WEEK 5

 July 15th, 1989

I woke up at 5:50 am and dressed. Asked the boys if they wanted to go over to IHOP for breakfast . They really didn't want to get up and asked if they could stay.  I walked over, ate and ordered pancakes to go for the three boys. Then I asked for a service station near by, contacted an AMACO at 7:10 am. They said someone would be here in 20 minutes. I waited until 8:05 am and called again. They said someone would be right there. It's only down the road less than a mile. They came at 8:15 and we still couldn't get the car started. I had to have it towed and they put it on a battery charger. The man at the hotel told me they didn't accept charge cards. I was starting to worry about the cost when I saw a lady pay for her gas with a Master Card. Guess What? That is what I have. Poor Mark, first the hotel and now the car. I hope he can get reimbursed for some of this.  It is 9:20 am and I'm still waiting. I called Beth and Greg and told them we wouldn't be there for at least 3 hours. I hope I'm not too off in my estimate. The good thing is I'm less than 40 miles away. I wrote some while I was waiting for the car to charge. We finally got the car running at 9:45 am and I made it to Diane's house by 10:45 am but had no charge left in the battery. I put Mike's charger on  and planned on keeping it on all night then leaving in the morning for home. Greg decided to leave immediately and I was in such a rush to get the house cleaned up and the car packed, I ended up leaving my purse in Valparaiso. The car ran ok, but I ran out of batter power right away. We got almost to Pontiac when it over heated and stopped. Beth didn't see me pull over right away and had to back up.  We loaded all of us into Beth's van and drove into Pontiac and found someone to tow it. then we headed home.  Made it by 4:00 pm. I tried to call the lady that found Misty but no answer. Mark came home for supper and we took the kids to Kartsville. We let David and Philip go first. Philip didn't know how to slow down and ran right off the track. The man running the place had to  rescue him.  Then we let them ride the bumper boats. Ben didn't like that because David and Philip  kept running into his bat and getting him wet.  When we came home I was able to talk to Misty's keeper. She gave me directions to find her. Her house was in East Peoria. Misty was glad to see us and we were glad to see her.  We brought her home and walked her on the leash then locked her in the hall by the washer and dryer for the night. Marie called and wanted to borrow $20.00. I told her mom was in Alaska, she said she would call later tonight. I repeated, she is in ALASKA. Marie said, "ok I'll call tomorrow." Marie, I asked, "do you know where Alaska is?,"  she replied, "no" and I explained it is thousands of miles from here. 

July 16th, 1989

Everyone was up at 6:30 am and I made lots of eggs for breakfast, 16 of them and they were all eaten.  We got ready and left for church about 9:10 am., stopping first to pick up Tommy and Kristin. It was our last day of Sunday school. Ken had the sermon in the afternoon. It was very good.  As I was walking out of church, Vi and Laurance Popp from Mansfield met Aunt Bernie and me. I offered them supper and a place to stay. They were glad for the invite and made plans to be here around 5:00 pm. We went to the store on the way home to get something for supper, then rushed home to unpack and clean.  Mark worked on the melon and I worked on the lasagna. I found a brownie mix and made that for dessert. Also served lettuce and rolls. I was working on the upstairs bathroom when Ben said, "they are here."  It was only 4:30 pm but they were. Supper was at 5:00. We ate in the dining room. Ben spilled his glass of water but it only went on me. I should have known the kids were a little young to eat at the adult table in the dining room.  WE cleaned up and Vi called some of her relation that live in Peoria. They invited them to come visit for the evening so Mark and I can rest for a few hours. they seem nice and friendly. Beth called and wanted to clean church tonight, but it is already 8:30 pm and I don't want to leave in case they come back. The boys just rescued a raccoon. Saber had it, they think it is still alive and faking death. I told them to take it to John, he used to have a raccoon. That way I won't have to mess with it. 121 just called, 3 problems. I hope Mark will look at them. 

July 17th, 1989

I didn't get up until 6:30 am and leisurely went down to start breakfast. Vi said she would come down around 8:00 pm. I started breakfast and they were down at 7:30 pm so I rushed the rest. After breakfast they sat and visited a while then took 2 dozen eggs and started for home.  I cleaned up breakfast dishes then made the boys lunch and sent them over to Beth's. She is taking them to Farmington for the day. I collected all of the apartment papers and went to the shop, made the deposit and paid all the due bills. Then it was time to clean the church. I worked until 4:00 pm and really got tired out. It was hard doing the cleaning by myself. I didn't touch the downstairs. I stopped at Aldi to buy some food for our trip then home for supper. As I was eating Beth M called and asked if I would feed and watch her kids while she and John went to see Kenny Albah's new baby then go out to eat. They were absolutely starving and ate everything I could find to feed them.  Mark came home from his meeting and tried to get the kids to clean up. I worked until 10:00 pm and got everything I could ready for the trip back to Valparaiso to pick up my purse and the journal.

July 18th, 1989

Up at 6:00am and tried to get the boys going. They snuck in another 10 minutes of sleep while I bathed Rhoda and Ben. Rhoda had been sick during the night and had vomited repeatedly.  I got both kids cleaned up and sent them down for breakfast. I sent David and Philip out to water and feed the dogs, cats, rabbits and chickens.  Loaded the van and left at 7;00 am. Picked up Diane, Jenny and Andrew then off to Valparaiso. We had an uneventful trip and pulled in at 10:45 pm fixed lunch and unpacked and then off to the beach. We pulled in at the beach at 12:30 pm and stayed until 5:00 pm It was cloudy and about 70 degrees but nice.  No crowds and the kids really enjoyed the beach.  They swam, played in the dunes, built sand castles and took walks.  On the way home we stopped and picked up Burger king hamburgers and fries for the kids but Gyros for Diane and me. Took them to Mike and Diane's and ate there.  After supper we took the kids to the library and let each one take out a book, then let Jenny pick two videos.  We decided to watch the Journey of Natty Gann first. It was pouring rain when we got to the library and we all got soaked. It was still pouring when we left. We have had such a drought at home we are not used to such rain.  Diane is going to call home to see if home is getting any. No one answered, we will call again later.

July 19th, 1989

We had gone to bed shortly after 9:00 pm but at 10:30 pm last night was awakened by Rhoda, she was sick and had vomited all over me and the sheets. I cleaned her up and started a load of laundry.  I waited up until the washer was done then put the sheets in the dryer turned that on, laid down on the bare mattress and fell asleep. I woke up at 5:45 am and put the sheets back on the bed. Went upstairs for breakfast about 6:30 am. Diane and I decided since it looked like rain all day we would go visit some garage sales this morning and the boys club this afternoon then leave around 4:00 pm for home. We bought a paper and there were only two sales.  We were back by 9:00 an and had the house clean and lunch made by 10:00 am. We were just waiting for the boys club to open.  The boys loved the club. We left them there and took Ben and Rhoda back. Diane, Ben, Rhoda and I all took naps. We picked up David, Philip, Andrew and Jenny about 2:00 pm then left for home.  It was an easy trip home, we arrived about 6:00 pm. Mark and I went to Marilyn's for supper. We decided we couldn't afford Hawaii at this time and started planning for Houston next week. Mom called and said they would be coming home a day or two early. The girls don't want to miss another Sunday.

July 20th, 1989

Diane and I decided to go shopping at the garage sales today and I bought a set of bunk beds and a rec room set of furniture. We spent all morning and half of the afternoon picking up the furniture getting it to  our Sioux Trail house and arranging it. I came home at 4:00 pm plopped down in the couch and picked up the book I was reading. Beth M walked in at 4:30 pm to see if I was ready to clean the shop.  We went down at 5:00 pm and cleaned there, then over to her house and cleaned there and finally to this house and just cleaned the downstairs.  It is bedtime and I'm tired.  IT RAINED.

 July 21st, 1989

 We woke up fairly early, I started on the upstairs and had the boys work on the attic.  It is a rain day. I left for grocery shopping at 9:00 am and only went to 2 stores so I was back in 4 minutes. We put food away and had lunch.  I left to clean church. Ben and Rhoda came with me. David and Philip stayed home to clean. Church was hard. I didn't get done until 4:00 pm. When I finally made it home, Jon and Kim were already here. Beth H was here working on supper. She brought her big fryer and food enough for everyone AND their kids! We fed the kids at 5:00 pm  then left for volleyball. We had 4 people to a side, it was fun.  came back and had supper for the adults at 8:00 pm. By that time everyone was starving.  Kim made a cross stich blue jay for Gary. she gave it to Mark last night. Gave Ben and Rhoda a bath then took a shower and went to bed at 9:30 pm. A good day!

WEEK 4

 July 8th, 1989

We are at the half way point.  It is going by too fast.  We are all getting spoiled with this house. Even Mark likes it now that it has AC. 7:30 am David came down with both eyes swollen shut and really oozing. I took him to the emergency room where they gave him a shot, we waited 3 and a half hours. I brought him home then Philip and I started working on the dirt room (root cellar under the porch), what a mess. We hauled a good pickup load out of there. Old tricycles, pogo sticks, rotted wood and rotted wash tubs. I put the rabbit hutch down there with 4 rabbits.  I need to cover the dirt floor with paper yet.  One of the does teeth were curling under and way to long. I found a plyers and snipped them off. Hopefully trimmed them correctly. Hopefully she can eat. Philip took a dozen eggs over to Virdens. It's 95 degrees today and very humid. I started the air about 2:00 pm. I let it too late, we have all already sweated buckets. 8:00 pm We decided to have Mark's birthday party now since tomorrow will be so busy.  We gave him the lantern and mom and dad's gift, the propane tank. Then we gave him the big gift, the air compressor. It's 1 horsepower with an 8 gallon tank.  We put it together and got it started.  I still need to buy one piece. the piece that will allow us to hook up the air gun. While we were priming it, we filled up the double mattress. It wasn't comfortable. I ended up moving to the couch.  The phone rang 15 minutes after midnight wanting us to take a 13 year old boy.  Mark explained for the third time the parents were on vacation and wouldn't be back until August. Rhoda and Ben brought the eggs in today. I don't know how many.

July 9th, 1989

6:30 am and David is worse.  What a mess. He is weeping from his face and left side and can't talk because his mouth is almost swollen shut. I took a nightmare picture of him. He doesn't want to leave tomorrow for Valparaiso. I took Philip and Ben to Hardees and then down to pick up Eldora before heading to church. Rick spoke in the morning. I signed up for a tape since I was teaching and didn't get to hear him. Jim talked in the afternoon. He kept bringing up the morning's sermon. Chuck wants us to pray about a deacon this week. We arrived home at 1:45 pm. Mark had cleaned up the kitchen and playroom but the living room was still a mess. I picked up Beth M at 3:45 pm and went to clean church.  We did the entire church since I'll be gone.   She is going to clean after Wednesday night so I gave her the church keys. I dropped her off at home and went straight to the shop to work on the apartment books. I couldn't find the payment books so I went by dad's list and paid everything else I could find. I filled out a deposit slip and left it in Maxine's desk. I also paid the rest of mom's bills. It was very hot in there and I stayed until 8:30 pm. Came home extremely tired and couldn't face packing and cleaning the house. I called Beth and put off leaving until noon. I can go to bed and sleep!

July 10th, 1989

Mark's birthday. I forgot to wish him a good one. David feels a little better but looks awful. Called Beth H and told her we would be ready by 10:00 am to leave for Diane and Mike's house in Valparaiso. I wrote Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday on tablet I found at Diane's and then left them there. Hope I can remember to get them. That was picked up when we drove back for my purse which was also left. MONDAY Mark and I woke up at 6:00 am I ate breakfast and started working as fast as I could. David looked a little better. I was almost done about 9:15 am when Beth came. We finished and loaded the car and were on our way by 9:40 am. The ride to Valparaiso was quiet and uneventful . Thank GOD! We had really prayed He would watch over our trip. We arrived here about 1:00 pm. We took a wrong turn and drove around 5 minutes until we found their house. I'm glad it's a small town.  We unpacked and started making lunch for 8 hungry kids. Justin wasn't hungry as Beth fed him in the car. After lunch Beth and I left the older kids and did our grocery shopping. We then got on the phone to plan out tomorrow. I think we can do it. we bought chicken for supper, fed the kids and put them to bed early since we plan on being up by 5:00 am. Everyone settled down and was sleeping by 9:00 pm. 

July 11th, 1989

Everybody was up at 5:00 am. For breakfast we had cereal and donuts. We arrived at the train station at 5:45 am and the train was already there waiting for us. I asked if we could board and was given a yes.  We all walked in and sat down then  put the strollers up top when the conductor came and said," you know this is a smoking coach." Of course we packed up and moved. Then the conductor asks for our tickets. We explained that we were paying on the train. He started counting kids and says, "oh no, I'll be right back." I don't know if he went for help calculating the price. When he came back, he asked us to buy our return tickets in advance and try to get a group rate. The train was fun, just cold. The air condition was really cold. We arrived at Union station at 7:32 am and waited and waited for all departing passengers from about 10 exits trying to exit the station. When it finally cleared out, we went to the ticket booth and bought our tickets. We couldn't get a group rates as there weren't 15 of us. Then out of the station to find Bus #1. We walked around the building on the advice of a CTA official and there was the bus. the driver figured out our far and off we went. He told us where to get off and where to wait for bus #6. No problem. It was the same intersection. Bus #6 took us all the way to the museum of Science and Industry.  and arrived there by 8:45 am. The museum didn't open until 9:30 am so we took the kids to the snack bar and bought everyone an ice cream sandwich and then just waited until the museum opened. We started on the downstairs and didn't finish until 3:00 pm. The only scary part of the entire trip was the bus drivers driving. That seemed downright dangerous! we were home by 6:30 pm, fed everyone supper by 7:00 pm. After supper I decided to go grocery shopping and asked Beth if she could watch all the kids. On the kid count we couldn't find one of the kids. I went out driving while the older boys went out walking to look for him. I found him a couple blocks away. He told me, "I couldn't find the right house but found some big puddles. Shopping and bed by 9:00 pm. I'm tired.

July 12th, 1989

I thought I was awakened at 4:00 am by boys playing jump rope right above my bedroom. It was really 6:00 am and they were just jumping out of bed and walking around. I finally woke up at 7:00 am and went upstairs for breakfast. we ate and made sandwiches for the beach today.  Everyone helped clean up the house and we left by 9:30 am for the beach. We drove first to Indiana state dunes, paid our $2.00 and I got a perfect parking spot. Everyone started walking down to the water when the ranger made an  announcement over the PA "STAY OUT OF THE WATER". The water was closed because of high waves. We loaded everyone back up and went to ask for our $2.00 back. The ranger wouldn't give it back.  I asked her to write the time we were leaving on our form so I could write for a refund. Then she gave us back our money. We found our way to the other beach where we swam and played in the waves and were able to run down the dunes. It was a perfect day, not too hot and the sun in and out of the clouds all day. We walked down to the river and got some clay. We saw swallows building nests into the dunes. They were digging their nests out. Nathan saw some bluegill. He was sure missing his fishing pole. Everyone hiked back to our towels and the older boys started swimming again. We packed up and left at 4:00 pm to go back to Diane's house. We just started out of the park when Beth saw a deer. It was in the woods just off the road. We stepped out and let everyone see it. It calmly walked into the woods and we drove home. We arrived back at 4:30 pm, cleaned the van and ordered pizza for supper. Picked that up and had everyone fed by 5:30 pm. We started planning tomorrow. We really need to pick up one more coupon for Great America if Greg comes up. We are still waiting to hear if he is coming. It is 8:00 pm and time for bed.

July 13th, 1989

WE got up early to get ready to leave for Great America. We went through Chicago and ran into traffic. didn't arrive in Gurney until 9:40 am. We looked for a hotel and ended up at a Day's Inn across from the amusement park. We checked in and drove over as soon after 10:00 am as possible, bought our tickets and prepared to enjoy ourselves. Everyone had a ball! We watched a movie on the Grand Canyon our parents would have loved.  It made us all sick as it seemed we were in the plane flying over the canyon. These IMAX theaters are amazing. We drove back to the hotel at 2:00 pm and let the kids swim in the hotel swimming pool.  David, Philip, Chad, Nathan and Michelle went back to Great America and stayed until 9:00 pm. I stayed back and watched Rhoda, Ben, AmyBeth and Justin. It was a full day.

July 14th, 1989

I got up at 6;00 am and started looking for the shampoo. I found it in Beth's van. Just ready to take a shower when Chad knocked on the door and asked to borrow the shampoo. I made them wait until I was done then sent it over. After my shower I went down to the lobby where there was juice, coffee and donuts. I helped myself and took it back to the room. When Beth was ready I went down with her and enjoyed my second cup. We arrived at Great America at 10:00 am I made Philip go on a roller coaster with me. I shouldn't have, the poor kid was really scared. Beth took Ben on a bobsled ride while I took Rhoda. Rhoda loved it and wanted to go again. Ben didn't enjoy it, I guess he was a little young. He really did enjoy the smaller rides. Beth and Greg wanted to get back to Diane's and check on the boat. they took us back and left. We got in Dad's car and it wouldn't start. I asked at the hotel if someone could get me a jump and they said I would have to wait until 4:00 pm. Chad, David, Philip and I were the only ones left so we walked over to Great America, about one mile and stayed until 6:30 then walked to Burger King for supper. Then walked back to the Day's Inn and got a jump. We left at 7:30 pm for Diane's. At 8:00 pm I turned on the car lights and at 8:15 pm we ran into backed up traffic and drove 5 miles an hour until we passed the problem. A truck car collision. It wasn't very bad. At 9:30 pm after the 4th toll pay the car window rolled up very slowly and I started to lose my lights. I started looking for a gas station but I was on a toll road. I finally found a Day's Inn and stopped as it was almost too dark to see and I didn't want any other vehicle running into us.  We called Mike and Diane to get their Indiana number and Diane told me Misty had been found and Mark wouldn't drive to East Peoria to get her. I hope Diane will. Then I called Beth and Greg and told them where we were and what had happened. I feel bad, she was left with Ben and Rhoda overnight.  9:30 pm went straight to bed. 

WEEK THREE

  July 1st, 1989

It's been 2 weeks! After breakfast Philip and I took the van to look for Misty. No Luck. I drove to the pound and filled out a lost dog card. I'm beginner to lose hope of finding her. I sent out ads in the Trading Post and Thrifty Nichol. I hope whoever has her will read one of them. We went to get everything cleaned up so we can go to John's land today. We had a little problem getting Jeremy's room cleaned. It finally came down to if  you are not done you can't go.  He didn't think I was serious until I started loading up the van twithought him.  Then he did pick up his room. We got to Beth's about 1:15 pm. We played horseshoes first, then loaded all the kids aand rafts into the van and went to the swimming lake. The kids really  had a good time. They played in the water until 4:00 pm. When it was time to load up Jeremy refused to get into the van. We started without him. I never saw that kid move so fast getting into the van. We went back to the mobile home where the boys went frogging. Ben and Timmy went sliding down the hill. Beth and I made arrangements for tomorrow. I'm taking the girls to Sarah's school so they can wear their new dresses then will bring them to the land for supper. She gave me some chicken to cook in advance and I'll add some of ours.  The boys are going to find night crawlers tonight.  We came home at 5:30 pm. Mark drove in after us and started all the boys on cleaning up the yard. He won't let them eat supper until it is done. Supper was at 6:30. mark got in the eggs today, 21. I sold 3 dozen to the neighbors. David and Philip are helping Mark at Frye. Nancy won't move so Mark has to get the sheriff out.

July 2nd, 1989

Everyone got up at 6:30 am this morning and hurried through their chores. They were anxious to get to Hardees. I only had a little trouble getting Jeremy dressed. We got to Hardees too early (about 8:00 am) and of course all of my kids were done eating by 8:15 am. We sat and waited for Jeremy until 8:45 then made him pack up the rest to take home. We stopped at the house, I'd forgotten to give him his pills. I think we are in for a bad morning. He wouldn't let me wash the jelly off of his shirt, he kept running around the table so I couldn't catch him. I'm still faster and caught him the scrubbed the jelly off. We stopped to pick up Jackie and Kristen then down to pick up Eldora. Jeremy fought with everyone in the van except Eldora. Good thing, she'd have wacked him. I took Rhoda down to Sunday School and Mark took Jeremy. By lunch time we had to  leave church. He was awful. We took Jackie and Kristen over to change then got everyone else home to change and get ready to go to John's.  We didn't get to their land until 2:15 pm as I had a lot to get ready to take out. John and Beth took David, Philip and  Ben and we took Jackie, Kristen, Jeremy and Rhoda. I think he is worse in a car. It was a long trip out. We played horseshoes and then swam until supper. Beth and I grilled the corn and chicken. I asked all of the kids to collect wood for the fire Some didn't want to until I told them, "If you don't work you don't eat." After supper we all went swimming again to clean up before going home. I ended up with 6 up front and just one in the back. Mark made everyone help clean  up the house before bed. Everybody was really tired and couldn't wait to go to bed. We were all in bed by 10:00 pm. 21 eggs sold 2 dozen to Ken.

July 3rd, 1989

I didn't get up until 7:30 today and I'm still tired. Ben got up earlier and had breakfast. David and Philip are the next 2 up then Rhoda but Jeremy is still in bed. He slept in Dan's room last night. I sure hope he didn't wet the bed. David told me he is going to stay in bed late because he (Jeremy) was up all night. I doubt that but it is 8:30 and he is still sleeping. I gave the master key to Kenny Albaugh to fix 314's air conditioner and I'm waiting for 322 to come with her keys so I can check her apartment. It all looked clean except for the dishwasher smells and the tub could use more cleaning. I just took her new address. 213 is supposed to come today too. I came back and started working on the upstairs. Cleaned all but Karin's and Rachel's room, they'll have to clean them. I keep the doors shut so no kids will go in. Came downstairs and sent 10 kids outside. They can mess up a house faster than I can clean. David finished mowing the front of the apartments lawns. I can't get him to mow the sides because Scott borrowed the push mower. I hope he brings it back today. I finished the mowing about 3:00 pm and remembered I hadn't paid for mom's camcorder and the deadline for that was the 4th. I called Mark and had him run the check to the bank. At 4:00 pm 213 came over with her keys. She wanted me to check her apartment. It was very clean. She had me sign a paper saying she deserved her security deposit back. Jeremy's dad called about 7:30 pm to say he was going to come pick Jeremy up. He asked if I would keep him next week. I said "NO!" he came about 9:00 pm. I was really tired and went to bed. 21 eggs, gave 1 dozen to the Carters.

July 4th, 1989

Mark and I got up early to clean church.  We were able to be back by 9:30 am and I put 2 more loads of laundry in and started packing. We were going to leave at 10:15 am when the van wouldn't start. Jeremy had left the rear defroster on in the van. I put it on the charger and we made it to John's at 11:15 am. We loaded the kids  up into the van and drove to the swimming lake. We swam for an hour and a half when the kids decided they were hungry. I made each of them 2 sandwiches and a bag of popcorn. At 3:00 pm Beth decided it was a good time to load the kids up in the pick up and go to Dairy Queen. We started down the road and Pepper and Saber started following us. They wouldn't go back so Beth stopped the truck and let them in too. We ended up getting 9 medium cones, 2 shakes and 2 ice cream dishes for the dogs. They licked their bowls clean so we poured some water in for them to drink. Drove back to the swimming lake and everyone jumped in to cool off. Including Pepper and Saber. We left John's at 5:45 pm to go home. As soon as we were home we ate some supper. Those of us that were awake, and tried to pack to go the the fireworks. I tried to dress the kids decent but they were so tired. We got to the Edgewood park about 7:30 pm and it was crowded. Mark let us out by the River Station and we walked. He went to park. We found a nice place to sit and spread our blanket out. Only then did I notice David's shirt had 3 holes and his shorts were ripped up the side. Philip, Ben and Rhoda's faces were dirty and their clothes didn't match very well (Like I could really tell that!). I cleaned them up as best I could but we looked like a pretty ragged group. We saw Jinny Hoerr, Rick Plattner and Tim Funk. I hope they didn't see us. The fireworks were great! The traffic home was terrible. We made it home by 11:00 pm and had to wake kids up to get them to bed. What a LONG DAY! 20 eggs.

July 5th, 1989

Mark woke me up at 6:30 am and reminded me I had to go with him to take dad's car in.  I reluctantly got dressed and went to the van. On my way out I discovered one of the rabbit hutches top was half on and half off and the black rabbit was missing. I followed Mark to Joe Marcarthy Olds and when we got back started searching for the black rabbit. I found Pepper eating it. There was fur all over the south yard. She must have put up a little bit of a fight. Beth M just called and asked me to watch her boys today. I need to leave now to get my shopping done before she has to go since I don't want to leave 7 kids on their own that long. I just found Mark's wallet on the bathroom floor so I will need to stop at the shop first. Today we finished the mowing. All of 823's yards and all of the apartment yards. Then I collected the change from the washers and dryers and paid the boys $2.00 each for the mowing. I think that's ok since I used to pay Joan for mowing. Mark wanted the garbage emptied out of the wagon today. I hooked up the cart and we pulled two full loads over to the apartment dumpster. Then of course Ben, Timmy and Rhoda wanted a ride in the wagon. At 2:00 pm it was time to eat lunch and start on the house. I needed to cool down first. Beth M came back at 4:05 pm to pick up the boys. We visited a little then I went in to start on the kitchen. Mark called at 5:30 pm and said he would be late so I put the fish back in the freezer and told the kids to just eat cereal. The boys saw the fan in the chicken coop start sparking and pulled the plug.  It shorted out. This is the second time that fan shorted out, once at our house. It was time to throw that fan away. Thankfully no fire! At 6:00 pm, Danny Blumel called and needed a place to stay and supper. We quickly straightened the upstairs and opened up Rachel's room. It was really dusty and the carpet needed sweeping. I hope the sheets were clean. I sure didn't have time to change them. He was here 10 minutes after calling. I put the fish on and took applesauce and corn from the freezer, that served with bread and butter will have to suffice. I felt a little bad that we didn't have anything for dessert but it has just been too hot to bake.  Mark came home around 7:00 pm and visited with Dan while I heated up his supper. He brought home siding samples for our house. He and  Danny went over to pick out a good color. Dad called right after they got back. Sounds like they are having a wonderful time. Mike and Diane stopped by and stayed to visit. Then since it was so hot and humid, Mike, Mark and Dan put in the 3 window air conditioners. This is going to be GREAT! We made arrangements to meet at Jumers at 6:00 am tomorrow and then it was 10:30 pm, past time for bed

July 6th, 1989

Up at 4:30 am to get breakfast for Dan Blumel. He needed to leave shortly after 5:30 am. We are going to Farmington today, so I told him he could have the house until we get back. He thinks he will be back around 3:00 pm. I need to sell some eggs, I have 6 dozen in the fridge now. I went to Diane's at 7:30 am and we stopped at 5 garage sales. I picked up a pair of shorts for Mark. Then came home and picked up my kids, Beth's kids and Diane and her 2 kids and off we drove to Farmington. (we were in a drought and John and Beth's land still had good lakes for swimming and fishing) We stayed until 4:00 pm then decided it was time to head home. We got to the mobile home and Beth M called. She asked us to leave her kids there. At least that is what Kristin said. She answered the phone. I had put Saber in the basement because it was so hot. When we got home he was no where to be seen. I hope Beth took him to Farmington. It wouldn't be good to lose 2 dogs here. Today my lost dog ad came out in the Thrifty Nichol. I sure hope whoever has her will see the ad and call. We went to Jumers for supper and were joined by Mike and Diane, Beth and Greg and Danny Blumel. Mike's beef tips didn't taste good so he had us taste them. then he asked the waitress for a trade off. All she would bring him was more cinnamon rolls. He had to skip the meat.  She didn't think that was a good diet and brought him some roast beef. After supper Mike Greg, and Danny went to the batting cage. Mark went down to work while Beth M and I cleaned the shop. Bernice forgot to leave the money. Beth said if she would have known there was no money we wouldn't have worried about getting it cleaned. I'm pretty sure she meant that as a joke, we all know Bernice is good for it. We finished at 9:45 pm. I came home to everyone in bed. Ben and Rhoda had to be moved since they were asleep in our bed.  21 eggs, I fixed a dozen for our kids for supper tonight and 6 for breakfast. Beth M bought 2 dozen.

July 7th, 1989

We didn't get up today until 6:30 am. Mark ate breakfast and then went to work. I came down and straightened up the kitchen then decided what to make for breakfast. Since Dan wasn't up yet I read yesterday's paper. Getting the evening paper is the pits. Who has time to read the paper at night? Now I'm always 1 day late. Dan didn't come down until 9:00 am. I fed him then we visited until 9:30 am when he left. Now I need to get the kids dressed as I need to clean church. I worked until 11:00 am when Beth M came to help. She left at noon and I left to go to Sears at 1:00 pm. I found Mark's birthday gift but that had almost used false advertising and I had to pay $30.00 extra. I sure hope he likes it. David came down in the morning with weed poisoning all over his face. He just isn't feeling well. How well I remember. His eyes are almost swollen shut. I brought my rabbits in about 4:00 pm and had turned on the air about 2:00 pm. It was high 90s outside. I left them inside in a box until 9:00 pm before taking them back outside but it is still very hot. While I was making supper, I put the spatula down on the stove too close to the flame. It caught on fire and I didn't know when I picked it up. The handle melted on the palm of my hand. I was glad to be near the sink. The kids thought it was funny because I was yelling ouch and jumping around. Needed to keep ice on it until 11:30 pm when I finally fell asleep. 21 eggs today. Diane bought 1 dozen cooked 1 and a half dozen for meals. 

A Good Sunday

 I struggled to wake up this morning, the bed was just so comfortable but finally made it up about 6:00 am and got the roast, potatoes and carrots cooking in the crock pots for our Sunday supper. 

We picked up Rhonda and Daphna for church then drove over to Phil and Anna's and picked up Braelyn. Diane and Mike were giving lunch today so she left early. We saw Spark drive out to the jail around 7:30 am. We arrived a few minutes before Randy and Kathy. Nancy came walking up with a plastic duck sitting in a car.  Each Sunday Randy will make a duck call and each Sunday Nancy tells him, "no ducks in the car." Well today Randy brought one and gave it to Nancy. She sure loves going to church with them.  Gregg Rumbold had the morning message on Psalm 130 and 1st John 2.  That Psalm really reminded me of before the second hip replacement. In verse 6 when it reads, My soul waiteth for the LORD more than they that watch for the morning: I say, more than they that watch for the morning. I so remember sitting on the living room chair moaning and just trying to make it through until morning, telling myself, morning is coming, morning is coming. For some reason the pain was so much worse in the night, probably because I was too busy to dwell on pain during the day.  Click HERE if you would like to watch that message. 

Lunch went well. Diane had a very nice selection of foods and plenty for all. Caleb Plattner had the afternoon message on the statement of Faith. Click HERE if you would like to watch that. We took Braelyn and Daphna home while Diane took Nancy home.  We dropped Braelyn off at her house but before we did I told her the guests in the foaling apartment would be leaving around 2:00 pm and she could wait until tomorrow if she wanted so she didn't have to work on Sunday. We dropped Daphna off before going to our house. I quickly changed to tease and then get Tessa covered by Valiant. She stood well and he had no problem doing his job after his surgery. I was able to make sure it was all healed up. Tessa's filly's leg is still swollen and oozing so was haltered, tied and the leg hosed off. The cold water must make her leg feel much better, she stands well for that. They were both put in the stall once done, giving a wheel barrow of hay and some grain plus 2 full fresh water buckets. On the way back I saw Karin, she was looking for Nancy for their Sunday afternoon tea time. Diane still had Nancy in the van unloading food for tonight into the barn. We had a nice visit. Karin left and just then my phone went off. An instant booking came in for the foaling apartment and the guest was only 20 minutes away. I took off on the golf cart while calling Braelyn. Thankfully she had decided to clean it today and was already more than half done. We worked together and finished it just a few minutes before the next guest arrive. I only had a few minutes to go pick up the food from the house and get it to the barn before our 4:30 pm supper time. Diane and Mike joined us. The beef turned out well and the rest of the food was really good. Thanks Diane for so many different desserts, lovely veggies and dips. After supper the kids were playing with chat gpt and taking pictures of the kids then aging them by 20 years. Both Nolan and Lee decided they were going to have to keep their girls indoors until they were 30 years old. Those girls all looked like movie stars. Below Rhoda took a picture of Mike and Diane, put Mike in a suit coat and then put a toupee on him. He looked totally different and everyone was laughing.

After supper the volley ball players arrived to play outside but the outdoor sand court was full of those hornets again. Not sure how to get rid of them. Volleyball was moved inside. The grandchildren all wanted to go swimming so most of us adults sat out on the lawn watching them while the volley ball was going on in the gym.

Everyone stayed until almost 8:00 pm. Rhoda and Lee took Nancy home. I went to the barn to bring home the leftovers from supper then put the golf cart away before putting the food away and only then remembered I needed to let Tessa and her filly back out into the field. That only took a few minutes. Hopefully her leg is improving. A good Sunday! Finished WEEK 3 of the 1989 journal and will post it in the morning. 

Working the Journal

 I spent the morning typing in AGAIN week two then trying to figure out how to publish that it on a new page. I must be too tired to figure it out. Finally I just added it to this blog but then put a new link on the side. The rest of the day will be published later here. 

I went out early to bring Tessa and her filly inside. The filly's leg is more swollen and she is for sure sore on that. They were taken into the stall, a halter put on the filly then both taken to the indoor arena and tied. The hose was taken to where they were tied and that scraped up sore leg was hosed off for a long time. It must have felt good as the filly didn't fight it at all. I was able to scrub all the sticky off the rest of the leg while hosing the injury. When I finished the leg was sprayed with a betadine solution. They were put back in the stall, given grain and a wheelbarrow full of hay. Sarah arrived with Eden and River. They have been working on cleaning and organizing the tack. 

Today 3 of Beth's grandchildren came to the farm. Shaeya, Michelle's daughter brought Noah, Nate's son out to go riding while Tess, AmyBeth's daughter came for some banimine for her mini that they suspected was colicking. Below the horse back riders were heading out to the trails.

Our airbnb guests from the barn moved out around 10:30 am. I know this as I was going over to the farm house to clean and saw them packing up.  As soon as they left I went in to start stripping beds and collecting all of the laundry. I put one load of towels in the washer at the barn while the sheets were taken to the farm house. As each load finished with washing and drying they were all taken over to the barn so the beds could be made. The washer in the barn was not working, the towels were sopping wet when the washer stopped. I tried putting it on the bedding cycle, started it and left but when I came back 2 hours later the same thing. The drum is not spinning. Each towel was squeezed then put in the laundry basket and taken to our house to run through the washer and dryer there. We left for Texas Road house for an early supper celebrating Mark's birthday one day late. Check out those delicious looking steaks!

We walked in at 4:20 pm, were served that delicious bread and cinnamon sugar butter, ordered quickly. Our meal came and even eating leisurely walked out 5:00 pm. Crazy how quickly they have the food ready and it really was GOOD!

We both ordered the 8 ounce sirloin grilled to a medium rare, sweet potato and a side salad. Our bill including tax and tip came to $52.00 a little pricy but it is ok to splurge once and a while. On the way home we stopped at Aldi to pick up carrots, small potatoes, milk and eggs. We then stopped at the barn to get some roasts out of the freezer. We will serve rump roast cooked with potatoes and carrots, served with rolls, salad and watermelon and then brownies and ice cream for dessert for our Sunday dinner. Diane found a rocking chair for the farm house and bought it for $1.00. It is a beautiful chair.

It was built in the 1950's and not yet considered an antique which means Mark and I are also not considered antique as he was born in 1950 and me in 1955.  The chair is very well made and sturdy.  

I finished typing WEEK TWO, if you would like to read that without searching for it click HERE

I'm working on week 3 and 4 but won't post those until finished. Tessa and her filly were taken back outside. She went right over to Evan and I think she is coming into season. I'll see if I can get Mike to help get her covered tomorrow. Penny is still in and was covered by Evan this evening. 

WEEK 2

 June 24th, 1989

Up at 5:00 am to see if David wanted to go riding. He didn't so Mark and I went to eat at Marilyns. Came home and saw David and Philip standing by the garage crying hard. I asked them what happened and they told me Holly (Karin's cat) ate Pretty Bird (our parakeet). She knocked over the cage and grabbed him.  David went to rescue him but she had already killed him.  9:45 am Beth came to pick me up for SHARE. We stopped and picked up Diane before getting our food.  I brought all my rabbits back with me. The buck was put in the rabbit hutch while the 4 does were put in the chicken coop. Those chickens didn't know what to think but they are leaving each other alone. Noon I had to be at the jail and cut pies. They had a lot of hep so I only stayed 45 minutes. I came back and Diane and Beth are sitting in one little swimming pool and all 11 kids are playing in the other.  We let them play for a couple hours and then brought out the soap and shampoo and gave everybody a shower outside, even us. We are waiting for Mark to come home so we can go to supper at the jail. Ate supper and used the extra 5 tickets to take home for extra meals. I'll use them tomorrow for the Sunday School picnic. Now I only need to make a dessert.  We took Ben and Rhoda for a walk in the cemetery. They loved it. Rhoda found all kinds of flowers. We came home at 8:00 pm and I started cleaning up. This was an easy day with 2 meals eaten out.  It only took us 35 minutes to clean up the downstairs. The Readers Digest came today.  I can't wait to get to it. 20 eggs.

June 25th, 1989

Sunday. Everyone up and getting ready at 7:30 am.  I got up earlier so I could fix Rhoda's Sunday dress and make a bow to match.  Beth M called at 8:00 am, she wanted us to pick up Kristin and Jackie and take them to church with us.  We left at 8:30 am for Hardees. They were out of hashbrowns so they gave the boys  2 biscuits in their meals.  When we stopped at Beth's at Beth's we took Tommy and Kristin. Jackie decided to go with her dad.  We picked up Eldora and were off to church.  Mike spoke in the morning and Rick in the afternoon. He had an amazing sermon. I really needed a good sermon to get through the week.  Came home and got ready for the Sunday school picnic. I had Mark fix a fan for the chicken coop. It is just so hot, I only got 20 eggs today.  We came home from the picnic at 7:00 pm and it was still 90 degrees so we went to John and Beth's (they have air conditioning) and watched 2 movies. One I would like to copy to show Dad. He would really like it, John sure did.  Came back to kill more flies. Every night we kill 30-50 flies, too many times windows or doors are left open and we are just inviting them in. Grandpa Meister would tell us, "kill one fly and 10 come to the funeral." I saw a window open in the attic and sent the boys to close it.  They came down with a dead snake!  I really didn't want one loose in this house. I need to lecture all of the boy grandkids about bringing snakes inside. 11:20 pm bedtime.

June 26th, 1989

We were awakened at 3:00 am with a phone call from the police department. "we have a car in back of 823 S Baer, would you please go out to meet them?" The boys went back to the car last night to get their soda out and left the door open. The dome light was showing. The white car had the windows down and so did the van. Joan's keys had been left in her car.  Mark explained all was well and we would be a little more careful then brought Joan's keys inside. We leave the keys in the cars just in case someone would need to borrow or move the car but didn't know that the police in the area frown on that.  We got up at 7:00 am for real.  I was 10 minutes late to camp this morning. I gave David some paint to put out in the van. He dropped it on the stoop and I had to clean it up before we left.  Camp was a big success today. We made a big egg breakfast for everyone. The little Indians made tambourines while the big boys made buddy braids and survival kits. We gave diving lessons to the Cheyenne (the tribe name of the older boys). I hit my head on the bottom of the pond demonstrating a steep dive. My neck, head and shoulders still hurt hours later. I'm thankful I didn't break my neck.  We closed camp at 3:00 pm since it looked like rain. The storm blew over and I don't' believe we got even one drop. Drove to Riverview hatchery to pick up bird seed for the feeders tomorrow and also bought rabbit food. Got home at 4:30 pm and let Jenny, Andrew, Chad, David and Philip go to the creek so I could rest. I hope they come back soon. Mark has a job for them. Those poor kids! We have 10 of them shoveling rock out of the solar heating system dad tried into Mark's truck. They will sleep good tonight. 8:20 pm everybody up for showers. They really worked hard.  21 eggs today.

June 27th, 1989

Jenny and I were up by 5:00 am to tack up the horses. We took off at 6:00 am and rode for an hour. Twinkle put on a show for Jenny, just rearing, as I wouldn't let her gallop. Even Blaze was feeling is oats. He almost tried to buck at the gallop with Jenny. Jenny sure enjoyed riding. time for breakfast. I still have a lot to do before camp.  The Cheyenne made and decorated their teepees. Today we also cut down enough trees for all of the other tribes and put up the big teepee. When they were tired of building, I put them to work making bows.  Tomorrow they will make the arrows to go with them and finish their teepees.  David spent the night with Chad and Philip with Andrew so I only took Ben and Rhoda home. That helped as I still needed to clean church. church was very hot.  It wasn't that hot of a day 86-89 degrees. We had a nice thunderstorm last night which kept it cooler.  Maybe now the grass will grow and we will have to mow. I kept the fan on  low in the chicken coop, 21 eggs today. Saber spent the day in Beth M's basement. I think he wants to get away from flies and stay cool. Misty always comes to camp with us. Ben learned to swim today. Rhoda took her tube off and went under while I was cutting wood. Rhonda saw her and Beth saved her.

June 28th, 1989

Sitting eating breakfast when Holly jumped up into the window sill letting us know she is hungry. She punched through the screen. One would think we never feed her. Our cat came up and joined her. I guess I need to leave my breakfast to feed the cats as I can't stand their pathetic crying. I'm surprised how well the 2 cats get along together. I haven't seen them fight each other only the dogs. Saber and Pepper (Beth M's dog) give those cats a wide berth. Kitty attacked Pepper. She jumped right on his head and he took her for ride yelping all the while as he ran home.  I thought someone was killing a dog he was so loud. . I think she is meaner than Holly when it comes to dogs.   Misty is gone this morning. We looked and called for her until it was time to leave for camp. She was here last night when we got home from church. Today I took JR and Tommy to camp. Beth needed a baby sitter. We made our arrows and finished our teepee. The boys then made their totem pole head.  tomorrow we make the loin cloths, then we should be done. The whole group made bird feeders today.  Jeremy was dropped off about 6:30 pm. we brought in 20 eggs and played with the kittens. Then since it had cooled down we went riding. David and I went first and went down the cemetery road. When we got back up a lady was asking if our dog was missing. Misty had followed her down the road at 7:00 am and didn't come back up. I put her on Blaze and I rode Twinkle so she could show me where Misty went but no sign of her.  I came back and gave Jeremy and Rhoda a ride and then Philip.  Philip tried cantering in the field today and was successful. He rides well! Back to the dishes and laundry.

June 29th, 1989

We sure didn't have to worry about oversleeping today. Jeremy had us all up by 6:00 am. He has an abundance of energy. He was still talking at 10:30 pm last night and Mark had to get after him.  He found a whistle in the toy box last night. We sure heard a lot that this morning.  We left for camp about 8:30 am I couldn't ait for the kids to be out of the house. One kid in particular. Today we finished our loin cloths and built a fire to roast marshmallows.  Then came the program and everybody at lunch in their own teepees. After lunch we had teepee and costume judging and a surprise birthday party for Tanya. Then came playtime at the lake. It was a beautiful day. It was only supposed to reach mid 80s today. We came home from camp at 5:30 pm and cooked supper then I had David and Philip clean out the van while I cleaned the shop.  Came home to a full kitchen. They had emptied the van of all camp supplies into the kitchen.  As I was cleaning got a phone call, someone wanting a kitten. Rhonda had put an ad in the Thrifty Nichol. She wanted one now and didn't want to wait until I could get one of Rhonda's here. She brought a friend and they ended up taking TWO of ours. Jeremy wouldn't leave the two ladies alone.  It was really embarrassing. I was going to clean church after the shop but I'd left the keys in the van. Mark's been working on getting another pick up load of rock out to Frye. It looks like we need 4 or 5 more loads there and it should be emptied here by then.  Misty is still lost. We are afraid someone let her inside and decided to keep her.  20 eggs today. I had to put all the rabbits together in the hutch, the does kept getting out while in the chicken coop. Hopefully the buck is too young but I'll find out in 32 days.

June 30th, 1989

Still no Misty.  Jeremy woke everyone up early again today.  I need to clean church and do some grocery shopping today. I also want to disconnect cable. I was ready to go at 9:30 am but Jeremy decided he didn't want to go.  I told him he had to since I was in charge of him.  He ran and hid under the truck. I walked over and told him to get out form under then and get in the van. He said, "NO" then hid behind the bushes by the kitchen. He refused to come out under threat of spanking. I had to get David to guard one side and I ran to the other and pulled him out then spanked him in front of the kids as soon as I caught him.  Can you imagine an 11 year old acting like that!  We cleaned church then came home and worked on the downstairs. Then I decided it was time to mow but couldn't get the mower started. I drove over to Diane's and picked up our battery charger and the hutch so the rabbits could be separated.  I still wasn't able to get the mower started. Mark came home and helped get it started. He was teaching David how to mow when the mower hit a bone, it flew out and hit Mark in the arm. He had a huge knot. It's really going to be sore. David needs to finish mowing the apartments and mow the front yard tomorrow. About 8:30 pm a lady stopped and told me she had seen Misty down off Laramie by Augustina. We will start looking for her down there tomorrow as it is already getting dark today. Jeremy asks to take a bath everyday. Today he took a bath and came down stark naked then wanted me to go up to get his pajamas.  I ignored his state of undress and told him to get them himself. He wouldn't go to bed until after 11:00 pm tonight. I'm wondering if the money they are paying for me to keep him is worth it.  He is one disturbed child. 

Mark's Birthday

 Today is Mark's 76th birthday so as soon as the coffee was done I took a cup down to him. He was already at work in his office in the basement. It was really foggy this morning so much so that we couldn't see our neighbors across the lake. Below is proof.

All of us were here for the walk and we had a good visit. Below Mike is showing Joan the problem with the excavator. He and Spark needed to remove the track to get to the problem. I believe the problem is now fixed and now that 4000 pound track needs to be put back on.

When we turned up the barn drive we saw Berlica coming down on Penny.

A bit later Sarah arrived with Zion, Eden and River. Berlica and Zion took Sally and Penny on the entire 'death' trail. When they came back River rode double with Berlica on Sally while Eden rode Penny for the small loop.

I was cleaning the game room upstairs when I realized the batting machine was not working correctly. The tire inside the machine was flat and would not hold air. Thankfully the last time this happened bought a second tire and tube and it was ready to go. We were able to fix it within a half an hour.

Once that was fixed Mark went right home and ordered 2 more tubes. It really pays to have it ready if we have to change it out quickly. The next big job of the day was to install the cage over the internet stuff. We took a picture of it before we started working to make sure we could put it back together once inside the cage. This job was much more complicated and ended up taking up a couple of hours be we got it done. 

We orginally planned to go to Texas Roadhouse for Mark's birthday dinner but both of us were tired from working out in the heat. We decided to just eat left over hamburgers with one of those vine ripened tomatoes for our supper. After supper we had just enough time to take showers and head to Jacob's park in Farmington to watch Kensley play in the championship game against Canton. We drove through the rain all the way there.  Farmington's 5th grade softball team has been incredible this year and after tonight they finished the season at 19 won and 0 lost. Kensley was the pitcher tonight and we were all impressed. Most innings were 3 batters up and 3 batters striking out. Kensley had the only home run of the night. She slammed it almost out of the park. The video below shows her pitching and at the end her home run.

Their team won 2 medals tonight, the tournament champions and the season champions. 

The game started in the rain but the rain blew over before the game finished. The clouds on the way home were interesting.

Mark wants a rain check tomorrow for his birthday dinner.  I was able to finish typing the second week of our stay at Pleasant Home in June of 1989 but when I thought I posted it, it disappeared. I guess I'll have to do that week over again. I've searched for it but nothing shows up. Guess I must have deleted it by accident. 

Mom WON Again

 Diane and Mike left early this morning to pick up a lift for his new barn. While I was waiting for Ruth to arrive I was marveling at the bird sounds this morning from the annoying ratatatat of the wood pecker  the mournful sound of the dove and the joyful sounds of the songbirds the woods were full of the sounds of God's amazing creation. 

Ruth arrived with her German Shepherd. This is a very well behaved dog but when we turned to go to Joan's both of the fawns were in the front yard. Joan had to call for Berlica to quick call them away while Ruth held the dog. We didn't want them to run as it would be too tempting for the dog to chase. The cat on the other hand believes these deer belong to him. He rubs against them, snuggles down with them even spending the nights with them. The fawns love him right back and give that cat so much attention, so much so Joan was worried about them getting a hairball.

We passed the excavator on our way to the horse. Mike and Spark worked hard on that yesterday but were not able to fix it with the track on so had to take it off. Hopefully it can be fixed and the track put back on soon.

Berlica took Penny out for a ride early this morning before it became too hot. She had just come back as I was cleaning stalls.

Rhoda and Sarah both arrived today to help organize this house. We had many duplicates as mom had a big supply of just about everything. Mark got all of the buildings here and at the farm sprayed with Home Defense to try to keep spiders and ants from coming in to the houses and barns. The girls know how to work together and they got done in record time then went over to the barn to meet Berlica who wanted to try Jewel for vaulting. They used the beginner surcingle on her and that worked well.

Zion was a little unsure to try the double at a walk but was successful at the stand.

We have many grand daughters and great nieces that are anxious to start vaulting so it will be easy to put together a fun team as long as Jewel works out. She is such a kind mare I think it will.

Once they finished they all came swimming to cool off. Rhonda found the journal I wrote when we stayed at Pleasant Home while mom and dad took Ruth, Joan, Dan and Karin on a trip to Alaska for 6 weeks. I started reading it and just had to laugh. My hand writing was SO bad that I decided to type it up. This afternoon I was able to finish just the first week. If you would like to read how crazy our life was back then click HERE but if that doesn't work, look over to the right and under pages click on the link that says Our 6 Week 'Vacation' at Pleasant Home

  Joan came in with a gift of 4 ripe or almost ripe tomatoes from mom's plants. 

MOM beat me again and she isn't even alive to gloat. Each year we plant tomatoes and each year it is a race to see whose ripen first. She won again.  I want people to feel free to help themselves if they need some. My plants are also doing well. No ripe ones yet but they will be soon with all this hot weather. Later I went over to pull Tessa out to tease but noticed Penny was in season big time. Mike was over and helped get her covered by Evan.

We have no history on her as we bought her from an auction but she stood well so probably has been bred before. Rhonda went shopping today and she and Spark brought over more items for the farm house. Below are her unique finds just for this house from her shopping today.

The pictures were all hung. Mark is working on the internet cage but will need some help to install it. He is hoping to get Phil for a few minutes soon. I need to find one more comfortable chair for the rec room then we are good to post it on airbnb. When I got back to the house Braelyn, Taegan and Berlica were enjoying the refreshing water of the lake.

I was tempted but wanted to finish typing week one of the 1989 diary.

It IS Settled

 I was going to bring the mares in before the walk but time got away from me and I was only able to get just Tessa and her filly into the stall and even then Ruth and Diane were waiting.  Cookie was all the way across the pond.  We had a good walk although Rizzy found Joan's ducks and chased them down to the water. At least she came when I whistled. The ducks were fine. Ever since Rizzy is here we have no geese pooping all over the lawn next to the beach. We also don't see many rabbits. She is quick to chase them off. We have Rizzy this week while David and Stephanie's family are in Washington DC. Diane came over to the farm house right after the walk and set up the new TV there.  It is almost ready to post. Mike and Spark were hard at work on the excavator. That machine is huge and by the time they quit they were drenched in sweat.

 I worked over at the barn finishing the gym and the upstairs. Sarah brought the girls out and they worked for a while to get the old driving cart out. Penny was trained to drive. The cart needs the tires repaired but I think they are just bicycle tires so it shouldn't be too hard.  The girls had fun with it as it was.

Zion went to Penny's paddock to bring her over to the barn.

She had to figure out how to bridle her by herself and DID!

Nice to have such a well behaved pony.

Once Penny was tacked up Zion decided to ask her to step up onto the pedestal.

Five year old River really wanted to learn how to ride Penny and today she learned how to keep Penny on the rail, stop her and ask her to go forward.

Once the barn was finished I was so hot I got my suit on and joined Diane and Rhonda in the lake. We floated for what seemed like hours and I did cool down. The water is refreshing.  Yesterday all the towels that had been left over the weekend were washed and taken downstairs. If you lost your towel feel free to check out these, just maybe one of them is yours.

This afternoon Berlica took two of Tara's girls on a trail ride. One rode Jewel and one rode Rosalie. Berlica rode Sally and Zion rode Penny.

While they were riding Tessa's filly was haltered, tied and her leg given a good scrubbing. Today she stood well and let me hold her leg while cleaning it out. She will heal but I sure don't want it to get infected. I used a betadine scrub to clean it. She stood very well.

She wasn't happy when I took her mom into the other stall but Tessa was fine as she was given grain. After the stall was cleaned Tessa was put back in the stall with fresh water and more hay. We left for church at 6:05 pm. Mike Kaisner had the message tonight. We have a big group leaving Saturday morning at 2:00 am for Jamaica. Psalm 100 is the chapter they will be focusing on while there so Mike started with that. If interested in watching that message click HERE. Right after church we left so I could get Tessa and her filly back outside then came back to OUR house (it is settled, we are buying it) but technically until the closing it is still mom's. We had a late supper of left over hamburgers from the Sunday meal. They were still delicious! Airbnb has decided to change it's policy on hosts and guests. As of September 1st all fees will now be taken directly from the hosts.  It comes down to they will no longer be showing THEIR fee they charge the guests. They want the guests to believe the HOSTS receive all money paid. In the past aibnb would take 3% from the host and charge each guest around 15%. Instead they will just take 15.5% from the host. It is very deceptive and was done just to make it look like airbnb is not the greedy company it is becoming. The excuse they are making to hosts is it is too confusing for guests. They see our nightly price but when they go to book the price is higher. They supposedly are now removing the service fee for the guests but it ISN'T removed, they have just moved that fee to hosts! sneaky sneaky.  Right now there really isn't another rental option for me as a host so if I didn't want to lose that 15.5% had to agree. We really can't have long term rentals here, too many times we need every available housing space for family. Speaking of family it is growing again. Ruth is going to be a grandma AGAIN in January and Rachel AGAIN in February. We rejoice with Rebekah and Brian and Jessica and Clayton. I'm pretty sure Ruth's will be great grandchild 97 and Rachel's 98...hmm just two to go to reach 100 on the greats!