Life goes on...

This has been the longest week. With 2 birthdays, my oldest grand daughter Chloe turned 14 Monday and my husband turned 65 Tuesday. And then my step dad Gary passed away early Tuesday morning. Normally, people are taken to a funeral home, then a viewing, then service, then burial. But with cremation, there is none of that, unless there's a memorial service.We're having that the last of June for family to be able to come from Colorado and S. Ga. So it's been a little strange, just being at Mom's for the past several days.  But the neighbors and friends and family here have been great. Mom's neighbor Gary has mowed her lawn. His wife Windy came over a few nights ago and talked with mom. And brought a cake. My SIL Jason mowed the yard last week. And he and Abby finished up the deck and got it all set up again. And Heather has been with her a few days helping her as well. Mom's friends Allison and Pearl, from where she worked,  brought over some chicken casserole, pasta salad, deviled eggs and a cake. It was SO good! Thank you all so much. I know it means so much to my mom. People have called and come by. We miss Gary so much. It's just empty without him there. I always feel like something's not right, then realize he's not here any more.

And other things are going on around here too. I got home Sunday after being at the hospital, and Annabelle had a little ewe lamb. She so cute. Mostly Finn. Annabelle's mother, Lucinda, was full Fin and the ram is mostly Finn. So I had to dock her little tail a few days ago. I decided to name her Buttercup, since she was born in the pasture full of them. Annabelle did great and is such a good mother. Her 1st lamb too. And Abraham is a good daddy.

                                                             Annabelle, the new mom.

Last night, I went out and put another box on top of the hive. The bees were all hanging out at the entrance a few days ago. I asked the guy I got them from about it and he said they were probably getting crowded and to put on the other box. So I did. They looked happy today.

A friend who lives up on the mountain past us called my husband today and said he'd heard that bears had gotten into some hives up the road from me and tore them all up. These hives are about 5 miles from here. That's pretty scary. I hope they don't come down here for my one little hive.

And these pigs! We moved them last week up to the creek bed. (That's a whole other blog post! You just can't make a pig do what a pig does not want to do!) I am hoping they will do some damage control here. This is where the river starts that washes down to my garden when it rains a lot. I hope the pigs will be able to damn it up or something. Make a pond? They've got one started. I had their water in a bucket in that tire back there. And every time I'd go back out, there the bucket would be, outside the tire and empty. So I took this rubber trough out there today. I hope this will work. Aren't they growing bigger? But not big enough yet.

Here's Sandy and her triplets. They are getting bigger every day. And so cute! I love them.

Also Monday, my husband went to Home Depot and found this big ole mower. I hated it at first. But now I kind of like it. I bush hogged the pasture next door. Yesterday at noon. With shorts on. And no sunscreen on my legs. Like a big dummy. It's hurts! But it did great. And will save us a lot of money by not having to find someone else to do it. I can do it when I need to now. See how Abby's legs are all out front? And this was her test drive. Almost ran over her dad! See him trying to get out of the way? It was too funny!

 And here's the birthday girl, Chloe. 14 years old now! I am an OLD lady, y'all. OLD! I remember when she was born. 5 weeks early. Had to be in the hospital 9 days. Then on a heart monitor the 1st 6 months of her life. And she just graduated from middle school today! She's now officially a 9th grader going to high school! WHAT?

Here is her sister, Coryn, graduating from 5th grade. Can't hardly see her. She's getting her certificate in the white shirt. My zoom doesn't work any more. So she's now officially a 6th grader going to middle school! WHAT? I am SO old now. I really feel old. How does this happen?

So life goes on some how, despite a death of a loved one. New life happens all over. People graduate. Pigs grow. People have birthdays. That's how it should be. And to know that one day soon, we will see our loved ones again! That makes it better.

Hello

I know it's been awhile since I last posted. It's been a pretty busy 3 weeks here. I really would like to say thank you so much to all of you who have sent good wishes and prayers for my step dad, Gary, and my mother. I am so thankful for all of you.

Gary has had a very rough 3 weeks. In the ICU for a long time. Up one day, back down the next. He was put in a private room last Monday. Stayed there 4 days. Then back in ICU again. Yesterday, the doctors were optimistic about his recovery. They were saying all they needed to do then was to get him to eating and moving again. Even mom went home early last night at 5. She's not ever done that. She called at 8:30 to check on him. The nurse said he was doing good.

Then at 1:00 AM a nurse called and said mom should get there as fast as possible. They only live a few blocks away. But she didn't make it in time. He passed away about 1:15 this morning. I went and stayed with her last night and have been there all day.

We had to go to the funeral home to finalize the arrangements. (Thank goodness, they had bought funeral insurance and had all the paperwork. We had just gone to a funeral home here last Thursday to give them all the paperwork.) He will be cremated and we'll have a memorial service sometime the end of June. My brother will be here from Colorado Saturday for a week. I'm so glad. Mom will be so happy to see him. He said he'll be helping her with everything that needs to be done there.   Then my sister and her 3 daughters will be here the end of June with my brother.

Mom and Gary were married 34 years. That's a long time. She's a strong woman but this will take a long time. One day at a time is the way we'll take it.

Please continue to pray for my mother. She will need prayer and strength to get through this time.

And I also wanted to say, that no matter how much a person irritates you or says something or does something that either hurts or makes you mad, just get over it and make amends. You just never know when something like this will happen. Then they're gone. Just like that. Gone. So please, go hug you mom or dad, sister or brother. And your children. Love one another. And be there for your family.

Thank you all again.

Dogs:3 Possums:0

 Bubba and Stella, the hunters. A possum in my milk room! Not any more. And all my little meat chicks in the yard behind them, free ranging.

Stella looks like she is proud of her self. Not many creatures leave this farm the way they came in, thanks to Bubba and Stella. They take care of their farm. They aren't afraid of anything. Good dogs!