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Hi Everyone,
I just looked out the window and saw Papa driving down field in the golf-cart with Aliyah (our Anatolian/Great Pyrenees dog) sitting in the seat beside him and Yasha (our Great Pyrenees dog) sitting on the floorboard by his feet. We had a thunderstorm roll through—heavy down pour accompanied by lots of lightning and loud thunder of which the dogs were not very fond of so they braved the hotwire and walked the lane all the way up to the big hay barn where they could find dry ground and security under a flat-bed trailer. This afternoon the sky began to get darker and darker and the clouds began to roll, I caught a short video of “Storm clouds gathering on the farm” right before the heaven’s opened up and two inches of rain fell down fast in a short amount of time. There were puddles everywhere!
Miracles do happen! Monday morning Papa took Mama to get her blood drawn for some tests the doctor had ordered two weeks ago before Mama got too sick to go get her blood drawn. Then she woke up Tuesday morning feeling much stronger and when she checked her blood sugar it had dropped back down to normal—and has been ever since. Praise the Lord! She got her results back on Wednesday and they told the “story” of thyroid and liver problems—but that she was not diabetic and that she was not prone to become diabetic. We are not exactly sure why she woke up one day and her blood sugar spiked to 200 and wouldn’t drop below 156 for two weeks, and then she woke up one morning and it was only 101. The most we do know is that the Lord was merciful.
Last year about this time a new barn was built on our farm that would house our “Milk House”—where we bottle milk and wash the milking equipment and manage sales to customers; a storage room; a new walk-in cooler; a full bathroom; a “Brooder”—where we raise baby chicks; and a bigger “Feed Room”. The Brooder was the first to be finished—and we have our third batch of chicks in there right now. A few weeks ago the doors were hung on the Feed Room and this week we were able to start moving in—after we moved out all the “building junk”. There was a long row of wooden cubbies built against the wall in the old Feed Room, so our goal Tuesday afternoon was to move it from the old Feed Room to the new Feed Room. Micah emptied all the feed, salt and minerals (and junk) out of the cubbies. Then I climbed in amongst all the dust and cobwebs and using my electric drill I backed all the screws out of the plywood that was attached to the framework of the shed. Once the cubby was loose Micah pulled it away from the wall while I went to get the tractor and a little flatbed trailer that Papa is planning to turn into a portable dog house. Since the cubby is open on the bottom, Micah had to dump the 12 foot cubby upside down so that there was a solid surface to slide on. Once he got it flipped he then pushed it out and onto the little trailer. I then took a broom and swept away years of dirt, feed dust, and spider condominiums. No—I do not do spiders! I was very thankful that they were all on vacation (or in hiding) and I didn’t see a one. If one of those giant octopus spiders had decided to come out and sit down beside me I would have been frightened away for sure. While I was sweeping, my brother-in-law showed up with his two boys—one of which is 15. It was perfect timing. They were able to help Micah get the cubby into the new Feed Room and get it flipped back right side up. Now we just have to secure it to the wall—but we have been too busy ever since. Wednesday we got a shipment of chicken feed and for the first time in about four or five years. When we started getting our chicken feed in one ton tote bags we had to start storing it in our garage because 1) a tote will not fit into a wooden shed and 2) we had no way to unload it for our tractor doesn’t pick up a ton—so it had to be dropped off using a lift gate on the semi-truck and dropped off on our concrete slab in front of our garage and then wheeled into our garage. So half of our garage has been a feed room and the other half stores the golf-cart (and don’t ask about all the in between space for it is a mess). We still have two totes of feed in use in the garage—but when they are done a new project will begin “Take Back the Garage!”
Thursday morning we were blessed with a visit from a dear friend that we have known for almost 30 years. We used to see each other weekly, but the last 18 months she has been in Michigan taking care of her ailing father. So it was good to catch up and sit down and enjoy her company. The visit ended all too soon—but she had some place to be and we had chickens to process. I didn’t think that this time would ever arrive this year—but it did. We got 80 broiler chicks eight week ago and our plan was to process half one Friday and the other half the following Friday. These chickens grew so big and fast that they could have been processed at seven weeks—and we didn’t dare make the other half of them wait until nine weeks. So we processed 40 of them on Thursday, and the other half on Friday. We actually liked processing two days in a row instead of two Fridays in a row. It is so nice to have chicken available for sale once again.
Saturday afternoon I spent with a soil testing man as we ran all the tests for the Ecdysis research that we signed up for a month ago. He was supposed to come and test a few Saturdays ago—but rain has postponed his visits. We will not complain about any inconveniences from the rain, but instead will make all our plans to accommodate every rainy day. It is a blessing to actually see some soft green grass instead of having the dry crunchy grass under my feet when I walk. I was calculating up the rain for this month and was shocked to see that we have received 8 inches so far—and this next week is supposed to be pretty rainy and warm. The grass will really start growing now!
Serving you with Gladness,
Tiare