Family gathering

Dear Sister Payne and Elder Payne,

Happy Saturday!  It was a busy day at our house today.  I hope you had a good day today.  I love you both! 

Love,

Dad

Full day, much of it spent outside.  Neil, Isaac and I weeded the vegetable garden this morning, then mulched the tomatoes and raspberries with "goat fertilizer."  I hope this will help draw nutrients into the soil and help the plants grow even better.  They're looking pretty great now.  I worked my way around the entire perimeter of the back yard pulling the Virginia creeper that grows relentlessly.  By the time I was done I had filled four 5-gallon buckets of weeds.  Spencer will mow on Monday, and then the yard should look pretty nice.

We also finished the chicken coop… sort of.  We made and installed the nesting box.  It looks like it will work great.  But there's a problem.  We discovered that goats think chicken food is candy.  We thought the door that we made for the chickens was small enough to keep the goats out of their coop.  Wrong.  Baltimore (the biggest goat) could get in by wriggling, and Anise (the smallest) could nearly run in.  So today I installed an "entrance reducer" that helped, but I'm not convinced the problem is solved yet.  I also discovered an opening that the chickens were using as an exit, so I had to fix that too.  And the latches I put in are not secure.  And the ramp leading to the nesting box is not done.  Sheesh.  This coop may not be done for six more months!

We went to Dad and Mom's for a BBQ tonight to celebrate Father's Day.  Steph and McKay were there with their kids, along with Scott and Jennie, and Kyle and Marissa.  The food was delicious, including the "beyond burgers" (veggie burgers) that McKay brought.  They weren't exactly like meat, but they were quite tasty nonetheless.

Thankful:  I'm thankful that we have a nice house to take care of, and that we do a pretty good job taking care of it.

Ministering: Hmm.  Abbie and Spencer helped clean the church this morning.  Can I count that?  I visited briefly with Sis. Lish and Bro. Trevenen at different times during the day.  That was nice.  Maybe that was ministering too.

More later…

Me with my son, Scott with his granddaughter.  This makes me laugh every time I think of it.

The family gathering to wish Grandpa happy Father's Day.