Pick up at Grandma’s, our mowers, Midas

Mama and I hurried through dinner and feeding the animals so we could drive to Grandma’s to pick up some furniture items they needed moved. We did not make it out of the house before Grandma called to ask where we were. Why we were not there yet? I had only been home for about 45 minutes. But, that aside, we made good time in getting there. At last from our point of view.

One of the items we retrieved was a huge four-poster bed. Far too large to be used in any bedroom we have. Far too large to be used in the small second bedroom they have. Mama and Kimberlyn may make a bench out of it. Another item was a dresser that had been converted into a sink. Norman had taken it out of a remodel project he was working on and Mama expressed an interest in it. Along with those two items, there was an old dry sink taken from the house in Bowie some years ago. Somehow it had ended up with Grandma and Grandpa. That too was brought home. I may repurpose it for a sink in the hall bathroom at our house instead of the one Norman brought. We also brought home an office chair that Mama will use in the sunroom along with the table I built for her a couple weeks ago. All the items are in various stages of disrepair. So, whatever is decided for repurposing them, there is some work required for each of those projects.

While we were at Grandma and Grandpa’s, Grandpa showed us the push mower he has been working on for us. It is almost ready to return to us. I have had it sitting behind the shop after having run it only for a few minutes when it was originally brought to us. It ran so roughly that I shut it off and left it sit until one evening when Grandpa brought his mower over to mow our grass. I rolled it out so he could take a look at it to see if it was worth fixing. It seemed it was worth fixing and we will get it back very soon. There are a wealth of places we can use the smaller mower around the farm. Since it is also a bagger, it will help us control the grass burrs when we mow areas infested with those burrs. I can always use the extra steps.

Also, as we left Grandma and Grandpa’s, we went to see our mechanic to check on Mama’s Bad Boy mover. Roger is in the process of ordering parts to put it back together. We do not need a short block. Only a minor repair is required. Praise the Lord! The cause of the malfunction seems to be a rat’s nest built beside the cooling fins on the engine. That nest, hidden from our view, blocked air to the cooling fins causing the engine to run hot. That in turn work out the rings causing the engine to burn oil. When the rings are replaced and the engine reassembled, we should be set for many more years of use. Mama was very pleased. Me, too.

We were home a little before dark. I consulted with Mama and we decided to give Champ, our wether, his second shot of antibiotics. While doing so, I noticed a smear of blood on Scamp’s side. We started to investigate. Knowing the way goats interact, it had to be from the face or head of one of the other two. It was from Midas. He had two deep gouges on his head just behind the nubs where his horns had been removed. There was a third scrape a little further back on his head. The best I could guess is that he got caught in the fence and fought to get his head back out. The 4”x4” openings in the field fencing are just big enough for him to get his head through. He will outgrow that soon enough, but he tore himself up a bit discovering it is easier to get through than it is to get back out. Mama and I doctored him the best we could to try to prevent an infection. Mama will monitor it closely for the next week or so. In the meantime, Midas will not win any king-of-hill butting contests for a couple weeks.

Victoria and Mama are going to meet me for lunch today. Victoria finally has a day off. I am going to pay for them to take me out for my birthday lunch. That’s how it works out for Daddy. Other than lunch and a bit of grocery shopping for tomorrow’s dinner, they will relax between bursts of house cleaning. My participation in the cleaning will be limited since the front porch and the sunroom are still in good shape – cleaning wise – from our work last week.I, personally, like the improvements to those areas and will work to maintain them as long as I can…whether we have guests coming or not.

Regardless, I love sharing our farm and life with others.