Banking, grilling, packing, sudden changes

Through the day today I will get all the banking done that would have occurred over the next two weeks. In our absence, there is no discount or forgiveness on the bank’s part for a late payment just because it is inconvenient for me to make that payment while I am out of the country. They never have a problem when the payments are made in advance, but they are instant in charging a late fee if the payment is even a few hours past the due date. I cannot blame them. I agreed to those terms when I signed on with the credit cards or the bank loans. But as much as is possible, I will try to get those payments in early for February.  Whereas I was struggling just a few weeks ago with how we would finance this trip, more than enough money has become available without taking it from moneys set aside for the houses in Lawton. Reimbursements from work for payments in food in travel and mileage for travel have made a big difference. Plus, Norman is buying our gooseneck trailer and is paying us half the agreed price tomorrow. Even if that does not happen, we will still have enough money freed up to make the trip. Praise the Lord!

Yesterday evening, I grilled steaks and burgers. Mama has had the meat ready since Tuesday, but we could not get the timing right until last night. I am thoroughly impressed with the pellet grill on loan to us. We have used it more over the winter than Bro. Zach used it during the last summer. He has offered to sell it to us, but we are holding out for a specific brand of the pellet grills when we do buy one. I want the money we spend to be well spent and after doing the research, I know the brand we need to buy for the service Mama and Victoria are going to expect. This type of grill is one that Mama, if she wants, can easily use if I am not available to do the grilling. I did six steaks and seven hamburgers on the small grill we are borrowing. When we get the pellet grill we really want, it will have more than double the cooking space. How fun will that be!

The luggage Mama and I settled in our back and forth through Amazon Prime came yesterday. It is perfect for what we need. It is a three-piece set. We will use the large and the small suitcases out of the three. Mama feels we need two large suitcases for this trip. I agree. So, one of our larger pieces of luggage will be packed along with the two new ones. Even with that I believe it will be a challenge to get everything packed under the weight limit. Tonight and tomorrow we will find out how close we will be to meeting the required limit while still getting everything we have set aside to be taken with us in the allotted space of the two checked bags and the two carry-ons.  It is always a challenge to pack for th
is trip. A fun challenge.

Cori has made reservations at a resort hotel in Tela for a two-night excursion to the beach. We will leave Sunday afternoon and be back late Tuesday evening. They have no evening services at the church in El Progresso so we opted to leave in the afternoon so we could get Nate back in time to resume his assigned duties Wednesday. I am not sure what is required of him, but the timing will be better for him if we are back the night before. Mama is really looking forward to a time at the beach. Any time at a beach. Especially the uncrowded, beautiful beaches of Honduras. The penthouse is reserved for us at the hotel. The views are supposed to be spectacular. From the pictures on the internet, it looks amazing.

Last night after talking with Cori and the kids for over an hour Cori texted us to let us know that Grant had fallen out of the back of a slow-moving truck and Blake had bitten through his lower lip. I am not sure the series of events that led to the injuries, but they looked significant. A testament to how quickly circumstances change in this very frail life. None of the injuries required medical attention, but both boys will be sore for a good while. Especially Blake.  Since it is still a week out, we are hopeful both boys will still be able to enjoy our beach time.

Scratches and scrapes do not generally do well in saltwater.

Reflecting, a moment, planning, farm chores

It is just a pensive reflection, but it seems disconnected to realize that all the events in a 24-hour period - conversations had, the actions taken, the decisions made – seem inconsequential when we try to reflect back on them. It is a fact that each day adds to or takes away from each subsequent day, but when I look back on yesterday, it was so common a day that I must pose the question, “Did anything significant happen?” Ever had one of those days? This is partly due to the fact that our focus is event driven at the moment. We are going to Honduras. Planning for that overshadows everything we would normally give our attention to. One of those events that you cannot reshuffle once you have left the house. Most of the work happens in the planning. Executing that plan is an outcome of the foresight given to that plan. We are deep in the planning stage. Executing will begin Saturday night as we begin to load the Sequoia. we are keeping up with everything else required of us, but it is like we are sleep walking through those actions.

Mama and I shared a fun moment in the early afternoon. I sent a text to Mama asking her to look at our Amazon Prime account to evaluate a luggage set I had placed in the cart. She was easily able to do so. Her opinion was that we needed to avoid soft sided luggage with excessive outside zippered pockets. A new luggage set Victoria had bought has not fared well in the last two trips to Honduras. With that in mind, Mama added a hard-sided set of luggage to the cart for me to look over. Before I got the texted instructions to do so, I added a set for her to look over. This went back and forth for several sets of luggage as our cart total grew astronomically. We finally settled on a set that was in our price range and could be at the house this week. Today actually. Mama cannot wrap her head around selling or advertising on an electronic device, but she sure has figured out how to buy items over the internet. My relationship with Amazon Prime is a love-hate relationship.

On my lunch break yesterday, I deposited a check into a local account so that Mama and could withdraw the cash before we left for Houston Sunday afternoon. Meanwhile, Mama called a hotel near our Houston contact and made reservations for Sunday night – confirming we would have a ride to the airport Monday morning. The La Quinta staff assured her we would be taken care of. Mama also talked to our Houston contact to ensure his help Sunday evening. We will leave our Sequoia at his house and he will take us to the hotel for our overnight stay prior to our departure.

Mama started the drawn-out process of selecting the clothing she would be packing for our stay in Honduras. That should occupy her attention for the next several days. It is so much easier for me. Some pants. Some shirts. Some undergarments, socks and pajamas. Maybe swimsuits. Two pairs of shoes. One for church. One for daily wear. Done. I do enjoy watching Mama struggle through the process of packing for a trip. Coordinating clothing. Considering ambient temperature and weather conditions at the travel site. Forecasting situations where each article of clothing will be most appropriate. Etc. Etc. It used to bother me. Now it fascinates me in its bewildering complexity.

Grandma and Grandpa are also gearing up for their role at the farm during our absence. They will spend the days staying fulltime at the farm. Caring for the animals. Especially the dogs. Mama will have our bed ready for them and we will stock the fridge with items they prefer. Victoria will have to deal with the intrusion into her privacy throughout the evenings she shares the house and farm with Grandma and Grandpa. Sunday may be a challenge for Victoria. Explaining her need to go to church while they continue to argue against the need to do so. But hopefully, needing to get the girls to church will provide the impetus to follow through with our normal routine. Anyway, that is borrowing trouble from tomorrow. God will take care of it. We are very happy Grandma and Grandpa are willing to step in during our absence. Mama is greatly relieved to have the help while she is away since Victoria tends to be a minimalist when it comes to feeding the flock and herd.

Things are coming together bit by bit.

Ladies meeting, music

Mama had a Ladies Meeting at church last night. The culinary theme of the meeting was to make a new recipe to try on the ladies attending versus trying it out on their respective families. Mama’s new recipe was not a huge success. She tried a soup. She knows I like soups. The soup had ground meat, black beans, onions, tomatoes, etc. The issue was the noodles the soup recipe called for. Once the noodles were added they soaked up all the broth in the pot. Swelling larger and larger through the evening before Mama got a chance to serve her new recipe. By the time she was ready to pack up to go to the church, she was debating even taking the “soup”. It was pretty mushy. The fact that there was so little of it left when she brought the pot home was a testament to the willingness of the ladies to try it out. Fail or not. I actually liked the mixture, but soggy noodles do not usually bother me. Mama would not allow me to pack up the leftovers. She will feed those to the chickens this evening.

I spent most of the evening getting the music together for the next three weeks of services. Mama and I will be leaving after the morning service this Sunday. We will miss Sunday the 9^th. Even though we will be back for the service on the 16^th I wanted to have the music schedule published in advance. That took some time to get together. Checking and double-checking selections and page numbers. Making sure I noted the selections and the corresponding date in my songbook. I still try to not repeat any song in a three-month period. We sing on average 450 songs per year in our typical services. There are over 600 songs in the hymnal we use, of which we know about 400 well. It just seems a shame to skip over so many of the good songs in favor of the most familiar ones. So, I limit the most familiar ones to once per quarter. Filling in the music schedule with the others. It works out well. But it is a challenge sometimes. Twice a year, I go through my annotated hymnal to see what songs we have inadvertently skipped over. Those we have not sung at all or have sung only once in six months. I add those in over the next few weeks, so we do not forget them. Getting three weeks together took me more than an hour.  

Yesterday was chilly; about 45°. What made it feel much colder was a north wind that was steady at about 30 mph. It did not seem to bother the animals, but it required a bit heavier coat for me and Mama to tend to them. We had some rain through the night Monday into Tuesday morning, but that was quickly dried up by the wind. My immediate concern this morning was whether or not any of the faucets had frozen overnight. I did not take the time to cover the house hose bibs or disconnect hoses from hydrants based solely on the overnight forecast. The temperature was forecast to be just below 40° but the wind was still blowing hard. Mama will let me know if there was an issue when she gets out to do her morning rounds.

Tonight is church. Tomorrow we start packing for Honduras.

Tax time, planning and packing

Evenings this week – prior to our leaving for Honduras – I am working on taxes. My goal is to have the paperwork ready for the accountant in Amarillo when Mama and I go over to see Gaylon, Chase and Makaila’s new baby; sometime early in March. Lat night I was able to get the tallies for farm expenses and incomes for last year. We had a pretty good year at the farm overall. Our expenses were double our income, but our income was not too shabby. We bought and sold sheep. We bought and sold cattle. We bought and sold goats. We sold many dozens of eggs. We sold beef and lamb and pork processed from animals we raised. All that adds up. On the expense side, we fed out our herd and flock through the year. All that adds up too. I build structures and we prepared for beehives on our farm this year. That new project is one of the drivers to take this trip early in the year. We will be very busy with the hives starting in early April.

This year I expect we will do better on the income side of the equation. It will still not match our expenses but if we start to get honey, that will add to our marketable products. That is an additional benefit of the farm. We get to raise our own beef, pork, goat and chicken, collect fresh eggs, grow vegetables and fruits and get our own honey (hopefully) and accrue the losses that accompany those activities. How much longer Mama and I will be able to keep the farm is an active question, but for now we are managing okay. It certainly helps at tax time each year. It gives me lots of projects to work on through the year. It gives Mama an outlet for her husbandry talents. A definite win for all of us. The animals included.

Mama and Victoria managed to get all the items for Cori et.al. in one suitcase without it being too close to the weight limit. That leaves Mama and I one suitcase to pack along with our carryon bags. That should be more than enough for the two of us. It will definitely be more than enough for us to handle as we lug the bags through check in at the airport. Mama is taking her walker. That adds an interesting dynamic to the process of getting our bags to the counter, but we will work it out on the fly – so to speak. Four bags, two personal items and a walker. This should be fun. At least until we check in the two larger bags. Then we only have two bags, two personal items and a walker. The walker is a huge help to Mama as we stand in queue during check in, during boarding and during customs check in Honduras. It gives her a place to rest when on those long lines. It is worth the additional work to have it available.

A more concerning part of the timing of this trip is getting the bills paid on time during our absence. I will not be able to access our accounts from Honduras. Safeguards in place on the accounts will not allow me into the accounts while in a foreign country. That is not a bad thing. Fortunately, I will get paid the Friday before we leave. That will enable me to get the most important bills in the queue over the weekend. I will have to catch up to the other bills when I get back. It should all work out, but it is still a bit concerning. We will be flying blind financially, so to speak. On the bright side, the company owes me several hundred dollars from the trip Mama and I took last week. Since I did not get a prepaid credit card from the company, I had to pay for the trip myself. All that money should be credited to or account while we are in Honduras. That will help pad the account. I am not taking that debit card with me so all the money deposited will be waiting on me and Mama when we get back. That will be a blessing.

Mama is working on getting us a hotel in Houston. Cori and Nate’s friend in Houston will let us park the Sequoia at their house while we are gone. They are going to take us to the hotel from their house Sunday night and the hotel will shuttle us to the airport Monday morning. So, many of the incidentals have been worked out and our Honduran crew is anxiously awaiting us.

Savanna is ready to go to our airport to pick us up. She was surprised recently when they went to the airport to pick up someone not related to her. She quizzed her daddy as to why they were picking up someone at Tory’s airport. Nate explained that other people come into Honduras through that airport as well. She thought about that for a minute and said. “Oh yeah. Grammy and Papi.”

It’s nice to have our own airport.

Visiting, cleanup, herd relocation

Mama and I are trying to make it to Bus Calling every Saturday morning. It is only about two hours out of our Saturday. There are other ways we could use the time, but I consider it like a tithe. When I give that time to the Lord, He will give me that time back in ways that are more profitable and often unexpectedly blessed. That is kind of how things worked out Saturday. Since I did not have enough time to get started on any farm chores Saturday morning between feeding and Bus Calling, I sat and uploaded the receipts we had accumulated. Mama and I record our receipts to help us keep track of our spending. It really does help but it takes time. Time which we often do not allow ourselves to complete the task. That got done before we needed to leave. When we got to the church, there were nineteen others there. A really good group. A group of young people from BBTI have swelled our Soul Winning ranks lately. That has been a great encouragement to our pastor.

Mama and I went with Bobby and Raymond Garza. Bobby is deaf so Mama gets forced to practice the sigh language she knows for the time we are out. We were only out for about an hour and twenty minutes. Raymond had only two stops to make to visit his route. It seems every house on that route has been recently visited by our gang, so there were no new visits we could make in that area. Mama’s head was spinning by the time we got back to the church. Bobby’s signing is less formal than Mama is used to, and he signs very fast. It is hard for someone not fluent to keep up. Fortunately, Bobby is used to pantomiming his thoughts versus just signing. None-the-less, he is a challenge to communicate with. We headed home to meet Victoria and she and Mama went to Denton to do some shopping. I stayed at the farm to get some cleanup done.

The pig building, where the weanlings are staying, needed to be cleaned, sanitized and re-strawed. I have to do that every week or the smell is horrible. That little chore took about an hour complete. While I was getting the soiled straw out of the building, I lost count of how many times I made the little goats faint. It is hilarious to watch. They are so curious that they cannot stay away and so easily startled that they cannot help fainting. I left them out of the building for the rest of the day so the building could dry out. I took a few minutes to relocate a couple panels at the garden shed as I was getting feed dispersed. They have sat like they were for four years while I waited for the time to build a proper side to the garden shed. That is a chore that is still waiting on me. It looks better the way they are now placed. Mama liked it much better. A win-win for me. Maybe that will buy me another four years.

I had to get the tractor for the next chore. I had a mess in front of the goat barn. We have not cleaned out the goat barn since we built it and the front had gotten a little messy. It is where I dump the stubble from the hay feeder we use in that barn. That stubble then gets put back in the building for the goats to bed down in. With the wet winter we are having, that area at the barn entrance had gotten mushy. I took out a full tractor bucket load of straw, manure and wet dirt from the entrance. I could have taken more but I did not want to create a hole for water to pool in. I will get to see over the next couple days it that worked the way I wanted it to.

I dumped the load of refuse removed from the goat barn in the garden. While I had the tractor in the garden, I pushed the raised bed back up to level it. Over the years it had started to lean a bit and I did not like the look of it. It took some time to get the new bracing in place, but I like the look much better now. It allowed me to remove the two by sixes attached to the side of the bed to mount a shade for the bed. They were actually keeping the bed from leaning any further than it was. While I was finishing that up, Mama and Victoria got home.

With Victoria’s help, we took the little male weanlings from the pig building and put them with Midas. Mama was worried bout the size and age difference between the little ones and Midas and at first, it was a little concerning. Midas chased Julian around the lot as soon as the two were put together, but as we got all the little ones in the lot, it worked itself out. After all, it was five to one so Midas could not possibly chase all of them around the lot. The little ones were thrilled to be in a bigger lot. They ran, skipped and jumped until they got worn out. Callie, our weanling doe, went back with the nanny goats. She has been off her mother for three weeks, so Millie is pretty well dried up.

When Mama and I get back from Honduras, we will take the last of the nursing babies and wean them. A few weeks away from their mommies and they will be placed back with the larger goats. Boys with the boys. Girls with the girls.

We love our farm.

Travel, visiting, back home

Mama and I spent the week on the road. We traveled to Amarillo Monday, getting there just before 1 pm. On the way we met up with Chase and Makaila at a small store in Clarendon, TX. They set up in the store which sells antiques and interior decorating supplies to make their shakes and teas on Monday of every week. It helps drive business to the store and promotes their business as well. From there we drove to the sight of the class I was to teach on Wednesday in Amarillo and visited with those folks for a few minutes before dropping Mama off at Chase and Makaila’s. That timing allowed me to get to the sight in Guymon, OK (two hours out of Amarillo) before they closed for the day. The guys in Guymon were impressed that I knew the area, but I had spent many days in Guymon during my time with ConocoPhillips.

Whereas the training in Amarillo would take place in a fairly nice facility, the training in Guymon was to be done in the shop building. I have to hand it to the guys that set up the shop for the training. The tables and chairs provided were clean and ready to go. Not so much for everything else in the shop. I tried to not bring too much of the dirt from the shop with me to Amarillo, but to do so I had to wipe down my computer bag and the suitcase I used to carry the class materials in before packing them in the car to travel to Amarillo after the class.

Both classes were great classes. Several of the guys in the class in Amarillo were going through my class for the second time. Many of the attendees in both classes were going through the class for the third, forth or fifth time. It put the onus on me to deliver an interesting version of a class they had seen multiple times over the years. Fortunately, the class is repeated only every three years. Most of the material would have been forgotten in that time, but the course has remained largely unchanged in the last three years while the industry has changed around us. I incorporated those changes into the stale presentation and added a few things I am anticipating will happen within the industry in the next several years. It makes the material a little fresher to do so. Otherwise I would be a little embarrassed to present the class.

Mama and I got back to the farm about 3:30 yesterday after stopping to see the new nutrition shop in Claude, TX on our way home. Two customers came in for shakes and teas during our short visit with Chase as he worked the shake bar. Mama had several really good visits with Owen during the week. Makaila did her best to include Mama in as much as possible while she and Chase worked to keep their gym and shake shops open for business. Makaila’s family included Mama whenever possible in Owen’s daily routine. They were all very gracious to her during this visit. Owen warmed up to his Grammy pretty quickly. To Papa, not so quickly. Of course, I only saw Owen in very small slots of time over the week, but during our last visit, Wednesday evening, he played with me as if he had known me all his life. It was definitely worth Mama’s time away from the farm to refresh that contact.

Mama also spent some time with Mrs. Patrick one afternoon during Owen’s naptime. That also is rewarding in and of itself. In Heaven those bonds will be unbroken. While we are here, we must work to maintain them. the precious little effort it takes to do so often is neglected. That is a shame and Mama and I are trying to make those little extra efforts. We are not yet good at it, but we are trying. I did not get to visit Mrs. Patrick due to my work schedule, but I am thankful Mama got to go.

While Mama and I were out feeding yesterday evening I took the time to set a pallet in with the weanlings. Anything to get them off the ground. As soon as I set it down, they were all over it. They are incredibly curious critters. Very playful. They love wood and they love being off the ground. All five of the babies were crowded on the pallet at one time when I first put it in place. Then they began knocking each other off the pallet. It is always fun to watch. Today, they will be able to enjoy it for a full day. With the ground still wet from recent rains, I predict they will spend the day sunning on the pallet. Mama should enjoy watching them make the best of the wooden perch.

This weekend we will begin preparing for our trip to Honduras.

Moving day, rain, travel

Today is moving day at work. Every so often management will get the wild idea to relocate, regroup, or rearrange personnel at the office. This will be my fifth such move. Although to be honest, two of those moves were of my own choosing. In this move, I will return to the spot I originally occupied when I hired into this company almost four years ago. Whether or not that will be my final move remains to be seen, but I am inclined to believe it will. All this will be accomplished while normal business is still carried on.

It is always a challenge, but the company tries to lighten the stress by allowing us to enjoy the commotion versus hurrying us through the process. The entire move should be completed before noon even with the meetings we have scheduled during the move. It is humorous to consider the fact that once I have my new desk set up, I will not even be at that desk for a week. One of those hurry up and wait situations. But I will hurry to get relocated because someone else needs my spot.

The rain soaked us all day yesterday. We are expecting more of the same today. So far, we have about an inch and a half of rain accumulating on the ground. It has been steady and gently. Soaking deeply into the ground until we are now fully saturated. We have not really dried out since the rain and snow of last weekend. That might allow us a really good Spring this year. Time will tell. For now, we still have light freezes several times per week. That is good. It keeps the trees from budding too early by letting them know Winter is still here. Though nothing else shows signs of life, I have been amazed by the blackberries. The plants have stayed green throughout the freezes we have had and actually seem to be thriving. If that is true, we should have a bumper crop this year.

I am not sure what I can get done tomorrow, but I need to get some cleanup done. I need to clean up the pig building where we have five weanling goats. It is starting to stink. I need to clean out the coop. Mama and I will be traveling next week, so that will not get done during the week. It could wait a week, but Mama and I would like to have it clean when we leave for Honduras in a couple weeks. After our trip to Guymon and Amarillo, we will have only one week at home before leaving for Honduras. So, we need to plan carefully for our extended absence. We are putting a lot on Victoria. We do not want to unnecessarily add anything to that burden. Besides, Mama like to keep things clean. It is often a challenge, but so far, we have managed.

In preparation for next week’s travel, I am washing a couple loads of clothes. A chore I very rarely participate in. But I would like to get some of the laundry done since Mama will only be home for a short evening Saturday and all day Sunday before we have to leave for my teaching assignments. After driving the five or so hours from Brittany’s to the farm, she will not be overly energetic in getting house chores done. Besides, Sunday is nap time, so chores are usually put on hold through that day. Whether or not I will mess up any clothes is a fair question, but I will certainly try to do only what I am almost confident I can do properly. If Mama were to write a procedure for us to follow on how she does the laundry, it would be a really large volume of instructions with copious footnotes of exceptions and special applications of the “rules”. When she has explained the process to me in the past, I have tuned out at the second exception every time. It is not a simple process in Mama’s eyes. She does not mind doing the laundry. I do not mind her hording the task to herself.

One of those trade offs that rarely causes an issue.

Class yesterday, gone, Victoria, class today

I was unexpectedly asked to go to the class we were presenting in town yesterday. Another instructor was presenting the class, but my supervisor asked me to attend for moral support. I did not get the memo until I logged into my computer and checked my emails. It turned out to be a good thing I went. I was able to help in several different discussions throughout the day. I was also able to smooth over a couple questions that the instructor did not know how to answer. He was more than glad for the help each time it was offered so it all worked out for the best. While I sat in the back of the class, I was able to prepare for the class I taught today. At the very least, I got the day out of the office and a great lunch with some great people.

Because of the way my fellow instructor times his classes I did not leave the Convention Center until well after 4 pm. even at that, I left before the class had ended. I am guessing it continued for another forty minutes or so after I bugged out. All the dogs were desperate to get outside. Victoria had put Sandy outside for the day because she had given the dog some worming medicine. I maintained that arrangement throughout the short time I was at home.  By the time I got the dogs taken care of and the feeding done, it was time to get ready for church.

We had a missionary speak last night. He and his family are going to Vietnam. He gave a great sermon on giving. One of the statements he made early in his sermon was this. “Money only makes the possible a reality.” That is a powerful statement. I do not know if he came up with it, but I will certainly use it in the future. The rest of the sermon was equally powerful. I am glad (as always) that I went. Mama did not get any church last night. The church Brittany and Andrew attend does not have Sunday night or Wednesday night services. I tend to thrive on the extra.  

When I got home from church, Victoria was handing Sandy over to another family. YAY! The mother and sone were visibly thrilled to have the dog. In fact, Victoria told them that Sandy was wet from the slobbers of the larger dogs. Both of them try to pin her down in their play. The son quickly offered to give Sandy a bath so she could sleep with him that night. Have at it! I did not horrible dislike the dog, I was just not willing to make a fifteen-year commitment to that particular animal. I am happy to see her gone before I am solely responsible for her care throughout the extended weekend.  

That starts today. Victoria left in the pouring rain to head to Brittany’s. She had the time off and did not want to waste the time at the farm. Not that I blame her. She should arrive this evening if she is able to make the trip without incident. I will go home to the dogs and goats this evening. That arrangement will continue through Saturday afternoon when Mama is expected home.

I taught a class today, but it was a small class. Only four participants, so it went very quickly. This class is the one that I really enjoy teaching. It was a full day. Since it has been raining all day, it will be a full, wet evening.

Dogs, wasted time, failed grill recipe, waiting

I went home at lunchtime yesterday to let the dogs out. That was not so bad, but Sandy pooped and peed in the living room after I let the dogs back into the house. I subsequently threw her out of the house, and she stayed out until Victoria let her back in very late in the evening. When I got home from work there were large patches of dog puke across the kitchen floor. I was not happy. In fact, I was very unhappy with the dogs. So, rather than get too angry, I went outside and took care of the evening feeding. Filling waterers and setting out more feed where needed. I stayed out of the house working around the farm until Victoria got home – just before dark. I am not necessarily mad it the dogs. They cannot be anything other than dogs. I am upset that my life is overrun with them. That will have to change soon. I am not sure how, but it will have to change. Starting with getting rid of Sandy.

As I worked outside, I tried to weld the gate to the post I have set in the new lot, but that was mostly a fail. I did not have any metal heavy enough to bridge the gap between the hinges on the gate and the post. The hinges were poorly cut away from whatever they had been welded to originally and I was working with that poor cut to make the new connection. I used a piece of old bed rail to try make the connection, but it will be too light to work. Whatever I use must be able to carry the weight of the gate. Those pieces will not do that. I can use them as reinforcement, but not as supports. So, I pretty much wasted my time welding them in position. Tonight, I will cut them off and try something else.

Much of my frustration stems from the financial challenge I see us needing to meet within the next three to four weeks. We are not prepared to meet that challenge with the resources I have available. In my heart, I know it will all work out, but the lack of ability to foresee that successful conclusion is troubling. It is ultimately a lack of faith. Faithlessness is a sin. And I am guilty as charged. It seems idiotic to take upon myself what only God can do, yet here we are. I will slowly work my way through this lack of faith and see God work, but for now, I have to be careful to not take out my frustration on those around me. Like the work done on my poorly welded gate, it is wasted time and energy. It is just so hard to let go.

On the lighter side, I grilled stuffed jalapenos for me and Victoria. They came out okay. Not great. I did not take time to get bacon to wrap the jalapenos, so we used some thinly sliced ham lunchmeat. That was not the best choice, but it worked in a pinch. They tasted good, but the cheese I put in the jalapeno halves oozed onto the foil I grilled them on. Not all of it, but more than would have run out if I had been able to use bacon slices to seal the ends as I wrapped the halves. It was a less than great outcome, but a good test of the process. We will definitely try again.

This week at work is our week of quarterly classes. I will teach only Thursday, but we have classes scheduled for today through Friday. Next week, I will teach two classes at a client facility. One in Guymon, OK. One in Amarillo. That is the week Mama will travel with me and visit with Chase and Makaila and Owen as I teach. I don’t mind the travel especially when I drive to the facilities and I can take Mama with me. As much as I am looking forward to the time with Chase and Makaila, I am looking forward to the time out of the office. As I wait on calls or emails from several different people, I am trying not to grow impatient. Trying to stay in step with God’s plan. Sitting in the office with little to do only adds to the frustration. Fortunately, I have been given a couple assignments to fill in the hours at my computer. If I have to stay at this post for a longer time than I originally anticipated, I would like to fill the time with worthwhile projects. That looks like a distinct possibility.

It is one of those times of waiting that the principle of “waiting” serves well. Like a waiter waiting tables. The best ones work at it. I am waiting on the Lord by doing. Filling those needs that I have opportunity to meet. Serving as needed in whatever capacity needed. Not sitting idle as the days hurry past but doing. Hopefully, I will be fully prepared for the next step in Mama’s and my journey when that door opens.

Hopefully.

Weather, sickness, travel

Friday was a day of extreme weather. We spent over an hour that afternoon – just before quitting time – sheltered in place because of tornado warnings in our area. There was no way we could work in the cramped space, so we just talked and made the most of the situation. It was not an unpleasant time and we were in no danger even if a tornado would have formed in our area. The rain that accompanied the storm was impressive. The sustained winds were clocked at 40 mph with periodic gusts of 60 mph. The rain was coming in sideways. I do not know if there were any tornados in our immediate area, but the conditions were certainly right for them to form. Kudos to the company for taking the precautions exercised that day. I don’t know if Victoria wished for snow on her birthday, but she got it.

Meanwhile, back at the farm, Mama was returning from Bowie during the time I was cloistered in an office with my work mates. She and several others met Victoria for lunch at a restaurant in Bowie. She had to drive home in the high winds and rain, but when she got to the farm, it was barely raining. While areas around us got over three to five inches of rain, we got an inch and a half. No complaints. What happened next was a bit of a surprise for everyone. When we got up the next morning, it was snowing. Through the night the storm had deposited over two inches of snow. That was impressive.

It made for nasty travel conditions for Victoria as she slipped and skidded her way to work, but it was beautiful none the less. Thoroughly nasty later on as we went out to feed, but beautiful. Mama scattered bird seed on the ground at our picture window and we watched the birds pick thorough the seed while we ate breakfast. The snow melted through the day and the roads cleared, but the combination of over an inch of rain and the melting snow left the ground thoroughly soaked and sort of greasy. Some of the snow lingered into Sunday, but by the early afternoon Sunday, it was all gone, and the ground is starting to dry out. It was a blessing while it lasted.

I did not get a lot done Saturday. Partly because of the snow and cold, but mostly because of a flare up of my diverticulitis. I spent the day in and out of the bathroom. Always in pain. It was not a good day. By Sunday morning, I was better but still very tender. Today I am much better. I always feel guilty wasting a full day on me. Not accomplishing anything at the farm. Not accomplishing anything in the house. Just sitting – either in my recliner or on the toilet. It was not a fun day.


Mama packed off and on through the day Saturday. We loaded the car late in the evening so Sunday morning would not be so rushed. After lunch Sunday, she drove to Brittany’s. She got there about the time we started services here. The girls were very surprised to see their Grammy and put on quite  a show for her.  Brittany had held off bath time for the twins until Mama got there so Mama was able to lotion up the girls, get them dressed for bed and read them a bedtime story. All those Grammy things. She will spend the week there so Brittany can maintain her work schedule at her new job. Next week her babysitter will return, and the two-week crisis caused by her absence will be over. Mama is happy to be a part of the solution.

This morning, Victoria and I split up the chores so we could both keep to our schedules. I opened and fed the chickens and baby goats well before daylight. The poor chickens were so confused. I probably ruined their routine for the whole day. Victoria fed the nanny goats. Poor Midas will have to wait until this evening to get fed, but he has plenty of hay in his paddock. I spent an hour outside yesterday afternoon cleaning and filling waterers and feeders so that this morning would be easier for Victoria and me. It helped. I will go home during my lunch break to let the dogs out so they do not have to wait all day to get that opportunity, and I will finish the feeding chores this evening. All that coordination makes me wonder how Victoria will manage all the feeding and watering while Mama and I are in Honduras. Next week, when Mama and I are in Amarillo will be a good test of her efficiency. We may have to call on Grandma and Grandpa to help during both absences.

Over the next several nights I will work on our bank application for funding for our mini house project and our taxes. I do not think I will have everything ready to send off to the accountant in Amarillo so there will be another trip there after we get back from Honduras.

Mama will not mind that.

Land News, bad weather, Victoria, Grammy

Mama contacted a local realtor we have worked with in the past and asked if he had any leads on land near us. She specified twenty to thirty acres in her request. He was, as always, quick to reply to her. Yesterday morning, he sent her three listings. All of them would be nice properties, but all of them were too far out for us to use for the project we are planning. She replied with thanks and narrowed her request to land with easier access to our local highways. That land will not be as cheap as the initial offerings he sent, but there is no sense in buying somewhere too far afield for renters to come. People are funny that way. Just the distance of two or three miles makes a huge difference to renters. They are not looking for peace and quiet. They are looking for convenience. In order to attract the right renters, that is what we must offer. Regardless of the increased start up cost involved. As nice as it would be to get land for the price at which these parcels were offered, it would have been a waste of money to do so. We are not pressed for time. The realtor is not an anxious man. He will continue to give us listings until we narrow our search to the property the Lord wants for us.

Yesterday evening, I held off on dinner until I had worked a couple hours on the lot I am trying to finish. The weather is supposed to be bad today – thunderstorms, high winds, hail and periods of heavy rain. I will not be working outside tonight. But yesterday I was able to put up fencing on the long part of the lot. I have only to pull it taught to complete that portion. On Saturday, Lord willing, I will weld up the gate and finish the front with a cattle panel. Once I get that done, I will lay out a small shelter made from pallets, skinned with metal siding. That worked very well in the large paddock, but I do not need anything as large as the structure I built there. This one will be two pallets deep and three pallets wide. Tall enough for Mama and I to work in, but more of a lean to than a barn.

With the goats we have, it does not need to be a fortress. It only needs to be sturdy enough to endure the storms we have at the farm. I am trying to make all the structures I build suitable for stock other than goats in case Mama and I sell the farm at some point and the new owner has horses or other livestock that needs to be separated and sheltered. But I do not want to invest too much time or money in the shelters. I have rearranged portions of the farm enough to know that what we need today will need to be removed or repurposed to meet some future need. Everything I have assembled has been done so with that in mind – excluding the shop and the coop. Those are dedicated purpose buildings. Anyway, if we need to use the lot before the shelter is complete, I will put the large igloo now in the second paddock – which abuts the new lot – into this lot. That will be sufficient for a temporary shelter for the weanlings.

Mama is headed to Bowie today to get the oil changed in the Sequoia and, more importantly, to meet Victoria for a second birthday lunch. Today is her actual birthday. I get the impression that she is both excited and depressed about this birthday. Perhaps Mama and Grandma can cheer her up at lunch. Her pre-birthday lunch last Saturday was kind of a bust, so I think Mama is hoping to make it up to her. Last week at work Victoria was nominated for Tech of the Year by her boss. Again, she had mixed emotions about that accolade. Thankful for the recognition. Dreading the fanfare and the photos requisite with the nomination. Pray for Victoria. She is seeking purpose for her life, but I don’t think she is quite ready to find that purpose.

Sunday afternoon Mama will leave for a Brittany’s. She will spend the week there helping with the twins as Brittany continues in her new job. It will not be a hardship for Mama. She is looking forward to the extended time with Zoe and Sophia. She is not looking forward to the time away from the farm or from me, but we are both thankful for the fact that they are close enough that such a time is practical. We know that will not always be the case, so, for now we are taking full advantage of the proximity.

Go Grammy!

Mama’s phone, our Savanna, Randy. house news

Mama took her phone to the Apple store yesterday. The store is about an hour away from where we live but is in an area with enough stores around it that Mama could make the trip work on several levels. We expected the repair to take some time and further expected to wait for a technician for a while. So, I was surprised when Mama called me about 10:40 to tell me she was done. The phone was reset, and all the mistakes had been corrected. Going in the morning had been a good choice. The technicians were not busy yet, so Mama got helped as soon as she arrived. The reset/repair took about forty minutes to complete. No charge. Now Mama’s phone is working much better. It no longer thinks it is an iPhone 7 or that it is my phone. I only wish my confusion would be so easy to solve.

Over the past few days Cori has shared with us some of the hilarious things Savanna has said. That poor child is way ahead of her age. She was confiding in her mommy a few days ago that she wanted to marry one little guy they know, but he would not talk to her. So, she left off with him and looked to another little fellow, but he talked too much. Oh, the hardships of picking out the right husband when you are only five years old. Later she told her daddy that she wanted to pick out her house. She is into this marriage thing pretty deeply. When her daddy told her that it would be best for her to wait and let her husband pick out their house, her response was, “But he’s not a good picker.”  She then asked if it was better to get married at six years old or seven years old. Her daddy said that was not going to happen until she was twenty-six years old. She did not like that arrangement. We will be much in prayer for the future spouse of this child. Staying ahead of that quick little mind will be a constant challenge for her parents…and her grandparents.

I was feeling pretty rough when I got home yesterday evening. Nothing specific. Just overall feeling poorly. In Spanish they call it “la gripa” After we ate a small dinner, I laid back in the recliner and slept for about twenty minutes. I did not feel any better, but I did not feel any worse. I struggled through getting ready for church and we all went. I am always glad when we go to church. Last night was no exception. Being around our church family is always uplifting. Mama and Victoria got their baby fix with Savanna; Trace and Krystal’s youngest. I got to speak some Spanish with a man who is attending BBTI this year. The pastor preached on experiencing the Lord in our lives. His salvation. His leading through His Word and by the Holy Spirit. His provisions for our lives. All areas of our lives. His attentiveness to our prayers and the answers to those prayers that can only be attributed to Him. His correction and instruction in our daily walk. It was a great sermon. It was a great time with friends and with the Lord.

Mama and I contacted Randy a couple nights ago. If possible, we will use him to build the mini-homes we want to build in the next year or so. It will take a lot of planning and a lot of money to get this done, but we are starting to explore the options. We are currently in contact with a bank to get the paperwork in place to arrange the financing for such a project. We are in the infant stages, but Mama is completely on board with the project. In fact, she is the motivating force behind the forward progress. Contacting the banks. Contacting local realtors. Shopping land listings. She really wants to get this done. We are only about eighteen months and 1.2 million dollars away from collecting rent on the little homes. So close. Randy is about as excited as Mama is. I am very interested, but I have a lot of work ahead of me. Especially as we work to convince the bank that this is a worthy investment. Randy is supposed to have some floor plans for us to look at this week. For now, even the baby steps are somewhat daunting.

Our realtor in Lawton is excited about the progress on the Dover property. Mama and I have not seen any pictures, nor have we made the trip to look at the home ourselves, but we are hopeful that the home will be listed this month. We are praying for a quick sale. That cash influx would be very welcome. Meanwhile, progress on the Aberdeen property continues. I have posted the dates for this year’s foreclosure sales on my calendar, but we will not be able to go to any of the January of February sales. Hopefully, by March, we can be active participants again. By June, we hope to be able to participate in the Arkansas tax sales. Time and money permitting.

Time will tell. God is good.

Short evenings, oops, Maggie, Mama’s diet success

If the days are slowly getting longer, it is difficult to tell. This is the time of year when I have less tan two hours to get anything done at the farm in the evenings. By the time I get home, there is less than two hours of light left. So, anything that needs to be done outside has to be done quickly or put off until the next available evening or wait until Saturday. Yesterday evening I was home later than normal because I stopped at Lowe’s on the way home to get some repair parts for Nate. Even the thirty minutes that delayed to my arrival the farm was significant. I always help Mama feed in the evenings, and she was home a few minutes after I was. So, we got a late start. Finishing just before dark. I did one little thing on the lot I am working on before we went inside. That was all I got done outside – except moving some feeder for Mama so she would not have to do all that this morning. I did that after dark when I went out to close up the coop and shut the weanlings in the pig building.

I have some projects that can be done in the shop, but they are not urgent. The more current critical tasks that need to be done are being done through the long evenings inside. Tax work mostly right now. But that is far less fun than anything I could be doing outside. Soon enough the evenings will extend into the early night hours, but not yet. Tonight is a church night so there will not be any extra time for outside chores – or inside ones for that matter. And the month goes on. We are chewing through January quickly. It may seem like only eight days of the thirty-one are gone, but Mama will be gone all next week. We will be traveling together all the following week and after only a week home will be in Honduras for two weeks. When we get home from our visit with Nate, Cori and the kids, half of February will have been used up and Mama and I will be pressed for time to get all the work done for the beehives we are starting, the swarm traps we need to build and set out, and calf stalls we need to complete to start two bottle calves. So much to do. So little time. I suppose that is what makes this so much fun.

Mama is heading to the Apple store in Southlake this morning. At least, that was the plan last night. I messed up her phone by loading my iTunes music to it in an attempt to get music on her phone. Because of that error, her phone does not recognize her iCloud account any longer. She has not been able to back up her phone since I added my music to it. Who knew? Anyway, she will hopefully get the help she needs to rectify the account so that her phone will work properly. I am hoping there is little or no cost to the service; that the phone can be fixed on the spot versus leaving it at the store to be repaired and having to make the return trip to pick up the phone. I am not sure just what she will lose in the process of restoring her phone, but at this point it is unavoidable. She has struggled with it long enough.

Next week could be a pivotal week for us. I will reconnect with my friend that needed some training help and potentially follow up on that tentative job offer. Also, our house in Lawton was supposed to be completed this week and be offered on the market next week. Whether or not either of those things happen remains to be seen, but they are both tentatively on the docket.

Maggie let Mama know that Aaron’s next duty station would be in Michigan, patrolling the Great Lakes. I believe she will find it colder than Juneau in the wintertime, but not nearly as rainy. We have not been told where in Michigan, but they can officially plan on the move to that area. I think, Maggie will regret not spending more time at the beach in Wilmington when they settle down in the more Northern location. Mama and I liked Michigan when we were in Port Huron for classes a year or so ago. Mama even keeps in touch with a lady she met during that time.

Mama has met with some success in sticking to her anti-inflammatory diet. Less pain in her joints – especially her knees. Some weight loss. Less inflamed bowels. Sugary snacks have been banned from the house. All good things. I do not notice the difference in what we eat. I know we are not starving ourselves, but I am not sure if I am following the diet as strictly as Mama is.

So far so good.

End of Year stuff, goats, travel prep

As I compile the end of year totals for my employer, I am also beginning to compile the totals for our business and personal life. In other works, its tax time. At least it is time to get prepared to get all my tax information to the accountant. That can be a bit overwhelming. Especially with the travel Mama and I have to do in the months of January and February. I have kept records through the year, now those records must be complied, verified and submitted. It generally all works out fairly easily, but it is a chore I have to do largely on my own. An hour here and an hour there. Sorting, arranging and totaling the myriad accounts related to the farm, the businesses (three in total - soon to be four) and our personal life. Oh, what fun. It is not difficult. It is just time consuming and tedious. Depending on how we conducted our businesses, Mama and I will owe some amount this year. Hopefully, not too much. Hopefully, by the time these taxes are owed, proceeds from a house sale will be available to cover that expense.

Scamper is now at BBTI. Bro. Schnell came over yesterday evening and loaded him into a trailer. I was not the least bit sad to see him go. Mama was a little but that will passs. At the same time, Mama caught Champ, our wether, and we put him with the girls. That leaves Midas, our lone buck, by himself. He was not too happy about that, but he was so constantly molesting Champ that we had to do something. I will have the bigger weanling bucks in the lot by Midas in a few days so he will not fee so isolated, but for now he is complaining loudly. It does not help that several of the nanny goats are in heat. Their paddocks are only about one hundred yards apart. Our front yard and drive separate the two enclosures. The goats in heat and the goat that will eventually breed them can easily see and smell each other. It is an interesting dynamic. Everybody will have to hang in there until May. That is when we will let Midas breed all the nanny goats. In November, he will get to breed the ones now being weaned. Lord willing!

I should be able to weld the gate up on the new lot this evening. This weekend at the latest. I will need to move pretty quickly, because Mama and I took two more weanlings to the lot I threw together at the pig building. Another will be added to that group this weekend. That will bring the total to six. The building and lot are big enough to house the little ones safely, but it will be crowded. Neither Mama nor I like that. Fortunately, it has been dry for the most part. We have had rain but not the flooding rains that would turn that little lot into a muddy mess. It has been cool, so the goats have not suffered from the lack of shade in that area. So, it has worked out well as a stop gap solution. I am building the other lots as a longer-term solution. Something with more shade and more room is in the works.

I had planned on working on the lot yesterday evening, but Mama needed me to get other things done. I did sneak a few minutes work in as I grilled burgers and asparagus after dinner. All I accomplished was fully setting the t-posts and the two prices of pipe I used on the fencing, but that was something. Tonight, I will be ready for panels and fence. My hands are still sore (muscular not skeletal) from the work done Saturday. But the old saying, “What does not kill you makes you stronger.” applies in this case.

Mama is spending the day on the road today. She will head to Kimberlyn’s this morning. The two of them will work at Kimberlyn’s house today. I am not sure what is on the docket for their crafting, but I am sure the two of them will enjoy the time together. On the way home, Mama will pick up feed. We are now planning well into February. Since Mama and I will be in Honduras the first two weeks of February, we will need everything in place for Victoria to keep the farm running in our extended absence. Opening the coop in the morning. Feeding and watering every morning. Feeding and watering every night. Closing up the coop after dark every night. It is not a lot of work, but it takes time. It takes an active interest in the welfare of the animals. Mama is far better at that than either me or Victoria. Hopefully Grandma and Grandpa will help in the morning. We are planning that now so that we have it in place in a couple weeks.

Victoria will get to practice this month. Mama will be in Wichita next week so Victoria and I will split up the feeding chores during that absence. Mama and I will be in the panhandle the week of the 20^th. We will be at the farm for one week after that. Heading to Honduras the 3^rd of February.

It is all happening fast. Hopefully we are preparing properly.

Bus calling, birthday lunch, new lot, pecans, Scamper

Mama and I started off our Saturday by going bus calling with the church. It has been a long time since Mama has gone with me but recently the students from BBTI have been coming out on Saturday mornings, so Mama felt less intrusive being there. Normally, we have only men going out. I am not sure why that is, but that has been the case. That made Mama feel like the odd person out. Plus, the issues she has had with her knees in the recent past hindered her ability to join us. Saturday, she felt strong enough to go. It was a pleasure to have her there and we had a good time. We went in the large church bus with seven others. Mostly young people. It was fun. Zach, who drove the bus, split us into teams at several stops so we could knock doors and invite people to church. We were back at the church by about 11:45. Victoria met us at the church.

Victoria had made a specific request for her birthday lunch. Her birthday is Friday, but she will be working that day and Mama will be packing to travel. She wanted to go to The Breadwinner’s Café. As it turned out, a great place for dinner, but not so much for lunch. As we left the church headed to the café, I had Victoria check the menu so she and Mama could be thinking about their selections before we got there. In doing so, Victoria found out that the two items she wanted were not offered on the lunch menu. Rather than make the hour drive to that restaurant, we opted to go to the Five Boys Café in Bridgeport. We had not been there in a long time and we like supporting the local restaurants when possible. Victoria had the chicken fried steak. I had the chicken fried chicken. Mama had the meatloaf. Overall the food was good, but not great. I hate to admit to being disappointed, but we were. All of us got nauseated later that evening. None of us ate anything for dinner. Victoria even missed church Sunday because she had a very rough, very sick night. Whether that was from the food or from a bug is hard to say, but that is how things turned out. I hate to associate such a bad experience with the café but will be unable to disconnect the two. It may be that the food was just too rich for us. Too much fried food at once? It may be a long time before we try again – if we ever do.

In choosing a place nearer to home, I was able to work a few hours on the new lot I am making to allow us greater flexibility to separate the goats as needed. I know we will need the extra lots following each kidding because we will need to wean babies from their mommies and further separate kids by age and size to keep them from being overly tormented or forced out of the feed trough by their larger cousins. Right now, we have two sizes of kids to deal with along with the two sexes. We will have to separate the boys and girls very early. I will have the next lot ready this week. The older boys will go into that lot. The girls will be put in the lot at the pig building. Next month, when we get back from Honduras, I will build an additional lot to further separate the herd. As they grow to full size, we will combine the girls and the boys – until breeding time. Then the girls will need to be separated once again. The boys, for the most part will be left together. Oh, the fun.

While I stayed at the farm and worked on the first lot, Mama and Victoria went to Bowie and picked up pecans. They were able to hook up with Grandma and Grandpa so the four of them could pick up the pecans at Rick and Nancy’s. They got an additional fifteen or so pounds of pecans for the effort and I got to get all the posts set for the new lot. If given the time this evening, I will finish getting the posts fully set – i.e. driven all the way into the ground. Tomorrow, if the rain comes, I will weld the gate I set at the lot to the posts already set. it should turn out to be very functional. I have yet to build a shelter, but we will use the igloos for temporary shelter for the young bucks we will house there. With all the activities that kept me away from the farm Saturday morning and afternoon, I still was able to get a good bit of work done. My hands are still sore this morning from work done that afternoon.

Since Mama and I have failed to find a buyer for Scamper, our one horned buck, we talked about taking him to the meat market. With that thought in mind, Mama suggested we donate him to BBTI. Either way he gets processed, but at BBTI, it would be a blessing to them to offer him for their Jungle Week activities. For me it does not matter. I want him gone. He is a destructive little goat. Constantly hooking his horns in the wire fence and pulling it out of shape. Knocking his horns against the shelter trying to rip off the metal siding. Constantly aggravation Champ – our lone wether. A constant threat to Midas, our breeder buck. I will be happy to see him gone.

They will be here to pick him up this evening. Praise the Lord!

Bee meeting, our little graduate, Victoria

Yesterday was kind of a blah day. Too quiet at work. Equally quiet at home. The only thing that livened up the evening was our monthly bee keeping meeting. Mama took her lip balms and sold $25 worth of product before the meeting started. She was thrilled until we had to use that exact amount to pat our membership dues for the year. The meeting kicked off with mostly business – being the first meeting of the new year. But we quickly got to talking about catching swarms of bees. That was exciting. Mama and I are in a perfect area to catch swarms. We have actually seen swarms pass through the trees on our farm in the past. With all the open acreage around us, we are situated perfectly to set traps to attract Spring swarms. What is exciting is that each swarm equals a full hive. Not just a portion of a hive as Mama and I are buying for two hives this year. All we have to do is attract the swarm to a swarm box and then transfer the bees to a hive box. I will start building swarm traps this evening. Mama and I will set them out right after we get back from Honduras.

If they work as expected, we will be able to fill our extra two hives. I also have a top bar hive to fill. That’s exciting! Mama and I are planning to put a couple traps at Kenny and Kimberlyn’s place near Gainesville. That way we can start them in bees and we can swap locations of the swarm boxes relative to the hives we will keep the bees in so the bees are not trying to go to the location of the trap where they were caught and find nothing there. They are very smart creatures. I will have to start building hives soon. It is much cheaper than buying the prefab hives. Mama and I may end up with more than we anticipated when we started this quest. Tim will tell.

Maggie sent a picture of her little graduate. I have always thought we make way too much of progressing our children through the elementary grades. By the time a student gets to the actual meaningful graduation – from High School – it is a bit anticlimactic. Having graduated from Kindergarten or first grade – never considered that a milestone in a person’s life – and sixth or seventh grade, whichever it is now, to walk the stage for a diploma is not nearly as meaningful to the graduates as it used to be. Just another ceremony for mommies to get more pictures to put in a drawer. But on the purely cute side of things, it is a darling picture.

When Victoria was quite young – maybe eight or nine – she announced that she would not leave home until she was 32 years old. Whether that has become a self-fulfilling prophesy or not, it has become an actuality. She will reach that age with this month’s birthday. It is not that young men have not been interested in her; she has never been interested in any of her potential suitors. A couple of them would have been okay matches, but she was not ready. It would be not presumptuous to see that she has chosen very wisely in avoiding any romantic attachments to this point in her life. Now having waited, we will see what the Lord brings into her life.

That is one of the many things that Mama and I are looking to happen soon. Potentially this year. As our houses sell and we grow our business, as we pay off all our debts, as I explore new job opportunities, many things in our lives will change for the better. It will be a challenging year, should the Lord allow us to remain here, but this is shaping up to be year of dramatic change.

In our lives as well as in the world around us.  

Cleaning, trimming, grilling, processing

Mama and I were up early on the 1^st. I got out to feed right after we did our morning Bible reading and while I was feeding, Mama made breakfast. Mama is studying an anti-inflammatory diet which we will adopt for a few weeks. It is not an onerous diet, but it does eliminate some of the foods that are typically in our diet. None of which we need to be eating anyway. A quick meal of steel cut oats and toasted homemade bread and we were both out the door to clean the coop. It was in dire need of cleaning. I should have worn a dust mask for that chore, but I did not think to get a mask as we exited the house. That cleaning took us over an hour to complete. Two full wheelbarrow loads of chicken manure were added to the compost pile that morning.

I was planning to finish cleaning the pig building next, but I needed a few minutes rest, so I got a saw and cut a couple drooping tree branches that have been in our way between the coop and the pig building. Just cutting away those two branches opened up the area more than I had imagined. I will need to repeat the process throughout the entire farm this Spring. A huge task. By the time we had finished the coop and trimmed the branches, my watch was telling me I already had 6,000 steps in.

Once I rested a few minutes and got a drink, I went to the pig building. With the work I had done recently, I was able to finish the cleaning in about an hour. There was less dirt left than I had thought. One full wheelbarrow was all it took to get the last of the accumulated, dried mud off the floor. I wore a dust mask through the scraping and shoveling operation but still ended up getting a slight cough from the dust that was stirred up. Once I generously limed and strawed the cleaned floor I let the three weanlings into the building proper. We had them in the little entry way up to that point. They were curious and excited about the increased room and all the hay I had put in there for them to bed down in. All that was done before noon.

Having that chore finally behind me, I fired up the pellet grill to get started on Victoria’s recent purchases of foods to be grilled. Several different types of sausages, shrimp we marinated overnight were the first on the agenda. There is are lot more items to get cooked on the grill, but I was running out of time to get it all done. I baked the stuffed peppers Mama had made for Victoria just before we left for church. Victoria actually met me and Mama as we were on our road. She was coming home, and we were headed to church. Today I will finish the requested grilling with asparagus and stuffed jalapenos being prepared on the pellet grill. I asked about returning the grill last night at church, but Bro. Zach said to keep it unless it was in the way. If he needed it, he would come and get it. That suited me and Mama.

I did not get all the grilling done in the afternoon because Brittany Wycoff was scheduled to come by at 3 pm to help with the chickens. I spent a little time getting things set up for her and I to work on the chickens before she got there. She was thankful for the table I had set up in the shop. It was windy outside and a little too cool to set up out there anyway. Most times they do the processing on the ground. Yuk. While she got started on the first chicken, I killed the remaining birds. There were four in total, but one died of a heart attack, literally, before I could kill it. I put it in the creek for the coyotes and opossums to eat. The other three we dressed out, washed them thoroughly and tried to put them in gallon freezer bags. All of them were too large to fit in the bags, so I wrapped the chickens in the unsealed bags in aluminum foil and set them in the fridge. They will go in the freezer Sunday afternoon. Brittany’s help allowed us to get the processing done in about forty minutes. Praise the Lord!

By the time Mama and I were ready for church I had registered 19,000 steps for the day.

When I looked at my phone this morning. I saw a text from our realtor. He sent a picture of a bathroom sink cabinet and mirror he bought for our house in Lawton. It will be installed today.

Wow!