The grandkids, Bella

A couple nights ago Cori was taking Savanna to put her to bed for the night. We were in the garage putting away all the toys and shoes that had been randomly deposited in every open space. When Savanna told me “Good night”, I said, “Noooo!” Pretty loudly. At first, she looked panicked, thinking she had done something wrong. When she took a couple seconds to study my face and then her mother’s face, she realized I was teasing. She looked at her mommy and said, “Papi said, nooo!” “Did he?” mommy asked. Whereupon Savanna tested the situation by repeating her good night. Of course, my response was, “Nooo!” And so, it continued until I finally answered with a reluctant “good night”. Now, every evening when it is bedtime we have to repeat the same banter. We will see if she still remembers the wordplay when they get back from their two weeks in Honduras.  

With the grandkids of sufficient age to help with the farm chores, Mama had both enjoyed the extra labor force and, at times, tried to invent excuses as to why she should go out to feed by herself. We have probably been through twice the amount of feed we normally put out for the goats and the pigs because Grant likes to fill the feeders to capacity rather that mete out the feed. It has all gotten eaten eventually since we have not had any rain. Goats will not eat wet – or even damp – feed but the pigs will eat the slimy, soft, several days old food as if it were a delicacy. So, under Grant’s generous provision, they have all been quite content. However, there are challenges. It does take Mama about twice as long to feed and do the normal chores when she has the kids helping. Partly because Mama is always full of instructions – “No. slide it over to this spot. Put the feeder down just so. Always do this. Always do that. Never this. Never that.” I like to see how they figure things out versus giving explicit instructions. All in all, they are willing to help. That’s a plus.

Last night we ran into one of those happenstances where the hard and fast rule – always close the gate behind you – was followed when there needed to be an understood exception. Mama likes to let the chickens out every evening. The chickens like it also, but for them to get back to the roost in the coop, we leave the gate to the chicken yard open until all of them have made it in to the roost. Well, last night the gate got closed while the chickens were still out doing their evening scratching. When Mama went out, well after dark, to close them up for the night, all of the hens were camped out by the closed gate doing the best they could to roost for the night. Mama had to individually collect them and put them in the coop so they could roost properly. It took a good bit of time. I can’t wait to hear how the exception to the rule – always close the gate – was conveyed to the grandkids when she recounts the experience this morning. My personal opinion; let that one go. We will just need to ensure the gate is open after the kids have gone to bed so all Mama’s flock can come home to roost.

Bella, Cori and Nate’s Black Lab, has been spending the nights in our bedroom. I was a little taken aback the first night she was in the bedroom. When I got up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom and an amorphous black shape swirled on the floor in front of me, it took a second to realize it was a dog. (Too many sci-fi movies.) The slapping of the ears against the head and the tail thumping on the blanket chest gave my sleepy mind the assurance it needed to relax the rest of me. I do not remember when that sleeping arrangement started, but it has now become a routine. The only issue I can see is that Bella goes out with me when I leave the room before 6 am. Her tail banging on the wall as she goes down the hallway wakes Victoria and her dogs earlier than Victoria is used to.

An unavoidable consequence of happy canine companionship.

Grandma, full tank, power needs, pleasant days

Grandma had a minor medical procedure yesterday to check her esophagus; an upper gastrointestinal endoscopy - doing a scope of the esophagus. She has been suffering with pain swallowing, trouble keeping food down and continuous heartburn. She was diagnosed with a hiatal hernia. The hiatus is an opening in the diaphragm, which separates the chest cavity from the abdomen. The esophagus passes through the hiatus and attaches to the stomach. In a hiatal hernia, the stomach bulges up into the chest through that opening. As with any abnormal bulge in the body, the pain associated with it can produce severe discomfort. There are few remedies for the condition short of surgery, but because Grandma’s esophagus looked clear, there is nothing scheduled to make the needed correction. Mama sat with Grandpa through the prep, procedure and post-procedure. The first question Grandma asked of the attending nurse when the procedure was over was, “Did you really do anything?” She was assured that they had and had taken pictures to prove it.

Nate continues to improve but I think I am getting a touch of what he had. He was a little upset with the kids yesterday because the alarm came in on the black water tank of the camper. That is not a full tank indication that is a pleasant one. The kids were not supposed to be using the potty in the camper since we have two bathrooms in the house, but I suppose they could not resist the convenience and the privacy of the camper bathroom. He had to hook up to the camper, disconnect it from our utilities and find an RV park where he could pay to dump the tank contents. It was all done before I got home so I would not have known about it if Mama had not told me. All I mentioned was that it was unusual for Nate to have parked his vehicle where he did. I think he put the camper back in the exact spot where it had been sitting when he first parked it.

So far, I have not been able to get full power to the camper so in order to run the a/c, everything else has to be turned off – the hot water heater, the fridge, etc. It has been taking a toll on the power in the house because the outside outlet they are plugged into supplies the laundry room, the chefs pantry and the north side of the garage. So, when we try to use the microwave I put in the laundry room (because we cannot use the microwave and toaster oven in the kitchen at the same time), it trips the breaker and we lose power to the camper as well as the fridge and freezer plugged into the north side of the garage. It is a minor inconvenience, but lately we have had to reset the breaker several times per evening. Mostly when we are trying to get dinner ready. At some point, I need to completely redo the breaker box, but that is a project I do not want to take on without serious help. It will be an expensive project that will only be worth it if Mama and I stay in the house for many more years. At this point in time, I am not sure if that is in the Lord’s plans for our later years.

Although you would not know it from the news, we are experiencing cooler than average temperatures for this time of year. Most days, the high temperatures have been 4-6 degrees cooler than normal for August. It is not much, but it has been enough for the trees to start signaling an early Fall. All in all, the mornings and evenings have been very pleasant for early August, which makes the chores, both morning and evening, a bit more enjoyable than over the past few weeks.

We’ll take it.

The slab, Nates slow recovery, packing for Honduras

The slab for the shop is done. It was a much longer process than I had anticipated. The crew did not finish until about 7 pm. The forms and rebar were in place a little before 12 pm but the concrete did not arrive until just before I got home at 4:30. The plant in Decatur had unexpectedly shut down so the truck was dispatched from Weatherford – almost an hour away. All the concrete was hauled from the county road where the truck had to park with a buggy that could move about a ¼ yard at a time. But even with the more drawn out process it took a little less than an hour to get all the concrete in place. With the concrete being poured over old blacktop it took longer to set than Gregg had anticipated and the final work with the power trowel came late in the evening. It was worth the wait on my part. I know Gregg and his crew were a little disappointed to be held up so long; but I am certain it is not the first time that that has happened. He told me as we waited for the concrete to set that he pays his crews by the day rather than by the hour because there are so many variables in completing a job, regardless of the size of the job. Some days are short. Some days are long. It all balances out.

Nate helped me get the grounding rod driven for the electric service to the shop. The electric company requires the eight-foot rod to be driven fully into the ground. I had been doing it a little at a time because the sledge hammer wears out my shoulder. Using the eight-pound sledge one handed, because the rod has to be held in order to steady it between blows with the sledge hammer, takes a toll on my right shoulder. I can do about forty strokes before I have to rest. I can do that about three times before I have to move on to something else. Nate could use both hands while I held the rod. He and I together drove it the last three feet into the ground in about ten minutes. I will make the final hookups tomorrow evening.

Nate is slowly recovering from whatever respiratory infection he has. We have been praying for a quick recovery because he and the family will be leaving for Honduras Saturday. To the best of his recollection he believes the whole issue started with a visit to a friend who has a cat. Nate is allergic to cats. Although they have spent time with this friend before, this time he must have been a little more sensitive to the allergens. No one can be sure what determines the strength of response to an allergic reaction, but something really caused this one to be dramatic. Sufficient enough to cause Nate to go to Urgent Care to get help. I am not sure if he is taking any of the prescribed meds, but he is recovering; just in time.

Cori is getting everything ready for travel. This trip is a little different. Since the travel will be international, there are passports, shot records, visa paperwork, plane tickets, proper baggage, etc. that all need to be gathered to ensure there are fewer obstacles to entry into Honduras and reentry into the United States. They have everything in order. They just have to make sure they have everything with them when they leave for Houston Saturday morning. Clothing, personal items and the like are almost incidental in a trip like this. When dealing with governmental entities, paperwork is paramount – everything else can be purchased at the destination country if needed.

This trip will give the children a chance to see the ministry; to see how and where they will be living for the foreseeable future. There is no better way to let them visualize what lies ahead than to give them a week in situ. My biggest prayer is that they will each discover at least one food item that they will willingly eat.

Progress, the delivery, 35 years

Mama and I got the call yesterday that our concrete guy will be at the farm today to pour the slab for the shop. We have been waiting on that call for about eight weeks. I have been carefully guarding the finances for the job based on a quote he gave me in early June. The area has been cleaned out since we had the driveway done. There was some discussion of putting asphalt down instead of concrete but the company doing the asphalt ran out of materials before they got to the shop. It all worked out for the best. Nate and I have the electric service plumbed in and ready for concrete to be poured around it. So, I feel confident that we are ready – really ready. It will be very nice to have a shop again. I will consider it my anniversary present – which will, for one time, be more expensive than Mama’s. There is still a lot of work to be done to complete the project, but completing the foundation is the one part that I have had to call out help to get the work done.

Yesterday evening I took the propane tank to a buyer Victoria had found for it. The buyers were an older couple. He had called several times to try and work out how to get the tank to his property but was running into one obstacle after another, so he asked if I would deliver the tank. I asked if he had a means to unload the tank and he assured ne he did – a block and tackle anchored by a 4x4, hung from a section of scaffolding. I backed up the trailer to the scaffolding and we began to work the tank off the trailer. It took several resets of the scaffolding and the block and tackle as well as maneuvering the trailer carefully but we finally got the tank to the point that one end could be set on the ground, the other end lifted and the trailer pulled away. It took about forty-five minutes but we worked slowly and carefully. He paid me an extra $20 for the delivery.

I almost did not make the delivery because one of the tires on the trailer was nearly flat. I aired it up but realized I would need to scoot the tank to the center of the trailer to even out the load on the axle and the two sets of tires. That was probably the most difficult part of the entire operation, but I managed to scoot the tank a little at a time until it was more in the center of the trailer. (I did not realize that the empty weight of the tank was about 650# until I looked it up.)  When the centering was done all the tires looked better. Scooting the tank helped me to realize that if we lifted the tank too high on one end the other end would not slide. Twice I had to have the buyer lower the end he had lifted so I could slide the tank toward the end of the trailer. From then on, he got the idea and we moved pretty efficiently. It was a good deal for him and it was a good move for me and Mama to get the tank off the property.

Today is Mama’s and my 35^th anniversary. We are not planning to do anything special today. For this anniversary, we planned a trip to Sanibel Island, FL. It is supposed to be the best shelling place in the continental United States. Brittany and Mama got the trip all laid out before the twins were born – actually the night before she went to the hospital to deliver them. Mama is still trying to decipher all the Brittany did in scheduling the flight, the rental car and the hotel in less than an hour. I printed out the itinerary yesterday so she could have a copy for reference.

Honestly, I had not even looked at it, so it was good for me to see it also.

Our visit, back home, more travel coming

Thursday, Victoria, Cori, Mykenzie, Blake and I traveled up to Wichita to meet the twins. It was amazing to see them; so tiny, so miraculous, so beautiful. We all got to take turns feeding them. That was not a problem since they were being fed every three hours and each feeding took about an hour. They were only ten days old so most of their time was spent sleeping, but even in the several days we were there they had more alert time each progressive day. They are very good babies, very mellow in disposition, very easy to work with. I only heard Zoe cry once. She was being changed and did not like her bare skin exposed to room temperature. Brittany and Andrew are rising to the challenge of caring for the two little ones. As much as is possible, they take turns through the late-night feedings, although, Brittany is more easily waked than Andrew. It will not be very long before Brittany will feel the urgent need for extra help again even thought she was a little bothered by having so many visitors so close to having the babies. She will figure out what is non-negotiable in the care of the girls and what things are merely nice to do if possible, but that will come as experience builds her confidence. I wish we could have done more to help, but at this stage most of the care is centered on being ready to feed and change the babies when the time comes punctuated by long periods of watching them sleep between feedings.

Mama and I left Brittany’s Saturday. She was slated to leave today but that is not how it worked out. Cori, Victoria and the kids headed back the Friday morning because Nate was getting sick and Cori was pretty concerned. He spent a full day cleaning out the a-coil on the a/c because it froze up on us earlier in the week. It took several hours for him to clean all the residue off and the position of the a-coil in the a/c closet required him to be in a position that hurt his back, but he got it sufficiently cleaned to get the a/c working properly. In fact, I do not remember it blowing this hard for since we bought the house. That was a real blessing. I had already called a repairman that the pastor recommended and he will look the unit over today just to make certain we are in the clear. It will be a small price to pay for the assurance of help in the future.

The very first thing Mama did after saying her hellos to everyone was to get on the mower and cut the grass. We are forecast to have rain every day this week and I had not cut the grass in her absence – so it needed to be done. Later that evening she looked the animals over and gave her general approval for the condition of her herds and flocks. The first thing I did was to water some of the plants that looked the most stressed out; just enough to hold them until the rain started. Our cattle came to visit Saturday evening. I am not sure how they knew that Mama was back but they were rewarded handsomely for their appearance. Both of the calves are getting big. Big Mama’s heifer is already passing up the little bull calf that was born about six weeks earlier than he was. We are planning to keep her, sell both mommy cows and the bull calf in October and go down to just Daisy and Mellow (Big Mama’s heifer calf). Hopefully, Daisy will get bred in her time with the neighbor’s bull.

Nate and Cori have this week off, then they will head to Houston to fly out to Honduras for twelve days. It will be the first time the kids have flown. It will also be their first visit to Honduras. Mama is lamenting the fact that we cannot go with them but it would not have worked out for us to make the trip and I believe Nate and Cori will be able to accomplish more without the added burden of entertaining her parents as they get a deeper exposure to the work they have committed their lives to. I would love to see how the kids react to the overwhelming newness of the visit, but we will have to settle for a second-hand recounting of the adventure.

At the very least, the kids will be able to say they have seen Honduras and the work at the children’s home.

Safe arrival, a gentle soaking, a/c issues

Nate, Cori and the kids had already arrived at the farm by the time I got home from work. Nate had parked the camper and had power running to it from the house but the hookup needed to run the a/c and fridge will not be available until I get the power drop from the electric company. I have no idea when that will be done but I still have a good bit of work to do before I can make the connections needed to give 240 volt service to the camper. I am prayerfully hopeful that all the pieces will fall into place within the next few days; pouring the slab, running the line to the shop, hooking up to the meter, installing the breaker box and 30A receptacle. All the steps that depend directly on me will be fairly easy to get done. It is the two that require outside help that are the critical – and time constraining - portions of the project. I still have to meet the demands of the power company before they will turn on the power to the new meter. All in God’s time.

Victoria and I took Nate and the kids around to visit all the animals last night after a very big dinner of turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes and gravy and macaroni and cheese. He got to soak up all Victoria’s instructions with my added comments but together I think all our direction is less than he will still get from Mama when she gets back. We had to relocate the goat feeders last night because of the pending rains. Because the goats prefer to eat outside, we normally leave them on the fence just inside the gate to their area, but we are forecast to have six or more days of rain and the goats will not eat damp food. Fortunately, the pigs will. Speaking of which, per Mama’s suggestion, I opened a passage between the two pig stys so Mollie and the little ones would not be relegated to the muddy mess of the one built for the feeder pigs. She explored her old home but eventually went back to the muddy mess where her piglets were born. She will probably change her mind over the next couple, very wet, days. I can offer the choice but I cannot make the decision for her.

Because the kids do not know the nuances of keeping the chickens separated by ensuring the gated between the two coop areas closed, we had a bit of a mess on our hands at roosting time because the younger chickens had escaped their area and gotten in with the older chickens – which can prove fatal. But we got all that straightened up just after dark and everybody got restored to their prescribed habitat. I will have to start on a banty house very soon because the banty chicks are growing quickly. I will add that to my list of projects.

A very gentle rain began to fall as we were settling in for the evening. It must have continued through most of the night because we got over half an inch by the time I left for work. It was a rain that reminded me of the rains that fell when we were in Juneau; heavier than a mist but not that much heavier. It was the kind of gentle soaking all the plants needed. It saved me the work of having to water all the areas and plants I normally water on a Tuesday evening.

Late in the evening, as I was getting ready to for bed, we noticed that the temperature in the house was much warmer than normal. I checked the thermostat and the temperature in the house was 80°F. The setpoint was 73°F. Not a good sign. At first, I thought one of the kids had messed with the thermostat but Victoria assured me that it had been like that for several days. I ended up getting on YouTube and watching a video on setting the thermostat. I am not confident that that was the entirety of the issue but the a/c started to actually cool the house down. By this morning we were at 74°F. I am still a little concerned that there may be another issue but only time will tell.

We leave tomorrow morning to visit Brittany and Andrew to meet the Zoe and Sophia. I am looking forward to the visit but more for the fact that I will see Mama.

Rosie, Cori and Nate’s arrival, the twins

Yesterday afternoon, after work, I took Rosie to the vet for the last time. It was sad to have to put her down but it was certainly time. As the vet worked on her, prepping her for what he needed to do, he told me she had almost no circulation in her feet and legs. She has been kind of staggering around on the smooth flooring we have in the house. Now I know why. On my part, I have not handled her for some time and was surprised to see how much hair she had rubbed off her back and belly trying to get some relief from the itching caused by the multiple skin cancer eruptions she had. As dogs go, she was a good dog for our family for almost sixteen years. Hopefully, Mama will not seek to replace her. With Kira and Kobe, we have enough dogs in the house.

Cori, Nate and the kids should arrive in Decatur this afternoon. I was told that they plan to hook up the camper at a local RV park until I have the work completed to park the camper at the farm. In preparation for their arrival and for our departure to Brittany’s only a couple days from now, I baked a turkey last night that we can have for dinner tonight – and for leftovers for the remainder of the week. It also helped to get the turkey out of the little chest freezer to make room for the beef I just brought home. Victoria and I made cornbread so we can turn that into cornbread dressing to go along with the turkey. I do not remember if the kids like turkey or not, but I know Nate and Cori will enjoy it. It will give Nate leftovers to eat while we are in Wichita with Brittany, Andrew and the twins. As for the kids, I know we have plenty of peanut butter. I will have to check our inventory of marshmallow cream.

The twins did great their first couple days at home. As the weeks accrue they will become more active and more animated and more demanding, but Brittany, Andrew (below with one of the girls) and Mama have enjoyed having them in the house versus the hospital. Mama told me that they still have to be taken to the hospital at least daily to have bloodwork done but that should come to an end by the end of this week. Victoria and I will get to meet them Thursday evening. I am looking forward to that. I am more looking forward to seeing Mama.

I have made little progress on the trench that I need dug in order to run the electric service from the meter to the shop. I am a little concerned about the project because the forecast is for significant rain starting Friday and continuing every day through the following Friday. My hope was to get the wire and conduit laid before the rain started, but that does not look like that will happen – unless Nate can bale me out. There is a slight chance of rain today. It would actually be nice to soak the ground of the trench so it would soften the clay somewhat. Right now, it is like working with rock. That is part of the reason I have made so little progress. That and the fact of covering all the evening chores that Mama normally tends to. It will happen in good time so I will not stress over it.

I am looking forward to a couple days off from work.