MONUMENT—For our first opening meal at the Monument Senior Center since the lockdown that lasted more than a year and a half, we had about 18 people show up and 39 takeouts. Our cooks were Terry Cade and Christy Howell. They prepared for us tater tot casserole, bread, corn and peanut butter cookies. We thank our cooks tremendously for their efforts.

The volunteers at the table were Kristi Guimont, Jimmy Cole and Sylvia Cockrell. Kristi and Jimmy filled out the paperwork and counted up the money. Sylvia wrote down info and checked in the guests. Bob Cockrell poured the drinks for the patrons. Bodean Anderson made the announcements and prayed the blessing over the meal.

Max Breeding was the winner of the free lunch ticket, and Mac McKinnen won the Len’s Drug gift card. We thank all our volunteers and those who support our senior center.

Hope everyone is excited about our center reopening and that we never take for granted the freedoms that we have meeting freely with friends and neighbors to enjoy a meal together or any other gathering for that matter.

I did not go the lunch that day but opted for the takeout. I was extremely tired from the previous week of driving to and fro to John Day three days in a row and then hauling and moving hay the next two days after that. I was one pooped out person, and I kind of slept a lot that day. The weekend was busy too so I just plain needed rest.

So, I have some visiting mini donkeys at our place. We are helping out a friend who needed help to board her mini donkeys for awhile. They are funny. The first day after they arrived, I led them over to a greener pasture and they followed me around a bit. They have been here for a week, and my friend came over to visit them. They ran away! Maybe they thought she was going to take them back home (they were in a pen) and did not want to leave? They were hilarious. I think they finally realized that she just wanted to give them a treat.

The mini donkeys are keeping to themselves and not really hanging out with my goats. I guess I wouldn’t blame them; my goats stink. The goats look really nice and fat. I am definitely going to have to try and butcher a couple of the wether goats and try the meat. Those goats don’t have names so I have no emotional attachment to them.

I am going to have to bring in the three female goats that have been hanging out with the males. They look pretty big and pregnant. If my timing estimation is correct, I will be expecting kids in September. Oh boy, I know Bonnie is going to most likely have triplets again. I am going to have to mentally prepare for bottle feeding a baby goat, or maybe not, I think I have a plan.

Psalms 81:1 “Sing aloud unto God our strength: Make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob.”

PRAIRIE CITY—Wow! What a meal we enjoyed! It is called “hobo dinner” and is made this way: In a small loaf pan place potato rounds, carrots, onions and a big hunk of hamburger. Cover and bake. And talk about hearty portions! Whew. Then there was a roll and muffin to go with it, plus a fruit salad with marshmallows and real whipped cream. Oh my goodness! Kudos to cooks Pam and Laura for this repast. What will they come up with next? Stay tuned.

Ginger, Gwynne and Carlos took care of the home deliveries, and Pam and Carla got the bags to our drive-in customers. Remember that some of the containers are recyclable so don’t forget to bring them back or have them ready for the delivery drivers to return for you.

One new family today was son No. 1 who is spending a week of his vacation with us in Grant County. So I gave him and his family a tour of the new construction that son No. 2 has accomplished in the ol’ hall. He related to his children what he remembered about the building when there really was a “pool room” back there. If you wanted to play in the winter time, first you had to build a fire in the old wood stove, which entailed going down to the basement and hauling up firewood first. And with these 12-foot ceilings, it took awhile for the warmth to get down to table level. Ah, the good old days.

Then said son helped us assemble and erect one of those spiffy corner shower caddies. After I had bought the item, I read the directions and determined that it would take an engineer to get it installed. That was on June 5. Bert got it taken care of exactly two months later. Hooray and PTL! (He really is an engineer — in the manufacture of ink cartridges for printers.) So now maybe we won’t be knocking the shampoo off the tub edges. That makes an awful clatter!

The contractor said that he would be prepping the building in earnest next week. One of our diners is so excited about the new siding, she can hardly wait for it to be done. She’s not the only one! The best part is not having to think about painting — for a long, long, long time!

In the process, we’ve gotten one new interior and four new new exterior doors that are up to code, put swinging hinges on the two doors into the main dining hall, removed the door to the old stairwell (that is no longer there) and filled in the lower stairwell access opening to the basement. So there are no funny projections to deal with when the new siding gets put on. Hurray! When all the prep work is done, the siding should go on speedily. And the building will go up in “grade” in fire resistance due to metal roofing and siding. Whooppee!

So what have you been up to? Not much during the heat, I suspect. Hopefully the fair week won’t be too hot so people can get out and view the exhibits and parade. Congratulations to our Prairie City native on her grand marshal-ship. (Now there’s a good word!) Have a roaring good time, y’all!

Psalm 145:7 “They will celebrate Your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of your righteousness.”