Chores, still busy

I was off yesterday for President’s Day. I have never had that as a holiday before but I took it and enjoyed the time off. I got to do a few little things but nothing major. All the little things were the kind of chores that take time to get done but when you have finished the chores no one will be able to tell you have done them. I had to repair a door latch on the east side of the coop so Mama will notice that the next time we have to shut that door – usually against blowing rain. I took the old fence out of the garden’s north side. The fence I put up for the goats is now the perimeter fence on that side of the garden. I got a little more done on the posts for the raised bed I am building for Mama but even after the rain we had over the weekend, the ground was still very hardpacked. The power auger would not work for me in the rock and clay so I had to use the old-fashioned posthole digger and a rock bar to get the holes punched in. I need to get the holes fairly deep because of the weight they will be supporting so it may take me a couple more tries at digging a while then filling the holes with water to soften the clay so I can dig some more. Fortunately, there is no urgency. I planted a row of potatoes Saturday evening so they would be in the ground before the weekend rains. But it was only half of the potatoes we bought to plant in the garden so another row will have to be made later this week – or next week.

I also managed (with God’s help) to get 75 separated from the rest of the herd so we can fatten her a bit before she goes to the sale barn. It adds to our daily feeding chores but we had to do something to get her and her calf separated in order for her to fill out. We thought we had weaned her calf by separating them for three months but as soon as the calf and cow were reunited, the calf began nursing again. Since 75 is bred about six months now, it was getting to be too much for her and she was looking pretty pitiful. You can tell she is not a favorite of Mama’s since she still has no name. We just refer to her by the number on her ear tag. Selling her will give us the money to buy feed through the next six or seven months. It will be a good trade. That will leave is with three bred cows and two calves – until we sell 75’s calk later this year. Mama does not like her either.

I took an hour in the morning while things dried out a bit to listen to the last hour of our FBI video for this week. Since church activities preempted our class yesterday evening we took the DVD home after class last week and managed to get through the first two hours one evening but we lacked the last hour. Mama and Victoria will use my notes to update their books. The study guides are fill-in-the-blank and since our tests are taken directly from the study guides they need to be complete by the time we get ready to study for the final. I always enjoy the lectures so it was not an inconvenience.

With revival services each night through Wednesday we will not have time in the evenings to do anything outside other than the required work to feed and care for the animals until Thursday evening and then we will have to pack for our overnight in Brenham for Dad’s Memorial. Brittany, Chase and Makaila will meet us there on Friday night. Brittany went to Amarillo with Chase and Makaila for the week so she could do some shopping. It will definitely be easier to get to the shops there and Chase and Makaila are less boring company that Mama and me.

Our life does not suit everyone, but it suits us.