The weekend, dinner, transfer, wearing out, new arrival

Friday, I taught a 4-hour class, so I was home by 1:30 pm to take care of the animals more completely than I had been able earlier that morning. I had made sure the prior evening there was adequate water and food, the nesting boxes were open and the coop doors to the yard were open. That allowed all the chickens to exit the coop in the morning and get to the water – our major concern in the mornings. I will follow the same practice tomorrow morning since I have an 8-hour class to instruct. The chickens will spend the day in the coop yard, but they do not mind that too much.

Saturday morning, I completed the repair on the well house door to seal the new threshold I had installed. That will allow us to upgrade the well house to make it our honey house when we get to that point. It looks much better for that little repair. I also put on a pot of beans and two pork roasts for the dinner we were having after the morning service at church Sunday morning. The roasts were smoked to completion. When I pulled them off the smoker, I let them cool and then sliced them for easier serving at our dinner. The dogs got all the bones, the fat, and the extra juice from the roasts. They were very excited about that part.

I worked the hives as well Saturday afternoon. The hives that are making extra honey have not capped off much more of that store, but they are eating through the syrup I have been feeding them. The two hives that have syrup feeders on them go through a gallon of that syrup every week. I could probably feed them more, but I do not take the time through the week to check the feeders. I have found that by the time I refill the feeders on Saturday, any syrup that is left over from the week (which is very little) has become rancid. The bees seem very excited to start off with fresh supplies.

Family Day at church went very well. Good services, great preaching on the family and a wonderful spirit throughout. Dinner was impressive with an abundance of meats, entrees, salads and desserts. The roast I made was largely gone by the time everyone was done eating. I gave what was left to the Burns because it was more than enough for a good meal for them, and I do not need to be eating any pork. I have plenty of beans left. There were at least four other pots of beans and it looked like more of mine had been eaten than any of the others, but I made a lot. I will package some of those up for Ed and Plumley. They will like that. I sat with Ed and Plumley through the dinner. That provided some interesting conversation. With both of them in assisted living, they are fairly cloistered and spoon-fed information, so their view of the present world is stilted the direction of our mass media – much of which I know to be falsely presented. We had to agree to disagree on several current subjects.  

Mama is getting worn out in trying to give care to Grandpa and Norman. There is no real kitchen to cook in, only a single burner on the pretend stove. There is virtually no refrigerator, only the tiny one snuggled into the cabinetry of the camper. So, she is not able to fix any decent meals for the two sick men she is caring for. So, Mama has to find moderately healthy items to eat while purchasing food items for herself and her patients, from very limited venues nearby. Mama got Grandpa to take a shower, but Norman has steadfastly refused to do so. Both are on the road to recovery, getting stronger and more active daily.

We are expecting Grandma to make a full recovery as well, but for now she has been transferred to a larger hospital about 45 minutes away from where Mama is caring for the other two patients. That will add to her travel time as she provides support to Grandma. Bottom line, Mama is getting worn out. She will continue to do what she can, but she is looking forward to getting everyone up and going on their own.

At the farm, I was a little shocked as I went out to feed yesterday evening between services. Jewels had delivered a little boy that afternoon. He was the only kid she delivered and is nearly as large at birth as our little man Splash who is over a month old. He is tall but short of frame. He is going to be a bruiser. Both Mama and I were very surprised at his arrival. We were expecting her to be the last to deliver based on her size through the end of her pregnancy. We are both pleased that she had only one kid in her first kidding.

Raising only one should be no problem for her.