Travel plans, feeding issues, a full week

While Mama and I were traveling to Amarillo, she searched the internet for tickets to fly to Wilmington so she could be there for Maggie during her recovery from the procedure to freeze the cancerous growth on one of Maggie’s kidneys. It is a minimally invasive procedure which should allow Maggie to recover quickly, however, the time Mama is going to spend with our Ledford clan will extend beyond the minimum required days because of ticket prices. The tickets were cheaper for the longer stay. After Mama searched fruitlessly for a couple hours, I had her call the travel agency we use for work-related travel. The agent there was able to find Mama a ticket for a fair price – all of them were more expensive than I had thought they would be – and we booked it through that agency. There are benefits to using a service like that one. For instance, we were able to get over $40 off the ticket price because of my frequent flier status. We were also able to get Mama the seat she needed to accommodate her bum knee at no additional charge. The ticket is insured, and we have backup should we need it. It was worth the $32 additional charge.

Mama will be flying out Monday morning, the 25^th. I have to drop her off at the airport at 5 a.m. and hustle back to Decatur to teach a class at 7 a.m. She will return on Thursday afternoon the 4^th of April. Eleven days total. Maggie was told that the recovery time required for this procedure was two to three days on average, but each person is different. The surgery is scheduled for the 28^th. That will leave Mama plenty of time to visit the local beaches both before and after the procedure. A fact not overlooked by her or Maggie – or the grandkids. The grandchildren are very excited to have her coming. Spending those few days with them in Rock Hill last month built a familiarity that we can now capitalize on. Walter is already making plans to come home with Mama to stay at the farm. The would actually be good for him, but he will not get to see the farm until later this year.

Mama is already agonizing about the animals – especially the bottle-fed lamb. When she is at home, she is able to keep the feedings to a regular schedule. When she is not here, Victoria and I have to feed the little one when we are available. That means that for at least two of the eleven days Mama is with Maggie, the lamb will only get fed once that day. Horror of horrors. The lamb has gotten used to the bottle now and will seek out whichever of us enters the lot to do the feeding. So, he will be ready to eat whenever we make it home to give him his bottle. Other than that, Victoria and I should be able to keep the animals alive through Mama’s extended absence. And, as usual, when she does return, they will all be happy to see her.

With her departure eminent, Mama has scheduled a full week of activities this week. Last night we went to pick up some bales of alfalfa. She found an ad somewhere, made the contacts and we made the short trek to make the purchase and check out the supplier. We will definitely be repeat customers. This evening, we will go to Bowie to pick up the stock trailer we bought from the lady that owns the farm Norman has been renting. He is vacating the property and moving to Abilene. With him leaving the property – which did not pass to his as promised – he is helping the owner to sell off equipment. The 14’ stock trailer was part of that divestment. It is in good shape and was offered at a good price. Mama and I are in the market for a bumper pull stock trailer to replace the large on we sold last year. It was a win-win.

Thursday evening, we are slated to go back to Bowie and get hay. We have been going through a lot of hay over the past few weeks. The grass is starting to peek out now that the days are warm and the nights above freezing, but we will still need to supplement hay to the goats and sheep. If Mama gets her wish, we will be taking the goats to Rick to be bred in the trip to get our hay Thursday evening. They will spend a couple months in the company of one of Rick’s bucks with the hope of having kids in early September. I think we are too early. We should wait until late April or early May to get them bred – shooting for October kids. But, for now I will stick to Mama’s plan.

Although, I am highly adaptable.