What a Year

 I overslept not getting up until 5:30 am but since there is no walk on Friday's it was easy to get everything done. Mark took the truck and trailer to American Rental and picked up a trencher as this weekend we are getting ready to dig the water lines. All 600 feet of water lines. Rachel was with mom this morning so I got to watch and listen to AC central, Kaleb Beyer in Goodfield, IL speaking about marriage enrichment  while doing laundry.  At 1:00 pm I headed over to mom's. The weather was perfect for sitting out on the deck. We got to watch the egret fish right off the beach. 

I took the video below hoping he would catch a fish but he never did.

Mark came over at 5:30 to start grilling the salmon.

That turned out delicious. We had a simple yet tasty meal of salmon, mashed potatoes, green beans and for dessert cheese cake.

We were in no hurry to leave the table and ended up sitting and visiting until almost 7:00 pm.  A year ago mom was brought home from the hospital and given at the most two weeks to live. At that time we weren't sure if or how we would be able to care for her and yet here we are.  Lots of what mom would call inexperienced help has now turned experienced. What a year this has been.

Lots of Laughter

Shirley L sent me the picture below of mom at the Berean office. 

They were talking about Chris's grand daughter marrying a Baer boy but mom heard it as a bare boy. It really struck her funny bone.  The dessert for supper tonight was put in the oven at 7:00 am and then I told the walkers I needed to be back in the house by 8:00 am to turn off the oven. It wasn't as cold this morning at 41 degrees .Diane joined us on the walk via phone. Later today she did a video call with Joan's phone and walked through Lani Kai so mom could see the new decorating job.  Diane helped get the new couch in, bought new end tables, lamps and moved the paintings around. Mom liked it. Later this morning a bunch of Ameren trucks came up the drive and some had big backhoes on trailers.

I thought just for a moment that Phil had rented something HUGE to work on the barn but nope, they were just a little lost and needed to head to Rachel's house. In the picture below you can see the last of the trucks leaving dust as they head to Rachel's.

Today was an easy day, the only outside chores needed to be done was filling the fresh water tank on the 5th wheel, making sure the apartment was ready with the lights turned on and the thermostat set on 68 for the guests coming in today. Indy was teased again and today she squealed and struck out at the stallions. I think she is kind of depressed as she is the only mare on the property. I had supper ready and took that over at 4:00 pm even though we weren't eating until later. There was a carbols game going on so I joined in and we didn't finish until 5:30 pm. Joan's family joined us for supper and everyone enjoyed it. Tonight we had chicken pot pie, salad, rolls with butter and for dessert pumpkin pecan crunch cake. After supper Karin had us watch Water World. Mackenson enjoyed all the inventions and even mom was laughing at some of the scenes.  We really do a lot of laughing when together. The news of hurricane Ian was not good. It slammed Fort Myers up to a whopping category 4 with wind speeds of  150 mph. The storm surge was close to 18 feet. Before the storm hit  the hurricane sucked a lot of water out of Tampa bay as it traveled closer. That came rushing back with a vengeance and contributed to the massive destruction. The images coming out of the area are pretty devastating. 

For Such a Time As This

 It was only 39 degrees outside when I went out to feed. I turned right around and put a sweat shirt on before heading up to the barn. Ruth came to the walk in a winter coat.  She took the day off work to be with mom this morning so we walked two full rounds heading to Rachel's first so Joan could drop off a bag of tomatoes as Rachel was making salsa today. After the walk Karin and I loaded the truck with the left over supplies from the library. She and Jackie are going to have a sale for the Spoon River Drive and the Library is right on the main road in Farmington so they should have plenty of customers. Once that was done I headed to the Berean office to pick up mom's phone. It was exactly where she had left it, on the table she was working at. Since that office is close to Sam's club I stopped there and picked up coffee and a cheese cake for mom's house and a rotisserie chicken for here. I signed up to take a meal over to Matt and Anni's house so made a chicken casserole to take over. Beth Meister sent home a new little boy outfit for Dexter with Karin so that was taken over at the same time. Dexter was sound asleep when I arrived. 

Mark came home a little early and helped move a bale in for Evan.

Indy was teased and still no sign of her coming in. I'm going to have to take her to Dr. Hoerr's for an ultrasound soon to find out where she is in her cycle. It was a beautiful day outside and I enjoyed working with Indy and her colt before heading back in to clean. While cleaning up the kitchen I turned on AC Central, Fred Witzig was speaking in Morton on a Christian's call in a polarized world. It was thought provoking and very interesting. That was downloaded and made into a video so it could be shared. It is WELL worth listening to.

The Bible studies were taken to church tonight, hopefully people will take them for grading. Tim Funk had the message on Esther, For such a time as this. To think we are living here and now during these weird times where some people question if they are even human. We can still share the gospel and it really needs to be shared for such a time as this. 

Megan's Shower

 Ruth, Joan and I walked this morning. I quit a little early as I needed to pick up mom for Berean and we wanted to leave by 8:15 am. We were really busy today and had to work late to finish everything but I am very thankful for what we got done. If you would like to read about our morning there click HERE. We had a late lunch and then rested once home as tonight was a wedding shower for Megan and Drew at Joan's house. I noticed the egret fishing across the lake by the dam and tried to zoom in enough to get a picture but my phone doesn't do as well at zooming as the real camera.

We had left over steak for supper tonight. Mark and Braelyn joined Karin,  mom and me. Phil was working on the barn. After supper Ruth came over to help take mom over to Joan's house. She wanted to be there as Anni was going to be there with Dexter. Of course she had to hold him pretty quickly. 

The shower was fun. Crystal went around asking each person there to give her one word answers to her different questions. After the meal she read the story with the words given.

We all had to laugh at the story. That was a cute idea. We left there just before 8:00 pm. It was a long day. 

Picking Up the Pig

 Just Ruth and I walked again. Joan's house was all dark when we arrived so we chose not to wake anyone. After the walk I left immediately for the Peoria post office to pick up the Berean mail. There was a flock of geese all grazing in the front yard of the post office. 

After getting the mail I drove to the Aldi in Pekin to pick up a few groceries. I met Debbie T, she remembered me from Bridlewood. She was the one that sold a pony to Amy and told me Rhoda was in a Bible study with her. We spent a few minutes catching up. After the groceries were unloaded I left for Eureka meat locker to pick up the hog we had processed there. That was divided up and then delivered to 3 different families. There was only about 140 pounds so it wasn't a huge amount of meat. I stopped in to see Sarah who was taking care of not only her 3 little ones but was also helping someone who had a hip replacement and was caring for their two. She has such a nice set up with a huge play yard for the kids and some very nice big yards for their dogs. Their little Cavalier came right up to greet me.

Maddie has her own yard as her puppies are due next week. Maddie was also very glad to see me.

Maddie is a purebred Wheaten Terrier and she was bred to Winston a purebred Poodle so is expecting Whoodles next week. Whoodles are none shedding and must be regularly groomed. Winston is pictured below.

The waiting list application for the puppies is now open. If interested in learning more about that click HERE. Zion had to show me how she could climb and jump.

Even Eden climbed to the top of a car, check out the video below.

After returning home Indy was teased. She didn't squeal for quite a while but no winking so I'll just have to keep trying. She just doesn't show when in season so is really hard to get bred.

She has such gorgeous foals.

After putting her away I went to mom's house for an hour to play carbols with Rachel, Joan and Karin getting home from that just in time to make dinner. Today was an easy day.

Another Beautiful Sunday

 As almost everything was done yesterday to prepare for today this morning was an easy one. We needed to leave by 8:30 am though as Mark had arranged to meet with Geoff to work on the thermostats at 9:00 am. Joan brought the wheel chair van with mom this morning as she had Aubrey overnight. Joan was teaching this morning so I sat with mom. David had the morning service, the 3rd message on Psalm 110. If you would like to see that click HERE. Craig Stickling had the afternoon service on our Galatian Bible study. Phil and Anna were already here by the time we got home from church. Kensley helped me with teasing Indy. 

When she didn't show she was given the second shot of Lutalyse. Hopefully she will come into season soon. Another booking came in for the barn apartment, now every weekend is booked until November. Berlica and Aubrey came over on the 4 wheeler to check out the B&B Bakery.

They decided to head to the playground for volleyball so Aubrey gave them all a ride over.

Sarah and Nolan arrived as I was working on the onions. Zion and Eden wanted to help too.

Those onions were sautéed and served along with some sautéed mushrooms and with some perfectly grilled porterhouse steaks. River thought that was delicious.

We are raising carnivores here and start them young.

After supper we headed over to the playground. The kids had so much fun on the trampoline, they always come up with new ideas.

Anni and Matt arrived with their brand new son Dexter.

There were a couple other babies at the playground tonight.

Below is a short video of a few of the activities.

Very thankful for another beautiful Sunday.

 

Saturday Workday

 Indy was teased early this morning and for sure said no. Tomorrow I will give her the second shot of Lutalyse. We had an absolutely beautiful fall day for the barn work day.  Phil and Anna had a crew come in to help today. David, Lee and Nolan all arrived to help. David brought Israel and Elisabet while Phil and Anna brought Braelyn, Taegan and Kensley. The kids had so much fun playing while their parents worked. Spark and Rhonda arrived on their fun machine to pick up some pots and pans Beth left for one of their girls. They gave me and all the grandkids here a ride over to mom's house.

The work team was pulling wire.

Mark had been digging but got the Kubota stuck. He went back to get the tractor but while he was gone Phil and Anna got it out. The video shows how they got that job done. Meanwhile the kids were playing first inside the barn then out on the new load of gravel that was dumped last week. They really have fun working together. 

At 11:30 we went in to start lunch. Berlica and Braelyn helped with cutting up the vegetables.

Only some of the crew left to come here for lunch. Phil and Anna kept working while the rest of us enjoyed lunch. After lunch the kids loaded into the car to go up to the barn and play on the hay.

I left them to head back to the new barn for a few more pictures there.

When I got back up to the barn the girls had set up a mud pie bakery stand calling it B & B Bakery. 

Check out the video below to learn more about this bakery.

Their imagination and inventiveness is boundless. They love working together creating things. At 5:00 pm I was to be at mom's. Joan had taken mom to Nancy's activities this afternoon and were just getting back from there. She was very tired so once she was comfortable I left Karin in charge and headed home and was home by 5:30 pm just in time to take the girls home. Mark took Berlica home while I took the other 3 home. Only then did I start working on the dishes and cleaning up the house. I happened to look out the kitchen window and saw the sky was a beautiful red but by the time I got outside with my camera the sun was already setting. I snapped the picture below as I was getting into the car to head up to the field.

The picture below were taken from the field.

I took one more picture as I was heading back to the house.

I'm very thankful for what got done today. 

Fall Arrives

 Just Ruth and I walked this morning. It was my turn to be with mom today so I finished the walk at her house and just stayed there. It wasn't very nice out today so we stayed inside all day. Fall has arrived! Today it felt like fall and by this evening a drizzly, cold November day. The horses here were all in their shelters enjoying their hay. The picture below LOOKS like a November day at Middle Grove but it was actually taken in February 2020. It popped up as a memory. 

Karin came home so cold she filled the hot tub and even mom enjoyed using that. What a change from yesterday's sunshine. I needed to leave for about 10 minutes to fill the fresh water tank of the 5th wheel once Karin was home. We had left overs for supper tonight. I left mom's at 8:00 pm. 

Dexter Ferenc

 Mark left the house around 6:15 am to drive all the way in to Peoria to turn the lights off at church. I decided to go feed the cat but when I got to the door there was a big praying mantis looking down at me on our door frame. It was pretty cool outside so I left her inside thinking I would let her out when it warmed up a bit but when I came back she was gone. 

I headed up to the barn at 6:30 am. The cat was fed then when I walked between the two buildings looking up and East the sky was turning colors and the moon was shining. The lights are on in the stall barn where the cat gets fed.

I needed to go through the stall barn to the other side to get a better picture of the sky plus it had lightened up a bit and the color on the clouds more intense by the time I took the picture.

Mark got home around 7:00 am.  Ruth and I walked a little early so we could get to Joan's house by 7:15 am. Ruth had to tell us all about her morning yesterday and how she ended up driving all over at 3:00 am. After the walk we went in to talk to mom and Karin. Ruth left for work but I stayed and cooked breakfast for them then went home to get some house work done and the baking done. The potatoes were peeled and put to soaking in salt water. The pork roast was allowed to come to room temperature and then sprinkled heavily with salt and pepper. The pumpkin pecan pie was mixed up and put in the oven to bake and while that was baking 8 eggs were hard boiled to be used for deviled eggs at our dinner tonight along with all the other food. The man staying in the 5th wheel will be checking out in 9 days. I'll have 1 day to clean it before the next guest moves in. This one wants to stay all of October. I started using the 5th wheel for airbnb on Aug 6th and it has stayed rented every day but one day since. It was a good investment. That is the 5th wheel behind Indy's colt. 

 Indy and her colt were taken out so Indy could be teased. She is just not showing. They were taken to the outdoor arena for a few pictures. He is a really nice mover.

Matt and Anni brought 1 day old baby Dexter Ferenc Ricketts over to see great grandma.

Mom was thrilled to hold her newest great grandchild. Matt and Anni are pretty thrilled too.

We are losing count of the greats. 

Today was mowing day. Joan had all the mowers going. Berlica was on the zero turn, Faith was on the grass hopper and Mackenson was using the push mower.

The dinner was all ready to take over to mom's by 4:50 pm. Mark came with me to help carry everything and every bite was delicious from the pork roast drizzled with gravy, the mashed potatoes and gravy, the apple sauce, the eggs, the vegetables and especially the pie! After supper Karin went over to help set up the hot tub at Joan's house. When she came back I left and got home at 7:00 pm just in time to go with Mark back in to Peoria to turn the lights back on at church. We got all the way to Sterling hill when the car started making a terrible screeching sound. We pulled off onto a side street and Mark climbed under looking for what must be dragging except there was nothing dragging. We decided to go on to church and check it out in the parking lot. When we arrived the church lights were on. Thank you to whoever did that. By this time the sound coming from the car wasn't near as bad as when it started. Below is a video of it once we got to the parking lot.

Mark checked all the tires then got the lug wrench out to make sure those were tight.

They all were and once we started driving home the sound stopped.