Posts
The weekend seems an age ago now, but it was an eventful
weekend for us; at least Saturday was. Since Mama and Victoria were both
available to help, I repaired the cross brace for the support of a tarp on the kennel
we use to cover the little chicken house where the roosters are now residing. I
was fortunate enough to have the right size fencing rail to make the repair of
the cross brace damaged by rain water that had accumulated in the tarp and stressed
the rail to the point of breaking. Mama and Victoria helped me stretch the tarp
I had bought at Harbor Freight over the kennel and clear out the insulation I had
set in the kennel when we took it down from the ceiling of the coop. (If we do
not hide the Styrofoam panels, the chickens peck at them, eating them like they
are candy.) Now, for at least a couple weeks, the roosters will have the extra
room to move about in the kennel versus being always confined to the small
Tractor Supply Special coop. In a few weeks we will move the kennel to the
birthing center to allow the pups room to roam outside of the building.
With that done, I worked on replacing a window on the east
side of the coop. Weeks ago the glass had fallen out of the window frame and
broken. I had intended several times to purchase new glass to put into the frame
but had not taken the time to investigate the repair. When I found out the
price of the replacement glass I balked. Instead I began looking around the farm
for an intact window to put in place of the empty frame. It just so happened
that I had a direct replacement which took fifteen minutes to install and
clean. On this particular weekend, Mama insisted on cleaning the windows in the
coop. If I am thinking correctly the window glass had not been cleaned for
about thirty years. We got the windows several years ago from a stack my Dad
had kept in a shop building in Chappell Hill. They had set unused in that stack
for several decades and when I installed the windows in the coop a couple years
ago, I did not take the time to clean them. Well. Now they are clean.
There were several other little things that got done. I rigged
lights into the switch at the door of the shop, we picked the last of the elderberries
and I cut down the frost-bitted bushes. I also cut down the six-foot-tall canna
lily plants outside the back window of the living room; what a difference that
made in our view of the back yard. More cleanup was done in certain areas that
were – and still are – sorely in need of it. Victoria cleaned out the birthing
center in expectation of puppies being born this coming weekend.
I traveled to San Antonia and spent Monday night there,
taught a class Tuesday in Helotes, TX – just outside of San Antonio – and traveled
home Tuesday afternoon after the class. Mama and I will be traveling to Brittany’s
this weekend for 100-day (more-or-less) celebration for the twins. It will be
another overnight trip because we have too much going on to stay through
Saturday into Sunday. Monday, next week I will be traveling to Lake Jackson, TX
to do class there on Tuesday – traveling home Wednesday, more than likely. If the
class ends early, I will have to determine if it is worth making the six-hour
drive home after the class or just relaxing at the hotel until the following
morning.
A week or so ago, Mama
got a jury summons. It is probably the fourth one she has gotten since we
returned to Texas. This one required her to call the number listed on the summons
between 12 pm and 4 pm Friday afternoon. She agonized all day about making that
call except between 12 pm and 4 pm. During that time, she completely forgot.
She called in a panic Monday and was told she should report for duty at 1:30 pm
the day of the trial. She was needed for a traffic violation that required a
jury deliberation. With that in mind, Bro. Zack finagled the school trip they
had to make on Tuesday to get her back to Decatur in time to report for civic
service on a jury. The only problem: the trial was held on Monday at 1:30 pm. The
court clerk got a chuckle out of Mama on that one, assured Mama that she was
not in any trouble since there were plenty of alternates to serve.
Mama was embarrassed, but relieved.
0 comments:
Post a Comment