False start, three hours, Victoria

I came to work early Friday so Mama and I could drive to Fairfield, TX to pick up two bottle baby calves. That did not work out the way we had hoped. When we were on the way the seller called. He had alerted his helper that we would be headed that direction, arriving about 6:30. The helper was to separate the heifers so we could make our selection. When the helper called him to report that he had no heifers in the whole herd of bottle babies, he called us. He was on his way to the barn to confirm the report. So, Mama and I found a good place to stop and sat down to eat a light meal while we waited. It took about forty-fie minutes to hear back from the seller. His helper had been correct. There were no heifer calves. He apologized profusely. Mama and I were not alarmed or angry about the turn of events. We headed home. No bottle babies for us this month unless one turns up at the stock sale today.

That is not necessarily a bad thing. We may need all the cash we can get to complete the houses we are remodeling. I say that with some hope because I got to spend three hours with our realtor Saturday morning. I had sent an email to our realtor Friday afternoon to let him know that I was headed to Lawton Saturday morning to see if there was any work I could do on our homes. Since nothing had been done for months, I wanted to something – anything to move the project along. Friday evening, I loaded some tools in the truck and Saturday morning I headed out after helping Mama with the feeding.

When I got to the house, I called Mama. There was no one at the Dover property but there seemed to be some activity at the house on Aberdeen – just across the street from where I had just parked. I headed over to check things out and found a crew chief and helper there waiting on our realtor, Glenn, who was sitting in his car in the driveway talking with workers remodeling another property. They walked through the house and explained what was to be done. They already had a punch list for the Dover property in hand. We went over that briefly as we waited. Glenn talked with his other crew chief for about twenty minutes before he came inside. Once he got inside, we went through the house and created a long punch list. Those lists will be expanded into materials lists and predicted costs for labor and then submitted for invoicing. That should happen before the end of the week. Work began Saturday afternoon. Hopefully, that momentum will continue to completion.

When we finished our walkthrough, Glenn took me on a tour of a house he was doing final touchup on that day. It was amazingly well done. I took a couple pictures to show Mama. Some of the details in that house will be mirrored in the two houses that are being remodeled for us; tile selection, paint colors, trim and door choices. I was encouraged. Glenn and I spent another hour together as he drove me around the area showing me houses that would be coming up for auction next week and well as in November. He suggested we stay on the east side of Lawton in our property searches. We drove past at least five properties in that neighborhood. Another four or five in an nearby neighborhood.

When Mama and I can turn these houses there will be plenty of opportunities to buy other properties. Our next purchase in Lawton will be a rental property, but honestly, Mama and I can do better financially buying rental properties in Texas. The rents are much higher in this state, but the selection of properties is not as broad. Nor are there thirteen auctions per year. So, we are back to our original plan of working in the three states: Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas. With Oklahoma being the most active on a monthly basis. The fact that Lawton is an easy two-hour drive from us makes it a very workable location for investing. Once we get these first two houses completed and sold.

While I was in Lawton, I called a dairy farm that sells hay. Mama and I are needing alfalfa for our nursing nanny goats. They had bales of alfalfa for $10 per bale. That same bale here costs $15.50. I only had enough cash to buy three bales, but we believe we made a good contact. We will be going to Lawton on a very regular basis, so getting hay at this supplier will be fairly convenient. Mama and I will just have to take the truck when we plan to get hay in any of our trips to look at houses or to work on our properties. All in all, it was a good trip. I got home about 4 pm. Unloaded the truck. Helped Mama with the evening chores. Went to men’s prayer time. A full day. I am planning to repeat the process next weekend.

Victoria leaves for Honduras tomorrow morning. She is in a lot of pain, but she is still going. She will need our prayers for help every step of the way. I will be taking her to the airport – leaving the farm at 2:45 am. I will get her bags through check in, but that is as far as I can go to help her. She will have to solicit help every time she has to lift her bags after that; onto and off of the security scanner belt, into and out of the overhead bins, collecting bags once through customs in Honduras, etc. It will not be easy, but I am hoping once she is there, she will be able to relax and ease the mounting tension she is currently dealing with. If not, at least she will be there to further recuperate.

Savanna has promised to not ask to be held unless Victoria is sitting down. Every little bit helps.