MONUMENT — I can’t seem to keep up with all the days…hopefully, all the mamas had a wonderful Mother’s Day. I pray for all those who have lost loved ones in service to this country and thank each and everyone of them. We are forever grateful for their sacrifice. My days all seem to just meld together and sometimes I forget what day it is. I guess that’s what happens when one is trying to milk mama goats and then feeding hungry bottle baby goats three times a day. LOL. My little Emi is still the cutest goat ever!

Our greeters at the table were Bob Cockrell and Sue Cavender. They checked in all the guests, collected, and counted up the money. Jan Ensign filled out the paperwork. Bob led us in the flag salute and made the announcements, and yours truly prayed the blessing over the meal. Judi Bustardo of Spray was the winner of the free meal ticket and Kristi Little of Monument won the 50/50 money raffle.

Our cooks, Terry Cade and Christy Howell, made us meat and potato casserole, corn, fresh green salad, and apple cinnamon pie with vanilla ice cream. Yum is all I can say. We thank our wonderful cooks immensely for all their effort and hard work. We appreciate them very much.

We have been having some very beautiful days over here in Monument in case you were wondering. The grass is growing extremely fast and you know what that means? Yes, time to weed eat things down. In my case, I have been moving some goats around with portable panels and let me tell you, they can eat that down in a day! I did notice they did not touch the lupine, which is good because it is poisonous. Goats are not stupid animals, that’s for sure.

Because goats are not stupid, they can be a bit of a challenge keeping them penned. They easily destroy fencing. I have horse fencing and they have put holes in parts of it! I don’t know how they do it but they do. The good thing about goats though, is they will pretty much eat most everything and they don’t pull up the grass by the roots as they eat like sheep do. I would definitely say that they are good little lawn mowers! Hahaha.

My babies are growing up fast. Silver and his sister Ruby are real piggies. They try to hog the milk and push the other goats away. I still like watching them as they jump, run, hop, and play in their pen. They will always make me laugh watching them. It is very peaceful and joyful watching little baby goats run and play. That is a blessing.

Romans 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God that ye present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

PRAIRIE CITY —Let it be known that we did not have to turn on the heating apparatus to get the hall warm today! Now we have to start thinking about the swamp cooler!! That’s why it’s called the ‘temperate zone.’ (Ahem.) Anyway, it was comfortable.

Carla led the flag salute and Ginger asked the blessing. Dean Reynolds was the winner of the $10 gift certificate donated by Huffman’s Market for the birthday drawing. Our volunteers today included Sharon, Mary, Teresa, Lauri, and Tom. Tom brought in a bucket of fresh rhubarb for your eating pleasure. I heard one diner tell that she makes a sauce of the rhubarb that is just delicious. Hmmm.

Rayme Lacey, who represents Community Connections, came to inform us of the need for full-time and respite caregivers in Grant County. If you are interested, get in touch with them. The goal is to enable people to live in their own homes for as long as they can with help. I can vouch that it does work to have someone come in to share the ‘blessing’ of being a care-giver.

Ginger informed us of the death of our faithful supporter and board member Gwynne Wulfert. We will miss her cheerful countenance. We pray for comfort for her family.

We enjoyed a great summer meal of chicken-bacon-ranch wrap. Also inside the wrap was lettuce, tomato, onion and cheese. Would you believe that Pam made me one without onion?!! Bless you, my child. To go with it was a selection of fruit and veggies and cottage cheese. Being that this was the last meal of the month, we had a birthday cake donated by Driskill Memorial Chapel. Thank you for doing this every month. We look forward to it.

I, along with a lot of others, pole at Prairie City Cemetery attended the Memorial Day ceremony at the flag. ‘Enjoy’ is not the correct word for this service, but I am pleased that the local American Legion still conducts this service in memory of those who served in the Armed Forces of America. The reading that Richard Friese did was most appropriate. The gun salute and playing of ‘Taps’ should make us all appreciate what others have done to keep us a free people. Unfortunately, that includes the freedom to protest by those who desire to do away with our freedoms. As the quote says:
As the quote says: I disagree with you, but I will defend to the death your right to disagree. (Or something like that.) The moral of this day is don’t let their sacrifice be for naught.

John 8:32, 36 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. . . So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.