Completion, offloading/sorting, New Year

Other than some small touches, the hall bathroom is completed. We need to make a small adjustment to a cabinet and get the countertop purchased for it sealed with polyurethane, but everything else is done. It looks very nice. Norman took his time to get things right and it shows in the final outcome. To complete all the final touches, I will make the shoe molding required to seal the floor, but other than that and a few small touches to the paint, the bathroom is set and ready for years of use in its remodeled state. It is wonderful to have it done and come out looking so nice.

Grandma, Grandpa and Norman traveled to Wichita Falls this morning to see if the Apple store there could get him through the required steps to verify his Apple ID. This was the only location that had an available appointment to see if the reset could be accomplished. It could not. Norman set the phone number for the ID to a phone number he got in a temporary situation and cannot remember that number. Without that specific number, his account is fully locked down. Unfortunately, he did not include a backup number for such a consequence as this. That being said, access to certain programs and apps on his current phone will be locked down January 1.

In the outing, they will stop at Sam’s in Wichita Falls and, on the way back to the farm collect another full load of containers from his storage unit in Bowie. He hopes to empty that unit this month. He has been paying for three storage units for many months. One in Florida, one in Texas and one in West Virginia. Taking this one out of use will not only lower his expenses, but it will also help him consolidate his many forgotten items and get a better handle on what all he has in his possession. Much of the totes, boxes and trash bags are filled with items of questionable use. Either being too old to be put into use or too worn out to be put into use. Odds and ends of plumbing and electrical work long since done. Many useless leftover parts not yet discarded. Items thrown haphazardly into totes in too many hurried moves from one living quarter to another. Sorting through all the clutter will certainly reveal some useful keepsakes, tools and generally practical pars for his remodeling business, but it should eliminate those useless items that no longer need to be kept – especially when such retention requires a monthly charge to safeguard them.

One stack of more than fifteen totes, boxes and bags is already sitting at the corner of my shop. That will be augmented by an additional collection being hauled to the farm today. I am almost certain that this will not have emptied his storage unit – not by a long shot – but it will have made a dent into the accumulation of the hoarded containers. In preparation for this eventuality, Grandpa already bought shelves which we placed in our well house so he could separate his things from Norman’s things. That was probably a wise move on Grandpa’s part to ensure that anything important to him remained in his possession. Though I have to admit that much of what Grandma and Grandpa have stored in our well house will never be used by them again. Nevertheless, it is set aside and available to them should they ever find a need to check on it.

With the weather much warmer than just a week ago, life on the farm is once again in a routine that is easy to manage. For the next ten days or so we will be able to leave the hoses hooked up to the hydrants and spigots making it far easier to get water to our animals and birds. Mama has a routine of refreshing the water in the ducks swimming pool every other day. That takes a good bit of both time and water to get done, but the way the ducks celebrate the fresh water in the pool makes it worth the effort. I don’t know if this current weather qualifies as an Indian summer, but it is quite temperate for late December.

To add to the ease of the weather, I have not been required to report to the office this week. That gives me opportunity to split the cores with Mama every morning. It will seem a hardship to go to the office or the HQ house when required after the first of the year, but for the moment, we will enjoy our little break – and our time together.  

Saturday night, New Year’s Eve, we will spend the late evening at the church for a fellowship. We will not stay past 10 pm ourselves but that option will be open to anyone who would like to do so. I have not watched a New Year come in for many years. To me it is merely a change of the calendar, not the new beginning some try to make it out to be. Since we will have regular church services the next morning, it does not make sense to stay up any later than would be polite to our church family. Though my wife and kids enjoy long visiting fellowships, those kinds of game nights are not really my thing.

My endurance will only take me so far, but I will try to enjoy it as much as I can.

Preparations, bathroom remodel, Christmas mostly on Saturday, Travel to Honduras, Maggie and crew

It has been an interesting Christmas break. With the weather becoming brutally cold, I had to take extra precautions to protect against waterlines freezing in the 9° overnight temperatures. Unfortunately, I did not have the barn lot well house sufficiently warm and ended up having to replace two valves in the well house, which left us without water available at the coop for several days. That meant that I had to haul water from the well house at the house to all the animals and birds for those days – twice per day. It was a chore, but we managed. It certainly made us aware f the amount of water required in all the various areas where we have waterers placed.

For two days we put out only small amounts of water because everything not immediately drunk by the animals the container serviced, froze within a couple hours. Most mornings I got by with only twenty gallons – four five-gallon buckets – of water to be hauled. In the evening, there was a little less water required. My shoulders are still aching from the efforts. The two spigots on the front of the house froze even though they were covered with protective wraps. Each had to be carefully thawed to keep them from bursting. On the bright side, we never lost power and we managed to keep a fire going in the fireplace for several days. That added a special warmth to the house as well as providing a nice Christmassy ambience.  

Meanwhile, Norman has been remodeling the hall bath. He chose the absolute coldest day of the year to remove the cabinets – which had to be hauled out of the house via the front door while the cold poured into the house from the 40 mph winds blowing against that side of the house. Even Grandpa had to scoot his chair closer to the fire from the chill those winds brought. As of today, Norman is gaining ground on the remodel. The painting will be done today. The flooring will be laid today. The new toilet will be set today. Perhaps even the vanity and cabinets will be placed today. Everything should be completed tomorrow. Keeping the bathroom minimally usable for Grandma and Grandpa has been a priority – especially for nighttime use, and that was well managed.

Prior to the deep freeze hitting us, I took some time to ensure all the vehicles had sufficient antifreeze in the radiator systems. I found several of the vehicles low on fluid, so it was well worth the effort since I seemed to be behind on my maintenance routines. I was more concerned about the tractor than any of our cars or trucks, but that system was ready for the cold. Just in case, I moved the tractor out of the north winds (which reached 50 mph at times) and parked it behind the well house through the brunt of the storm. Mama’s vehicle, which normally sits inside the garage, had to be parked in the driveway since the garage is being used for staging for the bathroom remodel. Mama is anxious to get her garage back, but the short-term loss is well worth the trade-off.

We celebrated Christmas mostly on Saturday. That is when we had our big Christmas meal anyway. We did not exchange gifts until Sunday afternoon. For the majority of the time we were in Christmas mode, Grandpa was not feeling well. He spent a good amount of those days in bed and when he felt up to some activity, he tended the fire we kept burning for several days. Our gift exchange was brief, but it was fun. We did not buy a lot of gifts for each other. Focusing instead on little meaningful tokens of love and appreciation – favoring practical items that met a need.

Over the holiday break, Mama and I finally got our tickets to Honduras. I spent over an hour on the phone with a representative from American Airlines. We defaulted to that carrier because we had a balance of over $700 each from a cancelled travel in last July. We required help from a representative at American Airlines to apply that balance to our Honduras trip. Fortunately, with most of the cost already on our account, we needed only an additional $200 per ticket to purchase the tickets. So, that is done, and the trip is on the books. I will schedule the time off at work and make all needed arrangements to have classes covered in my absence.

Over the Christmas break Maggie managed to contract pneumonia while Cathryn still battled some type of viral infection – which she had had for a couple weeks prior. I am not sure if Walter had any serious symptoms for Maggie to deal with, but suffice it to say, they have had a challenging Christmas time. Hopefully, they will all recover soon and be back to a healthy, noisy, busy household.

Chase shared videos of Owen and Gailyn opening gifts that we sent to them and Brittany Facetimed with us as the girls opening their gifts. In all the Christmas packages I included a small, very bright flashlight for each of the grandchildren. Turns out those flashlights were a huge hit. I think that in each household where the flashlights were energized, the parents had to take possession of the flashlights in order to get things settled down. As we were assembling the packages, Mama was less than enthusiastic about the inclusion of the tiny flashlights, but it turned out to be a good addition. At least from the grandchildren’s perspective.

All in all, it was a god Christmas.

False hope, goat swaps, more chickens, brutal cold

In one of those “if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is” moments, we were sent on a wild goose chase Friday night. Mama had spent the previous couple days in text and phone conversations with a potential seller of a very nice RV Victoria had found on Craigslist. It sounded legit based on the conversations Mama had had with the seller, so Mama put a $500 deposit on the purchase to hold the RV for us until we could drive over to do a visual inspection and, if it met our expectations, to pick it up. The trip took well over an hour in heavy traffic. I had some doubts about the purchase, but the seller had a Navy Federal Credit Union account to which Mama was easily able to transfer the cash, so this appeared to be the real deal. It was not until we got to the address provided by the seller that the con was evident.

The house at the address was a mansion in a very affluent area of Dallas. There was no RV in sight and no seller to meet as he had promised when we began our trek to meet him at the address. Mama called several times. She texted several times. No answer, so I knocked on the door of the house and was met by a couple young Chinese ladies who were housesitting for the owner. We got taken. It was a bitter pill to swallow, especially for Mama.

Victoria was not overly upset about the loss of the $500, but she was VERY disappointed. No camper for her – and she had had her hopes up that this would be the one. Everything seemed to be lining up perfectly, but it was all a scam. Mama is still devastated. It will take a while before the sting of tis deception wears off. The fact that the scammer kept up the dialogue until we arrived at the address he had given was totally unnecessary. He already had his money. We could not figure out why he carried us along with the scam until after we made the unnecessary drive and waster several hours of our time to pick up an RV he know would not be there. Maybe it was fun for him, but it was not so for us.

On a brighter note, we released the two does that had been with Midas for a couple months. Hopefully they are bred. We will not know for sure for several weeks. The owners were very pleased to get their does back. The mama of the little mariniere, Sarah, really loves her goats and had pined for them in their absence. These goats really are the perfect farm animal for those who like the friendlier sort of animal occupants in their collection. I unadvisedly took the young does through the paddock with the other two males to get them to the tailer brought to haul them home. Both of the bucks, who had been excluded from the breeding process, were anxious to mount the little does as we passed through and we had to fight them off while we got the does through the paddock. At one point, I was actually laid out on top of Julian as he struggled to catch up to the last doe we took through. Holding him back turned out to be a challenge. It was only after the fact that Mama reminded me that we could have taken the does through the shop to get them out to the trailer. Duh! For some reason it just did not dawn on me to do so.

Once that transfer was done, we got the little bucks from the pig building and moved them into the area that we had used for the breeding pen for Midas and the does. Additionally, we got the last two babies from the paddock the does are in to separate them from their mommy. So, all the little does are in the pig building and all the little bucks are in the small enclosure next to the mature bucks. The family picking up the bred does helped with the transfers, so all six of the little ones needing to be relocated were moved in just a few minutes. That saved me a lot of effort since I would have had to do the transfers one by one on my own.

They also brought Mama six relatively young chickens. I had recently asked Mama to refrain from purchasing any more chickens, but that request went unheeded. Not only did we get six young chickens from Sarah, but we went to Bowie to meet with Nancy, the widow of our Myotonic goat mentor, to pick up some Banty hens from her flock. Ostensibly, the chickens were being picked up for a friend at church, but Mama could not resist a couple of the more unusually colored hens.  So, we will be getting a couple of them as well. Fortunately, those hens purchased from Nancy are mature enough to lay. Those purchased from Sarah will not be laying for at least four months. I can not argue too much with the purchase since we have at least ten hens that are getting too old to lay and with the purchases, we are fairly certain to get hens since all the bird are old enough to tell their sex. 

This week we will be getting some brutally cold temperatures for a couple days. The forecast for Thursday is for the low to be 5° F overnight with twenty to thirty mile per hour winds. That will be very challenging to deal with – especially for our goats, chickens, ducks, and outside dogs. I will have all the freeze protections in place as well as I can, but we will have to take what we get and pray to make it through the cold snap without incident. Fortunately, it is only going to be dangerously cold for about 36 hours, warming to above freezing after that. Unfortunately, it only takes a few hours for a severe freeze to cause many problems.

Hopefully, we are prepared to avoid ending up with any freezing pipes or waterlines.  

Mama, camper shopping, cantata, ordinary things

Update on Mama: She is feeling moderately better. Not better enough to go to church yesterday, but enough to take over the morning feeding and care of the animals by herself this morning. Good enough to go to Denton today for a series of stops including general shopping, returning Amazon items, and picking up sundry items at Sam’s. If I am not mistaken, she and Victoria will look at another camper in the Denton area. By the time I get home this evening, she will be convalescing on the couch. She has a persistent cough, not a bad cough, but enough to make people steer clear of her – especially at church. Overall, she still lacks her full energy and tends to wear out quickly. Fortunately, Victoria is off today, so Mama will have some help in her ongoing duties caring for Grandma and Grandpa.

To date, none of us have contracted the flu she has been battling. Her biggest concern was to keep Grandma and Grandpa from catching the illness, but secondarily, keeping me flu free. Her isolation tactics have worked but it has taken about ten days so far. The weather changes have not helped. We have been wet and cool for several days with longer periods of rain. Now, we are anticipating freezing temperatures overnight with cool days. All that with persistently wet conditions. We are not begrudging the weather, but it does lengthen any recovery from all types of respiratory issues.

The current rainfall is a welcome treat for our ducks. They love it! They primp, flap their wings and frolic in the falling rain. It is entertaining to watch. As the chickens and goats hurry to avoid being caught in the rain, the ducks rush out to play. The rain even seems to make the drakes more amorous. I suppose that any of the eggs we would choose to incubate at this point could be successfully hatched. We are not doing so because we have no good place to winter over ducklings. We will start that in February after we return from Honduras.

Saturday was largely a rain day for me. Grandpa discovered a low tire on the Sequoia so I took it to Decatur to have the tire repaired but the tire shop I typically use was not open. So, I have kept the tire inflated as needed over the weekend until it can be taken for repair by Mama today. Because of that wasted trip and a choir practice Saturday afternoon, I did not get much done Saturday. I did manage to get the right chain for the 18” bar on my chainsaw. It was the fourth attempt to get the right fit. I finally discovered a manual to properly select the specific chain saw chain for the specific bar I have on the chainsaw. There are, it turns out, five possible chains offered in the 18” category, but only one fits that bar. Hopefully, my future purchases will not be so problematic.

Sunday afternoon, when I got home from church, we went as a group to look at two campers for Victoria. Both were nearby. One was in poor condition, the other looked little used, clean, and well-kept. The newer one was fairly priced, but it was too small to be practical for Victoria. So, other than an afternoon outing, the trip was a bust. It served to engage both Grandma and Grandpa in the selection process, which is a good thing, but the more we look, the more disappointed we are. So, we took time when we got home, to pray about the search. We are anticipating what the Lord will do as Victoria continues her search.

Sunday evening, we had our Adult Christmas program. I generally call the program a cantata, but as Grandma pointed out, that is not technically correct. The actors in the play did a superb job and the choir sang exceptionally well on all the songs incorporated into the program. Lighting and sound were well enough accomplished, so that the entire program came off looking well-rehearsed and well presented. The message of the play was outstanding in its clear presentation of the message of salvation centering on a young lady that had been raised in church but struggling with her faith because she had never personally accepted the Lord as her Savior. It made Mama and I long for such an awakening among those of our own children currently struggling with their faith.

So, our life is filled with the ordinary things, occasionally punctuated with inspiring moments. Sometimes even energized by events that show just how interested God is on our mundane, ordinary lives. We are occupied at the moment with getting presents packaged for shipment to our children and grandchildren. As ordinary as that seems, we want to make the focus of this Christmas a faith-centered focus. Our hope is that the gifts sent will draw hearts to our Lord rather than just fulfill an expectation of receiving a gift from Grammy and Papi.

Only the Holy Spirit can accomplish that, but that is what we are praying for.

Victoria, Mama

I was interested to see just who was more excited to have Victoria back at the farm Tuesday night. The contest was between Grandma and the dogs. My though was that the dogs, who had been without their mistress for a month would be overwhelmed with excitement. That did not seem to be the case. They were a little startled by her sudden reappearance, but they were not overly expressive in that moment. Grandma on the other hand was effusive in her welcome of Victoria back into our daily lives. Fortunately, Victoria had the day off yesterday to allow Grandma and Grandpa to ply her with questions and shower her with pent up attention. It was fun to watch. Meanwhile, the dogs warmed to the idea that Victoria was staying nearby and after Grandma and Victoria had gone to Walmart in the afternoon, both Kira and Kobe welcomed her home with the excitement I had anticipated the night before.

Victoria and I talked some on our way home from the airport and I got the sense that she had little more direction for her life than before she left. Although I am seeing some subtle changes in her attention to daily living details once overlooked. She and Grandma kept the dishes washed and the sink clear through the day yesterday as I worked and Mama rested. She made her bed in the morning. Something she was not in the habit of doing before. She vacuumed the hallway and her room several times to keep up with the hair the dogs are constantly shedding. She is starting back to work today; both looking forward to getting back into the groove of things and dreading the routine at the same time.

Mama has been mostly in bed since Tuesday morning. Her symptoms do not seem to be improving. She experiences fever in bursts. It will abate for a few hours, then come beck upon her with a vengeance. That is the most distressing symptom of the flu so far – that and the general malaise. The fact that, after three days, she feels little improved is most disconcerting to her. To me as well. With the cantata happening Sunday night, I have had to keep my distance from Mama which has interrupted our normal smooching encounters through the day. We are both aching from that separation.

For the moment, only Mama is experiencing the illness which is a blessing for Grandma and Grandpa. None of us want to see them fall ill with these symptoms. Many at church last night asked if we get the flu shots. We do not. Of course, I had to hear all the stories of how the shots have kept them from ever getting the flu – but if they did get it, it was a milder case. Good for them. Such logic is impossible to prove when millions of people never get the shots and never get the flu. Likewise, millions get the flu and treat it the same we have for untold generations before us, rest, hot liquids and more rest. Mama will recover soon enough. She is taking some antibiotics to prevent secondary infections as well as a cough suppressant, but mostly she is drinking hot liquids and resting.

A couple days ago, since Mama was sick and I was working, Mama sanctioned Grandma and Grandpa to make a post office and Dollar General run using Victoria’s car. I have disapproved of that in the past because we do not have them covered on our insurance and the consequences of any accident they might be involved in would be financially debilitating. But they made the outing, and it went so well in Grandma’s mind that she is volunteering herself and Grandpa to do every little thing that needs to be done – especially if it requires operating one of our vehicles. She is not pestering Victoria to sell her car to Grandpa so she can get insurance and get out more, which would necessitate Victoria having to purchase a car to replace it this one. Something she is unprepared to do. So far, Grandpa has restrained Grandma’s enthusiasm.

I have been doing the feeding and watering of the animals while trying to keep up with work requests as I work from home. Since I cannot devote the required forty-five minutes or more away from my computer at any one time, I have been doing the chores in three separate outings. First, I open the chickens and ducks, so they have access to water. I do very little of the extra things they are used to Mama doing for them. After spending time answering emails and replying on Slack, I go back out and feed the goats. Then, during my lunch hour, I will go back and give the ducks fresh water in all the containers we set out for them daily. If I miss anything, I catch up in the evening feeding when I have signed out from work. It’s not all bad. Everyone gets minimally cared for and I get more steps in.

Grandma has taken up some of the slack in making sure Grandpa is fed. Mostly it is sandwiches and fruit. Grandma refuses to learn how to use the microwave or toaster oven, so unless she grills a sandwich on the stovetop, it is served cold. They do not respond well to the meals I prepare, even if I warm up leftover beans or soup. Again, everyone’s needs are minimally met as we all wait on Mama to recover.

Everyone is praying that will happen soon!

Zoe and Sophia, Victoria, Grandma, life as we know it

 

After more than a week of hearing any news from Brittany and the girls, we got a call Saturday morning from Brittany. The twins were insistent on calling me and letting me know that dinosaurs are bald, just like Papi. Since I do not mind being bald, it was a fun discussion for the morning, and I am happy the twins feel they can tease me about it. It was more fun just to make that contact. Since Brittany has returned to New Jersey, the girls are back in the church school. That is extremely encouraging. We did not pry into other matters related to the relocation, but the girls seem very happy. Mama’s and my personal belief is that they are now in a much safer environment. Our prayer is that real joy will return to the home that, to this point, remains broken.

Victoria will be coming home tomorrow. She is now seeing the farm as a temporary living arrangement as she aggressively looks for a rental property. So, coming home is a liberal application of her coming back stateside. Thought she has thoroughly enjoyed her time in Honduras, the cares of the world once press upon her the need to get back to work. For now, that work will continue to be at the Walmart pharmacy, but that too may be a temporary situation. As uncomfortable as Victoria is with change, much of her life is now in a state of flux. Where each out these individual circumstances filter out through the haze remains for us to see. Her work. Her living arrangements. Her life moving forward. All is up for consideration and potential change. We will pray the Lord will guide her in all things she is considering, and that she will be sensitive to those leadings. If Victoria will look for that guidance, all will turn out well. Regardless of Mama’s and my opinions.

Grandma had a visit with a pain management doctor last week. Her medication was changed to help her mitigate the pain she seems to be constantly dealing with, but the real outcome was that the doctor suggested a treatment to eliminate much of that pain. He is looking into burning the nerve endings closest to her most annoying pain. His prognosis is that such a treatment should alleviate most of the excruciating pain for up to a year. That would be a blessing. There is some preliminary work required before the procedure, but Grandma is hopeful.

From Mama’s and my observational point of view, Grandma’s pain seems to be somewhat transient. Either that or her medications are only working part time. She will lay in bed moaning with pain for hours, then suddenly get up feeling like she can run a marathon. One day she will barely move about the house and the next day she will be doing the dishes, washing, drying and folding clothes, and picking up and arranging around the house. Those bouts of activity will be followed by a day or more of debilitating pain. We just take each day as it comes and help where we need to – mostly Mama engages in the help. I tend to be an onlooker watching for opportunities to help Mama as she deals with her mom and dad.  

I did get to help Friday evening when Grandma came into the living room almost screaming from pain in her chest. When she continued to complain that she could get no relief, I gave her a nitro glycerin pill. Within thirty seconds of placing the pill under her tongue all her pain had gone. To us that was an indication of a possible heart attack; however, Grandma spent the next several hours trying to convince us that it was not a heart attack. Why she took that position on the episode, I am not sure. She kept asking, “What just happened?” When I tried to explain (repeatedly) that she may have experienced a heart attack, she was dissatisfied with that answer. Finally, Grandpa told her that the pain was probably from indigestion, and that satisfied her. We let it go but Mama took Grandma’s blood pressure (which was very high) several times and made some specific notes about the episode to share with the home health nurse during the next visit.

This is life as we know it. Feeding and caring for our animals. Providing care for Grandma and Grandpa 24/7. Giving Victoria her space as she decides what she wants to do with her life. Wondering why Chase will not return our calls or take a few minutes to talk with Mama. Missing Rebekah and Bridgette this holiday season. Talking daily – or almost so – with Maggie, Cathryn, and Walter. Keeping up with the other children and grandchildren as opportunity is given.

Presents and cards will be going out this week to our children, grandchildren, and our greatgrandchild. That is always part of the fun of the Christmas season. Mama and I were at church almost day or evening last week for special activities, one of which was a live Nativity our church put on. Our adult Sunday School party will be Saturday evening after a final dress rehearsal of the cantata. Our cantata at church is next Sunday evening. It is always a busy time of year, but we love it.

I love the life I get to share with Mama.