounted on two furniture dolly’s sailing through the pretend waters of the South Pacific on their way to China. Being stalled (becalmed) at sea and drifting to an island where the natives were cannibals, God’s answer to the prayers of Hudson Taylor saved them from certain death. The kids – all 115 of them -  were enthralled by the skit. The thought of defenselessly drifting toward certain death and then be rescued by God was a powerful story. The only issue was that the boat, being propelled by three teen boys on their knees, had difficulty getting out along the left side of the auditorium.

Later, Bro Zach had the “Karate Kid” come up and give a demonstration for the kids. Even though karate has more of a Japanese heritage than Chinese, it worked for the kids in attendance. One of our teens is a Black Belt in some form of karate and he demonstrated breaking boards with a kick and a karate chop. The boys were especially attentive. Bro Zach had his sign the broken portions of board and gave them out as prizes to the most well behaved. As I understand it, tonight, the Karate Kid’s sister will give a demonstration of her kicking and chopping powers – along with a demonstration of the use of the Sai, a three pronged metal baton.
I hate to miss.

Tuesday, June 27, 2017

Sunrise, near miss, more travel


I stopped on the way to work this morning to take a picture of the sunrise. I get to see the sun come up almost every morning on my way in, but this morning was worth the extra time to try and get a picture. The problem is finding a place to stop that will allow a good picture – no house, no power lines, no oil tanks, etc. – and still have time to get the right shot. It happens so quickly, you can only appreciate it as you watch it happen. Once, many years ago, when we first moved to Victoria, TX, I took the family to Seadrift, TX to watch the sun set over the bay. I remember everyone being shocked by how fast the sun sank beyond the flat, watery horizon. So it is with the sunrise. It starts off an orange ball that you can actually look at directly, but a moment later it is so bright that it will blind you. It took a little extra time to morph this morning. My phone takes terrible pictures, but at least I tried.

The only issue with watching the sun rise was that I almost hit a deer as it ran across the road in front of me. I was driving Mama’s Sequoia this morning so that would have been an especially bad incident. I did not ever have my eyes off of the road completely but I had not been watching out to the right side of the road – where the deer came from. When I saw it, it was catching it’s footing in the lane directly in front of me. I very narrowly missed hitting it with the left front corner of the car. I had the cruse on during the encounter. I never touched the brake. The truck behind me must have thought I never saw the deer. That would have been mostly correct. I have noticed a lot more deer out lately so I should have been paying more attention, but, thankfully, it was only a near miss.

I will be leaving tomorrow at noon to drive to Abilene. I will spend Thursday with a client there training with them for a couple tasks for which I am currently writing a large training package. The training I am writing will be presented at Leak City in September during a national training event. I am grateful to my company for sending me to get the background information from seasoned professionals. I will spend the morning training at their facility and spend the afternoon in the field applying what I have learned. That will be a great benefit when I present the training later this year. I may not be an expert, but I will at least have had a good exposure to the practical application of the information in a real-life setting. I will have the sweat and blisters to prove it.

Vacation Bible School continues through Thursday night. Last night was the first of the four nights and Mama made sure Yilin and Cheyenne got there on time. I did not go last night. I got out from the chiropractor’s office very late, but I will go tonight. Last night Alex (Cheyenne’s father) took the time to go and see what was going on. Mama said he really enjoyed it -all the excitement and confusion. He even made sure to help the girls win in the offering portion of the competition. At our VBS we use a balance with two large buckets; one for the girls and one for the boys. The kids compete to outweigh each other. To encourage the accumulation of weight, the church sells rolls of penny’s and bricks. A roll of penny’s costs 50¢ and a brick costs $5. Alex bought a brick for Yilin and Cheyenne to put in the bucket. As Mama describes it, the competition went on for some time but the girls finally won.

I’ll see if I can help the boys tonight.

Monday, June 26, 2017

Last week, drain work, piglets


Last week was spent in our company conference. It was a great experience. Even though we had about 150 attendees, the company allowed each of us to participate in the conference activities Tuesday afternoon and all day Wednesday. On Thursday, I taught a class to twenty-eight attendees while there were two other classes being taught. Those that were not attending classes participated in round table discussions about topics relevant to the industry. Friday, I taught a class to one individual. We held the one-on-one at the office and though it was a little awkward at first, we had a great time getting through the material.

Tuesday evening Mama met me at the Texas Motor Speedway, where we were having the conference and we visited with folks from the company as well as folks in attendance that I knew from offsite training classes that were there attending the conference. My company sponsored a dinner of heavy hors d'oeuvre which was more than enough for me and Mama. The only problem was that it was hot. The temperature was almost 100° in the shade and there was little to no breeze until late in the evening. Mama forgot her phone so she had to track me down at the track where some conference participants were being taken for rides round the track. The ride was only four laps but I suppose it was enough to get the feel of racing speeds of 160 mph. I did not participate in that portion because the cost was $125 per person for a three-minute ride. I told my peers that after getting to ride with Mama going speeds in excess of 100 mph not a thrill any more. Besides, once the participants got into the coveralls and helmets required for the ride, some of them were very close to being overheated.

Saturday, I spent the day running a line from the A/C drain to the back of the house to eliminate the hose we have had temporarily connected to the drain. That worked for us but I had it strung through the kitchen, the dining room and the laundry room to go out the laundry room door through the garage into the yard. With the hose in the way we have not been able to close the laundry room door at the dining room, nor the laundry room door into the garage; nor have we been able to fully close the garage door. Now all doors are fully closed and secure, but there is a line running down the living room wall to the sunroom where it takes a hard turn and goes through the sunroom walls to the flowerbed just outside of that wall. It is not pretty, but it will work. Other than running it to the shower in the hall bath or digging it under the slab to connect to the septic line, this was the best solution. (I asked Lee to check out the line that served as the original drain but he found that it was collapsed and unusable.)

Mama and Victoria rescued one of the piglet born to Mollie during the week. Fortunately, she only had four live births. One was not fully formed and one was an obvious runt. The one that Victoria bottle fed was the last one born and there seemed to be something wrong with it but after a weekend of bottle feeding it appears to be fine. Mama and Victoria put it back with its litter last night. I am waiting word to see if it was effectively reunited. The fact that Mollie decided to have the little in the dirtiest place in the hog pen really bothered Mama. Then the rain came and she and Victoria had to scramble to get some old sheets of metal roofing to cover her and the little ones. There was a good shelter only a few steps away but we could not get Mollie to use it.

The other litter of piglets is into everything. I am not ready to piglet-proof the enclosure so they are finding ways out of the enclosure and rooting around in the area we have the boy goats and the chickens in. It is not a big problem. The only real concern is that the dogs will kill one of the little ones when they do get into the yard. Although I do not want the dogs to start killing animals – any more than they already have – that would not be an unworkable solution for me. I am looking forward to getting rid of these pigs – all of them. I just loathe the marketing that goes along with that effort.

All-in-all, it is a small price to pay to keep Mama happy.

Tuesday, June 20, 2017

Father’s Day, repeat leak, big week


I took the day off Father’s Day. I did not particularly want to but my back convinced me that sitting still or laying down was the course of the day. I missed both church services. I hated that part but I could not function because my back was spasming so badly that I was having trouble dealing with the pain. I ended up taking a muscle relaxer and laying on the couch. I do not know if I moved from 10 am through 4 pm. I did not feel much better for it but the pain and spasms eased up. Sunday night I stayed on the couch even though my shoulders were hurting from sleeping so much there. It is not as comfortable as our bed but having something to press my back against helps with the pain. Monday, I had to call in sick because I was still hurting too badly to function at work.

The electric was off to the house when I did finally struggle to get up Monday morning. As Mama was calling the electric company some service trucks rolled past our property as they headed up to the property past us. It did not help to call the company because all their lines were busy – guess something big was going on. Mama and I ended up having a nice breakfast about 10am when the electricity came back on. After feeding the animals Mama took off for Muenster to pick up feed. I stayed still at the house; or, at least, I tried to.

We have had a recurring leak under the a/c unit. At first it was due to a line plug on the drain line coming from the unit. A trap in the line would plug and cause an overflow onto the floor. Lately the leaks have come from a plugged line going to the septic system. Saturday, I thought I had it beat, but yesterday it began again in earnest. I tried several things to clear the line but I was not able to get it done – partially because I could not fit myself into the bends I needed to get into to work on it. I did find out that the a/c produces about a ½ gallon of condensate per hour because it overflowed the gallon container I had set under the unit to catch the condensate. We called Bro Daniel to see if he could help and he and James came over just as I was getting home from my chiropractic appointment.

They bought a snake with them but were not able to get any further into the line than I had been able to and I did not look forward to the possibility of getting up every two hours to empty the container I had catching the condensate. Since James had suggested a hose run from the line to the yard I rigged one up to run through the house, through the garage and into the yard. It was the best way to get the water out of the house without leaving a critical door open – like the front door. When I checked it this morning it seemed to have worked well enough to keep most of the water out of the house. Not all of it, but a good bit of it. And we got to keep the air conditioner running. I have a call into Lee to see if he can come and look at it for us. I fear it may be a big repair in the works.

This is a big week for the company I work for. We have a conference this week at the Texas Motor Speedway. I will not be home until after 9 pm today and tomorrow so there will be little I can do – as if I could have done much anyway. Mama will meet me at the speedway this evening for a reception the company is hosting for the more than 200 guests attending the conference. She and Red Shaw’s wife, Joanne are planning on hanging out together somewhere along the edge of the crowd. There is a second reception tomorrow night but I am not sure if I will attend. I would rather go to church – especially since I missed Sunday. The only difficult part for me during the conference is the eight-hour training I will be doing on Thursday.

Standing that long is very difficult for me with my current back issues.

Friday, June 16, 2017

Mama’s tough life, backup, first time catch


Soon after I got home yesterday evening, I called Mama to see what she and Victoria and Brittany were into. Victoria picked up the phone to answer. She told me Mama was just getting out of the pool so she had to dry off a little before she could talk. When she did come pick up the phone I apologized for having given her such a tough life; traveling, sitting poolside, shopping, etc. She gave me her, “Yeah, right”, return comments before she launched off into her “newfound” project of finding out just how much it would cost to put in a pool at the farm. Every summer this becomes a topic of discussion. I have to admit that I like the idea of owning a pool, having it ready for me to cool off every summer evening.

I just do not like the idea of maintaining it. For the few hours a month spent enjoying it, there are countless hours keeping it clean, chemically balanced and secured from non-invited animal guests – toads, mice and rats, the occasional opossum, etc. Then there is the money associated with the constant upkeep whether you do it yourself or pay someone else to do it. So, we will work through the numbers and talk about it until the weather is too cool to actually enjoy it. Buying me another year without it. It was blistering hot last night…but a shower worked just as well to cool me down. That water was free of chemicals.

Mama and Victoria will be headed home this afternoon. I know the animals will be very happy to see her again. Especially the inside dogs. I have fed them, but not the way Mama does. She takes time to pour additional things over their food and mix it in with the dog food before she sets it out for them to eat. I figure they are dogs. They can eat dog food – so, that’s what I put out for them. So far, they have not eaten more than a few bites of the food I have given them without the treats. I guess it would take a full week or so for them to be hungry enough to eat the food plain. Tonight, their patience and stubbornness will be rewarded; especially if I tell Mama that that same food has been in their since she put it out Wednesday morning.

Grandma and Grandpa have been coming over late morning or early afternoon to let the dogs out because Mama and Victoria were worried that the additional two hours of my schedule to let them out before I left for work and then again when I get home was too much for them to bear. I do not see it but they were sufficiently concerned to call in backup. I don’t mind. I think Grandma enjoys getting Grandpa out for the trip. He does not range very far afield these days. Grandma will drive out two tanks of gas a week just running about. If it were up to Grandpa, a tank of gas would last a month, but they get by and they seem to enjoy what they have. What more can you ask?

This morning as I went into the well house to get feed for the goats I saw that the trap I leave at that door was closed. I did not immediately see anything in the trap which is not unusual because a rat will crowd under the closed door of the trap to hide. For that reason, I normally have to lift the trap to see what is inside. This morning was a first. Inside the trap was an enormous toad. I took the time to let him out before I scooped the feed I needed for the goats but later had to get the toad back out of the well house. He had gone back in while I was tending to the goats and rabbits in the goat barn. I guess that little tunnel the rats created in the door jamb was just too attractive to him.

It is on my schedule to repair the jamb but it is not a priority, especially when catching critters – even cold-blooded ones -  in the trap is so much fun.

Thursday, June 15, 2017

In the baby front, back at the farm


Mama and Victoria made it safely to Brittany’s. Today or tomorrow they plan to celebrate Brittany’s birthday – which is coming up very soon. On the baby front, Brittany’s doctor told her that they would probably take the twins in four weeks. That will put her somewhere around the 32-week mark. For some reason, the delivery gets more complicated if it is delayed further. I will defer to the doctors on the one but that puts us going to meet the newborns sometime the week of the 17th of July. That will be a new experience for me and Mama. We had three babies born to our children a couple years ago – but they came one at a time. This will be the first twin birth in our family; although we have been dealing with twins (other parents children) since our children were small. Pray for Brittany but especially pray for Andrew. This may be somewhat “old-hat” for Brittany, but it is a completely new frontier for him. It will take him months to adjust.

Meanwhile, back at the farm. I had to get up at 5:30 this morning and do the morning feeding of the menagerie. It is not much earlier than I normally rise but it was a totally different arrangement to the morning. It took me about thirty minutes to get everything done – at least hurriedly - which took away the time I usually spend in Bible reading. I will do that this evening.  Last night I took some extra time to make sure waterers were full. Mama and I have started putting away the feed in the coop every night to try and discourage the rats from taking up occupancy. I am not sure that is working but it is something we can do to make things more difficult for them. So, I put out all the feeder this morning, opened up the coop doors to the yard and made sure there was still plenty of water available. I put out fresh feed for the pigs, goat and rabbits. Then I had to take care of the inside animals. Dressing for work, making my coffee and packing a snack for lunch were squeezed into the remaining few minutes this morning.

Mama is down to three Bantys now. Last night I found one dead in the nesting box of the little coop where they normally roost. We have been wondering why the three remaining birds have not wanted to roost in their normal spot. She seems to have died of natural causes. Mama assumes she was egg bound. It would have been preventable if we had caught it sooner. Alas, we did not. I see some purchases of young Bantam hens in our future. We really like the eggs. Bantams lay a smaller egg but the yolk is about the same size as a normal egg. Since the yolk is where the flavor, that makes them especially flavorful. I will start on a new Banty house very soon and we will use the little house we now have them in for some bunnies.

The piglets are growing quickly. Three of them already belong to Brittany Wycoff. They are not going to be pets. If we end up with any grown pigs from the lot, they will not be pets either. They will be sausage. But for now, they are quite safe. Molly, our older pot belly pig is adapting to her new home in the pig sty but she is not thrilled about it. I am not sure what we are going to do longer term but I plan on taking down the sty and replacing it with something more permanent. The pallets were good in a pinch but they have a short life expectancy – especially against a rooting, full grown, full size pig.

We will still have a pig sty but I will construct something a little less biodegradable.

Wednesday, June 14, 2017

Packing, small repairs, second time



I spent a portion of the evening helping Mama pack items in Victoria’s car as they prepare to go to visit Brittany later today. Mama has a doctor’s appointment this morning so they will not be leaving until after that but they have everything else accumulated in one area in the kitchen so they can finish packing quickly once Mama is back. The original plan was for them to leave tomorrow and come back Saturday but Victoria has to work Saturday so they moved everything up by a day. Mama is anxious for her animals. Since I will still be leaving very early in the morning each morning she is gone, she knows that I will not take the time to do everything she normally does because I will not only be short on time I will be short on interest. I intend to make up for the hurried mornings by taking my time in the evenings, but that way of working does not equate with Mama’s methods. I am confident not a single animal will die because of my lack of ministrations to them.

I took time to dig up a waterline leak at the yard hydrant in the garden. I hoped it was nothing more than a loose clamp but there is always the possibility that some other damage could have been done by a burrowing, gnawing creature. It did turn out to be a loose fitting so I tightened all the fittings in the exposed area of the leak. It is at a tee where the line tee’s off to the hydrant so I am not overly surprised that it needed some extra attention. I am curious as to why it started leaking now but I can live with an easy repair. In the future, I think I will fence it off so the cows cannot trample it as they round that corner.

Mama and Victoria advertised the boy goats yesterday evening so I hope we will start getting calls on them soon. Kobe is far too interested in the little ones and will challenge them every time she is in the yard. I think it is a call to play but even that is dangerous for the little goats because they can be killed by too much running in even a friendly game of tag.  It worries Mama. The little piglets are also a focus for Kobe. Since they are able to get out of the enclosure (with their small size it is very difficult to keep them in an enclosure) Kobe sees them running around the larger enclosure of the animal buildings and desperately want to check them out. I do not feel that that would be a good encounter. They too, are susceptible to heat stroke – and Kira already tried to kill their mama. It is hard to tamper instincts that may be driving the interest Kobe and Kira have in our farm animals and past experience shows that we need to interfere with those instincts rather than trust the dogs to ignore them.

Mama called me right after I got to the office this morning to tell me that I had another raccoon in the trap. I am a little surprised. I had set the trap the day before yesterday and had caught nothing that night. I did not even check to see that the bait was still viable in the trap last night but I guess it was. I will need to take the time to make an extra trip to the house to dispatch the coon as soon as I am able. I do not want to take the chance that it can somehow escape from the trap. If it does, I will not get a second change to trap it.  I am not surprised that there is more than one raccoon in the area, but I admit to hoping that that was the case. It remains to be seen just how many more there are.

Where there are two there will be many more so this will be an ongoing challenge.

Tuesday, June 13, 2017

Rearranging, repairs


Victoria and Mama – but mostly Victoria – did some rearranging in the living room yesterday. It was not much but it did displace the two Windsor chairs I had sitting against one wall. She moved the antique book case out of her room into the living room. Now I have a matched set in the room. Mama put one of the displaced chairs in the spare bedroom. The other is still waiting a seemlier setting. The table set in the corner of the living room has been forced further into the corner but it got to stay. Mama and I really need to get started on the building project of the additional living room I have planned. Although, there is not much chance of that happening soon. All in all, it was nothing too drastic but Mama dislikes changes that are not of her choosing.

Along those same lines, I moved several items out of the garage and cleared a very large space in the center. I made a conditional promise to Mama that I would have the garage ready to park a car in by winter. I do not know if I can get the shop completely done by the end of the year but that is my overarching goal. Today Mama is calling a friend to get an estimate on pouring a slab for that project. Since we did not get the blacktop laid in the carport/shop, we are going to get it done in concrete. Putting up the walls will be a quick and easy job since the roof and supports are already in place. It is only a matter of timing and cash. The space is still largely empty. All the items we had under the carport were moved to get it ready for asphalt, but since the paving company ran short of material, the asphalt is laid only to the very edge of the carport. The items pulled out are still where we put them. None of those items are of any real importance so sitting out will not hurt them greatly. It just leaves me with another cleanup project.

I made a couple quick repairs to Mama’s mower as soon as I got home yesterday so she could mow the yards. She has been anxious to get that done. The rains have been timed so that she had been held up for several days. Also, I had removed the air filter so I could match it up at the dealer and she had been waiting on me to get that replaced before she ran the mower. An additional issue with the mower is that one of the soft front tires on the mower is in bad shape. As I filled it, it leaked out as much air as I was able to pump in so I got a can of Fix-a-Flat and filled the tire with that so Mama could go ahead and mow. It will have to be replaced soon. I still have to change the oil and oil filter and put in the new spark plugs and gas filter to get the seasonal tune up done. I should be able to get that done while Mama and Vitoria are visiting Andrew and Brittany Thursday through Saturday. That is something I do not enjoy doing but it needs to get done and that mower is too important to us to let it go too much longer.

I did not catch anything last night though I set out the traps again. Mama was equally glad and worried. Glad that no more predators were captured. Worried that they still might be out there waiting to kill her brood. That is a well justified fear. Even the Banty chickens will not roost in their little house right now. The same night the coon ate the first chicken a little chick that Mama had in a special cage housed in the Banty enclosure disappeared; no blood, no feathers, cage locked and secure. They know what happened but they are being tight-beaked about it. My guess is that it was a snake, a large snake, but there is no real evidence of that. I just know Mama is feeling very frustrated about the losses she has suffered lately.

Life in the country, I suppose.

Monday, June 12, 2017

Victoria is home, the ballet, chicken thief


Mama and I had to be at the airport at 7 a.m. Saturday morning to pick up Victoria. That seemed early but when you think about Nate or Cori getting her to the airport for the flight, it was not so bad. While we were on the way, Victoria called to tell us the plane had landed – it was 6:40 a.m. We were still twenty minutes out so we advised her to go to baggage claim and we would see if we could time it to pick her up as she was getting her bags. That is almost how it worked out. I had to sit in a NO PARKING - ALL VEHICLES WILL BE TOWED AWAY AT THE OWNERS EXPENSE zone right behind a police car for about fifteen minutes. Mama did not have an issue with that. She rarely does. But it did work out that the carrousel started spitting out the bags pretty quickly after we got there so we were on our way home by 7:10. Other than stopping at both Chick-fil-A and Buc-ee’s it was a quick trip. Victoria went straight to bed after a few minutes playing with Kobe and Kira.

I spent the morning picking up and cleaning various parts of the farm and buildings. I needed space in the garden shed for the cages we just bought to be stored and I needed to get some things out of the garage so we could clear that space. But I was hurting too badly to tackle too much. I did tear off the tarp I have had closing off the west side of the goat barn so the rabbits housed there could have more light and more air circulation but that just means that I will have to get the barn doors built soon. I need to get it done before winter anyway. I still have not decided what type of doors I want but am leaning more toward rolling doors since I have everything I need for one side. Building the supports for the tracks will be the challenge.

Saturday night we had a ballet to go to. Yilin and Cheyenne were in a ballet production of the Wizard of Oz. Cheyenne was a chick on the farm and Yilin was a snowflake. I know it had to be difficult for the young ones because the ballet was over two hours long. Cheyenne was in the first scene when Dorothy was on the farm and then in the last scene when Dorothy awoke – back on the farm. Yilin was in the scene where Dorothy and her entourage had to be wakened from the sleep induced by the evil witch’s poppy flowers. Other than that, there was a lot of waiting. It was very cute and a bit expensive. Cheyenne’s daddy, Alex, paid $18 each for the three tickets he bought for me, Mama and Victoria. Sunday morning when we picked up the girls for church, I called Cheyenne our little dancing chick. She kept telling Mama, “Papa Tim called me a dancing chick.” By the time we got them home after church, they were exhausted. The only problem was they had a second performance Sunday afternoon. Alex thanked us for taking the time to come and get the girls and take them to church. We assured him it was a pleasure.

Friday night and Saturday night, we lost a chicken each night to some predator. The ones killed were the last of the hens that roosted under the coop. Each night only a portion of the bird was eaten but it left a gruesome mess for us to clean up. I lit fires each morning to burn the carcasses. I was not sure if it would work but I set out a livetrap baited with a bone from the port we had cooked in the crock pot and an ear of dried corn. Grandma and Grandpa were sure it was an opossum. I was thinking it was a coon but you can never be sure so I set bait that I thought would work for either animal.

I got up and dressed this morning and went out to check the trap before first light. As I opened the gate to the chicken yard, I could see that the trap had been triggered and the door was shut but I could not tell what was in it until I got close enough the shine the light on it. It was a very large raccoon. I am not sure how the trap managed to enclose it. It could barely turn around in the confines of the tarp – which was the largest trap I have. I went back to the house and got the rifle, a large trash bag and my gloves. Once I dispatched it, I opened the trap and pulled it onto the ground. It was a long as the trap. I bagged it and headed for the garage so I could put it in the bed of the truck. The only problem with that was that Mama and Victoria had stretched a rug over the bed of the truck so it could uncurl. Fortunately, Mama was opening the garage door as I came through. I asked her to heft the trash bag that the coon was it and she was amazed at how much it weighed. She happily helped me move the rug so I could take the coon carcass elsewhere.

Hopefully, that is the only one, but just to make sure I will reset the trap tonight.

Friday, June 9, 2017

Lunch with Brittany and Andrew, a good buy, more animals


Brittany and Andrew came back through Decatur after they picked up the car in Dallas. I was thinking that they would pack in the morning and leave from Dallas to go home, but they left their things and Lucy at the house intending to get all that packed after they got the car. That gave them more time to pack and two vehicles to pack their thing into. As it happened, they came back through right about lunchtime. Since they wanted Mexican, Mama suggested Casa Torres. So, all of us met there. The restaurant is always busy for lunch and yesterday was no exception, but since the restaurant has put in a second parking lot we were all able to get parking places. We were all driving separate vehicles, so I thought that was a good deal to be able to find parking for all of them. Mama had to stand in a spot so Andrew, who was the last to arrive, could park there; but he got a spot. Andrew clearly did not feel well so the entire trip was a challenge for him. I can only imagine that the drive home was even more challenging. They finally made it home a little after 8 pm. Other than Lucy, I cannot imagine they will be up early this morning.

Mama set up a meeting with a gentleman selling some rabbit cages yesterday evening. We followed his interesting directions – just before the cull de sac at the black mailbox with no numbers on it – but we did find the house. He lives in Alvord so it was only a fifteen-minute drive. We drove the truck because we did not know for sure what the man was selling and it was a good thing we did. The drive was not safe for anything but a truck. It reminded me of a West Virginia mountain road. There were four or five barking dogs at the house so Mama was disinclined to exit the truck. None of them looked too mean so I got out and met the seller.

He had a slew of cages, feeders and nesting boxes lined up. When I asked what he was asking for the larger cages, he said he wanted $50 for the entire lot. I coaxed Mama out of the truck to show her the offering and she agreed to make the purchase. In all, we got one very large single square cage, one very large rectangular double cage, one large double cage, four medium sized double cages and three small single rabbit cages that are more like transport cages. They were all used but in fair condition. Along with that we got four nesting boxes, three are made of metal, five waterers and eight feeders. Mama is using the transport cages this morning to get the rabbits from Ling.

For the visit with Ling, we went out in the late evening to catch the rooster and three hens to take to Ling and his family. We used the large square cage to house the chickens in the bed of the truck overnight. Since there was a high probability of rain last night I backed the truck up under the carport. Mama will take the chickens to Ling this morning and pick up another young male and two young females rabbits. Ling has too many and is quickly running out of room to house them. Mama is a little mortified by the fact that those he does have are in cages which are sitting on the ground with a tarp over them…mostly covered. To Ling and his family, they are meat, not pets. Mama has an entirely different concept of raising animals – even if they are for meat.

With the cages we picked up last night we will have enough cages to house the rabbits. What we will not have is a good place to put those cages. I will spend the weekend trying to decide where to put our rabbits temporarily in a manner that satisfies Mama’s expectations. Eventually I will have to build either a covered stand for the cages or a set of hutches for our little colony.

At some point, I will have the time to get started on the well house and the shop…but not yet.

Thursday, June 8, 2017

Hoarse goats, Brittany and Andrew, sunrise, animal shuffle


The boy goats we separated from Millie Tuesday evening have now almost lost their voice. They have cried loudly and nearly continually since that hour. It is pitiful to hear. (Fortunately, we can only hear it when we are outside.) They start their bleating with a clear tone and it quickly fades to a hoarse whimper. Mama was so worried about it that she called Rick to see if we were really doing the right thing. He said he separated a set of twins one time and they cried after their mama for over two weeks. By the time they gave up the protest they could barely squeak out a sound. That did not make Mama feel better. Rick also said that if the boys are not eating or drinking properly within a day or two we can put them back with Millie – who looks like her udder is about to explode since we took them off of her. That made Mama feel a bit better. We will know by tonight or tomorrow what we will need to do – regardless of the strength of their voices. At some point, we are going to have to get used to dealing with this separation anxiety. I guess, for me and Mama, it is okay as long as we can still smile at the whimpering little ones.

Brittany and Andrew stopped over last night. They are headed to Dallas this morning to get the car that was shipped back to them from England. We visited for a couple hours after church before I had to call it a night. It sounds like they are going to enjoy their time in Wichita. It is a good area for them geographically. They have a great house. They have good neighbors. Plenty of shopping. Now, if they can find a good church, they will be set for the next five years. They almost have the pool ready for a visit that Chase and Makaila are planning to make to do some work for them on the house they bought.

At least, Makaila is planning to work as she does some painting for them. Chase is planning on floating in the pool for the entire visit. Mama and Victoria are going up next weekend to visit and hopefully, help unpack. I am not planning on going this trip because I want to save my vacation time for the birth. Speaking of which, Brittany is definitely “great with child”. Her girth more than doubles around her belly and she has six to eight more weeks to go. At least, we hope so as we continue to pray for that much time so the now almost three pound babies can gain the time to develop in utero. That will allow for a less complicated continuation to life outside the womb. Brittany will be waddling very soon as she struggles to balance the load the twins are producing. I expect within a week or two Andrew will have to help her out of certain chairs.

I had to stop on the way into work this morning to take a picture of the sunrise. It was one of those mornings when you can watch the orange-looking sun come up over the horizon. When it is not yet direct enough light to burn the eyes. I remember that we are the ones moving and not the sun but as you watch the sunrise actually happen it is not difficult to imagine that the sun is the moving object; lazily circling us on its slow trek across the sky. After all, is do not feel like I am in motion as I watch it happen. We certainly have a big God to have put all this in motion and then watch over it and us individually each and every day. What wisdom! What patience!

Tonight, we catch a couple chickens and the rooster to give to Ling so he can make soup. He is going to give Mama a couple young does that we will breed to Jack. I am still working on hutches and cages for the new arrivals but I still have time to set up a proper warren for our colony of rabbits. Which also means I have time to figure out the best way to dispatch them when that time comes. If we find out that Mama and Victoria will not eat them we will have to rethink this project.

Until then I will stay busy on the project.

Wednesday, June 7, 2017

Relocating, recycling


Mama and I spent the first part of the evening getting hay to the cows. To date we have not found a supplier to buy hay from so we are continuing to go to our neighbors to get last year’s bales he has stored right behind our property. As hay goes, it is not bad hay, but it is not as good as the bales I bought from a local farmer earlier in the year. I will go back and see if he has any hay left, probably tomorrow evening, so we can store some up for the next couple weeks. It is convenient to get the bales from a nearby location but there is a lot of waste with our spoiled cows. They will dig through the bale, eat what they want and spread the portion they do not care to eat on the ground around the ring we put the bale in. After I got the bale set out I swapped implements and cleaned up from the last couple times we set out bales. We are accumulating a pretty good pile of hay mixed with manure in the area where we feed out the hay. In a couple years, it will be some very rich soil. Fortunately, it does not stink and we have had sufficient rain to help it to decompose. The ultimate recycling project.

Yesterday evening the Wycoff’s came by to see the piglets but while they were here we had them help us catch the baby boy goats so we could separate them from their mommy. They were starting to drag her down pretty badly and Mama was worried about her health. Plus, the little girl baby seemed to be lagging the boys. Since the little boys are able to take regular feed it seemed like a good idea. I know the Wycoff’s, Brittany and Bro. Daniel, had fun as we tried to corner the kids so we could catch them.

What I have discovered with the fainting goats is that if you just walk them around – not chasing them fast but at a walking pace – they will eventually faint. That trait is priceless in catching them. So, I began to walk after Millie and her triplets and they finally ended up in a corner of the lot. When we had them cornered one of the boys tried to make a run for it around Brittany and Mama but Brittany caught him. When he was caught, he cried out and his brother froze up so I picked him up. They only weighed about twenty to twenty-five pounds each so it was no trouble carrying them to the new area. They are only four weeks old but they are stinking fast – until they faint – so I was thankful for the help catching them. For the rest of the evening and into the night we had to listen to the boys cry for their mama and the mama cry for the boys. Mama hates that part of raising animals; separating families and all, especially when they are so young.

After the goats were rehomed, we got to talking about rats and squirrels and snakes because of the trap I have sitting in the well house. I explained that I have caught eight rats in that trap and recently caught a large rat snake. Mrs. Wycoff asked if I had killed the snake. She was happy to hear that I had not. But when I told her I had killed a lot of squirrels lately she asked what I had done with them. When I explained that I made no effort to keep them she asked if I would dress the squirrels and save them for her so she can make soup. I would be happy to. I just know that Mama will not eat them so there was no reason to go to the effort to clean them only to throw out the frozen meat later. I am not a big fan either. It is like eating a big rat. When they are skinned and cleaned, it is hard to tell the difference between them and a rat. Now that I know somebody will eat them, I will not feel as badly about killing them.

Another recycling project.

Tuesday, June 6, 2017

Rabbits, squirrels, piglets


I worked last night to put a wire bottom in one of the rabbit hutches I had bought online. They were cheap enough that I thought they would be a good deal but they are not quite what I expected and they lacked any type of floor other than a pull-out tray. So, I took the time to finish out the one that we have assembled so far. Now, when we pull the tray out for cleaning, the rabbit in the hutch will not fall to the ground. They will work for young rabbits and possibly for pregnant mommies but with the size of rabbits Mama and Victoria have, they will house only one rabbit at a time. Hopefully, I will assemble another one tonight and get the floor in it as well so we are ready for the young females Lin wants to give to us. Mama is excited about the exchange – chickens for rabbits – but I know what is coming as she breeds the rabbits. Very soon we will be where Lin is now; too many rabbits for the space we have to house them. One of Lin’s females recently had a litter if eight and another is raising a litter of ten. He has four cages. We will have five, but at least we have time to get prepared before the females he is giving us will be breeding age – two months at least.

I had to shoot four squirrels over the weekend. I tolerate them as long as they are away from the house but once they get close to the house or the well house, I dispatch them. Mama decided to take down the bird feeder that was attracting them so I would not have to eliminate so many. I believe the young ones I have recently put down are offspring of this year’s litters – and there are a lot of them. I have eliminated a lot of them and yet it is difficult to tell that it has made any difference. There are still several in each of the treed areas across the farm. I guess this was a good year for squirrel reproduction. I know of at least sixteen that will not be around to reproduce this year. Sad, but necessary.

Mama is off on a shopping adventure today. She left the house early to make several stops in Denton. I remember some of what she told me she was going to do but most of it is quick stops for an item or two at a select number of stores. The big stops are at Sam’s and Panera’s. But there are stops at several clothing places, Bath and Body Works (I cannot even go into that store because the smells are too strong for me) and a couple places at the mall. She will be worn out by this afternoon when she gets home.

We have company coming this evening to see the piglets. Brittany Wycoff thinks she wants to buy at least one of the piglets so she is coming over to get the pick of the litter. I am elated that anyone wants them and I will be even more excited when they all have new homes. For now though, they are far too small to leave their mommy – who, by the way, is a good mommy to her litter but a very mean mommy towards us. On Saturday, I was helping one of the little one get back onto the building so it could be with Tilly and when it squealed - very loudly – she came after me with a vengeance. I had to take the shovel that I happened to be holding and smack her soundly in the snout to get her to back off. I am not offended that she is protective over her brood, but I do not want her to harm Mama in any way.

Mama is less mobile than I am…and that is not saying much these days.

Monday, June 5, 2017

Cleaning, catch and release, Chinese eating


Mama and I spent the entire morning Saturday cleaning out the chicken coops. It was high time to get both sides cleaned – especially on the side with the chicks. What we ended up doing was taking the large cage out of the coop with all the growing chicks in it, and completely emptying the coop before cleaning the floor. It was quite a mess and neither Mama nor I wanted to just put the maggot infested combination of feed and manure anywhere on the farm so we bagged it up and took it to the dump. My biggest concern was that the bag would break on me and I would be left cleaning up the mess a second time. Fortunately, I got it to the dump and deposited in the container there with the bag fully intact. To get all of the slurry loaded into the bag Mama and I put it in an empty trashcan and loaded it that way so we did not have to sit and hold the bad open while loading it. That worked really well – especially since I know who would have been holding the bag open to load it.

Once we got the mess cleaned up Mama, we thoroughly cleaned the floor and got it prepared for the chicks to be turned out – without the cage. To do that, Mama and I placed the cage on end in the doorway of the coop and fished out the terrified chicks one by one to be treated and released. When all were free (sort of) we backed the cage out the door and set it on a couple saw horses to be washed by the rain. By the time we got the other side of the coop cleaned, the chicks were on the roosts, on the nesting boxes and everywhere else in the coop. I thought it was quite a feat since the roosts are about three feet off the floor. The will really grow now. The problem will be cleaning up the coop with all of them loose. We both showered after we finished the cleaning chore.

Saturday evening, Mama and I went out kind of late to feed. I normally feed the goats while she tends to the other animals. Maybe it is our left-handed, right-handed nature but she and I do the feeding completely reversed from each other. When I opened the door to the well house I could immediately tell I had caught something in the livetrap. The trap door was shut and a couple things near the trap had been knocked about. When I picked up the trap to see what was in it a large snakehead poked out the side at me. It was a very large rat snake. He could only get a few inches of his body through the mesh of the cage. I picked up the cage – with the head and neck protruding and carried it through the garden to find Mama.

When she realized what it was she went to the house to get her phone so she could take a picture. She went a step further and videoed it as I shook the snake out of the trap to release it. The video went well until the snake headed toward her. Then all you could see was the ground. When we were at a fellowship at the church Sunday night she must have showed the video twenty times. It was the most interesting thing I have caught in that trap. I leave the trap, set and un-baited, at an opening the rats chewed through the doorjamb at the well house. So far, I have caught eight rats as they dash through the opening into the trap. I suppose it is a great shock to the m to end up in the trap, but it works for me. Now, I can add a five-foot rat snake to the list of trapped animals. So far, it is the only captured critter to have made it out alive.

Sunday after church, we went to the Chinese restaurant and spent some time visiting with Cheyenne’s parents and her uncle Ling. He is also raising rabbits and has two young females to give us for breeding to the male, Jack, that we have now. While we were talking about rabbits, Mama asked if they would want any chickens. Ling asked if they were older or younger. He was excited when we told him they were older. He told us the older ones make better soup. I agree. Mama does not. So, we are going to make the exchange tomorrow morning. I will pluck them off the roost tonight. I asked if he wanted the chickens alive so they could kill them. “, Yes, alive is better.” He responded, “We will kill them because we eat everything inside.”

Mama almost lose her lunch.

Friday, June 2, 2017

Cautious mommy, nasty birds, safe at home


For being only a four-day week this week has seemed to be long. There is not any rationale for that. It is just what seems to be true.

Tilly is a good mommy to her seven little ones. So much so, that she will not tolerate Mama handling the babies in any way. It brings back memories of a sow we had in West Virginia that caught me by the pants as I was trying to escape her attack and ripped the back pocket off my jeans. I was in the pen to get a dead piglet she had laid on and smothered. I did get the little body out of the pen but she got me back. We took her to market a few weeks later. Tilly is not so mean as that, I hope. She is a lot smaller than that sow but even with her tiny stature she could inflict some harm if she chose to do so. Maybe we will get her calmed down in the weeks to come. For now, the babies are doing fine so we will let her tend to then – all by herself. Neither Mama nor I move quickly enough anymore to avoid harm if she intended to hurt us.

Every time we get a batch of chicks I am amazed at how messy they are. I think there is something in the crumbled feed that causes the maggots to grow in the droppings below the cage. I should be used to the site as many times as we have raised a new batch of chickens, but it still makes me wonder how such a filthy bird could taste so good. Anyway, Mama and I have a lot of such mess to clean up this afternoon. At some point, Mama will take the not so little ones out of the cage and allow them to have freedom in the side of the coop where we now have them in the cage. I am not certain how that will work out but I am willing to go along with the idea. The twenty-one of them are very rapidly outgrowing the large cage Mama has them in. About five weeks from now all the roosters will be dressed for a future dinner date. The hens will live to lay eggs and become Mama’s pets. Poor, tasty roosters.

Maggie, Aaron and the kids arrived safely in North Carolina. They will have to live in a hotel for the next several days while their apartment is being prepared for them. It is a third-floor apartment in a very nice complex, I am told. If I have to live in an apartment again I would want the top floor also but that will not happen unless there is an elevator. Mama does not do stairs. Going down is particularly hard on her knees. It might be a chore at times to get up to the door for Maggie and the kids but for the time spent living in the space it is generally better to be on the top floor. When we lived in the apartments in New Jersey we had one little bitty woman who lived above us who, when she crossed the floor of her apartment (our ceiling), sounded like she weighted three hundred pounds. When she got her heels on it sounded like a jack hammer on the ceiling. Fortunately, either we moved or she did fairly quickly. It was quite disturbing at times – especially when I was sleeping through the days because of working night shifts.

The Lord has been good to me and Mama so we have almost always had a house of our own. No competing for parking. No trying to sleep while your neighbor’s party was still going at 2 a.m. No wondering if the guy you see around the complex is as weird as he looks. But there are limitations to having our own house. We do not have access to a gym or a pool or any other of the amenities available in most apartment complexes. We have to tend to the property – lawncare, maintenance, taxes and insurance, etc. There are pros and cons to both and Maggie and Aaron may not be there for more than a few years which makes buying a house a toss-up financially. Hopefully they will find a place they like and stay there like they did in Alaska. Unlike Chase and Makaila who have had seven addresses in three years. Not that that it bad if each move is a step up.

They are just professional house sitters – sort of.

Thursday, June 1, 2017

Mama’s surprise, beating the rain, Victoria’s working vacation


Mama called me yesterday to tell me that when she went out to feed the potbelly pigs she found a surprise package waiting for her. Tilly, who I thought was getting very fat very fast had delivered a litter of seven piglets overnight. They are all beautifully marked and should be very easy to sell. I was not in the market for little pigs but we have to take them none-the-less. We have to assume that the father is the wild boar that had been hanging around the place about three months ago. His is the only contact they would had had with a male. How he pulled this off I do not understand. We ought to be glad that this is the only pregnancy we have had to deal with. And just to think, Mama and I were looking for ways to get rid of the pigs last week. Mama has separated out Molly into the hog pen but we are waiting to see if her sudden weight gain it the result of the same consequence. If it is, we will have a lot more pigs to deal with. It is really kind of funny because Mama had been after me for months to buy a bred sow so she could raise some babies. Now she may have more than she would have originally hoped for.

As soon as I got home last night I got the tractor and a pallet and began loading the hay we had bought Monday night onto the pallet so I could move it into the goat barn. Just as I was loading it Zack and Ethan pulled up in the drive. They had come to see the piglets. Zach helped me finish loading the alfalfa bales onto one pallet and while I went to the barn to offload those, he and Ethan loaded the remaining ten bales of TIF grass onto a second pallet. That was a big help. Those were the heavier bales. To get them into the barn loft all I have to do is open the loft door, raise the pallet to that level and drag the bales into the loft. Now we have a total of twenty-one bales in the loft – safe and dry. I felt a sense of urgency in getting them stored before it began to rain. I set aside one older bale for Mama to give Tilly some hay to make a proper bed for the little ones. That too got stored in the dry before we got any rain; which is predicted over the next five or six days.

It will be good to see any rain come out of the forecast since we have not had significant rain for several weeks now. I have not been free to water the plants around the house and they have suffered for it. Mama keeps promising that she will do it but it is not something she sees as a great need and often overlooks it or forgets it outright. If it does rain it will help me catch up. If it does not I will have to do the catching up myself. She is very much in tune with the animals and all of their needs – never slighting them in the smallest way. My trees and plants, on the other hand, have to make due in large part when I am not available to get them watered and otherwise tended to. So far, they have all done well enough but the trees in the garden need a bit of extra attention this weekend…rain or no rain.

Victoria is flying out today to meet Cori and Nate and the kids in Tennessee. She will only be gone the week but Cori and Nate appreciate the help as they complete their week of classes to be fully certified as missionaries through BIMI. Mama is still aching a bit because she did not get to go along but I think it was all for the best. This will give Victoria exclusive rights to the kids for the entire week. I hope she is up for it. I know Cori and Nate will appreciate the break even though it is a working vacation for both of them.