Grant’s gifts, animals in general

Cori and Nate spent the day out yesterday. They went to the Galleria in Dallas and ice skated, shopped a bit and had a late lunch. On the way home they stopped at a pet store and bought a Teddy Bear Hamster as a birthday present for Grant. His birthday is today. He is now 9 years old. He is going to have an outstanding birthday if the presents set on my bed last night are any indication of the purchases made to make this day special. The hamster will top off the stack as a gift that keeps on giving – hopefully. Cori got a pretty good bite from the hamster when she was showing it to Mama and Mocha (Norman’s Yorkshire Terrier) scared it. It started to jump out of Cori’s hands and she squeezed it a little too tightly. After all, running to hide and biting are its only defense mechanisms.

I raised Teddy Bear Hamsters when I was younger. I had several other types of rodents in breeding habitats to either feed the babies to my youngest snakes or trade to the pet store for feed and other supplies for the variety of critters I was raising; gerbils, hamsters, mice and rats. I started raising rabbits for the larger snakes but quickly gave that up and gave away the largest snakes to pet stores and to the Houston Zoo. When my Reticulated Python ate the neighbor’s cat I knew it was time to downsize – literally. When I went to Texas A&M for my first year of college, I had to sell off all the critters, all the cages and all the aquariums. It paid for my first year of college in full. It also opened a very large space in the garage for my dad to make better use of. As far as the hamster in the camper Nate, Cori and the kids are living it, it ought to provide some very interesting times for all of them; especially the first time it gets loose and finds a good hiding place. I my garage menagerie, if a rat or mouse got loose, I let a snake loose to find it. It is generally easier to find a snake than a rodent – especially after it has eaten the escapee. I doubt Cori and Nate will choose that option, but it is quite effective.

I was okay with the purchase of the hamster because Cori has a friend in Florida who loaned them the habitat for the hamster and will take the animal and the loaned materials back when they get ready to leave for Honduras. The bottom line is that Mama and I will not end up with the hamster. It does look like we will end up keeping Bella since it is so very expensive to take her to Honduras with them. Mama really enjoys Bella. Her breed is a more “stay with you when you are out” than the wandering breeds Victoria has raised. When they are let out – or get out – it may be several hours before they come home. Bella, in contrast, does not seem to want to wander too far afield when she is with us. Part of that is the training Nate has invested in her, but part of that is the nature of the breed. I would be okay with not keeping Bella, but Mama has decided she should stay with us when Cori and Nate and the kids leave the country.

Speaking of animals getting loose, I turned the rabbits loose Wednesday night. Mama was not enjoying having them and they were in need of treatment for ear mites, which we did not ever seem to have time to take care of. Mama and Victoria do not enjoy eating rabbit, so there is no sense in raising them. We gave it a good try, but we are not rabbit people. I do not think the three of them will last long in the wild, but it was better for me not to have to kill them and put their carcasses in the usual spot. I will be surprised to see them again, but it could happen.

We will start the New Year with less of an animal variety but overall with a large population of animals than last year.

Completion, demo, not quite sick

I spent the morning Tuesday morning getting the insulation put up in the small well house. I discovered when I cut the plastic wrapping on the first package that I had bought the wrong type of insulation batts. I needed the best deal I could get so I settled on the purchase without studying it thoroughly. I bought six-inch-thick insulation when I only needed three-inch-thick batts. That turned out to be a blessing in disguise. I bought only half the amount I needed – I thought. As it turned out, I separated off three inches of the spun fiberglass and installed that portion without any backing. The part left with the backing I used on the upper portion of the walls. The unbacked portion was used on the lower portion of the walls. When I had finished the walls and stuffed insulation into openings where the roof met the walls, I still had three complete pieces of the insulation left. I will use it on the covering for the well at the large well house. I still lack the threshold (to seal the doorway) and the railing and gate for the porch (to keep the cattle out), but I am close to completing the project; close enough to keep the well and tank from freezing during a cold snap. I took a shower right after I finished with the insulation.

While I was doing that, Nate began tearing up the old pig pen. I made it three years ago out of pallet we got for free. It allowed us to raise four or five pigs over those three years, but it was time to get it replaced. In order to get rid of the wood, we used the gravel pit in the patio in back of the house. I needed a place to burn the pallets where we would not have to worry about the nails and screws being left in an area where we will need to drive the tractor. The open pit in the patio made good sense. The only issue was that we had to carry the pallets to the pit – which was less of an issue for Nate than it was for me. As the demolition progressed, Nate and Grant found a series of rat nests; one of which was inhabited by two large rats. One of those is no longer a threat to us. We kept the fire going in spite of the constant drizzle, but finally had to stop when the drizzle turned into actual rain in the late afternoon. By that time, the pig pen was almost completely dismantled. Only a couple of the pallets are in good enough shape to keep and even those are probably better disposed of than kept for future use. I can usually get more pallets when I need them. It was good to have the help on a project like that.

In the absence of the pig pen I will have to put up some cattle panels to keep cattle out of that area, but that is an easy fix. Right now, it is open to the back of the property and Sam and Sasha have been investigating the area pretty thoroughly. It has not been available to them in the past. At the moment the ground is dry and covered with leaves so you cannot see the actual mess the pigs created in rearranging their habitat. It will look much better once I get the tractor and level the ground where the pigs rutted out rather large holes; again, it is an easy fix. It will look different, perhaps better, with the pallets gone. It always amazes me how little remains after something is burned. The forty pallets used to create the pen will be a small pile of ash once the fire devours them. I will scoop the ash out of the pit and put it on the garden when we are done. Nothing will go to waste – except the nails that bound the wood together.

Mama, Victoria and I did not go to church last night. The two of them are still feeling poorly. I am constantly nauseated, on the verge of throwing up but have not done so yet. I woke up a couple times last night because of a roiling stomach, but I laid still and each time the nausea passed. I thought about not coming to work this morning, but I am not sick enough to justify staying home; no fever, no diarrhea; no throwing up. But I did  not want to chance exposing anyone at church to the flu.

One more day and we will finish out the work year. That went fast.

Christmas, visitors – good and bad

When my vacation was recalculated at work I ended up with six hours left for the year. When my comp time was added to that I had a total of sixteen hours to take off. I elected to take off last Thursday and Friday. Thursday, it rained all day, so I helped Mama inside, but Friday and Saturday I got to finish up the well house. By Saturday evening, when Nate, Cori and the kids arrived, I had the door hung and lacked only the threshold to having the little building completely enclosed. I was happy for the extra time at just the right time. (Tuesday, I got to put in all the insulation.) Once the grandkids were on the scene, the pace of life at the farm sped up considerably.

The rest of Saturday was used to get the camper set up, get the final supplies for the Christmas meal and to get things ready for Andrew, Brittany and the twins – who were coming Sunday afternoon. When the babies got to the farm, the level of excitement was even higher. We had a short service Sunday night, Christmas Eve, and everyone there fawned over the twins – who, by the way, are exceptionally good babies. Everything was going well until Grant got sick. Cori was not sure what the issue might be, so she and Victoria took him to the emergency room for a formal diagnosis in case whatever he had might adversely affect the twins. It was an expensive and gracious ordeal on her part. He was diagnosed with the flu. Once that was determined she had to find a pharmacy that was open on Christmas Eve. There was only one they could find – in Denton. So, while we enjoyed a service at church, she and Victoria drove to Denton to get his medicine. It was sad to have him miss a visit from Santa.

Santa got to our house about 9:15. All the grandkids were dressed in matching pajamas that read “I Love Santa”. A friend and coworker plays the part of Santa; and he does an amazing job at it. He handed out certificates to the kids for being on the Nice list and read them the Christmas Story about St. Nick – the one that “Up on the Rooftop” was written from. It was a fun time for the kids even though Mykenzie and Blake knew he was not really Santa. Savanna wanted nothing to do with him. Lots of pictures were taken and a few good memories made. Santa even took time to record a personalized video for Grant – was sick in his bed throughout the visit.

Christmas morning everyone was well. Grant was up and going full force. We opened presents and enjoyed the reactions to the presents as they were unwrapped. Brittany knocked it out of the park with a gift to Mykenzie and Savanna of twin baby dolls. Savanna was so excited about the dolls that she was almost trembling as they were being removed from the final packaging. That was the stellar moment of the morning. Later that morning, Victoria got sick with the flu. That night Mama fell sick. Victoria spent most of Monday (Christmas Day) and all-day Tuesday in bed. Mama spent all day Tuesday in bed. In light of the fact that others were getting sick, Brittany and Andrew and the twins headed home Christmas night. Hopefully, they outran the virus – at least what was visiting our house.

Before Mama got sick, our Chinese family came over to have lunch with us. We had prepared enough food for all of us and they brought enough food to feed all of us. We had so much it was overwhelming. While we worked to keep our traditional meal warm, Alex and his wife prepared two hot pots (one mild and one spicy) with all kinds of Chinese traditional foods. Most of what was cooked we liked, some of it not so much. I tried sea cucumber, chicken and duck feet and oyster mushrooms for the first time. It was the only time I will eat chicken and duck feet or sea cucumber, but we liked the oyster mushrooms. We all liked the fish balls, fish cakes and the vegetables. With the hot pots you just keep putting your cut/prepared items in the hot water and cooking it as you eat it. It was fun. By the time I finally called it quits, I thought I was going to bust. We are still eating on some of the delicacies and sushi while we freeze some of the leftovers from the large ham and the rotisserie baked turkey.

Victoria was better last night. Mama is better this morning. At the moment, no one else had gotten sick.

Our Christmas to remember.

Appliances, cold weather

Since it was raining pretty heavily last night and since the girls had to be taken to Master’s Club Program Practice, Mama and I did the feeding as best we could with the weather being what it was and rested just a bit before leaving the house to get Yilin and Cheyenne. There was not time for me to get into anything useful before we had to leave and it felt good to sit still for a few minutes. It was still raining (Praise the Lord!) when we got the girls and dropped them off at the church, so we did not linger as we headed to Lowe’s to look at hot water heaters…and maybe dish washers

The hot water heater in the house is near the end of its functionality but I have hesitated replacing it because it sits in a cabinet in the hall bath and has a narrow opening through which the new hot water heater must pass in the replacement process. The opening is 19”. That is fairly small for a hot water heater, so I was almost certain that I would have to pull off the cabinet door and facing to make the switch. As it turns out, Smith makes a 40-gallon hot water heater that is only 18” wide. It is taller, but I have plenty of height to work with. As a backup plan, if I have to remove the door and frame to get the old hot water heater out, I will buy the 50-gallon model – which requires a slightly larger opening. I forgot to make that measurement last night, so I will have Mama make it this morning; before we go at lunchtime to buy the replacement.

Getting the replacement installed is of some urgency. With Brittany and Andrew staying with us over the Christmas holidays and Nate, Cori and the kids also with us we will need an ample supply of hot water to meet the demands of the additional eight people. Since the weather will feel like it really is winter, Nate may be limited in setting up the camper for using the bathroom as they normally would, but then again, they have been in some pretty cold places this year and may have all the requisite freeze proof connections for those conditions. We will know by Saturday afternoon.

I was happy to see that not much water had gotten into the well house from the day-long rain. (We got about an inch and one-half total.) The shop was another story, but I am well aware of the places I need to seal up to keep that from happening. I just have not ordered the trim to cover those areas. That might happen today as I pick up the trim to seal the top edges and corners of the well house. My hope is to have the door on the well house and the insulation up before we get the 20° weather forecast for the Christmas weekend. I would like to install a heater in the well house and be able to walk away from that project – soon, maybe. If not, I can make what I have work for a few more days. I think what might be really pushing me is the need to complete a project. I have yet to do that on even one project.

It would be my Christmas present to myself.

Cooking lessons, selling pups, LuLaRoe

Yesterday evening was a bit rushed. I did not get home until about 4:40 because I stopped by Prime Metal in Bridgeport on my way home. I had to order the trim pieces for the well house and the goat barn. I am trying to get the well house enclosed before the severe cold weather we have in the forecast for late this week. I am not sure I will make it but I am giving it my best shop. Unfortunately, I did not have time to work on it yesterday. I really wanted to seal up the front edge before the predicted rain started today but I did not make that deadline. By the time I got home, Mama and Victoria were through feeding and Victoria was headed out to the LuLaRoe lady to try on a dress. Mama began quizzing me on whether or not I wanted to help her decorate the house and was both disappointed and shocked when I reminded her about our cooking lessons and taking Yilin and Cheyenne to Masters Club Christmas Program Practice. The look on Mama’s face was priceless when she realized she had forgotten and had scheduled a puppy visit for 5:30.

It was too late to cancel out on the family coming to see a pup because they were headed to Chico from Bowie as I was reminding Mama of our other commitments. The family has a special needs child and they currently have a large dog that is very near the end of his life. That dog had been a valuable part of the child’s life so far. They are looking for a dog to grow up with their four-year-old autistic child – and we have the perfect pup to fill that need. They fell in love with one of the males and left a deposit with Mama. We are giving the pups their first shots either tonight or tomorrow. The family will pick up the pup Thursday. They are very excited. Even though we had to rush a bit, they were satisfied with the visit and the selection. We now have only two pups left and there seems to be a strong interest in them. My hope is that by the first of the year our birthing center/day care will be empty.

Victoria hurried through her appointment and as she and Mama talked back and forth Mama confessed that she was buying yet another dress. She told me it was okay because she was paying cash for it; as though that made it somehow not cost us “real” money. I did not fuss too much. We were running late to get the girls to the practice at church on time, but it was not a matter of urgency. The girls were watching for us from the windows of the restaurant as we drove up. Lin was watching also. I think he was more excited about the cooking lessons than Alex was. Victoria and I stayed at the restaurant as Mama ran the girls to the church.

Alex had the lesson all planned out, so we started right away. We prepared Mie Fun, a rice noodle dish that has become one of our favorites. Cooking Chinese cuisine is all about the preparation. In the kitchen, they have all the ingredients ready to be cooked. Whether those ingredients are meats, vegetables, seasonings, rice or the various kinds of noodles, everything is cut, chopped, ground, mashed or soaked so it can be put together in whatever combination is required for the dish being made. Ours required egg noodles, chicken and shrimp, green onion, cabbage and a variety of spices. I did all the cooking this time while Victoria watched and took pictures. It took about fifteen minutes to complete our first dish – which Victoria took to a table and began devouring while I stayed in the kitchen to make a soup and watch Alex make some of the selections that had to be refreshed on the buffet. By the time we were done we had the Mie Fun, a tofu soup and some Bok Choy in teriyaki sauce to take home.

When Mama got back with the girls, we all sat and visited while the three of them ate. It was a fun evening.

The cantata

The cantata was pretty much the focus of our entire weekend. I helped Mama feed Saturday morning. We had some rain overnight and the feeders all had to be dumped and wiped out before we could set out fresh feed – that took some extra time. (Goats will not eat the pelletized feed if it is the least bit moist; much less wet.) Then I went bus calling with the pastor. Normally, that takes until about noon, so I did not go home after we got back to the church. Instead. Mama and Victoria met me for lunch at Moua’s. Mama and I went on from there to play and cantata practice. As we left the restaurant I realized I left my director’s book at home. I could not do the practice without it because I had spent a couple house practicing with the CD of the cantata and had all my markings and reminder notes in that book. So, I had to rush to the house and back. I think I was about fifteen minutes late for the 1 pm practice.

We were at the church for several hours running through the play with the songs. It takes a good deal of time to get down where each song is staged, how quickly we need to get into position and how to arrange ourselves when properly set so I could see the instrumentalist to lead the song. But, the choir members were gracious and willing to do whatever was suggested – even providing a few suggestions themselves. Some of them are true veterans at this. We finally got done with practice at about 4 pm. The teens went caroling after that. Mama and I went home, fed the animals, started dragging out decorations, etc. I got to work in the well house for about an hour while I filled the large water trough in the barn lot. It was so near empty that a hungry crane ate all the fish we had still living in the trough. I am not sure if they would have survived the winter, but it was sad to see them become part of the food chain.

Since the trough was devoid of fish, I dumped out the remaining smelly residue of water and scrubbed it clean before filling it back up. The reason it was empty was twofold. First, I had disconnected the hose from the well because of freezing weather. Second, when the bigger cows invaded our little farm, they sucked down the contents of the trough before they went back to their normal foraging. Our calves could not reach the water in the trough because of the low level so it was somewhat important to get it filled before the next cold snap. It was very close to dark by the time I got done. I did not realize how long it takes to fill a 500-gallon trough through a ¾ inch hose.

Sunday afternoon we started our final rehearsal at 4:30, running over some rough spots in the music and finalizing the choir’s placement for each song. I called a halt to the rehearsal after a little over an hour because I was worried about wearing out our voices before the performance. As we performed the cantata there were places where we could have done better, but overall, I had to commend the choir members and the musicians on how good the songs sounded. At one point, the choir started to go up onto the stage to sing and we were not supposed to do so. I quietly got everyone’s attention and set the young men in the choir to their task of getting the stage reset for the final couple scenes. I realized as we were coming up to that part of the play that we had not rehearsed what we were supposed to do at that point but there was no way to communicate that to the choir without taking away from the performance of the ongoing play. A minor hiccup. The good news is, that’s behind me now and I really can relax and enjoy the Christmas season. Mama is ready for me to get onboard.

Tonight, we get our first cooking lesson with Alex.

Feeding problems, practice, materials

When I got home, Mama was doing her evening feeding. All seemed well until she went over to feed the calves. While she was over in the barn lot Daisy decided to come for a visit and bring a few friends with her. She alone might not have been a problem, but when some of the cows started jumping the fence to get to the feed she was setting out for the calves, we started to see an issue. With all that going on, Mama was in the barn putting out more cubes to make sure the claves did not get beat out of all the feed while competing with the bigger cows. I fussed at her to stop because the ten or so cows and bulls on the other side of the fence were looking for a way to get to the feed they knew was being poured out. All in all, only a few came over, but we had no time to get them back onto Wayne’s property before we needed to leave. They might actually be content to stay since we have a fresh bale of hay set out and plenty of water close by. I do not want it as a long-term solution, but I have to repair the fence before I get the strays back to their owner. All this excitement and still Daisy came without her calf. I am not sure what Mama will find this morning. We could have several extras or we could have an empty barn lot if the calves decided to go next door for a visit. I’m just glad the cows did not smell the alfalfa we got down from the loft to feed the goats. We might have had a stampede.

The hour I got to spend with Erin Echevarria going over the cantata music was a great help to both of us. Mama was there with us as we played and sang through the songs that had been giving both of us problems. About 45 minutes into the practice Mama called on me to stop before I lost my voice completely. For some reason I have been struggling with my voice. For about five weeks or so – as we have been practicing the cantata in choir practice before the evening service – I have had to have Bro. Zach lead the music for the evening service. My voice has been too worn out by the time choir practice was over. Everyone has been very gracious, but it is troubling to me personally. Mama went on to get involved in play practice after Erin and I had gone over as much music as we had time for.

I went to Wendy’s for Mama – who was not hungry when we were at home but was suddenly faint with hunger when we were at the church. I got extra fries for the Echevarria kids knowing Mama would not be able to eat in front of them without feeding them also. While the actors practiced their lines, I went to Lowes. Since I did not have much money to spend last night I shopped for insulation for the well house. Trying to interpret the information on the packaging and cross reference that with what I knew I needed took more time than I had thought it would. I did finally settle on a planned purchase; maybe early next week. In looking for insulation I would like to put in the shop, I was thoroughly disappointed with what was available – at least price-wise. I will have to spend a lot more time and prayer to come to a workable solution to address that issue.

I did pick up some cans of foam to do some preliminary sealing of the floor and ceiling in the well house and a couple cover plates for junction boxes I put in while relocating the breaker box. Nothing that cost much, besides, I will not have time to do much this weekend anyway.

By the time I write this blog Monday morning the cantata will be over. Pray for us. We need it.

Practice, Christmas doors, ongoing cleanup

Between play and cantata practices there will not be much work done at the farm this week. Mama has play practice tonight after she spends a couple hours working on arranging Grandma’s kitchen cabinets. I did not know she was conscripted to work in Bowie until play practice, so I asked Erin Echeveria if she could work with me on the final song of the cantata before play practice. She agreed, so we will nail down the final parts of the song that have alluded us to this point prior to her having to facilitate play practice. I need the help because we are performing the cantata on Sunday night. We are ready in all the other songs – at least presentably decent in our ability to get through them with some proficiency. I will have a better feel for our performance readiness when we go through the three-hour dress rehearsal Saturday afternoon. When the cantata is done, I will feel like I can relax and begin to enjoy the Christmas season. Mama had been patiently waiting on that.

Yesterday we had a team building event at work. Decorating doors in the office was the objective. There were three categories; most festive, most creative and most original. I am always amazed by the creativity in this office. My team spent a good deal of time getting our door ready – as did all the other teams. We did not win any of the categories, but we felt pretty good about what we had created. I did not include pictures of all the doors – there were twelve in all. However, I picked the three that impressed me the most. All this was done in ninety minutes so many of the teams did some pre-work to facilitate the assembly, but each door had to be ready for the judging within that timeframe. Judging was done by cards assigned to each of us by name. We were not allowed to vote for our door. After that we had lunch catered to the office, followed by the Secret Santa reveal.

With tonight full, I am hoping Mama and I will have a couple hours of daylight Friday evening to mulch the leaves that have piled up around us. It is far more than we can get done in one evening, but I am anxious to clean up the yard and limit the leaves that I am constantly having to blow out of the garage. It is not a big deal, but it is funny how little things can needle you and occupy your focus when they are really of no consequence. I try not to let my frustration spill over into any conversations or interactions, but Mama would have to tell me whether or not I am succeeding in that. Eventually we will get everything cleaned up – but not this week.

Last night at church, Bro Daniel let us know what our grades were for the very difficult test we took a couple weeks ago. I was, again, pleasantly surprised. I made a 101, Victoria made a 96. Mama does not want her score widely known but was the lowest score she has ever made in FBI. She will still make a solid B in the course, but it will break her straight A streak. She is still happy to have completed the courses and will very happily accept her degree. I expect we will do well on the final test – well enough to graduate.

We should hear those grades before Christmas.

Tis the season, cold

Mama went for a massage after work last night. Her appointment for the massage had been rescheduled several times but yesterday she was finally able to work out the timing. In getting the massage, she had to travel to a shopping area in Ft Worth. That inspired her to compile a Christmas wish list. We briefly talked about the list at lunch on Tuesday, but I was not tuned into the details. I was more interested in getting the best guess of the projected cost. When she told me that figure, I was okay with the price – thinking we would do this over the next two weeks; since I get paid later this week. That was not necessarily Mama’s plan. When she told me that the debit card on our primary account had been declined, I knew I had underestimated her zeal to finish her Christmas shopping early. By the time she got home we had less than $60 in each of the two bank accounts. Fortunately, my company is giving out Christmas bonuses this year.

I cannot spend too much time dwelling on the issue, but she has definitely been in a mood to spend lately; especially on LuLaRoe items. I suppose it is subconsciously driven because I have had to spend a fair amount on materials and fixtures for the projects I am trying to complete at the farm. When I build structures, she fills closets and spaces in the house. Not necessarily a bad thing but I cannot keep up with both long term. Fortunately, Christmas will be over soon enough – and we will enjoy every present that is bought and given. My building projects will continue through the summer of next year so that spending will gradually stop. However, we will probably still be very strong supporters of LuLaRoe long after I have ceased to need large building material purchases.

I did not get much done last night. I went over to the well house and studied how I was going to assemble the door and frame. I got the door from the church. We recently put in new glass doors at the church. The older metal doors were to be discarded so I took both of them home. One will go on the shop and the other will go on the well house. Since the metal frames were destroyed when they were removed, I will have to build the frames for the doors on the openings I have designed in each building. It will not be too much extra effort, but it will take some time and I did not have it last night. Now, at least, I know how I want to do the installation. I worked a bit on wiring in the well house, but I did not have all the tools at hand to do it properly, so I cut my time over there short. Besides, I was feeling really cold last night.

As we unloaded the Sequoia last night – well after dark – all three of us were complaining about how cold it felt. The temperature was showing to be 42° F, but it did not feel like it. Contrasting this morning, it was 25° F and it did not feel that cold. Not sure why it works out that way, but Mama may have trouble getting water to the animals this morning since we left the hoses hooked up last night.

Done, woes, Christmas

Mama, Victoria and I took our last test for FBI yesterday evening. It was not too tough a test and almost everyone finished it in about a half hour. Five of us are graduating and four will go on for one more semester. After that, we have no one in the church signed up for the course. It is good to have it completed. In many ways I will miss the Monday night lectures, but I am sure we will fill that time with something else. No matter how much we talk about it, we never seem to get un-busy. At some point when our diplomas arrive, our pastor will congratulate us in front of the church and hand out the diplomas. I believe it is for an Associate’s Degree in Bible. It may never serve a purpose other than to mark a task completed, but it is a big accomplishment for us – especially Mama and Victoria. Who knows, if any of us go to work for the children’s home and need credentials to work internationally, this will meet that requirement.

Yesterday was not the best day I have had at work. It was one of those days when I could not escape the nagging feeling that I am not the right person for the job I am doing. I have been in this awkward position before and it always seemed to work out one way or the other, but getting past the negativity and finding a stable footing to operate from can be challenging. When you feel that circumstances are lined up against you and you are not being heard, or rather, what you say is being misinterpreted, it is brutal trying to fight back to normalcy in the hope of attitudes and relationships getting better at some point in the future. I have talked with Mama about finding some way to either supply or augment our income without a fulltime employer but, to date, I have not succeeded in accomplishing that desire. So, here we stay and muddle through until things begin to get better or I must leave to work for someone else. At least it is Christmas time.

Speaking of which, Mama and I stopped at Lowes and bought our Christmas tree after our class celebratory dinner at Casa Torres. The trees that remained in the bins were not inspiring. There was not much to choose from and the one Mama got – because it was full – has a crooked top that makes the tree look like it is leaning no matter what direction we spin it. Mama even asked me if I thought we could take it back and exchange it. But, it will do for this season. We get it for the ability to display the ornaments hung on it and to offer the pine smell to the house. It will do on both counts. I like the trees that are less full and have more prickly needles, but Mama does not like to see light through the branches once it is set in place. It more than meets that qualification. This morning she asked if I could build a box to set it on. Her argument was so that she could more easily water it, but the real reason is that the space where we have could accommodate a much taller tree and Mama likes to fill up spaces. It is only a five-foot tree, so we could afford to raise it a bit. This little tree cost us $40. I do not want to know what a nice, tall tree would cost.

Let the decorating begin.

OSHA, the well house, tidbits

I am glad to have last week behind me. By the time I had made the trip to the University of Texas Arlington OSHA Outreach Center twice last week, I got to feeling pretty comfortable with navigating the route. It was never less than 90 minutes to get there. It was never less than two hours to get home. Tuesday and Wednesday nights, I worked in the office until about 8:30 getting a presentation ready for peer and instructor review Friday. The presentation needed to be 30 minutes in length and cover one of the topics spelled out in the OSHA 1910 regulations. The information was not a problem to gather. Making the presentation interesting was the challenge. Fortunately, we had been split into small groups in the class and one of the students in my group had chosen the same general area of the regulation as I had. So, we coordinated the presentations to avoid too much overlap. That impressed the instructor.

Tuesday and Wednesday, I looked closely at the lecture material and the notes I had taken and was a bit alarmed that I could not see fifty questions worth of material that could be extracted from the lectures or the class handouts. I asked the instructor about the test material and he promised to look at the test to see if we had covered the material sufficiently. When he came back to class Thursday morning, he told the class that he had looked over the test and was going to spend the next several hours pitting the three groups against each other in a game that would help us review some old material relevant to the upcoming test. It was a good thing he gave us the time to refamiliarize ourselves with the material we had been tested on in the class that was a prerequisite to this class. We took the test first thing Friday morning. Everyone passed. Several, just barely. After lunch, the instructor wrote the scores over 90% on the board – all four of them. Mine was a 100%. I was shocked. I had called Mama right after I finished the test because she was praying for me knowing I was anxious about the test. I had told her that I would be happy with a passing grade because there were six questions I was completely unsure of. But I prayed about each one. God did the rest. With that behind me, I have the last test in FBI tonight and the Christmas Cantata Sunday night. After those two items are completed, I will feel like I can finally relax.

Saturday, I woke to serious issues with my colon and had to spend the morning resting. As I sat, I worked through the questions for the test in FBI tonight. By about 10:30 everything had settled to the point that I felt like I could go outside and work in the well house. I put some wall stiffeners in at critical areas and cut down one wall to fit in a window that Mama had requested be left with us when it was replaced Tuesday. (Yes, the installer finally got all the windows properly installed.) Having the window in the north wall really adds to the look of the well house. Saturday when Mama looked it over she called it “cute”. Mission accomplished. I will have pictures when it is done – maybe next week,

Victoria has three of the five pups sold so far. I am very pleased with that.

Norman came by Saturday to look at the fireplace. I have put it off because I am not ready to fool with it, but Mama wants a working fireplace by Christmas. What Norman discovered is that the damper had been welded shut to accommodate the gas logs now sitting in the fireplace. He is going to update the logs, plumb in the propane and have it operable by the end of next week. Mama is thrilled. I am pleased to know that I will not have to redo the chimney to accomplish Mama’s desire to have a fire. In light of that discovery, I am going to tear off the bulky old chimney and seal it with a concrete cap. That is on my list of projects for the home.

On the fun side of things, Alex Chen is going to give us cooking lessons. We are all excited about that.

The well house, clean up, Sunday parade

I finally got to work an entire day on the well house. As of last week, I had raised and set three of the four walls knowing that the south wall would take me a good deal of time because I had the breaker box attached to a pallet where that wall needed to be set anticipating a better set up once the building was built. I had to pull the meter at the pole to kill power to the breaker box for all the rework I was going to have to do. I also had to trim the base of the wall I had build just that morning to fit the conduits that came through the slab along that wall. Once I go that in place I had to pull out the wires that had made the temporary connections to the box and set up junction boxes for those that would be too short to make the new connections. All of that took me about three hours.

Once the breaker box was in place and the permanent connections had been made I put the metal on the south wall – the one facing the barn. Once I had that done I put on the roof. I was very blessed to have the materials for the roof. Over a year ago, Mama and I had tried to help out with Victoria’s house and had bought two pieces of metal for the roof. It was all that was lacking to have the roof complete, but I inadvertently got the wrong kind, so we could not use it there. It sat on our farm until Saturday. I had thought the metal was 16 feet long, but we had gotten 18-foot pieces. That worked out perfectly for the small building. I cut the pieces in half and had the roof on in about an hour. I put two pieces of metal on the west side of the well house so the electrical supply to the building would be protected from any rain we might get before the building is sealed up and started to run wire for outlets and lights. By the time I quit, I was pretty worn out.

While I was doing that, Mama had cleaned up the well house at the house and had cleaned out the chicken coop – neither was a small task. I had stopped to help her at certain intervals as I went to and from the house to get tools or fittings I had not packed on the trailer when I hauled the tools and the wall over to the barn lot. Those two chores took her the better part of the day but both buildings looked and smelled so much better for the effort, she was quite pleased with herself.  Victoria was not feeling well yesterday but she spent her day fooling with the pups. At one point in the evening, she had all the pups in the house because their little building was too hot. When they stared stirring about using the bathroom on the living room floor, I asked that they be returned to their habitat. She reluctantly complied but it was easy to tell the pups enjoyed being inside our house.

Sunday was the annual motorcycle parade to raise money for toys for local children. We got out of church and got the Chinese Restaurant before the roads were blocked. The restaurant was empty because everyone seemed to be watching the motorcycles. Lin took the girls over to meet Alex who had parked across the street with Aubrey. They had to be on that side of the street because the riders throw candy to the children along the parade route. That excited the girls. They are not allowed to eat the candy, but they relish collecting it none-the-less. We got to watch the entire parade from the comfort of our table inside the restaurant. They all came to the restaurant once the all the motorcycles had passed and Mama got to hold Aubrey while Cheyenne and Yilin ate their lunch. By the time they got to the restaurant, Mama and I had long since finished eating but Alex insisted on cooking us a dish so we could take it home for Victoria – and for our lunch today. We enjoyed the time there.

This week I will be in class Tuesday through Friday, 8-5. I do not mind the classes but the commute to UT Arlington is a chore.

Maxed out, old hens, eating off the farm

Mama was very tired and very emotional last night. Max, the Mini Poodle pup we had gotten from our Chinese family, had worn her out. He is a very active little one and Mama was not in the mood to have to chase him down for whatever reason she needed to corral him before rushing out of the house to get to the feed store before they closed. But whatever the motive, she was done last night. It is not that he is a bad dog. He is very smart. He is just too active for us to contend with when we have three other dogs in the house.

In the short time he was with us, he got the idea of not jumping on us for attention and would respond to the command of “Down” when he got too excited and forgot. Mama wrestled with the idea of taking him when we picked him up Tuesday and she wrestled with the idea of taking him back when we made the trip last night. But Max was obviously happy to be home when we dropped him off. I was relieved not to have him in the house this morning when I got up to work through my normal morning routine. He was quite a distraction.

Before we loaded Max up with us, we loaded two chickens into a cage to take to the restaurant for the Alex and Lin to process. They like the older chickens. Lin is always saying, “Older is better.” (For Max’s part in the trip, we put him in the back seat of the truck and he laid there like he knew exactly what he was supposed to do.) When we got to the restaurant, Lin took the cage with the chickens to the back of the restaurant and compelled me and Mama to go inside and get something to eat. Neither of us was very hungry but we did sit down for a bit and got a small portion of food from the buffet. We visited with Alex and Lin off and on as we sat eating. Alex was happy to have Max back – he only gave him up because Cheyenne pretends to be scared of him. Lin was happy to have the chickens to eat.

In the future, Mama and I are going to cull the hens one by one. The Buff that went to the restaurant last night had been separated from the flock for a couple days and had not laid in that time. With that in mind, Mama and I are going to repeat the process every couple weeks to cull out the older hens that are not producing. Once discovered we will either eat them, or we will give them to Lin. It is something we need to do so we are not feeding so many unproductive birds. The Banty’s are lawing now. We are getting four to five little green or olive colored eggs every day. I actually prefer them to the larger eggs.

Speaking of eating, I will process the three remaining rabbits this weekend, possibly tonight. We are not enjoying having them and do not seem to be able to get them to reproduce, so it is time to limit the feed bill and process them for meat. That will allow me to clean up and sanitize the goat barn and set up two stalls on the south side of the barn. With that and the doors in place, it will better serve the purpose for which it was built. Right now, it is only a dry shed for the goats to come into when the weather is bad. That is not a bad thing because shelter is a basic need for the goats, but it is less than what I had in mind when I built the barn. My hope is that the building we build on the farm will be useful as built or easily repurposed for those who own the farm after Mama and I have moved on – whenever that may be.

Hopefully, I will be able to get a good bit done to the well house this weekend. Rain is in the forecast, so I need to have the power supply to the well protected by the time I put up my tools Saturday evening. Because of travel required by work, I will not get back to the project until Saturday next week.

It should be another busy weekend.