Dog woes, building in the heat, shopping, trips to DFW

When I got home yesterday I was glad Mama was not home. I got very upset with the dogs because of their continual digging trough after trough across the front yard, in the flowerbeds, beside the driveway; everywhere they take a fancy – but rarely in the same spot twice. Our sidewalks are filled with dirt slung onto them daily by the constant digging. The flowerbeds are unusable for flowers or plants even though I placed stones – large ones – in them to try to make them unavailable to the dogs.

 The place is a mess and the only response to the irritation I express is, “Well, Honey, they’re just hot.” Pretty soon they are going to be just dead. I do not know why I take such annoyance to it but I do. So it was good that I had exercised my frustration working on the garden shed for about an hour before Mama go there. I would have hated to something sharp to her because I was angry. By the time she got home I was a sweaty, much less frustrated, somewhat agreeable mess.

Working in the hundred degree heat was possibly not the smartest way to exercise and expunge my frustration but it got the job done. It put me pretty far ahead on the project by the time I finally quit. The most difficult part was getting the 4x4s in the ground. That required a heavy crowbar to break and remove the rock that hindered me on all three holes I needed to dig. I can at least be reasonably certain the posts will not be easily moved.

Mama, Brittany and Andrew spent the day shopping yesterday. It wore out Andrew and Mama – both of whom collapsed when they got home - but I think Brittany could have kept going. They came home with relatively little for the time spent but I believe they were all satisfied with the excursion.

I know Mama got a pair of shoes in the purchases. Not the ones she has been telling me she needs to wear around the house to support her feet better than flip-flops. She got a “badly needed” pair of dress shoes – I can’t remember why she needed this pair – because they were buy one get one half off and she was buying a pair for Brittany for her birthday, which she will be spending in Paris. Poor Brittany!

Brittany, Andrew and Mama mustered the strength to look at the garden before the evening wore away. They were able to pick, zucchini, green beans, tomatoes and peppers during their inspection. This is the first garden we have ever had that Mama enjoyed showing off. That makes it even more fun for me.

Later today – around 5 pm - Mama will be taking them to the airport. This will be the first of six trips to DFW this month for Mama; three times for Brittany and Andrew, twice for Alfredo when he flies in to visit us for the weekend of Father’s Day and once for me and Mama to get to the airport to fly to Juneau. We will rack up the miles, the tolls and the parking fees this month. I am not sure the other times of day we will be required to make the trip but tonight will be one of the most frustrating due to the rush hour traffic.

You know how Mama loves that.

Brittany and Andrew, farm news

Friday evening while we were at RU Brittany and Andrew made it to the house. They are making their way to Mildenhall Airforce Base in England but before that Andrew’s family is taking them to Disney Land for a going away party. Mama and I are not planning any such a party for them so I really hope they enjoy the park thoroughly.

Saturday we went to Trade Days in the morning but we did not stay very long. It was almost ninety degrees by 10 a.m. and the humidity has remained very high for the past several days. As things begin to dry out I expect that to go away but for now it is pretty uncomfortable. We did not spend much money but rather used the time to visit with friends we always see there.

When we got back home I started working on the area where we will build a garden shed while Mama and the kids slept. I got the tractor and moved more of the washed out gravel from our road onto the little plot for the shed. It will be helpful to have the space for our gas implements. That way I can get them out of the well house and begin using it as a cellar. We need a cool dark place to store our canned goods and our other harvested vegetables.

So far we have potatoes on one rack in the well house. What we dug last week covers three shelves on a wire shelving unit. It is not a lot, but it will be fun to eat our own produce. Depending on how we do storing this crop we will look at making a bigger garden next year. In spite of the almost thirty inches of rain we had last month I will have to water the garden this weekend, if not before.

Daisy and Dash were moved Saturday morning. Wayne Berg showed up, as he promised, at 8 a.m. and backed his trailer up to the loading chute. He was parked in position by the time I got out to the barn. I had already penned up the cow and calf so it was only a matter of herding them into the chute. The pair of them walked into the chute and hopped into the trailer, with very little prodding, as if we had trained them to do so. It took all of five minutes.

By the time Mama got out there to say goodbye to Daisy, Wayne was ready to crank up the truck and pull away. Now, every time we drive past the barn lot Mama laments her missing cow and calf. If the Lord will bless, we should have a calf on the way for next spring. And if Mama will allow, we will have a little bull ready to sell by the time he comes back to the farm with his mama – if Mama will let him go.

Mama, Brittany and Andrew are going to the outlet malls today. Brittany needs some special cloths for her excursion to Disney – and a pair of new shoes. Mama just likes to shop but I am sure there will be a new pair of shoes that will catch her eye. She keeps talking about needing a specific pair of sandals to wear around the house and so far we have not found them. Maybe today is her lucky day.

I will be traveling for the next couple days and Brittany and Andrew will be headed to the airport tomorrow morning. This is becoming a very busy month for Mama.

Garden work, Mama’s business, Victoria

Last night, after five days without rain, the ground had finally dried out enough that we could get in the garden and work. Mama has been worried over the potatoes for a couple weeks now so last night we dug them up. Her concerns were justified. We had some rotten ones among the lot but overall we got a pretty good crop. Much longer in the moist ground and we would have lost them all.

We put out five short rows and they looked very good until a week ago when the plants started to die off quickly. But, like I said, it had been way too wet to get into the garden to dig them up. We ended up getting about twenty pounds of potatoes per row. So, even with a few rotten ones, which had a very sickening odor and snotty consistency - Mama and Victoria thoroughly enjoyed that part -we did pretty well. By next week we will have to water the remaining vegetable plants.

Our neighbor got tied up last night so he did not get the chance to come to get Daisy and Dash. He left us a message that he will be over on Saturday morning to get the pair and put them with his herd for a couple months. He cuts hay as a side business and with the dry weather we are having he is going to be very busy for the next several weeks. Hopefully, his bull will too.

Mama has started quite a business selling eggs. There are five or six very regular customers at work and the Chinese restaurant we have occasionally gone to will buy all that we can bring them. At first they fed them only to their toddler but now, they tell us, there are enough that everyone in the family can eat them. They are quite fond of them. As for the people at work that we sell them to, there is sometimes a friendly quarrel over who gets the available eggs when I bring them to sell.

Mama was very excited the other evening when I took her to buy feed for the chickens and pig. She told the lady that runs the feed store (a friend from church) that she was using her egg money to make the purchase. Both of them let out a celebratory cheer. Of the $47 needed she was only $.85 short. Not bad at all.

Mama and Victoria were in town yesterday to get the camera from Danny and to print the photos they will need to make a collage for Danny as a thank you. On the way home Victoria’s car had the same malfunction that we thought we might have fixed. So it will go back to the shop for a real repair. That will preclude her taking it to Florida this weekend.

That being said, Mama and I have to make the decision to loan her the truck to make the trip. At first I was opposed to the idea. The truck is almost essential to us for use on the farm, but I hate to deny Victoria the trip she exercised so much effort in setting up. So Mama and I will do without it for a couple weeks. It only serves to add to the stress of a single woman making such a trip – in my only truck, Mama’s favorite vehicle, her mechanical pal.

We will pray and trust the Lord. It all belongs to Him.

Travel, friends, little extras

Mama had to meet Brittany and Andrew in Wichita Falls yesterday to get some big luggage pieces from then. With the move now a sure thing – Andrew having completed his last tests – they are living out of suitcases. Those that they have packed were too bulky to fit in only one trip into the car they are driving. So they met Mama to give her the overage. They will bring the rest, along with Lucy, today when they come.

They will have to make two trips to the airport as well. One to drop Lucy off so she can be prepped for the flight to England and one to get themselves to the airport so they will be there to get Lucy when they arrive. Fortunately Brittany has been to England before so the culture shock will be minimized somewhat but they will still have to navigate the difficulties of getting their dog-child and their vehicle after they arrive. That should be loads of fun for a couple of Yanks fresh off the plane.

While they are packing to come to the farm, Victoria is packing to leave. She got home too late to go to church with us but when we got home she was at the table making a list to follow as she plans for the trip ahead. It should not be a difficult trip for her because we have made it numerous times in the recent past. However, it is still a little worrisome to Mama and me to have her traveling so far by herself.

Add that to the fact that I will be traveling for work next week and you have a very worried Mama. I will only be gone Tuesday through Thursday but Mama is not looking forward to being in the house by herself. It may a portent of times to come if I get the Licensing job; which will keep me out of the house for a couple weeks at a time. We’ll figure that out as we go.

Today, while Victoria is off she and Mama are going to get some pictures from our trail riding trip printed to make a collage for Danny Benson. He paid for the house we stayed in for the weekend there on the ranch and provided horses for us to ride. I know he is not expecting anything in return but since we have the pictures and he had asked for copies, it seems an appropriate gesture.

The only caveat is that he will have to meet Mama and Victoria in Decatur – or somewhere nearby – to give Victoria her camera. She left it at the ranch house when we left. If not for Kelli searching the house for misplaced items I do not know if we would have discovered the loss until too late. The truck was packed so full when we left the house and traveled to the restaurant for dinner that we could not have noticed is anything was missing. Fortunately, we live close to the friends we shared the weekend with.

This morning as I left the house the birds were especially vocal. The dogs were barking idly into the noise and the donkeys in the neighboring pasture were braying along with the cacophony. It made for an interesting backdrop to the coming dawn. It was no less so when I got to work. In fact one of the coworkers that usually arrives about the same time I do each day told me he paused at the door to take it all in.

It’s one of God’s little extras.

Busy June schedule

If their schedule holds true, Brittany and Andrew should be in tomorrow. They are vacating Altus, OK and packing to relocate to England. They have several things to do before then but that is the overarching goal. They will be with us on and off until the middle of the month – about the same time Alfredo and his wife come for a visit. It is going to be a busy month for me and Mama.

Meanwhile, Victoria is planning to leave for Pace, Florida this weekend. She has gotten a leave of absence from Walmart and will be staying with Cori, Nate and the kids to help Cori through the next couple of weeks. I have not heard how long she plans to stay but Mama is quite jealous. Mama hopes Victoria will bring the grandkids back with her so she can have them for a week or so when Cori is in the final weeks of her pregnancy.

Speaking of pregnancies, Maggie is doing fine in her second pregnancy. Mama and I will be heading that direction at the end of the month to be with her and Aaron and Cathryn when Walter is born. Mama planned more days there than I would have originally liked but that is how her mind works. Not that I do not want to be with Maggie and Aaron and the children. I just hate to come back to work after being gone that long and try to catch up with everything. To my way of thinking, ten days would have been better than the seventeen she has set up for the trip. We will enjoy it none the less. It will just give us more time to explore Juneau and the surrounding area.

Alfredo will only be here for the weekend of Father’s Day. He made the travel arrangements to fit in with a business trip he was required to make for the company he manages so it will be quite brief. Joshua is traveling up to join in the reunion so we should have a great time together. Joshua will have to leave Sunday afternoon due to his work schedule. We will take Alfredo and his wife to the airport Monday morning and have to return to the same airport the next morning to fly to Alaska. All in all, we will make five trips to the airport this month.

In light of all the extra attention the house and farm will get this month, Mama and I are working to get things set up at the farm and in the home to prepare for both the arrival of visitors and our departure following the visit. It has quickly become a very full month. Adding to the hectic schedule is the travel I have to do for my work. It will all work out but we are scrambling right now.

On the bright side, our barn will be empty in our absence since Daisy and Dash will be in the pasture next door. Still, Victoria will have all the dogs, the chickens and the pigs to tend to in Mama’s absence. We were hoping Grandma and Grandpa would be back this month but it does not look like they are planning on returning until the middle of July – depending on how many “good” jobs Norman lines up.

Grandma says this will be the last time they make this trip but that remains to be seen.

Garden news, chicken cleaning, good friends

While we were on the Polk Ranch over the weekend the owner asked me if I would like some garlic. There was patch in the front year of the old ranch house that she wanted to get rid of but did not necessarily want to throw out. Her husband dug them up Saturday morning as we were out for our ride so I packed them in the bed of the truck and hauled then back to Chico.

I planted them in the garden yesterday evening as Mama and I were straightening up around the house and in the back yard. There were more than I had anticipated. All in all, there were about twenty bulbs. If Mama and I are careful we should have garlic for our personal use for many years to come.

Speaking of the garden, Mama and I will have to dig potatoes this week. The plants are dying above ground so we know they are finished below ground. The last time we dug just two hills we ended up with enough potatoes for a couple meals. I do not know how many pounds of potatoes we will get out of the five rows we will dig this week – but it could be more than we are prepared for.

Mama will also have to pick strawberries in the next couple days. We put out thirty plants and now have about seventy five. If the weather holds for a few weeks we should be able to make our own strawberry freezer jam with the strawberries from our own garden. That’s exciting! I will get to pick figs shortly after we get back from Alaska – probably enough for a couple jars of preserves. That’s exciting too!

Mama and I took time last night to dust the chickens. We found mites on one bird so we treated the whole flock. We got a pretty good dusting ourselves as we tried to put the Seven Dust on each of the birds. I believe we mostly succeeded but next time we will wait until after dark when the birds have settled on the roost. They may be less prone to fight us at that time.

As Mama and out were out working in the yard our neighbor to the south stopped by. He had invited us to put Daisy and Dash with his cattle so Daisy could get bred by his bull. We were going to let down a patch of fence so she could mingle but he told us that he has the cattle on a second separate pasture right now.

In order to get her to the herd he is going to come to our barn and load her and Dash up in his stock trailer and take her to the pasture where he is keeping the bull. That is a kindness way beyond what we would have expected – or would have ever thought to ask. The Lord has given us very good neighbors here in Chico. That should happen Thursday night.

Mama and Victoria are going to pick up Victoria’s car today. It has been at the mechanic in Bowie. He found the problem she was having and corrected it in the most economical way he could find. We now know the root problem and can quickly address it if the same issues develop again. That’s a good thing since Victoria is heading to Florida to stay with Cori as she struggles with issues with her pregnancy.

Victoria got a leave of absence from work so she could get the time off. It will do both sisters good to have that time together.

Trail ride

Mama, Victoria and I thoroughly enjoyed this past weekend. We traveled to Quitaque, TX  which sits at the southern edge of Caprock Canyons. There is a ranch house on the Polk Ranch about five miles outside of the town that is rented out to trail riders with access to the 7,000 acres of the park as well as the 2,500 privately owned acres of the ranch.

We traveled in caravan with Danny Benson and a couple from Decatur who run a horse training facility just a few miles south of town, Ben and Kelly. Each trailer had three horses and all the tack to outfit them and at least two more. There was not much time wasted after we got to the ranch. We unloaded, got the horses ready for a ride and headed out into the juniper trees. The weather was beautiful. The mosquitos were horrible.

Ben gave me and Mama some pointers along the way and I think I picked up more information on proper handling of a horse on that one ride than ever before in my life. We headed into the creek that runs across the property through a small canyon – enjoying ourselves thoroughly in spite of the mosquitos – when Mama’s horse decided to lay down on her. The horse realized his mistake and quickly got up on all fours but not before he spilled Mama off.

Mama was able to get off while the horse was down and did not suffer any harm but it provided an awkward moment for all of us – especially Danny who owns the horse. The fact that the horse chose a soft sandbar for his attempt to roll was a blessing for Mama. The horse had been chosen for Mama because he was felt completely trustworthy for the ride. Danny was embarrassed and apologetic for the remainder of the time we were there. But is goes to show that there is no perfect horse. They can be unpredictable even if what they do is without malice.

Mama had to walk for a few minutes to calm her nerves but we found a spot for her to remount and continue the ride. One of the challenges us newbies faced was that all of the horses we were riding were very tall. Mama, Victoria and I were all too short or too stiff to remount without a small step to give us a leg up. Every time a hat blew off or Victoria dropped her lens cap someone else had to dismount to pick it up. All of the riders were very gracious about it.

Saturday mornings ride was plagued by mosquitos. The horses were suffering terribly from the pests even though we sprayed them with a strong repellent before we left the corral. Danny took Mama, Victoria and I back to the farmhouse early because he felt bad for the horses. Even at that, we were out for a little over two hours. Since we were a little saddle sore from the ride the day before none of us complained.

After a late dinner Saturday evening we headed home. It was a good trip. Good fellowship. Good food. Great horses. Beautiful scenery. New friendships with solid believers. Lots of pictures and even more very good memories.