Half done, patience, worms, moving delays, outcomes, mind tricks

 It is again hard to relate to the fact that this year is half done. In ways, that sobering thought is uplifting with the promise of the upcoming mid-term elections now only five months away. Will much change? Perhaps, perhaps not, but at least we as Americans will get to speak our mind in who we vote for to represent us. Hopefully, this time without concern for the results of those elections. Like Joe Biden said, “It all depends on who you have counting the votes.” Regardless, I am at this juncture only a single year away from retiring and I still have so many things to get properly set up. Fortunately, we are making headway toward all those goals – other than Mama’s Color Street business, which is doing less well than we had hoped. We are looking into ways to more efficiently capitalize on that business but are coming up short due to Mama’s steadfast reluctance to use any electronic device besides her cell phone. We are working on that as well.

Starting the project

I am hoping to finish the enclosure for the ducks this weekend and to that end, I am doing little things each evening, but I have used up all the materials lying around the farm that can be repurposed for that project. I am at the point of having to buy new and I am not looking forward to the cost of even the few items I require to make the additions to what I have currently in place. Without the new lumber purchases, I am at a standstill, so I will bite the bullet so to speak, but I will not overbuy – as I typically would. I will stick to my list and nothing else. Mama and I will be doing that this evening. The only challenge to having Mama with me at Lowe’s is that she does not necessarily feel constrained to holding purchases to a preset list. The little ducks we are nursing along will not be ready to go into the enclosure for a couple weeks yet, but it will take me that long to get all the final details completed – including their pond. I am hoping to have waterlilies and fish in the pond but that is still under consideration.

On the worm farm side of our farm, I contacted the company we hope to use to set up our business and was very impressed by the fact that the owner of the company returned my call and spent about twenty minutes conversing with me. Mama and I are almost certain that we will pursue this as a business, but it will take several months to get the finances together to purchase the initial package to start the business per their system. With several initial questions answered now, I have a better idea how to pray and possibly prepare to set up a space for the worm beds. It will just be a matter of patience on our part to scale up. Right now, we have the one worm bed doing very well and are looking to double that at the end of July. So, we are already worm farmers, just not on the business scale we are exploring.

Grandma and Grandpa’s relocation journey has been set back a few days. They are now planning on leaving Saturday and getting to their new parking spot late Sunday afternoon. All of them, including Norman, have been a little under the weather for a couple days. Now, they are better and can make all the necessary arrangements to drive over with their home in tow. While she was out getting feed, Mama checked with the RV park to make sure the delay was not an issue and that the spot we reserved was still available. It is and the delay is not a problem. That was good news. It is also good news that they will soon be parked close enough for us to help. Praise the Lord!

On the crafting side of our outputs, Mama has sold four and potentially six of the stands I have made to display the Color Street nail sets. She has sold several Tree of Life wreaths that she has made recently as well. I think it is one of her best creations – and obviously, other do as well. Sometimes it is just a matter of stumbling across the right product to capture an audience or produce a product that is demanded.

Tonight, Mama and I will check to see if our butt spraying has been effective. We are on the edge of a potentially fatal infection of our chickens. If we do not catch and reduce – if not eliminate – the infection, our weakest hens will not survive the coming stretches of intense heat. So, we have a vested interest in getting this taken care of as best we can. It would be nice to see some improvement from the application just to make sure we were headed the right direction. Tonight, we hope to see an improvement, but if not, we will continue the spraying every evening until we have the infestation in check. It is a small matter for us. One we can easily keep up with. We did get more eggs yesterday than we have had for several days, but that may be more coincidence than confirmation.

Bella is back with her family, but she had been here long enough that this morning when I let the dogs out for their morning run, I looked for Bella to join Kobe and Kira when I opened the door. It was only a thought that passed in my mind for a second, but it was there. It is like me asking Mama where I put my sunglasses when I am looking at her through those very sunglasses.

It is funny how our minds will play those tricks on us.