Business, puppies, the garden

Mama and I had a very pleasant and productive evening yesterday. We spent about two hours in the office and went through the lists of five counties. The houses and properties we identified as worth a look were marked for review once the auction is completed. We are finding some very good properties. Some of which we have no real chance of getting because the competition for them will be fierce, but it is exciting to see just how much is available. We are still looking at left over properties; those that do not get purchased during the auction. However, she and I are making plans to attend two auctions in mid-July. I am not sure if we will be able to do that, but it does not hurt to make plans. Failing to plan is planning to fail. We do not want to go there. It is a terrific side benefit that Mama can do this business – at least the research and phone contact part – sitting comfortably; resting her knees and back.

We are still waiting on the realtor we contacted to get the pictures of the properties to us. When we spoke earlier in the week, he was out of town but said he would be back home by Thursday. I do not know if his plans changed or he has forgotten me, but I will call him today to find out. Meanwhile, I am still waiting for the funds I tried to transfer to our new business accounts to be credited there. I will have to call on that also. Nothing too hard. Just keeping up with all the moving parts. In order to put in a bid on the two properties we are looking at, we need to send the checks to the county by the 8^th – next Tuesday. If we do not get the information in time we will pass on the properties. It is the only safe way to run this business. Hence, the July timing for attending an auction. We ended up running pretty close on the timing for the properties for this month. Entirely our fault. So, Mama and I learned that we have to start looking farther out. Or be more aggressive in the 30-day pause between the close of the auction and the left-over properties being available for purchase via closed bidding. At least for the next list we should have the finances in place.

Mama’s friend had some posting issues with the puppies which she managed to get fixed yesterday. Mama immediately started getting calls. That is a hopeful sign. The puppies are now big enough that I really want them gone – before they can tear up too much. They are impossible to keep penned up. If they cannot dig under or jump over barriers, they find another way to get past the hinderances we set up. It is not overly annoying. After all, they are puppies. For the most part, they are pretty easy to train, and Victoria is capitalizing on that, but they still like to dig and chew. Where they dig and what they choose to chew on is my main worry – and we still have three left to rehome.

Part of the pleasant nature of the evening yesterday was that the rain quit about 2 pm and the sun came out. It was warm and humid, but not overly so on either count. I took time to check on and feed the cattle as well as do a thorough check of the garden. It is always fun to see the plants spring up from seeds. We bought quite a few plants to put in the garden, but the bulk of the garden is comprised of rows of seeds we planted – okra, butternut squash, potatoes and pumpkin. The pumpkin seeds are from those planted last year. I hope those seeds are viable, but we will not know for another week. Those seeds that had barely sprouted over the weekend are now several inched high. They seem to double every day.

The rain, which started again this morning, and the forecast warm afternoon can only help.