Visitors

We had a busy weekend at the farm – at lest Saturday was busy. Mama and I were up early because we knew Kenny and Kim Cantrell were coming to get the chickens Mama has been raising for Kim. It will help Mama shorten her morning routine to have that brood out of the mix. The timing was good also because the twenty-four chickens were quickly outgrowing the Banty house we had them in. What we had forgotten was that Lin and his girlfriend were also coming to the farm.

Mama had worked out a schedule of sorts – at least with the Cantrell’s – so we had a short respite before things were going to get busy. With that in mind and knowing we were going be showing the animals to the visitors, I got a flat shovel and cleaned up the feed area of the little pig building. One or two chickens had been roosting there, so it was pretty dirty. Way too long since we had cleaned it. In the first scoop of hay and chicken manure I stirred something up. A very small copperhead snake had been nesting in the hay. Fortunately, it was a cool morning and the snake was not moving very quickly. It was dispatched as soon as I realized what it was. But finding the snake gave me pause to consider where else such little visitors might be found. It was a bit frightening because we routinely get eggs from the nest I was cleaning up. I showed the dead snake to Mama and Victoria and warned them that we need to begin to be more cautious when reaching into voids or cleaning up different area around the farm. Snake season in upon us.

Lin and Lin Hau (I am not sure how to spell her name) got the farm a little after 10 am. Lin was anxious to show his girlfriend – or fiancé – around the farm. Mama and I started them out and he took over while Mama and I worked on little chores. They brought Yilin and Cheyenne with them but the two of them made it back to the house pretty quickly. Cheyenne, who has overcome most of her fear of dogs (mainly due to Bella’s temperament) spent some time with the puppies on her way through the back yard. Lin and Lin Hau walked most of the property before coming into the house where they entertained themselves using a phone app that takes a picture of a person’s face and allows the user to add makeup, hair, etc. Mama was a little worried because she had promised them lunch but had forgotten to plan for that. We were saved later in the day when Lin said that they planned on going to the food trucks in Decatur. It was special Saturday thing on the square with a car show and about twenty food trucks.

Kenny and Kimberlyn got the farm about 11 am. I was working dismantling the little metal building when they got there. I do not have much to do to get the entire building taken apart. The last part will be to remove the plywood from the 4x4 runners it was built on, so they can be used as uprights for the new shed I am building for the goats in their new paddock. I should be able to get that done Tuesday evening – if Mama and I take that evening off from our business. Anyway, we visited for a while and we toured the farm with Kenny and Kim before we loaded up the chickens. Having them in the little Banty house certainly made it easier to catch and crate the lot of them. Once that was done, they did not stay long. They had a very busy day ahead of them and a very busy Sunday. Kenny was scheduled to preach to the guard unit somewhere in East Texas Sunday morning. The location, which I do not remember, was at least a two-hour drive for them.

Lin and company left about 2 pm. Mama and I napped a little, took care of the animals and packed up to go the square to see if there was anything enticing enough to spent $10 per meal on. I did not find anything. Mama suggested a couple items, but we did not follow through. We ended up eating at the Thai restaurant on the square. Mama was seriously hurting by the time we got back to the truck- which I was able to park pretty close to the event.

We finished out the day working about three hours in the office.