An other’s focused weekend

Rain this weekend made things too wet and too soft for Mama and I to do much outside, so we potted some of the plants Mama has bought over the last couple of weeks. I repotted the hydrangea three times because I kept finding bigger pots to put it in.

We bought a couple pots that look like coal buckets and potted our lavender plants in those. We spent a long time cleaning the coops. It was not that the coops were dirtier than any other time we have cleaned them, but we took a good bit more time getting the floors and roosts scraped clean of any accumulated, hardened poop. That added some time to each side of the big coop. We always put down lime and a little Seven Dust on the roosts and floors of the big coop before we put down the pine chips that will catch most of the poop they produce when they roost. We also cleaned the nursery coop. That took a fair amount of time as well. Mama had to move slowly as she cleaned the floors and the young chickens in eh coop huddles in frightened masses in whatever corner was free of her cleaning actions. They also protested a good bit.

Late Saturday afternoon we went to a wedding reception at the church. A young couple that met at Bible Baptist Translator’s Institute (BBTI) in Bowie had been married at her home church in Arkansas, but we wanted to give them a reception as well. Daniel plays the guitar as well as any concert guitarist I have ever met and often accompanies soloists and vocal ensemble for special music at our church. Libby sang in the choir and in several vocal ensembles as she attended BBTI last year. We have grown to love them both. They are living on the Institute property being groomed to take over representation and fundraising for the ministry. The couple that has had this role are getting up in years and have been praying for a couple that could backfill for them when they are no longer able to travel and preach as required to carry on that role. It looks like they have been shown the answer to those prayers.

Seeing this newlywed couple together reminded me of a song that John Denver recorded with Placido Domingo way back in 1981, the year Mama and I met. I could not remember all the words, so I looked it up and found this video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=toYfeN0ACDw It is worth a look. It brought back some really good memories for me and Mama.

On a sadder note, we got a text Saturday morning via the prayer chain at church, that Sam Echeveria’s mother died suddenly Friday night from a heart attack. It was not something the family had anticipated. So, Sam and Erin and the kids needed to get to his father in the Chicago area as soon as they could. Mama and I asked how we could help and were asked to keep Bella while they traveled. When we got there, they were trying to pack and get the kids moving. It was still early. They were telling us about renting a vehicle because they did not trust theirs to get them there and back. They had spent a several hours trying to track down a vehicle to rent and had finally found one available at Love Field in Dallas, but as we prayed with them, I got a text from the pastor asking if I would agree to allowing them to use one of the church’s vans for the trip. All the deacons agreed to the proposal, so they were able to take that vehicle instead of driving to Dallas to pick up a rental. That alone saved them over a thousand dollars.

We got to pick up our Chinese girls for church yesterday morning. It has been a long time since Yilin has come to church with us. It was really good to have her too. On the way home, the girls insisted on eating at the restaurant, but Mama and I were not sure. We drove over to the restaurant and checked with Alex and he gave the go ahead. So, we unloaded and ate there. It was a fun meal, lots of conversation with Alex and Yuan as we ate. In one of those conversations, Mama asked if Alex would like a couple of her older chickens. They prefer the older birds for some reason. Lin has told us in the past that the old chickens make the best soup. Maybe in China no chickens live to be old chickens, so it is a delicacy they do not get to enjoy there. Anyway, Alex is stopping by today to pick up the three hens Mama and I caught last night and put in the Banty house. Monday is their only day off in the week and all the running for the restaurant has to get done on that one day so I was surprised when he offered to come to the farm and pick up the chickens, but we can certainly accommodate that. We invited Alex to come to the farm and fish. They enjoyed the time they were able to fish last year but their time off it too short to squeeze that in now that the restaurant is fully operational.

I will place the honey supers on the hives this evening. I am looking forward to getting that done.