December 12, 2009

Abraham the camel.	Bro. Carl preached at Barnwell on Sunday on the topic of "Compassion for our Fellow Man".  Good and challenging sermon.  Home for a delicious dinner of grilled chicken thighs, confetti rice, and BBQ green beans.  We tried to get everybody in bed for naps but the two oldest never did get to sleep.  We left for Columbia at 4:00 to see the passion play "This Man called Jesus".  We all enjoyed seeing it again. The children especially enjoyed Abraham the camel and the other animals.  Home by 10:00.
Ditch Witch and plumbing supplies.	Monday was a day of normal work.  Ina Sue at home with laundry and children and me at work with service calls and phone calls.  After I got home I helped fold the clothes while Ina Sue finished getting supper ready.  Spaghetti pie and kale.  By the time we ate supper, read the children their stories, put away the clothes, bathed the children and straightened the house the evening was about gone...
Papa helps dig the ditches.	I had a regular day at work on Tuesday.  Ina Sue baked 4 loaves of pumpkin bread and made a batch of yogurt.  Papa & Mother Showalter got here from Virginia around 6:00.  Ina Sue served us grilled catfish, herbed rice, broccoli and carrots for supper.  Mother brought along the zucchini bars for dessert.  We spent the rest of the evening visiting and picking out pecans.
While Mother picks out pecans.	We had breakfast quiche and pumpkin bread for breakfast on Wednesday.  Then Papa went along with me on a number of service calls while the ladies worked in the kitchen making granola and cookies.  Papa and I got finished with our calls around 1:00 and then spent the afternoon making up plans for our sprinkler system.  Since we need to rent a ditch-witch to bury pipe and wiring out to our new well, I thought we might as well take the opportunity to bury some sprinklers.  We had breadsticks and chicken strip salad for supper.  Ina Sue was not feeling very good today and went to bed early.
Late night/early morning pipe laying.	I took off from work all day Thursday.  After breakfast Papa and I borrowed Carl's pickup then drove in to Barnwell to rent a ditcher and pick up PVC and supplies for the sprinkler system.  We got started digging ditches around 10:30 and Papa had them all dug by 12:30.  We did hit several of our existing pipes so the house was without water for a bit while I did some replumbing.  During the afternoon, Mother picked out 64 lbs. of pecans and made us a batch of ham balls.  Ina Sue was still not feeling well.  Papa and I got started gluing pipe together but didn't come anywhere close to getting done.  We had subs for supper, then Don Heatwoles came over in the evening for visiting and pecan pie.
A game of 42's.  Just like old times.	I left at 4:00 in the morning on Friday for a service call over to New Ellenton.  I got back home by 6:00 and ate a quick breakfast of baked oatmeal.  Then Papa helped me with pipes for several hours before they left at 10:00.  I had to go back in to work after that and did service calls until 6:30.  After I got home I rigged up lights and worked outside putting in pipe until about 2:00 in the morning.  It was cold and miserable but I was determined to at least get the majority of the pipe in the ditches before we left for the weekend.  It is calling for rain and I didn't want the ditches to wash in before I got the pipe in them.
The Strite ladies get in some "quality" time.	We got up at 5:30 on Saturday and I did as much work as I could on the pipes before coming in to help get things packed and ready for our trip to Hartwell.  We left around 9:00 and got to Hartwell around 11:30.  We are having our Strite family Christmas get-together early this year.  Dad and Mom are the caretakers at Hartwell and they have the board's permission to host their family for free when the center is not in use.
Savannah wants to help cousin Wade.	Mother supplied our lunch of BarBQ, rice & hash, and pies.  Then in the afternoon we played games.  The ladies went in to Hartwell for some antiquing.  For supper everyone had brought along fingerfood type dishes.  What a feast!  After supper we played volleyball and other games before heading to our rooms for the night.  It was so nice not to have to drive home at the end of a long day!