Animals in the news, Becky and the fire, relationships

Victoria and Grandpa seem to be enjoying working together on the farm. She called several times yesterday to ask directions and to update me on several issues. One of which was the traps we had set out. It turns out that the larger trap actually did catch a predator; Droopy, the hound Grandma has adopted. He did not technically get caught; he only robbed the trap of the bait we had set in it. He is too large to be caught in it. Victoria saw him sneak off to eat the chicken head we had set for bait. Feeding Droopy was not the intent of the trap so we will have to set it more carefully in the future.


I was also informed that we will be getting the three burros we were promised last year. Evidently they and the cattle they were with went “walk about” on several hundred acres and have just recently been located and contained. Grandpa is going to set them in the feed lot we have set up. This will allow him to get to know them and vice versa. We can access which ones we will adopt and which we will get rid of. We are planning on having only pets on this farm and any difficult animal will be eaten or sold; whichever is appropriate.

The same individual has some 80# pigs for sale. Grandpa is going to buy at least two. Good thing we are thinning our flock of chickens so we can afford the hog feed. These particular pigs are young purebred Durocs; they are a beautiful russet color, which is neither here nor there because pork tastes like pork. We saw them several months ago just after they were born. There are also some Hampshire piglets to be gotten later but the Dorocs are to be raised to butcher. We will buy a Hamp sow in the spring so Mama can raise some little ones.

We have held off getting pigs until we can protest them from coyotes and roaming dog packs. It looks like now may be the time. Grandpa and Victoria will have to hurry to finish out the hog building and put the last runs of barbed wire above the hog panels to secure the building and small lot, but for the most part, it is ready. Delivery will be some time this week.

Last night I called a man in Bowie who has a dairy. We drove by it several times last Saturday and noticed several newly born Jersey calves. He told me last night that he has been keeping all the calves for his herd but he has ten more cows ready to drop calves in the next several weeks and he may sell them. The only problem is that Grandpa does not want to pay $85-100 per calf. He wants to stay around $50. We had a chance to buy ten calves at $45 each last Saturday but we had to pass due to time constraints and the lack of protection for them on the farm. That problem will be solved this week.

Becky called me several times on Sunday to talk to me about a large fire that was burning a building only a block from their house. They were in no immediate danger of losing the house but it was filling with smoke and she wanted to know what to do. When I suggested they take their doggie and leave she balked citing Charles’ rotten attitude over having to deal with the problem in the first place. Oh, well. By last night all was well. She mentioned another drama concerning their tenant harboring a runaway, but I kept clear of any details. She has a knack for involvement in interesting situations.

She is studying to become an EMT and I have the feeling she will do quite well at that should she get through the program. She is a little on the petite side for some of the lifting and carrying that may be required in the performance of some EMT duties, but she is pretty intuitive when it comes to rendering aid and since EMT rendered assistance is limited to external applications – no intubations or starting IV’s – she should be a great candidate. It is not a high paying job, but the craft can offer a full time job with good benefits. Time will tell.

Cori and Nate are already having to struggle through troubled relationships with their two oldest. Mykenzie’s heart was broken when Stewart “snatched” – her words – her balloon from her at a recent birthday party. In the ensuing tussle it drifted to the ceiling of the gym, far out of reach: the replacement balloon was poor consolation for the wounding. Boys can be such a pain. Case in point; Grant, having been refused a hug from his targeted amore, simply knocked her to the floor. (Seems reasonable in a caveman-like way.)

To date, Blake still likes his mommy better than any other female; however, the teenage years of their children could be quite a struggle for this young couple.

Farm life, the house, women drivers

We got to Bowie after 2 a.m. having left Amarillo after services on Thursday night. We all slept until about 8 a.m. Mama was expecting to sleep much later but it does not seem to work that way when we are near the farm. After doing the morning feeding Grandpa and I went to look at a hay rake that we had looked at some months earlier. We ended up buying it because of the way it was set up. We think it will be a great help to us as we begin to harvest hay, hopefully later this year, because it can be pulled by a 4-wheeler or a truck since it does not require a tractor to operate it.


On Saturday morning Grandpa and I killed and skinned eight roosters. We are trying to thin the flock to cut back on the feed required. The weekend after next we will do eight more and follow up with the final eight roosters some time in late February. That will put us down to a manageable flock of twelve laying hens and a couple roosters. We will begin raising butchering chickens in April.

Mama and Victoria were both fascinated and horrified by the exercise of turning our live roosters into edible chickens. I have to admit it was more effort than either Grandpa or I were prepared for. From now on, we will limit the amount of birds to be handled to the eight we did. The first one took us a full twenty minutes as we rediscovered how to get the job done. By the time we were on the fifth bird we were down to about five minutes each. Grandma then had to wash the chickens and bag them for freezing. It took her a good bit of effort also. The birds were a little small to be butchered, but it was good timing for us.

While Victoria and I were catching the roosters to put them into the cage we were using to house them for the final kill, two of the roosters got in with the hens and the large rooster housed with them. That did not make him happy and the fight was on. While that was happening, Mama left to coop door open and two hens escaped. So while our caged birds looked on, Victoria, Mama and I tried to catch the errant hens and separate the young roosters from the older one. I am pleased to tell that no hens were injured in the production of this episode. Eight roosters lost their lives and will be eaten soon. Three more were wounded in the fighting. They are recovering in the coop infirmary.

I tore into one corner of the house this weekend. There was already a hole in the floor by a large front window so I ripped out the wall and flooring from that point. What I found was extensive termite damage to the floor and floor joists. The joists were sitting on the ground and had been backfilled with dirt almost level with the floor. No thought was given to controlling termites and it shows. The walls are in good shape. Most of the damage is confined to the sheetrock layer which is attached to a solid interior wall of 1” Southern Yellow Pine boards.

All of the interior wall will have to be removed to properly insulate but we will make tables, shelving and cabinets out of the pine boards once they are removed and cleaned. I have decided to tear off the entire roof and redo it so it can be constructed with more available room and insulated properly. It will be a nice house when it is done; it will require only time and money to get it there. Any hopes of being ready for occupancy this fall may ill placed, but we will see. Victoria and Grandpa are fired up about getting the work done and Grandpa has surprised us thus far with the amount of projects he has completed by doing a little bit every day.

Cori told us about an episode this last week in which Mykenzie and Shepherd were playing on one of those battery operated trucks that Shepherd’s family owns. Shepherd, three and one half years old, was teaching Mykenzie to operate the vehicle, which was funny enough as Shepherd sped them around the yard with Mykenzie practically pulling Shepherd off of the vehicle as she made no attempt to lean forward as they drove together. If Shepherd had not has a tight grip on the handlebars, they would have both fallen off the way Mykenzie (arms wrapped around Shepherd) was pulling him backward. But that was not the end of the story.

Mykenzie, not one to let a little lack of training stop her, decided to drive the little truck herself – unbeknownst to either mommy. She came into the house a few minutes later and interrupted the mommy conversation with the casual announcement, “I’m really sorry. I ran over Shepherd.” Both of the mommy’s ran outside to find Shepherd literally under the truck, trying to free himself. He was not hurt. They lifted the truck off of him and all play resumed – without any motorized equipment. Fortunately it will be several years before Mykenzie will operate anything heavier than a plastic vehicle.

It may be several weeks before she is issued a permit to operate this one again.

Hurrying along, Victoria, Makaila

January is almost over. It is hard to believe. I do not know why it is always such a shock to realize the sudden advance of the calendar date into a new month, but it does seem so. Plans that were made in December now have to be put into action even though it seemed so far away during the Holidays. We are talking about Grandpa and Mama going to West Virginia in late February to gather purchased farm equipment while Victoria and Grandma hold down the farm. I will remain alone in Amarillo while everyone else is having fun.


My children bought me a plaque many years ago. It reads:

Daddy’s Dream; To someday have enough money to live as well as his wife and kids do.

I am still working in that direction.

In March we are going to triple the number of plant starts we will have made in February and put some of the earlier plants in the garden. It will be the first produce grown on the property in a decade. All of us are excited; especially Grandpa. He will be warming up some soil next week for the beginning of the starter plants – mostly tomatoes. Seeds will not be put in the ground until late March and early April, but even that is only several weeks away.

I can only imagine that Brittany is starting to freak out about her wedding plans. The date is only twenty weeks away and there is so much to do. Between that we have Andrew’s graduation from the Air Force Academy and Chase’s graduation for Somerset bible Baptist Academy; not to mention birthdays, holidays and special events we have not heard about yet. All this to be crowded into a few dozen weeks we will fly through in the first half of 2012. Time really is not on our side very often.

Victoria and Mama will do the final packing today for her trip to Bowie. Several people in the church here are worried they will not be able to say goodbye to her because she has been sick most of the week. She did not do to church last Sunday night nor did she go last night. Makaila (that is the correct spelling) did go with us – at her own invitation, but Victoria had a fever. She had been sent home from work early because of it. We are hoping she can go tonight, but I do not know yet if she will.

Mama will have to come to Borger to get me today. I am turning in the truck I have been driving while awaiting an assigned truck. My boss is making the case for taking away all “non-essential” vehicles from personnel within my group and with that in the works I do not feel comfortable continuously borrowing a truck not assigned to me. I hope it is short lived, but there is no way to tell at this point. I told Mama I hated to interrupt her nap time but there was not a better way to work it out today; besides there are people here in Borger that would love to see her for a few minutes.

We will leave after church as planned and Victoria will move as planned. I hope it is the right decision. Victoria says she is not really ready to leave this church but all she really participates in is her Sunday School class and Children’s Church. We have to drag her to Soul Winning and threaten her to make her go to any special function. She rushes out the door after the service is dismissed – like her Grandpa used to do. So I am not sure where the connection is, but it is a matter to bathe in a lot of prayer. Perhaps, the little she does is enough for her, but it is a far cry from what I a used to after being with her Mama for thirty years.

Makaila is trying to get her family to go to revival tonight. Her mom and dad are interested but church has not been a part of their life for some time now. It is always difficult to go back.

Decisions, thunder, training, moving Victoria

I left work after the requisite eight and one half hours yesterday so I could take a nap before our scheduled training. When I woke from the nap I realized it was much later in the afternoon than I should have slept. Mama had cancelled the appointment and I was relieved she had. I went back to bed at 8:30 and slept through the night. It was much needed.


She and I seriously discussed the prospect of foster care and have come to the conclusion that it may not be the right thing for us to pursue at this time. Part of the decision not to continue is due to the undue burden it puts on those around us. For instance, if we leave a child in our care for more than eight hours with any person, that person has to have a criminal background check, be fingerprinted and be registered with the foster care agency. Anyone who lives with us who is over eighteen years old must go through the training and maintain their certification during the years they are in our home.

With those restrictions, Chase and Victoria would have to go through the training as would Grandma and Grandpa since we stay with them when we are in Bowie. Any adult who regularly is in our home must go through a criminal background check.. It all seemed like too much to ask. Then there are the home inspections, the financial statements to be recorded, the disclosure of all chemicals and medicines in the home, the disclosure of all firearms in the home, the registration of all pet, etc.

At this point Mama and I are looking at other avenues of ministry which are less personally invasive and do not require the registration of all persons associated with our lives. After joining the discussion, Victoria gave Mama a brochure about helping unwed mothers at a shelter here in Amarillo. Her timing seemed perfect. Mama is going to check into it next week. I do feel a sense of relief in the decision – at least as it stands today.

Last night some thunderstorms rolled quickly through the area and the noise that accompanied them scared Victoria’s little dog to the point of total confusion. After one particularly loud clap of thunder he ran from where he was in the kitchen begging food from his mistress into the living and tried to hide under every piece of furniture in the room. Then he ran to the bedroom and tried to hide there. Finally, Victoria had to pick him up to calm him down. Boy is the spring going to be rough on him. Rosie watched the excitement and barked at him a couple of times while she sat shivering on the couch.

Mykenzie is already progressing in her preparation for marriage. Grant, who has not felt well for the past several days, came out of his lethargy yesterday and began to play with his sister. Cori says Mykenzie was noticeably excited by having her playmate back to his usual self. They were playing something that required jumping over some pillows and having a great time until she got hurt. At which point she turned to her brother and sternly scolded him. “Grant”, she boohooed melodramatically, “Why did you make me play this game? Now I got hurt!” Us males (especially those of us who are married) know that the unspoken portion is “And it’s all your fault!” At four years old she still has several years to perfect the technique, but she is showing real promise.

Mama and Victoria will be packing the van today for her move to Bowie. I get the impression she is more excited now than she was last week. There is not much to do to move her. There is a bedroom already set up for her there. Her car is already there. All we need to do is get her cloths, her books, a computer and some miscellaneous items packed. We are planning on leaving for Bowie after the service on Thursday evening. It will put us in after 1 a.m. but it will give us the opportunity for a fresh start on Friday morning.

Victoria is more worried about how to get internet there than she is about anything else.

Place your order, varmints, peace

Cori let Mama in on a family secret yesterday; they are thinking about having another baby. It seems they have been talking to the children about the idea and of course, they are totally on board with it. Both Mykenzie and Grant favor the next member of the Mortenson clan being a girl. In fact, Mykenzie has a name already picked out – Morgan. In their true childlike faith, they are already asking God’s blessings on their sister. They have a 50/50 chance with genetics. With God, the potential goes up much higher.


One of Cori’s friends in now pregnant with her fourth and her oldest also placed his order for a sister. That seemed a bit unusual since he has two brothers. His mother was expecting the request to be for an additional brother. The mother wants to name the child Campbell – though I am not sure why, but her son insists on praying for baby Sally. When his mom asked him why Sally, he answered as though she should know. “Our names are Stewart, Shepherd and Sabin, all S’s. So her name has to be Sally.” Who could argue with that? I hope he is not disappointed since the little one is already 6-8 weeks along, which, I am pretty sure is past the exchange date.

Tomorrow will be Victoria’ last day at Sam’s. We will drive over to her new home on Thursday night after revival services. I think she is excited about the move, but, honestly, it is hard to tell. Grandpa on the other hand is quite excited about the move. He is making plans for the next several weeks that will require her help. Starting the seeds for the garden is a very high priority. Getting equipment hauled in is another.

While Mama and I were in training last night Grandma called and left a message on Mama’s phone. Last week we began to set out live traps in an attempt to catch whatever varmint is killing our guineas. One of those traps caught a very large rat. Mama was freaking out though never having seen it almost as much as Grandma who had seen it. Grandpa shot and killed it; then shot it twice more to make sure.

Now both Mama and Grandma favor burning down the little house in lieu of remodeling it. I do not know what one has to so with the other, but I am wrestling that issue for the moment. Changing the structure will not eliminate the vermin any more than a thorough remodeling job will do. They would simply have newer materials to build their nests from either way; with remodeling being cheaper and faster to complete. Goodness sakes. On this farm we do not want the rats and mice to have to work with any old stuff. We will give them fresh materials to use.

While Mama, Victoria, Grandpa and the two guests were cleaning up brush last weekend, they stirred up a few mice which were caught by Victoria’s little dog. He seems to be averse to the little creatures and was murderous on them – literally. Maybe, with him in the house there will be some security for the women. My solution; catch and introduce under the house several snakes to keep the rat population in check. Grandma is opposed to that one although nature may work it out in my favor regardless.

Mama and I were talking on the way from our training about the idea that a direction, an unction must be associated in our hearts with a perfect peace before we are to act upon it. I am not in agreement with that thought. Personally, I rarely have a true peace in any of the difficult decisions I make. There is a resolve in my heart to act upon the perceived instructions or directions I have, but not necessarily a peace. My wicked heart and selfish nature always cause me to second guess even the most certain of those decisions.

Our pastor calls Phil 4:6-7 the red light/green light verses for spiritual guidance. He teaches that if there is not peace in a decision, do not act. Perhaps what I equate with resolve is peace, but I am not certain. Patience will always reveal more and more of God’s plan but waiting can lead to deleterious results also if it is motivated by fear or procrastination. There is rarely the need to hurry with God. So there must be a balance. Even in buying the farm, an exercise in which God obviously showed His leading, I told my father that I would only know we had made the right decision several years from now as we see God’s long term involvement in the project.

Perhaps, I am not spiritual enough and I know I do not spend enough time in prayer. But I am working through the idea.

Weather, a rebuke, our guest

When we left for church Sunday morning it was 45 degrees with a blistering 45 mile per hour wind. The sky was turning brown with the sand and dust being vacuumed into the clouds by the wind. As we got out of church, it began to rain. It was dirty rain; like driving through a mud puddle. By the time we got to Wal-Mart, about ten minutes later it was beginning to hail. I dropped Mama and Victoria off at the door and waited in the car.


People were running for their cars and trucks with grocery bags over their heads, their coats of little use unless they were securely zipped and snug fitting. They were tossing their purchases into their vehicles, abandoning their shopping carts and fleeing the scene as those carts became errant parking assailants, driven by the fierce winds. More than three cars were struck, that I could see.

By the time we sat down to eat dinner, the sky was clear and the sun was shining. All that remained of the storm was the water running down the full ditches. Pastor told us that night at church that was vintage Texas panhandle weather.

Victoria missed church last night because of a cold and cough. She really would have disturbed the service if she had gone, but it was a little sad that she missed her last Sunday night here before we take her to Bowie this weekend. Mama and I are going to miss her help in Children’s Church and I know Mama will miss having her around in a lot of other ways.

Pastor came by just after we got home on Saturday to tell us he was against her moving to Bowie. He was disappointed that we had not conferred with him about the decision to seek her transfer to the Wal-Mart in Bowie. I assured him we had been praying about it for several months and God seems to have answered. We cannot know for sure for some time to come, but we were confident in the move; less so about the church, which is where his objection was focused.

Mama and I have prayed more about it and we are going to let her go through with the move. It will be a blessing to Grandma and Grandpa. I hope in the long run it will be a blessing to Victoria; again, there is no way of really knowing for sure until we see God work in the situation. As I told the pastor, it is a choice between better and best and there is rarely total peace in those decisions.

Pastor did ask while he was in our home if Mama was still babysitting children. There is a young couple attending our church that has twin two year old girls. The mother is looking for a job and she will need the twins watched if she gets the job. Pastor is praying against that also, but we will see how it turns out. Mama may need the company with Victoria and Chase gone, but she does not want to tie herself down. She wants to be able to go with me to Bowie every time I go – which is not a bad thing. That idea limits the scope of foster care we will be able to provide also.

Makaliah, Chase’s sweetheart, came to church with us last night. It was obvious that it was a new experience for her. Our “traditional” services are not what she is used to, but she adapted and seemed to enjoy the church as a whole. I have asked that she come with us on Sunday nights so she can see where Chase’s faith and doctrine comes from. I cannot know how things will work out between them and they seem set on taking the relationship to a more serious level. At the least, going to services with us will expose her to the expectations of his belief system. At best, it will expose her to the plan of salvation if there is that need in her life.

Chase is at Winter Camp this week. Please pray God is very clear with him. It often takes more courage than we can anticipate to act on the issues God lays on our hearts in those teachable moments.

Farm visitors, Victoria, chicken question, real mommy

Mama invited two young ladies from our church to go to the farm with us. Since it will only be a couple nights, it seemed a perfect opportunity. We did not leave Amarillo until about 4:30 p.m. so we did not arrive in Bowie until almost 10:00 p.m. Needless to say I had a very short night. The sisters rode with Victoria for the entire trip and they all seemed to have a good time. One of the sisters, the elder, is an entertaining yakker, the younger is very quiet.


Victoria registered a complaint to me about the additional travelers but by the time we had made our first stop – a potty break – she had been won over by the two. Both of the house dogs traveled with the girls since the little van was fully loaded and despite our muted worries about the car, it made the trip without a hint of trouble.

Mama asked me if I would take the car to work today and I explained that I would not because it would stand out far to starkly in a parking lot full of pricey vehicles at this office. In Borger, that was not the case. There, even the work vehicles have seen quite a bit of wear and people are not so obsessed with what they drive. She got a big kick out of my hesitation to use Victoria’s car; preferring to take the van instead.

I went to bed as soon as I could but the girls, Mama included, stayed up for some time talking to Grandma. That is what Grandma lives for and I am sure they all got along splendidly. They will spend the day at the farm and Victoria will go to her interview at Brookshire’s at 11:00 a.m. I am not sure how that will turn out but there is the sure job at Wal-Mart – which is why we are transferring her things to Bowie. Either way she starts next Saturday.

Victoria’s being here will be a great boon to Grandma and Grandpa and I hope it will be a blessing to her as well. With Victoria, it is difficult to tell if her heart is in the right place or not, so we will have to pray and wait to see how the Lord will affect her in this setting. I am hoping her husband is around here somewhere – maybe at the language institute located here in Bowie. I am not sure of the name of the school, but they train missionaries in whatever language they need to learn for their field of service. God knows.

The chickens Grandpa recently bought have given him several eggs as a reward for their keeping. There are five hens and a rooster in the lot. Right now they are separated from the chickens we have been raising until Grandpa figures out how to arrange to new quarters. He is excited to have the hens and the eggs. We are still a little at odds trying to figure out which of the thirty chickens we have are hens and which are roosters. Grandpa and Mama thought they had made the determination until he bought the laying hens. They look just like the ones that were thought to be roosters. We are taking a step back to reevaluate the issue.

Cori and Mama were talking late yesterday about poor little Grant. It seems he was going through the house yesterday calling out, “Real Mommy! Real Mommy!” He needed some adult council on how to settle a sibling dispute. Mykenzie (pretend Mommy) would not continue to play with him because of some expectation on her part that he had not met and he wanted to make sure his real mommy was aware of the gross injustice.

Cori was laughing and sympathizing in the same breath. As his real mommy, she has to discipline as well as punish his for an infraction of the rules, while his pretend mommy simple refuses to continue to play with him should he offend or challenge her. He is caught between a rock and a hard place.

Real mommy had a hug, a kiss and a little tickle session for him. Pretend mommy had to endure his mock distain for her as he enjoyed the affection.