Safe arrival, a gentle soaking, a/c issues

Nate, Cori and the kids had already arrived at the farm by the time I got home from work. Nate had parked the camper and had power running to it from the house but the hookup needed to run the a/c and fridge will not be available until I get the power drop from the electric company. I have no idea when that will be done but I still have a good bit of work to do before I can make the connections needed to give 240 volt service to the camper. I am prayerfully hopeful that all the pieces will fall into place within the next few days; pouring the slab, running the line to the shop, hooking up to the meter, installing the breaker box and 30A receptacle. All the steps that depend directly on me will be fairly easy to get done. It is the two that require outside help that are the critical – and time constraining - portions of the project. I still have to meet the demands of the power company before they will turn on the power to the new meter. All in God’s time.

Victoria and I took Nate and the kids around to visit all the animals last night after a very big dinner of turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes and gravy and macaroni and cheese. He got to soak up all Victoria’s instructions with my added comments but together I think all our direction is less than he will still get from Mama when she gets back. We had to relocate the goat feeders last night because of the pending rains. Because the goats prefer to eat outside, we normally leave them on the fence just inside the gate to their area, but we are forecast to have six or more days of rain and the goats will not eat damp food. Fortunately, the pigs will. Speaking of which, per Mama’s suggestion, I opened a passage between the two pig stys so Mollie and the little ones would not be relegated to the muddy mess of the one built for the feeder pigs. She explored her old home but eventually went back to the muddy mess where her piglets were born. She will probably change her mind over the next couple, very wet, days. I can offer the choice but I cannot make the decision for her.

Because the kids do not know the nuances of keeping the chickens separated by ensuring the gated between the two coop areas closed, we had a bit of a mess on our hands at roosting time because the younger chickens had escaped their area and gotten in with the older chickens – which can prove fatal. But we got all that straightened up just after dark and everybody got restored to their prescribed habitat. I will have to start on a banty house very soon because the banty chicks are growing quickly. I will add that to my list of projects.

A very gentle rain began to fall as we were settling in for the evening. It must have continued through most of the night because we got over half an inch by the time I left for work. It was a rain that reminded me of the rains that fell when we were in Juneau; heavier than a mist but not that much heavier. It was the kind of gentle soaking all the plants needed. It saved me the work of having to water all the areas and plants I normally water on a Tuesday evening.

Late in the evening, as I was getting ready to for bed, we noticed that the temperature in the house was much warmer than normal. I checked the thermostat and the temperature in the house was 80°F. The setpoint was 73°F. Not a good sign. At first, I thought one of the kids had messed with the thermostat but Victoria assured me that it had been like that for several days. I ended up getting on YouTube and watching a video on setting the thermostat. I am not confident that that was the entirety of the issue but the a/c started to actually cool the house down. By this morning we were at 74°F. I am still a little concerned that there may be another issue but only time will tell.

We leave tomorrow morning to visit Brittany and Andrew to meet the Zoe and Sophia. I am looking forward to the visit but more for the fact that I will see Mama.