Not so relevant, more travel, making lists

With the busy schedule Mama and I have had to keep and with the very full schedule at work I have not taken the time to look at or listen to the news as much as I would normally do. I believe I am the better for it. I do listen to select podcasts and specific talk radio shows, but I have avoided combing through the news feeds – which in and of itself can be very disheartening without reading anything but the headlines. I have a somewhat lighter week next week, so I may get to look a bit more deeply into the headlines but, like the soap operas of a decade ago, there is very little that changes in the storyline on some networks. They can only say “We hate the President” in so many ways before it becomes nauseatingly redundant.

Now, looking back after a few days abstinence, it is sad to recognize that even the cable news providers that I used to respect and follow regularly, have succumbed to the pervasive narrative of the day. I am convinced there is much more happening in the world that we would like to hear about. Sadly, that news is hard to find, particularly as those in political power take up their chosen positions and defend them with the full extent of the resources they are connected to. There is a whole world around us that we have become disconnected from. Maybe it is time to ferret out those connections and see what we can involve ourselves in that will actually make a difference.

Nate, Cori and the kids should be setting up at the farm this evening. I am not sure of their travel schedule, but Mama assures me that they will be joining us some time before dark. Nate and Cori have a very short layover. After the morning service this Sunday, they will be heading to Houston to fly out to Honduras. There are a lot of friends praying for the success of this trip as they seek out a house in Honduras; what will become a home for the foreseeable future. Meanwhile, we will keep the kids. I think it will be a nice break for them and it will be a good opportunity for Mama, Victoria and I to get a chance for a long goodbye. Savanna and Mykenzie need some settled time to recoup. Savanna from a cold that she has been battling and Mykenzie from a broken toe she gave herself last night as they were playing. Plus, right now we have all kinds of baby animals for the kids to watch, to play with, and to help feed; baby goats, baby dogs and baby chickens. The chicks will arrive tomorrow – all forty of them. As an added bonus, Mama and I are both off tomorrow.

As is customary with a long weekend, I have complied a long list of things to do. Some of those will not get done, but hopefully just putting them on the list will spur me to action in a focused manner. I have come to realize that none of the tasks are urgent. What gets done will certainly help, but it is not going to affect the overall operation of the farm or the home. However, each task makes the operation of the farm more convenient or serves to clean up a specific area of concern. I guess I like lists. I especially like checking things off of a list once those tasks are complete. Those are both good things especially considering that while we own this farm, there will be a never-ending list of things to be done.

That works for me.

Cooped up, travelers, a good report, squeezing out the time

It may be safe to plant a garden now. Since Mama and I added the extra height of wire to the coop yard we have had very few escapees. We do have to make minor adjustments to the inhabitants of each side every night in order to keep the chickens that like to get out on the side where we have added the extra wire, but other than that, we seem to be able to contain the hens in the assigned enclosure. As for planting, we will wait until the garden dries out a bit before getting into it to plant. So far, we have had about an inch and a half of rain. That is a blessing for the ground but not so much so for the dogs being let in and out of the house. That is always the tradeoff.

Kira’s pups have discovered the food dish and are routinely emptying it. Kira is about ready to wean the pups so getting them interested in dog food was a necessity. This weekend I will get the kennel attached to the birthing center so the pups have a small outside area to go potty – rather than in the building; if Victoria can make that work. The pups are growing very quickly and should be ready to find a new home in about three weeks. One is already spoken for. Mama and Victoria have already chosen their favorite so that one will need a very special owner.

Nate, Cori and the kids should be here tomorrow. Nate and Cori will be traveling to Honduras next week while the kids stay at the farm with us. This trip will allow them to locate and set up a house to move into at the end of May when they relocate to the field. They are excited about getting to the work and getting involved. Having a house ready to go will facilitate not only the move, but also the initial involvement in the work they will be doing there. It is a tall order to find and secure a house in a foreign country in only a few days. We will bathe the search in prayer and trust the Lord that, as He has supplied every other need for Nate and Cori as they have been on deputation, He will have a house ready for them that will be just the right home in just the right area with just the right neighbors. Hopefully, Mama and I will get to see the house this year, but that remains to be seen.

Norman took Grandpa to the doctor in Hot Springs yesterday and the report from the doctor was a good one. Grandpa’s vitals, his bloodwork and his heart all look good – for his age. I am always a little suspect when the doctor dismisses a lack of energy, a general malaise and periodic bleeding in the bowel to the consequences of age, but that was the prognosis. “You’re as good as can be expected for your age,” was his general disclaimer. Grandma and Grandpa were both thrilled. We will celebrate the good news with them. While they were in Hot Springs, they stopped by to see Rebekah and Bridgette – and pick up a bumper Mile had hauled to Hot Springs to sell for me and Mama almost a year ago. I will put the bumper on my truck and explore the option of selling the freshly outfitted truck.

I taught class yesterday and Mama and I came to the office later in the evening to work on our business. We seem to be making small steps forward, but it is a painfully steep learning curve. I am not complaining. At some point in the near future, it should prove to be worth all the effort we can muster to get it going. However, Mama and I did not realize just how busy our lives are until we needed to extract ten to twelve hours per week for this project. I need about twice that amount of time to get grounded, but that’s not going to happen.

You gotta love it!

Our chicken gulag, a barn raider, growing little ones

For some time now, Mama has been letting the chickens free-range around the farm. It is good for the chickens, but it is not so good for the yard, the landscaping or the garden. I have had to put barriers around the areas and plants where I do not want the chickens to scratch. That presents a problem when we need to mow and weed eat the property. Now that we have the garden started, Mama and I are concerned about the damage the chickens will do there. So, to limit the chicken’s ability to range free we decided to try and leave them cooped up. That is difficult when the several that range the furthest and do the most damage to the garden can simply fly to the top of the gate that closes off the coop yard and fly down from there to escape the coop.

Saturday, to inhibit their escape, we installed two feet more height to the fence surrounding the east half of the coop yard – including over the gate to that side. We did not have time or materials to enclose the other side, so we knew some of the more industrious chickens would still get out – and they did. But only a few figured out the escape route. To get out Sunday morning, they had to fly over the gate in the center of the coop yard to gain access to the west side of the yard and then fly over the gate on that side of the coop yard. Some of them actually made it out, but only a few. We will hold off planting the garden until we have set the wire in place on the west side of the coop yard in the hopes it will keep them contained while we plant, water and eventually harvest our little garden.

We were supposed to set up the garage for the forty chicks Mama is scheduled to receive Wednesday afternoon but that did not happen. It will have to happen over the next several evenings, but our day Saturday, after Mama and Victoria went to Wichita Falls and I went to bus calling, was spent getting wire on the coop, moving hay and feed and figuring out just how to get enough feed to Daisy that she will start to put on some weight. Right now. she looks pretty gaunt.

The caveat is that we have a large coon or opossum getting into the feed in the barrels in the barn – and, boy, can they make a mess. To try to combat that we moved a barrel for feed into the well house where we can try to keep it out of reach until I can eliminate the scavenger. I used the tractor to move the remainder of the bale of hay we have set out for the calves under the shelter of the equipment shed that attaches to the barn. Our plan was that we would have a much easier time getting hay from that bale to Daisy, but the residue from where I moved the bale was taken to Daisy and she ate it in only one afternoon. It was two bucket loads of hay. With that kind of appetite, we decided to get Daisy her own bale of hay and Sunday, between services, I did just that. I told Mama it would be good to see just how long a bale lasts her, so we can get real feel for the amount of hay we need to feed out when she is the primary consumer.

The baby goats are doing well; growing quickly, hopping and scampering around the rockpile and paddock. Mama makes a point to handle them regularly. The pups are also doing very well. They are growing so fast it is alarming. We moved the kennel to the birthing center so I could cut an opening for the pups and Kira to access the kennel, but we repositioned it Saturday so the opening could be behind the center gate in the building. To make the transition I will have to build a little tunnel from the building to the kennel. I will also have to repair the kennel so we can reattach the tarp that should be covering it.

That is on the long list of projects to be worked on this week – when we are not working our normal jobs or working on our business or making emergency repairs somewhere on the farm.

Life vs business, the kids, the puppies, the chicks

Three days of travel can certainly mess up an evening work schedule. Essentially, Mama and I are trying to work two jobs. It has not been a thrilling success for us, but we are making the best of it. While I was on the road, I spent the evenings getting the notes from our three-day conference – a month ago – typed up so Mama and I can use them as a reference. The total was a collection of ten pages of single spaced, size 11 font notes. I also caught up on receipts that needed to be tagged and entered into a tracking program we are using to keep track of expenses. All the while, Mama was studying on the various states and counties we are going to talk to our coach about when we have our first meeting tonight. Also, happening in the background, USTLA has been working on getting our LLCs set up. I received confirmation of the paperwork being completed yesterday. I will have a good bit of work to follow through with the initial set up and funding of the accounts, but we should be pretty much done by the end of the month. So, even though the coordination has been a challenge, we are making steady progress.

Mama and I took time to look things over yesterday evening. The garden was in bad need of water and Daisy needed hay brought to her from the bale the calves are eating on. All my trees and plants in the back yard needed to be inspected for signs of life. The grapevine was shooting our new growth. I was pleased with that. Of the berry bushes along the back fence, three of the four were showing a spark of life. I will work this weekend on getting those replanted in a bed where they will have a much better chance to thrive. The one we planted in the raised bed with the blueberries is doing so well I will have to more it to keep it from taking over the entire bed. All the fruit trees are budding and flowering. If we can avoid a Spring freeze, we should have fruit this year – red raspberries, black raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, grapes, figs, peaches, pears, apricots, apples, plums and nectarines. My one dwarf peach tree died through the winter, but the roots are sending up growth from under the graft. Since the grafts are normally from a standard root of the same general variety of tree, I should have a standard peach tree coming up. That will give us one in the garden and one in the back yard.

Lilly’s triplets seem to be doing well. All have fat little bellies. All are getting around exceptionally well. They love the little rockpile I have set up for them in the goat area. Dolly is getting bigger by the day, but we are not expecting her to kid until mid-April. We will take Millie, our senior nanny, to Ricks next week to be bred. That will keep we from interfering with Dolly when her little ones are born. We are in the process of trying to sell two of our myotonic goats and all three of our Nubian goats but have not had any luck so far. Please keep that in prayer.

The puppies are starting to try to walk but are not getting very far at time yet. I will be cutting a door into the birthing center to allow the puppies to pass from the building to the dog kennel we have set in place for that purpose. Another little weekend project.  All the pups are fat and whiney. Mama and Victoria are very pleased.

Also, this weekend, I will be setting up places for us to house the forty chicks Mama ordered. Thirty of which are ours. Fortunately, the weather is perfect for brooding the chicks in the garge.

Triplets, mulching, gardening

Saturday morning was an early morning; sort of. Friday night it was pretty obvious that Lilly was going to have her kids this weekend and Mama was fretting over the birthing. So, Saturday morning she popped out of bed a little after 7 am and looked out our bedroom window to check on the goats. What she saw put her into immediate action. Lilly was in the paddock giving birth – there was already one kid on the ground that Mama could see from the window. By the time we got out to her, she had given birth to her third tiny kid. Two males and one female. The female, the doe, is marked just like her father. Both of the bucklings are the black and white Mama favors. It started off our morning with a flurry of activity.

The first issue was that Millie, the matron of the herd, butted Lilly away from her newly born kids. None of the little ones had even been thoroughly cleaned yet and all of them needed to nurse at some point, but the older Nanny would not let the mommy near her babies. Mama and I had to get a leash, catch Millie and drag her out of the paddock so Lilly could take care of her little ones. That caused us a problem because we chose to put Millie in the coop area which abuts the Nubian goat’s enclosure. Millie and Sugar, the matron in that little herd, decided to but each other through the wire gate that separates the two areas. So, Mama and I had to herd the Nubian goats into the pig lot, close them up and hang a sheet over the shorter fence on that side of the enclosure so the goats could not see each other. Hopefully, we can put Millie back into the paddock this afternoon. Rick told us that the aggression on the part of the older goats only lasts a day or two. We will test that carefully.

After we got the goats situated, Mama and I went to the feed store to get bales of alfalfa for Daisy and the goats. Since Daisy it corralled in the barn, she has to be tended to every day. Getting the portions of feed correct for her has been a challenge. She will eat whatever we give her, and we want to help her gain her weight back, but we do not want to go broke trying to do so. We are still learning how much of what she actually needs to thrive while we wean her calf. Getting the one hundred-pound bales placed where we needed them took some time. One went in the cow barn with Daisy. The other went into the loft of the goat barn. Thankfully we have a tractor to help us get all that done. By that time, we were ready for breakfast, so we ate the sausage kolaches we picked up in Chico when we were getting feed.

Mama and I worked in the garden after getting the cows taken care of. We got her mower and used it to mulch the accumulated leaves so we could start to prepare the garden for some plants. The leaves took a bit of work even with the mower to mulch them, but we got the chore done in about an hour. After which, I started the tiller and got some rows ready to plant. I already had onions in the raised bed, but we needed a lot more soil added to plant anything else. Early in the afternoon, we made our trip to Lowes and to Decatur Garden Center. Lowes for soil. Decatur Garden Center for plants. By the time we got all that done, our evening chores done, and everything put away properly, it was almost 6 pm.

As of last night, all the kids were doing well. The little doe still has not gotten to where she walks properly. She still curls her hoofs under her as she tries to walk. We will see if that works itself out as she gains strength and coordination. When Mama and I checked on them late last night, the three were in the Igloo dog house we have in the goat barn, with Lilly standing guard at the opening. The dogs were on duty and well aware of the new kids. Mama could relax and go to bed.

Sunday was going to be equally busy.

Overwhelmed, kids and pups

Have you ever come to the point where you were overwhelmed with the amount of work that needed to get done and you knew you could not possibly do it all in the timeframe in which you felt it needed to be accomplished? Me too. I must have been at one of those points last night where the weight of the load caught up with my consciousness. Something hit me as I walked into the garage and it was, once again, full of leaves that had blown in under the partially open door. Mama and Victoria like to raise the door in order to give the rabbit, whose cage seems to be permanently set in the garage, some fresh air. My contention is, if the rabbit needs fresh air, set the rabbit outside. I know, it is just a few leaves, but for some reason it hit me the wrong way yesterday evening as I unloaded my things from the truck. I got over it, but not before I had to apologize for getting snippy with Mama.

As I changed and got busy working, I had to ask myself what was really bothering me? So much to do. So little help. So little time. So little money. Yearning for a change and finding the same, same, same. As I worked on mulching leaves so Mama and I can have a garden at some point this year, I began to realize – as is typical – I was frustrated because I had so much. Sad, huh? Mama and I had all this because we had prayed for it. We have a farm because we had prayed for one we could manage as we grew older. We have a garage because the farm God gave us had a large house in it with an oversized garage – complete with all the amenities of a large garage. We have all these noisome leaves to contend with because, unlike much of the area around us, we have lots of trees on our little farm; to shade our goats, our cattle, our chickens, our dogs – and our house.

We have a goat barn that needs doors because God allowed me to build it. A chicken coop that needs some finishing touches – which is very nice, by the way - because God allowed me to build that. We need fencing stretched over three hundred feet of pipe fencing because we have a property that can be subdivided for the goats we are keeping. We have a barn for the cattle and all the equipment I need to maintain the property, to get large bales of hay for the cattle, etc., etc., etc.

So, once again, I decided I can either be like Martha, who “was cumbered about much serving,” or I can be like Mary who chose the “good part”. I would like to say my attitude changed immediately, but that would be a lie. It took time to realize that being overwhelmed is a two-sided coin in this instance. At some point, I will be overwhelmed with gratitude for all that the Lord has given me and Mama. Because, in fact, He has given us so much.

Mama was somewhat frustrated yesterday evening because she cleaned an area in the goat barn for little Lilly to have her babies and rather than lie in the cleaned spot the goat was bedding down in the area that still has a bit of rabbit manure in it. Later that evening, as I was working on leaves, she checked again and was pleased and relieved that Lilly had moved to the spot Mama had prepared for her. Unlike the Disney movies, these animals act just like animals and we have to allow them to act on the instincts God gave them – and adapt our expectations to conform to those instinctually guided actions. However, in this case, Mama seems to have anticipated the need in sync with the mama-to-be. Mama is very good at that.

Kira’s pups are growing quickly. By the middle of next week, their eyes will begin to open, and we will have to make arrangements for the seven of them to be more mobile. With that in mind, I need to repair the kennel we typically use for the Banty house, so it can be ready to be used for its intended purpose – a dog kennel. It was damaged by the ice storm we had a few weeks back. We will move it this weekend to sit near the birthing center so Victoria has a place to put the pups as they require more room to move about. A place where they can be somewhat contained.

Another “extra work” blessing in disguise.

Mama’s home, training yesterday, mock training today

Mama made it home safely yesterday afternoon. She was a little worried about one particular stretch of road in Oklahoma City where the construction had caused longs delays for the southbound traffic. She had noticed the backup on her way to Brittany’s last Saturday. Since she did not know an alternate route, she knew she might be stuck with the delay. She is not a fan of traffic jams. Well, she stopped on her way back in Edmond, OK and as it turned out, she spoke with a policeman who was able to tell her how to get around the construction area and avoid Oklahoma City altogether. She was thrilled. Those of you who know Mama know she loves shortcuts and alternate routes. She thoroughly enjoyed her time with Brittany and the twins. She actually gained a little on her biceps while she was there.

I was conducting training all day yesterday. It was an uncharacteristically small class – only twelve. However, it was a good class. There was a lot of discussion, a lot of participation and so many questions that the class lengthened itself to the point that I had to breeze over some less relevant portions. All in all, it was a very good class. Two more to go for this month. The next of which is very near San Antonio. IT is one of these class venues that I wish I could take Mama with me. We both love San Antonio, but I will not do much on my own while I am down there. I may go to the River Walk for dinner one of the two evenings I am there, but not much more than that.

Today, I will be in a class setting all day. With the program we have implemented to get new trainers onboard, one of the requisites is to have each new trainer candidate to do a mock training. Something akin to a full class presentation done in a mock setting – generally with me and several other employees to serve as the attendees. Today, the presentation will be with me and the presenter alone. It is a pre-mock setting for this individual. Because of the volume of the information contained in the eight-hour course, this individual needed a run-through that would allow me the opportunity to do a good bit of coaching and instruction as he wades through the material. I am confident that he will do very well, but both of us realize that he will need a chance to do a full-blown presentation to a mock audience before he presents to a client class. This will serve as a time to adjust his presentation pace and broaden his understanding of and comfort with the material. I have had to adopt this process for a couple additional candidates as we add trainers to our roster. It may seem tedious, but the final results in presentation confidence are well worth the additional time.

Since Mama is off and since we have limited groceries in the house, I suggested we meet for lunch. Mama was pretty quick to agree, but we did not settle on an eatery. I thought we would play that by ear as the day unwound. We’ll see how that turns out. She will be getting feed this morning and will be on the road back home about the time we would normally have lunch so, we will see what she is ready to eat when she comes back into Decatur from her shopping trip to Muenster. I am ready for school to start again. I find I would rather eat lunch with Mama in that setting than in any restaurant we have available to us. I do not mind eating out per se, but I do not like the associated costs of doing so. Most times I would rather eat what I brought.

It is more boring, but it is so much more cost effective.

Researching, coaching, training, Mama

Yesterday evening, I left the farm after being there for only about an hour. Mama and I were going to get a call from our newly assigned coach at about 8 pm, but I felt like I needed to get some more research done in case we were asked if there was anything particular we were working on. It helped to be at the office, getting my mind centered on the business, picking apart lists. Mama and I will continue to do so as we are coached through the process. I did find a couple good properties, but we will not be able to purchase them because they are going to auction next week. Mama and I are not prepared to move that quickly, but it is good to see the process work in identifying good deals as we wade through the data.

As promised, Theresa called at 8 pm. She called me first and we conferenced in Mama. We only chatted for about half an hour so she could get a feel for where we were interested in looking, what our long-term and short-term goals were and what our financial resources were. She was pleased with some answers. She was not overly pleased that we had already met with Frank. That, we have learned, should have waited until we had completed our coaching sessions. Oh, well. I think Frank gave us a really good start – but time will tell. She was pleased that we understand the process and the limitations we will face due to our limited cash. She referred to herself as “cheap”. That will probably work well for me and Mama. One of the disconnects Mama and I had with Frank was with regard to his financial approach to this business. He was thinking in the $100,000+ range of purchase price for properties while we were more in the $10,000+ range. However, Frank did teach us a very practical way to record, tabulate and organize our research. We will see how Theresa does her research over the next few weeks and merge the two at some point along the way. Mama and I are anxious to get started, to make our first purchase, to make enough money to do this as a fulltime business without having to report to an employer. Maybe this year.

I will be presenting a class tomorrow. I have one class each week for the next couple weeks. One of the three will require me to travel for a couple days. I was talking to Mama this morning and mentioned my travel next week as opposed to her travel this week. My hope is that at some point in the very near future we will be together when we travel – but not yet. I am pleased that my company allowed me to rework the presentation that I give most often to make it flow more smoothly. It is still a bit fractured in sequence, but at least, there is a greater continuity to the overall presentation for now. At some point I will rewrite the entire class and group it according to content rather than skipping back and forth in focus areas. Tomorrow will be the first time we will be using the new books and slide deck for the class. It should be no issue, but I will get to see what sticks out as I present the class in full.

Mama is thoroughly enjoying the twins, although she is not used to lugging around such large babies. Neither of the girls is able to hold themselves up very well so they still have to be supported when being held. That takes an effort Mama is not conditioned to as well as Britany. Brittany has had the advantage of growing stronger as the twins have grown – a slow progression to where she is today. No other person has had the daily exercise of handling the growing babies; Mama included. Fortunately, she is used to handling sacks of feed that weigh a bit more than the babies. On the down side, she does not usually carry the sacks of feed around for very long. So, she is part way there, but not all the way there. Never-the-less, she is having a great time.

If her plans do not change again, she will head home tomorrow.

Mama’s travels, leaves, puppies, goats

Mama made it to Brittany’s safely Saturday afternoon. Nate, Cori and the kids were already there. The kids have had a fun time visiting with each other. Savanna, who is two years old, has wanted to hold her baby cousins, who are now seven months old. The dilemma is that each of the twins weigh almost as much as she does. Fortunately, Zoe and Sophia do not mind being passed from person to person and the especially seem to love Savanna. Mykenzie has been a help to Brittany in the short time they have been there, but they will be leaving today to head back south for meetings later in the week. Mama is still debating when she should come home. It will either be tomorrow morning or Tuesday morning. Either way, it will be a sad morning – for her and for Brittany.

As Mama was leaving Saturday morning, I was emptying the garage so I could clean it out. The leaves have been accumulating in it for some time and I have not taken the time to blow them out. It is often a losing battle since Mama insists on leaving the garage door partially open so the rabbit, who resides in our garage, can have some fresh air. With the accumulated leaves just outside the garage, it gets littered with the leaves when the wind blows in just the right direction. I have not taken the time to dispose of the piles of leaves because I was not entirely sure how to go about getting rid of them efficiently. Well, that morning, the Lord gave me an idea. I put the bucket on the tractor and filled it over and over with leaves which I dumped in a spot on the property. Even with the multiple loads of leaves I removed from the accumulated piles, I only got a fraction of them moved. The pile at the garage was the first to go. That was five loads. Then I worked on the pile at the fence between the house and the well house. I still have about two loads of leaves left in that pile – for a total of eight loads of leaves from that pile alone. I will finish next Saturday, but I still have the enormous piles of leaves in the garden area and around my fig tree. Maybe twenty more loads will get it.

The seven pups are doing well. With that few, Kira is able to take care of them easily. The only issue Victoria has had is the ambient temperature. It has been warm. I will not say hot. That is coming, but the afternoon temperatures have been warm enough to make Kira very uncomfortable. She has started digging sizable holes on the sides of the birthing building to lay in attempting to cool down. Grandpa built the building facing south. Not necessarily bad, but it allows the force of the afternoon sun to shine directly into the little building, making it too warm for Kira to stay in there with the pups. Victoria is worried she will take the pups out of the building and nest them in the dirt, but she is more afraid of keeping Kira in the building if it is too warm for her. So, for now, the doors are left open, so she can move in and out freely. The pups are too small to go too far – and they like the warmth.

One of our yearling goats, Lilly, will have her kids any day now. Mama is worried about missing the birthing but so far, that has not been an issue. This morning, Lilly was up when Victoria checked on her, but she looks like she is about to burst. All signs are pointing to her having the kids by Wednesday or Thursday at the latest, but Mama and I are new at this, so we are only guessing for now. As we gain more experience, we will have a better idea how to predict the delivery time more accurately.

All the animals are missing Mama, especially Mocha. And, yes. I miss her too.

Small victories

After Mama had a very frustrating morning with the Nubian goats again, we found them all in their enclosure when we got home after work yesterday evening. It is not a big thing. They are easy to herd back into a familiar area, but, as you all know, it is rarely the big things in this life that give us the most angst. There was some talk of selling the goats, selling the farm, etc., but all that flew away through the remainder of the day. With the panels Mama and I put in place and the metal pieces used to reinforce in areas the panels did not cover, I am just glad it does not look like something we might see back in the hollows of Mama’s home state. For now, we will continue on. After all, Mama just ordered twenty more chicks for us and ten chicks each for Alissa and Kimberlyn respectively. So, by the end of the month I have to be set up to raise 40 baby chicks. Our farm will still have all the normal sounds, the barking of dogs, the bleating of goats, the lowing and bawling of cattle and the clucking of chickens. Soon, I assume we will add a pig – when I have the goats out of that area.

Another small victory happened last night as Mama and I were working on our business. Within this business we are setting up two LLCs. A couple weeks ago we were asked to select names for those legal entities. Somewhere along the way those names got overlooked as we progressed toward completing the paperwork for the LLCs. Monday, I got word that we were at the point of confirming the mailing address and the names for the entities, so I got an extra chance to register the names Mama and I had originally selected. When I responded to the email asking for final confirmation I anticipated a response but did not get one over a three-day period. Last night, as we spoke to our liaison with US Tax Lien Association, we let her know we were awaiting a response – and we got one within a few minutes. We got to register the names that we wanted for our two LLCs. That was a blessing. Names, addresses and phone numbers are now being registered. Accounts will be created and funded, and Mama and I can start to do business.

Meanwhile, back ion the farm. All seven pups are healthy and growing quickly. With only seven to nurse, Kira is flooded with milk, so the pups are always full. I should have taken a picture of the litter, but I do not take my phone with me when I am at home or working around the farm. This weekend will be an exception since Mama will be traveling and spending several nights away. Honestly, I have only looked in on the pups once since they were born. That was last night. When I went out to close up the chickens for the night, I also closed the door to the puppy ward because Mama had left it open when she had last tended to Kira and the litter. The night was not going to be overly cold, but it was cooling down too much to let all the colder air into the small building. Grandpa did a good job on the little structure. It is well insulated and stays warm with just a small heater or a heat lamp.

Victoria had not anticipated the cool morning, so she had not turned on the heater last night when she tended to the pups. This morning, when she went out to check on everyone, Kira had moved all the pups under the heat lamp. It was only 45°F, but that was cool enough that the little ones needed a bit of help staying warm. Victoria is off today so she will spend a good portion of the day fussing over the pups. By the end of the day they will have names – and I should have pictures to share.

Puppies, more goat escapes, visiting

We have puppies. The first one was born yesterday at 7:30 am. Mama called in to work so she could stay with Kira. Victoria had to report to work. Try as she might, they would not let her off. Bro. Zach told me at church that Mama was the first person he had call into work for time off to take care of dogs. Mama left for work at noon and I met her a little late for lunch. By that time Kira had five pups. When Mama got home the count was up to seven and it appeared that the birthing was over. However, when Victoria went out very early this morning to check on Kira and the pups, she found two more pups. Sadly, both of them were stillborn. She was agonizing as to whether or not the pups could have been saved if she or Mama had been there at the birthing, but we will never know – and it is not something we should spend a lot of emotional energy on. Seven healthy pups is a good litter.

As I was driving into the driveway at the farm yesterday evening, I saw the Nubian goats in the back yard - again. Mama and I had put us several panels at the back fence to close off their escape route, but we had unintentionally left a small portion of weak fence open for the goats to access the yard. They were enjoying themselves thoroughly. I went straight to work reinforcing the parts of the fence that would give them a path to escape and we put them back into their little area.

When I finished, I went over to the barn to feed the cows and look for some wire pieces for props for work. When I was coming back from the barn the Nubian goats met at the gate into the barn lot from the middle paddock. So, now they were in a much more open area. As much as I preach closing gates behind us, I had not latched the little wire gate we use as access into the middle paddock from the chicken area. It was wide open. It is normally not an issue, but we do not normally have goats that are trying out new areas of our farm. That partially explained how they got into that area. I did not try to gather them because they can easily outrun me – and they had too much room to do so. I walked back into the chicken area to see if I could find how they had gotten out of their enclosure. It was not hard to guess. The gate into their area from the chicken area was also wide open. Either Mama or I had not latched it properly.

Fortunately, goats are like chickens in that they will normally return to their quarters for the night. So, rather than herd them back to their habitat, we left the gates open and allowed them to wander back home. Mama and I went out just before we left for church and shooed them back into the area they are supposed to stay in, closed the gates and left them to their own devices for the night. Whether we have sufficiently reinforced the enclosure to keep them contained will be tested through the day today. What I can say for certain is that they have tasted freedom and they liked it. I will have to work faster at getting the new area ready for them. Or, we will sell them as bred goats and be done with them.

Mama will be taking off Saturday morning for Brittany’s. She is on Spring Break next week and wanted to take the opportunity to see the twins. As an added bonus, Nate, Cori and the kids will be in Wichita for a conference. So, Grammy will get to celebrate her grandparent status in a big way. She is thrilled. I think Brittany is also but not like Mama is. On Tuesday morning, Mama will have to say goodbye and come home. It is always amazing to me how she will go into a trip like this with the pending goodbyes hanging over her the entire time. Here we are, two days before she even leaves to make the visit, she is dreading the coming of next Tuesday when she will have to say goodbye.

I have never understood her, but I certainly do love her.

Voting, loose goats, puppies

The Texas primary was yesterday. I did not take a lot of time to investigate candidates, but I did enough to get a feel for the right way to vote in the primary. There were sample ballots available online, so I printed one out to have copies for me and Mama as we prepared to vote. Since I had done my little bit of research, the selections I made were used by several other people as they voted. I hope I made the correct choices. Anyway, Mama and I met at the farm and drove to Chico to vote. She had been on the phone ordering chicks for herself and three other people while she waited on me. The Chico library had been conscripted for service as our voting site. As we arrived in the tiny town center of Chico, it was hopping place. I am not sure if there are ever that many cars parked on the square that borders the small parklike area set aside for “downtown” Chico. Zack and Alissa, who now are registered Chico voters, were just leaving as Mama and I got there.

The voting machines used a dial to select a line within the electronic ballot. It reminded me of a part of an activity board we once had for our toddler children. You put your finger in the depression made for that purpose and spin the dial to select the position on the display to highlight a block, then press “enter” to confirm the selection. It took a moment to get the feel of the device but once we saw how it operated, it was pretty easy to use. While we were in line one of the volunteers and Mama started talking about her bad knees. The volunteer provided Mama with the contact information of an acupuncturist in our area. She told Mama that the treatments her husband had gotten were very effective in managing the pain he had had with his knees. We were done and back at the farm in about forty minutes. Mama went out to feed and I started dinner. I tried to boil the dumplings Alex had given us Sunday, but I got them way too done. They were mush when I tried to retrieve them from the hot water. We were able to eat some of them, but certainly not all.

Right after dinner, I got on the computer and began working on emails related to our business. Mama was sitting at the table playing her word game as I worked. I was so engrossed in what I was doing that it took me minute to register why Mama was laughing. The Nubian goats had escaped their enclosure and were in the back yard. They were so excited about their escape that they were jumping about, butting heads and scrambling all over the yard. When we went out to see how they had gotten out we discovered that our earlier discussion about replacing the back fence was more timely than either of us had thought. They had simply run under the fence at an area where it was loose enough to allow them to do so. They went back into their enclosure easily enough, but I had to take the time to put wire panels against the weakened fence to hinder them getting back into the dog’s yard. Fortunately, all the dogs were inside at the time of the escape. We have lost two goats because the dogs did not tolerate the interlopers in their area.

As I was getting up this morning, I noticed a lot of lights on in the house and back yard. By that I knew Victoria was up with Kira and the birthing was near. At first, I thought Mama was up also, but she was unaware of the developing situation. She had gone to bed at a very early hour and was still enjoying her rest. I started my normal morning routine and sure enough Victoria was working with Kira; who was obviously in labor from the nervous way she was acting. Victoria said Kira got her up numerous times last night to go outside to relieve herself. That is how it always begins with her. Kira has herself all cleaned up and ready to begin nursing the pups. So, sometime today we should have puppies.

It is anyone’s guess as to how many.       

Delays and distractions, puppy watch

Before I got to go home yesterday evening I had an eye appointment. Mama had scheduled the appointment for herself but the one she had scheduled for me conflicted with a travel date for work. So, I took her appointment. No big deal except I did not get out of the ophthalmologist’s office until a little after 5 pm and I had to get fuel for the truck before I could head to the farm. I called Mama when I was through because she was fixing some kind of pizza bread for dinner and I wanted to let her know about the time I would get home to eat. I had to leave a message. I almost wish she would have answered and offered to meet me at the office to do our research, but that is not how it turned out. We did end up getting back to the office around 6:15 and worked until about 8 pm. It was embarrassing how much we had forgotten between Thursday night – the last time we did our work – and last night. It took a full twenty minutes to get going; to feel like we were making the right moves. But we got there and eventually found a good deal to record and track.

While we were in San Diego doing our training, we had been encouraged by Frank to look into properties in Texas but after some investigation, I believe we will put that on hold until we have more experience and more money. Right now, one deal would tie up our money and focus for six months to two years and we are not in a position to allow that long of a timeframe before some type of closure on a deal. We will concentrate on a state where we can immediately take possession of the property and move forward to the sale. At least, that is how I am seeing things right now.

I brought my MacBook to the office with me last night, so I could use the internet there to download Office onto the Mac. I did not bring the power cord, so the computer kept shutting down and interrupting the download. I will have to remedy that situation the next time Mama and I come back to the office to continue our research. Poor planning on my part. I ordered the program, so I could use familiar products on the Mac. I have had difficulty using Numbers with the same proficiency as I am able to use Excel. Plus, I want to be able to teach Mama to use the programs we need for our business. Having that consistency will be priceless as we go through that learning curve.

Mama and I may have to take the night off tonight to answer some of the needs at the farm. We need to get hay and alfalfa for the goats. We normally get those two items from Rick, but Mama has called several times without getting a call back. We were planning on making the trip this evening but may have to postpone. It is too far to drive without knowing if we will be able to get the bales of feed we need. Also, at some point in the very near future, Mama will have to go to Muenster for feed. We may be able to put in a couple hours on that evening, but it will be a stretch. It would be nice to do this business from home but for the time being, that is not a workable solution. I suspect there are more internet providers developing the system we need to get good internet service at the farm, but I have not found one that I am willing to try – or to meet their price for installation and service.

Kira is due to have her pups any day now. Mama and Victoria are praying for less than ten puppies and based on the size of her belly, they may very well get their prayer answered. I think Victoria needs at least six pups to meet her financial expectations. She has already spent a couple pups worth of money on her new iPhone X.

Between her tax refund and the sale of the pups, she should be able to more than cover that expenditure.

Skirts, taxes, Owen Daniel

Thursday was a blur. Both Mama and I were still recovering from the San Diego trip on Tuesday and Wednesday, so Thursday was the first day we felt like we had a clear enough mind to attack the accumulation of tasks that needed to be done before we could leave Friday morning to see Owen. The shop needed to be dried out and cleaned up. The chicken coop had to be cleaned. Feed had to be distributed. Everything needed to be rearranged and dried out because of the rain we continued to get. So, as soon as I got home from work, I changed I went out the door to get started. Before we left for San Diego, I had rescued the one woodworking table from the flooded area of the shop but I had left the mess sitting in the water that had accumulated on the shop floor because of the hard rain we had had over the time I was in Michigan. It took two trash bags to contain the mess of cardboard and Styrofoam used to pack the table for shipment. Fortunately, the table was largely unharmed by the water.

On my way home, I had stopped by the Chinese restaurant to get the cages we had left with Lin and Alex. I did not remember that we had also loaned them dog crates so they could go get baby goats at Trade Days. All in all, there were four cages they had been waiting for me to pick up from them. No wonder they were anxious to get them out of their little storage building. I unloaded those by the shop and started my cleanup before Mama got home. She had some LuLa Roe business to attend to on her way home. Once I got the trash accumulated, I headed to the dump – three minutes before it closed for the day. Then we got started on the feed, the feeders and the coop. While we were tending to the Nubian goats Mama decided we needed to put Skirts down. She had never recovered from the time she was caught by her horns in the fence, but it would have to wait until we had taken the time to do our business research once we were free to go to the office to do so. We only had about an hour and one half, but we made the most of it and once we got back home, I handled Skirts for the last time. Sad.

We needed to be up early Friday morning because I had scheduled an appointment with our tax accountant in Amarillo. The only slot he had available for Friday was at noon. Mama and I needed to leave by 6 am to make the appointment. We made it to that appointment in plenty of time and took our time once we got together with our accountant. It all worked out because Owen and Makaila did not get released from the hospital until after 1 pm. So, we ate a leisurely lunch and stopped by Texas Tea on our way to visit with our newest grandson. Chase and Makaila had moved from the last place we visited them to an apartment on the south side of Amarillo, so we had to track them down. It was not too hard. Makaila told us as we were snuggling with Owen that this was the seventh move she and Chase had made – all of them within Amarillo.

Owen is one of those little boy babies that looks like a little boy. He was only two days old when Mama first held him Friday morning, but he seems like a very mellow baby. Like his daddy, he is content to sleep, eat a little and sleep some more. He barely made a sound as we passed him among us. Mama especially enjoyed holding him and Chase and Makaila were happy to watch. Happy to share him with us.

It still gives me a bit of a pause t think of Chase as a daddy, but he is stepping into the role happily. They have a large extended family in Amarillo, so they will have plenty of help when they need it. Owen has two little boy cousins only a few months older than him. If they stay there, he will have playmates built into the family unit. Mama and I will be content to watch from wherever we are, visit as often as we are able and hold them up in prayer.

That is a grandparent’s life.