Cori and Nate’s anniversary, chicken moves, growing her business

Cori and Nate’s wedding anniversary was Wednesday. Today it their second anniversary of relocating to Honduras. For their wedding anniversary, the kids made them breakfast in bed – made to order - but the special service did not stop there. That evening the kids set up Cori and Nate’s bedroom to look like a restaurant, dressed up and served them at the table they had prepared for that purpose. I did not get the menu for that meal, but it was a pretty clever idea since they were not allowed by virtue of the quarantine to go out to eat at a restaurant. What a special memory. I know that over the years our children have done some special things for Mama and me. I only wish not that I had memorialized those events in the same way.

After dark last night Mama and I moved the slightly older chicks into the West side of the coop. As we fed earlier that evening, we closed off that side to all the older chickens which displaced the twelve or so that had regularly roosted on that side. Eventually, all those hens found a spot on the East side of the coop to roost for the night. I am not sure how much consternation it will cause when the hens that lay in the nesting boxes we have always had on that side no longer have access to that side, but I am confident they will eventually figure it out. We moved the nesting boxes from that side into the East side for a total of eight on that side. All the hens will now have to find an opening on the open side to volunteer their eggs. It will not take long to evaluate how well that is working out. When we collect those eggs this evening, it will be brutally obvious.

Once we got the older chicks into their side of the coop, we got the ten younger chicks out of the Banty house and put them into the small coop building. (Our repurposed Birthing Center.) Mama said they were very excited this morning when she opened the little door that allows them access the yard – a 10x10 kennel. Last week I placed wire along the bottom of that little coop and opened that up to the chicks which almost doubles the yard space available. Both sets of growing chicks needed more room, but Mama is particularly fond of the younger set because they are very calm and very friendly. For that reason, those chicks were placed by themselves in their private coop area. I will need to buy or build nesting boxes for both areas now. Both the new coop and the West side of the large coop. But there is no urgency. Those sets of chicks are still weeks away from being ready to lay.

Mama has been agonizing about getting to the next level in her company. She needed an additional person to sign up in her group. We have prayed about it and have waited. Last night, late last night, she was responding to a text from a person who is doing very well with a party she has going on and Mama suggested she join Color Street as a stylist. The person she was texting with thought that was a good idea as well. She signed up right away. Meanwhile, Mama continues to do live presentations which allow her to show what she has in inventory as well as stay connected to her friends and clients. It is fun to watch the progression in her confidence. Mama is loving the income.

Though it is not a huge amount, It is enough to make a difference to her.

Banking, office hour, our Hope

I got word from the bank that all the paperwork was ready a little after 10 am yesterday, so I took the afternoon off and Mama and I drove to Lawton to sign the papers. It is an easy drive and Mama was able to work on various things for her business as we made the drive to Lawton. We spent a good deal of time talking about how to handle the money we were borrowing against the houses but since there is no particular hurry to designate the funds for a specific project - other than completing the work on the two houses in Lawton – we are going to move very slowly and pray about what needs to be done outside of our real estate business. Hopefully, by July 1 we will have one of the two houses rented, which will more than cover the note. If not, we will hang in as we get the houses completed and rented. We did not borrow enough to do any heavy investing. That was done on purpose. I did not want leverage too much and end up in a worse situation than we just came out of. From here, we move slowly. Prayerfully.

When Mama and I got back we hit the ground running. Feeding needed to be done along with many other  animal related chores around the farm. Since it was a church night, we had to get everything done quickly so we could have the time to shower and get ready for church. Pastor invited the Walker’s to do a week of revival meetings. It will be a delight to spend next week with them. Like many evangelists and missionaries on deputation, they have had no meetings scheduled since late February. That means they have had no income (or very little income) for the past three months. That makes things a little tough. We cannot help them all, but since we had to cancel Vacation Bible School, we plan to use the family for the revival services instead. It will be a more relaxing time for them than VBS would have been, but it will be great for us as a congregation. The services will be held in the new building so we can still “distance” from each other. All the services will be broadcast for those who cannot attend. And I am sure the Walker’s will put on quite a presentation for all the services. Having services four nights in a row is a little bit of a hardship, but we will enjoy it as it unfolds.

I spent about a half hour in the office this morning to trade off files. I will be presenting an online 8-hour class every Wednesday for the next eight weeks starting next Wednesday. In order to be ready for those classes, I needed to upload files I have been working on and download files that I need to work on. What would have taken me eight to ten minutes per file at the house took me about forty five seconds at work. It was worth the drive there and back to get the work done. I was not allowed to stay at the office since I am not one of the twelve allowed to be in the building right now. We are at 25% occupancy per the guidelines being followed by businesses that are reopening.

I do not believe anyone in our office – other than the one person who has routine testing along with her monthly chemotherapy treatment – has ever been tested for COVID-19. I suppose, ignorance is bliss. As long as the perception of fear rules the day, we are going to try to figure out how to stop doing what we are doing and struggle back towards normal.

I read an interesting article by a liberal professor who argued that Christians are unafraid of the virus because they believe in an “afterlife”. That belief allows them to live fearlessly in this life because they believe there is a better life waiting on them when this one is over. Well, duh! Then he made a statement that struck me. He argued that for those who believe this life is all they have, they are terrified to lose it and enraged that anyone would lack the decency to protect them from anything that might jeopardize their one shot at life. I wanted to ask, Do you smoke? Do you drive a car? Do fly on planes? Do you eat fatty foods? Do you engage in risky sexual behavior? What other things around you threaten your life that you pay no attention to? Why is this virus the most dangerous threat you have ever faced? How am I responsible to protect you from a virus that I do not have? A virus that can access your body through myriad vectors.  A virus that you would statistically be unaffected by. It makes no sense unless you are placing all your hopes in this life.

It was a stark reminder of the hope that motivated those of us who believe. A stark reminder of the hopelessness, the despair of those who do not know our Savior. Thank God for our Hope.

Tending to the bees, Mama’s business

I had planned on tending to the bees earlier in the day yesterday, but I got caught up in actual work at lunchtime and had put it off until after work. I have needed to change out the bottles of syrup in the feeders for days now but have been held off because of the rain. Opening the hives in the rain would be unwise. Fortunately, yesterday was overcast, but we did not have any rainfall. I was not sure what to expect when I opened the feeders and further opened the hives, but I needed to make sure the bees were drawing out the frames in the brood box. I have to wait to add anything to the hive until the brood box is almost full – or at least eight of the ten frames are full. When I see that, I can put the honey super on the hive – but not before. I had Mama hold off on making the syrup for the feeders until I looked into the hives. Lat time we made it up in advance and the syrup mixture sat in the fridge for a week. Not a good thing. When I did open the hive and look in, I was a little disappointed.

So far, the bees have only filled out between six and seven of the frames in each of the hives. I expect as plants begin to bloom and more pollen is available, they will make better progress, but for now, I replaced the jars in the syrup feeders with full jars and we will check again Thursday. I was able to tell that many more bees are in each of the hives, and that they are working hard to draw out (fill) the frames with comb so more bees can be hatched, but it is still a work in progress. On the bright side, when the comb is drawn out on the frames, it will be used over and over by the queen to lay eggs. Until they are closer to the goal of having the frames drawn out, I will not add any area they are required to guard against predators. Empty areas on the hives are an invitation to predators and there must be sufficient bees in the colony to protect those areas. So far, it has been fun to work the hives. Mama has let me do the work alone because we do not have a good bee suit for her, and she is too afraid of getting stung. For me and Mama, it is an education in progress.

Mama’s business is doing well. I think. She reached another level in the company which translates into more money made personally from every sale. That is good. However, she has spent a fair amount of money lately because of how the company has had to change their product availability. Orders have been in the multiple millions of packages of nails per day. More than the company can supply without limiting access to their website to stylists only. That change requires Mama to buy – out of pocket – the nails ordered in parties and then mail those products to those who ordered the nails. Those are two new, unexpected expense to cover while we get the products to customers and then wait to be repaid for those products. The money will eventually come back to us, but accounting for the expense has become challenging for Mama. Getting the customer payments to the right account to make sure the expense is reimbursed before the profits are calculated is an uncommon math issue for her to deal with, but we are managing. What is amazing to watch is that her business, and the company that makes that business possible, is growing exponentially as we still struggle with the current pandemic crisis.

I am expecting to hear from the bank in Lawton today or tomorrow. Once we know the paperwork is ready for signatures, Mama and I will plan the trip to Lawton to get that done. We need a road trip even though that may cost me time in quarantine with my company. I am not sure if a trip to Oklahoma will count as a “quarantine required” action on behalf of my company guidelines, but one of the questions I have to answer upon entering the office is, “Have you traveled outside the state of Texas in the past 30 days?.” I am not sure what action an affirmative answer to that will bring but we will see. I do not want to lie. The consequences of that are more offensive than any action my company would require of me for crossing the state line. As if the virus knows what a border of Texas is. That is just one of the illogical impositions we are now dealing with.

Hopefully this confusion is short-lived.

More rain, long weekend project, pajama days

We got a total of five inches of rain since Friday night. Most of that fell overnight Friday; 4 inches. It is the most rain we have had in one night for a long time. It was an excess of our need, but welcome none-the-less. No rain Sunday. Thankfully. We needed time for the creeks to go down before we were rained on all day yesterday. In this part of Texas, we do not usually get an all-day rain. Not one as hard as it rained throughout the day yesterday. It was a steady, umbrella requiring rain from about 8 am until 4 pm. The total accumulation was just over one inch. Needless to say, our plants are loving the rainfall with brief periods of sun. It is a perfect combination of conditions for them to grow quickly. Rain continues to be in the forecast for almost every day the remainder of this week. We will adapt. There are some places that are amazingly soft. Mama sunk into one such place in the garden as we picked blackberries late yesterday evening. I mushed out the ground to fill the hole she left so it does not eventually harden in that shape.

Yesterday, Monday, was a holiday. Memorial Day. O tribute to those who gave the ultimate sacrifice on our behalf. We owe those fallen and those who served - and are serving - a debt of gratitude that we cannot fully repay. Hopefully, we will consider precious the freedom they died to give us and once again become good stewards of those freedoms. It is difficult to see that happening as we struggle now for the right to live our lives, to work, to worship, to assemble, to go where we want and to visit with whomever we choose. Considering the freedom that was bought for us, it was poignant to consider how much we have surrendered for the promise of protection from a pathogen that was grossly over-hyped. I can only hope the truth will eventually come out. Whether you believe it or not is up to you, but we all deserve to hear the truth.

Observance of Memorial Day gave us a long weekend. I did what I typically do when I have an extra day off. I worked. This time creating an overhead space to store 4x8 sheets of plywood or Masonite in the shop. It is difficult to find an acceptable place for leftover pieces of full sheets of 4x8 material in the shop. I have had a large piece of ½ inch plywood in my way for a couple weeks now and it was starting to really bug me. Especially since the sheet was bowing badly. I had no reason to cut it into smaller pieces, so it lay on the floor of the shop curling up. Tripping me up to the point that it caused me to stumble and fall yesterday when I was not paying enough attention to where my feet were in relation to it. I had things pretty congested in my work area yesterday since it was raining and I could not set anything outside, but I could have (should have) moved the piece out of my way rather than stumble around it. Anyway, I finally got the overhead storage spot finished about 8 pm. I used the misshapen piece of ½ inch plywood as a base for the storage area so that is will be easier to slide in whatever is put overhead. There was little other use for it.

I had to buy a few pieces of lumber to complete the storage space, but it was minimal. Most everything I needed, I already had on hand. Loading those few boards in the truck soaked me thoroughly requiring me to change shirts once I got home from Lowe’s, but it allowed me to get the project completed. With the welding and metal cutting needed to support one end of the rack, it took me longer than I thought it would. I had to support one corner of the storage area from the trusses in the roof of the shop versus having a post in the middle of the shop to hold it up.  That required building and welding up the support, then welding it to the truss. All told, it was a fun project to complete. It will be immensely useful in the future.

Mama and Victoria spent the day inside. For Victoria, it was a pajama day. Mama changed only to go out to feed. Late in the day, they teamed up to work in the garage to sort through the stack of items we had accumulated in a corner of the garage. It took the two of them about an hour to get through all that was there. Many of the items were discarded. Some, I will burn over the next few days. Many I will take to the trash. It looks much better.

Other than the items that were removed from boxes and left lying about to be sorted further.

A day of answered prayers, isolation

Yesterday was a day of answered prayers for me and Mama. Our realtor/contractor, Glenn called fairly early in the morning to ask how our money situation was working out. From our discussion a week or so ago, he was aware we were working with the bank to get the funds together to complete the houses and he is at the point that it would only be right to get some money to him for him to continue with the remodeling. He has done a lot of painting, inside and out. The kitchen cabinets in the Dover house look amazing now. So, we are at the point of finishing out the kitchen and bathrooms in both houses and purchasing appliances. I let him know we were still working with the bank and should know something by the end of next week. For now, he is moving to other projects while we work with the bank. As soon as we have the funding settled, he will complete both houses very quickly. He has had several calls from potential renters on the Dover property, so he expects to have it rented quickly upon completion. Possible by July.

Another answer to prayer came as our CPA finally got the financial statement to us. That came to me late Wednesday evening and I immediately forwarded it to the bank. The person I am working with at the bank responded even though it was well after 6 pm. So yesterday, I worked with the bank to move forward with the loan we are asking for to finish the houses and replenish our accounts. We are not asking for much, less than 50% of the value of the properties, but it will be enough for us to re-coop our costs and move forward with completing the houses as well as allow us to continue investing in this very lucrative real estate market. Less borrowed means a significantly lower loan payment. Where we stand right now, if either of the houses are rented, it will more than cover the cost of the loan. If both are rented, we will make significant passive income.

Additionally, I asked our CPA for an electronic copy of our tax return for last year. I got that yesterday afternoon while Mama was out with Grandma and Grandpa. For the first time in several years, we are due a refund for last years taxes. It is not a huge refund, but they owe me and Mama versus us owing them. That was icing on the cake. It was a completely unexpected blessing especially since I had to prepay “expected” taxes through last year on a quarterly basis through 2019. Now, all that money will be returned to me. Praise the Lord! That will not happen again as Mama and I build this business – and as her business grows. But it was a nice surprise.

Lastly, Mama and I got our stimulus payment from the government yesterday. It came as a pre-paid debit card, but we can work with that. I would much rather have had a check I could have put in the bank. Mama and I are praying about that money. We need to spend it wisely in order to get the most we can out if it. That too, is a bit of money that we will not get again. We need to make sure we get the most out of it possible. We have only one chance to do that. Fortunately, there is not particular hurry to spend that money.

Cori let Mama know yesterday that things are bouncing between bad and worse in Honduras. The country is going into strict lockdown again this weekend. They were hoping for the exact opposite. She and Nate have only been allowed to go out to get necessities once every ten days. Those whose number would have come up Saturday or Sunday will have to wait an additional ten days for their turn to go out and buy what they need. Quantities of staples are generally available in the stores when they are able to shop, largely because the Hondurans do not have money available to buy in large quantities. Very unlike our country where people will strip the shelves bare, leaving nothing for others. Most of the population buy their “daily needs” only. Being forced to make a day’s ration stretch for ten days is a true hardship. Something we cannot readily sympathize with. Having no income exacerbates the issue for a large portion of the population. How they are surviving is beyond my comprehension. We may never know the overall effect of this situation, but as is true here, more are suffering from the imposition of forced isolation than are suffering from the virus.

The isolation has gone on long enough that it is difficult to stay positive. No news. No updates. No guidance. Only day by day decisions imposed on the populace. Cori is feeling the strain intensely as she tries to prepare meals with the little they have in the house and as she tries to keep the kids happily ignorant of the hardships imposed during the isolation. A couple days ago, Cori made it to the children’s home for a brief visit and told us that the kids in the home were overwhelmed to see someone new. It has been many weeks since they have seen anyone besides those they are isolated with.

Please continue to pray for them and the ministry there.

Class, missed church, furniture needs, growing things

Class yesterday went well. We had a few hiccups with the software through the four hours of class, but we managed to rectify each one of them one by one. I had ten participants in the class, so not everyone was able – or willing – to participate, but the few that did made the class a success. We were done by 12 pm. Right on time. These classes are fairly easy to teach. I am learning how to get the pace of the presentation right to make sure we take the time we allotted without having to rush through anything or to drag anything out. Right now, I am using a presentation that I am not excited about, but it is all we have until the rewritten presentation is approved for publication. Everyone enjoyed the class. That is always a bonus. Everyone did well on the test. Even someone who was struggling with a language barrier. Another bonus.  We got some really good feedback. So, we will continue with this style of online presentation even after things return to normal. It is a real money maker for my company; especially no travel is required by me or the participants.  It is job security for me, since I am one of three who can present the class in the current format.

No one noticed during the class, but I had a blistering sinus headache. The headache has been a staple of my days for a couple weeks due to the windy conditions and the high pollen count, but yesterday was a bit more than normal. I managed through the class, but by the time I got home and started through the course of the afternoon into the evening, the headache got worse to the point that I missed church last night. Mama missed as well for mostly the same reason. we were able to listen and watch online, but it is not the same as being there. Bro. Zach let the music since I was not there. I really miss my part in the service when I am not able to attend participate in person.

This morning Mama, Grandma and Grandpa are going furniture shopping. We are in need of a new sofa or love seat, but we are not in a position to purchase anything. That, I suppose, is the best time to shop – when you have no money to spend. Since Mama spends a large part of her day sitting on the sofa with the recliner up, we have discovered that the couch we have needs to be replaced to accommodate her “office” time. We are leaning towards purchasing a love seat versus another sofa. Either way, the purchased furniture will need to offer a recliner function if it is to serve Mama’s needs. So, the shopping has begun. Hopefully, the couch we currently have will serve well enough in the interim while we locate a suitable replacement within our price range. Not an easy task. For me it is more like a chore.

We are forecast to get rain during each of the next seven days. That is a blessing. It will get some of the pollen out of the air and it will water our plants at this critical time. Getting the small transplants in the garden time to get a strong root system before the heat comes and stays is crucial. Warm overcast days with periods of rain are like raising the plants in a greenhouse.

Mama and I are already picking blackberries, both wild ones and domesticated one. Our blackberry plants are loaded this year. We will start picking blueberries tonight. Mama is a little disappointed about the blueberry bushes. One of the three is producing only a few berries. The other two are doing okay, but not as well as last year. Peaches are ripening on the tree and will be ready to pick in a couple weeks. The pear tree is doing okay, but I am not interested in that fruit. The pears are hard and gritty. Not something I am excited about. The nectarine tree has about twelve nectarines left on it. That is disappointing since it was loaded last month. I will plant the two pecan trees I “hatched” at an agreed spot in the back yard sometime today or tomorrow.  In about ten years we will get pecans from them. It will be interesting to see if we are here for that harvest.

Victoria will be traveling home today. I am assuming she has had a good visit with Brittany and the girls. I will get filled in on that later today.

Outside, class, Sam’s shearing, Victoria

I worked yesterday on getting the chicks – now more than half-grown – into the kennel/yard we are providing for them. It worked out pretty well. After Mama and I got the chickens out of the cage and put them in the yard, I got the cage out of the little coop and started on putting up the framing and wire I had cut to fill the opening between the working are in the building and the actual coop area. It looks okay for now but I need to make a proper door to close the center of the opening that gives us access to the roosting area. For now, we have the little half door that was originally installed by Grandpa with a piece of a hog panel above it. Together they close off the access to the roost area. We use a small knife door I installed in the building to allow the chickens into the yard. Last night, Mama and I had to catch the chickens and put them onto the roost for the night. This morning, we opened the door to the yard and let them figure it out for themselves. We’ll see how that woks out, but if they exit on their own, they should be able to enter on their own tonight. If, not, we will help them get back onto the roost tonight. It may take several times to get the routine down, but they will eventually get it all worked out.

The young chickens thoroughly enjoyed being on the ground last night. Scratching, dusting, flattening themselves to the moist ground to cool off. It was fun to watch as I build the fence that will enclose the small coop. Setting the building where we did requires me to expand the area that encloses the coops. It is something I have wanted to do for a long time but have not seen as necessary. For all these years we have used a temporary fence on that side of the yard, but I had to remove that when Grandpa and I moved the building last week. Now I can see exactly were the fence needs to be places – complete with a seven-foot iron gate. It should look nice when we have it done and be far more serviceable than what we have put up with for years. This fence placement will use the last of the iron gates mama and I bought from a friend almost four years ago. Better late than never.

 I am scheduled to teach an online class tomorrow morning. It is one of the four-hour classes we are starting to offer. There is some confusion as to whether or not I will be allowed into the building since we are strictly limiting the number of people in the building to no more than 12 at any time. I am confident things will be worked out but for now I am still waiting for permission to report to the office tomorrow morning. I cannot present the class from here so I am hopeful they will allow me to run the class from the office. If not, someone else will have to present the class. I will work within the parameters I am given and do all I can within those guidelines, but there are definite limits to my abilities while I am working from home. Next week we have an in-person class scheduled for five people. That should be fun to squeeze into the mix.

Mama and I loaded Samson into the Sequoia this morning so he could be taken to the groomers. It was not difficult to get him into the vehicle. Getting him out without hurting him may be an issue, but I am sure they will figure it out. I feel sorry for the groomer. Sam is a filthy mess with a mane of tangled, thick, dirty hair from head to tail. He smells like the wet dog he personifies. Whatever they are charging to shave him down is worth it. He will be their “loss leader” for the day. They will have to re-coop their time on some other cleaner, smaller dogs. Mama feels that this is the last time we will do this with Sam. I am not certain she is right about that, but we have made preparations for his potential replacement in the event of his demise. My gut tells me he will hang on for several years to come – especially under Mama’s watchful care.

Victoria leaves for Brittany’s this morning. I pray they will be a blessing to each other. Victoria loves the twins and that feeling is enthusiastically reciprocated. We have not spent enough time around Audrey for her to get attached as much as the twins are to Mama and Victoria, but that will cone eventually. It is a six-hour trip to Brittany’s and Victoria had made the trip several times on her own, so there is not the angst associated with this travel as with some other less familiar destinations. However, there is still an issue with Victoria’s car that no one has been able to diagnose and resolve. At odd times, the car will struggle to start. It has always eventually started, but at some point, that may fail completely. For now, Victoria just deals with it and it has worked out well enough. It would be fantastic if Brittany could introduce Victoria to an eligible Christian serviceman while she is there.

But I do not think anyone is looking that direction.