Grant’s gifts, animals in general

Cori and Nate spent the day out yesterday. They went to the Galleria in Dallas and ice skated, shopped a bit and had a late lunch. On the way home they stopped at a pet store and bought a Teddy Bear Hamster as a birthday present for Grant. His birthday is today. He is now 9 years old. He is going to have an outstanding birthday if the presents set on my bed last night are any indication of the purchases made to make this day special. The hamster will top off the stack as a gift that keeps on giving – hopefully. Cori got a pretty good bite from the hamster when she was showing it to Mama and Mocha (Norman’s Yorkshire Terrier) scared it. It started to jump out of Cori’s hands and she squeezed it a little too tightly. After all, running to hide and biting are its only defense mechanisms.

I raised Teddy Bear Hamsters when I was younger. I had several other types of rodents in breeding habitats to either feed the babies to my youngest snakes or trade to the pet store for feed and other supplies for the variety of critters I was raising; gerbils, hamsters, mice and rats. I started raising rabbits for the larger snakes but quickly gave that up and gave away the largest snakes to pet stores and to the Houston Zoo. When my Reticulated Python ate the neighbor’s cat I knew it was time to downsize – literally. When I went to Texas A&M for my first year of college, I had to sell off all the critters, all the cages and all the aquariums. It paid for my first year of college in full. It also opened a very large space in the garage for my dad to make better use of. As far as the hamster in the camper Nate, Cori and the kids are living it, it ought to provide some very interesting times for all of them; especially the first time it gets loose and finds a good hiding place. I my garage menagerie, if a rat or mouse got loose, I let a snake loose to find it. It is generally easier to find a snake than a rodent – especially after it has eaten the escapee. I doubt Cori and Nate will choose that option, but it is quite effective.

I was okay with the purchase of the hamster because Cori has a friend in Florida who loaned them the habitat for the hamster and will take the animal and the loaned materials back when they get ready to leave for Honduras. The bottom line is that Mama and I will not end up with the hamster. It does look like we will end up keeping Bella since it is so very expensive to take her to Honduras with them. Mama really enjoys Bella. Her breed is a more “stay with you when you are out” than the wandering breeds Victoria has raised. When they are let out – or get out – it may be several hours before they come home. Bella, in contrast, does not seem to want to wander too far afield when she is with us. Part of that is the training Nate has invested in her, but part of that is the nature of the breed. I would be okay with not keeping Bella, but Mama has decided she should stay with us when Cori and Nate and the kids leave the country.

Speaking of animals getting loose, I turned the rabbits loose Wednesday night. Mama was not enjoying having them and they were in need of treatment for ear mites, which we did not ever seem to have time to take care of. Mama and Victoria do not enjoy eating rabbit, so there is no sense in raising them. We gave it a good try, but we are not rabbit people. I do not think the three of them will last long in the wild, but it was better for me not to have to kill them and put their carcasses in the usual spot. I will be surprised to see them again, but it could happen.

We will start the New Year with less of an animal variety but overall with a large population of animals than last year.

Completion, demo, not quite sick

I spent the morning Tuesday morning getting the insulation put up in the small well house. I discovered when I cut the plastic wrapping on the first package that I had bought the wrong type of insulation batts. I needed the best deal I could get so I settled on the purchase without studying it thoroughly. I bought six-inch-thick insulation when I only needed three-inch-thick batts. That turned out to be a blessing in disguise. I bought only half the amount I needed – I thought. As it turned out, I separated off three inches of the spun fiberglass and installed that portion without any backing. The part left with the backing I used on the upper portion of the walls. The unbacked portion was used on the lower portion of the walls. When I had finished the walls and stuffed insulation into openings where the roof met the walls, I still had three complete pieces of the insulation left. I will use it on the covering for the well at the large well house. I still lack the threshold (to seal the doorway) and the railing and gate for the porch (to keep the cattle out), but I am close to completing the project; close enough to keep the well and tank from freezing during a cold snap. I took a shower right after I finished with the insulation.

While I was doing that, Nate began tearing up the old pig pen. I made it three years ago out of pallet we got for free. It allowed us to raise four or five pigs over those three years, but it was time to get it replaced. In order to get rid of the wood, we used the gravel pit in the patio in back of the house. I needed a place to burn the pallets where we would not have to worry about the nails and screws being left in an area where we will need to drive the tractor. The open pit in the patio made good sense. The only issue was that we had to carry the pallets to the pit – which was less of an issue for Nate than it was for me. As the demolition progressed, Nate and Grant found a series of rat nests; one of which was inhabited by two large rats. One of those is no longer a threat to us. We kept the fire going in spite of the constant drizzle, but finally had to stop when the drizzle turned into actual rain in the late afternoon. By that time, the pig pen was almost completely dismantled. Only a couple of the pallets are in good enough shape to keep and even those are probably better disposed of than kept for future use. I can usually get more pallets when I need them. It was good to have the help on a project like that.

In the absence of the pig pen I will have to put up some cattle panels to keep cattle out of that area, but that is an easy fix. Right now, it is open to the back of the property and Sam and Sasha have been investigating the area pretty thoroughly. It has not been available to them in the past. At the moment the ground is dry and covered with leaves so you cannot see the actual mess the pigs created in rearranging their habitat. It will look much better once I get the tractor and level the ground where the pigs rutted out rather large holes; again, it is an easy fix. It will look different, perhaps better, with the pallets gone. It always amazes me how little remains after something is burned. The forty pallets used to create the pen will be a small pile of ash once the fire devours them. I will scoop the ash out of the pit and put it on the garden when we are done. Nothing will go to waste – except the nails that bound the wood together.

Mama, Victoria and I did not go to church last night. The two of them are still feeling poorly. I am constantly nauseated, on the verge of throwing up but have not done so yet. I woke up a couple times last night because of a roiling stomach, but I laid still and each time the nausea passed. I thought about not coming to work this morning, but I am not sick enough to justify staying home; no fever, no diarrhea; no throwing up. But I did  not want to chance exposing anyone at church to the flu.

One more day and we will finish out the work year. That went fast.

Christmas, visitors – good and bad

When my vacation was recalculated at work I ended up with six hours left for the year. When my comp time was added to that I had a total of sixteen hours to take off. I elected to take off last Thursday and Friday. Thursday, it rained all day, so I helped Mama inside, but Friday and Saturday I got to finish up the well house. By Saturday evening, when Nate, Cori and the kids arrived, I had the door hung and lacked only the threshold to having the little building completely enclosed. I was happy for the extra time at just the right time. (Tuesday, I got to put in all the insulation.) Once the grandkids were on the scene, the pace of life at the farm sped up considerably.

The rest of Saturday was used to get the camper set up, get the final supplies for the Christmas meal and to get things ready for Andrew, Brittany and the twins – who were coming Sunday afternoon. When the babies got to the farm, the level of excitement was even higher. We had a short service Sunday night, Christmas Eve, and everyone there fawned over the twins – who, by the way, are exceptionally good babies. Everything was going well until Grant got sick. Cori was not sure what the issue might be, so she and Victoria took him to the emergency room for a formal diagnosis in case whatever he had might adversely affect the twins. It was an expensive and gracious ordeal on her part. He was diagnosed with the flu. Once that was determined she had to find a pharmacy that was open on Christmas Eve. There was only one they could find – in Denton. So, while we enjoyed a service at church, she and Victoria drove to Denton to get his medicine. It was sad to have him miss a visit from Santa.

Santa got to our house about 9:15. All the grandkids were dressed in matching pajamas that read “I Love Santa”. A friend and coworker plays the part of Santa; and he does an amazing job at it. He handed out certificates to the kids for being on the Nice list and read them the Christmas Story about St. Nick – the one that “Up on the Rooftop” was written from. It was a fun time for the kids even though Mykenzie and Blake knew he was not really Santa. Savanna wanted nothing to do with him. Lots of pictures were taken and a few good memories made. Santa even took time to record a personalized video for Grant – was sick in his bed throughout the visit.

Christmas morning everyone was well. Grant was up and going full force. We opened presents and enjoyed the reactions to the presents as they were unwrapped. Brittany knocked it out of the park with a gift to Mykenzie and Savanna of twin baby dolls. Savanna was so excited about the dolls that she was almost trembling as they were being removed from the final packaging. That was the stellar moment of the morning. Later that morning, Victoria got sick with the flu. That night Mama fell sick. Victoria spent most of Monday (Christmas Day) and all-day Tuesday in bed. Mama spent all day Tuesday in bed. In light of the fact that others were getting sick, Brittany and Andrew and the twins headed home Christmas night. Hopefully, they outran the virus – at least what was visiting our house.

Before Mama got sick, our Chinese family came over to have lunch with us. We had prepared enough food for all of us and they brought enough food to feed all of us. We had so much it was overwhelming. While we worked to keep our traditional meal warm, Alex and his wife prepared two hot pots (one mild and one spicy) with all kinds of Chinese traditional foods. Most of what was cooked we liked, some of it not so much. I tried sea cucumber, chicken and duck feet and oyster mushrooms for the first time. It was the only time I will eat chicken and duck feet or sea cucumber, but we liked the oyster mushrooms. We all liked the fish balls, fish cakes and the vegetables. With the hot pots you just keep putting your cut/prepared items in the hot water and cooking it as you eat it. It was fun. By the time I finally called it quits, I thought I was going to bust. We are still eating on some of the delicacies and sushi while we freeze some of the leftovers from the large ham and the rotisserie baked turkey.

Victoria was better last night. Mama is better this morning. At the moment, no one else had gotten sick.

Our Christmas to remember.

Appliances, cold weather

Since it was raining pretty heavily last night and since the girls had to be taken to Master’s Club Program Practice, Mama and I did the feeding as best we could with the weather being what it was and rested just a bit before leaving the house to get Yilin and Cheyenne. There was not time for me to get into anything useful before we had to leave and it felt good to sit still for a few minutes. It was still raining (Praise the Lord!) when we got the girls and dropped them off at the church, so we did not linger as we headed to Lowe’s to look at hot water heaters…and maybe dish washers

The hot water heater in the house is near the end of its functionality but I have hesitated replacing it because it sits in a cabinet in the hall bath and has a narrow opening through which the new hot water heater must pass in the replacement process. The opening is 19”. That is fairly small for a hot water heater, so I was almost certain that I would have to pull off the cabinet door and facing to make the switch. As it turns out, Smith makes a 40-gallon hot water heater that is only 18” wide. It is taller, but I have plenty of height to work with. As a backup plan, if I have to remove the door and frame to get the old hot water heater out, I will buy the 50-gallon model – which requires a slightly larger opening. I forgot to make that measurement last night, so I will have Mama make it this morning; before we go at lunchtime to buy the replacement.

Getting the replacement installed is of some urgency. With Brittany and Andrew staying with us over the Christmas holidays and Nate, Cori and the kids also with us we will need an ample supply of hot water to meet the demands of the additional eight people. Since the weather will feel like it really is winter, Nate may be limited in setting up the camper for using the bathroom as they normally would, but then again, they have been in some pretty cold places this year and may have all the requisite freeze proof connections for those conditions. We will know by Saturday afternoon.

I was happy to see that not much water had gotten into the well house from the day-long rain. (We got about an inch and one-half total.) The shop was another story, but I am well aware of the places I need to seal up to keep that from happening. I just have not ordered the trim to cover those areas. That might happen today as I pick up the trim to seal the top edges and corners of the well house. My hope is to have the door on the well house and the insulation up before we get the 20° weather forecast for the Christmas weekend. I would like to install a heater in the well house and be able to walk away from that project – soon, maybe. If not, I can make what I have work for a few more days. I think what might be really pushing me is the need to complete a project. I have yet to do that on even one project.

It would be my Christmas present to myself.

Cooking lessons, selling pups, LuLaRoe

Yesterday evening was a bit rushed. I did not get home until about 4:40 because I stopped by Prime Metal in Bridgeport on my way home. I had to order the trim pieces for the well house and the goat barn. I am trying to get the well house enclosed before the severe cold weather we have in the forecast for late this week. I am not sure I will make it but I am giving it my best shop. Unfortunately, I did not have time to work on it yesterday. I really wanted to seal up the front edge before the predicted rain started today but I did not make that deadline. By the time I got home, Mama and Victoria were through feeding and Victoria was headed out to the LuLaRoe lady to try on a dress. Mama began quizzing me on whether or not I wanted to help her decorate the house and was both disappointed and shocked when I reminded her about our cooking lessons and taking Yilin and Cheyenne to Masters Club Christmas Program Practice. The look on Mama’s face was priceless when she realized she had forgotten and had scheduled a puppy visit for 5:30.

It was too late to cancel out on the family coming to see a pup because they were headed to Chico from Bowie as I was reminding Mama of our other commitments. The family has a special needs child and they currently have a large dog that is very near the end of his life. That dog had been a valuable part of the child’s life so far. They are looking for a dog to grow up with their four-year-old autistic child – and we have the perfect pup to fill that need. They fell in love with one of the males and left a deposit with Mama. We are giving the pups their first shots either tonight or tomorrow. The family will pick up the pup Thursday. They are very excited. Even though we had to rush a bit, they were satisfied with the visit and the selection. We now have only two pups left and there seems to be a strong interest in them. My hope is that by the first of the year our birthing center/day care will be empty.

Victoria hurried through her appointment and as she and Mama talked back and forth Mama confessed that she was buying yet another dress. She told me it was okay because she was paying cash for it; as though that made it somehow not cost us “real” money. I did not fuss too much. We were running late to get the girls to the practice at church on time, but it was not a matter of urgency. The girls were watching for us from the windows of the restaurant as we drove up. Lin was watching also. I think he was more excited about the cooking lessons than Alex was. Victoria and I stayed at the restaurant as Mama ran the girls to the church.

Alex had the lesson all planned out, so we started right away. We prepared Mie Fun, a rice noodle dish that has become one of our favorites. Cooking Chinese cuisine is all about the preparation. In the kitchen, they have all the ingredients ready to be cooked. Whether those ingredients are meats, vegetables, seasonings, rice or the various kinds of noodles, everything is cut, chopped, ground, mashed or soaked so it can be put together in whatever combination is required for the dish being made. Ours required egg noodles, chicken and shrimp, green onion, cabbage and a variety of spices. I did all the cooking this time while Victoria watched and took pictures. It took about fifteen minutes to complete our first dish – which Victoria took to a table and began devouring while I stayed in the kitchen to make a soup and watch Alex make some of the selections that had to be refreshed on the buffet. By the time we were done we had the Mie Fun, a tofu soup and some Bok Choy in teriyaki sauce to take home.

When Mama got back with the girls, we all sat and visited while the three of them ate. It was a fun evening.

The cantata

The cantata was pretty much the focus of our entire weekend. I helped Mama feed Saturday morning. We had some rain overnight and the feeders all had to be dumped and wiped out before we could set out fresh feed – that took some extra time. (Goats will not eat the pelletized feed if it is the least bit moist; much less wet.) Then I went bus calling with the pastor. Normally, that takes until about noon, so I did not go home after we got back to the church. Instead. Mama and Victoria met me for lunch at Moua’s. Mama and I went on from there to play and cantata practice. As we left the restaurant I realized I left my director’s book at home. I could not do the practice without it because I had spent a couple house practicing with the CD of the cantata and had all my markings and reminder notes in that book. So, I had to rush to the house and back. I think I was about fifteen minutes late for the 1 pm practice.

We were at the church for several hours running through the play with the songs. It takes a good deal of time to get down where each song is staged, how quickly we need to get into position and how to arrange ourselves when properly set so I could see the instrumentalist to lead the song. But, the choir members were gracious and willing to do whatever was suggested – even providing a few suggestions themselves. Some of them are true veterans at this. We finally got done with practice at about 4 pm. The teens went caroling after that. Mama and I went home, fed the animals, started dragging out decorations, etc. I got to work in the well house for about an hour while I filled the large water trough in the barn lot. It was so near empty that a hungry crane ate all the fish we had still living in the trough. I am not sure if they would have survived the winter, but it was sad to see them become part of the food chain.

Since the trough was devoid of fish, I dumped out the remaining smelly residue of water and scrubbed it clean before filling it back up. The reason it was empty was twofold. First, I had disconnected the hose from the well because of freezing weather. Second, when the bigger cows invaded our little farm, they sucked down the contents of the trough before they went back to their normal foraging. Our calves could not reach the water in the trough because of the low level so it was somewhat important to get it filled before the next cold snap. It was very close to dark by the time I got done. I did not realize how long it takes to fill a 500-gallon trough through a ¾ inch hose.

Sunday afternoon we started our final rehearsal at 4:30, running over some rough spots in the music and finalizing the choir’s placement for each song. I called a halt to the rehearsal after a little over an hour because I was worried about wearing out our voices before the performance. As we performed the cantata there were places where we could have done better, but overall, I had to commend the choir members and the musicians on how good the songs sounded. At one point, the choir started to go up onto the stage to sing and we were not supposed to do so. I quietly got everyone’s attention and set the young men in the choir to their task of getting the stage reset for the final couple scenes. I realized as we were coming up to that part of the play that we had not rehearsed what we were supposed to do at that point but there was no way to communicate that to the choir without taking away from the performance of the ongoing play. A minor hiccup. The good news is, that’s behind me now and I really can relax and enjoy the Christmas season. Mama is ready for me to get onboard.

Tonight, we get our first cooking lesson with Alex.

Feeding problems, practice, materials

When I got home, Mama was doing her evening feeding. All seemed well until she went over to feed the calves. While she was over in the barn lot Daisy decided to come for a visit and bring a few friends with her. She alone might not have been a problem, but when some of the cows started jumping the fence to get to the feed she was setting out for the calves, we started to see an issue. With all that going on, Mama was in the barn putting out more cubes to make sure the claves did not get beat out of all the feed while competing with the bigger cows. I fussed at her to stop because the ten or so cows and bulls on the other side of the fence were looking for a way to get to the feed they knew was being poured out. All in all, only a few came over, but we had no time to get them back onto Wayne’s property before we needed to leave. They might actually be content to stay since we have a fresh bale of hay set out and plenty of water close by. I do not want it as a long-term solution, but I have to repair the fence before I get the strays back to their owner. All this excitement and still Daisy came without her calf. I am not sure what Mama will find this morning. We could have several extras or we could have an empty barn lot if the calves decided to go next door for a visit. I’m just glad the cows did not smell the alfalfa we got down from the loft to feed the goats. We might have had a stampede.

The hour I got to spend with Erin Echevarria going over the cantata music was a great help to both of us. Mama was there with us as we played and sang through the songs that had been giving both of us problems. About 45 minutes into the practice Mama called on me to stop before I lost my voice completely. For some reason I have been struggling with my voice. For about five weeks or so – as we have been practicing the cantata in choir practice before the evening service – I have had to have Bro. Zach lead the music for the evening service. My voice has been too worn out by the time choir practice was over. Everyone has been very gracious, but it is troubling to me personally. Mama went on to get involved in play practice after Erin and I had gone over as much music as we had time for.

I went to Wendy’s for Mama – who was not hungry when we were at home but was suddenly faint with hunger when we were at the church. I got extra fries for the Echevarria kids knowing Mama would not be able to eat in front of them without feeding them also. While the actors practiced their lines, I went to Lowes. Since I did not have much money to spend last night I shopped for insulation for the well house. Trying to interpret the information on the packaging and cross reference that with what I knew I needed took more time than I had thought it would. I did finally settle on a planned purchase; maybe early next week. In looking for insulation I would like to put in the shop, I was thoroughly disappointed with what was available – at least price-wise. I will have to spend a lot more time and prayer to come to a workable solution to address that issue.

I did pick up some cans of foam to do some preliminary sealing of the floor and ceiling in the well house and a couple cover plates for junction boxes I put in while relocating the breaker box. Nothing that cost much, besides, I will not have time to do much this weekend anyway.

By the time I write this blog Monday morning the cantata will be over. Pray for us. We need it.