Hurry, little needs, deliveries and escapees

I hurried through a few things when I got home yesterday. Since we had to be at church before 6 pm there was not a lot of time to do much, but some tasks were urgent. The cows needed a new bale of hay. We had fed out the last one a week ago and they had cleaned all the edible portion of that thoroughly. Fortunately, our neighbor has some bales left over from last year – or the year before, I am not sure - on the property he leases directly behind us. Mama called him and asked about buying some of that hay and he told us to help ourselves. I am not sure if there will be a price attached to the hay but it did not sound like it. The cattle were thrilled about the delivery. We will see how this bale lasts compared to the very good ones we bought recently as I shop around for a place to buy some hay. One of the men we go to church with offered me some hay for a good price so I will start there but I do not know what quality it is. Mostly, for the spring it is a filler so nutritional value is less important, but I still want to aim high if possible.

I took time to water the garden. It had rained on Friday and soaked everything well but some of the less mature plants needed a boost. It is supposed to be 90° today and I wanted to make sure they had a chance to bolster themselves against the heat. As a new cold front moves through we are supposed to drop back into the 50’s overnight but today was my concern. With the winds we have suffered through over the past five or so days things have been drying out quickly and the two inches of rain that fell has soaked in or evaporated. The goats are loving the dry and the cattle are loving the new growth of grass but the garden plants were too dry to let it go for too long. I will be traveling tomorrow. It is only one night away but that puts me back late on Thursday and I could not leave things as they are until Friday evening – in case we do not get the rains that are forecast. It has been very hit-and-miss lately with the forecasts matching the actual weather events but we will take what we get and be thankful in it, but I do not plan my garden water needs on the forecasts.

Mama and I have been enjoying the Mission’s Conference. The preaching has been great and the spirit of the services has been wonderful. It puts every evening in a rush but it is worth the extra effort to make sure we can attend. Because of traveling I will not get to go to the service tomorrow. I am sure I will miss the best service of the week. That seems to be the way things happen when you miss a church service.

By next weekend we should be picking blueberries and possibly blackberries. I have to beat the birds and squirrels to the ripened berries. It is a bit early if memory serves me correctly but we deal with things as they come. On the animal front, the next two calves should be delivered by the end of the month and Millie should be kidding about the same time. For now, we are in maintenance mode. The biggest headache at the moment is keeping the pot belly pigs in their enclosure. They are routinely getting out and into other areas where they are not so welcome but I have not had time to investigate. Mama tells me that nothing seems obvious so there has to be a loose patch of fence. She is worried about them getting bred by the boar that has frequented our property.

I don’t think it is possible but it is a valid concern – unless we want a litter of half wild pigs.