The book Club and the library

  Years ago I tried to get a book club going with my friends.  The plan was to rotate houses,  hosting, and picking the book and leading the discussion.  It lasted for a few months before it became too big of a struggle. I guess I was asking alot.  I gave up the struggle and shortly afterwards joined the bookclub at the local library.  This was with a group of strangers and without great refreshments.  Years later I'm still going to this bookclub.  We have all gotten to know each other and people havve come and gone.  A few of us have remained faithful through the years.  We've had two different librarians as leaders and are lucky with the current leader.  We have read some great books and have had great discussions that have enlightened me.  I've been introduced to Wendell Berry, David Baldacci and Ken Follet during this past year.  I have gone on to read other books by these authors.  The bookclub has taken my appreciation of reading to a whole new level.
    Our library was one of the first places I explored when we moved here. The kids were small, it was summer and so we went to the reading program.  I still remember the storyteller from the boyscout museum that first summer.  I grew up making a weekly trip to the library so I continued that here.  We have always loved the library.   Last night I went to a book sale at the library.  It's done once a year as a fundraiser.  The books were stacked everywhere.  I purchased two big bags of treasures.  I'll take them a box or two during the year, of books that we no longer need. It's a great recycling program.  I am a friend of the library.  I couln't imagine being anything less.

The Birthday weekend and the Memphis kitten

    About a month ago, I felt terrible about the Memphis kitten that I lost at Uncle Dayton's house.  Well last weekend we brought him home.  Anthony's aunt and uncle made friends with him and fed  him for us, so when we went through Memphis to my Aunt's birthday we stopped and picked him up.  We named him SammieDay after the aunt and uncle that took care of him.  He's a boy and seems to be adjusting to life in the house right now.   It's nice to have a new family member and he is my Memphis cat.    

    The weekend we picked him up we went to my aunt's 100 birthday party in West, MS.  It was also my 49th birthday.  My mother turned 95 the next day.  It was a great weekend celebration.   I am so lucky to still have my mama and my aunt.  They both can still walk and can carry on a conversation.   Neither of them are in nursing homes. They have great memories that I enjoy listening to.   The weekend was a little family reunion too with most of us there and also my nephew who has been in the virgin islands for awhile and  has been missed.  I couldn't imagine any better way to spend my 49th birthday. 

                             

Lily and the chickens

    Instead of the watered garden, right now we have the weedy garden.  After a certain point you just give up and the weeds happily take over everything.  This year our main crop has been and will be gourds.  Mayfield has a gourd festival in September so it's appropriate.  I'm not the crafty type so I don't know what we'll do with them all.  They are making a good shade canopy over the chicken pen right now.  Yes and then there's the chickens.  Unfortunately my beloved dog is a chicken killer.  I can't understand it since she is just so sweet.  Lily chased them for quite awhile before she ever caught one.  She did it mortal damage and has been lethally after them ever since.  We like to let the chickens free range a little in the evenings so we have been putting Lily in the dog pen.  We feel sorry for her so I bought her an expensive comfortable muzzle.  She was able to kill a chicken with just her big paws.  So she's back in the pen in the evenings.  I wish I knew a solution to this.  
      

Memphis kitten

  We have two large dogs, numerous cats and almost 50 chickens.  I also love to feed the hummingbirds and songbirds. I think we take good care of our animals.   This weekend we went to Memphis to see my mama.  She has various feral cats around her house that she feeds.  There is a mama cat with 3 gray kittens and the kittens were weaned and easy to catch, but not exactly tame.  I wanted to give one a better life with us and to have a Memphis cat.  Well we caught one and placed it in a cardboard box.  We then went to a family gathering at my husband's uncle's house in another part of Memphis.  My family brought the cat into a shaded breezeway and placed a firepit grate over the top of the box so it could get air.  It was quite a hot day.  We gave him water and checked on the kitten frequently.  Well at some point the kitten made an escape.  The whole family came out and looked for the kitten but if anything we probably ran it farther away.  We never saw it again and I just feel terrible.  I really wanted to help out the little thing and all I did was take it away from everything familiar and it's family.  It's in a much worse situation now.  The whole thing just gives me an uneasy feeling.  You can have good intentions and think you are doing the right thing and it just go terribly wrong.  We should have recognized that the grate was a little bit short and it could be moved.  Why didn't we see these things as possibilities and do something else?  The whole situation didn't go as I planned and that gives me a bad feeling.  Anything can turn out like that.  And sometimes the consequences could be so much worse or even tragic.  This whole condition of being human and in this world can be kind of dicey and unpredictable.  I want to think we have control over things, but we don't always.  It all just makes me uneasy. (I'm seeing this over and over again in the ER)    I guess for the most part, I'm over the whole thing.  I hope the kitten survives. The uncle said he'd call us if the kitten shows up.

Iron Mom

     On saturday I ran/walked the iron mon half marathon in Paducah.  It was scheduled for mother's day but I had to work that day so I knew I couldn't do it.  Well the floods came and the date got changed to father's day weekend. So then I could actually participate.  I signed up a little reluctantly.   It was the first annual race and benefitted Lourdes hospital family services.  I had to work for 12 hrs the afternoon of the race.  I've been exercising and trying to stay in shape but I'm really not much of a runner.  I'm more of a slow jogger or a fast walker. A 4 mile race stretches me.   My plan was just to finish as quickly as possible.  First I planned on getting at least 15 minute miles and then I thought I might be able to finish it in 3 hrs.  Well it was an overcast looking like rain day- perfect weather.  I ran the first couple of miles and then ran/walked the rest of it.  I got in under 3 hrs and lived through it. I also finished before the heavy rains came.  I can't say I didn't suffer though.  Lots of soreness and blisters.  I lived through my shift at work afterwards too.  Thank goodness for advil and bandaides.  I'm proud of myself.  Think I may do it again in Dec for St Judes's in Memphis.

     Yesterday I went back to see everyone at my old job.  It really is bittersweet because I miss them all.  I really tried to get all the details and technical information before I changed jobs but I'm still finding out important information.  I hate that.  It's such that no one gives you information unless you ask a very pointed question.  It shouldn't be like that, but often times it is.  My gripe is not with the people I'm working with or the job itself, my gripe is with the contracting company that pays us. Not giving information can be just as deceitful as lying in my book. I'm just trusting that it will be okay, but if I had known then what I know now..........

Chicken killing

    Well last week, at my daughter's encouraging we slaughtered 5 chickens.  It wasn't as terrible as I had imagined.  I guess me and my husband make a good pair because he took care of the killing (which I couldn't) and I took care of the gutting (which he couldn't).  We also had excellent help from Sophie's boyfriend and his brother and Sophie.  It took us several hours though to get 5 chickens ready to cook- and that's with 5 of us working.  I bet they have a more efficient production process across the highway at Tyson Foods.  I was glad to get the whole thing behind us and to figure out we could do it.  I think our whole process will improve the next time.
   Right now I have old chickens, teenagers and babies.  We have 18 straight run, rhode island reds.  That means half of them could be roosters so I see a need for another slaughter in our future.  My mother could kill chickens and grew up when you went out and did this before the chicken dinner.  Hunters do this all the time too.  I feel like some part of me though has to toughen up.  I don't like the killing and would really have to be tough to do that.  I don't want that part to make me less compassionate for suffering.

Adjusting

   I have been at the new job for a month and a half now.  I'm gradually settling in.  I work 2-3,  12 hour days and then am off for 2-3 days. I've been able to get my exercising in and was and am off for Sophia's and my neice's graduation.  I've gotten a paycheck.  I think it'll all be okay.  I do miss GI though.
    Soon my husband will be retiring from his full time job.  He'll be farming and doing some consulting work.  He has worked full time since he graduated from college.  While he did that, I spent time at home with the kids and in school. I'm glad he'll be able to spend some time doing what he wants to do now.  I keep fantasizing about all the work he will be able to do here at home.  That's probably just fantasy though.  So more changes are coming.  More adjusting to be done I'm sure.
    I recieved 25 barred rock pullets in the mail two weeks ago.  They are in a cage in the garage now and everyday they get a little bigger.  It's like they grow right before your eyes.  I still have about 18 sex linked red hens and rooster Tom.  They are 2 years old and are about at the retirement age for chickens.  At one point they stopped laying but have now picked it up again.  We need to slaughter these chickens as a part of good flock management.  They are not pets and we have talked about doing this.  I can't imagine that they will taste very good though and I dread the whole thing.  We'll get to see what we are made of- as chicken farmers.  These adjustment points in life are uncomfortable.