What was your day like?

[Edwin]

I got out again fairly early to walk. I woke up about 5:24 a.m., washed my face, shaved, took my vitamins, fed Scooby, and got out to walking shortly! Ever since I started walking I have done it just before dark until this year. Actually late last summer I walked a few days in the morning, so that I could be ready to work with my son in law after he got home from work in the evening. In the middle of the summer the first part of my walk is too hot for Scooby. Then the mornings that I walked I discovered that walking mid morning is not early enough, so I started getting out about 8 a.m. or a little after. That was fine then as the severe heat of the summer was past. We had an early hot spell and so I got started to getting up at 5 a.m. or shortly after, and walking as soon as I could get out of the house. Then Carol is usually out of bed by the time I return, so that works out well, and then we eat breakfast. I pull 2 shopping bags of weeds for the chickens and turkeys, and that seems to be plenty. I pulled a few weeds around the razeberry plants and the rose bush, so the chickens and turkeys have weeds piled high that they can eat. Especially the turkeys get really excited when they see the weeds coming. They love weeds and grass!

[crisipicada]

Please pray for my uncle, Edgar Mission, he is the youngest brother of my late father. He was diagnosed with tuberculosis and abnormal liver/liver cerosis just like my father before when he was sick. He is advised to isolate in a room. He is now at polymedic hospital in malaybalay City. We are the only direct family here because their place in antique, at visaya area. May God provide the needs while he is confine in the hospital. Thank you.

[Edwin]

Crisi, I will pray for your Uncle Edgar Mission. Tuberculosis many years ago was a disease that took many people in this country. Many of jazz singers and instrumentalists had it and died from it. When I was a little boy, 1st and 2nd grade our local doctor contracted tuberculosis, and they ordered him to be confined in a sanatorium until he was healed. I think they considered it contageous, and I remember them testing me for it when I was a little boy, by an army doctor. I think they were concerned about everyone in our small community because they figured this doctor may have exposed many people to tuberculosis. After a few years he recovered, and he returned to practice medicine in our little community. He cut a growth out of my finger when I was 14 years old, and I had a good experience with him. But he dug a large sliver or chunk of wood out of my brother, resulting in a sawmill accident, and my brother thought the doctor enjoyed hurting him, because he would ask my brother if it hurt, and my brother was a tough guy, so of course it didn't hurt, and he thought the doctor was determined to make my brother say it hurt, but the doctor was never successful, but my brother told me that it hurt badly, and he thought that doctor was one of these guys who takes pleasure in other people's pain! Well, that doctor I'm sure is dead by now, that has been so many years ago, and he was old when I was young!

[Edwin]

This is more like what have your days been like! Our youngest daughter has been adding animals to her place like they were going out of style! I knew she always loved dogs and cats, but now it is goats, ducks, chickens of all varieties, one horse, 2 pigs, and now one young dairy heifer that will be a milk cow some day in the future; a half Jersy and half Holstein calf. The animal thing started with 2 goats that she rescued that it looks like she will lose as the owner was not the person who neglected these animals. It all started with chicken, and she bought them of all varieties. I helped her with feed and we got some of them for meat in our freezer. When our daughter realized she was losing those two goats she bought a goat from her older sister, who is one of the twins. So I suggested that she come to our place, and we would go get the goat from her, since we live on the way, and it is closer to leave from our house than from her's. We went over and got a very young cute goat from our daughter there for our youngest daughter, brought the goat directly to her place, then we all came up the hill to our place, and we ate pizza together! It was a fun time. We got to visit with our other daughter, but we didn't have time to eat with them, so we went to McDonald's instead!

[Edwin]

On a Friday, our youngest daughter sent word to us on the phone or email, and I can't remember which, telling us that she found 2 pigs, 40 pounds each, actually there were more than 2, but we only wanted two, one for our daughter, and one for us. She told us she was coming so that we could go get the pigs. This was also on our way, so it made sense for her to come to our place, and then we go together. We traveled to Nespelem, an Indian town, the closest town, Spokane direction. We then went on towards where the pigs were, and going down this hill in the Sun Lakes area, we remembered that we had a family reunion there but we didn't think we would be able to go. So we stopped visited with my ex sis in law, my sis, her part filipino grandson, my nieces, my ex sis in law's nieces, and we have a wonderful time visiting and eating snacks with them. We went on down to get the pigs, and our daughter got in with the pigs and caught the ones we wanted causing them to squeel bloody murder! They were quiet all the way home in a large dog kennel! We got back fairly late after dropping the pigs off at her house! This was another wonderful day of fun, adventure, visiting with family, and hauling pigs!

[Edwin]

Each of these days of adventure I went for my early morning walk with the doggies, 6.5 miles. On Saturday, I was kind of tired after the trips and so I sat and slept. Our youngest daughter tried to call, but the phone was not working, she tried to email and facebook, but I was sleeping instead of looking at either of them. So here she came, honking the horn as she arrived, and she told me how she couldn't get hold of me, so she left another cell phone that she hopes will work better, so that at least she can contact us. Our daughter told me that she found a dairy calf about 3 and a half hours' drive away, or 4, and so I changed my clothes into some nicer clothes, and off we went! Our granddaughter drove, and she has not had much experience, so she made some mistakes that could have killed us, but the Lord was with us! She had one driver who was playing mean games with her, and we almost wrecked on a corner because of that, but we were thankful for our guardian angels! We picked up the nicest little calf and headed home. The calf looked like a baby giant. The Jersey mix gave beautiful coloring and marking, and the Holstein mix also did the same. We put the little creature in a large dog kennel. When we came out from Jack in the Box from eating the calf was trying to stand up, but couldn't in that kennel, the calf was so tall. So we took the calf out of the kennel, and put her in the back of the Van lose, with a tarp underneath to protect our Van from her bodily functions. We got home with a wonderful little calf, actually big and tall for the calf's age. We got home at 3:30 a.m. and normally on Sunday Morning I get up at 5 a.m., but I decided to sleep in until 7 a.m.!

[Edwin]

Sunday was our day to supervise the visit of our youngest granddaughter, 15 years old with her mother, so after not having quite enough sleep we headed down there. We got a plastic 55 gallon drum that beets had been stored in to use to water the pigs. We then ate something, after which we went to the lake to swim. Our granddaughters were amazed that I was willing to go into the lake swimming as I have not been swimming for many years except when I was in the Philippines. I left my tee shirt on to make sure I would not get sunburned, and after smimming for a while I just stood in the water about up to my chin for a long time while our daughter and granddaughters went in and out of the water. Then I would swim a while periodically. In the Philippines I went swimming the last day we were in Negros Oriental. I swam in the channel between Negros and Cebu Islands. I had a pair of flip flops so I wouldn't have to walk on the coral, but I couldn't keep them on, so I gave up and put them on a large rock, and then I stepped on some coral getting a sliver of it in my foot, which I dug out with a knife after I got home! Then while swimming I banged my knee on a rock that was just below the surface, and my friend told me to get out of the water because he was afraid my blood would draw sharks! So I got out, and that was my swimming in the Philippines!

[Edwin]

I woke up about 5 a.m. I shaved and washed my face, getting ready to walk. Then I checked here a little, and I fed Scooby. I feed him about what I think he will eat, and after a while he gets filled up too much, so he won't eat his food. I just keep adding water and stirring it until he does eat it. He might skip a meal or two after getting off his feed. If he gets two hungry he will eat some of the other dogs' food in the house while he is coming through, usually on our way back from walking. I just let him eat until he is ready to go out of the house. I was ready to walk, and out the door walking about 6 a.m. I walked 1.5 miles, and I had to return to the house to use the bathroom. As soon as I got into the house it started hailing and raining. With the way the sky looked I decided just to bag the walking for this morning. Carol said that it was a good thing that I had to return to go to the bathroom, because it saved me from getting really wet!

[Edwin]

The chicken house I built is pretty nice with concrete block walls. I didn't mortor the blocks, but just set them there, and they work fine! I tied them in by over lapping the blocks like you would if you were going to build a block wall and mortor the blocks in. I have two pallets on for a makeshift roof, and one pallet at the open end for the door. When it rains we have to cover the top with a tarp because the pallets have slats with spaces, which works fine for chicken and turkey confinement, but the roof has to be covered when it rains, so we went out in the rain and covered the top! We were not out long, and we didn't get very wet.

[Edwin]

When the storm hit, I was just barely in the house, and so I decided to each breakfast and forget about walking. We ate while watching a western movie. When the movie was finished, Carol said, "Look the sun is out, you can go ahead and walk." The day started off so cool that I just figured it would stay that way, but it didn't! So, I decided to go ahead and walk. By this time it was 11:30 a.m. I finished the first round, gathering some weeds for the chickens and turkeys. I then went for round number two. Scooby was slowing down, and showing signs of being hot and tired. When I started the third round, Scooby didn't want to go. When we got out on the road he wouldn't walk! I don't force him in situations like that, so we came right back to the house. It was 1 p.m., with an early finish, and that is okay! I finished 4.5 miles instead of 6.5 miles, but that is okay!