Shopping with Mama, Victoria, kids

Mama talked me into shopping with her yesterday evening. Not the kind of shopping we typically do. She wanted my help in the workshop to cut some 4x4’s into craft sized pieces. She and Kim had been working on other craft projects all day and Mama wanted to be able to paint and otherwise prepare some blocks of wood for further craft projects. I just happened to have a very warped 4x4 laying in the goat paddock. It had been recovered from the little metal building we built to house our chickens when we moved from Bowie to Chico. I had completely dismantled that building and floor and had already repurposed all the other materials from that demolition, so the last 4x4 was also reassigned for new uses. It was good for nothing I was doing but would work well for a particular craft idea, so I had promised it to Mama and Kimberlyn.

I was not feeling well so we did not work long, but I taught Mama to use the miter saw and the belt sander. She also used the drill to remove some screws that had not yet been removed from the 4x4. Kimberlyn is proficient in the use of all the tools in the shop, but this was Mama’s very first time to use any of the equipment. She was pretty excited to cut and sand the few blocks we worked on. She immediately saw the benefit of having the variety of items available for woodworking. It is interesting that over the many years of our marriage, Mama has never chided me for any money I have spent of tools, but she has never expressed any interest in learning how to use those tools either.

Last night was different. It was fun. It was a good distraction for me. Over the next few days Mama will paint the blocks in preparation for Kimberlyn to further embellish then with detailed paintings. They will become pumpkins, snowmen, Christmas trees with candle holders, etc. I failed to get a picture of the double-sided tall project they finished yesterday. It is a snowman on one side and a scarecrow on the other. It is really cute. I think if they made some desk-top sized ones, I could sell them at work. Or Mama could sell them at the coffee shop in Bridgeport. I know they will be excited when they start selling any of their items. I will be interested to see what items sell best. Whether or not we start to ship those items like Makayla’s parents do remains to be seen. But if we do, we have a resource for questions on how to package the items and how much to charge to ship them. Meanwhile, they are taking over my shop.

Victoria has been home the past few days with back issues. Saturday, she hurt her back somehow and the pain has been relentless. She has tried several therapies with limited success but Kimberlyn got her started on a blend of oils yesterday that have given her some relief. I will get out the inversion table this evening so she can see if that will help her ease the pain further. Still, rest is still the best remedy for the injury she is struggling with. Rest is an expensive commodity in our busy culture.

All the baby goats seem to be doing well; nannies and kids. They enjoy the rockpile made for them in the paddock. Last night, Julian was jumping off one of the rocks at the edge of the pile. It is only five or six inched high, but that is half his height. The other three babies are moderately active, but they will get more so as they develop. They are only three days old right now and getting more active by the day. By the end of the week, they will be pestering their respective mommies all day long. Both Millie and Aspen have more than enough milk for the twins each of them will be nursing, so we have no worries there. These kids will be a couple weeks old when the next ones are born. That will be quite a difference in size the newer kids will have to deal with. But somehow, they will manage.

It is good to see all the new life on the farm.

Perfect birthing weather, staying positive, giving

The night that Aspen’s twins were born (Saturday night) was forecast to be near freezing. That did not happen. The temperature got down into the mid-forties. Perfect birthing weather. So much so that Millie delivered her twins yesterday morning. Again, one boy and one girl. Both of the girl babies are solid black. Aspen’s red boy, Julian, is beautifully marked. It is hard to tell at this point, but he may have blue eyes. That would be a huge selling point. I did not take any pictures last night as Mama and I tended to them. I should have. It was just fun to stand and watch the babies play on the rock pile we have in that paddock. All the little ones seem to have full bellies and plenty of energy. Especially when you consider that they are only a couple days old. Lilly and Dolly have not kidded yet but that should be happening soon for Dolly. Lilly may be a few weeks out still yet.

Mama and I purposely fed only enough to allow the goats to produce twins. Millie proved that out by having her first set of twins instead of triplets. Rick had warned us that heavier feed produces heavier babies or more babies. So, Mama and I were very measured in feeding our expectant nannies. It is better, we decided, to have healthy twins than to risk losing triplets again. By the time we breed again, next June (Lord willing), Midas will be ready to go. He is not related to any of the nannies or their offspring, so he can breed them all. That will be fun to have happen on our farm for the first time. Of course, our feed bill is about to go up dramatically as our herd grows from seven to fifteen.

Being in constant pain and being stressed by finances is making it difficult for me to stay positive. Part of my sudden illness over the weekend has to be attributed to psychosomatic origins. Physical in response. Psychological in its roots. It was as if my body gave me an ultimatum. It demanded rest. And it got it. I have not felt good for some weeks now. Constant heartburn. Constant bowel pain. Constant back pain. As much as I try to tell myself that there is nothing that can be gained by worrying over any of the issues that trouble me, I still am who I am. Highly reflective. Highly introspective. A worrier by nature. But this I know. God is in control. He is bringing about His perfect plan in Mama’s and my life. I see His blessings. I feel His mercies. I stand amazed in His love. I am not able to change me. But He can and when Mama and I come through this trial, I really “shall come forth as gold”.

Mama and I looked at tickets last night. Tickets to Honduras. We found some for the end of January at an unbelievably low price - $202 per person round trip. Only $404 per person to fly business class. We did not immediately get the tickets, but we are definitely praying about it. At that price, it would be much more affordable than our last trip. That is a good thing since there are a couple things Mama and I would like to do the next time we are in Honduras. In preparation for purchasing the tickets, I applied to both American Airlines and United for credit cards that award miles for purchases. We will use only one for the purchases. Since both airlines offer competitive pricing, we will just have to weigh the options for travel to see which way to go. American always has a layover somewhere, but offers rewards based on segments. A flight with a layover is worth two segments each way. United has direct flights out of Houston to Honduras. With international flights, that would be preferable. That way we only handle our luggage once on the way down – when it is typically at its maximum weight. Maybe we will use American for domestic travel and United for international travel. Time will tell.

For now, we pray and wait. God does not give us money to consume it totally on ourselves. There are so many around us with far more urgent needs than ours. Mama and I help where we can. When we can. In whatever way we can. For instance, recently Mama overstuffed our upright freezer and it began to fail. Instead of letting the meat spoil she called a friend at BBTI and offered the meat to them. All in all, it was about sixty pounds of pork. About fifteen pounds of that was the bacon Mama had traded to get when we butchered our pigs. She really hated to lose it, but it gave ten struggling families a couple very nice meals. It was not much. What would have been our loss was instead a gift to friends. As Mama and I struggle to give while we meet our own needs, it was a pleasant opportunity to help. One we would not have come up with on our own.

Serving the Lord is uniquely thrilling in that way.

Building stalls, expanding the roost, delivering kids, sick

Friday night I began laying out posts for the stalls I have wanted to build behind the shop. The stalls will be multipurpose, but my initial thought is to use them for bottle baby calves. That all turned out to be a bit more work than I had anticipated, but I wanted to get the stalls to the point that we could house a calf if one were available at Monday’s auction. That may have been a moot point, but that was a driver in the work I did all day Saturday. While Mama and Victoria went to Trade Days and then visited with Grandma and Grandpa, I got the five posts set for the stalls. All that took a lot longer (about 45 minutes per post) and required a lot more effort that I had planned on, but if we do get a calf this week, all I would need to do is put up a gate at the one stall I have nearly completed. My back was hurting fiercely when I was completing the posts and wire.

When I was waiting for the water I poured in the half-finished holes to soak in and soften the ground, I worked on doubling the roosts in the side of the coop housing the mature chickens. The chickens are very particular about where they roost. I had a pipe that extended from wall to wall in the coop that essentially doubled the roosting space. Although the chickens liked the pipe, Mama did not want a metal pipe as a roost. She was worried about the chicken’s feet freezing to the metal in the very cold weather. I am not sure we get enough nights at sufficiently cold temperatures for that to be a concern, but she has read that it can happen. So, I replaced it with a wood roost. The chickens would not use the wooden replacement at all. I have no idea why, but I find it a challenge to think like a chicken. Saturday, I removed the extra wooden roost and doubled the roosts that follow the walls of the coop. I just put one more roost board about twelve inches out from the old roost. The chickens seemed pleased with that arrangement. They still fought over the most coveted spaces on the old roost – relegating those lower in the pecking order to the less desirable spots. But everyone had room. Mama was pleased. That’s the main goal.

We had a picnic to go to Saturday evening, so I had to stop around 3:30. Since we would not be back until late that evening, I went out to feed before I got showered and changed. When I headed to the goat barn, I heard one of the goats in distress. It is an unmistakable sound. It was Aspen. She was having trouble delivering her first kid. Before I got down to help her, I went to tell Mama what I was doing. Mama was in the house cooking hamburger to make chili for the picnic. She quickly abandoned that to change and help me. When I got back to Aspen, the kid was crowning, but she was still bleating in pain. When the hooves started to show, I pulled gently to help the kid come out. It was a prefect little red male. I cleaned off his face and put him where Aspen could begin cleaning him.

By that time Mama was in the barn watching. No sooner did Mama arrive and the second, all black little girl pop out. I had to work on her to get her face cleaned off so she could breathe, but she appeared fine as well. Aspen soon got up and began cleaning the kids in earnest. Our first two kids of this season. Mama will keep close watch on these two to make sure they are nursing well. Meanwhile, Millie should kid today – if she did not do so overnight. If she delivers without issue we will be pleased. Last year she lost her three kids. I had to pull one from her in order for her to deliver the other two stillborn kids. A sad memory. This year we hope for better.

After I was certain Aspen was done kidding, I got cleaned up. Victoria went to get the girls. Mama finished the chili and slaw. Once everything was done, we loaded up and headed to the picnic. Everyone had a really good time playing, visiting, eating hotdogs, brownies and cake. We all had our jackets with us. The weather was perfect. Very little breeze. The temperature about 65°; falling slowly. We stayed about three hours. I had one hotdog and one brownie.

For some reason, I could not hold that down. I made several emergency trips to the bathroom through the night. The pain in my stomach and bowels coupled with the pain in my back made for an uncomfortable night which spilled over into Sunday.

I spent all day Sunday in bed. I think I slept more on Sunday than at any time I can remember in the recent past. If I did not sleep 20 hours, I was very close to that. My Fitbit buzzed twice to tell me to get moving. I ignored it both times. Today I am better. At least my stomach is better. The pain in my back is still excruciating. Movement through the day will help that to some extent. I hope.

Night raider, teaching, Mama’s business, the weekend

Tuesday night when I went out to close up the chickens, I came across a night raider. A young opossum. I did not have my pistol with me, so I had to dispatch the poor thing with the only tool I had available; a hoe. It was not a pretty sight. The only reason I was able to succeed was the fact that opossum are not quick on their feet. When I got hold of its tail it was not able to comeback around and bite me. It was a sad affair, but necessary. I cannot allow chicken killers anywhere near the coop. When I can catch them in the act, I am required to act. Mama is now raising four sets of chickens. One group is five months old. One is for months old. One is only two months old. The last group – three chicks hatched out on our farm – is only two weeks old. I will process the Cornish chicks (the two-month-old group) by the end of the month. That will leave Mama with thirty or so new chickens coming into the coop as laying hens. At some point we will cull some of the older chickens, but we have not set that date yet. When we do it will cull ten or so chickens from the thirty-five we have on the other side of the coop. Only a dozen or so of which are laying faithfully.

I have spent the last two days in class. I did not teach on Wednesday. One of the other instructors took that day. I sat in the back of the class and shared when I was called upon to do so. My voice would have been totally gone by the end of the day had I taken the class. There were thirty-three in the class. A large class in a large room. That required a lot of voice projection to reach those in the back of the room. I did not have it in me right now. Plus, that gave me a chance to rebuild the apps on the new phone Victoria got me. It took me the majority of the day for get all the necessary apps loaded and grouped properly. Time well spent. Thursday, I taught a much smaller class of five – in a much smaller room. Even still, I wore my voice out by the end of the seven hours of teaching. Both were really good classes. The class taught on Thursday may be my last presentation of that particular class since we offer it only once per quarter. Time will tell.

Mama and Kimberlyn were still crafting when I got home yesterday. They used the shop a lot more yesterday than they have ion the past. Kim Cantrell knows how to use most of the tools in the shop. The only one they cannot use without my help is the planer. It is both heavy and awkward to get out of the place I have it stored. I use it only outside the shop because it makes a mess with the shavings it blows out as it planes a board. It is also very loud. I have to wear hearing protection every time I use it. I generally have all the planed materials ready for them in advance. But Kimberlyn is able to use all the other saws, sanders and drill presses I have set up and available. Yesterday they cut a lot of pieces and built several items that will be painted at a future date.

On Tuesday evening, I set up a couple mini paint booths – made from boxes – in the shop so Mama could urethane some of the signs and placard’s they have already built. She was able to spray some items that are being repurposed and get a feel for how to coat and cover their crafts without getting too much overspray in the shop. They reused all those little booths yesterday as they cranked out more crafts. I do not know if they have determined to go to Trade Days this weekend or not. I honestly do not know how much product they have to sell at this point, but they really want to make a go of it. They are anxious to test the waters. Time will tell how that will work out for them. They certainly are producing some clever, marketable items. At least, I am impressed.

I have purposely made no plans for the weekend. There are a lot of little items I still need to catch up on. There are some projects I have accumulated sufficient materials to begin, but not complete. There is an ongoing list of honey-dos. But I am still dragging around a bit. I will try not to bite off more than I can chew. That in and of itself is difficult for me to gauge. But the fact that we got some rain this morning will allow me to set a few posts and to pull posts in another area. I have avoided both of those two tasks because the ground has been dry and hardpacked. Unrelenting to a shovel. Unyielding to my efforts to pull posts.

Answered prayers, cautious optimism, Walter, teaching days

Mama and I have been through a dearth of sorts lately. We have prayed fervently for several issues in our lives. Most of the issues are what would seem small to those who are not directly affected by them, but added together, they have presented a challenge for me and Mama. The constant breakdowns of items in and around the home, the loss of items which have significance to me and Mama, the continuous delays on projects that need to get done at the farm, in the house and in the lives of our children and praying friends. For a time, it appeared that there was no intervention from the Lord. That seems to have changed as of Saturday. Repairs have been made. Items have been found or replaced. Often the replacement a significant improvement over what was lost. Prayers are being answered in the lives of our friends and children. Bold prayers. Spirit guided prayers. We still face the hurdle of overcoming significant delays, but there too, the Lord is moving. We rejoice in that. There are still significant prayer needs in the lives of several of our children; health needs, financial needs, daily needs for Godly wisdom. God will answer each of those in His time. In His own perfect way. Meanwhile, we will continue to apply ourselves to prayer. The recent encouragement has been welcome.

I am cautiously optimistic about our houses in Lawton. Yesterday, after much prayer, I sent an email to our relator, Glenn. It was written in a way that is truly reflective of me. I conveyed our disappointment. I conveyed our sense of wounding that promises had not been kept. It reinforced our continued faith in Glenn to make this happen as he has for many other investors. It was a risk on my part. A risk of being misunderstood or misrepresented. I got the response this morning. It was the response I had hoped for. Praise the Lord! Hence, the cautious optimism. We have two houses in Lawton that need to be finished, marketed and sold before we can move forward. Almost all of our cash is tied up in those two properties. Little has been done to get that work completed despite the promises. Perhaps that will change now. We will see.

Maggie has had some major issues with Walter recently. Anger issues. Serious anger issues. Like many young boys going through the life changes brought about by entering school – the anxiety of learning while competing with everyone around you, the hours of sitting, trying to concentrate on material that is all new. Intent on doing well. Frustrated through and through that someone else understands what you do not. Someone else gets to answer the only question you knew the answer to. Further frustrated and embarrassed by the question asked of you that you did not know the answer to. He does not even realize where the anger is coming from. He does not know how to combat it. He often times does not want to combat it. Anger makes us feel strong. It makes us feel like we have overcome instead of being overcome. And right now, everything going on in Walter’s life makes him feel like he is being beaten. All of the emotions he is unknowingly dealing with will make him a strong and able man someday. So, Maggie and those around her must find a way to help Walter feel like he has some control without giving him control – especially through a manipulative, angry outburst. It is a common, albeit challenging parenting issue. Maggie and Walter (and Cathryn) need our prayers right now.

I will be teaching classes tomorrow and Thursday. I enjoy the teaching aspect of this job. When I am presenting the classes, the day seems to fly by. Each of the four or five classes I teach are eight hours long – more or less. We have had very few complaints about the duration of the classes. In fact, many times, there is feedback that we should have offered more time for the class. That may be forthcoming. There is such a need for the content of the classes we present, but there is also a need to improve and update that content; to step up our game in authorizing presenters to give the class who are industry experts. That too, may be forthcoming.

Anyway, I will be out of the office for the next couple days – doing what I am hired to do.

Phones, life

Friday morning, I purchased a used phone through a friend at work. It is an iPhone 7, red. It belonged to a teenage daughter of the friend of the friend. I was willing to make it work, but I started off with some difficult issues. There was no icon for the App Store on the phone so I could not upload the apps I needed to make the phone serviceable to me long term. There was no Safari icon on the phone, further limiting the functions I needed. Last, but by far, not least, there was no audio. When I put my sim card into the phone and did the required updates, I could make a call, but I could not hear or be heard. That pretty well negated any ability to use the phone.

I got off at lunch Friday so Mama and I took the phone to the Cricket store to see if there was an issue that they could help me resolve. The staff there found out that the issue was with the latest software update recently released by Apple. If the audio chip is not 100%, the software will not recognize the audio chip. Hence, no sound. Apple was aware of the glitch but the only place to get that addressed was at the Apple store, an hour away. Mama and I went there next. Queued in for a two hour plus wait to see a technician and went to dinner. When we arrived back at the store – having been notified by text that we were in the short queue, we met with a reformed tech who was now in sales. He quickly explained that the only fix was to replace the phone - $399. Disappointed, we shopped briefly for a phone, but the prices were prohibitive. In the end, we were given a gift card for $150. The price offered when trading in the phone. We left without a working phone, but with the gift card. That was Friday.

Saturday, Mama spent the day with Cheyenne and Aubrey. It was Cheyenne’s birthday and her parents could not get off to do anything with her. Cheyenne spent the night with us Friday night – chattering endlessly – and Mama and Victoria picked up Aubrey Saturday morning for a day of eating out, shopping and a run through the trampoline park in Denton. They were home in the early evening. I stayed at the farm so I could get our trailer tires replaced in order to get it back in service. When I got back from picking up the cattle panels last week, I noticed that one tire on the left side was completely shredded and the other tire on that side was worn thin. Finding replacements proved difficult and expensive – but doable. Once that was done, I worked on little projects around the farm.

Saturday night, Victoria talked me into getting onto her cellular plan. When we explored the options, she was able to add me for about what I now pay on my separate plan – phone charges included. She was able to upgrade Mama’s phone as well. So, Mama and I will have new phones on the way. I am not sure that was the best answer, but it was the path chosen. That being set in motion, I gave the gift card to Victoria who used it to buy a refurbished Apple Watch. I suppose it was a win-win-win. Time will tell. Today I am still without a phone, but that should be short-lived. I was able to return the phone to the seller and get my check back.

Yesterday, Dr Carl Baugh was at our church. It is always fascinating to hear him speak. I asked him a question about getting the message of Creation to a culture not trained to consider it as an option. I asked if there was one particular thought we could share that could spark a question in their minds to consider Creation. He offered the following thought. Only life begets life. Chemistry does not, cannot produce life – ever. The Big Bang, the primordial soup, the proteins available cannot produce life; especially in the diverse complexity we have all around us. Only life produces life. Every life reproduces after its own kind. Without exception. A simple, amazingly complex thought.

I will have to stew on that.

Last weekend, this week, this weekend

Last weekend I took the canoe I was given and put it into the quarry lake on the property adjoining our farm. I had outfitted the canoe with a rod holder so I could take several rods along without having to work around them as I put out the jugs I had made. I worked to get everything ready Friday evening and put the canoe in the water early Saturday afternoon. I only had three jugs ready, but I was excited to get them out and test them. I was careful with the canoe, staying in the middle of the canoe to keep away from any type of tipping hazard. It went so well that I texted Mama later that day to tell her I was confident we could make it work for us as our go-to watercraft for the lake. It did not go so well that evening when I went out to pick up the jugs.

On both excursions, I fished a few minutes as I either set out the jugs or retrieved them. On both occasions I caught a nice sized bass. Saturday evening, as I was retrieving the last jug – I had caught nothing on the jugs – I was gently blown against the bank of the lake by the constant wind. I had moved to the front of the canoe but thought nothing of it as I took the oar and pushed myself (and the canoe) away from the bank. I must have leaned into the oar as I pushed off the bank because the canoe immediately flipped over; dumping me into the lake. Not really that big a deal but I had not taken my phone off before launching the canoe into the water. I was in shallow enough water that I could stand. It was just above by waste – which kept my phone underwater for a minute or more as I pulled the canoe far enough onto the bank to dump out some of the water in it.

I belatedly put my phone in the dry box in the canoe, recovered everything but a pair of needle nose plyers (they do not float) and headed to the launch site; anxious to get my phone into a bag of rice to try to dry and salvage it. Having water in the canoe made it a struggle to get the canoe steered to the place I needed to get to in order to get it out of the water. There is not much “beach” in the quarry lake so there are only a few places to launch a boat into the lake. What water was still in the canoe made it very difficult to get the canoe out of the water and onto the bank so that I could dump the water out of the canoe and load it back onto the trailer. All in all, it was a half hour before I got the phone into the rice to hopefully dry it out. In the end, my poor phone died completely. A sad, tragic, painful electronic death. It sputtered and flashed and almost worked a time or two. But eventually it went completely dark. I am searching for an inexpensive replacement now – but I am not hurrying. We do not have the money to upgrade yet, so I just need something to get by for a few months. The issue is that I need to stay in the Apple line of products. It will eventually work out.

Mama is ready for me to get a phone. It is her link to me when I am working. We have been sadly out of touch through this week as I have been working remotely at the Texas Motor Speedway. Only on Monday did we stay in touch. I took that day off to take her to the Texas State Fair. That was a fun, albeit expensive day. But, Tuesday through Thursday, I have left the house very early and returned very late as I participated in our company conference. I taught class on Tuesday, then stayed for a reception out on the track – as people who attending the conference took rides in the race cars.

One poor young lady even got to experience a crash as the car she was riding in broke a ball joint at 160 mph slamming into the wall forward, then in reverse as it spun out of control. Neither she nor the driver were seriously injured, but she had some significant bruising from the harness and helmet as she got slapped around during the two impact episodes. Amazingly, she got into the next ride along and went back out on the track. They took her for a couple extra laps in appreciation of her resilience. I got home about 8 pm Tuesday.

Wednesday, I attended a full day of speakers and panel discussions that lasted, reception included, until about the same time. Yesterday, I helped in a class that finished up at lunchtime. None of the seventeen participants were disappointed by the early completion time. I stayed for lunch, sitting with some of the folks I had met during the conference then headed out. I was back in the office at about 1:30 pm. Home at my normal time. Mama was excited. It was a grueling week for all our company folks, but the company benefitted greatly from it.

Last night, Mama and I attended the monthly beekeepers meeting. We are looking forward to setting up our hives. With the contacts we have through the group in the area, we should be in good shape next year to get the hives going. We were told not to expect any honey our first year. The goal is to get the hives going. To get the colonies strong – well established and reproducing. We are as ready as we can get for now.

This weekend will be spent catching up to all that was not done during the week…that includes making up for time not spent with Mama.