Cleaning Day

 We had a day of sunshine but a lot of wind and the temperature only in the 40s. It really felt cold outside. We stopped in after the walk for a quick visit with mom and Karin before going home. After breakfast Mark left for Home Depo to pick up a few tools and ended up spending $100.00. I'm not sure everything he got but one of the tools he picked up was a corner clamp so he could fix the boys bathroom room sign.

He fixed that as soon as he got home. He also bought a toilet seat for one of the stalls in the girls bathroom. That needed a back. He fixed the spike ball net and also put an outlet cover on the hole in the kids corner. I was so pleased with all of these fixes. While he was gone I got our upstairs cleaned. I discovered the upstairs toilet was running. I tried to fix it but am not familiar with this kind so ended up just turning off the water to the toilet. I couldn't believe how many of those Asian lady bugs were in those upstairs rooms. I also found some stink bugs and dead wasps and one live wasp. The closets were cleaned out and the baby equipment we no longer need was posted on the group text to see if any of my sisters wanted any for their grandchildren.  They were all claimed so it was the right thing to do. We picked up Mackenson for church tonight. We saw snow flakes coming down on the way to church. David had the message tonight on the blessings and woes of the sermon on the plain. It was really detailed and thought provoking. Mark mentioned we will have to listen to that one again, it was just so much to absorb. To watch that click HERE.  While at church Joan got a message from Nancy's home that they took her in to Pekin Hospital as her blood pressure spike high. Joan left as soon as church was over to be with Nancy.  We took Mackenson to Culvers. Kristin took Berlica there and Faith drove separate. There was a good group there and we enjoyed a late supper and the fellowship. A good day!

Another Mare

 We had another warm morning and this time with sunshine. Ruth brought her dog, Joan didn't walk as she was watching Chelise early this morning, although she came outside when we got to her house for a short visit. We quit after one round to get ready to leave for the Berean office. As I was driving I noticed the wheel chair van's gas was just above a quarter of a tank so told mom we would stop on our way home and fill the tank so when Rachel and Rhonda take mom to Bible study tomorrow they will not need to fill the tank. We were early to Berean and we had a fair amount of mail. I only noticed then that my purse was not in the van. I had left it in my car at mom's house. There would be no stopping for gas today. At the Berean office we were getting low on Bibles so Skip called to order 25 boxes but found out the people we were buying them from were no longer carrying them. Skip found another supplier but the cost went from $7.50 a Bible to around $9:50 a Bible. That was disappointing! The pictures below were taken after our 9:30 am prayer time. Marvin was giving us some updates about a Bible that had been returned.

We got one sad return, this study was returned as we used cursive writing on the envelope instead of printing on the name and address. At this facility address labels are not allowed so the name and address were hand written but not printed it was written in cursive. What are America's prisons coming to? I took a couple videos while working but the laptop does not have a video maker on it so until the computer power supply gets installed I'll post them separate. 

Below is part one.

Below is the second video:

The mail was loaded into mom's van and after we finished our coffee and pecan rolls left for the Hanna City post office. When we got to the Maxwell road off the interstate the traffic was backed up. It looked like there were 2 semi's stuck on 116 going West. We drove to Middle Road then back tracked back to 116 to get to the Hanna City post office. 

When we got to mom's house Rachel and all of her girls were there with all of her grandchildren. She has 4 grandsons and one grand daughter and one still to be born due in April.

They are all such active little ones. Mom wanted to go out on the deck to visit and of course admire her great grandchildren. On the way back to my house I saw a car at the barn that looked like Rhoda's car. It WAS! She came as a surprise and was doing a deep cleaning on the barn. 

Zeke was waiting patiently for her to finish.

She did all the work I was going to do today and even washed all of the rugs.  I took those home to dry on the line.

The other two are in the sunshine but not pictured. Rhoda and Zeke left but also gave me a list of some things that need to be repaired which I didn't notice. I told Mark about them but will have to show him tomorrow. He was up at the apartment hanging hooks for the lights he bought. The two colts had discovered that the back gate to the pond pasture was open. They were not quite brave enough to go very far into the pasture before running back into the paddock so I stopped on the way up to the apartment to take a short video.

Mark had just finished hanging the lights so brought an extension cord over from the big barn to plug them in and try them out.

They are led and plastic but look like glass. 

He is going to put an outlet on the outside of the apartment so he can easily plug them in without going inside.

This next bit you may not want to share with children. Spark was at Middle Grove and sent Mike the picture below:

Mike sent it to me. I was shocked as I was just out there on Saturday and all of the horses were there. Unless the coyotes and buzzards worked quickly there just was no way they could have stripped the flesh off that quickly. Spark was sent a text asking where and was the only hoof showing a split hoof?  The answer came back pretty quickly it was found in the field the cow farmer rents each summer and yes the hoof was split. IT was a COW!  What a relief! 

The other news Mike sent while I was at the Berean office. He is getting another Thoroughbred mare. This one is a 2 year old, will be 3 years old in January.  She got kicked in the face and it damaged her nasal cavity so she cannot be raced. He told them he would pick her up when he gets home from Gulf Shores. The injury is all healed up but her face is crooked because of the kick. 

Her name is Star Temple. She does not have a star or any facial markings except a scar from the kick. She has very nice conformation and we were told us sweet. They just want a good home for her and that we have. 

Fixing Mistakes

 We walked this morning in the rain. At least it wasn't a cold rain, I think the temperature was hovering around 60 degrees. I started with a sweatshirt covered by my waterproof windbreaker but soon took the sweatshirt off. Just Ruth, Joan and I walked as Diane is now in sunny WARM Gulf Shores. We stopped in at mom's for a visit before heading home to cook breakfast. After breakfast I drove to the elevator in Glasford to pick up another 50 pound bag of black oil sunflower seeds for mom. Cheryl was manning the desk so we had a good visit before I drove home in the rain. Today I decided to make a caramel sauce to go over the pecan covered cinnamon rolls. The candy thermometer was used as I wanted to keep the caramel soft. 

I used too much of the caramel trying to cover the rolls. They are too sweet so we will need bitter coffee when serving this tomorrow at the Berean office.  Mark liked them but told me they needed to be cut smaller as they are so rich. Oh well I tried. I made another batch of caramel, mixed some with peanuts and some plain, cut and wrapped them in wax paper and stored them in the fridge. Hopefully they can be served at one of the Christmas parties. It rained almost all day. When the rain stopped Mark and I went out to finish putting the trim boards up on the porch. I needed to move Oliver and Madiera's colt into the middle paddock so they could go out back on the pond pasture to graze. Oliver walked right in but Madiera's colt decided to have some fun galloping around the yard.

After the fun run he was a good boy and walked into the paddock like a gentleman. Both boys were exploring the paddock and enjoyed going under the pavilion, licking the salt block but they did not go to the bottom of the paddock and did not discover the back gate open. Hopefully tomorrow they will see that and enjoy grazing. 

About then Mark needed help, that 8 foot ladder isn't quite tall enough for the back..

We quit as it was getting dark, the wind had picked up and it was starting to sprinkle again.

I heated up some ham and bean soup for our supper. After the kitchen was cleaned up I went over edits for the website. I found so many mistakes. I didn't work at all at the barn today so will need to clean that tomorrow but at least I got all the bedding washed, dried and folded. I've decided to keep the sheets for the upstairs over here instead of in the cupboards. Renters are supposed to bring their own bedding if they are going to use the upstairs but the last group used the sheets then  stuffed them back into the cupboards dirty. 

Another Blessed Sunday

 We had an easy quiet morning. Most of the work for today had been done last night. We heard Mike and Diane made it down to Gulf Shores with the boat by 9:30 pm. We left for church at 9:00 am, got to Rhonda's within a minute and gave her a ride to church. Joan is in Athens, AL for a funeral so Ruth gave mom a ride to church. Randy and Kathy gave Nancy a ride to church. Faith took Mackenson and Berlica but left at noon for Princeville for Baptisms so we gave them a ride home. Sarah took Joan's place teaching her Sunday school class and Nancy was thrilled to be able to go. She loves Sunday school. Gregg Rumbold had the morning message on Daniel 3 and Philippians 4 click HERE to watch that. Caleb Plattner had the afternoon message on Genesis 12 and Hebrews 11. Click HERE to watch that. We stopped at Aldi on the way home from church to pick up cinnamon rolls to serve with the chili I made last night. It's a Kansas thing! Our daughter-in-law taught us how to break off the cinnamon roll and dip in in the chili and guess what...IT IS good! We dropped off Joan's kids then went home. We changed out of our Sunday clothes before loading the food for tonight's dinner on the golf cart then drove over there to start the laundry from the group that stayed there last night. The chili was put on to warm while the beds were stripped and the laundry started. 

The towels were taken to my house to wash and dry. The guests had done a good job cleaning up but Mark did a little sweeping while I baked the cinnamon rolls and stirred the chili. We served that with a sour cream, corn chips, salad, avocado, crackers and fruit.  We also brought out all the left over healthy smoothies Norv brought for potluck on Friday. The kids had fun tasting everything and almost all of them were finished off. After supper the volleyball players arrived and we had a full house. The mothers with babies ended up by the kids corner visiting.

The little girls had been up building a fort upstairs but came down for a treat and then posed for a picture.

Sarah helped with the clean up. I went upstairs to see the fort and took the video below:

The bouncy house was busy tonight. At first I thought it may have a hole in it but then they told me they only wanted one fan on so they could grab the top. There were all ages here tonight but for sure Mark and I were the oldest.

We took the left over food home, froze 6 quarts of chili before heading over to mom's to pick up Nancy. I drove her home to Morton tonight and we had fun with every red light.  Another blessed Sunday.

Another Announcement

 The Meister Family has a big announcement and you will need to scroll all the way down to the end of this blog to read about it. It really is GREAT or should I say GREAT GREAT! A gray cold morning turned into a gray colder day with a brisk breeze. I was over at the barn by 7:00 am to finish getting it ready for the guests coming in today finishing that by 8:00 am. After breakfast Mark wanted my help lifting the roof panels for the porch. He was so concerned about the breeze blowing the panels onto my head he decided I must wear a hard hat.

We got a good system going. Once the metal was up on the roof I would run down to the house to change the laundry machines and would come back up just as we needed to lift another panel.

Anna dropped Braelyn off to clean the apartment while we were working. So glad we have a grand daughter that is willing to work. Below Mark is working on the next to the last panel.

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After screwing down the last panel we both took a break and went into the house to warm up but I turned around to take one final picture.

He still has metal trim that needs to be put up and then we need to come up with some kind of flange to divert the water away from the building and onto the roof of the porch. Mark is hoping Phil can make something at Meisters that will work. Mark was putting away the tools as Braelyn was finishing up with the apartment so I drove her home once she finished. Anna and Phil were at Taegan's basketball game and sent a short video of Taegan being announced as a starter although they announced her as Teegan Skigall. It is pretty cool she is in 6th grade and is a starter on the 7th grade team. She must take after her dad. Mark helped me get the truck hooked up to the stock trailer for my next job which was to haul Valerie and Thalia out to Middle Grove. I was very pleased with both fillies, they walked right in the trailer. All the ground work we do makes for obedient fillies. Below they are in the trailer waiting for me to take off.

Right about then I noticed Berlica and Mackenson coming over to mow again.  This is the middle of November!

They needed warm coats and gloves today.

We have never needed to mow this late but I'm not complaining the pastures look great with all this rain and cool weather. I drove right into the field at Middle Grove.

The gate was shut, both fillies had their halters removed then the back door of the trailer opened.

Thalia came out first.

Then Valerie.

Both girls walked a little way then stopped to try to figure out where the herd was.

Above is Valerie and below is Thalia.

They slowly started toward the 5 acre lake but kept stopping and sniffing the air. The weren't able to catch any scent or see any of the herd. Below is part one of their search.

Park 2 also didn't help them find the herd. Valerie got impatient but was still afraid to have the truck and trailer out of her sight.

 I started walking up the hill, they realized where I was going and took off up the hill too. This time they ran to the old watering hole but no horses in sight. I hiked up the hill to the top, saw them searching and called for them to come follow me. Below is part 3.

The video below shows when they found the herd and took off at a gallop to join them.

And the last video is once the herd was all together. I stayed up on the ridge so had to really zoom in to be able to see them. This video shows how far away I was from the herd.

I took a few more pictures before leaving.

I had a long walk back to the truck but at least most of the walk was downhill. When I reached the gate I heard a truck coming down the road and that turned out to be Tarah's husband Jay. He jumped out of his truck and asked if I was leaving and when I told him yes, he said he would shut the gate for me. I am so thankful for heat in the truck and turned that up to 75 to try to warm up. When I got home the stock trailer was unhooked then we needed to get the Mini Max camper stored in the indoor with the other campers. That didn't go very well. We hooked it up to the skid steer, drove it to the barn then turned the skid steer around and used the attachment of a ball that hooks onto the bucket of the skid steer Mark bought to push it into the barn but the attachment kept coming loose. We finally figured out it was because the sand was mounded up too high for the camper to back up smoothly. After many tries we finally got it into place.

I locked one set of keys in the camper and took the other set down to the house. Mark decided to smooth out the mounds of sand with the skid steer. That sand is old and really dusty.

Below is a video of  him moving sand.

We were BOTH glad to quit working and head inside. 

NOW for the BIG announcement!

Noel and Elijah are expecting a baby May 2025.

This baby will be mom's very first GREAT GREAT grandchild making mom a GREAT GREAT grandma and Rhonda and Spark GREAT grandparents.  Are we really that old?  Noel is due about the same time as Jessica. 

PotLuck

 We had sunshine today and even though it was chilly this morning the sun made everything seem warmer and brighter. Ruth, Diane and I walked, Joan had Co-Op. When we reached Rachel's and turned around on the dam we had to stop to take a picture. The sky was so blue, there was no wind and the reflection on the lake was amazing.

We stopped in at mom's after and stayed to visit for a bit. Today I wanted to clean up any of those Asian  ladybugs that got into the barn and worked with a broom to remove quite a few. Not as many as the last time but with this nice weather I'm sure I'll have to do it again tomorrow. I was throwing away a bag of garbage when I saw Mike taking mom's Kubota to the shed. That meant he and Dan were probably going to take the sailboat out of the lake. I found out this sailboat is a 21 foot Macgregor built in 1969. I did a little research on them and found out quite a bit: MacGregor sailboats are a popular brand of trailerable sailboats and other boats that are suitable for a variety of recreational and commercial boating activities. Roger MacGregor, a former Ford employee, founded MacGregor Yacht Corporation in 1961. The company's first boat was a small catamaran, but the line became known for its small, trailerable sailing yachts. These boats were and still are highly sought after. Well this one was stuck in the lake. The truck is so heavy it sunk into the mud. Mom's Kubota was not strong enough to pull the truck and boat out and up the hill. Mike brought down the Yanmar.

Above Dan is getting it hooked up to the Yanmar. Below is the video of them pulling the truck and the boat out of the lake.

By the time I got back to our place Mark was getting the metal out for the roof of the porch.

He stopped at that job as we wanted to get the motorhome and the Little Guy camper winterized today. We decided to do the motorhome first.

Mark got the waterheater door opened then brought over the air compressor. We use that to blow air into the plumbing to make sure all of the water is out of every pipe and out of the water heater.

The motorhome's fresh water tank had been filled so that needed to be emptied.

I found that drain and opened it. Nice that it wasn't under the motorhome like the 5th wheels are.

Below is the closeup.

We were shocked at how much it held. Below Mark is releasing the water in the hot water tank.

While we were doing that I got the motorhome cleaned up from the last rental and brought the sheets in to wash. The Mini Max was even easier except for one problem. Mark was having trouble getting the plug out of the water heater so we could empty that tank. I decided to help him as my hands are a little smaller. I was squatting down unscrewing the plug when suddenly the plug exploded off hitting me in the chest and shooting a deluge of water under pressure that almost knocked me down drenching me from my head to foot. I left then to go change as it was much to cold out to work in wet clothes. When I got back the rest of the winterizing went smoothly. They will both be stored in the indoor arena probably tomorrow. It was already 1:30 pm and neither of us had lunch. I grilled a couple of chicken with cranberry sandwiches for that then took a shower to get ready for potluck. We had 13 tonight for potluck. Norve surprised us by bringing 10 drinks from a health food store. We were all given spoons and cups so we all could try each of the drinks.

Most of them were delicious, one of the green ones tasted like grass so was probably very healthy. The berry ones were really good.  Dinner was delicious. We had smoked brisket, wild rice, a cheesy vegetable from Imogen and Harold, some warm pumpkin scones from Rose, a nice salad from Diane, Debby brought an amazing trifle for our dessert and Ruth brought candy for the candy bowls. Everyone really enjoyed the dinner and the fellowship. 

Fedi was the first to leave and Mike took  him home as Ruth and mom came together. Mike and Diane were the next to leave as they are leaving for Gulf Shores in a few hours. We had a very nice evening and I'm thankful!

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