Little victories

Saturday was a slow day for me and Mama. I was in a lot of pain, so I was not overly committed to taking on too many projects at the farm, but Mama and I still managed to get a few things done. We decided not to attend the graduation for BBTI. Mostly because of the pain we were in. As things turned out, it was good that we did not go to Bowie for the graduation because Seth called fairly early Saturday morning and asked if we were home. Since we were, he, Gabriella, and Rosalee stopped by and visited for a couple hours While we talked, the baby played – dumping every container of toys available to her.  They had a new pug puppy with them, so we got a double dose of baby in one visit. The puppy was cute and extremely active, but she was terrified of Kobe and Kira, both of whom were very curious about her. It was hilarious to watch the puppy back quickly away from the step at the living room and into the kitchen area to avoid the big dogs getting too close. They are not allowed in the kitchen area. Eventually, Kira and Kobe would move away but as soon as the puppy moved to the edge of the step they both hurried over to investigate and the puppy would retreat once again. Eventually, the big dogs got their way without terrorizing the puppy too much.

At one point Mama asked Seth if he would mind helping me get Midas from the girl paddock to the boy paddock. We had failed to get that done earlier in the week when we had Victoria to help, but Seth was willing. It took a few minutes to get Midas into the barn so we would corner him and get the collar on him, but once that was done, Seth headed for the gate and Midas literally dragged him across the yard to the boy paddock. I had to run to keep up. Once in his home paddock, he stopped and let us take off the collar and leash. He and Julian started butting each other around almost immediately. Julian was happy to have him back. The girls were happy to have him gone. Later that day Mama and I got dog crates and loaded the little girls from their temporary pen back into the girl paddock. We drove them over this time since carrying them over proved to be a bit of a strain on us last time we moved them. They were not as happy with that move. The larger nanny goats began to prove their dominance over them right away. Mama always hates that part of raising goats. A victory considering the way Mama and I were hurting.

When we both felt up to the task, Mama and I cleaned the large coop building. Another small victory. That is always an hour or more of work, but it is nice to have it done once we do the cleaning. So far, I have filled two compost bins with the pine shavings and manure from the coop floors and am in need of a third. I will probably get to that sooner rather than later. After all, the chickens are not going to stop producing manure. Hopefully, they will not stop producing eggs either. Right now, we are getting about two dozen per day. More than enough to keep all our customers happy. That was about the only big thing Mama and I got done that day because Mama and I spent most of Saturday with our TENS units working overtime. I would use my unit for an hour and take an hour or more break, then start the unit back up for another hour of treatment. Overall, the extended treatment routine helped. By Sunday both of us were markedly improved as far as pain levels were concerned but I was still wearing the back brace as much as possible – at least at home.  

Church was great Sunday. We got to pick up our Chinese girls and then go to the restaurant to eat after church. That is always fun. I got soup to make sure I could stick to the diet. Mama got Hibachi Steak. So far so good. Then Alex brought out sushi, spring rolls, crab Rangoon and some fried pot stickers. Mama and I violated out diet just a tiny bit to indulge. I had only one spring roll and two pieces of avocado sushi. I am not sure what Mama had that was not on our diet, but we did not go past the diet excessively. So far Mama had lost seven pounds. I have lost six pounds. A small victory.

This morning I met at the HQ house with my team from wok and we did breakfast. It was a huge breakfast complete with freshly made tortillas, ham, bacon, sausage links, scrambled eggs, fried potatoes, sweetbreads and pastries of all sorts, freshly made bread, jams, jellies and apple butter, assorted fruits, juices and milk. Mama and I supplied the ham, eggs and apple butter. There were four or five of the participants that had never had apple butter before. They became instant fans. It was a large spread, but we had sixteen people to feed. Having a kitchen to work in we were able to keep all the cooked items warm while we finished the ones that still needed to be cooked. It was all delicious. Everything seemed to be cooked to perfection. Other than the lack of seating for eating, it as a great place to pull off this kind of activity. I had to pass up on all the sweets and pastries, the coffee and a Choco-flan cake, but I had plenty to eat from items that were on Mama’s and my current diet.

We will more than likely do this again soon, and maybe I will be able to get a small piece of the cake at that time.