Cookie Pony Rides

 No walk, we were having a storm this morning, lots of lightning, thunder and rain. Instead I went to mom's taking them a more corn from yesterday's picking. Karin said it was so good they would enjoy more. We had a nice visit before I went home to start work. Today the truck was filled with gas then cleaned both the inside and the bed of the truck. The big cooler was hauled down from the upstairs and put in the bed. I have to put that in empty then bring the frozen and cooled foods in by the bag full as the cooler is much to heavy when full for Mark and I to carry. The truck was backed into the gym area of the barn. The corn was put in the front then all the other supplies. Tomorrow the two coolers will be filled, wood added for the fire pit and the truck hooked up to the camper we are hauling down. Sarah and Anna came today with lots of little girls. Anna was busy making lunch for them when I arrived to load the truck.

 

After lunch the girls decided they would like to ride Cookie.

To see the rest of the pictures and videos click HERE.

Once they were finished Cookie and Jewel were turned out into the pasture to graze.

The sheets and pillows for the camper we are hauling down to Montauk tomorrow were taken into the camper and the beds made. Not very well as I didn't want to crawl up on the bunks. Sarah and Nolan's family are going to be staying in this camper and Sarah will bring more blankets for the girls but I made sure they each had a pillow and a throw.

 

The person coming to pick up a camper for the weekend called to ask if he could come later as he was busy setting concrete and needed time to finish. About then a hipcamper booked the camp site behind the barn. That needed to be mowed so Mark and I went out to move the picnic table then I took him over to mom's to get a mower. By this time it was almost 6:00 pm. The camper renter arrived, as it was his first time to rent or pull a camper we had to go over everything. Mark had finished mowing the campsite and was back in the house but I drove back to the campsite to move the picnic table closer to the barn so the hip camper had plenty of room to drive around. By the time I got back in the house it was too late to go to church so we decided to watch on line but just as the service started the hipcamper arrived. I took the golf cart up to meet them and show them where the electrical outlet was and asked if they needed water before rushing back to the house to watch the service. Craig Stickling had the message. It isn't up yet but when it is I'll post a link here. It was a good message for me. When church was over my phone had a lot of group texts. Anna's crossfit team was one of the featured teams on the news.

Mark has already showered and is in bed and now it is my t urn. We need to be up early in the morning for the last minute packing.

Picking Corn

 On our walk we noticed that the wind last night or this morning blew down Joan's beautiful Hibiscus plant.

She has wire cages around it to try to keep it upright since the last big storm broke so many branches off but when I tried to lift the plant It didn't work with just one person, this is going to take 2 or 3, one to hold it up while the others try to get the cage back around and in the ground. We just did one round again then went in to visit mom. Mom is doing much better but since Ruth needed to take a lady from Jail to the court house and I had to leave early from Berean mom decided to stay home. It just isn't worth the effort for an hour of work. I arrived there just before 9:00 am and everyone as already hard at work. At 9:30 we broke for prayer time the Skip gave us an update on the jail work.

Above is the only picture I took this morning as we were a little short handed. Below is a short video of Skip explaining a little about the jail.

I left there once the studies were all finished and the Bibles ready for mailing. Shirley is going to be taking the studies home with her, she will take them to church on Sunday for grading then bring the box back to Berean next Tuesday. I had a list if items still needed for our canoe trip so stopped first at Kroger to buy fruit then at Aldi to buy the rest. The food was all put in the barn ready for packing on Wednesday. The freezer and fridge foods will be packed Thursday morning before we pull out. At 12:45 I drove to Anna's to pick up Taunya's 3 boys, Jack, Jace, Abe, and just one of Anna's girls, Taegan. These kids were coming with me to pick sweet corn for our vacation. We stopped on the way at a produce stand and picked up some tomatoes to take with us before getting the the sweet corn field. This is owned by Beth's family and is ready now for picking. The kids went right to work.

Within minutes we had more than enough.

We took the corn to the big barn to unload it.

Once done the kids cleaned up the gym then Taegan was dropped off at home then the boys taken to Walmart in Morton to meet Taunya so she could take them back home. I got home in time to take some corn over to mom's house and Diane's house.

I took 6 ears home to cook for our supper.

They were so delicious, not starchy at all and with each bite the kernels would burst with juice and flavor. We will really enjoy this corn on the cob for our Thursday evening meal. At 6:30 pm I went over to Joan's to get the  paperwork ready for the camper going out today.

Joan's black cat came running when she saw a person. All of Joan's cats are lonely. They are missing people.

Karin sent the picture below of the kittens playing on mom's deck. They are so entertaining and mom enjoys watching them play.

When the couple came it took a little longer as this was their first time to camp so wanted to video everything.  They were going to the Goose Ranch for the weekend and excited about the trip. On the way back to the house I stopped to take a picture of the cloud bank.

The wind was blowing hard and we got a few sprinkles before the clouds pushed East. 

Working Monday

 We were awakened by a loud clap of thunder early this morning (I think it was around 4:00 am). Then came the much needed rain and by the time it stopped around 7:20 am we had an inch and 2 tenths of this life giving liquid. 

The rain gauge was photographed for the record then dumped. Ruth heard the rain and thought we wouldn't be walking but since it stopped just in time we did. We only did one round then went in to visit with mom and Karin. Mom was much improved this morning. She slept well, no coughing at all last night and both of them got their first good night of sleep in 10 days. I was the first to leave mom's as I had a full day of work waiting. The first chore was gather a folding table and our camping chairs and put those in the motorhome then the truck was taken over to hook up the camper that was parked at the big barn yesterday over to my place so I could clean out the tanks. When I went to hook it up noticed a new dent in the front.

The man that rented it must have jackknifed it but the dent didn't do any structural damage so we will not have it fixed, The black and gray tanks had not been emptied so this camper took a while using the black water flush to get the sensors to show empty. Shame on those renters. They told me they were emptied and the sensors must not be working. As I had them meet me at the new barn there was not any supplies to check the tanks while they were unhooking from their truck so I believed them.  Once they actually were emptied the sensors worked just fine. This was also the camper that came back with a shredded tire. They claimed they had a blowout on the interstate. Mark took that shredded tire down to East Peoria Tire and Jesse Rieker got Mark all fixed up. The rim had also been damaged (the renters probably hit a pothole) so we had to buy a rim and a tire. All 3 campers were given a disinfectant cleaning and clean sheets put on. The 2 at Joan's house are going back out on Wednesday and the camper and motorhome at our house are going out on Thursday with our family for our canoe trip down to Montauk State park in Missouri. We are going to be canoeing the Current River. Today the Jadwin canoe rental was called and 10 canoes reserved for Friday August 2nd.  We will need to be at the rental by 8:00 am as we are going on the 16 mile trip this year.  Braelyn arrived to finish cleaning the apartment and I went over to get the 3 bathrooms and the kitchen cleaned in the new barn then after lunch also got the windows cleaned and the game room cleaned up. I discovered the batting cage machine had been taken apart. That was put back together and checked out to make sure it worked. 

I still need to clean the gym but by this time it was already 3:30 pm and I still needed to get to Sam's Club to pick up supplies for the camping trip. That took longer than expected but I had a huge cart full of food and supplies. This evening Mark got the new spare tire mounted on the camper and did the dishes here. Thankful he is feeling somewhat better. 

Blessed HOT Sunday

 I tried to get everything done last night before going to bed but did not have time to bake a cake and have it cool in time before bed so before breakfast that was done. Mark still isn't feeling well. He got over heated last week and has been kind of nauseous and tired since. He didn't want breakfast and then decided to stay home from church and listen on line. Mom is still coughing so she also decided to stay home and listen on line.  I picked up Rhonda and we got to church at 9:40 am. Kathy had already picked up Nancy and she was waiting for me to arrive. David had the morning message and this one was unusual for him, as he explained it this message was a reactionary message. Click HERE to watch that and if you are a Christian and have seen what has gone on with the opening show of the Olympics you NEED to watch this message,. Nancy really needed her hair brushed so after lunch that happened. She was happy about that and wanted me to show Joan. 

Calab Plattner had the afternoon message and that too was different. Click HERE to watch that. After church I took Nancy, Israel and Elisabet home dropping Nancy off at mom's first then up to the apartment to meet the man bringing back the motorhome and then over to the barn to drop off Israel and Elisabet so they could change while I met the people bringing back the Salem camper we are taking on Thursday for our canoe trip to Current River. As soon as that was dropped of I finally got home to change, heat up the taco meat  which was made last night and haul the food over to the barn. Israel and Elisabet were given the karaoke machine to play with while they were waiting for their cousins to arrive.

As soon as Phil and Anna's family arrived Israel and Elisabet joined Braelyn, Taegan and Kensley on the golf cart and off they went exploring. When Sarah and Nolan's family arrived Zion, Eden and River were introduced to the Karaoke machine and they too had fun with that.

Everyone had to try it out. Kid's and loud noises just seem to go together. We had haystacks for dinner tonight and all 14 grandchildren were here to enjoy that.

Kensley is the only one not pictured.  Zeke was eating at the adult table.

Rhoda got called in to work tonight so Lee brought Iris and Zeke and also brought fresh corn from their neighbor's sweet corn patch. Those were delicious and all got eaten. 

It was a really hot Sunday afternoon so right after supper almost everyone walked down to the beach.

At one point there were 24 of mom's great grandchildren swimming, a bunch of the grand children watching their children swimming, more grand children up at the playground playing volleyball,

There were more babies up at the playground.

7 out of the 11 of mom's children were there and we were there with our children and grandchildren. Inside the house Diane, Karin, Rachel, Ruth and Sarah were playing Carbols while Nancy and mom were watching a movie.

I just kept thinking as I was watching  so many siblings, cousins, 2nd cousins, grandchildren and great grandchildren all enjoying this place that DAD WOULD HAVE LOVED THIS! This was his dream and we still get to enjoy his dream even though it is been almost 20 years since he died. After the volley ball games were over most of the players came down to the beach and stayed visiting until the sun was setting and the day was ending. No one was in a hurry to leave.

Lee took Nancy home to Morton tonight. Spark loaded up his grandchildren on their sidebyside and took them to their cars.

What an amazing BLESSED Sunday! 

I loaded up the golf cart and took my grandchildren up to their cars.  After everyone left I took the golf cart back to the barn to get the leftovers and the pots and pans that were used for the dinner tonight. I have a lot of work to do on Monday, 3 campers to clean and 1 motorhome and of course the barn so won't stay up late tonight. 

CrossFit Champion

 Before going to mom's today the apartment was checked, the aircondtioner and lights turned on for the guests coming in today. They are from Pekin, IL so I was surprised they  wanted to come and since the apartment was ready early told them they could move right in. It turned out they were having their pipes cleaned and wanted their 2 dogs out of their house while that was happening and the house is aired out well. They asked for late checkout. When I told them they could but I would need time to clean it they responded "Ok, thank you very much Judith. We will clean up after our self's anyhow. Only thing that will be left to clean is hair really, but that's unavoidable with the dog lol." Umm that really isn't acceptable and I was not happy with that response but the next was even worse.To be honest our dog doesn't do well with strangers. He's a big baby, but when my girlfriend and I changed our life style we avoided old friends. We never had much company, so he never was properly socialized, and this was the result. When we take him out he will be harnessed and muzzled, so no worries. I have no idea what kind of monster they are bringing into the apartment and just pray they never leave the dog unattended. The guests staying at the cowboy cabin were over visiting the horses when I was done with the apartment so I spent some time visiting with them telling them each horse's name and a little history about each one. Mom was out on the deck in the sunshine watching the birds when I arrived. Mark had put the cat food by Karin's car and I noticed the cats did not eat it so moved it up on the deck and called them. They came right up for breakfast. 

After eating the mama cat settled down under a chair to give herself a bath.

Once the kittens were satisfied they started playing on the deck.

They wandered over to where we were sitting and started playing with my shoelaces.

The birds started arriving for their breakfast.

The calico kitten was fascinated with them and was carefully and quietly stalking them.

All to no avail. As soon as she took one more step the birds flew away. The crop duster plane was going right over the house and after the 3rd time mom and I decided it was time to go inside. Today we decided to visit Sweden via a Rick Steve's Travel Vlog. It was very interesting and neither mom nor I had ever seen that one before. For lunch mom wanted a half of a tomato sandwich. That was served with some zucchini Karin had cooked yesterday. It was very good. When Karin got home I took a few more pictures of the surprise lilies in mom's yard.

Mark got the mowing done around our place and also lots of weed whacking. That seems to be a never ending job. I've not seen anything of our guests nor have I heard anything so hopefully things won't be too bad tomorrow. We had a camper come back today.

They dropped it off and notified Joan, not me so I didn't realize it was there until Joan told me. When I got over there found some things that were left.

Joan sent them the picture and told them where they could pick it up. The renter is from Bloomington so not that far to come back. I still have sheets to wash but got the fridge and bathroom cleaned so I have plenty of time to get the sheets washed and back on the beds. The Battle at the Ballpark was held today at Dozer Park. Anna and one of her friends entered the hardest division, the Woman RX which was described as a mix of endurance and strength. This Crossfit competition was fierce today and at the end of it all, her team was just one rep short of winning it all. 

There were 24 teams so in our eyes she IS the crossfit champion.