Mulch Bucket in Use

Here is the mulch bucket that H welded up nearly entirely by himself. It was just tacked together by his dad prior to H doing his work on it one day at the shop. (See a recent post--Family Business)

Ch is spreading the mulch out evenly over the tilled-up dirt. The boys took turns bringing tractor-loader buckets full of mulch from the mulch piles we had trucked in, (We had to get 6 large truck loads of the stuff!) clear over to where Ch was spreading it out. They worked on it one full day, and we're only half done with our mulch and field spreading. They also went over to a couple neighbor's houses and did the same for them. Now Ch has to till it into the ground, to get the proper mix of dirt (FL sand) and mulch.

On Our Way to Disney

Tuesday morning, the kids and I headed out to Disney World bright and early. We no sooner got to the top of the hill by the main road and there sat a Bald Eagle on the road fetching a road kill rabbit for his breakfast! He was no farther than 8 feet from the car!! I was so shocked to see him sitting there, I gawked for a few seconds, and then the photographer in me kicked into overdrive. I had my camera right next to me in my purse, but I was too late. He flew off down the road and landed on top of the telephone pole. There he sat, eating away. This is the best picture I could muster. Oh, how I wish I had a picture of him sitting on the road. He looked right at me and I will never forget that picture; it's forever ingrained in my memory.

This experience reminded me though of something I have known before. Whenever we are studying something, or interested in something, God seems to throw instances of enhanced learning our way. He surprises us with unexpected reinforcements! He is, after all, the Principal of our Homeschool. I have seen this time and time again. There was the time we saw a raccoon under our tree in broad daylight (they're nocturnal!) the very day we came home from the library with all our raccoon books. Or how about the time I was reading to the kids and a skunk entered the story? You guessed it!! We smelled a funny smell, and when I opened the front door, a skunk had sprayed outside somewhere! But the kids were then able to smell it for the first time (hopefully the last!), which did reinforce the story we were reading! To some, these things might be considered just coincidental occurrences, but I choose to see them for what they are. Our Heavenly Father is looking out for our homeschool journey in a very personal way. I really believe this.

We just had our Eagles class a couple months ago at Tibet Butler Nature Preserve, which we visit once a month during school months. They told us about an eagle's nest not far from the Preserve, so we stopped to see it on our way home that day. (bfarmmom--Joe was with us that day, so he saw this too.) Here's a picture of it, though it is pretty far away. (Click on the picture and it will enlarge.) One point brought out in the class was that eagles are opportunistic. If an eagle has a choice between a freshly killed meal (road kill or by another animal), he will take that over having to kill a meal for his own. He is a bird of prey, but would rather take the easier route. It was neat to see the kids recall this information, seeing the eagle with the fresh road kill in his talons.

A Little Reminder: They Need Me

My boys both have the flu now. I certainly did not wish this on them, but since they got it, it's serving a purpose. I'm looking for the silver lining to the clouds, and I am reminded that my boys need me after all. It's nice to feel needed once in a while. They're getting so big that they're more self-sufficient lately. I miss their little boy hugs and snuggles. C, especially, was always my snuggle-bug, and he's feeling too big to hug his mother more than once every few days! Now I've got 2 boys taking turns with their head on my lap. I'm soaking up all the hugs and snuggles I can, while it lasts! And I'm very thankful that if only one person can help soothe their misery, even in a small way, that it's me. It's great to be a mom.

The Auction Itself

This auction is so large it goes for about 10 days. Here are a couple pictures. It is just a smidgen of everything that is there to see.

Here are my guys, observing the auction in action. This little pickup truck with a camper top drives up and down the aisles and aisles of equipment up for auction. They have spotters on the ground, milling with bidders. If somebody wants to bid, the spotter calls the bid in to the auction team inside the camper truck. This is only one "team" in the auction, and they have several going on at the same time. You really have to be on your toes, checking the auction guide (book!) to see when things are supposed to be auctioned off, but you also have to keep checking on the progress of the team you are following, or you will miss out on what you were wanting to bid on.

This whole production is kind of neat to watch. There are food and drink vendors that follow along either behind or in front of the auction team. Auction team workers climb in and out of the camper throughout the bidding process that does not stop. People are sitting all around on their 4-wheelers and golf carts waiting for bidding on the item of their interest. Everybody is looking for a spot of shade, as it can get quite hot in the sun all day. And you'll see lots of people climbing all around the equipment, turning the motors on and off, checking buttons and tires. You have to know the shape of the equipment before you buy it, because once it's yours, you're stuck with it. A business associate of ours bid on a truck one time on accident. I guess it was a bad deal, and there was some kind of misunderstanding, but it didn't matter. He ended up selling the truck later, but it was not a good deal!

Like I said, this is the largest auction in the country that Ch knows of. It used to be the largest in the world, but he's not so sure about that now with China's economy exploding (while our country's economy struggles). There are several other heavy equipment auctions around here locally that follow this one. February is a busy month for heavy equipment dealers.

Ughhhh.

The kids and I went to a play yesterday. I knew I didn't feel well when I got up that morning, but thought it was just aches and pains after walking so much at Disney 2 days prior. Apparently that was not the whole reason. I have the flu! Hope nobody else gets it. Take care of yourself. I'll be back blogging in a little while.

Our Booth at the Auction

Ch designed and built our first water truck when C was just a little baby. We now have a business partner who is just as integral to the business as Ch. They work very well together, and each of them has a niche to fill, to keep things running smoothly. In years past, we have purchased trucks at the auction, and then made them into water tank trucks, to be sold at the auctions (if there are any left, that is. Most of our trucks are sold outright to customers responding to advertisement in heavy equipment magazines, or via word of mouth and returning customers.) This year, we didn't buy or sell any trucks at the auction, but we had our first booth in the vendor's section for people to browse through.

Here's a picture of a water truck that was completed right before the auction, and was placed in our booth area for display. It's a medium-sized water tank on the back, our most popular size with a 5000 gallon capacity. We have made 2500 gallon tanks before, several 7000 gallon tanks, and we just completed an 8000 gallon tank. That large tank was so big it could not be installed on the customer's truck in our shop. It had to be transported up north, and will be installed up there. If you're ever driving around town and see a water truck on a construction site, check to see if it has our "G & K" emblem on the tank. We have seen several trucks around town when we're out driving somewhere. In fact, we saw one on the side of the road as we drove to the auction. The kids always get a big kick out of seeing one unexpectedly!

Below are some pictures of our booth at the auction. I took the kids down there Friday last week. I think the kids and I have gone every year since H was about 3 1/2 yrs. old.

Lunar Eclipse

Ch and I have been watching the lunar eclipse as it progresses tonight. Well, I've looked several times, and finally convinced Ch to go out once. The kids are in bed sleeping. Normally, I would have let them watch it, but they were up SO late last night due to our very first visit to Disney World, I just couldn't let them stay up late tonight.

Here is a picture of the eclipse, compliments of my Aunt in Oregon. It's neat to think that we are in opposite corners of the country, several thousand miles apart, 3 time zones difference in fact, and we are looking at the same event as it transpires in our night sky.