Blood work, errands, weekend prep, longer delay

It appears that this morning Mama and Grandpa were successful in the second attempt at the doctor’s office for Grandpa to give blood for tests requested by his doctor. Yesterday morning, Grandpa was turned away from the lab because he had had his usual pecan twists for breakfast along with his coffee. Mama and I had agreed that it would be best for Grandpa to be fasting yesterday (just in case that had been required for the specific blood tests), but somehow that was not successfully communicated to Grandpa. When Mama and I got back in from the morning feeding, Grandpa was eating his second of the little sweet rolls. So, once again, this morning Mama ran Grandpa to the lab for blood sampling. This time Grandpa was fasting. Those are the little things that consume enough time to become frustrating, especially when multiple trips are necessitated by improper preparation or small oversights.

One of the challenges Mama and I are having keeping our goats is the lack of available hay at a price we can afford. However, Mama found out yesterday that Tony’s Feed in Gainesville has some good quality Sudan hay for twelve dollars per bale. They have a limited supply, so Mama and Norman are driving to Gainesville to pick up fifteen bales of that hay. Another of those trips that require both time and gas. Necessary but unplanned. Norman is along on the trip because he needed to make a run to Home Depot to pick up some specialized screws to be used to finalize the repairs to the trailer he has been fixing up. It works out well for both him and Mama and gives me a bit of relief that Mama is not required to load and tie down the bales of hay to make the trip safely.

This evening, we will spend the majority our time getting ready for Trade Days. I will get the truck ready to display our goats and at least one rooster. That necessitates putting the livestock racks on the truck and gathering a couple cages for the rooster and the one little doe we are selling – to keep her isolated from the little bucks. Norman is finishing up his trailer repairs (mostly to the skin on the exterior of the trailer) and will load it with all the items he is interested in selling as well as those he is returning to West Virginia with – many, many items.

Meanwhile, Mama is finishing up a lot of little crafts that emphasize Valentine’s Day. She has spent a fair amount or time getting ready for this weekend, both in preparing crafts and in getting displays ready to sell Color Street. Honestly, it has stressed her out trying to get enough done to feel like she is adequately supplied with craft items. The weather is forecast to be very nice. Saturday morning will be in the low forties but will warm into the mid-sixties.

Victoria will be working tomorrow so Grandma and Grandpa will be left to their own recognizance. But that should work out fine. They are both able to fix simple meals for themselves. I do not like giving up a day on the farm, but I need to do my part to sell some of our livestock. I will be very disappointed if there are no sales, but there would assuredly be no sales if I do not at least show up with the goats for perusal by the crowd that will come to Trade Days tomorrow.

From my perspective, it will be very nice to get my garage and shop freed of the numerous crates, boxes and totes that have been sitting in all available spaces to accommodate Norman’s surrender of his storage unit in Bowie. Putting all those containers into the repaired enclosed trailer will free up a lot of space in both areas those containers have occupied. It will require a lot more work than either Norman and Mama thinks it will, but it will be very nice to have it done. The consolidation has been facilitated by two trips to the dump in which the bed of my pickup truck was overflowing with discarded items. Thirty dollars paid to the dump to off load two truckloads of trash was the best money I have spent in a long time. And lately, we have spent a lot of money.

Mama and Norman went to look at a large RV yesterday afternoon. As they tell it, the RV was probably an excellent purchase but a little bit high for Victoria. So, the search continues, but Victoria has adapted her bedroom to have the feel of her own private space, complete with coffee maker and small refrigerator. I am okay with the adaptations as long as the breaker can handle the increased load. Just those two simple appliances have delayed the urgency of having to create the space for an RV along with the huge expense on Victoria of purchasing one.

I am okay with waiting a lot longer and so, it appears, is Victoria.