A mostly busy day and a long evening, what’s ahead

Yesterday was one of those days that passed very quickly through the morning, but as I got closer to quitting time, it slowed to a snail’s pace. I went to Bro Zach’s house to retrieve the pellet grill at my lunch break and just as I was getting back to the farm with the grill, Steven and Benjamin Miller arrived at the farm to start washing and cleaning the vehicles. Mama had arranged with Steven to have the cleaning done and I was okay with her contracting them to do it – especially with the price Steven was charging. Since I was on my lunch break, I took the time to help them get set up with hoses and power chords. By the time they had gotten started on the truck, Mama was back at the farm. She had taken Mocha to get groomed.

She did all the entertaining and coordinating from that point on. Making sure they had something to drink. Offering them lunch from the little we had to make sandwiches. They went with peanut butter and jelly. The boys did an outstanding job on the vehicles but not without some issues. They forgot a bucket of supplies when they loaded up to come to the farm and Steven went back to retrieve the forgotten bucket and it’s contents only to arrive back at the farm without the chemical he needed to dissolve the dirt accumulated in the cup holders. Somehow it was not in the bucket as he had expected. They were very apologetic for the oversight, but they made it right when the family came out the farm later that afternoon.

Yesterday afternoon, as I waited for the clock to tick slowly toward 4 pm I helped Mama get a few things done around the house in preparation for our guests. Once I was off work, I hurriedly fed and watered all our livestock and started the pellet grill. It was such a blessing to have it for the cookout. We had chicken, hamburgers, sausages, and asparagus to cook. All on a small pellet grill. When I loaded the grill with the chicken thighs and legs that Mama had bought, it filled the grill from front to back and side to side. I had to wait until all the chicken was done to put on anything else. I crowded the sausage onto the grill as the chicken got done and I was able to arrange items to make an open space. Then I cooked the burgers. I saved the asparagus until last. It gets cold the quickest. Everyone was well into the meal when I got the asparagus done, but everyone who wanted some still managed find room in their full bellies to get that down as well. We had bought enough to feed everyone (thirteen in total) and still have leftovers. It was fun. After a brief rest we went fishing.

All of the kids went fishing. Dad came as well. When I got everything ready, we loaded into the truck and drove over to the lake. We immediately started having issues with tangled fishing lines. I mean immediately.  One of the middle boys got the worst tangle I have ever encountered in a rod and reel set I never would have expected could have been tangled. The rest of us were not even out of the truck when we began to deal with that. While the older sisters worked on getting the line untangled, I showed Steven, the eldest, how to use a spinning reel and rod. I caught a very large bass on the practice cast. It was game on then. Everyone wanted to get their line into the water. Steve Miller (dad) caught the next bass pretty quickly and as everyone took turns, we started to see some activity. I helped with lines and lures. I untangled no less than seven lines, but we were all doing well enough for the most part. Steven got his line so tangled that I had to cut it off the reel. It emptied that reel. He had just cast out when the final tangle happened and in the process of getting the line retrieved by hand, he caught an extremely large bass. He was both embarrassed and thrilled. Even the next to youngest caught a sizable fish. When I filleted the bass, they ended up with about two pounds of fish. Enough for a piece for each of them but not enough to fill them up. I suggested they come back and get some more. They get to fish some more, and they get more fish for a big meal. A win-win. It was almost 11 pm before we all called it a night. Needless to say, Mama and I slept well.

Hopefully, this evening Grandpa will be coming over to help me get the new wiring harness installed on the tractor. The way the rats chewed through the one now on the tractor forced me to buy a whole new harness. I counted seventeen points of contact on the replacement harness. It is far more complicated than I can handle on my own even if I watch every YouTube video available. If we manage to get that repair done that should put the tractor back in service and allow me to catch up on some chores I have not been able to do without its help. It will take more than one day to get that work done, but I can at least get part of those chores knocked out on Saturday if we get the tractor in service again. I am hopeful.

If Grandpa backs out, I will call a mechanic at church and beg for help.