Time issues, a lazy day

My streak of writing did not last long. I am trying to set aside time in the evening to write this blog, but no matter what time I try to dedicate to the effort, morning or evening, a number of interruptions seem to arise. A definite advantage to completing the blog in the morning is that Grandma is not typically talking on the phone early in the morning, while most evenings she is hurrying to get her words in for the day. Even when the door is shut to the bedroom she and Grandpa share, we can all clearly hear her conversations when they are happening via cell phone. 

Grandma loved the cell phone. When she is not in conversations on the phone, she has gospel music playing. From the time she gets up each morning until she lays down each night, you can track her whereabouts in the house by following the music. It is not a bad thing except that she has been on an Elvis kick lately. I do not like very many of his later works, but it is nostalgic for Grandma, and she focuses on his Gospel songs.

I did not really get much done today. I was not feeling well. Not too badly, but not well. So, I focused on little chores around the farm and computer work that needed completing. I spent almost forty minutes on the phone with a bank representative earlier this morning. I had to close three business accounts with that bank. The representative and I worked through each account individually to get that done. At least, when it came time to review and sign the required documents, the representative was able to group them into a single email. That helped. So, six accounts at three different banks have been closed successfully. Only one more to go, but that one will have to wait several months. 

After I got done, I took about an hour to burn the second crop of boxes that had multiplied in our garage. That was the second batch this week. I am not sure where they come from, but they take up an inordinate amount of room in the garage, so it is difficult to ignore the clutter they cause. After that, I put some insulation on the beehives. I have held off doing so for a couple weeks, but with significantly colder weather in the forecast, the time was right. 

Mama went to a feed store in Decatur that has changes owners recently and found some really good sales. You know how much Mama loves a good sale. She ended up with some shockingly good deals. Normand and I even got a pair of work boots out of the deal. Mama got some name brand – I do not remember what – gum boots and a pair of shoes of the same rubber material. 

I thought it was interesting that one of the colors I had to use to paint the insulation I put in the hives was a very similar color to the gum boots she came home with. I had only two good choices on spray paint colors, none of which were the earth tone colors I was looking for. I felt that it would be best to paint the silvery, shiny insulation before putting it on the hives. My thinking was that the bees would not react well to shiny hives. Maybe that was unfounded, but I painted the insulation anyway. The fact that one of the colors I had to choose from matched Mama new gum boots was kind of cute. 

Mid-afternoon, we replanted the blackberry plants that had to be moved when we relocated the backyard fence and mapped out our new garden spot. In the later afternoon, I made a pot of beef stew and Mama made some drop biscuits which we paired for dinner. Now we are settling in for the evening. I will finish out the day by closing up the chickens and pigs. Mama and I will spend some time praying together and I will surf the headlines before we call a stop for the day.

It has been a good day overall.

Banking, wet and cold, doctor visits

Mama and I spent the majority of the morning doing banking. Having the time to do so has eluded s to this point, so we took advantage of the opportunity. We physically visited two banks in Decatur, one, to close an account and a second to restore Mama’s web access to the account. That was kind of funny, because the lady helping Mama get her access straightened out told Mama her User ID, which Mama thought was her password. So, Mama had all the right information, she was just entering it backwards. Anyway, we placed the money from the account we had closed into the new account, made several stops around town and eventually headed home. Mama and I are still adapting to my open schedule.

Before we had left home, I had spent almost thirty minutes on the phone with a representative from another bank (our third for the day), resetting my online access. It turned out that the bank had recently reset many of the web access features and my access had been lost in the transition. 

The reset required three test codes to be entered at different intervals in the process, a copy of my driver’s license be sent – front and back - and something else I cannot remember at the moment. It was somewhat convoluted, but the account manager helping me was extremely patient and kind. In the end, we got it all worked out. I regained my online access and will complete getting funds moved and the accounts closed tomorrow and Thursday. We are consolidating to make things simpler in my retirement. At least, that is the intent.

On the farm, I did not get much done. It was a cold, wet day and working outside was miserable, so I did not attempt to tackle too much. I did cover the opening that will soon hold a French door on the container. My hope is that I can warm the container sufficiently to complete the touch up on the insulation we blew onto the ceiling and seal up the sides of the window opening I cut into the container. Both applications require the metal to be warmer that the ambient temperatures we are currently experiencing. Once we get those nagging tasks finalized and I complete the walls, we will be able to paint. That is, if I can get it warm enough inside the big metal box. For now, I have only one oil filled heater inside the container. To start the warming process. I want to see how much that does before I get too aggressive and drive up our electric bill more than necessary. 

Late this afternoon, actually into the evening, Mama and Norman both had appointments scheduled with the doctor they are seeing. The arrangement with this doctor is for a nominal fee each month paid for her services, they have virtually unlimited access to her and can call at any time for help. They can schedule appointments as often as needed and can have a full blood workup once per year, all for a set monthly fee. It is a very reasonable charge. From my way of seeing it, it is a pretty good arrangement. There is no catastrophic coverage for hospital stays or surgeries, but we will cross that bridge if we get there. For now, this is all Mama or Norman need, and it has proven a workable primary care solution. 

As Mama rested this afternoon, I started feeding early. I had feed to haul to two locations around the enclosures, and the forecast was for rain to start about the time we typically go out to feed. As it turned out, I was putting things away and heading inside as the first raindrops began to fall. The rain that started at that time has continued through the evening and is predicted to remain steady through most of the night. It is a soft, very cold rain. So, we will not get a lot of accumulation, a half inch or less. It is a welcome respite and a relief to our dry conditions. 

It seems that the fire we kept burning in the fireplace all day yesterday would have been more appropriate today, but that is not how we did it. 

Answered prayers, retirement

I have not written in quite a while, but I would be remiss if I did not begin to do so once again. I lost interest in updating this blog because it seemed a less than profitable way to spend an hour or more each day, but I began to be convicted about losing this opportunity to praise the Lord for all the blessings He gives us in our daily walk with Him, especially lately. Mama and I have had one answer to prayer after another and week after week, the Lord has opened the windows of blessing for us.

The answers we have seen are not big things, but each answer to prayer was met in a very specific way. For instance, I decided a few weeks ago that we should get rid of our ducks. Mama was not thrilled with the idea, but eventually saw the reason behind letting them go. With Winter setting in, the work required to keep the ducks in water was a huge chore. So, we prayed that the Lord would supply buyers to purchase all our ducks. I set up at Trade Days in December with the fourteen ducks we had left. I did not want to bring any home with me. I sold eight that morning, but I had to leave at 1 pm to make a choir practice scheduled for Saturday afternoon. I left the six remaining ducks with Norman, who had also set up to sell some odds and ends. Before he left for the day, Norman sold the remaining six ducks. As we had prayed, we came how with empty cages.

Although we miss the loud quacking as we head out of the house to feed each morning and evening, we are pleased that we made the move to sell the ducks. Now, our evening routine of closing up the animals each night takes only a few minutes instead of a half hour or more. 

We have had very specific prayers answered concerning individuals we have been praying for. I cannot mention them specifically, but it is exciting to know that our prayers have touched the heart of God. Each time that happens, we stop and thank God for letting us connect to the work HE is doing in the lives of those around us. 

Another answer to prayer was finally getting the spray on insulation applied to the ceiling of the container. After a couple failed attempts to apply insulation panels to the ceiling, I discovered that there are only certain adhesives that will stick to metal. Nothing Norman or I tried to use worked properly, so we started to do a lot of research. I finally found an acoustical spray on insulation that would work. With a little more research, I discovered that not all the spray on insulation formulas are white or that ugly yellow. I found a gray colored spray. Not only did it go on well and adhere well, but it looks great. Even Norman was very impressed with how the project came out. Mama loves it!

Now I can move on with the project finishing up the insulation on the walls, installing a set of French doors, and all the paneling that is waiting to be attached to the interior walls. Once I get the container sealed up, I can get it warmed up inside and painted. Following a little bit of trim work, Mama and I can set up shop. I am so ready to get this done. An added bonus is that now that I am officially retired, I will have the time to put in the hours to make that happen.

Yes, I am officially retired. I waited until the end of the year to retire in order to give myself the financial bump I felt we were lacking at the earlier proposed June 30th date. I am glad I waited. I was given two bonuses from my employer prior to the end of the year and Mama and I got a sizable refund from our mortgage company because I changed insurance providers, saving almost $1500 per year on home owners insurance. Praise the Lord!

So, for the past week, I have been exploring what it is like to not have to report for work but rather tackle all the little projects I have let slide because I had only a few hours per week to invest in them. I almost overdid it for a couple days, but I will learn to pace myself. It is amazing to have full days to spend in whatever way I see necessary for that day. Eight years ago, I took a year between jobs to practice retirement, but now I am fully committed. The only downside is that at 67 I can feel my strength lagging a bit more than I did those years ago when I was laid off and spent a year living off my severance package. Oh, well. I still have enough strength to do most all the things I see that need to be done. 

It may take me a bit longer or require some extra help, but I can figure out a way to meet the task. God is Good!

Sink upgrade, winter temps, a mess

For the past couple of weeks Norman has worked on replacing our kitchen sink counter and the sink. This included not only made replacement of the countertop and sink, but also the backsplash. I think it was two weeks ago that I helped Norman cut the counter so that we could set it in place and hook up the new sink. That turned out to be the easy part. Hooking up the complicated plumbing system required for the sink and the web water supply lines to the multitude of valves that the sink offers turned out to be a challenge for Norman. He did finish most of the water and drain lines the first day, but we've been waiting on the backsplash.

Over the last several nights he has set and glued the backsplash in place and last night he grouted and cleaned the backsplash so that all that's left is to seal it and to do some caulking along the edges. It looks really good! Mama has not seen it in person yet since that part happened while she and Victoria are still in Florida. However, she was very excited over the pictures Norman sent to her. This is the second sink that we've had in the kitchen, but this is by far the best remodel we've ever done of that counter and a huge upgrade at the sink. The backsplash is icing on the cake, so to speak. Norman does very good work. It's taken some time because he's sandwiched the work in between several other jobs he's working has contracted to do but it is nice to see that project come to completion. Now, we'll start to work on the other side of the kitchen - the stove countertop that expands into the living room. No hurry on that.

Though the temperature yesterday peaked at 81, this morning’s temperature was 34 degrees. Just above freezing. For the next three nights we are going to see temperatures just slightly below freezing somewhere around 28 degrees. That's pretty frigid for this time of year in North Texas. It does not portend a severe winter, but it did put me on my toes getting the water supplies we have in the house and around the farm ready for freezing temperatures. I had to spend yesterday afternoon, all afternoon, disconnecting and draining hoses, covering faucets, and running heat tracing on one line.

We're at that time of year on the farm where life is most difficult for us. When the temperatures are below freezing overnight, we have to make sure that all hydrants and spigots are drained and covered. Then, in the morning we can hook up the hoses that we had drained and use them to get water to the various places on the farm that we water the animals, making sure to disconnect the hoses in the evening and prepare for the overnight freeze. Fortunately, this cold snap is only going to last three nights. Unfortunately, I have a very poor selection of hoses that we can hook and unhook easily, so I’ll have to buy at least two hoses to help us make it through the winter months ahead.

From the animal 's point of view, all of them have good dry shelter and places where we can feed them in the dry, so it's not a hardship on them. They just huddle up together in the corner with the least draft of whatever barn or enclosure they're in. It is amazing to feel how warm they are in the mornings when we feed them – just after they have stirred from their beds.

To ensure the two little boys that we had in the garden while they were being weaned could stay warm, I carried them over to spend a few days with Samuel in the small enclosure over on the East side of the farm. Saturday, Norman helped me wrestle Midas from the small enclosure into the larger enclosure with Little Boy Blue, Mini, and Jersey, two of our little does that needed to be bred. Little Boy Blue was having trouble getting the job done because he's just a bit too young to handle the more mature does, but Midas didn't have that problem. Later this week after Mama gets home, we will move Samuel and two of the little does into a separate area to let that breeding take place. I'm not sure what we'll do with the Little Boy Blue except to leave him where he is for right now. I wait further instructions from Mama.

Also, as soon as Mama gets home, we're going to get the quail and baby ducks out of the garage. The cold temperatures outside necessitate leaving the garage door closed. Because the garage door is closed, the messy little ducklings produce a less than appealing smell in the garage. Every time we raise up little tiny ducklings, we are amazed that how huge a mess those tiny things can make. We are using a water container to provide water to the little ones in the hopes that they can't make that big a mess of it, but they manage anyway.

Grandpa provided them with fresh water in the container that most fowls would simply drink out of, then he stood back and watched. Within a few minutes the ducks had sloshed almost all of the water out of that container and onto the puppy training pads that we try to keep fresh in there to soak up part of the mess that they make. The four little ones simply dipped their beaks into the water, waggled their heads back and forth in a blurring motion, and spread the water around everywhere. A little fresh water became a huge mess in about sixty seconds. It's impressive. We have kept the ducklings in the garage just to safeguard them from the low temperatures, but they'll find a home in the grow out pen until they can be integrated with their larger cousins.  

There, they can mess up the area to their heart’s content.

Impact of rain, Mama and Victoria

Part of the direct impact we've had from the rain here lately, was that the tree Mama and I have worried about just South of the duck enclosure, uprooted and fell onto the enclosure a couple of nights ago. The damage wasn't that extensive, but the repair will be time-consuming. The structure of the enclosure held together pretty well and the large box that I had in there for the ducks to lay in actually held the weight of the tree as it collapsed and tore through part of the roof. I took some time last night after I got off work to look at the damage First I cut away the tree from the duck pen to see if I could at least lift the roof back up and secure it as close to the way it should have been setting before the tree fell on it so that as we get a couple of inches of rain over the next couple of days it would at least keep the duck pen somewhat protected. That turned out to be harder than I thought it would.

I had to use the tractor to move the tree after I had gotten everything cut away from the roof and sides of the enclosure. With the ground as soft as it was and the tree is heavy aa it was, that proved a bit of a challenge. My 20-inch chainsaw would not function properly so, I had to use my smaller chainsaw and it turned out the blade for that chainsaw was completely worn out. So, I set aside the 20-inch chainsaw, sharpened the blade on the smaller chainsaw, and just did the best I could. Fortunately, when I got to the point where I needed two people to try and slide a piece of metal underneath the tear in the roof where a limb had pierced through the roofing, Norman was just coming out to check and see how I was doing. With his help we got a piece of metal in place and as it rained today not very much of that rain actually got into the duck pen, but if we do get an inch of rain tomorrow, I don't think I'll be able to boast in that claim.

Hopefully, I will be able soon to tear off the roof, rebuild the structure, and then replace the roof and maybe even do a little bit better job on the structure than I originally did. In the meantime, our ducks are just gonna have to make do with the pen that's a little bit damper than what they're used to. Needless to say, based on the trauma they suffered when the tree crashed down on them, they are not laying right now. I guess that's to be expected.

Yesterday morning Mama and Victoria caught a plane to Florida. As Mama was rearranging and swapping purses Wednesday afternoon, she realized that she did not have her driver's license in her wallet as she would have expected. We searched everywhere. We opened every purse she ever carried. We looked through the pocket of every shirt and jacket she had ever worn. And we looked in places where there was even the remotest possibility that she could have set the license down. To no avail. So, I gave Mama her expired driver’s license to take with her along with her passport. That would provide sufficient identification for her to board the plane, but it would not allow her to rent and drive a vehicle.

When we were coming home from church Wednesday night, Mama asked me to fish out a jacket that she had stored in the car. Over the process of several days, we had folded the seats down on top of that jacket. I fished that jacket out for Mama to put with her stuff that she would carry to the airport, and hauled Victoria and Mama to the airport early Thursday morning. I got home about 8:10 from that drop off. It was only about 30 minutes later that Mama called me. She found her license. For some odd reason she had stuck her license in the upper pocket of that Jean jacket that she had not worn for quite some time period she only discovered her license there when she put on the jacket at the airport and then went fishing through the pockets of the jacket. Well, praise the Lord!

However, when Mama and Victoria did arrive at the airport in Pensacola, the reservation that I had thought I had made for them for some reason was not registering on the computer have the car rental company. Mama and Victoria hopped from car rental counter to car rental counter trying to find available cars at a price that they thought was reasonable -something less than $100 a day. It took some searching, but they did finally find a car rental agency that did not have an office in the Pensacola airport, but rather was stationed outside the terminal in the little booth. They were able to rent a car for about $60 a day plus all of the other things that they charge you in conjunction with the car rental. All told, they are ending up with a final charge of about $499 for the five days Mama and Victoria will be in Pensacola. Ouch!

The reason Mama and Victoria are in Pensacola is because Victoria has been looking at houses for purchase and or for rent in the Pensacola area. She and Corie are anticipating Mykenzie being a student at Pensacola Christian college within the next 18 months to two years. Victoria is thinking that if she can relocate to Florida - a move that would not necessarily be a hardship for her - then she and Mykenzie could share the house while Mykenzie attended college there. I think they're finding that to be a little bit of a pipe dream. Recently interest mortgage rates have jumped to almost 8%. Navy Federal Credit Union, as Victoria pre-applied for a loan, gave her an interest of 9.3%. Double Ouch!

On $150,000 loan that adds about $850 to $900 per month to the mortgage payment just in interest. Realistically, that is probably not doable, but she and Mama are still looking at houses currently available on the market in both Pensacola and Milton. The fact that they get to go to the beach several evenings during their five days in Pensacola were a tremendous attraction for Mama to make the trip with Victoria. Also, Mama just needs a break, and why not make that break a beach break. On the good side, from my way of thinking, since they flew to Pensacola, there's very little that Mama is going to be able to buy and bring back from Pensacola to the farm. So, I may not end up with a lot of extra stuff to try and find places for.

Right now, the garage, the shop, the well house, the barn, and any place where we have items being stored are overflowing with clutter. Even certain places in the house where Mama has tried to consolidate her crafts are just overloaded with totes and boxes. Tables are piled up with sundry items that may one day actually turn into some type of marketable craft. In my shop, Norman has supplied us with hundreds of board feet of lumber from the projects that he has been working on that may also end up turned into crafts at some future date. But right now, they are just occupying space in my shop making it difficult for me to work on anything that actually needs to be done.

I hate clutter, so, I am not sure that is a good problem.

Traveling, hatching ducks, goats

 Thursday, Friday, and Saturday I traveled with some men from our church to a men’s retreat in Rose Bud, AR. Fourteen of us went to the retreat. This is my second time to go, and this year was even better than last year. It is difficult to describe the sense of unity and camaraderie that permeates the weekend. There were several competitions in shooting, pistols – all caliber, rifles – all caliber, .22 rifle competitions, and even an archery competition. The highlight, however, was the preaching. Two sermons Thursday evening, then morning and afternoon devotionals on Friday with two sermons following supper. All this ended with a short devotional sermon Saturday morning after breakfast. Mike Norris, our pastor from our time in West Virginia and Terry Angel were the preachers this year. The campground, which also serves as the campground for Junior and Senior camps, is about six hours from Decatur. It was a pleasant drive both directions. The weather was mildly cool in the evenings and overnight but warm through the daylight hours. We all left the retreat charged up. The effects of that reviving will be in the forefront of all our minds for many weeks to come.

It was wonderful to spend some time with Pastor Mike and catch up with each other. His mom, Helen, went home to be with the Lord in February. It was equally wonderful to hear him preach. He was Mama’s and my first Independent Fundamental Baptist preacher. When we grew dissatisfied with the denomination we had been a part of for many years and decided to try out another church, it only took one exposure to Ripley Baptist Temple and Mike Norris to know we had found the place of service we had been looking for. Mama and I have faithfully attended Independent Fundamental Baptist church ever since that first Sunday morning. I often share with people that the very first Sunday morning we attended Ripley Baptist Temple, Joshua and Cori prayed to receive Jesus as their savior. It was the first time either of them had ever heard a clear-cut presentation of the Gospel even though they had grown up going to church. Mike Norris was a big part of that. Hearing him tell stories of his ministry in West Virginia – which we were part of almost from the time he began to pastor the church – and to hear him preach again brought back some very fond memories.

Back at the farm, Mama, spent Saturday at an event in Chico. The Chico Days event was set up on the lawn of the town square. It has never been a heavily attended event, but this year was slower than Mama has seen in the three years she has been attending. A rough estimate of what she took in in sales and what she spent in event fees and food, left her with a net income of $8 for the day. She came home a bit discouraged and quite worn out. It did not help that one of her upline in Color Street sent out a happy text that she had a single sale of $425 Saturday afternoon. Mama and I have never been sure why people around us do so well at the things we struggle to succeed in, but such is life.

After watching over a potential twelve duck eggs, we were left with only four successful hatches. While I was away for the weekend, Mama let the last few eggs incubate and when one of the eggs exploded Saturday night, Norman unplugged the incubator unaware that one more little duck was trying to escape its egg. That duckling died within the next couple hours – while Mama and I were at church – because it got too cold. Sad. With that, Mama and I are finished up for the season. Once I get this incubator cleaned up, it will be stored with the other two incubators until Spring.  

Our goat babies are growing quickly. Tomorrow Mama will be taking four more of the little ones to get disbudded. Of the nine recently born on our farm, we had to have seven disbudded. That is the most we have had in any kidding, but that is not a bad thing since the horned goats are the dominant trait. We have them disbudded so that they will not grow horns. It is not only that we prefer polled goats. It is that the horns can be a constant problem in the paddocks where we raise out goats. We have had one horned goat in the past get its head caught in the fence. Not necessarily a bad thing except that the temperature was very hot and the prolonged exposure to the direct sun and the constant fighting to get free caused the goat to die from heat stroke. Mama and I were both upset at the senseless loss even though we did not particularly like that goat.

Yesterday Aubrey came home with us after church. She and Rosalee played inside all afternoon, but when Mama and I went out to feed they ventured outside to join us. We had limited time to feed because of church that evening, but the two girls decided to help feed the goats. Friday, Seth had dropped off a large part of a round bale he came across somewhere in his travels. He just pitched the hay over the fence from the back of his truck as he parked in our circular driveway. That location seemed too far to Aubrey and Rosalee, so they carried armfuls of the hay to a more convenient area. This exercise attracted the attention of a couple of our baby goats. The girls were quite pleased with the response and continued the operation until Mama called a halt so Aubrey could cool down before church.

The couple days away with the men from our church was a great respite, but home is where my heart is, and God has blessed me and Mama with a great home.

Success, weekend updates

Our chicken flock inspection went off without a hitch last week. The inspection team showed up about 9 am and worked through the forty or so chickens in our coops – as well as the quail we had on hand that morning. Mama had to catch each chicken herself because the team was not allowed to touch the birds. Something to do with liability should any of the birds be harmed. Even though I was working from home I was not able to help because of meetings I had to attend that morning. So, it was a bit of a hardship on Mama, but she muddled through and the entire flock we successfully tested by about 10:30. I do not know if we will ever use the certificate to market our birds, but now we are authorized to do so. The ducks were exempt from testing. I am not sure why, but we were relieved to hear that bit of news.

Friday evening, Mama and I met a coworker of mine at her house to see her bourgeoning quail business. Having only been in the business of raising quail for a few months, they now have about three hundred birds in their care. An additional two hundred and fifty eggs are scheduled to hatch mid-week. They have the flock set up with groups of mixed males and females to give them fertilized eggs, large groups of females only just to produce eggs and even larger groups separated by age as the quail rapidly mature. Mama and I bought three mature females to place with a male we had so now we have two cages with a male and three females in each cage. Those six females often produce six to eight eggs per day. It seems that the females are capable of laying more than one egg per day. Too bad we cannot find any chickens that can do that. I would be thrilled if our ducks would lay one egg per female per day, but we count it a blessing when we get more than two eggs per day from our ten hens. We will go back at some point to buy more mature quail, but for now, as we raise the five we hatched, we are full up. So far it looks like we have three or four females in our chicks. Mama is excited about that.

Also on Friday, Leoni came by to visit and to drop off our Little Boy Blue. We negotiated on the purchase of the young buck many months ago but Leoni wanted to show him in the circuit she shows her goats in. As she expected, our Blue Boy did very well taking first place and Grand Champion in his class at three different shows. He was housed with Samuel and Midas in their small pen Friday afternoon. The three bucks got along well instantly. Like they had known each other all along. All our fretting about the butting and shoving that is normal for such an integration simply did not happen. That was a huge relief to Mama. What did happen was that all three bucks immediately began to stink themselves up to compete for the attention of the four female goats in the paddock beside theirs. A wonderful aroma now graces the breezes blowing through our trees.

Saturday morning as Norman started installing a new countertop and sink in our kitchen, l took two of the nanny goats we bought thinking they had been bred, to the goat sale. It has become abundantly clear that none of the four were able to maintain their pregnancies due to the nearly starved condition they were rescued from. Mama and I realized we might take a loss selling the two but the trade off was getting them with a buck to be bred – without any assurance that that would be successful – and feeding them out for another six months while we waited to see if they had any kids or taking the loss on the two just to reduce our headcount. We erred on the side of cutting our losses and in the process did take a loss. We bought the females for $200 each hoping we could get babies from them. That did not happen. We sold the two of them for $266. A net loss of $134 plus four months of feed.  Not too bad, actually. It certainly could have been worse. They were two goats we did not plan on keeping even had they given us offspring.

When I got back from the goat sale I changed and went to church for bus calling. I went with Pastor to visit some of our bus kids then he and I went to look for homes out in the country to see if we could talk to anyone about the Lord. Instead, after stopping at four homes and finding no one home, we were pulling onto the county road and felt the unmistakable sensation of having a flat tire. It did not take up long to change the tire, but Pastor, knowing he was headed to Ada, OK to preach Sunday night, decided it was time to get some new tires on the van. He dropped me back off at the church before he headed to the tire shop.

Back at the farm, I helped Norman pull the old sink counter and cut and install the new countertop. I will have pictures of the finished project later. While Norman was working on hooking up all the appurtenances of the sink, Mama and I left for the church picnic. It is an annual event so lots of our church family look forward to it. The weather was perfect!  After Pastor and I finished cooking all the hot dogs and everyone had taken time to eat, we presented the gift we had voted to purchase for Pastor and Joyce for their twenty-year anniversary serving as Pastor of the church. It was a brand-new Polaris Ranger 4x4 crew cab side-by-side. They were completely stunned by the gift. I was extremely pleased that the entire church had kept the secret until we made the presentation. The look on their faces was well worth it.

It is a gift that will serve them for many years to come.