Mixed blessings and total blessings

After months of praying for Norman to find a job he could be happy with, our prayers seem to have been answered today. It is not wholly confirmed, but it looks like Norman will be reporting to a crew tasked with building fences around some government facilities. Firstly, in Ft Lauderdale, FL. The pay is good and the per diem is excellent. As I am told today, he will be needed on the job by the first of May. This project is slated to last nine months. That is a mixed blessing because he has been a huge help to us here. We will be sad to see him go, but thrilled that he has this opportunity. 

Grandpa will miss Norman’s constant movement here at the farm. Norman’s drive to keep Grandpa stirred up has had a profound effect on Grandpa health – for the better. It encourages Grandpa and motivates him to be on the move doing what he can to support Norman’s endless schemes to earn a dollar. Grandpa’s finances have taken a bigger hit in supporting Norman than ours have, but everyone is still doing relatively well, other than Norman. He really needs this job.

Mama is concerned that she and Grandpa will not be able to keep up with the garden, but I know otherwise. Mama and Grandpa will do fine with the garden. We will all need help with the harvest when it comes, but the daily tending will give Grandpa something to do. My biggest loss in Norman’s leaving is all the help he has provided with the maintenance and repair of our vehicles. Neither Grandpa nor I can do what he does in that regard. My prayer is that all the required repairs have been accomplished. 

We still have two weeks to get help with trimming and felling trees about the property, loading the trailer with Victoria’s stuff and getting all those items to her when she closes on her house. Two weeks to square away the barn that has been filled with Norman’s stuff and sell off the many extra items he has accumulated. Two weeks to complete the repairs on our backyard fence. Two weeks to set the steel pipe for the shed we are adding to the shop. We will see what we can actually get done, but we have a pretty tight list. 

Honestly, I consider myself six to eight months ahead of where I thought I would be at this time as related to projects that have been finished on the farm. Other than the short list above, Grandpa and I can pick away at the other projects we have planned. Norman’s help has allowed me to rest a bit easier as I spend two days per week at the museum in Glen Rose. 

At the museum today, I was able to define some structures in a couple bone slides that had been used for the polarizing microscopes. I was a little disappointed that the images I was able to capture were not as clear as I would have liked, but I am hoping to learn some techniques to do better on image capture. The folks in the lab are ecstatic with the progress I have made in the past two days. I am pleased, but not a willing to celebrate just yet.  

Our last pregnant doe gave birth as I was driving home today. Mama called me as I was turning onto our road to tell me that she had needed to pull the little girl out of her mommy because the mommy was not able kid without a little help. Mama had been able to get a firm hold on the hooves of the front legs that had showed along with the nose of the kid and pull pretty firmly on the kid. Once that movement starts, it is not difficult for the nanny goat to finish the kidding. I have had to help several times, but this was Mama’s first. Happily, both the nanny goat and her kid are doing well. 

Since Mama had misgendered one of our little ones before she got a good look at the kid, we moved the total count a bit. We now have seven little girls and three little boys. Five of the little ones, three does and two bucklings, are blue. What a blessing.

Tomorrow is our first unencumbered Saturday in three weeks. We have so much to get done. As always, we will do all we can and let the undone things wait until next week. Since I am not teaching any more classes until late in the month, I will have the early part of next week to pick up what is left from tomorrow. 

Retirement is mostly good. God is always good.