Cleaning Day

 Today was the day to finish cleaning and post the farm house on airbnb. I started work around 6:30 am going first to pick up the hand held battery vacuum to finish the camper going out today but the battery was dead. I took the battery from the air compressor and went over to Joan's to get that camper finished and from there up to the foaling apartment to get that ready for the guests coming in today. As soon as the foaling apartment was finished. I went to work on the stalls, first filling two water buckets and bringing a a wheelbarrow load of hay in. Once the grain was put in the bucket Tessa and her filly were just led across the hall into the clean stall. They are stuck inside all day today, tomorrow and then Monday I can take them to the vet for a bandage change. I was finished with those chores by 8:15 am and went home to make breakfast for Mark and I. After breakfast Spark and Elijah came to work on the plumbing, digging holes by hand and machine close to the house to find the leak but there was no wet ground there at all and no leaks. The leak is between mom's house and Spark's house. The man renting the camper arrived a few minutes after 9:00 am. This is his second time renting and was thrilled he ended up with the same one as the last time he rented. When he pulled away I went to the house to get the cleaning supplies and off I went to finish the Farm House and I did. It is now posted on airbnb. Some of the pictures will be updated. The patio is going to have ONE table and a few chairs, right now it has 2 tables and 1 chair. 

Above is the front of the house and below is the back of the house.

Nice LARGE grass yards. 

The door to the kitchen takes you right into the laundry area and then into the kitchen.

When you turn around you can see the bathroom door to the left and the laundry room door to the right which also has the door to go outside.

The bathroom has a jetted tub and a walk in shower.

Next to the bathroom is the downstairs bedroom

Through the kitchen is the dining room.

There are pocket doors between the rec room and the dining room. When we had the family eating Sunday dinners here we would have the kids in the rec room and shut those doors to keep the noise down so we could visit.

Those are cowboy boots on those shelves.

Looking the other direction is the living room.

The stairs are behind the black rocker recliner.

At the top of the stairs if you turn left you enter the horse bedroom.

If you turn right it is the other bedroom.

 At the end of the hall is the upstairs bathroom.

That bathroom has a walk in shower.

I finished after 3 pm but needed to go take care of Tessa and her filly before heading home. I was walking home with a laundry basket full of supplies when I saw Taunya and her 3 boys. They came to swim this afternoon but were just leaving so I only got to visit a bit with them. Sarah's family and David's family are camping, Anna and Braelyn were at a cross fit competition. We decided on hamburgers for Sunday supper so drove to Bartonville for groceries but stopped first at the diner. It was almost 5:00 pm and I had skipped lunch to finish. I ordered liver and onions and it was delicious.

Mark ordered a chef salad but it is called something else. That came with beef vegetable soup which he ate before his salad arrived. Since he doesn't like tomato or hard boiled egg, he put those on my plate.

After supper we went to Aldi which is just down the road from the diner and bought the ingredients for Sunday Supper.  I'm trying a new topping for the hamburgers Lee might like. It is a jalapeno cream cheese spread. In case he doesn't want to try it we also picked up pepper jack cheese. 4 pounds of bacon, potato salad, chips, salad stuff a watermelon and 2 containers of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream. This evening I needed to move Tessa and the filly back into the cleaned stall. Before doing that though I went out back to see if any of those clouds might have some rain in them. I thought maybe they might but after moving the horses and finishing the stalls I went back out and what looked like rain had gone a different direction. The video below shows before the stalls and then after the stalls. There were fireflies flashing in the field. The camera didn't pick up the far ones but it did some of the close ones. 

Out With the Old and In With the New

 Diane spent the night at Middle Grove so did not walk with us this morning. Just Ruth and I as Joan is still in Jamaica. David, Rachel's husband took the creepy picture below. He was actually taking his 'girls' the pugs, for a walk as it was getting dark and saw those eyes glowing. He thought it looked like some kind of alien. 

Yesterday all 84 of the round bales we bought for this winter were delivered. Most were put in the winter pasture but later I heard he had some put in the summer pasture. It is a blessing to have our hay bought for the winter.

After the walk Mark and I worked on moving the broken washing machine out of the barn to make room for the new one coming today.

Mark got the hoses off then the 2 of us got it out of the closet and using a hand truck got it out of the barn. About then Sarah sent a message asking how tall Dahlia is, she shared the video of Rhoda working with Dahlia on a lot of facebook pages and one lady wanted to know how tall she is right now. I was very pleased that Dahlia stood still for sticking. Of course it helped that I had a bucket of grain on the back of the golf cart she could happily munch while I was sticking her.

She is right at 15 hands as a yearling. She really is going to be huge. Whoever buys her is going to need a ladder to get up on her. The new washer originally was supposed to arrive between 2:00 pm and 6:00 pm however at 11:08 am they called and told us they were one hour away. I was busy hosing off Tessa's filly's leg and once that was done Tessa and the filly were put in a stall to wait for Dr. Pallen. She called at 11:40 am that she would be here in 20 minutes. As the horses were already in the stalls I ran back to the house to get a drink and a check and told Mark he would have to meet the HomeDepo truck as the vet was coming at the same time and guess what? They arrived within minutes of each other. Mark was able to show the delivery person where to take the washing machine. Later he sent a text with the picture below, the machine is installed and is running through a cycle AND they took the old machine away for FREE. That was a win for us.

So it doesn't match but a working machine is much more important than a matching useless one.

Tessa's filly needed some sedation before she would let Dr. Pallen scrub it out. 

Above she is getting sleepy while Dr. Pallen is getting all the supplies needed. Below she has survived all of the poking, prodding and needles. Dr. Pallen injected into the tendon sheath to make sure there were no tears or openings in that but that was fine.  She has no infection in the wound and the tendon is also fine but she has some proud flesh growing.

That meant she needed a special wrap that needs to stay on for 3 days.

 I will need to bring her back to the clinic on Monday for this bandage to come off and a new one put back on. It was terribly hot and by the time Dr. Pallen was done we were both sweating buckets. I was glad to go home to get a big drink of water and cool off in the air-conditioning. A camper came back and is going out again tomorrow. That was cleaned but I need to go back with a sweeper, there was either cat hair or dog hair on the cushions. If the sweeper won't get it all, I'll bring tape.  Sarah sent the picture below.

They have reached their campground and are all set up. The girls are loving having the bikes. There are many roads and drives just for bikes. 

I found 3 ripe tomatoes so tonight we had BLT's for our supper. I was out of bread but toasted some Hawaiian rolls and that worked. Spark came over for a while this evening then Mark went to work at the farm house. We are so close to being able to list it. I'm getting anxious and might just try to finish what I can tomorrow then get it listed.

Almost Unbearable

 Today was a really hot day. Even early for our walk, there was no breeze at all and the temps close to 80. I went over to check out the motorhome fridge and was disappointed to find it still not working. Ruth brought the 2005 motorhome over. It had gone out West with 2 families plus 1. Ruth said they really enjoyed the trip. They had 9 people traveling and staying in it but 5 of those were young children. Mark was busy emptying the big black tanks then taking them apart. Because we are going to list the farm house on airbnb even the yard needs to look good. I helped some with the tanks then Mark came to help take the freezer/fridge apart to try to find the problem. We worked a couple hours on it then decided to send it as it was. Rhoda arrived and tacked up Jury. Iris got the first lesson on her.

While Rhoda was working with Iris and Jury I took Zeke to go help grandpa in the motorhome.

Not much later Sarah arrived with Zion, Eden and River. Zion got a canter lesson on Jury. We didn't get to watch that as I took the others into the 2005 motorhome to turn on that fridge. They thought this motorhome was amazing. While I was turning on things they found hiding places.

Once everything was up and running well. We went back to the horses. Zion was getting Penny tacked up to go on a trail ride with Rhoda and Jury.

After the ride they all went to the lake to cool off. I needed to hose Tessa's filly's leg again. She knows the routine, she is haltered in the stall then follows her mom out to the indoor arena, stands while I tie her up and then get the hose.

Tomorrow Dr. Pallen is coming to check it out. It is just not healing as well as anticipated. Rhoda and Sarah worked with Dahlia while I watched their kids in the lake. While they were working with her, I swam across the lake to get the lillypad. The rope had broken and that had floated away. It was a good time as the 3 older girls were playing near the beach and River and Zeke were playing under the trees. Rhoda worked with  Dahlia while Sarah recorded everything then Rhoda made the video below:

When they got back the 2017 motorhome's fridge was put back together and I was so pleased to find the fridge working. We really don't know what we did to fix it but it was cooling. Hooray! I checked the 2005 and it too was cooling well. Sarah picked up Nolan and they drove the 2005 to the Brewers then took the 2017 to their house for packing. They are all leaving early tomorrow.

We went to Taegan's softball game which was held at a park just 12 minutes from our house. It was supposed to start at 7:30 pm but was delayed as the game before theirs went long. Taegan's game didn't start until close to 8:00 pm and by the time it was over we got home much to late. This was the championship game and was hard fought. They won the last two games to get into this game but ended up losing in this game so came in 2nd in the tournament. WELL DONE GIRLS! Every time Taegan got up to bat she got on base. Below is her double.

Even after 9:00 pm it was 85 degrees with no breeze. I was wishing for a fan. The heat seemed almost unbearable. I'm glad I went, Taegan is a very talented player. She plays 3rd base, one of the girls from the other team was trying to steal 3rd, Taegan was thrown the ball, the girl stopped and headed back to second, Taegan threw the ball to the girl playing second, they went back and forth until the girl was tagged out. Too bad I didn't have the video going then. No one knew how that was going to end but the perfect throws and Taegan's team mates all in perfect position made this out happen. 

 

Not Working

 We walked but even before 8:00 am it was hot. There was no breeze, sunshine and lots of humidity. We didn't walk very fast. We stopped to see the new improvements on Mike's barn but the one we had to laugh at was his paint can shaker.

Most impressive the amount of hookups for his air compressor. There are many places to hook up an air gun for air gun tools on both sides of the barn and even in the front. There must have been over 30 of those. I had 2 campers going out today so ran over to Joan's to plug them in, turn on the fridge and make sure the air conditioners were on right after the walk. Mark wanted left over roast for breakfast. I was just heading over to meet one of the camper rental guys when Sarah arrived with her girls. They came to clean the house.

Above Zion is doing all the vacuuming while below Eden and River emptied and loaded the dishwasher.

Rachel and David were trying to remove the hornets from the outdoor volleyball court. Rachel decided to use the Kubota on that. 

Sarah and Nolan are borrowing the motorhome tomorrow so today I pulled it out of the barn, turned on the generator to make sure that worked, then plugged the motorhome in and turned the generator off. The front window was so dusty the hose was brought out and that window hosed off.

I came back to the house hot and sweaty. Mark had decided to go swimming and just then Diane and Mike arrived with their rafts.

I was going to go swimming but thought I should check the fridge first on the motorhome. The freezer was working great, the fridge wasn't cooling at all. Just then Jozef arrived to pick up a skid steer part so I asked him to look at at as he has a camper and camps a lot. 

No luck fixing it but he asked Google AI why and then sent me the 3 most obvious answers. I turned off the fridge then left for home. Tomorrow I will try turning it on again, if it still doesn't work I'll ask Mark to take the freezer top off so we can find where the obstruction is. By the time I got back from that it was time to shower and get ready for church. David had the message tonight and what a message. Click HERE to watch that. After church we we went to Culvers for a late supper. The Bradley/ICC young group joined us tonight both in church and also at Culvers. It was a good group.

Precious Memories

 Ruth, Diane and I walked but I only walked one round as today is Berean day.  I arrived to find Shirly, Sharon and Vonnie already there and waiting to get in. Skip couldn't come today. The big news at Berean is we now have internet. We were able to use the postage machine. 

Marvin brought in cucumbers from his garden and shared them with us. We all took some. He had to leave early today but got done what was needed. The rest of us worked until about 10:30 am. We didn't have a lot of mail but enough to keep us busy. We had left over Chantilly cake so I took that over to Lukie, she has the hospice helpers there pretty much full time now for Wayne. Please remember to pray for the Unsicker family, Wayne really is a man after God's own heart, he is such a wonderful servant, humble, loving and a very generous man. I know he deserves his reward but we will sure miss him here. I drove first down to Meisters to drop off studies then to the Hanna City post office to drop off the Bibles and studies going out today. Mark's car needed to be charged so I drove straight to the farm house, parked the Tesla in the garage,  hooked it up to the charger then walked home. David and Elisabet followed me in. Stephanie and Israel were already here swimming as was Anna and Braelyn. I got my suit on and joined them in the lake. Diane arrived right after that. I think we floated or swam for hours. At 2:00 pm the guy from Spoon River arrived (Stephanie was just leaving and saw him) I had to get out of the lake to take him down to the water softener. We are going to continue to rent this one and signed a 3 month contract. He also checked the level of the propane tank and gave Mark the number.  After he left I started making the chicken salad for tonight. Braelyn came in and visited for a while and took some of that home. I served it with those wonderful fresh cucumbers from Marvin's garden. After supper Penny and Tessa needed to be teased. Tessa showed right away but I needed Mike's help with her. Valiant got the job done.  Penny was out back in the pond pasture but came right to me. I walked her over to Evan and she squealed and then did a huge barrel kick with her hind legs. I thought she must be out but then she whirled around and started showing to him. Mike tied her but when I brought Evan up she kicked again and this time I walloped her. She stopped and then stood well for him. I will mark her down but am pretty sure she is either going out or gone out. I know she was in this morning but it was too hot when I came home from Berean and I wanted to wait until this evening when it was cooler. When I came back it was a good time to water the tomato plants and flowers. Mom has some beautiful flowers out on the deck ( I think Rhonda planted them) I think that because she wants to make sure they get watered and live. 

The purple petunias are my favorite. The smell and color bring back memories of Baer Greenhouse and weeding the beds. I loved the smell when I would walk into the glass houses to start weeding the beds. The work wasn't fun and exciting but that smell sure does bring precious memories. 

 

WEEK 6 UNTIL the END

 July 22nd, 1989

Mark, Jon, Kim and I went to breakfast at Marilyns. We then went to pick up SHARE foods. We picked up 6 boxes, 3 for me, 2 for Beth and 1 for Diane.  WE drove to Diane's to put her food away when the pho9ne rang.  Misty had followed us.  We stopped to pick her up on the way home. She was West on Lincoln, almost to Harmon Highway. I took Timmy and Ben riding. Ben actually asked to go. I guess Timmy made it look fun.   After lunch Mark and Jon took us to Kartsville. Jon really liked it.  Kim was much more cautious. I've never seen anyone drive a go cart so slow.  We rode the bumper boats then went home. Kim brought hamburgers and hotdogs down from Elgin for our supper tonight. I don't think she expected quite so many kids.  Rhonda dropped off Beth H's girls at 6:00 pm plus we already had Chad. It made a full table.  After supper the boys wanted to ride. Each kid that wanted to ride got to ride.  Beth came to pick up her kids at 9:30 pm. Beth M wasn't back yet with Nathan so we made arrangements for him to spend the night so Beth could go home. Beth M didn't get here until 10:45 pm. They left Pepper at Farmington by accident and had to go back to get him as the leave for Florida in the morning. 

June 23rd, 1989

Ben woke us up at 2:00 am vomiting. I had to clean up Kristen's bed, our bed and the bathroom floor by the time he quit.  We just got back to sleep when Saber came up and whined in my face. I got up and went down to let him out.  I had just made it back in bed when he let himself in the basement door. He came back upstairs and whined in my face again. He wants me to follow him. Mark got dressed and took his flashlight to look around but didn't see anything. Mark put him back outside then locked the basement door so Saber couldn't get back in the house. The rest of the night we slept in peace. We ate breakfast at 7:45 am with Jon and Kim then they packed up and left for home.  I had David stay home from church and watch Ben and Rhoda since Ben was still sick. I'm so glad I did. Rick spoke in the afternoon and it was excellent.  After church Chuck put Ken in as our new Deacon. After we dropped off Eldora we got supper together then left for the lake. It was sprinkling a little but looked like it would clear up later. We had a nice supper at Spark and Rhonda's house. Beth H brought chicken and I had fish, Brad and Jean and Dave and Kathy came too. We had a nice supper under Rhonda's porch then went to play volleyball. It was pretty hot with no breeze. We played 3 games then went over to swim and cool off. Mark and I left  for home about 7:30 pm. We dropped David and Philip off at John's to spend the night. I got them all settled in then walked home in the rain carrying Ben and dragging Rhoda. Mark didn't want to wait and took the van. I'm glad Beth and John live close. 10:30 pm BED

June 24th, 1989

I stayed in bed until 7:00 am. I dreaded the work I was facing. Dragged myself out of bed and started. I put one load of laundry in and worked on the hallway. At 8:15 I stopped and went to Beth's to get Pepper. I needed to take him to the vet. Beth thinks he broke his leg. I couldn't find him right away but finally got him to the vet at 9:15. No break, just a bad sprain and an animal bite that's swollen. Came home at 11:00 and and nothing was done. I ate breakfast then started the boys on the kitchen and I started mowing. I finished one apartment lawn. I took me an hour because I had to do it with the trimmer. I went home to get a drink and cool off and again nothing done.  There needs to be 2 of me, one to work and one to supervise. I changed my shirt to a cooler one and started on the next building. I still have the lawns at 823 to do plus clean church. I finished the apartment mowing and started on the house mowing when the mower quit. I couldn't get it started again, I guess it just had enough and I did too. I left the kids in David's charge and went to church. I didn't finish until 9:30 pm. I'm just so tired and wonder if maybe I'm sick.

June 25th, 1989

Felt much better this morning and was out grocery shopping by 6:30 am. I even ate breakfast at Kroger. I had coffee, 2 eggs, sausage, hash browns and 2 pieces of toast for $2.00.  Got home by 7:15 am and got the kids up. David wasn't feeling well, he had vomited as did Philip this morning. Rhonda decided to take all the older kids to Rock Gardens in Bloomington. David decided he was well enough to go. I kept Chad over night since they left at 8:30 am Rhonda left Jacob with me, he isn't feeling well either. He has thrown up twice but at least it was outside. I just had to hose off the steps and driveway. I started mowing at 9:00 am and finished at 10:45 am. I'm SO GLAD it is DONE! Jacob threw up 5 times. I sure ended up with a lot of dirty towels. This afternoon I cleaned the attic with Diane. I really got hot so stopped to rest and read a book. I started again at 5:00 pm on the upstairs and laundry. I still need to pack and wash the sheets. I changed Kristen's, Danny's and the nursery sheets. How am I going to take everything over to my house. I sure accumulated a lot since I've been here. We are leaving for Houston tomorrow. Mark informed me he forgot to make our hotel accommodations. I hope he can get them. He changed the oil and worked on the van. We have to drive to St. Louis. Diane is watching Philip, Rhoda, Misty and 4 rabbits. Beth H is keeping David and Ben. Martha is collecting the eggs and taking care of the dogs and cats and will be making sure the horses have water. I hope I'm not forgetting anything. Got a collect call from Beth M. they made it down to Florida. 10:41 BED.

July 26th, 1989

I got up early to try to get everything done but didn't make it before it was time to leave. Mark came home and took the kids, the dog and the rabbits to Diane's while I finished here. We left for St. Louis at 10:15 am and made it there by 2:00 with 3 stops on the way. One for gas, one for maps and one just because we got lost.  Our plane didn't leave until 4:00 pm so we had plenty of time. Mark would only let me pack one carryon for the both of us. No problem I'm good at wearing next to nothing for 2 days. I made him carry it. We arrived at Houston at 8:30 pm and checked in. The hotel had given our room away and the only room left was a luxury suite on the top floor. We got it at $83.00 a night instead of the usual $200.00 a night. What a room, king size bed, 6 down pillows, a hair dryer, robes huge towels, stocked fridge. You name it, it had it. even to the tooth paste and mouth wash.  I am really going to enjoy this. We walked around and checked things out then went to bed. 

July 27th, 1989

Woke up at 7:00 am. Mark dressed and went to his 8:00 am meeting. The ladies luncheon started at 9:30 am so I had plenty of time. The lunch was terrible. Stewed tomatoes, hard rolls with no jam, a chicken breast stuffed with dry spinach and a vegetable quiche, filled with squash. I think it probably was good only I was coming down with the same stomach flu all the kids had. I was miserable. I tried to go swimming and shopping but finally just gave up and went to bed. What a waste. Mark tried to take me for a walk but I could hardly make it out of bed. Then at 8:00 pm we were to meet at the Calloways for a seafood dinner. I tried. I walked there, ordered a cup of tea. At 9:00 pm I left and walked back to the hotel and collapsed into the bed. 

June 28th, 1989

Mark woke up with the flu. I'm better but He is SO tired, He is SO sick, He hurts SO bad. He stayed in bed while I went shopping. There are 390 stores  in the mall where this hotel is located. I think I looked at 250 of them before giving up. This place is for rich folks! I went outside and found a grocery store. The first thing I looked at is orange juice. A half a gallon was $5.95 outrageous! I didn't buy much, just some cheese and gum for our trip home. I got back at noon. Mark was still sick. I packed up and checked out. We sat in the lobby until 3:00 pm. Mark was so sick I had to run and get ice, then run and find a bag, help him into the van. Poor Mark, I know how he feels. We got to the airport in plenty of time. We got to St. louis at 9:40 pm and started driving home It took a long time to get out of the airport. We made it home by  1:30 am. I'm beat!

June 29th, 1989

I heard the rooster start crowing about 7:00 am. At least that is when I first became aware of the noise.  I'd moved to Dan's bed in the middle of the night. Couldn't sleep right away, since I had to drive. I drank coffee and diet coke on the plane. I woke up, stretched my arm and got tangled in the speaker wire. It fell right on top of me. That hurt. Dan's bed is booby trapped. I rejoined Mark and sleptt until I heard a car drive in at 8:00 am. I thought it was the folks but it was Johnny and Serena with balloons. I guess I will have to get up. Everybody is so excited about this big home coming.  This was our last morning here and today we will be back in our own little house on Sioux Trail.

Need a Break

 Today was busy. Just Diane and I walked. After the walk I went to work. Three of the 4 campers came back and were cleaned so they would be ready to go back out. Rhoda and Sarah arrived and started working on the barn. Today they steamed cleaned all of the baseboards. Even Zeke was helping. 

Braelyn came to clean the apartment. I needed to leave to get some cash, then drive to the Peoria post office to pick up the Berean mail then to Sam's to pick up a dessert for tomorrow and finally to the Berean office to drop off the dessert and mail.  The barn washer is kaput. I called 2 different repair shops the first were booked up this week and gone on vacation next week. The next one, when I explained it what brand and what the problem was told me to throw it away and buy a new one. This brand is awful to fix and he wouldn't even work on them. I ordered a new washer AND paid for it to be hooked up. It is coming on Friday. Later today I needed to get Tessa and her filly out of the stall and hose off the filly's leg. She is walking better but the wound doesn't look better. They spent the day inside and I only took them out this evening. The stall was cleaned for tomorrow. I did lots of laundry here, from the foaling apartment, the barn and here. I'm quitting early tonight and will look for a good book to read. I finished typing up the Journal this evening. 

WEEK 3

WEEK 4

WEEK 5

WEEK 6 UNTIL the END

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 40 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 pm 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.