Rodents, projects, progeny, predatory tendencies

It looks like I will have to go on an aggressive campaign to get the rodent population on our little farm back under control. I have a practice of keeping a live trap set in the main wellhouse to catch any rats that scamper through the opening they have gnawed in the frame of the door to the wellhouse. We have not had a rat show up in the trap for quite a few months – until yesterday. She was another big one. I almost think she was the one I almost caught by hand in the goat barn last Saturday, but there is no way to be sure. Yesterday afternoon Mama scared a young squirrel out of the coop. So, after I get the secondary wellhouse built in the barn lot I will cover the points of entry I left in the coop to discourage both forms of rodents. The raccoons and the mice are a different issue.

The problem is that I have to use live traps instead of poison because the chickens and the goats might eat the poison and that would not produce the results I am looking for. Too often though when I have set up the live traps a chicken will get itself caught in the trap. Case in point; I had a live trap set behind one of the coop doors and Mama discovered one of her chickens caught in the trap. That would not have been so bad but when she freed the hen there were two eggs in the cage as well. Meaning? The chicken had been trapped for at least two days before Mama discovered her. We have unintentionally caught a variety of creatures in the traps including, large toads, snakes and little pigs. Somehow, I will have to strike a balance and steer toward setting and placing the traps so my preferred prey is captured.

Having finally firmed up in my mind just how I am going to build it, I will start on the secondary wellhouse this week. I almost purchased the materials last weekend but held off because I still had not settled on a design. I do not want to build another nondescript shed on the property. I wanted something with a little bit of character. The idea came to me last night. It will actually take less materials than the bland box I had been planning for, so I think Mama will be pleased. It will be easier to insulate and a bit more functional when assembled according to the updated design. I am looking forward to getting the project underway. And it is high time it got done.

We still have not gotten Daisy back onto the farm. She shows up every now and then for Mama to treat her to some sweet stock or range cubes but there has not been a calf with her during any of her recent visits. We are still not absolutely sure she has a calf, but our neighbor is not in a particular hurry to run her off and the two calves we have in the barn lot seem content to be there. Mama and I are both curious about the suspected calf because once, weeks ago, Daisy showed up with a little heifer calf in tow. Once and only once. Another heifer would be nice although it will present some breeding challenges for the two offspring of the bulls on our neighbor’s property.

Victoria has been working with Kobe and Kira to dissuade them from ever harming our goats again. I am not sure if she is willing the battle of the wills because instinct is a powerful motivator. In order to help with the issue, I will rerun the electric fence in the back yard. Since I have the shop wired and ready I will originate the fence there versus coming out of the garage. The last time I had the fence powered up Kobe got a good shock from it, she did not want to go into the back yard at all after that; much less attack anything. We will see if it is as effective this time – since she has now gotten the taste for blood. It would be sad to see her go, but if we cannot sufficiently suppress her desire to kill, I will not allow her to stay.

Oh, the joys of farm living!

Goat roping, Gracie’s party, goat sales

Almost as soon as we got home Friday evening we loaded up what large cages and kennels we had and headed to meet Bro Daniel at the home recently purchased by one of his daughters, so we could get the goats she inherited with that purchase. Mama and I were not sure what to expect. Bro Daniel had told Mama that the goats were larger than the ones we had so neither of us knew if they would fit into the kennels we brought with us. As it turned out, all four of the goats were just about the same size as our Myotonic goats, so, if we could catch them we could get them caged and hauled home. Catching them was a challenge but we managed to lead them into their normal pen and slowly but surely cornered and caught them.

The oldest, Sugar, was very easy; she was very calm, loved to be handled. Of the four, she was the only one without horns, so we took a length of rope and improvised a collar by which Mama and Mrs. Wycoff could lead her to the truck. Once she was loaded into one of the cages we concentrated on the other three. Two of the three gave up pretty quickly. Their horns made a convenient handle to drag them to the truck. They were small enough that we put the two of them together in the largest cage/kennel we had. The last one was the most panicked and the fastest of the four. It took all five of us to get hold of her. After she outmaneuvered Victoria three times, she ran herself into a corner near me and I got enough of a hand on her to make her loose her footing. Once she was down, I got hold of one of her horns and Victoria and I hauled her to the truck; walking her on her back legs with both front legs in the air. That was the only way we could keep hold of her. She had to be stuffed into the smaller of the cages we brought, but we got her into it.

We spent too much time with the Wycoff’s looking at the houses once the goats were loaded and it was getting pretty dark by the time we got to the farm. I had decided in advance to offload the new goats in the old pig pen. Our plan was to run them with Solomon for a couple weeks to see if he would breed them. When I backed the truck up to the fencing of the pen all we had to do was put the goats on the other side of the fence from the back of the truck. Height-wise it worked out perfectly They are nice looking goats; probably a pygmy goat cross but we do not know for sure. Obviously, they have not been fooled with too much recently. We are trying to schedule a lady who does hoof trimming for get their hoofs doctored one coming weekend – they need it badly and it is a bit more than Mama and I are capable of doing ourselves. Mama will soon have all of them tamed down, but for now, they are wary of us – except for Sugar.

Saturday afternoon, I dropped Mama, Yilin and Cheyenne off at Gracie’s birthday party. I cannot be exactly sure, but I think it might have been the first birthday party they have ever attended without their parents. They had a good time there, but I went to the office and worked for an hour to make good use of the hour or so. I needed to wait in town so Mama and I could go to Denton to run a couple errands when she could make her exit from the party. Victoria took the girls home after the party and managed the evening feeding for us. It was a good weekend overall and depending on how we parse out the goats we were given, it may have been a profitable weekend in the long run.

On Saturday a gentleman called Rick to see if he had any female goats for sale and he told the buyer that he did not but he knew someone who did. If that contact works out, we may be able to sell Kia and Yukie this week. At the prices Rick suggested, we will make as much off of the two little females as we made off of a bred cow.

That would be nice.

Mortal wounds, scrap, new stock, rehoming

The very first thing I did when I got home yesterday evening was to check on the condition of our wounded goat, Maximus. He was still breathing but it was obvious that he was not going to survive the wounds he received in the dog attack. I could tell by the cleared spot on the floor of the goat shed that he had been struggling to get up through the day, but he was basically lying in the same spot I had left him in the night before. His belly was very distended so there was something going on internally. Mama and I were sure he would not survive another night. I had an errand to run before I could put him out of his misery, so I left him alone until I got back to the farm.

The errand was to unload the trailer of the old fencing I had piled there in a beginning effort to clear some of the scrap and trash from the farm. Most of the fencing had been taken down and replaced in several areas in the back yard but there were several rolls of old rusted chain link fencing from little enclosures around the farm that I had taken down a couple years ago. All in all, it was not much, but it needed to be gone and I could sell it as scrap metal versus paying to put it in the dump. I was expecting to get about $10 for it but was pleasantly surprised that I got just shy of $20. It made it worth the trip. It also makes it a little more worthwhile to continue gathering all the metal scrap that is still at the farm – and there is quite a bit of it. I really want to get the cleanup done by Spring, but I needed to get this load off the trailer so I could get the lumber for the well house in the barn lot; hopefully tomorrow. It is getting to the point that I need to get that structure in place to protect the well and waterlines that feed the coop, the garden and the barn hydrants. Tonight, the temperature is forecast to be 30°-32° F. A freezing event much quicker than I expected.

With the loss of the goats, Mama has been working her contacts to find a home for our other little male, Solomon. As I said before, this little buck is too well made to just sell him for meat. It would be good to give them the opportunity to reproduce. In her networking and God’s providential timing, Mama came across an opportunity to help us get Solomon to a good while helping two other families in the process. One of the Wycoff children bought a place recently and inherited four nanny goats. They are not Myotonic goats, but they are very nice-looking goats. We have arranged to take the goats because they do not want them on their property. They have no love for goats of sheep. That works for us. Mama and I will keep two of the nanny goats and give the other two to a family that she knows through the school. This family will also take Solomon which will allow them to start their own little goat herd. That’s what I call a win, win, win situation. So, of the three goats we have lost, two will be replaced and our little male will not only go to a good home, he will get to produce offspring.

The initial portion of this rehoming will happen tonight when Mama and I go to get the orphaned nanny goats. For the final phase, I am going to ask for a week or two for the nanny goats to run with Solomon to see if he will breed them. We need the offspring too. Mama and I have pretty well settled on concentrating on the goats versus cattle. There is almost as much money to be made with the goats with much less hassle. They are easy to work with, take less space and less feed and weighing 75-100 pounds, are easier to manage than the 1200-pound cows we just sold. they are fun animals to care for, playful and highly social.

They suit Mama’s and my personality – and the kids love being around them.

Dogs vs. goats, the list

When I got home yesterday evening I helped Mama with the evening feeding and took time to put our young female rabbit with Jack. He was pretty instant about his part of the contact. That was the second time I have put them together, so the little female should be bred. We did not have much time at home because of church that evening, but the evening was not particularly rushed. Victoria was not due home until about 7:30 so she did not come to church with us. Nothing noteworthy – until we got back home, and Victoria quietly announced that Kira and Kobe had killed another of our goats. I was not pleased – to say the least. When I got changed, I took the wheelbarrow and positioned it near the goat. It was only when I lifted him into the wheelbarrow that we discovered the he was still alive.

When I did a thorough inspection I was not able to find any life-threatening wounds but there were multiple cuts, abrasions and tears in the skin of the neck on both sides. I hauled him to the garden and placed him on a piece of insulation I had removed from the coop fearing the ants would make fast work of him if he remained on the ground. Thinking about it more carefully, I took the kennel we use for transporting the goats and carefully placed him inside it; in case there was any chance for recovery. I spent the next few hours checking for signs of life and began to see some small improvements. Thinking better of leaving him out in the cold, I carried him back to the little shed we use for the male goats and laid him on the floor next to his brother. As of this morning at 5:30, he was still breathing and bleating pitifully; enough that Mama continued to insist that I finish him off. I am hoping that as the day warms significantly, the goat will be more comfortable and begin to show us he will recover if left alone. Otherwise, I will have to answer Mama’s request to end his suffering. That would make this the third goat the dogs have killed. So, the tally to date is two goats and five chickens have been killed by Kobe and Kira. One of the potbelly pigs was severely injured but survived. And the dogs still get to sleep in the house. I am still very much not pleased.

No one seemed ready to talk about the issue last night, so I kept quiet too. None of the dogs have been allowed inside this week. They still smell like skunk – and now they have blood on their fur. On the positive side, I am noticing a dramatic improvement in Victoria’s health. She is not having the breathing problems or as much of the respiratory congestion that she battles month by month. Whether she will concede that not having the dogs in her room is to her benefit remains to be seen.

During the day yesterday, I compiled a list of all the projects I have outstanding, materials needed for each project and the estimate of those material costs. It was a long, pricey list. No wonder I am stressed about getting it all done. Mama appreciated seeing it all in one place. Having it all written down and tallied up allows me to prioritize the money and timing of the various projects. Most everything is on hold at the moment due to time constraints and/or financial constraints but that will not be the case too much longer. Crystalizing it in print will help with planning – and it helps me remember those items that may be important to Mama but not be on the list I keep in my head.

Old cows, frost, stinky dogs, disappointing purchase

Mama got the check for the sale of the cows hand delivered by the owner of the sale barn. I think she felt badly that one of the tow cows we sold did not bring us much money. Big Mama was an older cow and was listed for the sale as “Long” – which translates “old”. Both she and 95 were two months bred, but Big Mama was at least a seven-year-old. All told we lost about $1000 on her but we managed to break even on 95. Not too bad overall. If I had put a reserve on Big Mama we would have been able to bring her back to the farm and let her have her calf and then sell her and the calf, but we did not set that up properly. So, our herd is down to Daisy and hopefully her calf, Mellow (which is Big Mama’s most recent calf) and the little steer that 95 delivered for us this year. I think Mama and I are going to concentrate more on the goats for an income generating herd. We will see how that works out in the long run.

The ambient temperature this morning was 37° F according to the temperature readout in my truck. The wind chill must have been enough to get the temperature low enough to frost up the windshield because I had to run the defroster on high for a while to get the windshield cleared. Along with the falling temperatures, the drifts of leaves along the chain link fence of the back yard are starting to pile up.  I had to use the blower to clear the garage of the leaves that blow in when we leave the door open for very long. It is hard to acclimate to living with the garage door closed because most of the year we leave it fully open. It feels awkwardly reclusive to have the garage closed up. At least right now it is fairly easy to blow the leaves out of the garage because we have cleared a large portion of the garage by relocating items to the shop as well as discarding a lot of unused items that blocked the area for no good reason. By the time the real cold gets here, I will have cleared enough of the garage for Mama to park the Sequoia inside. That will be a first for her.

Speaking of things being inside, the dogs are not. It has been three days since they killed and ate a skunk in our backyard and they still smell awful. For the past two nights Victoria has closed the three of them up in the sunroom. Each morning when I get up I open the door to let them out for their morning ritual of tearing across the backyard in search of fleeing rabbits. This morning, the sunroom smelled horrible. It was a strong mix of fading skunk odor mixed with dirty dog aroma. Fairly disgusting. I can see a dog bath assembly line being set up this weekend. Besides the smell, I was almost knocked over by the three of them positioning themselves to blot out the door once I got it open. All three of them brushed against me on their way out and I did not think much of it until I got back in the house and discovered that the right leg of my black pants was literally covered in dog hair. I hate dog hair almost as much as I hate stepping in their bowel movements. Fortunately, I was able to get the majority of it off of my pants. Otherwise, I would have changed.

I spent about an hour putting together a file cabinet I ordered online. I wanted a wooden file cabinet to sit beside the desk I inherited from my dad knowing the wood would look better than a steel cabinet. I was disappointed by the cabinet once it was put together. It is one of those situations when I have to decide to redo the assembly using a few more screws and some very strong glue or chalk it up as a loss and go back to shopping for a more suitable cabinet. The cabinet was not nearly stout enough to suit me as it now sits. Oh, well.

It has been a week of hard lessons for me and Mama.

Daisy’s confusion, workload, the twins at the office

After getting Daisy and the two calves safely corralled on our property, Mama was having second thoughts about Daisy being with us. Yesterday evening Mama felt Daisy’s udder and it was very full. If she does have a calf in the other pasture, we had kept them apart overnight and through the entire day. We are not completely sure there is a calf because Mama has seen a little one with Daisy only once and she was not sure that was her calf or a tag along. The problem is that the claves in a pasture will tend to hang out together and only find their mamas at feeding time. So, every time we have been able to look in the neighbor’s pasture we can spot Daisy, but there has not been a calf with her. It seems pretty obvious that she is nursing a calf, but we are having trouble determining which one is hers. Yesterday evening, I opened up the gap once again and let her go find her calf; who I imagine was very hungry. The other two calves are locked up in the barn corral until we get them used to the idea that their mamas are not coming back. Mama and I will have to feed and water them every day for the rest of the week, but it is a small thing to keep them on our property. I told Mama last night that this is the most trouble we have ever had figuring out what is going on with our cows.

The two cows taken to the stock sale were sold yesterday so we should be getting that check tomorrow or Thursday. Mama was angry with herself because she did not put a reserve price on the cows. That would have allowed us to refuse the sale if the price was lower than what we needed to get out of them. All we can do at this point is work with what we get and make the best of it. Hopefully, they fetched a good price. They were both good, solid, bred cows. We’re still learning as we go. It’s a good thing the Lord is watching out for us.

I will spend a portion of this week certifying two of our employees to take on instructor responsibilities. It is another just-in-time outcome of waiting far too long to get help. During the month of November, we have seven instructor-led classes to give; Texas (2), Washington state, South Dakota (2) and Connecticut (2).  Slightly more than I could have handled on my own. As it stands right now, I will do the two in Texas and be on standby for one of the two in South Dakota. The year is ending with a flourish and next year will be very, very busy; especially in the area of instructor led training.

Brittany, Andrew and the twins made it home safely yesterday. All in all, I think it was good road trip for the little ones. It made everyone’s day here at the office to have Brittany and Andrew and Mama show off the girls. While they were here, Brittany took time to change the girls and get them fully prepared for the drive back to Wichita. The babies were wonderful and showed off for my office mates, cooing and smiling, staring intently as they were talked to. It was a nice little extra Brittany and Andrew gave us to round out the weekend.

Cori, Nate and the kids should be in Florida today having traveled from Chicago over the past couple days. They have a very full schedule to finish out the year. If things continue to go as they have been on the deputation trail, they should be able to meet their goal of getting to Honduras by the middle of next year.

God has been very good to us.

Bowie visits, the Fair, the twins

Friday evening Mama and I loaded two of our girl goats to take them to Bowie so they could visit with a Billy goat. Since we were headed that direction, I wanted to take the time to swing by the old homestead and look at the condition of the logs we parked there over four years ago. I tried everything I could to cover them and save the logs from too much direct contact with the wind, rain and sun, but nothing I did worked because of the high winds in the area. The covers either ended up in tatters or blown into the tops of nearby trees. Anyway, when we got there I crossed the fence to get to the logs while Mama turned the truck around. The logs look very good; weathered and darkened but still in good shape.

It was good to see what Danny had done with the place. It is cleaned up and mowed. Slabs have been poured for the front porch of the apartment and the shop addition. The mobile home has been moved. It all looked good. Danny has made several additions to the property just so he could store his stuff but many of the old buildings are still there and being used. Danny has completely redone the front porch because recently a tornado came through the property and ripped the old one off. (Mama and I do not miss the constant, severe weather that seems to have Bowie in its crosshairs.) We visited with Danny for about an hour before we headed to Rick’s to offload the goats. It is always a pleasant visit when we get together with Danny. He told us to get a good look at the old farmhouse. It is going to be demolished this coming weekend. Sad but necessary.

It was beginning to darken when we got the goats put into the enclosure Rick uses for that purpose and Rick is having trouble with his eyes – especially at night – so we were not able to visit too long. He did send Mama a text on Saturday evening to let us know that Lilly had been bred by Mama’s favorite Billy goat, Nick.

Mama and Victoria spent Saturday at the Texas State Fair so Mr. Plumley would have a chance to see the Fair. While they were there I loaded up the two cows Mama and planned to take to the stock sale – which happens today – and delivered them as planned. They were a load for our stock trailer. It was only the two of them but the trailer and my truck seemed to struggle with the weight and movement. It was a relief that I only had to get to Decatur to offload them. When I hooked up the gooseneck stock trailer I noticed that the wiring for the lights had been chewed on. It looked iffy, but the brake lights and turn signals worked so I headed out with what I had.

The two calves that were left on the farm bawled loudly all night because I had taken their mamas from them. One of them even worked her way through the fence to go scout out the neighbor’s place but we got her and Daisy back home Sunday evening. Whether or not we can keep them there remains to be seen. By the time I parked the trailer, the wiring had come apart. Oh, well. I will have to redo it for the next run – and somehow keep the animals and/or rodents from nibbling on it.

Just about the time I got the trailer parked and was taking the tractor back to the house, Brittany and Andrew and the twins pulled in the drive. They scheduled a visit this weekend to surprise Mama. They had not been there but a few minutes when Mama and Victoria made it home. One of the reasons I had hurried through the work I had lined up for the day was because I knew about the twins coming to visit. I even managed to squeeze out two hours to go to Lee Davis’ ordination service before taking the cows to the stock sale.

Mama was almost too overwhelmed to speak when Brittany and I brought the girls out to meet her. We had a very pleasant weekend with the babies – and the parents. The twins were a big hit at church. Andrew and I had to sit and wait after both services for the crowds to dissipate before we could load everyone up and get home. Brittany, Andrew, Victoria and the twins spent a couple hours Sunday afternoon with Grandma and Grandpa. Also, a pleasant visit. They will head back how this morning.

It was a very productive, very enjoyable weekend.

Minor repairs, our disappearing cow, elderberries, logs

I had to stop at Lowe’s on the way home to buy some toggle bolts so I could repair a gate support on the back of the chicken coop. I was not in a particular hurry since Mama was not going to be at the farm. She had to make the trip to Muenster for feed. With the goats being taken to be bred, Mama and I struggled to determine just how much feed to buy to carry us through the month; but we will be close enough that if we fall short, we can make another trip to overcome the shortfall. Back to the gate. As it seems the case with all the “minor” repairs on the farm, it turned out to be more involved than I had anticipated. I have the coop yard separated by a fence and gate in the center of the yard. It was the center gate that had worked loose from the mountings. In order to fix it, toggle bolts were the only option. The problem I ran into was that I did not have a drill bit large enough to get the “wing” of the toggle bolt through the siding. Keeping the Banty’s in their yard and the other chickens out of the Banty yard only added to the frustration of wallowing out the holes to enlarge then sufficiently to use the repair bolts. It was one of those moments that you could have made a video worthy of any competition. Why the chickens wanted to relocate is beyond me, but it added a lot of time to the project. I did finally complete the repair and the gate is in better shape than when it was originally installed. (No chickens were harmed in the repair of this gate.)

While I was working on the gate Mama made it back from the feed store and because the cows heard her voice, they started bawling. Honestly, I do not try to keep up with the livestock since Mama takes her responsibility to tend to them very seriously, so I was surprised to hear that she had not seen Daisy for several days. We have been off-again-on-again with Daisy since getting her back home. We managed to get all our herd to walk through the gap I use to move the cows from our land to the neighbor’s land but Daisy was pacing and bawling on our side of the fence so we let her back onto the neighbor’s property. Our thought was that she may have a calf in the pasture there. The next day she came back to the gap to be let in for Mama to feed her grain and cubes. After that, she seems to have crossed to the neighbor’s pasture on her own. At least, that is what we are thinking at the moment. We walked the fence line to see if there was an obvious place for her to get through but did not find one. Mama called our neighbor to let him know and he will look over his property this evening to see if Daisy is there. Hopefully she is there and Mama can rest at ease knowing that nothing bad has happened to her very large pet.  What we can do to keep her in our pasture remains to be seen. We may have to take her to the stock sale along with the other two cows we were planning to sell this weekend if she will not stay home.

Just before dark, I cut as many of the elderberry fronds as I could. I was able to fill a very large container before it got too dark for me to continue and I only harvested one side of the bushes. It took me over an hour to wash the berries and strip them into a large pot so we could transfer them into freezer bags for later use. We filled six one quart Ziploc bags with the berries. I will look tonight to see how much more I have to collect before the plants go dormant, but I am fairly confident it will be as much as I got last night – if not more.

While Mama and I are in the area this evening to drop off the goats I need to go by and look at the logs for the log home package we have on the property in Bowie. I plan to get them moved this winter. The question is where to put them. If the logs are in good enough shape after several years of exposure to the elements, I will try to sell them. If that does not work, we will regroup and see what possibilities they will provide to Mama and me.

God always brings good of everything we give to Him; we just have to offer it and listen closely.

Goat breeding, Greenland missionary

Mama and I made the needed contacts to get our female goats to a Billy at the goat farm in Bowie. Since he has Grand Champion Billy goats on his farm and does not mind letting us get them to breed our nannies, it is a good chance for us to get top of the line Myotonic offspring.  We are taking all four of the females even though Mama thinks Kia is too small to successfully produce twins or triplets. Even if Mama is right, Kia can be sold as a bred female for more money than if she is not bred. And if she does not sell we will get at least one little kid out of her – possibly twins. That will put our farm herd down to the two boys and their sister – Yukie; who will have to spend the next few weeks all by herself. We are going to advertise Yukie for sale and hopefully the two boys as well, but Mama is dragging her feet on that. Rick told Mama that he has 29 newborns at his place right now. I am not sure why we are on a spring delivery program while he is on a fall delivery program, but that is something Mama insisted upon. The plan is to load up the girls Friday night and run them out to Rick’s. They should be there for about two months or so. If all goes as planned, we will have kids in March of next year.

Last night at church we had a missionary family that is headed to Greenland present their work. It was kind of neat to talk to the dad and mom about Greenland. I recently finished a novel that centered around the country of Greenland. At the very least I was familiar that the largest island in the world is loosely governed by the Kingdom of Denmark. Though the island supports a small  population of 56,000 people living in about 74 cities – all on the coasts of the country – it is a large landmass; two thirds of which are above the arctic circle. There are no roads connecting many of the towns even on the same coasts so almost all commuting between the local communities is by boat. Planes are also used but the expense makes that a prohibitive means to commute for most of the population.

Everything other than meat must be shipped in and the meat they eat is mostly fish (halibut), seal and whales and occasional other game. There is no farmland, no industry, not exports other than some types of processed fish. It does not sound like a fun place to live – much less minister. The temperatures in the winter can reach -85° F (actual ambient temperature, not the wind chill adjusted temperature). You cannot help but be amazed by the call and the willingness to answer that call. They have five kids – four of which will be assuming the ministry with their parents. I was touched by the commitment. They are studying at BBTI right now so I hope Mama and I will get to visit with them more. I am fascinated by the idea of ministering to an Inuit culture.

I am still having problems adjusting to the medications I have been prescribed. On the upside, I am definitely improving – dizziness and all.

The play, elderberries, Mama’s big win

The Christmas play will be upon us very quickly. With that thought in mind, practices have started for the play. Mama was selected to play a bit part in the play and as much as she boohooed about having to be in the play again, she enjoys doing it. She came home from practice excited about her role and the overall selection of those who have been given parts in the play. One of the parts is being acted out by Gracie Echeveria. Her dad is playing the part of a crochety old man who is being solicited by a young girl to buy some Christmas items for a church school fundraiser. The old man tells her not to listen to the nonsense about the Christmas story and the play progresses from there. Mama plays the part of the in-home nurse caring for the old man; talk about being typecast. It is a good play. It should be fun – as long as the choir can get their parts together for the musical portion of the play and cantata.

Mama and I are going to make a final harvest of the elderberries this week. The bushes are so loaded the that the branches are straining under the weight of the ripened berries. Once we cut the fronds from the plants I will cut the plants down so they can begin their winter sleep – hopefully to regrow next year. Mama and I were talking about the way the plants showed up on the new fence line this year. The placement of the plants could not have been better for maintaining the yard the way Mama likes to and it could not have been better for me to keep the plants watered and otherwise tended to through the dry, hot months of summer. The elderberries are the most successful fruit bearing plants on the farm – and I had very little to do with their placement or excessive growth. All I did was recognize the plants for want they were in their infant stages. That was all God. It has been and should continue to be a great benefit.

After Mama got home last night – about the time Victoria got home as well – she and Victoria logged into Facebook to watch an online “show” for LulaRoe. It has replaced the Beanie Babies hunt in our lives. Anyway, I did my best to talk them out of watching too long because the longer one of these displays is watched and the more you see others purchasing the items displayed, the more you feel the need to make a purchase also. Mama continued to watch long after Victoria had shut her link down. As the show progressed a game was played concerning pets owned and Mama entered the true number of all the animal charges she has on the farm which won the contest. In doing so, she won a “Randy” - whatever that is. (At first, I was jealous but I got over t pretty quickly.) Mama was ecstatic over her victory. I think she got up excited this morning riding on the emotion that the contest outcome generated. My fear is that she will be further drawn in to the online shows. So far, her resistance to using electronic devices has saved me hundreds of dollars.

Those days may be quickly coming to an end.

The follow up, follow through

I had a follow up visit with the doctor yesterday evening. It was somewhat helpful. In the interview/consultation I tried to outline that the colon problems I have experienced in the past do not seem to be directly related to diet but rather to stress. He was not overly receptive of the idea – as should be expected looking at this from a purely medical perspective; however, he was willing to give me the benefit of the doubt. With that in mind, he prescribed several medications to help with the inflammation, the infection and the constant tightness in my back. Mama and I have used a certain muscle relaxer in the past but we cut he pills in half and only take them on the weekends because they cause excessive drowsiness. The one recommended by the physician is not supposed to cause the drowsiness that our normal prescription causes. If what I am feeling this morning is any indication of how I will be affected that supposition is proving untrue. About fifteen minutes after I took the medication -as recommended – this morning, I was having trouble standing upright. I did not struggle too much on the drive to work but now that I am sitting at my desk, the effects are a bit problematic.

The reason the muscle relaxer was prescribed is actually a good one. If I can relieve the constant tension in my back, there is a chance that the pain I am constantly trying to suppress will ease up. My back has always been an issue and it has always been very tight – which I considered a measure of the strength of my back. But, if muscles are constantly tense, there will eventually be harmful consequences. Perhaps the doctor is onto something with that line of reasoning. However, if the medication makes me this dizzy we will have to try another route to relieve the tension. If I can ever get myself to stop and do it, I believe tai chi will be a great benefit. Who knows, with the extended periods of dark in the evenings through the fall and winter, I might find the energy and time and dedication to explore the idea.

With the cooler nights we can already see the benefits of the new windows. The chef’s pantry has been the coldest room in the house. It is the furthest room on the HVAC system and sits right off the garage so there is no buffering the seepage of cold air into the room. With the new window in that room, it was actually much warmer than normal this morning. The outside temperature was 43° and it was practically warm in the room when I went into the room this morning. That is a good sign.

All the animals are starting to put on their winter coat – at least the cattle, goats and rabbits are. I do not know if the chickens do anything to prepare for the colder temperatures but the changes to the fur bearing animals is noticeable. I still need to get the well house built in order to protect the well in the barn lot but at the moment I do not have the funds necessary to get that done. It will have to be done soon, but I still have a few weeks before it is imperative.

I also need to put doors on the goat barn, repair windows in the chicken coop, put lights in the barn, till the garden, finish and insulate the shop, bed the trees and shrubs and make several little repairs to the sun room before winter begins in earnest. Mama wants the fireplace to be working this winter but I cannot see that happening. It will be a major project and we lack the funds to pull that one off.

Still, all in all, I always look forward to winter. This year is no exception.

Teaching and training, short weekend, new windows

Having endured three days of training – two as a participant and one as an instructor – I was relieved to be back in the office for a day or two. All of the days in training were good days which provided a lot of interaction with my coworkers as well as a chance to present a course that I actually enjoy teaching. Even though I got some scathing reviews of the course I presented, each person who had something bad to say made it clear that their ire was directed toward the presentation, not the presenter. Not what I or the company I work for want to hear, but none of the complaints are invalid. To end the work week, we retook a class in instructional design which had been totally reformatted. That is the kind of rework we need for the two other courses we are currently offering. I can see us going through a revamp of the material as well as giving serious consideration to renaming the courses to better reflect the content.

The weekend seemed short because there was little I actually got done. The workers showed up to install our new windows about 9:30 and we ran into one problem after another. The first problem came up when the first window had been removed. They had forgotten a necessary part for the installation of the double window in the living room. With the office over an hour away, the lead worker had to go back to the office to retrieve the part while the other two worker continued removing the old windows. I had to run to Lowe’s to buy some mortar in order to reattach the brick window sill that had fallen out when the double window had been removed. That rework took me over an hour but there was plenty of time to get it done and allow it to cure as we waited for parts to be retrieved from the office. Meanwhile, one of the two workers took over the majority of the demolition of the old windows to help ensure we did not lose too many more of the brick window ledges. In all, I had to repair three of the window ledges; which took an entire 80# bag of mortar by the time I was done. I was pleased with my work and for now, the ledges are in better shape than the several loose brick ledges they managed to work around. By the time the lead had returned, there were only three windows that needed to be demoed – including the picture window in the dining room.

The installers ran into another hiccup when they brought the windows into the living room and discovered they had picked up the wrong windows for the opening. They made it work but they will have to return at a future date to put the right windows in place. I was surprised at how quickly the new windows got installed once the demo was done and the metal trim packages – which had to be bent to form from flat aluminum stock - were installed. Still, it took the crew until almost 10 pm to complete the work. The windows are sealed with caulk on both the inside and the outside. They should be a tremendous upgrade to the single-paned, builder-grade windows that were removed. And as a bonus, we got the house thoroughly aired out in the process.

Mama is very excited to have windows she is able to clean. Windows that will easily open and close. I am relieved that I do not have to take the time to line every window with plastic this winter. It was good decision to put in the new windows; expensive, but well worth the cost of the upgrade.

Recovery, training

From Thursday last week until yesterday I was hurting too badly to get anything done. I do not want to take too much time on that subject but it did occupy a great deal of my focus throughout those long days. A visit to the doctor’s office on Sunday resulted in the prescribing of some strong antibiotics but the pain just would not go away. After almost collapsing in the kitchen Monday morning, I went back to the doctor. This time I was sent to the hospital for a CT scan. It is a diagnostic test that requires the ingesting of a very distasteful liquid as well as the injection via IV of a contrast agent. Getting the IV going proved to be a problem. I was stuck seven or eight times before it was decided to put in a PIC line – a catheter like IV the is inserted in the vein just below the arm pit. Having done that, I was walked across the hall for the CT scan but when they tried to flush the PIC line, it was plugged. Apparently, I have very good clotting times. Once the tech reamed out the opening, the contrast fluid was injected and the test was begun. The final diagnosis is that I have severe diverticulosis tending to diverticulitis. Painful conditions that are a lifelong struggle. There is no known treatment. Much like the back issue I am dealing with, the prognosis is long-term pain management.

I will only be in the office for a short while this morning, for the remainder of the today I will be at the Civic Center here in Decatur observing a colleague teach the class I normally teach. Since he is normally my backup, I have not gotten the chance to observe him present the class. It will probably be the best opportunity to do so. Besides, I do not feel good enough to do too awfully much and sitting at the desk is uncomfortable. In the back of the room I can order my day as needed. Following that, I have to present the training for another class on Thursday and sit through an additional class on Friday. Next week will be occupied with nothing but catching up to the last two weeks of not being in the office.

The temperatures are continuing to gradually fall – at least the nights are getting progressively cooler. With that comes the falling of the leaves. It is one of the two times of the year that having all these trees presents a challenge. Keeping the leaves out of the garage is an ongoing issue. Not one anyone but me seems to have a problem with since the garage door is often left open to the blowing wind. The leaves pile up in drifts along the fence in the back yard and smother some of my plants if I do not keep them under control. It is a small thing that we normally use Mama’s mower to help with. I rake the leaves into rows and she mows over them to turn them into mulch. It is a dusty, dirty process, but it has worked well in the past. This Fall however, her mower is not working properly. The other day she slammed her hand down on the blade engagement control and from that point on, the blades will not engage. We have yet to take it in for repairs – or to enlist Grandpa’s help.

James Dobson’s principle of “two sets forward, one step back” is definitely at work in our everyday lives.

Travel with Mama, brief time at home, hot chili peppers

I will be in the office for today only this week. The good news about that is that Mama gets to make the trip with me this week. We will be heading to Port Huron, MI tomorrow morning. I have two classes to teach to a company there. The classes will be on Wednesday and Thursday respectively. Each class is about seven hours long, which gives me and Mama the evenings off to look around the town. Canada is just across a bridge from Port Huron so Mama and I may drive over the border to look there also. She has not decided yet. I am going to check this morning to see if the rental car policy we use will allow Mama to drive the car while I am in class. If not, she will have to explore on her own – on foot. She is excited about the trip although she is apprehensive about leaving her herds and flocks in the care of anyone else. Nate, Cori and the kids will be at the farm during our absence to help with the feeding, but Mama strongly prefers to do those chores herself. The entire routine happens a lot faster without the pigs in the mix. And hopefully soon, we will sell the boy goats, which will alleviate all the animals in that area – speeding up the feeding process even further.

I spent Saturday getting a couple repairs done. One of which was removing more of the insulation in the ceiling of the coop. A large rat had filled one area to the point that the piece was starting to collapse under the weight of the stored food piled on it. While I was pulling down one piece, I saw our rodent homesteader. Mama was freaking out so I sent her to the house to get my pistol. It was over ten minutes later that she returned with the firearm. The rat was long gone. I guess it was not as urgent a problem as I had imagined. When I asked what took her so long she told me that she was thirsty so she stopped to get a drink and when she headed out of the house she realized she had forgotten her egg basket and as soon as she got her egg basket she realized she needed to use the bathroom. But she hurried through all those distractions so she could get my pistol to me quickly. Oh, well. We will have to apply other means to trap and eliminate the pest.  It is almost a shame the rats cannot be eaten. They are quite large.

My training last week in Las Cruces went well enough. There were some technical issues and the hosting company kept calling their employees out of the class throughout the day, but overall it went smoothly. The area is brushy and mountainous; very sparse in vegetation. I tend to like mountains in all forms and the desert mountains were beautiful to me. There were storm clouds resting on top of the mountains both mornings I was there, adding to the beauty. I am sure it gets boring to those who live in the area, but for a short visit I found the vista worth taking time to enjoy.

On the advice of the man who operates our little dump in Chico, I shopped around for some of the peppers that the area is famous for. I took some shopping to find them but I eventually did. I bought a couple pounds of the hot peppers and a little over a pound of the very hot peppers (Arizona 88) to bring home and share with Harrold. He was thrilled. We have not used any yet but I was given a couple recipes by the locals and Mama and Victoria are ready to try them out. Just the three pounds of the dried peppers filled the suitcase I used to get all the books and related class items to the training session.

We will have peppers for some time to come.