Sink upgrade, winter temps, a mess

For the past couple of weeks Norman has worked on replacing our kitchen sink counter and the sink. This included not only made replacement of the countertop and sink, but also the backsplash. I think it was two weeks ago that I helped Norman cut the counter so that we could set it in place and hook up the new sink. That turned out to be the easy part. Hooking up the complicated plumbing system required for the sink and the web water supply lines to the multitude of valves that the sink offers turned out to be a challenge for Norman. He did finish most of the water and drain lines the first day, but we've been waiting on the backsplash.

Over the last several nights he has set and glued the backsplash in place and last night he grouted and cleaned the backsplash so that all that's left is to seal it and to do some caulking along the edges. It looks really good! Mama has not seen it in person yet since that part happened while she and Victoria are still in Florida. However, she was very excited over the pictures Norman sent to her. This is the second sink that we've had in the kitchen, but this is by far the best remodel we've ever done of that counter and a huge upgrade at the sink. The backsplash is icing on the cake, so to speak. Norman does very good work. It's taken some time because he's sandwiched the work in between several other jobs he's working has contracted to do but it is nice to see that project come to completion. Now, we'll start to work on the other side of the kitchen - the stove countertop that expands into the living room. No hurry on that.

Though the temperature yesterday peaked at 81, this morning’s temperature was 34 degrees. Just above freezing. For the next three nights we are going to see temperatures just slightly below freezing somewhere around 28 degrees. That's pretty frigid for this time of year in North Texas. It does not portend a severe winter, but it did put me on my toes getting the water supplies we have in the house and around the farm ready for freezing temperatures. I had to spend yesterday afternoon, all afternoon, disconnecting and draining hoses, covering faucets, and running heat tracing on one line.

We're at that time of year on the farm where life is most difficult for us. When the temperatures are below freezing overnight, we have to make sure that all hydrants and spigots are drained and covered. Then, in the morning we can hook up the hoses that we had drained and use them to get water to the various places on the farm that we water the animals, making sure to disconnect the hoses in the evening and prepare for the overnight freeze. Fortunately, this cold snap is only going to last three nights. Unfortunately, I have a very poor selection of hoses that we can hook and unhook easily, so I’ll have to buy at least two hoses to help us make it through the winter months ahead.

From the animal 's point of view, all of them have good dry shelter and places where we can feed them in the dry, so it's not a hardship on them. They just huddle up together in the corner with the least draft of whatever barn or enclosure they're in. It is amazing to feel how warm they are in the mornings when we feed them – just after they have stirred from their beds.

To ensure the two little boys that we had in the garden while they were being weaned could stay warm, I carried them over to spend a few days with Samuel in the small enclosure over on the East side of the farm. Saturday, Norman helped me wrestle Midas from the small enclosure into the larger enclosure with Little Boy Blue, Mini, and Jersey, two of our little does that needed to be bred. Little Boy Blue was having trouble getting the job done because he's just a bit too young to handle the more mature does, but Midas didn't have that problem. Later this week after Mama gets home, we will move Samuel and two of the little does into a separate area to let that breeding take place. I'm not sure what we'll do with the Little Boy Blue except to leave him where he is for right now. I wait further instructions from Mama.

Also, as soon as Mama gets home, we're going to get the quail and baby ducks out of the garage. The cold temperatures outside necessitate leaving the garage door closed. Because the garage door is closed, the messy little ducklings produce a less than appealing smell in the garage. Every time we raise up little tiny ducklings, we are amazed that how huge a mess those tiny things can make. We are using a water container to provide water to the little ones in the hopes that they can't make that big a mess of it, but they manage anyway.

Grandpa provided them with fresh water in the container that most fowls would simply drink out of, then he stood back and watched. Within a few minutes the ducks had sloshed almost all of the water out of that container and onto the puppy training pads that we try to keep fresh in there to soak up part of the mess that they make. The four little ones simply dipped their beaks into the water, waggled their heads back and forth in a blurring motion, and spread the water around everywhere. A little fresh water became a huge mess in about sixty seconds. It's impressive. We have kept the ducklings in the garage just to safeguard them from the low temperatures, but they'll find a home in the grow out pen until they can be integrated with their larger cousins.  

There, they can mess up the area to their heart’s content.

Impact of rain, Mama and Victoria

Part of the direct impact we've had from the rain here lately, was that the tree Mama and I have worried about just South of the duck enclosure, uprooted and fell onto the enclosure a couple of nights ago. The damage wasn't that extensive, but the repair will be time-consuming. The structure of the enclosure held together pretty well and the large box that I had in there for the ducks to lay in actually held the weight of the tree as it collapsed and tore through part of the roof. I took some time last night after I got off work to look at the damage First I cut away the tree from the duck pen to see if I could at least lift the roof back up and secure it as close to the way it should have been setting before the tree fell on it so that as we get a couple of inches of rain over the next couple of days it would at least keep the duck pen somewhat protected. That turned out to be harder than I thought it would.

I had to use the tractor to move the tree after I had gotten everything cut away from the roof and sides of the enclosure. With the ground as soft as it was and the tree is heavy aa it was, that proved a bit of a challenge. My 20-inch chainsaw would not function properly so, I had to use my smaller chainsaw and it turned out the blade for that chainsaw was completely worn out. So, I set aside the 20-inch chainsaw, sharpened the blade on the smaller chainsaw, and just did the best I could. Fortunately, when I got to the point where I needed two people to try and slide a piece of metal underneath the tear in the roof where a limb had pierced through the roofing, Norman was just coming out to check and see how I was doing. With his help we got a piece of metal in place and as it rained today not very much of that rain actually got into the duck pen, but if we do get an inch of rain tomorrow, I don't think I'll be able to boast in that claim.

Hopefully, I will be able soon to tear off the roof, rebuild the structure, and then replace the roof and maybe even do a little bit better job on the structure than I originally did. In the meantime, our ducks are just gonna have to make do with the pen that's a little bit damper than what they're used to. Needless to say, based on the trauma they suffered when the tree crashed down on them, they are not laying right now. I guess that's to be expected.

Yesterday morning Mama and Victoria caught a plane to Florida. As Mama was rearranging and swapping purses Wednesday afternoon, she realized that she did not have her driver's license in her wallet as she would have expected. We searched everywhere. We opened every purse she ever carried. We looked through the pocket of every shirt and jacket she had ever worn. And we looked in places where there was even the remotest possibility that she could have set the license down. To no avail. So, I gave Mama her expired driver’s license to take with her along with her passport. That would provide sufficient identification for her to board the plane, but it would not allow her to rent and drive a vehicle.

When we were coming home from church Wednesday night, Mama asked me to fish out a jacket that she had stored in the car. Over the process of several days, we had folded the seats down on top of that jacket. I fished that jacket out for Mama to put with her stuff that she would carry to the airport, and hauled Victoria and Mama to the airport early Thursday morning. I got home about 8:10 from that drop off. It was only about 30 minutes later that Mama called me. She found her license. For some odd reason she had stuck her license in the upper pocket of that Jean jacket that she had not worn for quite some time period she only discovered her license there when she put on the jacket at the airport and then went fishing through the pockets of the jacket. Well, praise the Lord!

However, when Mama and Victoria did arrive at the airport in Pensacola, the reservation that I had thought I had made for them for some reason was not registering on the computer have the car rental company. Mama and Victoria hopped from car rental counter to car rental counter trying to find available cars at a price that they thought was reasonable -something less than $100 a day. It took some searching, but they did finally find a car rental agency that did not have an office in the Pensacola airport, but rather was stationed outside the terminal in the little booth. They were able to rent a car for about $60 a day plus all of the other things that they charge you in conjunction with the car rental. All told, they are ending up with a final charge of about $499 for the five days Mama and Victoria will be in Pensacola. Ouch!

The reason Mama and Victoria are in Pensacola is because Victoria has been looking at houses for purchase and or for rent in the Pensacola area. She and Corie are anticipating Mykenzie being a student at Pensacola Christian college within the next 18 months to two years. Victoria is thinking that if she can relocate to Florida - a move that would not necessarily be a hardship for her - then she and Mykenzie could share the house while Mykenzie attended college there. I think they're finding that to be a little bit of a pipe dream. Recently interest mortgage rates have jumped to almost 8%. Navy Federal Credit Union, as Victoria pre-applied for a loan, gave her an interest of 9.3%. Double Ouch!

On $150,000 loan that adds about $850 to $900 per month to the mortgage payment just in interest. Realistically, that is probably not doable, but she and Mama are still looking at houses currently available on the market in both Pensacola and Milton. The fact that they get to go to the beach several evenings during their five days in Pensacola were a tremendous attraction for Mama to make the trip with Victoria. Also, Mama just needs a break, and why not make that break a beach break. On the good side, from my way of thinking, since they flew to Pensacola, there's very little that Mama is going to be able to buy and bring back from Pensacola to the farm. So, I may not end up with a lot of extra stuff to try and find places for.

Right now, the garage, the shop, the well house, the barn, and any place where we have items being stored are overflowing with clutter. Even certain places in the house where Mama has tried to consolidate her crafts are just overloaded with totes and boxes. Tables are piled up with sundry items that may one day actually turn into some type of marketable craft. In my shop, Norman has supplied us with hundreds of board feet of lumber from the projects that he has been working on that may also end up turned into crafts at some future date. But right now, they are just occupying space in my shop making it difficult for me to work on anything that actually needs to be done.

I hate clutter, so, I am not sure that is a good problem.

Traveling, hatching ducks, goats

 Thursday, Friday, and Saturday I traveled with some men from our church to a men’s retreat in Rose Bud, AR. Fourteen of us went to the retreat. This is my second time to go, and this year was even better than last year. It is difficult to describe the sense of unity and camaraderie that permeates the weekend. There were several competitions in shooting, pistols – all caliber, rifles – all caliber, .22 rifle competitions, and even an archery competition. The highlight, however, was the preaching. Two sermons Thursday evening, then morning and afternoon devotionals on Friday with two sermons following supper. All this ended with a short devotional sermon Saturday morning after breakfast. Mike Norris, our pastor from our time in West Virginia and Terry Angel were the preachers this year. The campground, which also serves as the campground for Junior and Senior camps, is about six hours from Decatur. It was a pleasant drive both directions. The weather was mildly cool in the evenings and overnight but warm through the daylight hours. We all left the retreat charged up. The effects of that reviving will be in the forefront of all our minds for many weeks to come.

It was wonderful to spend some time with Pastor Mike and catch up with each other. His mom, Helen, went home to be with the Lord in February. It was equally wonderful to hear him preach. He was Mama’s and my first Independent Fundamental Baptist preacher. When we grew dissatisfied with the denomination we had been a part of for many years and decided to try out another church, it only took one exposure to Ripley Baptist Temple and Mike Norris to know we had found the place of service we had been looking for. Mama and I have faithfully attended Independent Fundamental Baptist church ever since that first Sunday morning. I often share with people that the very first Sunday morning we attended Ripley Baptist Temple, Joshua and Cori prayed to receive Jesus as their savior. It was the first time either of them had ever heard a clear-cut presentation of the Gospel even though they had grown up going to church. Mike Norris was a big part of that. Hearing him tell stories of his ministry in West Virginia – which we were part of almost from the time he began to pastor the church – and to hear him preach again brought back some very fond memories.

Back at the farm, Mama, spent Saturday at an event in Chico. The Chico Days event was set up on the lawn of the town square. It has never been a heavily attended event, but this year was slower than Mama has seen in the three years she has been attending. A rough estimate of what she took in in sales and what she spent in event fees and food, left her with a net income of $8 for the day. She came home a bit discouraged and quite worn out. It did not help that one of her upline in Color Street sent out a happy text that she had a single sale of $425 Saturday afternoon. Mama and I have never been sure why people around us do so well at the things we struggle to succeed in, but such is life.

After watching over a potential twelve duck eggs, we were left with only four successful hatches. While I was away for the weekend, Mama let the last few eggs incubate and when one of the eggs exploded Saturday night, Norman unplugged the incubator unaware that one more little duck was trying to escape its egg. That duckling died within the next couple hours – while Mama and I were at church – because it got too cold. Sad. With that, Mama and I are finished up for the season. Once I get this incubator cleaned up, it will be stored with the other two incubators until Spring.  

Our goat babies are growing quickly. Tomorrow Mama will be taking four more of the little ones to get disbudded. Of the nine recently born on our farm, we had to have seven disbudded. That is the most we have had in any kidding, but that is not a bad thing since the horned goats are the dominant trait. We have them disbudded so that they will not grow horns. It is not only that we prefer polled goats. It is that the horns can be a constant problem in the paddocks where we raise out goats. We have had one horned goat in the past get its head caught in the fence. Not necessarily a bad thing except that the temperature was very hot and the prolonged exposure to the direct sun and the constant fighting to get free caused the goat to die from heat stroke. Mama and I were both upset at the senseless loss even though we did not particularly like that goat.

Yesterday Aubrey came home with us after church. She and Rosalee played inside all afternoon, but when Mama and I went out to feed they ventured outside to join us. We had limited time to feed because of church that evening, but the two girls decided to help feed the goats. Friday, Seth had dropped off a large part of a round bale he came across somewhere in his travels. He just pitched the hay over the fence from the back of his truck as he parked in our circular driveway. That location seemed too far to Aubrey and Rosalee, so they carried armfuls of the hay to a more convenient area. This exercise attracted the attention of a couple of our baby goats. The girls were quite pleased with the response and continued the operation until Mama called a halt so Aubrey could cool down before church.

The couple days away with the men from our church was a great respite, but home is where my heart is, and God has blessed me and Mama with a great home.

Success, weekend updates

Our chicken flock inspection went off without a hitch last week. The inspection team showed up about 9 am and worked through the forty or so chickens in our coops – as well as the quail we had on hand that morning. Mama had to catch each chicken herself because the team was not allowed to touch the birds. Something to do with liability should any of the birds be harmed. Even though I was working from home I was not able to help because of meetings I had to attend that morning. So, it was a bit of a hardship on Mama, but she muddled through and the entire flock we successfully tested by about 10:30. I do not know if we will ever use the certificate to market our birds, but now we are authorized to do so. The ducks were exempt from testing. I am not sure why, but we were relieved to hear that bit of news.

Friday evening, Mama and I met a coworker of mine at her house to see her bourgeoning quail business. Having only been in the business of raising quail for a few months, they now have about three hundred birds in their care. An additional two hundred and fifty eggs are scheduled to hatch mid-week. They have the flock set up with groups of mixed males and females to give them fertilized eggs, large groups of females only just to produce eggs and even larger groups separated by age as the quail rapidly mature. Mama and I bought three mature females to place with a male we had so now we have two cages with a male and three females in each cage. Those six females often produce six to eight eggs per day. It seems that the females are capable of laying more than one egg per day. Too bad we cannot find any chickens that can do that. I would be thrilled if our ducks would lay one egg per female per day, but we count it a blessing when we get more than two eggs per day from our ten hens. We will go back at some point to buy more mature quail, but for now, as we raise the five we hatched, we are full up. So far it looks like we have three or four females in our chicks. Mama is excited about that.

Also on Friday, Leoni came by to visit and to drop off our Little Boy Blue. We negotiated on the purchase of the young buck many months ago but Leoni wanted to show him in the circuit she shows her goats in. As she expected, our Blue Boy did very well taking first place and Grand Champion in his class at three different shows. He was housed with Samuel and Midas in their small pen Friday afternoon. The three bucks got along well instantly. Like they had known each other all along. All our fretting about the butting and shoving that is normal for such an integration simply did not happen. That was a huge relief to Mama. What did happen was that all three bucks immediately began to stink themselves up to compete for the attention of the four female goats in the paddock beside theirs. A wonderful aroma now graces the breezes blowing through our trees.

Saturday morning as Norman started installing a new countertop and sink in our kitchen, l took two of the nanny goats we bought thinking they had been bred, to the goat sale. It has become abundantly clear that none of the four were able to maintain their pregnancies due to the nearly starved condition they were rescued from. Mama and I realized we might take a loss selling the two but the trade off was getting them with a buck to be bred – without any assurance that that would be successful – and feeding them out for another six months while we waited to see if they had any kids or taking the loss on the two just to reduce our headcount. We erred on the side of cutting our losses and in the process did take a loss. We bought the females for $200 each hoping we could get babies from them. That did not happen. We sold the two of them for $266. A net loss of $134 plus four months of feed.  Not too bad, actually. It certainly could have been worse. They were two goats we did not plan on keeping even had they given us offspring.

When I got back from the goat sale I changed and went to church for bus calling. I went with Pastor to visit some of our bus kids then he and I went to look for homes out in the country to see if we could talk to anyone about the Lord. Instead, after stopping at four homes and finding no one home, we were pulling onto the county road and felt the unmistakable sensation of having a flat tire. It did not take up long to change the tire, but Pastor, knowing he was headed to Ada, OK to preach Sunday night, decided it was time to get some new tires on the van. He dropped me back off at the church before he headed to the tire shop.

Back at the farm, I helped Norman pull the old sink counter and cut and install the new countertop. I will have pictures of the finished project later. While Norman was working on hooking up all the appurtenances of the sink, Mama and I left for the church picnic. It is an annual event so lots of our church family look forward to it. The weather was perfect!  After Pastor and I finished cooking all the hot dogs and everyone had taken time to eat, we presented the gift we had voted to purchase for Pastor and Joyce for their twenty-year anniversary serving as Pastor of the church. It was a brand-new Polaris Ranger 4x4 crew cab side-by-side. They were completely stunned by the gift. I was extremely pleased that the entire church had kept the secret until we made the presentation. The look on their faces was well worth it.

It is a gift that will serve them for many years to come.

Inspections, making room

Last weekend, I looked once more into the hives to see if the colonies were doing well. It appears that they are. While one hive has a low store of honey the second hive has seven frames full of honey. I am tempted to pull out four of those frames so we can harvest a little honey but am apprehensive about leaving the colony without sufficient stores to go through this winter. While I was working the hives, I began the process of preparing them for winter weather. Swapping to the smaller hive entrance and covering the opening of the screen bottom of the hive are two things I do each Fall. Later this month I will make a couple candy boards to help feed the bees through the cold season. We are forecast to have a cold, dry winter this year, so I will wrap the hives in an insulation blanket to help them conserve the heat required to make it through the very cold days. I will make my last bucket of syrup for them this evening.  Temperatures at the end of this week will be too cool for them to harvest the liquid feed. Bees are truly amazing creatures.

Tomorrow Mama will meet with a team from the Texas Animal Health Commission. In Texas we are required to register our flock in order to sell any of our birds at venues where the general population is in attendance. To get that registration, all of our chickens and quail will be tested. We have about fifty chickens and twelve quail in our flock, so testing may each and every bird may take a while. To accommodate that exercise the chickens will be left in the closed coops until they are selected in groups of five to be tested. Once those five show negative results, an additional five will be caught and tested. While the results are being processed the tested chickens must be caged until the negative result is posted. Once proven negative, they can be let loose and the process repeats.

The agent who will be leading the team tomorrow will have two helpers with him. All three will be equipped with nets to be used in catching the chickens. It should be fun to watch. My assumption is that all three chicken catchers have a modicum of experience in chicken wrangling, but that theory will be proved tomorrow. Mama is far less apprehensive of the whole affair since the agent has sufficient help to conduct the entire testing exercise on his own. We were expecting to have to provide all the support to a lone agent, but since that is not the case, it should require little participation on Mama’s part. We were told that the ducks are exempt from the testing. That is a huge relief. They just started laying again, so we were apprehensive about stressing them out.

I was scheduled to present an all-day class tomorrow, but my voice is still not strong enough to talk for that many hours. That class has been, once again, passed off to one of my coworkers. I am truly thankful for the help. Mama is thankful that I will be working from home when the chickens are being tested. At this point I am not sure that I need to be there, but I am happy that I will be available if needed. Most times that I am available to Mama I am needed for something or another. That’s okay. It is nice to be needed.

Trying to finish this craft container has become a challenge. It seems that every opportunity I have to set aside time to work on the container, I am drawn away to some other more urgent tasks. The latest interruption is on behalf of the goats. We have little ones that are now ready to be weaned. This means they need to be separated from their mommies. We have used the pig building in the past, but it is not properly occupied with pigs. So, I have to create a separate area to sequester the weanlings for a few weeks. We will use the garden area for the weanlings. To create three breeding areas, I have to section off two areas on the farm to allow us to use three bucks in the three separate enclosures. Each buck will have two or three does to breed. To accommodate that, I am going to split the goat barn in two and enclose one side of the paddock to have entry to the barn on the West side of the barn, while the goats that are not getting bred will have use of the East side of the barn. All of that labor for a couple months of separations.

I finished a shelter for the weanlings in the garden last night. We will begin the weaning process later this week and by the end of the month will have at least four of the nine little ones in the garden area until their mommies dry up. The shelter was built in such a way that it can be quickly disassembled and once again be repurposed. Sometime before Thanksgiving we will have sold off at least four of the goats we are now feeding. Three of the four we rescued will have had their kids by then – if, in fact, they will be having kids – and we will have the paddock for the boys back in use by our three bucks. Mama is also looking to sell one or two of our current flock to cull our herd. Right not we are keeping too many goats. How many is too many? What we have right now is too many and we will have to cull the herd to bring the feed costs back into a manageable budget. That is very hard for Mama.

By Christmas we should have everyone back to normal…whatever that is.

 

Doing our best, Fall, new to us

Mama met with a friend a couple days ago whose 45-year-old son is dying from alcohol induced terminal illnesses. It is a very sad story. But not, unfortunately, uncommon. Another friend of ours at church has a son about the same age that has been sent to prison for twelve years for a drug possession and distribution charge. That son, like the alcoholic son walked a long but predictable road to their own destruction. No intervention was sufficient for either son and now their families are suffering as well with the consequences of those destroyed lives. The families of the sons may not bear the penalty of the choices that led to the current circumstances, death or imprisonment, but they will bear the loss, the regret, the guilt of the “if only I had” or “is this partly my fault” accusations that will haunt their thoughts for many years.

Such are the musings of many parents that, though they had done the best they knew how to raise their children, have nonetheless, watched certain of their children make one bad decision after another leading them to a very certain end. It is sad, especially when the outcomes are so predictable; yet every warning offered, every caution spoken are scoffed at and trivialized. The Lord allows us to each make our own mistakes and forgiveness is available when sought from a sincere heart. However, though the sins are forgiven, the heart is set right, and the penalty for our sins has been paid in full, the consequences of our errant decisions and presumptuous sins can affect our lives and the lives of others – especially those who love and cherish us - for many years to come. My cautionary note: If you have someone who loves you cautioning you about something you are doing or allowing in your life, take the words to heart and at least give that person a fair hearing. It may save you from years of hurt and loss.

Mama and I have the windows open today. It was just over sixty degrees outside in the early morning. The ground is still moist from the inch and one half of rain we had overnight Wednesday, so the dust is minimized as a light breeze stirs the leaves on the trees. The change in weather happened so quickly. Only a week ago we had high temperatures near one hundred degrees. Then, overnight the forecast changed, and we will have days with high temperatures in the low eighties and nights in the forties and fifties. We moved from Summer into Fall in just one day. Our animals are loving it!

Norman who has been staying with us, has been doing several remodeling jobs in the area. One took him almost a month and he was able to stay in the house he was working on as he worked. Anyway, he has come across multiple items in those renovations that he has passed on to Mama and me. The most recent of which is a table and chairs that are absolutely perfect for our eating area. Mama and I have been through four table and chair combinations over the last two months and none of those arrangements seemed to fit all we were needing in that small dining area. Until now. This set is everything we did not know we were looking for, but nonetheless wanted. It is an oak pedestal table with one leaf that can be inserted to expand the table. The four chairs are the most comfortable we have had in any of our dining areas. The pedestal design allows Mama to prop her feet up as she sits at the table. That is the first of its kind for us. With Norman’s help we installed it yesterday placing the higher table with the granite top in the sunroom.

Also in his travels, Norman located for us a one-time rabbit cage that we have repurposed into a quail condo. It was into that that we put the recently hatched quail. Only five managed to survive but at least we have that small success. So, to bring some new genetics into our quail flock we are negotiating the purchase of hatchlings from a coworker who recently set up a large quail farm operation. The newly established quail breeder sells fertile eggs for one dollar each. They also sell hatchlings and young quail, up to three weeks old, for three dollars each. We will probably buy the older quail in the hope that we can distinguish males from females at two to three weeks. That would take some of the disappointment out of raising hatchlings to discover that the majority of them are male. Not that that is a bad thing, since we can eat the overage. At least, I can. Mama and Victoria are reluctant to eat what we raise, be it birds, goats, or sheep.

Last night I candled the duck eggs we had in the larger incubator. Twelve were viable and nine were clearly not fertile. Those that were not viable were removed. The twelve viable eggs should be hatching by the 16^th. It is fun to candle the eggs at this point. You can actually see the embryonic duckling moving around in the egg. It is kind of freaky looking because mostly all that can be seen are large blood vessels and a dark shape, but it is clear that there is a live, developing ducking in the eggs. Only a few more days to wait. Again, we will not be able to determine males from females for months after they hatch, and again, we will cull the males from the mature ducks and either process them for me to eat or sell them to someone else to eat.

Either way, we come out alright.

New births, additions, picnic celebration

It has been some time since I have written. It is not that I have had nothing to write about, but rather that I have lacked the emotional energy to put those happenings into print. I do not have a huge audience for this little blog, but still, once something is committed to print and published, there is almost no way to take it back. I do not live in the pretentious world of today’s social media where I pretend to believe your lie as long as you pretend to believe my lie, so I try to mean what I say and say what I mean. All too often, that communication is faulty because anything said can be misinterpreted, misunderstood, or misused by those who do read what I have written. Nevertheless, I will attempt to expend the energy required to put my thoughts into words. The following are real events that happened to real people, and I will personally attest to their veracity.

That being said, we have had quite a bit of activity on the farm over the past few months. What follows is a very brief synopsis. Since my last update we have had seven little ones born into our goat herd. One set of triplets and two sets of twins. The oldest set of five little ones were born a couple weeks back, and they have doubled in size over that time. The most recent births took place yesterday, just before Mama, Grandma, Rosalee and I left for church. Mama and toyed with the idea of staying home for the births, but that turned out not to be necessary. In fact, both little bucks were born in a matter of a few minutes. We watched the nanny, Honey, wander about the paddock over the course of the morning, finally ending up in the barn. We lost sight of her once inside the barn. There she had the two kids so close together that only one got fully cleaned up. Normally the nanny will busy herself in cleaning the kid just birthed while waiting on any subsequent kids, but the second must have come very quickly. The second of the two was matted with dried amniotic fluids and stubble from the barn floor when we did a welfare check on the two when we got home from church. Mama will attempt to clean up the little one sometime today. If we do not, his hair will be bristly and stiff for a week or more. So far both are doing well. They are nursing successfully and are starting to explore their surroundings.

We received four piglets to the farm Friday evening. JD and Sarah Fox found a Kune Kune pig grower who was overloaded with piglets. He was trying to cull his herd and had eight piglets for sale for thirty-five dollars apiece. Mama and I could not resist the purchase – especially since the piglets typically sell for two hundred dollars or more. In total there were eight piglets offered as a package deal. We took four, JD and Sarah took the other four with the intent of selling two of them to a third buyer. The little ones have been a delightful addition to the farm. Mama and I have always liked raising pigs, but we have avoided purchasing any because the prices were so high. These little ones fit our budget. Grandma and Grandpa are very excited to have pigs on the property. Grandpa more so than Grandma. I am hoping the additional feed required for the newcomers will not break our budget, which is already strained by having twenty goats to feed.

In addition to the pigs and the goats, we were also successful in hatching out some quail. So far, we have five. A total of eight hatched out, but three of those died within a day. Mama and I have found that the newly hatched quail tend to be very fragile. We are not sure why the hatchlings die, but our best guess is that temperature is the main culprit. We have two running around in an enclosure in the garage and three still in the incubator where they hatched. We try to leave the hatchlings in the safety of the incubator for 24 hours. That gives them time to get strong enough to be moved to a larger area. Yesterday, Victoria and Norman removed one from the incubator and placed it in the enclosure in the garage, but when I got home from church, I put it back in the incubator. It was clearly going to die if we did not do something to help it. By last night, it was running all over the small incubator. It will be moved this morning and the two that hatched yesterday afternoon will be moved this evening, hopefully.

Saturday, Mama and I attended a celebration at Bible Baptist Translator’s Institute in Bowie. The picnic was to commemorate the 50^th anniversary of BBTI. It was not as well attended as I would have hoped, but there were about seventy people there. Mama made two types of slaw and deviled eggs to add to the large variety of other picnic fare to compliment the hamburgers and hot dogs served up by BBTI staff. The afternoon was hot but there was a good breeze throughout the celebration, so it turned out to be quite pleasant. Mama and I visited with families we had not seen in many months, some for several years. It was fun to catch up on all that has happened during the extended time we were out of touch.

We all promised to be more diligent about staying in touch, but those are promises rarely kept. I am not sure why we do not do better since such communications are extremely convenient with our current technology. Too busy, too distracted, out of sight, out of mind. Who knows? There are no good excuses, but perhaps we allow ourselves too much grace in these glaring oversights. I am going to make it a point to respond to each prayer letter I receive from and of the missionaries that share those correspondences with me. Such a simple gesture is encouraging to those serving abroad. It is the very least I can do.

So, the farm is growing, keeping Mama and I busy, entertained and nearly broke. It is a wonderful life.

A short update

For weeks we have been waiting and watching our nanny goats expecting them to kid very soon. Well, Lilly, one of our older nannies, had her three babies early this morning. We were expecting Lilly to kid yesterday, so Mama was not surprised to see the three little ones this morning. She had asked me last night if there was a way we could separate Lilly from the others in the paddock, but there is no good way to do so without a lot of work. There are eleven total in the paddock right now, which makes it quite crowded at feeding times. Three of the goats in that paddock are very young – our bottle babies which have never been exposed to a kidding nanny goat. Four are approaching one year old and four are pregnant nanny goats. Dolly, another of our older nanny goats should be kidding in a few days. Most likely this week.

Mama is horribly stressed about the new kids being born and reared into that crowded environment. Lilly is batting and butting the other goats away from her recent offspring, especially the overly curious bottle babies we raised. I may need to find a way to isolate Lilly from the other residents of the paddock to assure the survival of the newbies, but we will know if that is necessary over the next few days. So, three little ones were introduced to Mama this morning, two little girls and one little boy, with the expectation that we will have more coming in the next few days followed by two other nanny goats kidding within the next couple weeks. Additionally, the four pregnant nanny goats we rescued are getting large as their pregnancies advance. I expect to see those kidding within the next four weeks. Certainly, by the end of September. In total, we should have up to twenty little ones born on our farm this year. A moderate success.

One thing after another has delayed the completion of our craft container. Mostly it is a matter of excessive heat, but also my lack of time and energy to work very long on the projects in the evenings. But this weekend I was able to get the entrance framed in so we can apply the foam - perhaps next weekend. That is the next big, expensive thing to be done. As the weather cools, I should be able to do more each available evening to add the little finishes required to spur us toward completion. Mama is anxious to get moved into the craft shop, but she is not pushing me too hard. I too am anxious to get the craft items moved out of the house. At this point, I am about forty hours and $3,000 short of that completion.

Tonight, I will refill the five-gallon bee feeder. I know it will only last the bees about three days, but I plan to refill the feeder no more than once per week. I cannot. Since it takes twenty-five pounds of sugar for each filling, the cost of which is about sixteen dollars, I cannot afford to keep them filled up. Even at once per week, I will be spending over five hundred dollars to cover this dearth and get the hives fed sufficiently to prepare the bees for winter. It is worth the cost and effort on my part, but it is still an added expense for us to deal with.

Attracting attention, Grandma’s birthday, diminishing strength

 After doing all I could to allow the bees to pull the majority of the syrup they could reach in the five-gallon bucket feeder, I took it, after dark last night, and refilled it with fresh sugar water. There was very little left in the bucket when I rinsed it out to clear away the older syrup and the ants that had gotten into the bucket. It was a sticky mess. I dumped a twenty-five-pound bag of sugar into the empty bucket and added enough water to begin mixing the contents. It took several minutes to get the solution completely mixed and once in solution, I added more water to fill the bucket. I did not want any of the sugar to fall out the mix, so I let the contents settle several times, mixing it thoroughly after each pause. When I was finally satisfied with the mix, I sealed the bucket and carried it to the site where I had retrieved it from and flipped it over to allow the hollows in the bucket ridge to fill with syrup.

I was anxious to see if the bees were interested, even though I knew they would be, so, early this morning I wandered over to check the activity at the feeder. The bees were certainly interested. In fact, they would not allow me to get close to the feeder. When I was within twenty feet, the bees came out to see who I was. I did not venture closer. I do not know how long it will take the bees to empty the contents, but I anticipate I will have to refill the bucket before the week is out. Mama is buying several more large bags of sugar today. I believe we have found a way to keep our bees alive and happy through this dearth. I am pleased with that.

Today is Grandma’s birthday. Several cards, several phone calls, and a visit by Norman have been among the celebration activities. Grandma has reveled in the attention. Since yesterday was payday for Grandma and Grandpa, they are being ferried about by Mama to take care of the monthly financial activities needed to meet their limited obligations. Among the stops will be Sam’s, WinCo, and the bank. Mama and I talked about getting some cupcakes for the three birthday’s this month versus a large cake. I am not sure how that will play out. Norman’s birthday is tomorrow. Grandpa’s is Thursday. From Grandma’s perspective, it will be a three-day celebration of her birthday. Nothing wrong with that.

Oddly enough, each of the birthdays this month required Grandma, Grandpa, and Norman to renew their driver’s license. All three lapsed on this birthday. Norman’s was fairly easy. It took a couple of tries to complete the online application for renewing the license, but we got it done. I was able to renew Grandma’s license as well because the cutoff age at which a person can renew a license online is 79. Grandma turns 78 today. For Grandpa who turns 81, it has proved a challenge to get his renewal done. His requires an appointment to be created through an online portal that is fairly difficult to use. No action can be taken without the appointment – even if you dare to show up in person without the appointment. After two conversations with DPS employees, I was finally able to schedule an appointment at a date less than two months out. It has been frustrating to say the least, but the appointment has been set for Grandpa and the other two licenses have been applied for and accepted by the DPS. This is the last time we will need to do so for Grandma and Grandpa.

Since there was nothing more urgent to do yesterday evening, I installed two of the windows in the container. I had figured out a way to hold the windows in place while I centered them in the frame and put a few screws in each to secure them in place. They look good. I had planned on installing all four windows but was interrupted when Sarah and JD came over to get the feed Mama had picked up at the store for both our families. When they had extracted their portion from the pile in the back of my truck, I had to unload the rest into the shop. All told, I had to unload and stack twenty bags of feed. I had already taken four from the truck to feed the goats earlier in the afternoon. After all that was done, I was too worn out to install the final two windows. Perhaps, that will get installed tomorrow evening. Tonight, is church.  

 

Tomorrow, I have an all-day class to teach and at some point in the next couple evenings, Mama and I have another thirty bales of hay to pick up. All this lifting and stacking is taking a toll on me. I have to balance out these more strenuous activities so that I do not hurt too badly over the following days. So far, I have managed, but I get a sense that my days of being able to continue in this labor are diminishing.

Time will tell, but we are planning to do so for as long as possible.

Some success, losses, Chase, traveling issues

 After making five gallons of sugar water for the bees last week, I thought I had failed in the attempt to feed the bees. They did not seem interested in the syrup I had made for them. At least, that was the case for a full two days. On Wednesday evening when I checked the feeder, the bees were all over it. Praise the Lord! Since Mama and I were gone over the weekend, I was interested in seeing how soon I would have to mix another five gallons for the bees. I hoped the five gallons would last a week or more, but I  was wrong. I was a bit shocked to find that the feeder had been drained as far down as the syrup could flow out of the feeder as it sat level on the block holding it. So, I tilted the five-gallon bucket to allow the last of the syrup to flow into the hollows encircling the top of the bucket. I further tilted the bucket today and will plan on mixing another five gallons tomorrow afternoon when I get home from my half-day class.

The heat is still taking a toll on our flock. We have lost a few more chickens and one more quail. We are doing all we can to help the chickens and quail to make it through the heat, but there is actually very little we can do. I am not sure if the dry conditions are beneficial or harmful, but it is what it is. So, we are giving plenty of water in the morning, Mama refreshes the water containers in the afternoon, and we redo all the water dishes and the duck pool every night. We wet the ground for the birds and try to keep little hollows in the ground behind the coop full of water – Mama-made mud holes. The ducks require a lot of water, but chickens like to get their feet wet too.

Today and tomorrow, we will get a respite from the heat with the temperatures remaining under one hundred degrees. It is difficult to imagine that those ten degrees make a difference, but they do. We hope that the temperatures will start to drift lower over the next couple weeks, but as always, we will take what we get. Meanwhile, we will do all we can to help our flocks and herds cope with the heat.

One the bright side, we have eight nanny goats getting larger and larger as the babies grow inside them. The goats love the heat. Several are looking very close to kidding. By our calculations, we ought to have the first few kids introducing themselves to us within two weeks. Right now, our feed bills is so much higher than we are used to that I am finding it difficult to buy enough feed to last us a month, which is our normal buying cycle. At the moment, we have only enough feed for one more morning feeding. Yesterday and today, we eliminated the afternoon feeding so we could at least feed in the mornings. Tomorrow, we will be buying more feed – some of which must be ordered – but we will have emptied all of our feed containers as we waited to make the trip to the feed store. That is the first time we have run so low because I did not anticipate how much feed we needed between purchases. Hopefully, we will buy enough feed to last for the entire month this time. The timing of the feed purchase is a matter of money, rather than a certain elapsed time.

Mama and I got to Amarillo a little after 5 pm Friday evening and met Chase, Makaila, Owen and Gailynn at a Thai restaurant a little after 5:30. We had a great visit with them even though our time was limited by their very busy schedule. Owen had some memories of us, so he warmed up to us quickly. Gailynn does not require any introductions to a stranger. She may have had some very vague recollections, but it did not matter. She is extremely outgoing. Makaila told Mama and I as we were greeting inside the restaurant Friday night that Gailynn, who is just now connecting titles/names to individuals reassured herself as to the purpose of this gathering that we were indeed meeting her daddy’s “father and mother”. A bit formal but totally correct. We quickly became Papi and Grammy to both children. We spent some time at a park Saturday morning as Chase taught a class at their gym followed by a short time at their home, but Chase and Makaila had some work that was time constrained, so we said our goodbyes about noon. Mama and I did a little shopping and headed out.

The visit was far too short of necessity. Mama and I headed home from Amarillo about 2 pm. Our drive home was far more eventful than the trip over. We drove through some very high winds blowing thick clouds of dust across the road and troubling all the large vehicles and trucks on the road. Just outside of Electra, TX all traffic was diverted off the highway onto a narrow backroad. The closing of the highway was due to grassfires being blown by the howling winds we had been driving through for the past hour. The smell of smoke was thick on the wind. We followed those secondary and tertiary routes for about twenty-five miles and got back on the highway in Iowa Park, TX. The detour added about forty-five minutes to our trip home.

 .

No complaints on my part. That kept us far East of the fires.

Too hot to handle, shift in attention, meds

As I got into the truck to head home from teaching a class yesterday afternoon, I could not touch the steering wheel because it was so hot to handle. The outside temperature displayed on the readout in the truck showed 114 degrees. I looked up on the internet to see how hot the steering wheel had to be for it to cause the pain I felt when I tried to grip it and the range of temperature suggested was between 125 and 140 degrees. I had no way to gauge the actual temperature of the steering wheel, but it remained too hot for me to grip as I normally would have for the entire drive home. I had to use the heel of my hand on the center of the steering wheel to maneuver the truck. Even that was uncomfortably hot. It was bearable, but uncomfortable. The overheated steering wheel was my fault because I did a bit of hopscotch before starting the class yesterday and when I finally ended up at the office, I did not put up the sunshades inside the truck. That is a mistake I will try very hard not to repeat.

For the remainder of this week and next week, the high temperatures are forecast to be between 105 and 112 each day. There is no chance of rain on that forecast, so things here are not just dry, the landscape is burned up. To be fair, this is not the first time we have seen this, but it has been many years since we have endured such a long spate of such hot, dry weather. Because of the continued dry conditions, Grandpa is a little concerned about our water wells here at the farm. I do not know if there is cause for concern, but it is worth being vigilant and careful in our water use. Meanwhile, all the birds are suffering in this heat, and we have lost about seven of our chickens and quail in the past two weeks. As expected, only the goats seem unaffected. They love the heat. Since we have four pregnant nanny goats, it is good that they do so well in this kind of heat.

As for me, I have found it difficult to work in this heat. I have to limit my time outside. I am afraid I have become more delicate in my older years. There is much I need to do, but I cannot risk my health for those things that are, honestly, unimportant. Prior to the excessive heat, I was able to get the electrical conduit finalized and the plugs in the outlets installed. I was able to get the frames for the windows installed as well, but I have made it not further. I did clean out the container so we could be ready for the foam to be applied, but I am not sure we can do so in this heat. Fortunately, there is no hurry. It gives me time to think through what remains to be done and how to get those things done.

I have to admit that listening to and researching the video about the prophecy of Daniel has given me a lot to think about. What was mentioned in the timeline proposed is worth considering, it’s worth the hour to listen to. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aw2p06bgyKg) That in addition to the information I am gathering in review of Chinese aggression towards Taiwan, especially from Dan Bongino, is a powerful argument in support of the very short timeframe we may be in. At the very least, Mama and I have become more conscientious about handing out tracts and talking to people about the Lord. I have committed to spending each Saturday morning soulwinning/bus calling. If the Lord does tarry, and for the sake of many who do not know Him, I hope He does, changing my behavior to focus on those things that I know please the Lord will only be a benefit. I want to be found faithfully working for the Lord regardless of how much time we have ahead of us.

Speaking of time remaining, I had a very good visit with my doctor Monday afternoon. I was curious to see the results of the lab work that had been done prior to that appointment. My primary concern was with my cholesterol levels. In preparation for those blood tests, I had restricted my cholesterol intake for ten or eleven weeks. Those results clearly proved that I do not benefit from taking the Statin drugs. Those drugs cause me so much discomfort that I do best to afford them even though they are strongly recommended. I shared with my doctor that I recently found a study that showed the overall benefit in reducing cholesterol to extremely low levels does not translate into a reduced risk of heart attack. I shared that study with him. He agreed with the changes in medication I wanted to make. We have implemented those changes and will visit again in a few weeks to see if the changes have produced the desired results. It is nice to work with a doctor that looks for the patients input into their care.

One of the surest signs that Mama and I are getting older is the plethora of medications in the cabinet we use to house those prescription bottles. For many years, that cabinet was filled with herbal combinations and over-the-counter medications. Now, that is not the case. Mama is much less medicated than I am, but she has not yet suffered the heart issues I have. As much as I detest taking prescription drugs, I cannot avoid them if I want to keep my heart rate and blood pressure down. Our hearts have only a finite number of beats left to give each one of us, and mine has far less left to make that some. That is what the cardiologist told me, and I have a feeling she is right.

Praise the Lord there is help available for me. I am glad my life I in His hands.

 

Pressing questions

If I was convinced that the Lord was going to call me away from this world in only a few weeks, how would I live out those last few weeks? What would I do differently than I am doing now? Would there be a sense of urgency to my witness and a more expressive concern for the souls of those who know me? The horrible truth of the answer to that question is that I am afraid to make the changes that I certainly should make if I knew my time here was limited to just a few more weeks. Recently, because I expressed an opinion on a family matter involving one of my children, Mama and I was seriously castigated and then shunned by several of our children. It seems that expressing an opinion different from their own warranted a severing of all communication with their father.

How would those relationships be affected if I were convinced that within a period of a few short weeks, their time to ensure their lives were being lived rightly in the eyes of God would be forever ended? All I have ever wanted is to ensure that my children loved and served the Lord so that their homes could be blessed by God and their children would have the opportunity to get saved. Straying far from the Lord brings consequences that are often immediate and painful. But, just as dangerous is pretending that things are right between you and the Lord, when you know that they are not. God’s longsuffering is wonderful. His grace is amazing, and we are losing the coming generation because those of us who call ourselves believers are not practicing the faith that led us to repentance. Our children may be denied the chance to know the statutes of God because we do not live them, much less teach them.

But what if the Lord was coming to call away His bride and all true believers as well as those who are innocent by virtue of their not having reached the age of awareness were to leave this world forever. What a blessing to those of us who know the Lord. What a horror for those who do not. Would I have the courage to ask each of my children one more time if they knew for sure that they were saved? Or would I be too afraid of offending them and being further shunned by those who have not spoken to me or Mama for months? The sad truth is that I am probably more afraid of furthering an offence than of assuring that they and their children would spend Eternity with us.

Mama and I were, and still remain, deeply hurt by the by the children who excommunicated us in their pretended offence to my point of view on that particular situation. I have no desire to deepen or broaden that rift, but what if the Lord really was coming back in just weeks? The Bible records our Lord clearly stating that we cannot know the day of the hour, but the Lord also infers that we can know the season of His return. With that in mind, my Pastor shared a link with me that seems to strongly indicate the imminent rapture, calling away, of the Bride of Christ – those truly saved by faith in Jesus.  

This is the link to that presentation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aw2p06bgyKg

Is the information correct? I cannot know for certain, but a powerful argument is presented. We would do well to heed the warning. As to what I would tell my children, perhaps I am not the one who can communicate the message to them most effectively. I do pray for each of my children and grandchildren on their specific day of the week. They know this. Do those prayers make a difference? They do to me. So, as long as we are in this world, I will continue in that commitment. I only wish the Lord would allow us more time with each of them. A text message, a blog post, a phone call is not enough time to develop a relationship that can affect a life, but we will do our best.

As you read this, are you 100% sure that when you die you will go to Heaven? If not, the most concise way I know to share that Gospel message is to advise you to read the following verses:

Romans 3:23 All of us have sinned and are guilty in the eyes of God.

Romans 6:23 God’s penalty for sin is death (and eternal separation from God in Hell).

Romans 5:8 God offers His love to us in our sinful condition by allowing Christ to take all our sins upon Himself on the cross. He paid in full the penalty required by God for all our sins.

Romans 10:9-10 That if we believe in our hearts that Jesus is the Sin of God who has the power to cover our sins with His blood and confess with our mouth that we have believed in Christ as our Savior, that we are saved from the penalty of sin through Christ’s substitutionary death.

If the Lord comes in the clouds to call His saved people out of this world only a few weeks from today, will you be taken home to Heaven? Will your children be saved and taken to Heaven as well? Even if the Lord does not come to call us way for many years more, will you enter Heaven’s gate when you die or will you be eternally separated from God in Hell? Have you been saved? What about your children? Do they know Jesus as their savior? Have you given them the opportunity to know the Lord, to be saved?

If not, now is the time to open that door to them by getting them under good Gospel teaching and preaching. You know what to do. For their sake, don’t wait any longer.

Window cut outs, quail

Saturday, I began to cut the window openings in the container. I had the two windows closest to the entry marked for the cuts, so that is where I started. I admit to being a little intimidated by the project. Any mistake would be hard to compensate for once the cutting began. Happily, the first opening I cut fit the frame I had made very well. I have a two-inch margin of error in each direction because I used two-inch angle to make the frames to be welded into each opening. 

In fitting the frame into the first opening, I ended up with pretty small gaps on each side of the frame as I fit it into the cut out. A little trim here and there was required, but not too much. I did not do as well on the second cut out I made. On that one I ended up with a significant gap on each side of the frame, mostly because I widened the cut to make sure the frame would fit without too much trimming after the initial cut.  I can seal it with some carefully cut wood pieces and a generous application of caulk. But I was a little disappointed in how that side turned out. Once the frames were fitted into the opening I had cut, I began to weld them in place. So, at the end of the day, I had both of the frames secured in the container wells and ready to be sealed before the windows are placed in those frames.

Tonight, and tomorrow night, I plan to cut out one more opening per night. When I began to cut the wall for the window openings, it took me a couple of tries to get the right combination of tools needed to make the cuts. I started with a circular saw set up with a metal cutting blade. I had used it to cut the angle iron to make the frames and it had performed remarkably well. It did okay for the first cut but bound up badly as I tried to use it to make additional cuts. It turns out that the walls flex quite a bit when they are cut.  Then I tried the grinder with a diamond tipped cutting wheel in each of the corners to open a slot in each direction so I could make the additional long cuts with a Sawzall, also equipped with a special metal cutting blade. The Sawzall did really well but the blade wore out quickly. By the time I had cut out the two openings, that $20 blade was shot.

That turned out to be a blessing because when I rested for a few minutes after getting the tack welds on the second frame, I realized I was worn out. The sad part of that realization was that it was only 3 pm. I had several hours of daylight left, so I used that time to do more welding to seal the top of the frames in the wall and to paint the frames to keep them from rusting too quickly. We had several colors of spray paint to choose from, but I settled on a dark brown. White, red, or silver seemed too ostentatious. Mama loved the look. All in all, I was pleased with how easy it was to cut in the frames and how good they looked in place. It turned out to be well worth the time and money to make the metal frames.

Mama and I went out Saturday evening to make a series of stops: Tractor Supply, Walmart and Lowe’s. At Lowe’s I bought two more Sawzall blades, a few parts for running the electrical conduit and some specialty bolts for securing the ceiling fans in the container. Mama dropped off eggs to one of her customers and got some medicine for the goats at Tractor Supply. She is concerned about a cough one of our recently purchased nanny goats has. I have not heard the cough, but Mama insists the goat is in need of tending. Mama has a better feel for those things than I do so I always defer to her judgement. Anyway, the purchase of the blades will give me the chance to cut one more opening this evening and tomorrow the last one. Lord willing. When I begin that work, I will get to see just how sore I am from the weekend.

Sunday, I cooked two of the quail I had recently processed. I was not sure how to cook them, but I decided to fry them with some onions and jalapenos. Mama was fixing BLT sandwiches for Grandma and Grandpa, so I took some of that grease to fry the quail. I had cut the little birds into quarters, so the smaller pieces did not take long to fully cook. And they were indeed small pieces. It was almost amusing to eat the miniature leg and breast quarters. The meat tasted a bit gamey, but I like that flavor. It was not unlike the flavor of chicken, but it was just enough different that it was thoroughly enjoyable, albeit time consuming. With the ease of cleaning the quail and the pleasant flavor, we will be continue raising and processing them for our table. Even if I am the only one who will be eating them. Speaking of processing fowls, I still have five roosters and two ducks to process, but there is no urgency in doing that.

As always, there is no lack of chores on the farm.

Grandma’s tests, another scare from Grandpa, early drop-off, distractions

Grandma did well on her full day of testing. One particular test requiring an MRI following a dye injection was perhaps the most difficult for Grandma for two reasons. First, because she was required to have her arms above her head throughout the rather long test, which is a very uncomfortable position to maintain, but secondly, because she was required to stay still and quiet. In each medical contact, Mama told me that Grandma was far more concerned about witnessing to the attendants than in finding out if there was anything to be discovered through each of the tests. I have to give Grandma credit for her absolute determination to share the Gospel with everyone she comes in contact with. Grandma’s only regret for the day was that she was not able to get any sign of connection or understanding from an Asian Indian woman who helped her in one test. I am confident that the Word will never return to the Lord void, He promised it would not, but it is impossible to know what Grandma said as she shared that Word. Sometimes the threads of her thoughts as she speaks them out loud do not connect well. Sometimes even she does not know what she is trying to say. But she does love the Lord and wants to share that thought with everyone.

Other than that, Grandma did well on all the tests. In fact, when Mama, Grandma and Grandpa got home, Grandma seemed energized. She was more loquacious than normal. Much of what she was reciting to simply fill the air with words, were stories we had heard many times before, but she was happy to just be talking and once in the groove, it is better to allow her to keep going. Grandpa spent the afternoon napping and Mama took a short nap, but not Grandma. When no one was available to hear her talking, she contacted someone by phone. She has a wealth of close contacts, family and friends, that are willing to allow her to spill out long tales all of them already know, but do not mind hearing again. Several times she called my phone thinking she was calling her brother Timmy. I did not notice the missed calls until an hour or more later. Eventually she wore out and laid down. I did not see Grandma until the next evening since I taught a class the day following her tests. It may be a few more days before we get the results, but nothing seems urgent at the moment.

Tuesday, we had another scare from Grandpa. In the afternoon he began to shiver even though the temperature in the house was about 77 degrees. Since the in-home nurse had just seen Grandpa that morning, Mama called the service to see if the nurse could come back over to check Grandpa out. It was more than an hour before someone came. All vitals were good, but Grandpa’s temperature was a bit elevated. Nothing serious, but definitely noticeable. Within a few hours, the chills had passed but the general weakness remained and is still troubling Grandpa today. It is obvious that there is a latent issue we are dealing with but so far, we are uncertain. What we suspect is that there is an iron deficiency. How to meet or overcome that deficiency is still in question. Wednesday morning a nurse came by to draw blood for lab work. We will know those results fairly soon. Our primary concern is his kidney function, but there is little we can do to change that outcome of his slowly failing kidneys. Mama and I are struggling to find ways to engage Grandpa in everyday life, but the heat makes any outside labor dangerous for him. We will enjoy him and Grandma while we can.

Mama, Victoria and I were up at about 4 am this morning. Victoria’s flight to Honduras was scheduled for 7 am. I am not sure what time she will arrive in Honduras, but we got her to the airport on time to begin the hops through airports that would take her there. DFW is an easy airport to navigate, especially at that time of day. That does not make the very early morning more pleasant, but light traffic in the very early morning is a benefit to having that early drop-off time. Mama and I were back home in time for me to sign in to work with time to spare.

This evening after work, I plan to process the seven male quail we have in the small Banty house. They are bearing the daily brunt of the heat. We have the Banty house under a large oak tree by the duck pen, but the males in that house are not necessarily completely shaded throughout the day. There are times the house is partly exposed to the glaring sun and the quail are panting badly through the late morning into the early afternoon. The Banty house is not necessarily made to promote air circulation. So, it gets pretty hot. It is time to get them out of that house and do something different with them. I suppose, eating them is as favorable an outcome for us as I can provide.

In preparation for processing the quail, I looked online to see how to get that done and it seems pretty easy. It was a bit more difficult to skin the ducks than the online videos showed, but not by much. Hopefully, skinning the quail will turn out to be as easy as the videos have shown. I will know soon enough.

On the downside, every one of these little things takes time away from work I need to get done on the container. It bothers me a bit, but there is not much I can do about the many distracting chores we have to deal with at the farm that keep me from focusing on things I want to spend time working on. Honestly though, it is probably better to wait until Saturday to pick back up on the work I need to do inside the container because it is hotter inside the enclosure than it is outside. Lately there has been a breeze stirring the air, making it more tolerable, but only by a small degree. That breeze does not move the air inside the box. Oh, well.

There is always plenty to do.

Broken window, dry conditions

A couple weeks ago, Mama and Norman bought the windows we are cutting into the container; however, when they arrived at the farm with the four windows, one of the panes on one side of one of those windows was broken. Norman did not seem to think it was a difficult repair to have done, but today Mama and I discovered that that may not be the case. I called a window shop here in Decatur to ask about affecting that replacement/repair. The receptionist was very confident that they could get that done so Mama and I drove to the shop to drop off the broken window.

After waiting for the receptionist to complete her discussion with a regional salesman, she very quickly made out a work order to have the pane replaced. When I asked for an estimate on that repair, I was told it would be in the range of $150-175. I was shocked. Needless to say, I did not leave the window there. I explained to the receptionist that the original window – the entire window, of which this was only one pane on one side of the window – cost us $250. I will buy another entire window to complete the installation in the container before I pay $175 for a single piece of glass to be replaced in that pane. As is the case too often I life, I may have to take back those words, but for now, that is where I stand on the issue.

Yesterday evening, I laid out the cut pattern for two of the frames that will hold the windows. I almost started to cut one of those openings but was talked out that by Mama. I will have to set aside the time to get the work done for making those cuts, but with the very hot outside temperatures, I cannot work for long periods of time inside the container. It is a sweatbox right now. I am also hesitant to get started on the cutouts since I do not know if I have the right equipment to make those cuts successfully. At a very minimum I need to buy a good face shield to protect me from the sparks created in using either a circular saw or a grinder. Those two cutting tools are what I have access to right now. I have watched a Sawzall used to make the cuts, but I do not know for sure what blade to purchase to use for that purpose. I looked at what Lowe’s had to offer and there were only twenty or so to choose from. All of those choices were expensive.

Plus, with the extremely dry conditions now, any of the sparks caused by making the cuts could potentially start a fire that could quickly get out of control. I have a hose I can set in place to spray any fires that are started by the sparks I will generate, but I cannot be on both sides of the container at the same time. That requires someone to be with me at all times as I make those cuts. That person is not going to be Mama. She does not like the ambient heat, or the noise created by the cutting tools. Grandpa is not a good candidate because of his recent issues with the heat. I am sure he would like to help, but his body cannot tolerate the heat. That leaves me on my own trying to figure out how to get this done safely. Again, it will all work out, but it will take some time to understand how it needs to be done.

Plus, chores on the farm have taken many of the evenings I have available. Tonight, we are going to spend the evening picking up some bales of hay – if the hay is still available. Since we have no grass growing due to the drought, we are feeding hay out at a very fast rate. To compensate, we are buying hay at a much higher rate than we did last year. No, I do not believe in the current climate alarm. Weather is simply weather. Sometimes it is hot. Sometimes it is cold. Sometimes it is wet. Sometimes it is dry. We are not all going to die from weather changes, but we are buying more hay this year.

Anyway, I am enjoying the heat at a certain level. It allows me to endure a free sweat every evening. I have noticed that I can take in more calories/carbs every day without the fear of putting on weight. I still have to be thoughtful about what I eat, but I have had a little more freedom in my diet due to the oppressive heat. Of course, it helps that I do not mind being soaked with sweat.

As had become her custom in this heat, Mama goes out every afternoon to refresh the water in the containers in the duck area. It is probably a good idea since the water, if it is only as hot as the air around it, will be well over 100 degrees. What sits in the full sun, will be much hotter. That is a bit warm not only to drink, but also to play and preen in. The cool water is a welcome treat to the ducks and the chickens. Almost every afternoon Mama does go out, she finds the water container in one of the quail cages turned on its side, empty. When we do not have the opportunity to refill that container, the quail in that cage are extremely thirsty when we tend to them in the evening. That makes Mama feel terrible, but it is a small matter, completely out of our control. They survive and are probably better cared for than their cousins in the wild, but Mama still feels bad every time she feels they are neglected.

Even in the dry heat, Mama’s animals are well cared for.

 

 

Artificial sunburn, more hot weather, Grandma

Even though the temperature was a little over 104 degrees Friday evening, I set about in the shop to create a jig of sorts to lay out the angle iron so it could be welded properly. A jig is made to ensure the angle iron pieces to be welded are accurately squared to each other – or however the final product is to be assembled together. Creating a jig/layout tool allowed me to ensure the corners were squared properly prior to welding them together and to be able to repeat the process several times to weld the frames needed for each of the four windows. I finished one frame Friday night just before dark, but I had my layout form made. The last thing I did before quitting for the night was to test the frame I had made to make sure the window fit easily into it. The windows will fit into the frame with a space on each side to squeeze in some foam to seal it. Success.

Saturday was even hotter than Friday, but I set about as early as possible to get all the metal pieces cut for the frames and then assemble them one by one. I was interrupted several times by other farm needs, but by about 2 pm, I had welded together all the window frames successfully. The last thing I needed to weld was a frame for the little a/c unit we are going to use in the container. I did not make a jig for it so once I was done cutting the metal and had tacked it together, I tested it to make sure the a/c would fit into the frame. Not! I had to cut apart one of the corners and reweld the frame. It was a bit too tight in the original placement of the pieces for the a/c unit to pass into the frame without scraping against it significantly. It was a fairly easy correction to make and complete. So, all the frames are welded and ready to be installed.

What I did not realize as I was making all the required welds was that in using the auto darkening glasses in the process, I was exposing my face to the burning light of each and every weld. The Spanish term for a welder (a person using the welding machine) is “solador” which means in a general sense, “sun maker”. By the time I finished the sixteen welds per frame, I was pretty red on the parts of my face that the glasses had not covered and in the bend of my left arm where I had steadied myself as I welded every seem. I could feel the skin tightening on my face here I had been burned. After I showered, I applied some salve to ease the burning and by Sunday morning, the sunburn did not look too noticeable. No one at church seemed to notice anyway. A sunburn right now is not uncommon. I picked the glasses over my welding hood because I was sweating profusely, and the glasses made the welding less cumbersome by not requiring my whole head to be covered by a hot welding helmet. I ultimately paid the price for the momentary comfort.

I am entertaining the idea of cutting at least one of the window openings this evening, but the temperature is climbing to over 108 and tomorrow will be 110 degrees or better. Inside the container it will be a bit hotter, so Mama may put her foot down and disallow any such work, especially since Grandpa recently gave us a scare when he suffered a mild case of heat stress. Grandpa has since avoided being outside in this heat, but I have managed a few hours at a time as I try to continue the container retrofit projects in spite of the ambient temperatures. Although I am making progress, I will not have the retrofit done by the end of this month. I can only work so long in this kind of heat.

Mama is spending the entire day out with Grandma and Grandpa. Grandma had a series of medical tests today that will take most of the day to complete. She was required to be at the doctor’s office at 7:30 this morning for fasting blood work. Following that there was to be a stress test and some other type of heart test. Then a couple hours later she was to eat a fatty meal and have further blood work done. Last of all she is scheduled for a final heart diagnostic test to begin about 2:30. I am not expecting them home before 4 pm. By that time, they will have put in a full workday. That is unusual for Mama. It is exhausting for Grandma and Grandpa who spend most of their waking time either sitting in a chair or lying in bed. During Grandma’s last medical test Mama plans to do some final shopping at WinCo for items Victoria will take to Honduras when she leaves Thursday morning. None of the participants in today’s medical testing endurance contest are used to putting in that many continuous hours of activity in a given day. It was probably wise on the doctor’s part to get all the testing done in one day, but I am not sure the schedulers realized what the test candidate and supporters had to endure to make that happen. The last test, Mama was told, will potentially leave Grandma nauseated. That is why they saved it for last. We will soon see.

Nevertheless, it will be mission accomplished when they do get home. At least I hope so.