The Front Porch Swing

[Beekissed]

My passport came today! I'm so excited....and so doggone relieved it ain't funny! I was really afraid I'd either be denied or have to jump through so many delaying hoops it wouldn't get here in time for our cruise! Whoopie!

I missed it, Blooie....where ya going?

 

[wyoDreamer]

Blooie, glad to hear you made it to Billings and back safely.
Our forecasted 1-3 inches of snow turned out to be a light skiff of whiteness. - blue skies and windy - really windy.

Welcome, Becky!

Well, it only took me 2 hours to catch up today - what a chatty bunch you are!

Been really busy trying to get paperwork done for the new house. The bank was requesting all kinds of odd paperwork stuff. I would call a place and ask for something and I would get this pause - and a "I'm not sure I understand what you want" and I have to say "I am not sure either but the bank says they need X". Then I get a "hm, never heard that before." After jumping through all their hoops, the guy calls DH and says - the property is zoned Agricultural, we don't do loans on AG lands, you need to get it re-zoned before we can give you a loan. We had to have the pre-approval letter turned in by the end of the week, and they tell us this on Wednesday!

They were willing to give us a loan last fall, and that was on an AG property too.
Well, our realtor got DH in touch with a friend of hers, she found us place that will give us a loan, and the pre-approval has been turned in and everything is back on track. It only took the new lender about 6 hours to get everything taken care of.
DH and my parents are going to go through the property on Monday with the house inspector. My dad is so excited about seeing the place.

I wonder if the seller would be willing to sell me a couple of the guinea fowl in the coop. It would be nice to keep some on the place for bug control, and since they already call the place home, it should be easy to keep them around. We are moving to an area with a lot of woodticks, and I would like to keep them little buggers under control.

 

[Blooie]

My oldest daughter Tamrin and I are going on a cruise to Alaska/Canada this summer. We are so excited. She really needs the break - if I had her life I'd have probably climbed into bed, pulled the covers over my head, and stayed there. But she doesn't - she just keeps smiling, taking care of Evan, taking care of her beloved "elders", and working on her flowers. She's lived here now for almost 5 years and has never even gone to a movie with her friends.....so we are ready for this trip. I was so scared I'd be denied a passport - she got hers weeks before I did and we applied on the same day. How I would have hated to tell her that I couldn't go! Whew!!

 

[Blooie]

Blooie, glad to hear you made it to Billings and back safely.
Our forecasted 1-3 inches of snow turned out to be a light skiff of whiteness. - blue skies and windy - really windy.

Welcome, Becky!

Well, it only took me 2 hours to catch up today - what a chatty bunch you are!

Been really busy trying to get paperwork done for the new house. The bank was requesting all kinds of odd paperwork stuff. I would call a place and ask for something and I would get this pause - and a "I'm not sure I understand what you want" and I have to say "I am not sure either but the bank says they need X". Then I get a "hm, never heard that before." After jumping through all their hoops, the guy calls DH and says - the property is zoned Agricultural, we don't do loans on AG lands, you need to get it re-zoned before we can give you a loan. We had to have the pre-approval letter turned in by the end of the week, and they tell us this on Wednesday!

They were willing to give us a loan last fall, and that was on an AG property too.
Well, our realtor got DH in touch with a friend of hers, she found us place that will give us a loan, and the pre-approval has been turned in and everything is back on track. It only took the new lender about 6 hours to get everything taken care of.
DH and my parents are going to go through the property on Monday with the house inspector. My dad is so excited about seeing the place.

I wonder if the seller would be willing to sell me a couple of the guinea fowl in the coop. It would be nice to keep some on the place for bug control, and since they already call the place home, it should be easy to keep them around. We are moving to an area with a lot of woodticks, and I would like to keep them little buggers under control.

Ain't it frustrating when the people you count on to know what they're doing don't know what they're doing! Huh, well, didn't realize that they have come up against prayer buzz saw on THIS front porch!

 

[Beekissed]

My oldest daughter Tamrin and I are going on a cruise to Alaska/Canada this summer. We are so excited. She really needs the break - if I had her life I'd have probably climbed into bed, pulled the covers over my head, and stayed there. But she doesn't - she just keeps smiling, taking care of Evan, taking care of her beloved "elders", and working on her flowers. She's lived here now for almost 5 years and has never even gone to a movie with her friends.....so we are ready for this trip. I was so scared I'd be denied a passport - she got hers weeks before I did and we applied on the same day. How I would have hated to tell her that I couldn't go! Whew!!

Oh, I'm so glad you guys are doing something like that!

What a wonderful mom and grandma you are, Blooie!

I think she learned all her good things from you.... "and her children shall rise up and call her blessed."

 

[wyoDreamer]

Yes, this porch has POWER! and I am so appreciative of being included.

Congrats on the cruise! Sounds wonderful. My mom won a trip to Las Vegas, but my dad hates crowds, so he asked her if she was willing to trade in her trip towards a cruise to Alaska. She did and they had a wonderful time. and I am sure both of you will also!

 

[Beekissed]

Yes, this porch has POWER! and I am so appreciative of being included.

Congrats on the cruise! Sounds wonderful. My mom won a trip to Las Vegas, but my dad hates crowds, so he asked her if she was willing to trade in her trip towards a cruise to Alaska. She did and they had a wonderful time. and I am sure both of you will also!

Soooooo happy to hear about what is happening with your property!

Romans 8:28
28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.


I think He really wants y'all to have this place, huh?

 

[PrairieChicks]

I too am off running sixty miles east to meet up with the farrier..... Gotto love that guy and Katee Loves him..... She follows him all over trying to empty out his Tool bin or stealing his hammer.....

He used to live in Mexico. Now hes moved his whole family up to Palm Desert to be closer to his real job..... Heavy equipment opererator for building roads. His Father was a farrier and he learned from him.

Katee has never had shoes but I am told that she would wear size fives. Most horses were size 0-2.... Regular shoing for a light horse runs about 100. Last time I checked on Shoes for Katee it was about 400 for a set. This guy only charges sixty for a trim.... Most farriers here wont even do drafts. Because their hooves take bigger tools and many drafts cant stand for long periods of time on one foot in the front.

Johnny does a very good job too.

Katee


deb

Katee is beautiful!! So glad you found a good farrier. I have 2 miniature donkeys and we were able to find a farrier that is good with donkeys as well. He is so patient with them. He's older than me so I'm worried he'll retire before my "girls" are done with his services! His back looks kind of sore when he's here.

We were given an amazing gift to go to San Diego and Yuma for a week. What a wonderful experience it was! And so warm and sunny - I didn't take any Vit D that week - thought I'd get enough sun. We got home Wed afternoon - and came home to frozen sewer pipes. We worked all that evening and then my DH worked all of Thurs till 10pm to get them unthawed. What a job it was! 70 to 80 feet of frozen pipe. It's been an usually cold winter for us. I can hardly wait till spring comes. It took me a long time of reading today to catch up on everyone. A number of pages back, you were talking about signs of spring for you. The peeper frogs are amazing. We have frogs here in spring too - but they're larger. Sure love it when they start singing. Won't be for another month for sure, though.

I'm the one sitting in the corner on an overturned 5 gallon pail - enjoying hearing everyone's stories and praying for those who have something they want us to pray about. The cinnamon rolls looked so good. Don't know what sweet tea is, but it sounds good.

I planted some of my flower seeds today - and put them under the lights in the dining room. Also got the donkeys pen cleaned out - who needs a gym membership??

Hope you all enjoy your weekend and have a chance to put your feet up!

 

[PrairieChicks]

My oldest daughter Tamrin and I are going on a cruise to Alaska/Canada this summer. We are so excited. She really needs the break - if I had her life I'd have probably climbed into bed, pulled the covers over my head, and stayed there. But she doesn't - she just keeps smiling, taking care of Evan, taking care of her beloved "elders", and working on her flowers. She's lived here now for almost 5 years and has never even gone to a movie with her friends.....so we are ready for this trip. I was so scared I'd be denied a passport - she got hers weeks before I did and we applied on the same day. How I would have hated to tell her that I couldn't go! Whew!!

Hope you have a wonderful trip, Blooie! I've heard it's a great cruise. And in summer the days will be so long - should be fun. Enjoy.

 

[Blooie]

Oh, I'm so glad you guys are doing something like that!

What a wonderful mom and grandma you are, Blooie!

I think she learned all her good things from you.... "and her children shall rise up and call her blessed."

Aww, shucks! If I had some dirt in here I'd scuff my toes in it! Oh, wait! Here's some! Thanks, everyone! I have a theory. Raising kids is like teaching math. You can show them how to do it. You can set examples. You can explain the hard parts. You can encourage them when they get down because they "don't get it". But ultimately what they do with everything you've tried to teach them is up to them. They either use it, or they don't.

Tam has a special kind of heart. Not once in all of her years of marriage had she ever asked us for a thing. Their son Austin was 16 when she unexpectedly found they were expecting again. She was so happy! They'd wanted another but had given up, content with Austin, and Austin absolutely doted on Evan..he was even in the delivery room when his little brother was born. He helped with the middle of the night feedings, diaperings, baths, spitting up - all of it. When Evan got older they were inseparable.....park, zoo, you name it, Austin and Evan did it together. They had a special bond, and their favorite activity was anything Star Wars, especially light saber battles. They missed each other so much when Austin went off to college in Iowa.

So when our phone suddenly rang late one Saturday night, we heard her crying, and she asked us if we could come out and get her and Evan, we didn't hesitate. By Sunday night we were in Eastern South Dakota and by Wednesday we were all back here. Seems hubby had discovered on-line gambling, taking out loans in her and Austin's names, and then she found an ad he'd posted looking for a "no strings attached mistress." So in one week she lost her husband, her home, her car, her job, and had to leave Austin behind as well. At 40+ years old she was suddenly a single mom with a four year old who just wanted his dad and his brother.

At first I didn't think she'd snap out of the depression. But she bucked up, went out and got her CNA license while working full time, living with her mom and dad in a cramped old trailer house. I remember her crying one night saying, "Ma, I almost wish we'd never had Evan - this is so unfair to him." But I told her that I think God knew she was in for a hard time, and He sent Evan to give her a reason to get up every morning. She managed to get a car and find a cute little place to live 2 blocks from us. She loves her job - and she especially loves the "elders" she takes care of. In order to have maximum time with Evan, she works the 6:00pm to 7:00am shift, sleeps after he goes to school, and is up and waiting for him when he gets home. Every summer Evan's dad picks him up and take him back to South Dakota. But almost 2 years ago, while Evan was back with his dad, Austin was killed in a car accident. Evan was only 6. I think before I had said last year, but it was in June of 2012, not last year. He'd only been married for 9 months. He and his wife were on their way home to Iowa after their dad's wedding to his girlfriend. The last picture taken of Austin was of him and Evan playing "Light Sabers" in their other grandparents' back yard. Less than 2 hours later, Austin was gone.


So when Tam came over saying that this year when Evan leaves she wanted to do something special instead of just moping, and asked me if I'd go on this cruise with her, well I jumped on it! Besides, the last person you EVER want to go on a cruise with is a retired sailor! <groan> I could just imagine it - him waking up out of a sound sleep because there was a slight change in engine pitch....griping because it was taking too long to set up shore power.....complaining that the 1MC system was scratchy...no thanks! LOL