Storms, home inspection, long weekend

Through the day yesterday, there was a lot of talk about storms heading our direction. As the day progressed, the weather event was delayed. What was forecast to take place through the afternoon, did not begin to hit us until late in the evening. As we left church it was easy to see the gathering storm. It was huge and looked potentially severe. Most of our severe weather comes out of the west. This was no exception. On our way home, less than two miles from the house, Mama and I were driving through some significant hail. Mama was fussing for me to hurry up and I was slowing down. When she asked why I slowed the vehicle I explained that not only were the roads covered with water, but I was hitting some sizable hail. It just seemed that hitting those falling ice cubes at fifty miles per hour was fast enough. I did not want to give them any additional energy to shatter our windshield. She reluctantly agreed.

When we made it home, we squeezed Victoria’s car into the garage with the Sequoia. It was a very tight fit but folding in the mirrors on both vehicles and parking so close that I could barely get out, made it possible. The hail continued for about an hour. Sometimes accompanied by heavy rain. Sometimes the hail was the only thing falling. When I went out to close up the chickens, I picked up a couple pieces to show Mama. Most of the hail was marble sized. About a third of the hail was the size of ping pong balls. In all the storms we have been through, that is the biggest hails we have had to deal with. It would be fine with me if that was the last time we had to worry about any hail, but that will not be the case. This morning Mama will see if our garden was hurt. Hopefully, it made it. I will look this evening to see how badly it hurt our fruit trees. On the bright side, the storm brought us about one and one half inches of rain. Last weekend we got two and one half inches. That is a blessing.

Because tomorrow is a holiday, Mama and I are going to head to Lawton to look inside our second house. That will be a first look for us. As we buy these properties, Mama and I need to accumulate the expertise to see the investment potential without seeing the inside of the property. That takes a lot intuition and we will not always be correct in our assumptions. But with much prayer and a patient approach, we should do well. Since our first house is right across the street from our second purchase, we will also be able to check on the progress of that remodel. We are at the point in our financial outlay, that we really need to sell one of the two properties soon. Realizing we are only weeks away from that happening is encouraging, but it only takes away a little bit of the anxiousness. When our first house sells, our lives will change, and we are ready for that change. All in God’s time.

Having a long weekend will be nice. Mama has a lot of things she wants to get done. Some of which she has actually told me about.  Being able to stretch those farm chores, visits and shopping sprees across two days instead of condensing them into one, will help with the pace demanded of the itinerary. No, I did not say that wrong. A normal weekend for us is one day off to get things done and one day off to go to church. Having the second day to get things done is a real delight. Catching and giving shots to the sheep, cleaning the chicken coop, working on the new shelter, cleaning the house in preparation for guests, visiting Seth and Gabriella to see their baby, taking Grandma and Grandpa to doctor’s appointments, shopping at Sam’s and/or Costco, mowing the yards, hooking the brush hog to the tractor, hauling gravel and dirt to fill in holes the dogs have dug, and several other dozen little chores should keep us busy.

Along with bus calling Saturday morning and Men’s Prayer Group that night, we will have plenty to do…and the extra day to do it.