Maggie, the goats, Cori and Savanna

I have written several things about Maggie of late. She has had several ongoing health issues. Most of the pains have been associated with the abdomen in one fashion or another; sharp pains in different areas, digestive problems, female problems. She has had a good bit to deal with. Yesterday, after having seen several doctors over the past months, receiving several MRIs along with numerous other lab tests, she got a conclusive diagnosis. The issue appears to be two-fold. One, she has a cancerous growth on one of her kidneys. We are not sure at this point if the growth is benign or malignant, but we will soon find out. Secondly, she has some cysts on her ovaries which are the source of significant pain – along with the cancer on her kidney.

The greater question at this point is why the lymph nodes in that general area are so swollen? It could be an infection or something much worse. At this time, that is all we know. It is enough to begin to pray in earnest. Aaron was released from duty a month early to fly home to be with Maggie and the kids as further tests are run. He was deeply affected by the news. Quite understandable. On the positive side, a diagnosis of cancer is not a death sentence; especially with the medical advances made in treating cancer in its various forms. It is still however, quite frightening. So far, Maggie is handling it well.

Mama and I had to try and get out of church as quickly as possible last night. The buyer for the goats was at the farm waiting on us. The buyers seem like a delightful Christian couple. We only got to meet the husband. The wife was home tending to a sick bottle baby. They have 35 head of Nigerian Goats. The husband was in Graham to drop off ten goats that were bought by someone there. On the way home, he stopped at the farm to pick up the two Mama and his wife had arranged to rehome. It was our first real sale of goats. Not as much as we had wanted to get out of the two but enough to be an encouragement to us. We talked quite a while after the goats were loaded – even though he had a four-hour drive to get home to Big Springs, TX. He remarked that the goats were going to be shocked by the difference in paddock. Being taken from a tree covered, lush pasture to a sandy, barren enclosure. Mama and I can rest assured that the goats will be well cared for with this couple.

Rick is going to advertise one of the bred goats we had with him for a couple months. That will add to our sales if we find a buyer. If not, we will advertise the babies when they come in the fall. In other goat news, the Nigerians (I called them Nubians incorrectly) are all three showing signs of getting ready to kid. Since they are all bred to one of our Myotonic bucks, Mama is anxious to see how many each of them has and what they come out looking like. The buyer last night, who had 35 does like the ones we have, told Mama that they often have quadruplets and one time had quintuplets. That got her attention. Now she is not overly anxious to get rid of them. Although, Rick told Mama that to get the most money out of the Myotonic goats we need to keep only the Myotonic line on our farm. That way, breeders will not think there is any interbreeding with the Nigerians and we will avoid the possibility of losing our pure bloodlines.

We have not heard much from Cori, Nate and the kids, but have to assume that they are very busy getting things arranged in their new home. They did send a picture of Savanna the first day they were there. She was complaining of her hair being wet. The picture shows her kneeling at a table playing with toys. Her entire head is soaked with sweat; hair dripping wet. The temperature was 97° F with a het index of 105° F. Pretty warm. It will take some time to acclimate – especially for Cori and Savanna.

Fortunately, or not, depending on your perspective, the humidity here has been very low. There seems to be a constant breeze. So, the triple digit temperatures have been tolerable.

Safely home, Mama’s very busy day

The director of the home in Honduras posted a video on Facebook of Nate, Cori and the kids arriving safely at the airport in Honduras yesterday afternoon. They had five men with them to help Cori and Nate get all the luggage through customs and out into the waiting vans. It was reassuring to see the procession of carts (seven in total) loaded to the max with totes and suitcases carrying all their personal items being wheeled into the waiting area. Customs turned out to be a non-issue. They made it through without any problems at all – and much more quickly than they had thought they would. Seeing the event in “real-time” was one of the blessings of our electronic age. Now the work begins. Pray for them as they learn the language and adapt to the culture. Pray for their safety; especially of the children.

We spent some time at the office last night; at least I did. Mama came with me prepared to go to the ladies meeting at church and while she was there I sorted through all the information we had gathered on the houses in Lawton to rank them in order of potential gain to us. That way we can know how to bid at the auction in a couple weeks. We have five finalists. None of them are the deal-of-the-century, but all of them are have good profit potential. Mama will begin making calls on each of them to get the hidden costs identified before we make a bid on any of them. But not today. Mama has a very busy day today.

This morning, Mama is going to work at the farm watering our garden and trees. We have to do the watering in the early morning or in the late evening. Any other time of the day is too hot. The temperatures are forecast to be over 100°F for the next eight days. For the past several days they have been in the high nineties. That puts a strain on everything. Even though we put up a large shade cloth at the raised bed, the plants still struggle with the ambient temperature. By the time evening rolls around, most of the plants and trees are drooped over and sighing because of the heat. Later this morning, Mama is going to Bowie to watch Rick vaccinate his new arrivals and trim the hooves of the older goats. We really need to learn that process. Our poor goats are in bad need of trimming – especially the Nigerian Dwarfs.

After that, she is meeting Victoria for lunch. They like to go to a deli called Creative Cakes. I am told they have a very good salad bar. That is what Mama and Victoria keep insisting. But with a name like Creative Cakes, I imagine they have good desserts also. And what better way to enjoy a dessert than to eat a salad before eating cake. That should put Mama home at the farm just before Alex and the girls arrive. He is getting another cooking lesson.

Alex has been making all kinds of sweet breads, but they are not coming out as expected for him. Mostly they are too dry. He has found that If he adds more oil to compensate, they do not rise. So, he and Mama are going to make banana bread this afternoon to see what might be going on. Of course, I have a theory. First, Alex is trying to drastically cut the amount of sugar used in his breads. That will make the breads drier than expected. Second, he is using vegetable oil or shorting in his recipes. That drastically changes the flavor. Mama and I prefer real butter. It adds a richness to the texture and adds flavor to the final product. Whether or not he is trying to make the recipe as cheap as possible or as healthy as possible, I do not know, but good bread takes the right ingredients. There is not a good shortcut if you want a moist, sweet bread. Applesauce can be substituted for butter or shortening, but that is not a cheap solution. She and Alex will still be in the final stages of the baking when I get home.

Tonight, we have church. Tomorrow, a buyer is coming to get the goats in the morning and Mama is going for feed in the afternoon. My busy woman.

Travel, the big doctor truck

Mama and I left the farm about 7:30 am to drive the Lawton, OK. It was an easy drive. About two hours of road time but there was not a lot of traffic. When we got to Lawton, we did our best to locate all the houses on our list – about sixteen in all. We have never been to Lawton, so we had to rely extensively on the GPS on Mama’s phone and in doing so we backtracked several times to see houses we had already driven past while following directions to the one we had punched into the map. We looked at fourteen houses in all plus two lots we thought we might be interested in. It was fairly easy to do so Mama and I were done about 1:30 pm. We found a house on our quest that was not on any of our lists. A two-story home on a good location that appeared to be abandoned. We took pictures of the notices on the front door and front window. Mama is going to call on that house this morning to find out the story behind the current condition. Some of those on our list have been removed based on what we sat in situ. Others have moved up on the list of remaining candidates. Those we will drill down on to discover all that we can about the legal condition and financial liabilities of those properties. That may require a trip to the Comanche County Courthouse before the auction next month – we will see how much we can determine via the internet. It was exciting for both me and Mama to move forward in preparing for the auction. It was oddly reassuring that all this is for real. There really are houses out there that will be sold for taxes owed and we could be the bidder that gets that property.

On the way home, we got a call from a couple who were in class with us in February. They are not having any success acquiring tax liens, so Mama and I talked to them about what we were doing. They also live in the DFW area, so Lawton is accessible to them. We shared all the information we had so they can decide to investigate for themselves whether or not they want to change strategies to the more aggressive tax deed acquisitions. All in all, they were excited to discover a new approach that could work for them. It was fun for Mama and me to be on the mission we were on for our business and get to describe it to them as it was going on. Talk about perfect timing. The bottom line is that we may not get a house through the auction. We could very easily be outbid, but we are ready to participate, and as Edna Mole once wisely said, “Luck favors the prepared, darling.”

Victoria traveled home from Pensacola Monday morning. As she as being dropped off at the airport, Cori and Nate were finishing packing a trailer with the 38 totes and suitcases accumulated for their personal items so they could travel to Atlanta that same day. Friends from West Florida Baptist Church took them and the kids to Atlanta to catch a flight to Honduras. They are at the airport as I am writing this post and Mama just called to tell me that when they were checking in at the airport an agent helped them to get free passage of sixteen of their bags and while he was processing the other twenty-two, the computer printing the tags stopped adding fees at number ten, but processed tags for all the remaining bags. As much as he tried to correct the computer and restart the charging process, the computer would not comply. They ended up getting all their baggage through for $800. Praise the Lord! Pray for them as they will deal with all the belongings going through customs in Honduras early this afternoon. Once that obstacle is past, they will begin the process of getting all the necessary furnishings and appliances to set up their home in country. Another daunting task. Fortunately, we serve a very big God.

Over the weekend Maggie had a bad spell and had to be taken to the emergency room via ambulance. She said the paramedics were very gracious and allowed Katherine and Walter to sit in the two captain’s chairs in the back of the ambulance while she was on the stretcher and they were on benches beside her. Her two children loved the experience. Her, not so much. On the way Walter excitedly told her, “Mommy, I’m riding in a big doctor truck.” She and the paramedics got a laugh out of that. Her issue seems to have stemmed to a very bad reaction to a dye she was given to drink prior to taking an MRI. With the abdominal pain she has been experiencing, the original diagnosis was a problem with the appendix, but after further analysis, her doctor believes the problem is with her kidneys. X-rays show a mass on one kidney. That appears to be the source of her pain. We are awaiting further news as her diagnosis is formalized.

We will certainly be praying for her as we wait to hear more.

Tom Malone, blackberries, goats and pigs

After several days absence the cat was back last night. Such is the life of a tomcat. Since Mama named him, Tom, and was constantly fussing at the dogs to leave Tom alone, I just finished out the name to be more formal. Thus, he became Tom Malone. When he showed up last night, Mama was prepared. She had bought some canned cat food before he disappeared, so it was at the ready when he resituated himself on our property. We are well past the time when he could do any damage to the chicks – which are now almost as big as the mature chickens. Mama’s hope is that he will be a good mouser for us. I have little worry that he will become a nuisance at the house. There are three dogs in the back yard anxious to make his acquaintance. He has consciously avoided them. Victoria did tell me there was an encounter with the dogs. She had to call them off as Tom made a hasty exit. That is when he disappeared for a time. Mama is happy to see him back. Lord only knows why. I do know that he will be a draw for the local coyotes. Domestic cat is at the top of their list of delicacies. Hiding within Sam and Sasha’s circle of protection should work out well for him even though Sam and Sash have not specifically taken on his watch care.

 Mama harvested quite a few blackberries last night. She is more excited about them than anything else we have growing at the moment. Maybe that is because they are ready to be harvested. We are still nursing along our peaches, plums, apricots, figs, blueberries, and grapes, but they are a month away from ripening. We took the night off from our research, so I could work in the garden. It has been sorely neglected of late and was showing obvious signs of that neglect. I tilled between the rows of vegetable plants and ran soaker hoses to water those same rows. Two rows each of okra and butternut squash, and one row of potatoes. All the plants perked up quickly after a thorough soaking. The plants in the raised bed are doing very well but Mama has been more diligent about watering them. The long, hot afternoons are hard on the plants as they struggle to build the root system to survive. They will get there with a little help but the extreme hot – for this time of year – is continuing to challenge them. The peppers, tomatoes and onions are doing well in spite of the heat. The pumpkins, cantaloupe, zucchini and cucumbers are thriving despite the heat.

Mama and I will go to Bowie this evening to retrieve our two nanny goats that are now bred. (Another night off for us.) Rick called yesterday to let Mama know they could come home. We have not had any success selling the goats yet, but I am confident that that time is coming. We still have the two little bucklings to sell and Mama is willing to part with Kia and Yukie if we find an interested buyer. Also, the Nubian Dwarf goats are showing signs of being near the point of kidding. I did not know what to expect from them as far as how many kids we can expect from each one, but I believe twins are common. Zack and Alissa have expressed interest in getting one of them for their place, but I have not verified the interest with Zack. As far as a farm pet goes, they would make great pets. They eat significantly less than the Myotonic goats. They seem to relish the heat, and they prefer to be outside versus inside any shelter – except overnight. They sleep in the pig building through the night.

Although I have not spent any time on it lately, I still plan on putting the Nubians in the paddock by the shop. The cattle seem to like that area, but I need to get the pig building ready for the piglets Mama has already spoken for. One of the families at our church is raising pigs for the first time. He told me Sunday that two of his six sows are very close to having their litters of piglets. I think Mama has spoken for two. It will not take much effort to get the pig enclosure back in service for pigs but I still have a good deal of work to do on the paddock so I can move the goats.

At some point, all the effort we are putting into this business will pay off and I will have both the time and the money to finish the projects I have on the farm. I am looking forward to that day.

Inching closer, Victoria, Nate and Cori, Aaron

I squeezed out a few minutes through the workday yesterday to analyze a couple properties. Mama and the school kids went to a park in Alvord for lunch yesterday, so I was on my own for the lunch hour. That is when I did the property work. I did not take the time to print them out but let Mama know they were ready for her to look over. I suggested we stop by after church to do the printing. Mama had other ideas, so we hustled and got the feeding done. Ate a quick dinner. Showered and dressed for church and went to the office before church. It did not take long to print out the few pages of information I had complied, but it will be very helpful to do our drive-by research Saturday. I have a feeling we are going to end up with about six properties on the final list. Hopefully, that will be more than sufficient. We will get a better idea of what we are up against on the morning of the auction but at least we will be prepared to the best of our abilities at this time. The preparation process should get refined and improved as we mature in this business. At least, that is the expectation. I believe that expectation will be easily met because Mama is fired up about this business. This is not necessarily our first opportunity to work on a business together, but it is the first time she has actually been interested in doing so. It has been quite fun so far. If we really do start making money at it. It will be even more fun.

Victoria made it to Florida safely. After she got through security, she was not diligently checking her flight status for gate updates and almost missed her flight because she was waiting at the wrong gate. She only thought about it when the boarding time had arrived, and her flight was not the one listed to board at the gate where she was waiting. I am not sure if she asked for help or found the change on her phone, but she made the discovery in time. Fortunately, the gate she needed was in the same terminal; nearly at the opposite end of the terminal, but in the same terminal complex. She ended up getting to the gate in time to board, but she was near the very end of the line in getting on the flight.

She is enjoying the kids. Savanna will not leave her side – which is fine with Victoria. Savanna cried when Victoria and Cori went into the AT&T store to get Victoria switched over to the iPhone she bought two or three months ago. That is how possessive she has become. Cori, who was originally a bit stressed out at having the extra person to deal with as they packed for their move to Honduras, came pretty quickly to realize that Victoria was a God-send. Victoria can deal with the kids (especially Savanna) as she and Nate concentrate on getting everything packed up. This is not a vacation they are packing for. They are literally moving their home from one country to another. Everything they can pack to take in order to reestablish their home must be accounted for, safely stowed and arranged so that everything fits in the space they are allowing themselves. It is a daunting task on Nate and Cori. Victoria is there to help. They are flying out next Tuesday. If everything works out as it should, they will not be back in the United States for three or four years. Everything they have been doing for the past two years has led to this moment, and now, here they go.

Maggie forwarded to Mama a photo of Aaron. He is on the boat in New York Harbor. For a cell phone picture, I thought it was a particularly well-done image.

Coaching, training, flying

Monday evening, we had a coaching session with Theresa. We only spent forty minutes in the session because Mama and I did not have any other questions or new direction we wanted to head. We started off by getting the particulars and pathways to complete the research on the homes in Lawton that we are interested in bidding on. Mama and I will have to spend a lot of time on the computer getting all those particulars. It is not a straightforward process, but it can be done with persistence. The coaching sessions have been a big help to us. Because of those instructions and discussions, we feel excited and ready to go to the upcoming auction. That is a very big change in attitude for Mama. Originally, she was not even remotely interested in doing live auctions if it could be avoided. Now she is anxious to go; determined to get two properties out of the auction. Plus, we are doing a full profile on one house available on the leftover list from a county in Arkansas. That bid will be placed on the 17^th of next month.

Yesterday I was in class all day. I was not the instructor for this class. It was led by coworker whom I have coached in delivering the class. He had to be audited yesterday in order to be able to teach the class for us in the future. I am happy to say that he passed the audit without even the least concerns on the part of the lady who does all our audits; another coworker – who happens to be his boss. She even remarked that if we develop a Training Department, he should be in that department rather than where he now works. She is not one who is lavish with praise, so that was a very high recommendation. I will have him teach the class next month and travel to Conyers, Georgia for the class there that is scheduled the week of Mama’s surgery. Having the additional instructor will be great benefit to this company going forward – and I will feel better when Mama and I finally move to fulltime self-employment. There are two more individuals I am working to qualify as instructors, but they are still several months out at this point.

Mama and I cut short our time with Theresa last night mostly because we felt like we had enough information and direction to move forward but also because Mama needed to get to bed early. She was scheduled to get up this morning at 4 am to take Victoria to the airport to catch a flight to Florida. Victoria will be there until Memorial Day – saying a final stateside goodbye to Nate, Cori and the kids. (Mostly to the kids.) It seems thatit was a very short night for both Mama and Victoria. I got up at 1:30 to use the bathroom and Mama walked in just as I was exiting. She told me this morning that she did not go back to sleep. When she finally got up at 3 am, Victoria was already up and ready to go, so they left. I do not know what time her flight was scheduled to leave but I know she was there in plenty of time. Mama got back home before I left for the office at 6:20. Victoria had already called to let Mama know that she had gotten through security very quickly and was at her gate. There were only two people in the security line with her when she got there. I would have like that as opposed to some of the security lines I have been in lately.

Of course, Mama laid down for a bit right after I left this morning. We had a set time for me to give her a wakeup call, but she texted me before the alarm went off to let me know she was up and going. Church tonight might be a rough for her.

List work, church work, Mama

Since Mama and I shifted directions in our business we have been intently reviewing the list of properties in one county in Oklahoma. That has occupied our short evenings for the past week, but Saturday after our Youth Conference we were able to finally complete our initial review of the properties available; all 167 of them. In that review we identified fifty-three properties that we will now go back and do a deeper dive into. We have to narrow that list down to no more than ten that we will prepare to bid on in the coming auction. My real objective is to shrink those final candidates to three that we definitely want to acquire. Even though, of those three, we may only get one. One is all we need to get started.

We have a coaching session tonight. During that session we will be shown how to do all the final research to know any potential legal issues in a given property – liens attached, judgements attached, fees and notices at the state, county and city level, etc. The last thing we want is for our first property purchase to be encumbered with surprises that will cost us more than we had anticipated. On this first investment, we are on a pretty tight budget, so the fear of making an error in poor research is a very real threat to our potential gain. We are confident that Theresa can help guide us past those pitfalls prior to the auction. We area at 21 days and counting down to that auction.

Meanwhile, I and doing the same kind of research on three houses in Arkansas. The three are on the leftover list of two counties. Potential purchase dates on those properties are twenty-one and twenty-five days out. Al of that will happen by snail mail on the appointed dates. Mama and I are going to be busy. In fact, we had to let Brittany know that we would not be available this weekend for her and Andrew to come over with the twins. It is a bittersweet conflict. We want to see the twins and visit with Brittany and Andrew, but this Saturday we have planned a trip to the county where we are evaluating potential houses for the June auction. We are working on setting up the visit for another weekend – but we still hated to be the source of the conflict.

The majority of the weekend was spent in church activities. Saturday morning, I went bus calling with the pastor. That was from 10 am to 12 pm. We had a great morning. After that, I spent a short time at home doing a few very small tasks at the farm before getting dressed to lead the singing at the Youth Conference our church sponsored. That was from 3 pm to 6 pm. From there, Mama and I went to the office to finish going through the Oklahoma list. Sunday morning, I taught the Adult Sunday School Class and Sunday evening, I led the Men’s Meeting before service Sunday night. Needless to say, I did not get much done on the farm, but Mama worked to the point that she was in significant pain by the end of the of the weekend even though she was completing a steroid pack prescribed by the doctor.

The problem with limiting the sensation of pain is that the injury may not be corrected so the source of the pain is not eliminated. Once the analgesic wears off, the pain can often be more intense than it would have been had the medication dulling the pain not been used. That is because, we tend to do more than we should because the pain is not hindering us from tasks that would normally be accompanied by pain; however, what is causing the pain is still an active force in our body. It is only being masked. That is why I often say, pain is our friend. That is certainly the case for Mama this weekend. Hopefully a night of rest and an easy day at school will allow the pain to once again subside. Mama is scheduled for surgery on the 18^th of June. We will have to wait until her consult with the doctor on the 12^th to find out what surgery he is planning. Whether a total knee replacement or a repair of the joint.

Pray for her as she prepares for the surgery and the recovery afterward.

Snakes, cats, yanny/laurel

Perhaps, since this looks like a banner year for the fruit trees and the garden, everything else will share in the fortuitous conditions – like insects, rodents and snakes. So far this year we have seen three snakes at the farm. Two were non-poisonous. The third was poisonous. I killed it. The two harmless snakes were both near the house – one of which greeted us as we exited the vehicle Wednesday evening after church. I never got to see it. It was on Mama’s side of the Sequoia. I do not know if it was the barking of the dogs once they spotted it or if it was Mama’s screams (I know which one I respond to the quickest) that made it flee as fast as possible, but it was gone by the time I had gotten out and walked to her side of the vehicle.

I assured her that if it could get away that quickly, it was a non-poisonous snake. The two different kinds of snakes have a vastly different muscle structure which allow the constrictors to move much faster. Bedsides, the poisonous snakes will generally assume a defensive stance when threatened; at least the kinds of snakes common to our geographic area.. She found that to be of little assurance; wondering if she would even be able to force herself into the Sequoia in the morning for fear the snake had hidden itself inside. I never heard mention of the snake after that, so I assume she had forgotten all about it by morning.

Also Wednesday night as I was going out late to close up the chickens I heard the oddest noises coming out of the coop. It sounded like a cat mewing. Turns out it was. The chickens can make some of the most unusual sounds as they communicate with each other – peeps, squawks, trills, tut-tut-tut, soft and loud clucks, the bawk of a hen when she has laid an egg, crowing of a rooster. Startled sounds. Threatened sounds alerting the flock of danger. So many sounds. It took me a minute to separate the mewing from the peeping of the rapidly growing chicks and the squawks of the hens defending their place on the roost from the long meow of the cat. But, there it was. It is not an unfriendly cat. Mama has begun putting feed out for it. I have no idea if it will stay, but for the last few days it seemed content to hand around. The dogs do not tolerate it at all. So, it avoids the back yard and the house. That suits me. From Mama’s point of view, as long as it does not kill any of the chickens, it is welcome to stay. Hopefully, it will discourage the rat and mouse inhabitants from nesting in our coop and garden shed. Time will tell.

Yesterday morning at work our boss played an audio clip and asked each one of us what we heard; whether a robotic voice saying “yanny” or a man’s deep voice saying “laurel. I heard “yanny”. Most did. A few heard “laurel”. When we had had our fun, I asked one of my coworkers to get the clip and see if we could change the frequency. He did, and we could isolate both sounds. I played the audio for Mama when I got home. She heard ‘laurel” and was convinced that I was lying to her when I said I heard “yanny”. When Victoria got home we repeated the clip. Victoria heard “yanny”.  Look it up if you have not already heard it. It’s all over the internet. I did find a posting that had massaged the frequency, so Mama got to hear both sounds. I was formally vindicated.

On the way to the office yesterday evening, Mama was ether reading a text from Brittany or listening to a Marco Polo but in the communication, Brittany was telling about making dinner that evening. She, Andrew and the twins were all in close proximity in the kitchen when one of the twins said, “dada”. Excitedly, Brittany asked Andrew, “Did she just say ‘dada’? “No”, Andrew answered, “She said ‘yanny’”. Mama thought that was hilarious.

So glad we were up to speed on that joke.

A long cold, quick work, inheritance from our children

I have had an issue with – and from – my sinuses for over a month now. I suppose it is allergies, but it has been the longest battle I have ever had with a runny nose and irritated sinuses. I think my nose is getting calloused from the constant wiping. Still, it does not interfere with anything and I am sleeping alright – albeit, with a tissue stuffed up one side of my nose or the other. It is amazing how snot dripping out of your nose can wake you out of a dead sleep. Natural remedies are keeping it from getting worse but are certainly not correcting the condition. Victoria is also fighting the same battle. With the same results. It could be a cold, but I doubt it. I do remember a friend of mine in New Jersey telling me he routinely got two colds every year. Each one lasted six months. Because of that condition he had two doctors, Dr. Winter-off and Dr. Summer-off. Of course, he was kidding, but he did miss more work than anyone I have ever worked with.

Because of the computer time Mama and I need to do adequate research for our new business, and because the best internet available to us is at the office, we have spent every we can at the office doing that research. There is a more urgent need at the moment because we are preparing for an auction on the 11^th of June. Complicating that, we have been busy every Saturday for the last few weeks. This weekend and next weekend will maintain that schedule. Things at the farm are on hold with only the most urgent items making the do-it-right-now list. For instance, I did not even change last night before I got on the tractor and ran to the property next to ours to get a fresh round bale of hay for the cows. They have been out for a little over a day. That is a must-do.

Also, when we got home from church last night, Mama and I each put on our farm clothes and watered the plants in the darkening evening – me in the garden, her at the house. That also was a must-do. Tonight, we will team up to clean the coop – both sides – before we will go back to the office to continue working our way through the list for the June 11^th sale. So far, we have looked a 40 of the 170 properties. We need to finish the research because we are going to Lawton next Saturday to view the properties we are interested in bidding on. So, there is a good bit of excited urgency in our research right now. Patience, persistence and thorough preparation are still the key, but we are still meeting a deadline to have all the research completed in case we can actually win a bid on a property.

Cori confirmed to Mama yesterday that we have officially inherited Bella. The cost to get her to Honduras is prohibitive. I do not necessarily want to keep Bella, but Mama does. I am not strongly opposed to keeping her, I just did not want the complication of having another big dog to deal with long-term. I foresee a good bit of travel in our future – both within the continental US and internationally – and I did not want to complicate arrangements for that travel. As long as we are at the farm, it will not be a big issue. Should we ever move away from the farm, it may become problematic. Mama looks at today. I try to look forward to tomorrow and beyond. I have often found that what is easy to accomplish today, may not be as easy to do tomorrow and taking on Bella is a twelve to fifteen-year commitment.  Just doing the math is a bit sobering. In fifteen years, should the Lord tarry, I will be 77 years old. Mama will be 71. Mykenzie will be 29.

Don’t tell Mama I said that. She hates it when I think like that; but I can’t help it.

The doctor, insurance, puppy free

I got to work an hour earlier yesterday, so I could take that hour later in the day to be at Mama’s doctor’s appointment. I was glad I did. I am not sure of the specialty of the doctor that talked with Mama during the consult but both Mama and I liked him. He was direct, but he was thorough. He took enough time to really cover the sciatic pain issue Mama is dealing with. Her prognosis is similar to mine. She does have some disc compression issues related to age. She also has some arthritic buildup in the area where that particular nerve passes through the canal at L4/L5. But, none of those conditions warrant intervention at this point. Another “yes, you are in pain, but there is nothing we can do about it” diagnosis. That is not necessarily a bad thing. He recommended physical therapy and steroids. We passed on the physical therapy for now, electing to try exercises at home for the next month along with the steroids. I am not sure if that puts any treatment for the knees on hold until this month of personal therapy is done, or if we will move forward on that front. Regardless of the sciatic issue, Mama needs some help with the degeneration of her knee joints; regardless of the therapy we choose – or are assigned.

The orthopedic surgeon that Mama is working with for the knee issue has gotten some notoriety in the area of stem cell therapy. Maybe that will be a viable option for her. At this point we do not know, but we are actively seeking to get some measure of relief to Mama soon. Even if that measure of relief comes through surgery and the ensuing recovery. Though I have looked around some, I have not happened across any natural remedy that would heal or aid the body in restoring the joints – but I bet there is one. For certain, Mama and I need to get serious about getting our weight somewhat closer to what is recommended for our age and height. Neither Mama nor I will ever fit into the ectomorphic model expressed by those weight charts, but we can certainly lower our weight by an embarrassing amount on approach to a healthier BMI. I was told by one of our doctors that couples put on two pounds of weight per year of marriage. Mama is pretty close to that. I am a little less than one pound per year. That weight loss alone will help Mama’s knees. It is not a cure, but it is something we can do that would make a noticeable difference.

Complicating this whole issue, Mama and I are looking into insurance alternatives. With the present insurance we have an effective $10,000 deductible. So far, we have accumulated more than $6,000 in charges against that deductible. I am not sure there is a better alternative, but we are looking at one of the Christian sharing programs. At some point in the very near future, we will have to move to another plan because we will be self-employed. That time is not more than a few months away, so we are trying to determine if moving Mama to that plan now would make sense. It is not an easy decision; especially if the knee issues Mama is having are considered a pre-existing condition by the new insurer. Lots of questions to ask – and I heard yesterday that my current employer is thinking about switching insurance providers again. We will have to wait to see how that turns out…for however much time I have left with this employer.

With the puppies gone, things at the farm are a little less guarded. We can leave the door to the sunroom open, so the dogs can be let out more quickly in the mornings. We can take down the barriers I set up to keep the pups out of areas we did not want them to access. We are getting the birthing center cleaned up and closed up until the next set of puppies comes along – some time in the fall when Koby will be bred again. And, my personal favorites, my plants will not serve a chew toys when the puppies do break through the barriers we set against them, and there will be so much less dog manure to deal with in the back yard.

Victoria had money in her account and I am puppy free; everybody wins.

Change of direction, looking for direction

Mama and I came in to the office for a coaching session last night. We were not able to devote much time to our business last week, so I had not made much progress in outlining properties in Florida for us to review. Mama and I had two to look over, but we were not excited about working in Florida. It is not a user-friendly state as far as this business is concerned; but when Theresa got online with us, we jumped in where we were and slugged through a couple counties as she showed us how to navigate through the nuances on the county websites. Each one different from the last. On a whim, Mama asked her a question about where she was going next and she replied that her next buying trip was to Oklahoma. Specifically, Comanche County. That happens to be only an hour or so away from me and Mama and we let her know that.

 That being said, we jumped into the Comanche County website and were shown the list provided for that sale. There are some new rules that Mama and I must learn about how the auction is conducted, how to register and get our deposit in, how to pay for properties purchased, etc., but we may be able to attend the sale in mid-June. Oklahoma has one sale per year. Every county holds their sale on the same day. So, Mama and I can only go to one sale this year. If we do attend the sale in Comanche County, we will get to meet Theresa. She already has a dozen houses picked out. It was encouraging to me and Mama that we may be ready in time for the upcoming sale. We have enough money available to potentially succeed at the auction and we will have our coach there with us. Seems like a win-win.

Mama has her follow up appointment with the doctor who is looking at doing the spinal block on her back to relieve the sciatic pain she is experiencing. I am planning on being with Mama as she gets that consult. Mama wants me to hear the discussion, the instructions, the prognosis and the associated risks. The costs associated with the diagnostics are starting to accumulate so I need to know what we are looking at over the next few months – financially speaking. Are there alternatives? What is our timeframe? Is replacement surgery the best option? Can we really fix this? I ask that because I have been told for both my back pain and my colon pain, there is no remedy. I have to learn to live with the pain. That does not seem to be the case with Mama’s knee issues, but we need to ask the question anyway. More on that tomorrow.

All the kids have been good about sharing videos of their children (our grandchildren) with Mama. With that to look forward to and the training we are now getting as we pursue this business, technology is slowly becoming Mama’s friend. Over the last weekend, I helped her order something online, using only her phone – it has the tiniest screen – and when the order was complete she looked at me wide-eyed and declared, “I’m gonna like this!”  To my children and others who share these videos with Mama, I say thank you. Keep them coming – sometimes I even get to see them.

I will handle the online ordering issue.

Special delivery, near misses, food fair, last pup

Mama and I had to give up our Friday evening to deliver a pup to a buyer meeting us in Alliance. The buyers were a young military couple coming in from somewhere about three hours from the farm, so we helped them out by shaving off an hour, meeting them at Costco. They were a very nice young couple. Very excited about getting the puppy. Mama and I were there for about thirty minutes before they arrived, but it was a very pleasant evening, so the wait was not a problem. The exchange took only a few minutes. After they were on their way, Mama and I went to a French Country Restaurant for dinner; La Madeline.

It was good food. The wait was very long. Mama and I were there for over an hour. Most of that time was waiting on our food. What I ordered had to be prepared from scratch since they had run out of that particular item. My bad. While we were waiting, Mama and I enjoyed some bread and jam. They had a strawberry-rhubarb jam that was outstanding. They also had a blackberry jam, but I cannot have any of that. Mama told me it was delicious. She had a quiche and two side salads. I had cream of mushroom soup and a pastry stuffed with chicken and mushrooms. We will probably go back – but it will be a special event when we do. It is not a restaurant that we would select for everyday meals – especially if we need to eat quickly.

We got out of the restaurant in time to hurry through Costco. We did not need much there. Mama still took a few minutes to look around and make mental notes of items we may go back to purchase. We got out as they were closing the entrance and headed to an Aldi store across the street. We took a bit of time looking but once again, we got out of the store as they were closing for the evening. It was after 10 pm before we got home to unload the groceries. No research that night. No research Saturday night either.

Saturday was a blur. I did manage to get a couple small chores done in the early morning – before bus calling. Mama took Mr. Plumley to Trade Days that morning while I was out so what she could get done was limited also. We knew the evening was going to be focused on the Chinese Food Fair Alex had invited us to. We did take a few minutes in the early afternoon to get a short nap before leaving for Carrolton to meet Alex and his family. On the way to the fair we stopped at the Asian market, so Victoria could see it – and to pick up a couple items. On the way to the store we were almost involved in an accident. Mama instructed me to take the turnaround at the crossover. I wanted to go through the intersection and make the left to get to the parking lot we needed. It was safer, but I followed her lead.

Coming out of the turnaround into traffic I did not see (the Sequoia had some massive blind spots) a car in the lane we were entering coming through the intersection – fast. He barely cleared the lane before I entered behind him. But it was close. Very close. It turned out okay, but the circumstance repeated itself Sunday afternoon on our way to the restaurant. I was set to make a right onto the street – and in no particular hurry – when Mama told me to “Go. Go. Go.”, to get in front a van approaching from the left. I not only did not go, I fussed at her – loudly. Told her to “STOP” I had to apologize and explain to Yilin and Cheyenne that I should not have yelled at Mama Kim. We got past it pretty quickly.

The food fair was fun. It was not as well staffed with vendors as Alex had hoped, but Mama and I got to snack on some good Chinese food. Mama even tried crawfish for the first time. She was surprised that she liked them. I was too. The lines were long, but everyone was patient, waiting on the vendors to make the food items as they went. We had fun. Alex enjoyed the fair more because we were there to help entertain the children between games and times we sat eat what we had bought. Mama took her wheelchair and Aubrey thought that was the best part of the evening; spending a good deal of time on Mama’s lap as we scooted from line to line. That really made the evening enjoyable for Mama. She would not have lasted very long otherwise. One time, as we were entering the fair, I had to have Mama get out of the wheelchair, so I could navigate an area I could not have pushed her through. Victoria hollered from behind us, “It’s a miracle!” Mama got a good laugh out of that.

Sunday afternoon we went to visit Grandma and deliver Mother’s Day gifts. We found the instant ginger tea that she likes at the Asian market. We were excited to get it for her and she was excited to get it. We have not been able to find it since we were in New Jersey. Later that afternoon, before church, a young Latino couple came to get the last puppy. It was delightful to watch the puppy go to the children and try to get them to pay attention to him. The parents were very happy to get the puppy.

I was very excited to sell him to them.

New territory, Maggie’s visitor, mobility

Mama and I spent several hours in the office last night learning how to navigate in the lists the state of Florida posts. They are not nearly as user friendly as the lists used in Arkansas, but the auctions go on at about the same time, so we have to work in tandem within the sets of lists as we learn the process. It took us a few minutes to figure out how to navigate the lists but once we understood where all the information was linked, we were able to move through the list at a quicker pace. It took me several attempts to figure out how to capture the information contained in those lists so we can complete our research on selected properties. I finally it worked out. Still, we did not complete even one county in the two hours we spent doing the initial research. To make ourselves feel better, we switched to Arkansas and were able to speed through two counties in about 45 minutes. We began to ask how difficult it will be when we start exploring this opportunity in the other 48 states.

Maggie called Mama last night to brag a little and to complain a little. The brag was that she and the kids got to spend the day with Mrs. Fisher – on a harbor cruise no less. Mrs. Fisher is a friend from our church in New Jersey. She was a great help to us – especially with Maggie – during the more than ten years we spent in New Jersey. A great friend to our children. The Fishers have remained close to our children over the years since we left, and Mrs. Fisher has continued to be a good friend to Maggie especially. The complaint came because Maggie, who is very fair skinned, got a horrible sunburn while they were out on the water. Mama kept saying, “Oh, Maggie. You know better.” Though she took the time to cover her kids properly, she wore a sleeveless top for the excursion. Her shoulders are pretty badly burned.

Years ago, while we were in Florida, Mama and a couple of the kids got badly burned – like Maggie is now. I used a remedy from my youth and soaked the burned areas with vinegar. It took out the sting almost immediately. It also helped with the sluffing skin; making the edges where the unburned skin meets the burned skin to be more supple. We suggested the same to Maggie, but she will find her own way through the healing process. Once many years ago, while we were traveling in Guatemala, myself and several of my siblings got sunburned to the point of blistering – very large blisters. The missionary we were visiting lathered us up with aloe vera and some extract from a local fruit. Slimy and smelling of spoiling fruit, we were better in a couple days but still had to go through the skin regeneration process. That took the rest of the trip to accomplish. As with us, so too with Maggie. This too shall pass. Hopefully it will not affect the rest of the time visiting with the Fisher’s. (We too often take out skin for granted and it is a wonderfully designed protective packaging for our bodies.)

Zoe and Sophia are working on mobility. I believe it is Zoe that is using the “Army crawl” to skootch forward. As I have said before, as much as it is a crowning achievement for the child as well as bragging rights for the parents, it forever changes the dynamic of the home. When these two are fully mobile, Brittany will be busy beyond anything she can foresee. It’s all fun. A hectic, harried, completely panicked kind of fun. But fun, none the less. For the near future, the stairs and the pool are the two big hazards to be reckoned with. Brittany and Andrew will be able to mitigate those hazards. Less obvious are the steps leading into the living room. Those are bound to cause several tumbles before they are successfully mastered by the crawling, then toddling twins. Fortunately, they are carpeted. The fireplace, however, is not.

Brittany is in for a good time.

Good puppy news, other animals on the farm

After a period of getting no calls at all on the puppies, Mama and Victoria are telling callers that the puppies are first-come-first-served. One sold last night before church and the two remaining are mostly spoken for. The couple that came last night was an older couple that lives in the area. As Mama spoke to the wife, the husband was in the background instructing her. It seemed that he wanted a puppy badly and instead of waiting until the next evening, they came over as soon as they ended the call with Mama. For the two that are mostly spoken for, Victoria texted the young man who had expressed interest and told him that the two remaining pups would probably be sold by Friday night – unless he called and let us know he was really determined to buy one. He called right away. He will be up Friday to get the puppy he has chosen, and his brother may buy the other remaining pup. That would be fine with us since Mama was planning on spending Saturday morning sitting at Trade Days. I would be thrilled to have all of them gone. Mama and Victoria have mixed emotions about it. Now, since Mama and Victoria have discovered a way to get the word out, we are going to try advertising the goats again.

On Tuesday night Mama and I worked off of a pretty aggressive list of chores each of us needed to accomplish. I had six on my list and she had three or four on hers. I honestly did not expect to get all of mine done, but by the time we were ready to go to bed both of us had scratched everything off each respective list. Mine were watering the plants, weed eating the garden and sidewalks, making a batch of elderberry syrup, cutting my hair, getting the music together for this coming Sunday, and finishing disassembling the little building. Mama’s list had cleaning the coop, moving the yard and the goat paddock and something else I cannot remember; laundry, I think. For a four-hour time-frame those were noteworthy goals. It was fun to cross our line items off one by one. It was even better to get all the individual chores done.

This evening Kim Cantrell is coming over with her grandchildren. She wants the little ones to see the goats and the puppies – before the pups are all gone. As a bonus to me, she is taking the rabbit back with her, so she and the grandchildren can have a little animal care project. The rabbit has been a good, quiet, somewhat smelly pet for Mama and Victoria, but it has not really suited us as a pet. It will do well being handled more often. The Cantrell’s have raised rabbits in the past so they are familiar with the pros and cons associated with the commitment. I believe we will be giving them the cage and the 50# bag of feed we have for Mattie. As for me, it will open a very large spot in the garage – and move the very acrid smell their urine has out of the garage. By the way, all of the chickens they took with them last Saturday are doing well.

With our chickens, the twenty or so Mama bought from the hatchery, the eight specialty breed she bought from Tractor Supply and the eleven chicks the Banty hen hatched on our farm are all doing well. Of the nineteen that were other than the hatchery purchase, we are still waiting to see how many roosters we have. They will, sadly, be eliminated from the flock. Mama is going to try to sell them before she gives me permission to either take them to our Chinese family or process them for my use. I say “process them for my use” because Mama and Victoria will not eat the chickens that make their way to our table – and times are not so tough that they have to succumb to eating our own livestock. At least, livestock from the coop.

Culling the roosters is more than a month away, but Mama is already beginning to dread it.

Found and lost, puppy news

Mama and I had a coaching session last night. It was one of those found and lost experiences. We got to the office over an hour before the session and worked the lists in Arkansas before meeting with Theresa. We had predetermined that we would move on with her to Florida, so we could see how to research another state. Mama and I are very comfortable working the process in Arkansas. That state has gone out of their way to make things easy to navigate. Florida, not so much. That is why I refer to the training last night as a found and lost experience. We have become comfortable, almost proficient, in Arkansas. When we started in Florida, we were definitely struggling to keep up. It helped that Frank had spent the time with us earlier this year looking at properties in Florida or the pace we kept would have been truly overwhelming.

When Theresa started to get going, Mama asked her to “drive” so I could take notes and she could watch. I will try to make sense of the hurriedly scribbled notes some time today, so we can reference them as we do more research this week. It is becoming a challenge to try and keep up with everything – especially as Summer approaches and the demands of the farm increase. Mama and I are taking the night off from our business tonight, so we can do some odd jobs on the farm – water the plants, work in the garden, finish disassembling the little metal building, make more elderberry syrup, etc. Mama and I are praying that the Lord would show us how to get all of this done. We can see a way, maybe a couple ways to move forward in this business, but we sure would like to do it God’s way because we are heading into a very busy time at the end of this month. We will not get everything done without Divine intervention. Beyond the confusion, exasperation, and desperation, there is expectation. There is hope. With the Lord, there is always hope.

I think we might have finally contained the puppies. I spent some time Sunday afternoon putting a wire cover over the access between the birthing center and the kennel. That seemed to be where the pups had been getting out of the enclosure. We have been keeping the sunroom shut to protect the shoes in there after the pups destroyed some of the potted plants Mama was housing there. But I had not taken the time to make the flowerbed where out asparagus, blackberries and blueberries are growing puppy proof – if there is such a thing. I have small decorative fence around the bed but that was not enough to keep the pups from getting to the plants and chewing them. They chewed about a dozen branches off the blueberries and about half that many off the blackberry bush. I was not happy but after Victoria punished them, I straightened the little fence and let it go. The second time they got in there I was ready to dispatch all three of the pups. Instead, I put up a barrier to try and keep them in the kennel through the day – so they do not have too much time and too much range while they are unsupervised. It has worked for two days so far, but I do not have long term hopes of containing them. They have been with us too long now and Mama and Victoria are getting attached.

I am praying they sell very soon.

Visitors

We had a busy weekend at the farm – at lest Saturday was busy. Mama and I were up early because we knew Kenny and Kim Cantrell were coming to get the chickens Mama has been raising for Kim. It will help Mama shorten her morning routine to have that brood out of the mix. The timing was good also because the twenty-four chickens were quickly outgrowing the Banty house we had them in. What we had forgotten was that Lin and his girlfriend were also coming to the farm.

Mama had worked out a schedule of sorts – at least with the Cantrell’s – so we had a short respite before things were going to get busy. With that in mind and knowing we were going be showing the animals to the visitors, I got a flat shovel and cleaned up the feed area of the little pig building. One or two chickens had been roosting there, so it was pretty dirty. Way too long since we had cleaned it. In the first scoop of hay and chicken manure I stirred something up. A very small copperhead snake had been nesting in the hay. Fortunately, it was a cool morning and the snake was not moving very quickly. It was dispatched as soon as I realized what it was. But finding the snake gave me pause to consider where else such little visitors might be found. It was a bit frightening because we routinely get eggs from the nest I was cleaning up. I showed the dead snake to Mama and Victoria and warned them that we need to begin to be more cautious when reaching into voids or cleaning up different area around the farm. Snake season in upon us.

Lin and Lin Hau (I am not sure how to spell her name) got the farm a little after 10 am. Lin was anxious to show his girlfriend – or fiancé – around the farm. Mama and I started them out and he took over while Mama and I worked on little chores. They brought Yilin and Cheyenne with them but the two of them made it back to the house pretty quickly. Cheyenne, who has overcome most of her fear of dogs (mainly due to Bella’s temperament) spent some time with the puppies on her way through the back yard. Lin and Lin Hau walked most of the property before coming into the house where they entertained themselves using a phone app that takes a picture of a person’s face and allows the user to add makeup, hair, etc. Mama was a little worried because she had promised them lunch but had forgotten to plan for that. We were saved later in the day when Lin said that they planned on going to the food trucks in Decatur. It was special Saturday thing on the square with a car show and about twenty food trucks.

Kenny and Kimberlyn got the farm about 11 am. I was working dismantling the little metal building when they got there. I do not have much to do to get the entire building taken apart. The last part will be to remove the plywood from the 4x4 runners it was built on, so they can be used as uprights for the new shed I am building for the goats in their new paddock. I should be able to get that done Tuesday evening – if Mama and I take that evening off from our business. Anyway, we visited for a while and we toured the farm with Kenny and Kim before we loaded up the chickens. Having them in the little Banty house certainly made it easier to catch and crate the lot of them. Once that was done, they did not stay long. They had a very busy day ahead of them and a very busy Sunday. Kenny was scheduled to preach to the guard unit somewhere in East Texas Sunday morning. The location, which I do not remember, was at least a two-hour drive for them.

Lin and company left about 2 pm. Mama and I napped a little, took care of the animals and packed up to go the square to see if there was anything enticing enough to spent $10 per meal on. I did not find anything. Mama suggested a couple items, but we did not follow through. We ended up eating at the Thai restaurant on the square. Mama was seriously hurting by the time we got back to the truck- which I was able to park pretty close to the event.

We finished out the day working about three hours in the office.

Business, puppies, the garden

Mama and I had a very pleasant and productive evening yesterday. We spent about two hours in the office and went through the lists of five counties. The houses and properties we identified as worth a look were marked for review once the auction is completed. We are finding some very good properties. Some of which we have no real chance of getting because the competition for them will be fierce, but it is exciting to see just how much is available. We are still looking at left over properties; those that do not get purchased during the auction. However, she and I are making plans to attend two auctions in mid-July. I am not sure if we will be able to do that, but it does not hurt to make plans. Failing to plan is planning to fail. We do not want to go there. It is a terrific side benefit that Mama can do this business – at least the research and phone contact part – sitting comfortably; resting her knees and back.

We are still waiting on the realtor we contacted to get the pictures of the properties to us. When we spoke earlier in the week, he was out of town but said he would be back home by Thursday. I do not know if his plans changed or he has forgotten me, but I will call him today to find out. Meanwhile, I am still waiting for the funds I tried to transfer to our new business accounts to be credited there. I will have to call on that also. Nothing too hard. Just keeping up with all the moving parts. In order to put in a bid on the two properties we are looking at, we need to send the checks to the county by the 8^th – next Tuesday. If we do not get the information in time we will pass on the properties. It is the only safe way to run this business. Hence, the July timing for attending an auction. We ended up running pretty close on the timing for the properties for this month. Entirely our fault. So, Mama and I learned that we have to start looking farther out. Or be more aggressive in the 30-day pause between the close of the auction and the left-over properties being available for purchase via closed bidding. At least for the next list we should have the finances in place.

Mama’s friend had some posting issues with the puppies which she managed to get fixed yesterday. Mama immediately started getting calls. That is a hopeful sign. The puppies are now big enough that I really want them gone – before they can tear up too much. They are impossible to keep penned up. If they cannot dig under or jump over barriers, they find another way to get past the hinderances we set up. It is not overly annoying. After all, they are puppies. For the most part, they are pretty easy to train, and Victoria is capitalizing on that, but they still like to dig and chew. Where they dig and what they choose to chew on is my main worry – and we still have three left to rehome.

Part of the pleasant nature of the evening yesterday was that the rain quit about 2 pm and the sun came out. It was warm and humid, but not overly so on either count. I took time to check on and feed the cattle as well as do a thorough check of the garden. It is always fun to see the plants spring up from seeds. We bought quite a few plants to put in the garden, but the bulk of the garden is comprised of rows of seeds we planted – okra, butternut squash, potatoes and pumpkin. The pumpkin seeds are from those planted last year. I hope those seeds are viable, but we will not know for another week. Those seeds that had barely sprouted over the weekend are now several inched high. They seem to double every day.

The rain, which started again this morning, and the forecast warm afternoon can only help.

War stories, offspring updates

I am finding that knee surgery is a little like pregnancy. At least, it would seem so with Mama. As she has gone through the two MRIs very recently, and as she considers her options for relieving the constant worsening pain in both knees, it turns out that there are three women at our church that have gone through similar experiences to what Mama is now dealing with. There are several more that have had a daughter, a mother or a close friend who has had to make the same decisions as Mama will soon be required to make. Mama has listened attentively to every side of the argument -every good report as well as every horrifying report. I myself know someone personally who lost his wife when she died on the operating table during knee replacement surgery.

It is not a 100% guarantee of success either. Whether Mama chooses the scope and repair or the full knee replacement there will be risks to consider. Costs to consider.  So, over the next several weeks we will listen to more stories, build a reserve of information and talk to at least one doctor, possibly two. Then Mama will decide – unless the doctor makes the decision for her. I have heard about some pretty amazing results from stem cell therapy, but don’t know how to pursue it. Or if we should. We’ll see what the doctor says before we make any commitments. The bottom line is that something needs to be done soon. Some type of surgery is a must - and a major weight loss program.

We still have three pups left and the calls have slowed way down. Mama enlisted the help of a friend – the mother of one of the kids at the school – to repost the puppies to see if we could generate some response. Well, last night she did get a call, but not about the pups. A man called to see if we would be willing to breed Kobe to his full-blooded Akita. He would take the pick of the litter as payment for the service of his sire. I am not sure how that got put into the mix, but it was an interesting turn of events. As he and Mama talked he said something that reinforced with me that he actually knows what he is talking about. He said, “I love the Akita breed, but boy do I hate the shedding.” Amen to that.

Two of the kid goats are going to be great pets. They love attention. They love to be petted and handled. One of the two is our little girl, Aspen. The other is one of the little bucklings, Patrick. It is a lot of fun to spend a few minutes with them each day. Both of the two are very high in the Myotonic index – or whatever it is called. Yesterday, as I entered the lot to feed them, I must have caused a loud enough noise that Patrick stiffened and fell over. He had to lay there bleating for a few minutes before he could get up and run to his mommy. No matter how often I witness that, it is still amusing. That trait certainly makes them easier to catch when needed. Still no bites on selling the little bucklings. I will re-advertise them on Monday.

Meanwhile, two of the Dwarf Nubian goats are looking like they will deliver in the next couple weeks. Sugar Baby and Mrs. Stubbs are “uddering up.” That is the only way to know if a goat is going to have kids. Their udder starts to swell as it slowly fills with milk in preparation for the delivery. Mama and I are expecting at least twins from each nanny. Time will tell. These will be babies from one of the bucks that Millie bore to us last year, Samson. He has since gone on to our Chinese friends for processing. Mama does not like to talk about that.

We are getting rain today. We certainly need it.

Feeling poorly, training call, visitors, cooking lessons

Neither Mama nor I felt well last night so we did not do much. I helped her feed when I got home but I was coughing throughout the exercise. The cough bothers the animals some. I guess it sounds like shouting to them. It made one of the baby goats stiffen up and almost fall over. I had had the opportunity to spend an hour working on the county lists during a break at work, so we are up to speed on where we need to be in our research. So, I got into my email and launched a recorded training phone call Mama and I could listen to. It was a very helpful, informative hour.

The only challenge was that the two conversing were from Australia and England respectively. They made a point to speak more slowly than they normally would have but Mama still had trouble keeping up with the conversation. They did bring out some very interesting points that Mama and I made note of – for future reference. One such point was to look into staying in an Air B&B when we travel to an auction. That way you can get a feel for the local flavor and perhaps some insights into the properties you are interested in purchasing at the auction. Also, the locals may know who to recommend when it comes to rehab being done on a property. One other point Mama and I had not considered is leasing commercial property we could purchase. There are some pretty good returns on those types of investments. It was an hour well spent. Thought we may not get to do much in the way of research tonight or tomorrow, I will have several hours Friday evening while Mama is with the school kids at an award ceremony somewhere in the DFW area. She will not be home until about 9 pm.

This afternoon, Alex is coming to the farm so that Mama can teach him how to make Banana Bread. They like all the varieties of sweet breads we have taken to share with them; Zucchini Bread, Pumpkin Bread, Banana Bread, etc. But they are not bakers. Baking is something that does not lend itself to Chinese cooking and with the restaurant, almost all their cooking time is spent it he kitchen at the restaurant. That kitchen does not have an oven. Mama is nervous about the baking lesson, but I think it should go well. That is tonight – along with church. Tomorrow Kim Cantrell is coming to the farm to get the chicks Mama has been raising for her – all twenty-three of them. It will be good to rehome them. It has not been a bother, but it does take Mama’s time twice daily to care for them – and they are getting big, so they need a bigger space than what we are currently providing for them. Then, Saturday morning, Lin and the girls are coming over so Mama can show Lin how to make macaroni and cheese.

Our Mac & Cheese last Sunday afternoon was an epic fail because we only had egg noodles and Mama insisted on putting the chunks of cheese directly on the cooked noodles. It is what she always does. However, with egg noodles I had suggested that she melt the cheese separately and pour the melted cheese over the noodles. It would have worked better but that was not the way it was done. The Mac & Cheese looked like globs of cheese buried in noodles with buttered noodles around the globs. It was not eaten by us. But the chickens enjoyed it. We have been giving them a lot of leftovers lately; mostly from church dinners last week. They rarely turn anything down.

Tonight, it will be a challenge to get ready for church in time. With Mama’s baking class, we will need to time the bread so that it comes out of the oven in enough time to allow all of us to still get showered and dressed. We have to send Alex home with a finished product.

It’s all good.

Monday off, the twins, Coir’s dilemma, the twins

Mama, Victoria and I all missed church Sunday. Victoria and I were feeling very poorly – coughing and snotty. Mama was hurting so badly that she was having trouble getting around. We did get the girls for the afternoon, just so their parents could work the restaurant. Sunday is a very busy day for them. I slept quite a few hours of the day while Mama tended to the three girls. I think she even got an hour nap in. She took the girls home about 6 pm. I was just getting up.

Yesterday, I was not much better, so I called into work and stayed home. As I began to feel better in the afternoon, I was able to get a few things done around the farm, but the “feeling better” did not last long. Saturday afternoon, I had moved the metal building we had used for goats and chickens out of the goat area, so we could repurpose it in the new paddock. Monday, I stripped the metal off the structure from where it sat behind the shop. I also hung a makeshift gate at the well house and repaired the door, so the cows will not have access to the feed we are storing in there. That was something I have needed to do for a long time. I was pretty worn out as Mama and I went to the office to do some research for our business.

Fortunately, we got an earlier start than normal because Mama stayed in town to get a second MRI done. This one was for her back. The first one was for her knees. The doctor is recommending a spinal block to help her deal with the continuing sciatic pain in her left leg. That procedure, in and of itself, will not directly affect the pain she is having in her knees, but it will have a secondary effect of allowing her a greater range of movement which should allow her to use her hurting knees more effectively. One pain always exacerbates another. If we can reduce one, it will positively impact the other. She will see the doctor later this week or early next week for the follow up.

On the business front, I contacted a realtor yesterday and enlisted his help with a couple properties in his area. There are only two we are interested in at this point. Mama and I were given a script to use with a realtor to help convince the realtor we were pros at what we are doing. It was a good script, but I abandoned it for this first contact. I was brutally honest because I do not want to be misleading. I need a very honest opinion from the realtor, so I started off with honesty. We had a great conversation. He understands what we are doing. He knows just how much help we will need, and he is more than willing to help. It’s a good start.

Mama and I went through the lists we had created and eliminated the properties that were no longer available or that we have found to be poor candidates to pursue. That leaves us with two selected properties and five potential after-auction properties. We went over three county lists and found almost nothing. The good news is that there are still a dozen counties to go before we are done with Arkansas.

Cori called Mama yesterday just as we were getting to the restaurant. We decided on that since we were in town to go to my office to work. Cori was not happy. The kids are all acting out in their own way as they make their final swing of deputation meeting and visits with family to say goodbye. It is often true that we, as parents/adults, will discuss things within the hearing of children that they do not fully understand. Since they only catch parts of the bigger discussion, they are forced to fill in the blanks with their own limited insights. I am not sure that is what is happening, but I can imagine Nate and Cori traveling down the road talking about the things ahead of them, the people they need to contact, how long it will be before they see this or that person again, the packing, the travel, the new challenges, selling the camper, borrowing unfamiliar vehicles, etc.

The kids have to deal with all those unknowns without the insights of how they will be solved. Never realizing that their parents already have the solution worked out - mostly. Kind of like us with our Heavenly Father. They are upset, and they don’t know why. They are scared, and they don’t know why. Their world is changing, and they have no control over it. They just need to know Mommy and Daddy have it covered. And Mommy and Daddy need to be careful that, when their frustration shows, when their insecurity shows, that they address it with an honest confidence. They are all making life-changing decisions on very small snippets of information.

On a brighter note. Brittany sent pictures of the twins yesterday. They are now nine months old. I’m glad she put that on the picture because I would not have known otherwise.