Weekend report

Saturday was pretty uneventful. I stayed home the entire day even though Mama and Victoria went out twice. I took time in the morning to cut a little trench from the wettest part of the yard to the front yard in an attempt to drain the swamp. I met with limited success, but in this wet I will take what I can get. I also drained the koi reservoir and scooped out some of the sludge – three wheelbarrows worth. It was hard to tell I had done anything, but I did get to use the sludge to fill in some of the swamp by our septic tanks.

We planted some plants in the afternoon and set the whirligig I had bought for Mama in a semi-permanent spot in the front yard. We planted the Star Jasmin inside the base and put landscape fabric in the circle we made for it. It will be one more item Mama has to mow around but I do not think she will mind too much. It looks very mice where it now sits.

Sunday morning on the drive to church we broke down. We saw the church bus pass us as we were stopped but they did not see us. I had Mama call and get a message to the driver to come back for us and he did eventually. We were a little late for Sunday School but we got to enjoy church while the van sat and cooled off. It did not appear to be low on water but the temperature gauge pegged out on temperature. The thermostat is probably stuck but we will have the mechanic look it over and tell us definitively what the problem is.

Yesterday started our Mission’s Conference. Tommy Ashcraft, missionary to Monterrey, Mexico is the speaker for the conference. He is quite good. He is also quite a punster. His very serious sermons are peppered with humor which you have to listen closely to catch. In beginning his Sunday night sermon he told of a time he was preaching at a church and a man came up to him after the service and said, “You preach too long.”

After the next service the same man came and said in matter of fact way, “That sermon was really boring.” The next service the man came and said, “I was obvious that you did not study.” That was enough for him. He approached the pastor of the church and asked about the man who had been criticizing his messages. The pastor replied, “Oh, don’t worry about him. He just goes around repeating what everybody else says.”

After church we drove the van home. Between where we stopped on the way to church and the way home there is not a good place to stop so even though it got hot again a couple miles from home I drove the rest of the way home with the over temperature alarm ringing. It is sitting in the drive waiting on Mama to contact AAA an have them tow it to our mechanic in Bowie.

We had another heavy rain over the weekend. It was just over an inch. Other areas near us got over three inches. I am not sure what would happen at our farm if we got three or more inches right now so I am thankful for the lesser amounts we have gotten. We are expecting an additional inch or more this week. No complaints for me – other than the mess that follows.

It is easier to deal with an abundance of water than with a severe lack of it.