Family, ongoing work, Norman, Grandma

The end of February into the beginning of March is a heavy birthday time for us. Gailyn Owen and Audrey all have birthdays within a week’s period. Mama and I are a little late in getting presents out because of our time in Honduras, but you can rest assured that presents are en route even though they will be arriving after the birthday date.

Please continue to pray for Victoria. She is being challenged in a big way. As I said earlier, we were praising the Lord for the little apartment she was able to rent, but it has not turned out to be the best solution to her needs. She does not, as I had thought, have a microwave in the apartment, so she decided to use the stove to heat some food. However, when the fired up the burner it began to smoke and quickly set off the fire alarm. Another shortage she will have to remedy to make this work, but she is giving it her best shot – at least for a month or two. What she needs is a larger apartment or a house to rent in a decent area, but since she is there and has temporary housing, she has time to work out that need over several weeks. 

I have continued working on repairing the floor in the container and managed to get about a third of the way through those repairs. I got to look at the results of the work I did yesterday late this afternoon and I am pleased with the repairs made so far. I also took time to paint the first ten feet of floor so we can set shelving on place in that area. That should happen either tomorrow after I get back from soul winning or Monday. Mama has the majority of her crafting supplies sorted, boxed and ready to set on those shelves. 

Today she spent several hours cleaning off Victoria’s dining room table – which has been a part of our furniture for several year – and Norman and I moved it into the enclosed trainer we are packing Victoria’s stuff in to take to her when she has a more permanent place. To replace that table, we moved the tall granite topped table from the sunroom into the living room. It is so much smaller that it looks tiny compared to the table we are carrying to Victoria. Far less space to accumulate stuff, which is a great upgrade to our living room. 

Norman has had some success in his yard sale. He told Mama that he has already sold about $300 worth of stuff as he and Seth were setting and marking all the items they are selling. The yard sale officially starts tomorrow at 8 am. So, he is encouraged with the drive by response he got today. 

Late this evening, Mama and I clipped chicken wings. We are hoping to keep the chickens contained to the coop area and out of the yard and garden. Clipping their wings keeps them from flying over fences, but additional work will be required to keep them from squeezing under gates or fitting through the holes in the cattle panels. The feathers will grow back by Fall, about the time we are finished with the garden. By that time, our new landscaping will have taken sufficient root to withstand a bit of scratching should the chickens begin to enter the restricted areas on the farm.

Chickens may not turn out to be our greatest threat to the garden. Norman was pretty sure that the kelp fertilizer applied to all the broccoli and cabbage plants we placed in the garden would keep any critters at bay and spare the plants from rabbits and other varmints. Sadly, that was not the case. We had a heavy frost last night after a day of rain, so we were anxious to see how the plants fared. Turns out the rabbits are not repelled by the smelly fertilizer as Norman expected. All the broccoli plants had been eaten to the ground.  So, our hopes of leaving the garden open and easy to work have faded somewhat. Fortunately, we have plenty of raised beds to plant the vegetables most prone to rabbit foraging. We will try that before we fence the garden. 

This morning, Grandma, who was up early, came into the dining area fully dressed to go out. Shoes and sweater on, purse in hand. We asked where she was going, and she responded that she just wanted to be ready when anyone went out. Sadly, by noon she gave up on the idea of shaming someone to take her to town. None of us needed to go so none of us went. 

Maybe tomorrow.