Where to begin.....(Proverbs 11:17)

School wrapped up at 6:30 pm on May 21st.  Paul was waiting for me in Tennessee.  Talk about a busy weekend, holiday and 5th anniversary.  We had so much to accomplish that weekend.  While Paul was waiting on me to arrive in Tennessee, he went to Tractor Supply to pick up a few things we needed for our weekend projects.  Ol' Red let him down.  He was sputtering and stalling as he pulled into the parking lot.  Paul said a teenager came over and ask if he could help.  Between him and the teenager they thought it was leaking power steering fluid, not oil.  The teenager said, "I will give you my phone number and if you have any trouble getting home you can give me a call and I will come and help you."  Wow!!  Paul said he should have taken the number so he could tell the parents what a nice young man they had raised!  Paul made it back home, still sputtering and stalling.  He is going to take Ol'Red in for a tune up soon.

Friday morning we began making part of the implement shed into a stall.  We have so much old barn wood, which is good, with all our projects we have in mind!!  We pulled some wood off an old shed that is falling apart and a few boards off of the old chicken coop.  Then, working in the rain and humidity, started making a wall for our stalls.  Poor Paul had to dig 6 holes!!

The wall turned out so pretty with all the old barn wood we found.  We built the wall 1/2 way up, hung 3 gates and then we moved to the outside to hang siding  to close up the area.  We ran out of wood siding and are currently waiting for more wood to be cut. Then we can finish the siding and hang the barn door.  Both stalls were just about complete except for a few divider pieces where the gates meet on the inside.

We worked on this through Sunday, but did manage take a few fun breaks.  We bought 21 gold fish for our little pond.  I was holding Paul's phone and trying to drop the Water Hyacinth in the pond and turned out....I dropped Paul's phone in the pond!!  I stuck my whole arm in the pond trying to feel around for his phone.  Luckily, it didn't seem to do any damage..so far.

On Sunday, Paul had special little anniversary surprise for me, we quit early to have a relaxing dinner at Arrington Vineyards. 

Monday Morning on May 22 (Memorial Day), we headed to Bald Knob, Arkansas.  There was a cute little mini Jersey Calf we had to pick up.  Did you know Arkansas produces approximately 50% all of the rice in the U.S.?  We didn't either until passing miles and miles of rice fields and decided to look it up.  We got to Bald Knob around 5ish and checked into our hotel.

  We went to see the calf and gave her her evening bottle around 8 pm.  She is the cutest thing.  She loves being scratched on the head, rubbing up against you and licking!  She should have been named Bambi, but her name is Lolita.  We call her Lita (leeta).  Tuesday morning around 9 am we went and picked her up...in the rain ...and headed back to Tennessee.  We arrived in Tennessee around 3ish and got Lita all settled.  Paul finished up her stall and I added fresh hay to the stall, water, and some snacks (alfalfa hay and a little calf manna).  I fixed her bottle, fed her,  and put her to bed. Then I headed back to Hartselle to get Brantlee.  Brantlee and I returned Tuesday morning. 

Our next project was getting a pasture secured for cows.  Lita spent the first 2 days in the chicken coop area, while Paul and I worked on fencing.  The old barn has an add-on that is falling apart and is not safe for the cows to be around, so until we can get it tore down, we put up temporary fencing. 

We found an old door that we used as a gate, so we can go in and out from that area.  Then we had to get a gate to secure an opening at the opposite end of the field.  We found an old 12 foot gate that will do for now.  Finally there was one area that the wire was stretched and needed a T post added.  We call this field "2". 

Lita seemed to love her new pasture.  It doesn't take a whole lot to make her happy, although I do believe she has a little stubborn streak in her and don't mess with her bottle!!  She will head butt you in a minute coming after that bottle.  She should fit in just fine around here. This pasture does have a little spring that flows down.  We tried to dam it up a bit to make them a fresh watering hole.  We will see if it gets destroyed or if they will actually drink from it. She does have some friends that are coming to stay with her (Candy, Wilma, and Britta) 

These ladies are having some quality time with their bull friend (Danny DiVito) and will hopefully join Lita by the end of June.

Paul went back to work on Thursday and Brantlee and I stayed to play with Lita and I knocked out the mowing.  Friday we all went home after Paul got off work and stopped by Academy to get a little something for all the snakes we have been seeing.  So far we have seen several brown water snakes.  Paul saw a corn snake in the big barn.  I found a rat snake in the shed and this weekend we found a King snake. 

Paul doesn't kill King snakes, but all the water snakes are becoming a pest.  We were back in Tennessee by 9 am on Saturday.  Our project for Saturday was to find the cattle chute and corral.   One of the best things we have purchased is a brush cutter.  It cleared a lot of that brush out.  What it wouldn't cut, Paul put his chain saw on it.  There were 2 old tubs laying beside the chute.  We tried to lift them but they were so heavy.  Paul was concerned snakes might be under it.  I couldn't see how a snake would be able to get underneath it, but that is where we found the King Snake.  He was pretty adamant that he wasn't leaving, but Paul was more adamant that he should relocate.  We found that old cattle chute and corral.  It is going to need some work, but looks so much better just having it cleaned out.

We had some fun times this weekend staying in Paul's old camper.  Brantlee started out on the bunk bed, but by Sunday night we upgraded her to her own room.  Paul cooked mini pancakes for us on Sunday.  We only could eat one pancake at a time, since the griddle was sooo mini.  I decided to try an egg on the griddle and that worked really well also. We have also eaten at some really good restaurants.  I'm going to have to do a post of some of our favorite spots we found.  We went to Jets Pizza one night.  We were all sitting and waiting on our pizza.  As I got up to get a refill a woman came up to our table. When I returned to the table, this woman was talking 90 miles an hour.  She would ask a question, but was asking another question before we could answer. She told Paul multiple times she hoped he had a wonderful Father's Day.  Basically, she wanted money.  My sweet Paul just told her he would be right back and went to the cashier for some change.  He gave her the money she wanted, without question, and then she was gone.  When she left Brantlee said....Is it father's day??  We all just started laughing.  

Our dogs have been showing out lately....

Murf broke a window by pawing continuously.  Bentley was running full speed and came to a screeching halt at the edge of our little pond and then proceeded to jump in!!!  He probably traumatized all our little fish.  It was a funny site.  Then....then the worst thing that could have happened happened.  We were all busy and the dogs ran off.  When they came back......Murf was covered from "Head to Tail" in Lita POO.  Bentley had rolled in it too, but not nearly as much as Murf.  The stall had been left opened and they went in and made the biggest mess....IT WAS AWFUL!!!  I'm still not completely over that.  They lost all free roaming privileges for the rest of the weekend!!! 

With all that has been going on in our nation, one word that has been on my mind lately is kindness.  How different our world be if all the hate was replaced with kindness.  Kindness is a simple concept, yet it can make a huge impact on someone's life.   It can make the world a better place by ending suffering at the hands of war, hunger, human rights violations, and injustice. It has the power to drastically improve our own well-being as well as that of our families, friends, acquaintances, and strangers.  The best thing about kindness is that it comes with a double blessing. The person who offers a kindness gets as much or more out of the deed as the recipient. Proverbs 11:17 says, “Those who are kind benefit themselves, but the cruel bring ruin on themselves”.

When we submit our lives to God’s plan, passionately pursuing our mission to bring Him glory, He’ll take our small acts of kindness and multiply them in ways we cannot imagine. Ever notice kindness is contagious? Sometimes all it takes is a cheerful customer service rep or a whistling stranger to turn our day around. Who knows who you’ll inspire to treat others well because of your example! Trust the ripple effect. Believe it, and do your part. I’ll do my best to do mine.                   Candace Cameron Bure 

Simple Acts of Kindness:  

• asking if you can help someone having car trouble, 
  
• a neighbor bringing fresh eggs to your house, 
• giving someone needed money, 
• an encouraging word or compliment and
• never underestimate the power of a smile....you could be the turning point in someone's day!!!