If you have read my Good Morning Mondays #20 post you will know that my husband and No 1 son have been in Melbourne handing out Bibles for Gideons International in Australia. They were away for 3 nights and almost 4 days.
So while they were away the younger two children and myself were in charge of the stock and general overall running of the farm. There were things I had to do that I haven’t done in ages.
I had to feed the piglets and the fish, make sure that all the stock stayed where they were meant to and make sure the aquaponics was still flowing along.
We had a good night on Sunday night but then it started on Monday. One of the sows decided she could smell grain and pushed the gate off the hinge and got into it. Now those of you who have stock will know that once they get a taste for something they will keep on trying to get to it. In the end after numerous attempts we had to barricade the gate shut.
Then when I was feeding the fish before tea I noticed one of our calves out on the firebreak along the side road. The two children and I had to herd this calf back along the fence and down the main road into the drive. We live on a major road with lots of big trucks driving past, so I was on the road in our car with the hazard lights on and the children (in their pjs) were running along behind.
I was just so concerned about it getting onto the actual road and being hit by a car or truck, for both the calf and the drivers sake.
We got it back in and through the gate to its mother and all was well again.
Tuesday dawned bright and clear and we got into our day. No 2 daughter was doing school and must have looked out her window and saw the calf from the night before in our vegetable garden, so off we went and chased it back again to its mother. Boy this calf was determined to cause difficulties. She then pushed her way through the fence again and we had to move her.
Then that afternoon I decided to plant our sweet potato shoots in the aquaponics bed. Now this isn’t a hard job and it went quite well but I knocked a stone down the outlet pipe. From then on the water wouldn’t drain away properly. I rang my husband and got instructions on how to remove the stone and I did this but it still caused us difficulties. It started working well so we decided to go to our bible study.
When we got home I noticed that the sump was nearly empty and one of the pumps wasn’t working. So again another phone call to my already worn out husband and we decided to add some water and as he was coming home the next day he would work out what was going on then. It was midnight and No 2 daughter and myself were still out there trying to sort it out.
I sort of decided that it would be great when my husband and son came home.
We talked about it being a spiritual attack because they were in Melbourne handing out bibles and it may have been and I did try and keep my cool and remember to pray instead of getting stressed and it sort of worked.
Thank you Lord for helping us keep it together.
All in all it wasn’t too bad but I didn’t really achieve too much other stuff, but that’s okay, keeping everything going is good too.
James 1:2-4 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
What mischief does you stock get up too????
PS: There has been no more issues since the men got home – makes you wonder.
Ah, the stock that goes into “unknown” territory! I don’t miss those days! When I was on the farm it seemed like there was always one calf wandering off or a bull who wanted to take on the neighbor’s bull. Hot wires and good fences didn’t deter them. Now the only animals we have are 2 cats and a beagle, and they can cause plenty of chaos. 🙂
Yes, they do seem to have a mind of their own, it is just interesting that we haven’t had problems for ages and they wait until my men were away!! I am sure 2 cats and a beagle would be a handful and a lot of joy. We don’t have house pets but my oldest son has 6 dogs. He has three small terriers and 2 large staghounds and 1 whippet/kelpie cross. He uses these dogs in the hunting season for getting foxes. They are all good natured dogs and one of them got off when he was away and is over 1/2 as tall as my 9 year old daughter, but he didn’t cause us any issues, I think he wanted to love us to death. Thanks for stopping by, it’s a pleasure as usual. Blessings
Mmm….maybe you were being tempted to call your men and ask them to come, eh? Well then someone must have known they were effective soldiers 🙂 . James 1:2 my Friend, was all I could think about as I read this.
Is there a night when the cows don’t get out around here? Well, we run about 200 head. So we’ve had many phone calls at 2 a.m. about our “rebel” cows.
And sheep? goats? Do they ever stay where you put them? I feel your frustration. Glad your men made an impact and then were able to come home safely.
Blessings,
You guessed right, but I did try and not share too many issues with them, but unfortunately I needed their advice, and I feel so pleased that they were effective soldiers for God. We don’t have goats but I’ve hear they can be challenging, our sheep are usually fine but they did enjoy the neighbours summer feed a couple of months back, but we fixed that problem. The grass was definitely greener.
Thank you for sharing my pain, it makes it so much better and more bearable. Blessings dear friend.
Oh my word, what a busy lady you have been! In retrospect, I’m sure you are beyond joyful to have your men back home (and they probably felt very manly being doted on by a family who truly needs them!) So yeah God for using a stressful and no-fun situation to bring thankfulness for spouses (and cell phones!) I hope this week is much, much better!
You are so right Summer, thank you for you comment and yes thank God for our spouses and mobile (cell) phones. Blessings to you and thank you for your comment.
Oh my goodness! You certainly managed to keep things going!
It was a bit like that Daisy, but we got through it with a fair bit of prayer. Blessings and thanks for stopping by.
We had a male duck one, who withing an hour of arriving here, decided he wanted to go home. How do I know? Because when we found him in town at the hardware store, he was actually heading in the right direction! LOL He has since decided being the only man around here is much better then a flock with 7 other males. Thanks for sharing on the (mis)Adventures Mondays Blog Hop!
I had a chuckle over this one Mindie, was he actually in the Hardware store or just looking in the window :-). I’m glad he sticks around now. Thanks for sharing this lovely story with us. Blessings