Going to the Birds

It was another morning that was hard to roll out of bed. Now that I'm older it takes a few days to make up for a night with little sleep. That happened Thursday night with Soul colicking then Friday I needed to get her buried, find formula for the colt, work with him for hours trying to get him to drink then hosting potluck.  I should have been rested up but the weekend was also busy and made busier with an orphan colt taking up a lot of time.  As I was heading to the meeting place for our walk I had to stop and smell the flowers and took a few pictures. Mark transplanted this from mom's last year.

This is a bush on our drive that smells wonderful.

The flowers below are not flowers they are actually grass.

There was a dead mole on the drive. It didn't look like it had been hit by a car so not sure what killed it.

There was no Berean today, we couldn't get the mail yesterday because of the holiday and Anna had asked me to watch the girls this morning. Anna ended up not needing me so right after the walk I left for Sam's club and after that Aldi making it back by 10:45 am. Beth was staying with mom and I needed to relieve her by 11:00 am.  Beth had mom on the deck and wasn't in a big hurry to leave so we sat out and visited. It was hot and humid but there was a good breeze and a little overcast which made it bearable.  Joan and her kids were all busy mowing. Joan came by with Doctor Who (her barred owlet) and some minnows and had mom feed him. 

After Beth left I served the rotisserie chicken from Sam's for lunch for mom and I. After lunch we went back out on the deck to watch the birds coming to the bird feeder. The video also shows one of the humming birds drinking the grape jelly out of the bowl.

We need to buy more oranges so the Baltimore Orioles will come back. They were coming but a little confused by the bowl. We saw a few red headed wood peckers and cardinals drinking from the bowl. At 2:00 pm I needed to head home to feed the orphan colt. Karin arrived in time so I felt free to go and was back within a few minutes.  I have a good system now.  At 5:00 pm Rhonda and Spark came to take my place at mom's. The owner of Onyx, Lily's 2021 filly by Valiant posted some beautiful pictures of her.

Her mane and tail are VERY thick and long.

I'm so pleased I kept this year's filly by Valiant. Onxy is beautiful. The lady buying Madiera's filly sent the picture below. 

They are so very pleased with her. I'm meeting them tomorrow to make it all official and remind them I need a name for her soon so she can be registered. I just got back from doing the last feeding of the day for Soul's colt. While up there I put his halter on and off a few times.  Tonight he was given 7 quarts of formula which should hold him off until morning.

Memorial Day

 I know today was supposed to be a holiday where we remembered those who gave their lives for our country and freedom but with an orphan colt that needs care it didn't feel like a holiday.  I was up at the barn by 6:00 am with a new batch of milk replacer. He had almost finished the almost 2 gallons left last night.  He was fed a gallon and a half at 6:00 am another gallon and a half at 2:00 pm and in just a few minutes I'll be taking up another 2 gallons to get him through the night.  I also tried him out in the paddock with Irish and her colt as these two use to be best friends.  It didn't go well. Irish threatened him and even tried to kick him at one point.  

Below is just a short video but even then if I hadn't stepped in Irish would have bitten him.

Once he was back in the stall I headed over to the lake where a bunch of my grandchildren were swimming.

Ruth was with mom today and took her for a walk with the scooter over to the barn to see the orphan colt.  They met our airbnb guests and had a nice visit.  After leaving the lake I worked on posting the 5th wheel for sale on Facebook market place.  I just have not had time to get it fixed up to rent it. Right after posting it I had someone want to come at 4:30 pm to see it. I ran up to make sure the lights were on, turned on the air conditioner and swept it out. A few of the window's needed cleaning. It was really heating up outside and the last time I ran the air on the 5th wheel it cooled it down pretty quickly. Heading back to the house I noticed a big wolf spider hanging by a thread just under our back door. It was quite impressive.

At 3:30 pm I ran back up to the trailer opened the door to check out who cool it was to find no lights and no cooling happening. The air conditioner made the gfi outlet to pop.  I moved the extension cord to another outlet and the same thing happened.  Instead I opened all the windows to get a breeze in the trailer then headed down to the house to find the lady coming had cancelled. Oh well now maybe we can work on it and hopefully find out why the air conditioner is causing the gfi to pop.  It worked fine earlier in the year. This evening Diane, Karin, Rachel and I spent the evening at mom's.  Aunt Jinnie called so mom had a nice visit with her while we played games.  The new airbnb guests arrived and couldn't get hot water, Mark went over and found the gfi outlet for the water heater had also popped. I don't think the 5th wheel and the apartment are on the same electrical breaker so we are probably looking at replacing the apartment water heater if it happens again.

Rocky Sold

 It was really hard to get out of bed at 5:00 am but the colt had dumped his milk bucket during the night so it was necessary to quickly make up a gallon and haul it up to the barn.  He was very glad to see me so not sure how much he drank and how much got dumped. the clean bucket was put in the other corner with a half full water bucket next to it.  At 9:00 am I took a gallon and a half up and he had already emptied the first gallon. Rosaleigh and her filly were put in with the other mares and foals this morning. The filly is 6 days old and Rosaleigh was ready to join the herd.  We left for church right at 9:15 am.  Tim Funk had the morning message and Mike Kaisner had the afternoon. When we got home from church there was a VERY nice update from the lady that bought Mayberry (Sheena x Valiant) last year. She wrote: We drove 5.5 hours to SC to attend our first open show ever. May travelled like a pro. She won Saddle-type halter, Saddle-type Showmanship, Open 2 and under halter, 3rd in Open English halter, (beat only by the Champion and Reserve Champion overall winners),  4th in in-hand trail (it was last class and she was hot and tired), and 6th in Championship over all halter. For a 98% QH and Paint show with a QH judge she did excellent. People were coming up to us all day and saying how beautiful she was and how they are in love with her. Stopping and asking what IS she? Many pictures of her taken by spectators. She was the crowd favorite and belle of the ball and she  loved every minute of it. P.S. keep a baby from this breeding because it is a spectacular match. Her new registered name will be Valiant's Unbridled Mayhem.We call her May or Mayberry though. She's so smart and personable and we love her.Feel free to share her pictures and do some well-deserved bragging in your blog 😁. We are so glad we were able to talk Mike into letting her go home with us. She is on her way! Best, Karen

We are SO happy for updates and so thrilled both for Karen and Mayberry. They have a wonderful future ahead of them.  There was also a very nice review from the airbnb guests that left this morning.  They wrote: A perfect get-away at Judith's place! Very quiet and clean.  The horses right outside the window and door are superb.  The apartment is exactly as described - for us the added bonus was it was very user friendly for our child who is a wheelchair user (hard surface floors, wide hallways and doors, shower with seat and hand wand).  We would definitely stay here again!

I'm very thankful they enjoyed their stay. The guests moving in today were thrilled with the horses. Below the horses all came up from the pasture to greet the new guests.

Rhoda ordered, paid for and picked up our dinner tonight from Gil's Supper Club. Taunya brought the salad, Phil and Anna brought the ice cream for dessert. Sarah and Nolan were a little late but made it in time to eat before we headed over to the playground. 

Below we are heading over to the playground.

Below Eden and Abe were playing monster trucks on the chair with sand from the volleyball court.

There was a lot of activity this evening. Check out the video below.

Phil and Anna started a fire for s'mores. When the parents with children were ready to leave Braelyn helped put out the fire. The volleyball court was lighted and kids had a couple games of Spike Ball going on both sides of the net.

After all my kids and grandkids left I headed back up to the barn with 2 gallons of milk replacer for the colt tonight.  He had finished his 2:00 pm feeding so for sure getting plenty of calories. Tomorrow I'll bring Rocky in and introduce them.  Speaking of Rocky the girl that came to see him on Saturday sent a message that she would like to buy him. They were a good match together. He won't be marked sold until the check arrives but this is a great home for him. 

Saturday's Jobs

 I checked on the colt the first thing this morning and was pleased the milk I gave him last night was gone.  He was given 2 quarts at 6:00 am. I needed to be at mom's at 7:30 am and still needed to put a halter on Rocky as we had someone coming to look at him at 10:00 am.  Ruth arrived at 10:00 am to stay at mom's while I showed Rocky but the people coming had not yet arrived which gave me time to make another 2 quarts of milk mixture up and take it to Rocky. This time the 2 quarts were gone in 4 hours.  When I got back to the cabin the prospective buyers had arrived. Rocky was taken out and gone over. 

She wanted to see him move so we walked him over to the outdoor arena where he put on a good show, cantering and doing his big trot both directions.  He was put in the far paddock as I will be introducing him to Soul's colt who needs a companion. We walked over to see Rocky's sire Valiant, Valiant was taken out and asked to lay down. He remembered his training.  By this time it was close to 11:00 and the man coming to pick up the golf cart arrived.  We said goodby then I hiked back up to the barn to help get the golf cart in his horse trailer. The ramp he brought was pretty old and broke under the weight of the cart so we used the skid steer to put it in.  By the time I got over to mom's it was after 11:00 am.  Sarah arrived with her 3 girls. They were playing on the playground then came inside to greet great grandma then out to the deck. 

We watched humming birds come to drink the grape jelly we put out for the Baltimore Oriels.

River was having so much fun playing with the blossoms that had dropped off the trees onto the deck.

Ruth arrived around 2:30 pm so I went right back up to the stall and sure enough the colt was needing more milk.  He was given 3 quarts this time and checked at 5:30pm. He was almost out so given another 3 quarts before we left for Middle Grove. We stopped at the Warehouse to pick up a tenderloin to split on the way out.  There were a lot of campers at Middle Grove today.  Lots of second cousins all came to play.

All those kids are related. Some are Spark's grand children, some are John's grandchildren and some are my grandchildren.  Diane took the picture above. When we arrived Spark and Rhonda were just leaving and the rest were finishing up supper. After supper Mike took us on a jeep ride over to see the horses.

Mike took fly spray out so when we reached them the horses got fly sprayed.

If you would like to see the rest of the pictures from the jeep ride click HERE. Mark and I left just after 8:00 pm for home and drove straight up to the barn. The colt's buckets were brought down to the house and given a good scrubbing then a gallon of milk was mixed up and taken to his stall for the night.  It is now almost 11:00 pm and Mark has been in bed for 40 minutes. Time for me to head there too. 

Long Hard Day

 What a day.  I was so relieved at 4:00 am believing Soul was going to make it, then shocked at 5:30 am to find she was not better.  Mike came over with the excavator to dig her grave. 

We put her grave by the woods in the field where she loved to run. Below is a video of Mike digging the grave then covering it back up. 

Diane was here to help bring him into a stall. I brought in Irish, blindfolded her and tried to get him to nurse but he wouldn't. He just wanted his mama.  He was given hay, grain and water then I went into the house to start making phone calls.  EarlyBird Feed in Goodfield carries the Mare milk replacer but they only had 3 bags and all 3 bags were to be picked up this morning by a buyer.  The man at Earlybird called the buyer and left a message asking if she would allow me to buy one.  Thankfully she did.  I borrowed Diane's car to drive to Goodfield to pick up the 40 pound bag. The cost was $144.00 plus tax. When I arrived home I made up a quart but could not get him to taste it.  I kept working on that most of the day and by 4:30 pm he drank down the quart.  Right after that a man came to check out the golf cart I have for sale.  They are going to come tomorrow to buy it.  Tonight we hosted rotating potluck and had a delicious dinner but the fellowship was even better than the food. 

One funny thing happened. Amy called and I quick declined the call then sent a text, "I can't talk right now  She immediately called back and again I declined the call and sent another text "I can't talk right now at potluck." The 3rd time she called again I declined and this time sent the text, "I can't talk right now am hosting potluck." I finally looked down and realized I had been declining Amy's calls but sending those texts to the man who wants to pick up the golf cart tomorrow after he sent back the text, "no worries"  That man must think this lady is crazy.  I ran up to the barn around 9:00 pm to take 2 quarts of milk replacer up to the colt and he drank a little. The rest was left for him. It is good for 12 hours so can be left overnight. Now I'm heading to bed.

Soul's Prognosis Poor

 We made it through the night. At 2:00 am Soul was quiet, not trying to thrash around, not trying to drop and roll. I went to bed. At 4:00 am I just drove up to the indoor, she was standing quietly while her colt was laying down sleeping. She perked her ears, looked at me so I thought all was well so relieved and went back to the house to start the coffee. At 5:30 am She was still standing but had moved forward some. This time I went in to let her outside to see if she would like to graze and she was trembling and not wanting to move.  She is not ok, no fresh manure in the indoor. She is not dropping and rolling but obviously in distress. I will haul her to the vet clinic leaving here at 7:30 am. If an obstruction she may be able to be saved, if a twisted intestine I will have Dr. Hoerr put her down then make arrangements to get the colt started on milk replacer.  As of this now he is still nursing.  Her prognoses is poor but not yet a death sentence.  UPDATE Soul lost her battle.  We are actively searching for mare milk replacer.  We will be raising him as a bucket baby. We brought Irish in to see if she would accept him but he is refusing to nurse off anyone not his mama.  I was able to find mare milk replacer in Goodfield so got one 40 pound bag (all they could spare) and will be able to pick up more next Friday.  He has not tasted it yet but drank water and ate a few bites of grain so I am hopeful.

The Calvary Arrives

 We are hosting rotating potluck tomorrow so today really was cleaning day.  I had been working on the house during the week but Rhoda and Sarah decided they would help out and come this afternoon.  Rosaleigh and her filly were put in the new barn pasture then left. They were glad for the grass. At 1:00 pm I started hearing thunder so went to put them inside and had just gotten them in the indoor when the heavens opened and the rain came thundering down.  I had not brought my phone out with me so no pictures but it was coming down so hard I couldn't see the breeding shed from the indoor and the noise was shocking of that much rain hitting the roof. I was stuck in the barn so ended up working out there until the rain slowed down a bit but even then came back drenched.  We ended up with an inch and a quarter of rain in the rain gauge in that one storm that lasted less than an hour. Sarah and Zion arrived first so we walked back up to the barn to see Rosaleigh's filly.

When Rhoda arrived we all went back to work. Zion was a very good helper.

We finished before 6:00 pm. Nolan picked up Zion so Rhoda, Sarah, Mark and I decided to go to Scapecci's for their Thursday night special which is an 8 ounce steak with 2 sides for $13.00.

Our salad's came early so those aren't pictured. The meal was truly delicious. 

After dinner we stopped at Bs drive in for soft serve icecream for dessert.  We got home just before 8:00 pm. Mark went up to the barn to put some camping gear away and told me that white horse may be having a baby.  I went running out all happy only to find that white horse was not Jury, it was Soul and she was in a full blown colic.  I got her out of the paddock, had Mark take her to the outdoor arena while I ran down to the house to get 10 cc's of Banamine.  She was given that at 8:08 pm.  I had cleaned her off by hosing her down and she tolerated that pretty well not trying to drop and roll.  She was taken to the indoor and by 8:40 pm had dropped but was not trying to roll.  I let her go and just watched. Her colt was running around her thinking this was a good game.

I came down to the house to get more meds, posted this and now am heading back up. Soul is not a candidate for colic surgery so I really am praying it is not serious. I'll do my best to keep her comfortable.  Her colt is just over a month old so if she doesn't make it I will need to pick up milk substitute and get him started on bucket feeding.  Right now she is letting him nurse standing quietly while he does. This is not the way I wanted this day to end.

Madiera Has a Filly

 It was the perfect morning for Mark to burn the brush pile. A little drizzly with rain in the forecast. Even before breakfast he was out lighting it.

I went out to put Rosaleigh and her 2 day old filly by Evan out while the fire was going.  Rosaleigh was on high alert as she was grabbing grass.

The filly had fun running around her mom today.

I only stayed a few minutes watching as we were walking today and there was still chores to do before the meeting time.  After the walk I went to work on cleaning the rec-room. That room was given a spring cleaning, all except Mark's corner which he will take care of tomorrow (hopefully). At 10:00 am I left for Walmart to pick up the 6 plastic tubs that had been ordered online. It was $2.00 cheaper to buy them online vs going to the store. I was able to get 6 of them for just over $50.00 and that included the tax.  Joan needed to take Heather to the airport at 11:00 am and I would have made it home before 11:00 but stopped for gas. As it was we passed each other right by the driveway.  Faith was with mom and would call me if she needed anything while Joan was gone. When I arrived Faith was brushing mom's hair. Mom loves that. 

After lunch I took a break from cleaning to let Irish, her colt, Tatiana and her colt out in the new barn pasture.  Irish is still in season and was covered by Valiant today then enjoyed the lush grass of that pasture.  Below is a short video of her colt Dollar. That is what his owner named him.

After he settled down to graze Tatiana and her colt were brought out. That colt was so funny. He was teasing Irish's colt then would run back to his mama for safety.

When he finally settled down a bit I took a couple pictures of him.

He is just 2 and a half weeks old. Irish's colt is almost 2 months old. I needed to move them back into the other pasture as this one has fences down and the only time I let them graze in it is if I am watching them. I really needed to go back in and do more cleaning. I also took the time to download the 4 videos taken today and post them on Facebook so they could be shared here on the blog. The crafts for kids were put away in two tubs. The 5 sets of camper paperwork was stored in a smaller tub and those 3 tubs were hauled upstairs. Mark had a late estimate so I went to church without him. He is over Covid but now trying to catch up on his work.  Tim Roecker had the message tonight reading first in Isaiah 5 and then Act's 8.  It was really good to be there.  The ride home was in driving rain and very slow. As soon as I got home and changed Rosaleigh and her filly were brought inside.  IF I would have known it was going to rain this evening they would have been brought in before leaving for church.  At least it is relatively warm at 64 degrees. The filly will be fine with her shower. A text came in today from the barn manager where Madiera is staying.  She had a filly at 9:50 pm May 24th. (last night) The filly was up and nursing by the first hour. Both mom and filly are doing great.

I'll head there next week to get some better pictures. This week is just too busy.  I'm pretty sure this filly is sold. The people specially picked Madiera for the dam as she was bred to Valiant and wanted to bond with the foal from birth to weaning.

Electricity Shortage.

 I headed up to the barn early to check on Rosaleigh's new filly. She was laying down and shivering a bit then didn't move until I asked her to get up. That was a little bit of a worry but as soon as she was up she walked right over to Rosaleigh and started nursing. It was actually pretty cold outside so the shivering was something good to warm up those muscles. I also saw her urinate and manure and both were normal. I was almost late to the walk because of watching her.  Right after the walk I left so I would have time to stop at Sam's club. We needed a few things for mom (Sam's was out of) and one of the things Sam's had not had for months was liquid hand soap.  Anna told me we would need more for the apartment so that was the first thing I searched for and couldn't find. I found someone and asked and he sent me all the way across the store to the laundry aisle and of course there wasn't any there. I checked the price of eggs thinking I may get some for baking if they were cheaper than the $2.39 a dozen Aldi was charging but even their cheap eggs were over $3.00 a dozen.  After checking out I asked another person about buying a gallon of hand soap. She looked it up and saw the store still had 13 left and told me where to find it but again I could not. I was looking in the bar soap aisle. I found someone else and this person knew where it was. It was sold in a 2 pack for $6.98 but this item has 9% tax (63cents) so it ended up at $7.61 and it is no longer sold in gallon jugs but instead just 80 ounce jugs. This is what they call shrinkflation. We had good morning at the Berean office. If you would like to read about our morning there click HERE. I left at 11:00 am and headed right for the Hanna City post office to drop off the Bibles then home to let Rosaleigh and her filly out.  Pax was here as Anna was cleaning the apartment. I didn't want him chasing the new baby so put him in my car when the horses were put out. To my surprise when I tried to open the car door to let Pax out he had locked the car.  Not only locked the car but had the flashers on too.  I told Anna then headed down to the house to get the second set of keys. Pax was glad to get out and I was glad to take the car down to the house. Right as I was putting the soap inside Beth called. She needed help with mom so I dropped the soap and headed over to mom's and just stayed there for the afternoon. When I finally got home I took the short video below of Rosaleigh with her filly grazing in the tall grass by the fence line. 

The field is ready for baling but the weather is not. We have rain coming in tonight.  Rosaleigh was ready to be put in but the weather was still nice so they were put in the far paddock. They were both thirsty but Rosaleigh had to make sure all was safe before dropping her head down to drink.

She is such a good mama.  The people that have borrowed Madiera sent a text that she is now waxing.  Maybe she will deliver tonight. Jury was checked and no progress on her udder we are beginning to think she isn't due until August even thought she looks like she is ready to deliver now.   Mark was out working in the yard so I went in to start supper. Tonight we had liver and onions served with a big salad.  The liver from this beef is tender and delicious. Right after supper the electricity went out. Mark started the generator so we can work this evening. It has been out for a few hours so far and we don't know why. Crazy the Berean office lost power today too. It must be that green new deal. Not much wind or sun today to make power and our government wants to shut down the coal/gas/oil industries here in Illinois. So along with the baby formula shortage, gas shortage, food inflation, soap shortage now we need to worry about electricity shortage. Such a strange time, just over a year ago, before the election there were no shortages and America was fuel independent but we had mean tweats.  I headed up at 7:00 pm to put Rosaleigh and her filly inside for the night. The rain is to start around 2:00 am. 

Rosaleigh's New Filly

 Joan ended up with unexpected company last night. Bill and Bethany left for home got to Carlock when their alternator went out.  They just had the car towed back to Joan's house. This morning Bill was hard at work fixing it and did.  Nice to have such a handy son-in-law. Joan was thrilled they stayed an extra night. Always fun to have grandchildren stay a day longer than planned.

Right after the walk, actually at 8:00 am I left for Middle Grove with the truck and trailer to bring Rosaleigh home. The horses were not in sight but the ground was dry enough that I could drive all the way back.  Still no horses so I was on my way back to the gate when I saw ONE chestnut horse all by himself.  Mika was grazing with no other horses anywhere near.  I zoomed the camera in as far as possible searching but it really was only him.

I left the truck and trailer and started the long hike to him. He stood there until I arrived.

He seemed fine but I was pretty sure that meant Rosaleigh had delivered and the mares were keeping him away. I was right. I walked past him, he turned looked around, called then took off cantering up the hill.

He cantered for about 5 minutes heading North then slid to a stop and just stared.

In that far clump of trees were a herd of black horses with their faces turned out toward Mika. Finally Jewel broke from the bunch and came down to see who was with Mika.

She recognized me, trotted back and somehow communicated with the rest it was just the human lady that feeds them.  At that point the group broke up a bit with each mare settling down to graze. That is 2 year old Dancer far right in the picture below (also not allowed to be with the new baby). The others are all surrounding Rosaleigh.

Jewel joined Mika and Dancer started to follow them. Dancer is very muddy, she has found somewhere good to roll to keep off the flies.

Sheena stayed with Rosaleigh.

Oksana and Indy are in front of Rosaleigh. That is Indy behind Oksana.  Rosaleigh's new foal was still laying down.

When I arrived the foal had not yet stood. Her hooves were still sporting her foal slippers. 

It was a beautiful morning and I didn't want to try to carry the filly all the way back to the trailer. It was probably at least a half a mile away or more. I just waited and watched as she made it to her feet then started her search for the udder.  

Notice Sheena still close by. 

It is thrilling when the foal first suckles.  One feels like yelling "YES!" 

After getting her tummy full we started down the hill but went very slowly taking an hour to reach the trailer. I had to chase Dancer off a couple of times and when we got out of sight of the herd Rosaleigh kept trying to go back.  She was loose and I was using the lead rope to help guide the filly so as soon as she realized the filly wasn't following she would come back and join us.  We took lots of stops for nursing and naps.  When we finally reached the trailer I lifted the filly inside and Rosaleigh followed.

Then started the long drive home reaching home just before noon. That poor filly was exhausted by the time they were unloaded and put in the stall. Both of them laid down to take a nap.

After a nap the filly was standing and nursing well.

I took a short video of her nursing, she even tried to do a little trot.

I left then and drove down to the Peoria Post office to pick up the Berean mail then ran straight up to the barn to check on them. With everything that happened Rosaleigh's placenta had not yet delivered. At 1:00 pm she was given 1 cc of Oxytosin.  That was finally delivered about 2:30 pm and buried. Thankful it was complete. Irish was teased and covered by Valiant when she showed.  The apartment booked for tonight but I was having trouble with water pressure and thought I may need to cancel them.  Mark made it home in time to fix the regulator so that was good.  A text came in from the owner of Bella. Bella was bred last year to Valiant and this morning produced a beautiful silver filly. This filly will end up blue black once full grown. I had to ask for pictures.  

So both Evan and Valiant became a father again today.  I needed to run to the bank in Hanna City but stopped at Diane's office to see if the check for Soul's colt arrived. She wasn't there but Faith and Ellie were, they were busy painting the new fence. 

I made the comment, "you would rather paint than mow?" and they both said, "that will be done next."  Sure enough this evening the mowing started. 

Faith is an expert mower. She kept that machine moving today and got all of our mowing done along with mom's and Joan's.  Check out how fast she mows.

Mark didn't want left overs tonight as he had those for lunch so he got fish while I heated up left overs for me.  I spent the evening at mom's. Diane was out digging up plants to take over to her house so she came in, Rachel and Karin were there with mom so we ended up playing a couple games while there.  Lots of fun at mom's tonight. Mark was pleased when Weaton posted on their website pictures of the 50th reunion and included US.

He mentioned: Dave and I discovered we were chemistry major veterans. Mark was so thankful that the Lord's traveling mercies provided some easier mountains to climb other than chemistry.