Distractions, escapees

Mama has never been a fan of flies. Lately we have been dealing with some huge ones. Fortunately we see then only one or two at a time. When we see them in the house a murderous attitude comes over Mama and Rosie and until the buzzing pest is sent to the fly afterlife there is no peace in the house. Such was the case last night at FBI; only multiplied by seven since there were seven women there including Mama.

It is not surprising that a fly got into the fellowship hall where we have our class since we sit right by a set of double glass doors. The doors are not opened too often during class but it happens often enough that bugs find their way into our private meeting. Last night we had one fly swatter and ten attendees whose distraction because of the fly buzzing about caused a very aggressive spirit to come over the meeting.

I am one of three males in attendance and young Ryan had the fly swatter in hand when things almost got out of control. We sit in three rows of two tables per row. Mama, Victoria and I sit in the middle row with Erin Echavarria and Ryan sits on the back row. While chasing the poor creature, Ryan ran to the front of the class and performed the most unusual ballet moves for us in his attempt to strike the fly in flight.

Ah, the benefits of youth. I would not have been able to get out of bed this morning if I had tried the leaps and pirouettes Ryan performed for us. Needless to say the mood instantly changed and we should have paused the instructional DVD we were watching but we were so captivated by the moment that no one thought to do so.

Mama kept saying, “Give me that thing! I’ll kill it!” She did not get her chance to exercise her lethal desire because Ryan chased the fly to the far side of the fellowship hall and smashed it into the floor – from mid-air. We all had a good laugh; until we discovered there was a second fly among us. Fortunately class was almost over. I have to assume the second winged intruder died of natural causes.

While she was home yesterday Victoria let the pigs out. Their enclosure is surrounded by chain link fence with a gate at the building; however, the gate does not quite meet up with the gatepost so we have access blocked by a cinder block and a piece of plywood. Once Victoria moved the block and the plywood and opened the gate they happily began to roam the property.

My greater concern is that they will end up eating the bulbs we are hoping to put in the landscape. Mama obviously shares the concern because as they slowly made their way around to the front of the house Mama had Victoria put them back in their pen, close the gate and replace the block so the gate could not be opened outward.

But pigs are pretty smart and it did not take long for them to figure out that the gate could be pulled inward allowing them to roam freely once again. They did not go anywhere they were not supposed to but the rest of the day was a repeat performance of putting them up only to find them free once again. The pigs rather enjoyed it.

I put a bungee cord on the gate last night but I would not be surprised if they meet Mama at the door this morning.

Insurance, RU news, a full day

We will find out today if insurance is to be reinstated on Victoria’s house. I am certainly hoping that we get the policy in force otherwise we will have to scramble to get coverage before the bank has to act “in their own interests.” I am not quite sure what that means exactly but it not good for us. The Lord is still in charge of how things turn out so we are hopeful that the issue is settled.

Friday evening we had a new couple show up at RU. It was very exciting for all of us in that ministry but especially for Lee and Laura. They are an unusual couple; one of the “live off the land” type but without the hardness that excludes those of us who are used to buying our milk and our meat. Mama and the new lady talked tanning hides, milking goats, cooking raccoon stew, caring for chickens, etc. I do hope they continue to come. That has not always been the case with those who visit RU.

Mama and I had a long profitable, hard day on Saturday. I got the tractor early and moved the stock trailer – which was still loaded with items from the old farmhouse in Bowie – and moved it out from under the carport so we could unload it. I honestly expected the belongings in there to take more room in the garage than they did but ended up pleasantly surprised by how little it swelled our accumulation.

Of course, some of the items went to the well house and some into the house, but still, it is done and we can finally work through the rest of the stuff that we originally packed in New Jersey – four years ago. Most of the items that have never been unpacked are pictures. Mama was very excited to see the ones we did unwrap. I will work on getting all of them placed over the next several weeks. It will be good to have them out on display again.

After we were about two thirds of the way through the stock trailer Mama had to go to Bowie to rescue Victoria – she had forgotten her wallet. I also needed a can of Fix-a-Flat so I could use the dolly to move  a couple heavy items to a new storage location. I got the trailer emptied and moved while Mama was gone and used the tractor to park it in the lot with Daisy and her calf.

When I brought the trailer into the lot to park it Daisy came over and started hopping and spinning as though she were very excited to have the trailer back. She anxiously smelled all around it for over half an hour. The only thing I can guess is that she may have thought I was bringing back Baby Huey, but that would be giving a lot of credit to her memory of him having been loaded in the trailer.

I worked on getting stone and brick put into a hole Terry Cobb dug for us for that very purpose. There were a lot of brick in the back of the property that I did not want to have around so it was nice to have the tractor to move them to the hole – three loads worth. I have room for plenty more.

After Mama and I rested a few minutes we started working in the garden. We were just finishing up on that when Victoria came home about 8:30 pm. It was a long day.

Roof repairs

I am back in the office after two days off. I had to take the time off to do some repairs to Victoria’s house so we could get the insurance reinstated – thereby keeping the loan active at the bank. I think Mama found out about the insurance on Monday when she went to the office of the writing agent to ask why we had not gotten notification about the ongoing cost of the coverage.

She was told by the agent that he had written the policy for the closing and only afterwards had gone to look at the house to get the particulars. When he saw a large patch of shingles missing from the porch roof he cancelled the policy without any notification to us. The bank called the next day. That was Tuesday.

I was thinking about taking off Thursday and Friday but when I got up Wednesday morning I was so worn out after having a very rough night that I moved the timetable up. So Wednesday we got the supplies and I started really evaluating the job – after we had visitors.

Wednesday Erin and the kids were over at the house to watch Big Hero 6. Victoria had set up the play date before she knew I was taking the day off. They had a good time while I was getting tools and supplies together for Victoria’s house. I think Mama and Victoria were finally available to help me somewhere around the two o’clock mark. Mama insisted that I not even attempt to do the work alone – that is, without her supervision.

As Erin and the kids were leaving I told Mama I was headed over to the house to get started whereupon she said, “Okay. But don’t do anything until I get there.” When I just looked at her with a characteristic smirk Erin was really amused. So she added, “Just stand there and stare at it until she gets there.”

When I got up on the roof on Wednesday  (properly supervised) I realized I would not be able to keep from sliding off the roof without some help, so I had to regroup. Yesterday I got some two by fours and attached them to the roof to give me the stability I needed to stay up on the roof steadily and I began the repairs in earnest.

It took me all day to get the repairs done as well as to patch the one offs on other parts of the roof. All in all it took a little over four bundles of shingles to make all the repairs. But now they are done; and I have the pictures to prove it.

Mama is coming to collect the pictures this morning and take them to the insurance agent who promised her that upon receipt of those pictures he would reinstate the policy and appease the bank. I certainly hope that is true.

She spent all day yesterday watching over me. She even insisted that she could bring me things as I needed them to save me trips up and down the ladder but one trip up the ladder convinced her otherwise. Her knees are in no shape to make that climb even a few times. I have no idea how many times I was up and down the ladder. I did not keep count but this morning I am convinced that my legs kept pretty accurate record of the total use.

They remind me every time I stand up.

Our sunny swamp, job news, lost bird, stretching

Yesterday turned into a beautiful day. It was the first warm, sunny day we have had in the area for quite some time. Today is predicted to be the hottest day we have had in over four months. The temperature will get to 85®F with abundant sunshine. The fact that it will only last one day is arguably irritating, but those days are soon to come in abundance. By Wednesday evening another front moves through that will drop the temps back into the sixties.

Since our back yard will take several months to dry out sufficiently to get rid of the swamp, it was at least nice to have a sunny swamp to look at. The hole we will make into the koi pond holds water pretty well. If the calculations are correct – and I have no reason to doubt them – it contains over one thousand gallons of water. At least, it will when I finish it to the specified dimensions. I had to re-borrow a pump from Lee Davis so I can empty it after the rain pass through tomorrow evening.

I have been hearing little bits of news on the progress my company is making in notifying persons of their job losses. So far my division as a whole has not been in the mix very heavily. It is a good time to let poor performers go, so they have been the first names on the lists. Several areas of the company are going to be offered for sale. Again, none of the areas in my division.

I have had several communications from the hiring manger of the posting I applied for back in early February; mostly to keep me abreast of the ongoing developments as people are interviewed and considered. I am still a contender for the post so we will see how it all plays out over the next several weeks. The timing would be good for me to get a new assignment.

Yesterday evening Mama and I went to the barn to check on our little bull and found him in good health – we are not able to even get near him, which troubles Mama a good deal. While there, we discovered that another one of the loose, barn chickens is missing and presumed dead. We have gone from three to only one over the past several months. It will be sad to lose this last one but it appears inevitable.

Both Mama and I are having trouble sleeping lately. She has a persistent cough and I am having trouble with my legs. The best night sleep I remember getting was after we all got on the rug in the living room and tried to stretch out our backs and legs. Boy, would a video of that have qualified for America’s Funniest Home Videos?

There was no hope of me being able to touch my toes. It was all I could do to bend at the waist, keep my legs straight and touch my knees. Victoria did slightly better. Mama could actually put her open hands on the floor. (Showoff!)We will have to go through the exercise again to see if it helps me sleep but I will have to make sure all phones are turned off.

A grown man can suffer only so much embarrassment.

Kitchen work, babysitting, fire, more rain

I took off half a day on Friday and cut up the kitchen cabinets to put a microwave above the stove for Mama. We have had a microwave sitting in the butler’s pantry since November but it proved to be too large to put over the range in the kitchen. It would have required me to cut out a portion of the wall behind the cabinets and that turned out not to be possible since it was carrying the wall on which the cabinets were hanging.

So Mama and I met at Lowe’s and bought one that would fit and I spent the all the time I had that afternoon to get it into place. I had everything but the plug ready to go by the time we left for RU. I asked Mama if Victoria would notice it when she got home later that evening. How could she miss it – especially since I had a power cord strung across the counter?  As it turned out she did not even go into the kitchen when she got home.

I spent two hours Saturday morning after bus visitation getting the power to the unit in proper fashion. It turned out that when I tore out the cabinet over the stovetop I found a wire stubbed into the wall that made a perfect connection for the plug I needed to install. So while Mama took Gracie and Luke to meet Misty – Wes still has her in Bowie – I kept the napping baby and finished what I had started.

It is always a fun experience to keep young ones on the home but Mama is not in her prime anymore and it always taxes her more than she expects. Had Victoria not been home it would have been too much for Mama because the littlest one, Joseph, is still petty afraid of the dogs; especially Kira. I would be surprised if Joseph weighed less than twenty five pounds so he is a lug for Mama.

By the end of the day Joseph was less timid around Kira (although he still preferred to be carried around)and Kira seemed to understand that her presence was intimidating so she tried to keep her distance from him – for the most part. When we all went outside late in the day Joseph did not even react to Sam and Sasha. That was good because both of them really like to do a close inspection of little visitors.

About three o’clock we started a fire in the front yard and burned the unusable branches of one of the trees we had laid over last week. The kids really enjoyed that. The fire lasted for several hours but was eventually extinguished by the rain that had gradually increased through the evening. We were all worn out by the time Sam and Erin came for the kids.

When we woke up Sunday morning the entire patio was flooded, the koi pond hole was completely full and there was at least three inches of water on the outer edges of the patio. I told Mama that the line we cut out that was put in to drain the area really was doing something after all. I will have to do something to help the water get out of the yard but I will not replace that pipe.

We have something larger and more permanent in mind; reshaping the back yard.

Getting moving, eggs production, weekend plans

Yesterday evening started off kind of blah. Neither I nor Mama wanted to do any real work – although there is always plenty to be done. But she did want to go to a sundry store in Bridgeport to look for a couple items for the coop. So we made the trip and it was only after we got home that she realized she did not look for the one item the initiated the trip. I am not totally innocent because when we got there I could not remember why we had come.

The trip stirred us up enough that I got changed and went out to work on the stack of lumber that still sits on the flatbed gooseneck trailer. I decided to give a few minutes to seeing if I could get the switch installed on the tractor since I was out – and since we are expecting a lot of rain over the next several days. The installation turned out to be quite easy. I had the tractor running in about twenty minutes. That was a blessing.

When I started on the lumber I was pleasantly surprised at the ease with which all the nails and screws were coming out. I did not get very far into the load because of the late start but it was very encouraging to get something done. I will have a large stack of boards when the trailer is unloaded but it will take a while since all of those boards have to be cleaned of the nails and screws. This is the type of project where Grandpa’s help is invaluable just by virtue of the hours he can dedicate to it.

Terry Cobb cautioned Mama to avoid even walking on the backfilled areas for several weeks. I think that is wise because the ground is soft, saturated and unsettled. So we are avoiding those areas even though overall the dug up portion of the back and side yards is a very large area in total. For the moment it is not hard to stay away; the entire area is a slimy mess from all the recent rains on the exposed dirt.

I do not have any official numbers but it seems to me that we are slowly catching up to the reduced rainfall of the past four years. It is difficult to tell where we are right now but I am guessing the tanks on the farm in Bowie are filling back up. I would be a blessing to Danny to see them stay full. I have not been out that way in months.

Mama has continued to let her chickens out on the evenings that we are home. In total they are not out for more than a couple of hours but they enjoy it enough that they are laying a dozen or more eggs daily. The couple that operates one of the Chinese restaurant in Decatur really like that because they buy the eggs from Mama every chance they get. They have told Mama that at first they got only enough to feed them to the baby but now they have enough that the whole family gets to enjoy them. They do not like the store bought eggs; nor do I.

Mama and Victoria are babysitting tomorrow. Erin Echavarria will be dropping off the kids in the morning and leaving them through most of the day. Mama also has worked out a time with Wes to go see Misty. Wes is training her so it will be interesting to see how that is going. She, Victoria and all the kids will be going on that outing.

I will be at the house working all day because I want to get the microwave installed in the kitchen.

What a mess, lunch, help (?)

I am relieved that we got everything covered up before the rain started but the exposed dirt is now wet and muddy. It is impossible to get to the well house without going through the mud and the ruts we made in the back yard are now deep pools of water. It will be several weeks before we are able to do anything in the yard.

In fact, the entire yard seems to be draining to the hole that was dug for the koi pond. At least it has somewhere to go where I can deal with the flow. It does give me some idea how large a project it will be to eventually terrace the yard for drainage. It is a blessing to have the new septic system but it came with a big mess attached. This too shall pass. It is just the flip side of the benefits of rain.

Mama and I went to lunch yesterday and discovered an Italian place in Decatur that is at least equal to the one we found in Bowie. Since it is much closer and they have several items we really like, it will be a frequent stop for us – probably on Friday nights when we have RU. It certainly is popular with the High School students.

While we were there Mama started coughing and ended up wetting herself to the point that it soaked through the skit she was wearing. She needed to go potty badly but refused to go with a wet backside through a crowded eatery. So, we finished lunch and ushered her out of the restaurant. Later I guess she told Peggy about the incident because yesterday evening Peggy called to tell her she had found a coupon for Depend adult diapers and was saving it for Mama.

While she and I were out I also got the parts I need to repair the tractor and brush hog. We stopped at Lowes and got a blind for the bedroom but I had to shut Mama down when I saw her slip into shopping mode. We were on my lunch hour after all. It is nice to be this close to my work so Mama and I can have those times without it costing her all afternoon in travel just to meet with me during the workday.

From second hand reports I am hearing it appears that Grandpa and Norman are buying windows and doors for Victoria’s house in their travels around West Virginia. Victoria is a little concerned about the quality of the acquisitions especially since she has not seen any of the items that Grandma tells her are “really nice” or “just beautiful”.

I have advised her to encourage them to keep going; to maintain their focus. Anything they bring will be used in one way of another on one of the two properties. It won’t go to waste and as long as they are enthused enough to purchase the items and set them aside for the house we should keep the momentum going; but she does feel left out. (Welcome to my world in dealing with my in-laws.)But I never turn down their help.

God has mysteriously clever ways of using these times to our benefit and His Glory.