Training, partying, homecoming, outgoing

For the past two full days I have been in training – a refresher for all the trainers at my company. It was good to see the course presented as it was and get a fresh perspective on the material and its application. Definitely an opportunity to see areas where I can improve my presentation of the same class material. They were long days but the participants in both training sessions made the time enjoyable. One group traveled from Minnesota to get the training Wednesday. Both days were caught on video. I am sure I will be in a large portion of the video for Wednesday because I was sitting at the front table right by the speaker. He and I interacted a good bit because it was the first time he had presented the material is a year or so and we had made some updates to the presentation that he was not totally familiar with. We concluded the day with a short review of the class to capture key opportunities for further improvement and to share other observations.

I headed from the class to Pizza Hut where Mama and several others were waiting on Cori and Victoria. Mama and Cori had set up a surprise birthday party for Victoria. Right after Victoria got there – about 5:40 – I headed home to get changed for church. The Echeveria’s, the Wycoff’s, the Burn’s, Norman and Grandma were all there for the party. I think she was surprised, but I did not take time to find out. I know Mama ordered eight pizzas and there were only a few pieces left when the party was over. (I got one piece after church.) On the way home from church, each vehicle had one of the grandkids. Mykenzie rode with Victoria. Grant rode with Mama. Blake rode with me and Savanna rode with Cori and Nate. I think this was the first time we had all four vehicles at church on the same evening.

I was pretty late getting home yesterday but Mama had waited on me to get out and do the feeding. All the grass eaters needed hay, so I had to get the bales down from the loft of the goat barn. I needed to get a large bale for the cows – especially since Daisy and her calf were returned to our farm – but the temperature was dropping quickly, and the wind was howling out of the north. We had some old bales that needed to be fed out anyway, so Mama and I used them to fill up the herd for the evening. The goats were so excited to get the fresh hay and alfalfa that they almost fainted. With the cows, I thought I had a day or two before we needed another round bale, but Daisy cleaned up in one afternoon what was remaining from the bale the calves had been working on for a couple weeks. Although it is nice to have our herd back, I will need to be far more proactive in making hay available through the remainder of the winter. A big shout out to our neighbor for wrangling and delivering our wanderers. Other than keeping Daisy full – if that is possible – her calf is even more skittish than #75 and her calf were. Mama is not thrilled about that.

Nate, Cori and the kids will be finalizing packing today and heading out tomorrow. Lord willing, this will be the final stage of deputation for them. They have firm-ish plans to leave for Honduras in May. Mama is both excited and sad.

Fortunately, they are heading south this weekend.

Escapes and releases

As I drove into the driveway yesterday evening, it was apparent that something was amiss. The grandkids were all excited about something, but it was not a happy excitement. It did not take long to find out what was up – the grandkids are always eager to be the first to share news. Someone had left the gate to the back yard open and all the dogs had gone for a frolic in the countryside. The blame was quickly laid on the tiny shoulders of the youngest, but as the dialogue continued it turned out that she was simply the last one to walk through the opened gate. Regardless, all three dogs had run off as though they had somewhere to be.

Nate was walking the road and as soon as I had Savanna, the other three grandkids headed to catchup with their father. Mama and Cori were gone to the LuLa Roe lady in Bridgeport and would not be home for a while. Victoria was not home from work yet but was expected soon. So, Savanna and I began to feed the goats, collect eggs and get water to the cattle in the barn lot. From the engorged look of Daisey’s utter it was apparent she needed to be reintroduced to the neighboring property to be reunited with her calf. However, with Savanna in tow, I was not going to attempt to separate Daisy from the two calves we are trying to keep at the farm. That little chore would have to wait on Mama to help me.

Once Victoria got home and could watch Savanna I started working on a yard hydrant that would not drain when the valve was closed. It is the only one I have poured a little cement pad for. Fortunately, I poured the pad so that the hydrant was in one corner of the pad, but I still had to dig under it to get to the weep hole in the stem that was not allowing the stem to drain. Once I got there, I saw the problem. I had allowed some of the concrete to plug the weep hole. It was all repaired and backfilled before Mama got home. Maybe now the hydrant will not freeze. Still no sign of the dogs in spite of the intense efforts of Nate and the kids to call them in.

With Mama’s help Daisy was released to find her calf just before dark. Mama and Cori had brought home some Arby’s sliders and I ate one as well as some soup that our Chinese Grandma had made for me. While I was at the table Sam and Sasha started barking like an intruder was near. Kobe had made it home. The Pyrenees did not treat her well. They never do. Kobe is not submissive to them and it always leads to a fight. No on is ever injured, but it sounds horrible and Mama always panics. I went out to let her into the yard and Victoria went out to see if she was injured in any way from her time out in the countryside. Bella came home about thirty minutes later. Kira was still out. Those two seemed to be okay; filthy, but okay.

It was now fully dark and the coyotes were on a tear. It sounded like there were one hundred of them nearby.  Sam and Sasha were challenging them from the front yard for a while, but they must have heard something that needed further investigation because they suddenly ran out of the yard and full speed. Victoria was worried about Kira because she is still in heat. That is a powerful attractant to anything canine. It was another thirty minutes before Sam and Sasha came home with Kira in tow. According to Victoria, she looked to be in better shape that Kobe and Bella.

Both Victoria and Mama were in that mommy mode where there is a delicate balance between scolding and welcoming; between stern rebuking and sweet relief. All three will need to be thoroughly bathed today and Cori has volunteered her family for the task. After all, the kids spent yesterday afternoon brushing the dogs. Cori watch as all three dogs and all four kids cooperated in the effort. The dogs were carefully brushed and then the removed hair and grass was gathered and put back on the dogs, so it could be brushed off again.

I wish she had taken a video.

Herding, or not, puppy news

Saturday morning as Nate, Cori and the kids were packing up to leave, Mama got a call from Wayne. He had Daisy and her calf penned up and ready to be loaded. As Nate was pulling out of the drive I headed to the barn to get the tractor. I figured it would be easier and much quicker to use the tractor to hitch up the trailer and drive the short distance to get the rest of our herd. That turned out to be a good decision. I was able to quickly get into position to load Daisy and her calf. Once we were in place at the simple corral Wayne has on the property he leases, we saw that there was an extra calf in the mix. We did not think it would be a problem but boy, did it turn out to be a major issue.

We got all three into the stock trailer but could not get the little steer to separate from our calf and Daisy. I got into the trailer from the front door high on the side of the trailer and tried everything I could think of to get the errant calf out of the trailer. After several near missed getting the calf to offload, we locked our little heifer calf in the front of the trailer and ran Daisy and the steer back into the corral to try again. What Wayne and I did not know was that Mama had left the gate to the corral open and Daisy and the steer calf walked out of the open gate and ran into the pasture without even so much as a backward glance.

Wayne and I groaned, shrugged and decided I would take our calf and get Daisy later. Mama had ideas of her own. She walked Daisy over to our gate and let her into our barn lot. I got on the tractor and started home with our calf; mission accomplished. Wayne stopped me as I turned the trailer to head home because I had forgotten to latch the front gate on the trailer and it was swinging open. About the time we got stopped, both of us rushing to seal the breach, our heifer calf jumped out of the opening and ran as fast as she could to the open pasture. The gate is about four feet above ground level, but the calf made the jump with little effort. We both laughed about the fiasco and Wayne assured me he would try again soon. Meanwhile, Mama had successfully gotten Daisy into our barn lot. She was quite pleased with herself, until I told her that I did not have Daisy’s calf with me.

Later that evening I tried to let Daisy back into Wayne’s pasture, but she was not interested. So, I wired shut the cow panel we have in the opening and she stayed with us for the weekend. If she is willing tonight, Mama and I will let her back onto the lease so she can be with her calf. Just goes to show you we are not very proficient at herding cattle. We both felt badly for Wayne and all the effort he had put into getting Daisy and the calf separated out for us.

On the other hand, Mama and I got up Sunday morning and saw that the dwarf goats were not in their enclosure. We hurried out to see if we could get them back in. I headed out through the back yard as I usually do and by the time I had crossed the yard, all five goats were waiting for me in their little area. Mama and I do not know if one of us left the gate open or if one of the goats managed to raise the latch, but getting them back was much easier than fooling with a 1200# cow and two skittish 400# calves.

On the puppy side, Victoria sold her last pup to someone in Oklahoma. As we were trying to figure out how to get the pup to the person wanting him, it dawned on us that Cori, Nate and the kids were heading to Oklahoma City for a Sunday morning meeting. The buyer was only a short distance outside of Oklahoma City, so they took the pup with them and handled the delivery. We were all thrilled. I do not have pups to deal with. Victoria sold all the pups successfully. Cori, Nate and the kids got to play with the pup all the way to their destination. Mama was just happy for all the rest of us.

That’s how she is.

Car issues, investment strategy, Mama’s resume

When I met Mama for lunch yesterday she let me know that the kids were coming to join us. Sounds like fun, right? Well, Cori called about the time I got my soup warmed up and told Mama that they were having car trouble and needed Mama to come and get them. I told Mama that did not make sense. If they were at the farm why would she need to get them to come to Decatur for lunch? (Mama told me they were at the farm.) What Mama did not know before she left the church to rescue them, was that they were at Walmart in Decatur. The engine alarm came on as they were starting the vehicle to come to the church to meet us. That made a lot more sense to me. I had a feeling neither Cori or Nate would have Mama run to Chico and back just so they could have sandwiches in the gym.

Nate dropped off the vehicle at a local repair shop that people in the church use on a regular basis and all of them came to the church. The repair shop is supposed to run a diagnostic to see what the issue could be, but as far as I know, no word has come back yet. So far, the vehicle they bought has done exceptionally well for them. We are praying it will continue to do so through the end of May – when they are planning on relocating permanently to Honduras. The Goings family, the administrators of the home in Honduras, are going to be state-side during the earlier time Nate and Cori were planning to leave the US, so they requested the later date in order to be there to help Nate and Cori make the entry into the country. I believe that is a wise decision. Anyway, the vehicle needs to be ready to go as soon as possible. With meetings scheduled in the Northern States for the last two weeks of January and into February, they need trustworthy transportation for what could be difficult travel.

Meanwhile, back at home, Mama and I are going to a seminar this weekend to investigate tax lien investing. We looked at the investment process while we were in New Jersey but could not make the system offered to us at that time work for us. The way things are done in New Jersey did not fit our personality or investment style; too rushed, too high dollar, too aggressive. Now here we are, looking at the opportunity again but the company offering the help has a completely different approach to the process. One that looks like it will fit us much better. We’ll see when we attend the seminar – translate that sales pitch – Saturday afternoon. I have been looking for something Mama and I can do together. This may not be it, but she is willing to investigate the potential opportunity with me. Real estate is something she understands and knows how to research.

Also, I recently put in an application to Hope Children’s Home in Tampa Florida. That is the ministry that the children’s home in Honduras operates under. Their recent news letter mentioned several openings. Mama and I have long-term plans of working for the home as part of our retirement, but if they could use us at an earlier date, we are wiling to go. Anyway, they responded to my application by requesting that I supply a resume for Mama also. Their practice is to hire husband and wife teams. So, I took a resume template home last night so Mama could help we with dates and other information. As we paced through it, things got cute. We talked about helping her Dad and Norman doing lawn care, providing childcare in the home, home schooling, etc. Then I wrote down, traveled extensively.

That started Mama and Cori talking about the trip they took from Amsterdam to Paris with a missionary wife who was living in Amsterdam at the time. Mama was having some potty issues on the trip, much to the consternation of their guide – who had mapped out their time in fifteen-minute increments. So, Cori offered “You can she peed in Amsterdam and Paris.” To which I added “all over England and Scotland.” We laughed and continued on with the real resume theme until Mama began to look over what I had written down. When she got to the line about peeing in Amsterdam she shouted, “Timothy Owen, you actually wrote that down!” And proceeded to cross it out. I assured her that the piece of paper it was written on was not going to be submitted for review, but she scratched it out anyway.

I told Mama even though it would not show up on her resume, it might show up in my blog.

Reflection, look alikes

Some days I sit and think about what to write; nothing comes to mind. Other days the page seems to fill itself. I was reflecting back over the holidays and trying to remember a moment when we all laughed so hard Mama found it impossible to stop. Even quite a few minutes after we had all calmed down, Mama conjured up the hilarity of the moment and spewed water all over me as she laughed in the middle of taking a drink. I honestly cannot remember what generated that much spontaneous laughter, but I feel like I should. It was a great moment. I should have taken the time to record at least a piece of it to save for future reference, but, alas, I thought I would be able to get it jotted down later.

One of the things the Lord has impressed on me it to take more time to annotate events throughout our daily lives. I tend to get caught up in the daily news cycle, the daily grind of work and farm duties, the minutia of life and miss the moments when we really enjoy living life. I have not reached a solution on just how to accomplish that, but it looks like it will take a multi-resourced approach; jotting notes on paper, recording notes on my phone, writing notes on a phone app and even taking pictures of the moment, compiling all that information in some central location.

I have to admit, I am one who needs pretty detailed notes. I have too often come back to some jot or tittle and not be able to make sense of the scribbling – even if I could read what was written. The fear I have is being so involved in taking note of the moment that I fail to truly enjoy the moment. Somewhere there is a balance. I will be led to it at some point. Giving equal treatment to all our children and grandchildren is also a moderate concern. That too should work out over time.

At church last night Mama and Alissa Burns got tickled by how similarly the pastor and I were dressed. I was standing with the Pastor at the front pew of the church and notices Alissa taking a picture with her phone. Mama was egging her on. When I pointed it out to the Pastor he put his arm around my shoulder and posed for another picture. People often remark how much we resemble each other – and I guess last night the similarities were more than usual. There is one couple at church, both of whom are special needs. The guy in the pair is always approaching me thinking I am the Pastor. The girl in the pair is constantly correcting him, saying “That’s the other one.”

Looking at the picture I can see why he gets us confused.

The heat pump, hurried returns

Last Saturday morning Mama, Nate and I were working outside and were all alarmed by the sounds our heating unit was making. Alarmed enough that I had Cori track down our pastor’s wife and get a reference for a repairman. The temperature was 15°. That was near the high temperature forecast for the day. The constant drizzle did not help in dealing with the cold. When we finally got hold of the man, he assured us we could run the heater on Emergency Heat if the outside unit was failing. He could not get to us until sometime Sunday afternoon. By late that evening everything seemed to be running properly so Mama contacted the repairman and rescheduled for Tuesday – yesterday; after the holiday weekend. When she called him to discuss the unit, he assured her that there was probably nothing to be concerned about. Heat pumps go through defrosting cycles when needed. That could have been the cause of the sounds and the steam we saw coming from the unit. He is scheduled to come to the farm tomorrow to give the unit a thorough inspection. It has been running well but we would like a confirmation of it’s overall health. The temperature is supposed to get above freezing today for the first time in four days. That will be a nice change. My truck thermometer registered 11°F this morning. Mama and I are counting our blessings. Zack Burns said his parents would be thrilled when the temperature got above 0°.

After spending Monday shopping – yes, New Year’s Day – Mama had to hurry back to the store to return some shoes she had bought during that shopping trip. I was looking for shirts and was very disappointed to see sale prices that were still too high to attract my spendable income. I suppose $25-30 is a good price for someone used to paying $110 for a single shirt, but that was not enticing to me personally – regardless of the brand. I looked at one other major retailer as Mama waited in a long line to get to the show department to be outfitted with shoes, but I did not find anything there either. We went to Burlington and I found a couple shirts I was moderately interested in. They were still not priced as I would have liked.

Fortunately, Mama “needed” to stop at Academy. I finally found some shirts I was willing to buy. They were $10 each (1/2 off the original price) so I bought five for work and two for the farm. Meanwhile, Mama and Mykenzie stumbled across a rack of marked down sandals. Normally $15 a pair, they were marked $1.98. By the time I dragged her away, she had grabbed $38 worth. Since Cori and Nate and the kids would need that type of footwear in Honduras, it made sense to Mama to stock up. Cori was pleased with the purchases and those that do not fit well enough to suit the person they were bought for can be given to some child or adult at the home when they get there. They will not go to waste.

However, the very comfortable shoes she had bought for herself were suddenly not a good fit and prompted the return last night. She assured me that we could be there and back by 8 pm if we left by 6 pm. I was not thrilled but she does not do well driving at night, so I reluctantly agreed to the road trip. Fortunately for me, Cori volunteered to go and do the driving. Since Mama’s real goal for the return was to get her money back so she could go to Bed Bath and Beyond, I was even more pleased that Cori had volunteered to go. I do not do well at that store. What I found out later was that she and Cori had been looking online and had found the scents Mama really likes. Those have not been available for a couple years according to Mama. However, when they got to the store, the store did not have what she was looking for. She ended up ordering what she “needed” online. Mama is slowly warming up to the idea of online shopping. Lord help me!

They did return the shoes, so it was not a totally unnecessary trip.

Long, cold weekend, potty training

Friday into Saturday last week the weather turned sharply colder. By Sunday morning the temperatures were in the low teens. There was not much we could do outside so Nate and I finished burning all the pallets from the pig pen and I tried to set up waterers for the animals that would keep their water thawed in the cold overnight hours. I shut down the well in the barn lot and let the lines depressurize to keep the hydrant at the chicken coop from freezing. It is a proper yard hydrant and would not ordinarily freeze but the weep hole that allows water to drain out of the stem of the hydrant must be plugged. We have had some trouble operating the handle on other cold mornings. Since this was supposed to be colder than we have had in the recent past, I wanted to do what I could to protect the hydrant; besides, I needed to cut in valves at the well so I could selectively shut off the hydrant at the barn. It has been dribbling badly for over a month and has caused quite a mess. I am replacing the hydrant and rerouting the water line into the corral for ease of use in the future, but the area will have to dry out a bit before I can do that work.

Sunday morning was the coldest day of the long weekend. The temperature was 12°F when I bundled up to go out and feed. Believe it or not, the goats were ready to get up and eat. The chickens were not so enamored with the idea of exiting the coop. There is no heat provided for any of the animals, but the coop and barns keep the wind off of them and over Saturday night, the enclosures kept the drizzle off of them. Sunday morning was not only very cold, everything was covered by a layer of ice. It was not a heavy layer, but it was everywhere, on everything.

We were a little worried about the roads but all of us got ready for church. Nate, Cori and the kids were going to do a drop in, but the church they were going to visit canceled their services that morning. About the time we got that news, the person I had asked to song for the a.m. service texted and said she would not be coming to church because the roads were too slick to travel on. A few minutes later, the Pastor began sending out word that services were canceled at our church also. Everyone got changed for a day at the farm. Mama was relieved that we did not have to attempt the sharp rise at the end of our road with ice on it as well as the county road it intersects. We did see some lingering patches of ice on our way into church that night – yes, we had services that night and had a pretty large crowd to boot.

Mama and Victoria had charge of the toddlers for that pm service. Savanna was one of that crowd of little ones. As they were all coming back into the church for the change offering (which the children collect from the adults in the service) Savanna burst into the sanctuary and shouted, “Mommy, I went pee-pee in the potty!” It was a great moment for the church. Every parent in the congregation could appreciate the moment with us. At home, we have all been teamed up to get her potty training off to a good start. There has been a modicum of success; only a few setbacks. It seems she prefers using the big potty rather than the potty chair. Whatever will work. Cori and Nate have a few more days at the farm to continue the training process before they travel to meetings somewhere up north. For that trip the camper will remain at the farm and they will stay in a hotel or a home at the destination. With the weather as it is in that direction, traveling without the camper is a good idea.

At work, we have a very busy January ahead of us. I am not sure what traveling I have over the next several weeks, but I do know there are at least five classes to be taught. I have a hunch, that pace will continue throughout the year.

Welcome to 2018.