Fun visitors, back to work, Cori

Monday afternoon Stacy and Beth Ledford came to the farm. They are relocating from California to Missouri and are running a circuitous route in the process. We are a bit out of the way, but they were on their way to a seller in Granbury, TX to purchase parts for the plane Stacy is restoring which put the farm in the travel stops along the path to their new home. They got to the farm about 3:30 and while I finished up my workday, Mama showed them around the farm. In various places on the way to the farm they had stayed in RV parks using the pop-up camper slid into the bed of the truck they were driving. The camper is a newer type with solar power to charge batteries for lighting and other sundries. It looked very well made. Stacy told me that it was special ordered to accommodate their needs – at least to a limited degree.

As the farm tour progressed Stacy asked about the fishing in the quarry lake. I assured him it was amazing, and we decided that we would check it out in spite of the windy conditions. We fished the lower lake first and both caught some fair-sized bass, but the wind was making it challenging. So, we packed up and went to the upper small lake to try our luck there. The wind is less noticeable on that lake. We were having so much fun that Mama and Beth had to come over to find us and drag us home for dinner. Since we had enough daylight after dinner, we went back to the little lake and Stacy rigged up a jig that gave him great responses. In rapid succession he caught two large bass - one was huge – and several perch.

Meanwhile, I had caught three bass and one perch on my standard lures. I will definitely get the bobbers he was rigging with for use in the future. They worked extremely well in the clear water of the lakes and they kept the lure above the grass and weeds growing abundantly in that lake.  We left just before dark. All in all, we only fished about two hours, but it was great fun. Stacy talked about coming back our way after getting the plane parts loaded and spending Tuesday night with us, but that got nixed in lieu of getting home with the loaded trailer. Spending another night at the farm would have been great with us, and it would have been relaxing for them, but time is an asset we have to manage efficiently because we only get one shot at spending it. I am sure they will visit the farm again and hopefully Mama and I will get to visit their new home once they get settled in. It was great to reconnect with them and it is always great to share what the Lord has given us here at the farm.

Yesterday I taught an all-day class. It went well enough, but I had only four students, so the class went a little faster than it does with a larger audience. When a class ends a little early, there are never any complaints on the part of the attendees – nor on my part – but it calls into question the content we offer and whether or not it is sufficient for the timeframe which we advertise for the class. We do not want to shortchange our clients, but I do not want to talk them to death just to fill up time. Right now, the class is about 6 hours to complete the presentation and the test when given online – about 7 hours when given in person. Not a terrible difference, but a noticeable one that may cause an issue in our internal audits. Time will tell.

Cori has been battling an infection of some kind for the past week or more. The only treatable symptom thus far is severe dehydration. She has not been able to keep anything down, even fluids due to the vomiting and diarrhea any intake induces. A nurse Cori knows from church came to their home Monday and set her up with an IV drip giving her a couple bags of fluids to keep that drip going through today. So far Cori is feeling some relief although she is still not able to eat anything or to drink much without vomiting up whatever she does try to take in. The assumption is that the infection she is fighting stems from something she ingested, but no one is sure. Regardless, for the moment Cori can only treat the symptoms because it is not known whether she is battling a virus or a bacterium, or both, or whether this is a parasitic infection. Any of the three infections require a slightly different curative approach. For the moment, she must do what can be done and we can pray that Cori gets the strength to overcome whatever is ailing her. Prayer thankfully is a powerful curative we can access in abundance.

I will be in class tomorrow It is a shorter class, but in the evening, I have an appointment with a financial advisor to learn the best way to sign up for Medicare since I will be turning 65 in a few months.

Hopefully, that information will help me get off on the right foot.