Is Your Name Henry?

It was such a lovely weekend. The weather was perfect with sunny days and cool evenings. As I sit here checking in the last of my reservations for this evening and waiting for he who tows to return, I am surrounded with a deep sense of contentment.

Some kampers were up last evening for cards and we just had the best time. We played hearts and I did not win! I was not the biggest loser either .... pun intended. My sweet husband was and the funniest part is that he missed two hands to take a stranded motorist call and still managed to acquire the most points.

The call he took was to a lock-out. He left the kampground to go get the truck with all the necessary equipment and then head out to the call which was 20 miles away. He returned before we had played two hands. The call was cancelled ..... they decided that since it was a convertible to just cut a hole in the top. Seriously, you cannot make this stuff up. Rather than pay $50, they did about $3000 in damage.

We all pondered the reasoning behind this and came up with different scenarios:
1. The car was stolen.
2. The car was borrowed. Like from a parent and they couldn't wait for it to be opened. They were past curfew. I picture a group of kids, "Dude, we're late, we don't have time to wait." "Hey, the top is cloth and I have a pocket knife ... problem solved."
3. They were too drunk to care.
4. They were too stupid to care.
5. The car needed a new top anyway.

Oddly enough, he got another call this morning for a lock-out and it cancelled before he got there, too. So, I started think about all the strange people he encounters over the roads. One morning he got a call for a tow. It was a young man whose car had broken down.

Now, when he tows the driver and passengers of the vehicle ride in the truck with him. No matter, my husband is a people person and can talk with anyone, or simply ignore them if they want to be left alone.

This particular young man had just met the woman of his dreams. He had found her on-line and they had had their first meeting. He was enthralled with her. He who tows did not need to talk, just listen. He was waxing eloquent about the beauty and virtues of this dream woman, saying more than once that she was "the one", he just knew it and that he was in love with her.

After going on like this for most of the trip, the guy confided that the one thing that troubled him was the fact that she had been married 7 times.

I wondered if his name was Henry.

Breakfast In My Yard

My favorite apple tree is the golden delicious. I always pick those first and try to leave a few for those autumn mornings that are find me working on the grounds. The crows were in residence this year and pretty much topped all my apple trees. It is almost like the Killdeer put out the word that I am bird friendly.

But, this last lone apple has my name all over it. Nothing tastes so wonderful as ripe fruit straight from the tree. This apple did not disappoint.

Walk along with me. I have an old feeding trough for cattle with a cherry tomato plant thriving in it. I just hope it will stay warm long enough to harvest all the tomatoes.

The sister tough has Roma tomatoes. I have already harvested and frozen some for sauce. Looks like I will have at least a bushel from these plants if the weather holds just a bit longer. I confess that I popped a few cherry tomatoes that were ripe right into my mouth. Balancing my breakfast.

Admire my new garden plot with me as I wipe the apple juice from my chin. I had been wanting to define my side yard for awhile and the weather cooled enough for some hard work. I actually dug up most of the sod and took it to a site that needed grass and reused it. The dirt was a gift from he who was working with the front end loader in the back of the park. I was fully prepared to haul the dirt in the wheelbarrow. I was determined to get it done.

I can move anything on wheels!!

Another view of my new garden plot. It has rained for the past three days and all that is left to do is mulch it in. I planted some lilies and some mossy ground cover. If I encounter some interesting perennials on the clearance shelf in WalMart's garden center ( I call it the rescue center), I will add them later.

That is where the mums came from last year when I was building this garden. I think I paid 50 cents a piece for the 6 mums this mound represents. I think they like it there in Paul's garden.

I recently rescued this grass and stuck it right here at the edge of the plot next to the entrance drive. Paid $1.47 for it and it was all brown and ugly with some new growth barely visible at the base of the plant. I carefully snipped away at the dead stuff and revealed some purple spires about 6 inches long. It is over waist high now and I can't wait to see what it does next year.

Breakfast is over and the sun is peeking through the clouds. Now, if I can get that mulcher started I will feed all the bark and slivers of wood from the pile next to the log splitter to it and make my own mulch. Reduce, reuse ........recycle. Tossed my apple core in the compost bin. That's me, always setting a good example.

Phone Numbers

This is one of my favorite little people. Well, not so little anymore. This is Gavin, the boy much loved by a dog, the subject of a book. My baby's baby. Looks like his Papa. He is an outgoing and sweet natured boy. Popular, too.

So popular that friends want to call him on the phone. It happens. He is, after all, a third grader. Everybody wants to know his number. So he shares it with his new friends. His mom's cell number.

They had a chat about which number he was to give out. He has always known her cell number and they only recently got a number for their house. He was instructed to give that number to all his friends.

I received a letter from Gavin this week. He wrote it and sealed it up before his mom sent it. I called her right away to tell her what the letter said:
Dear Gramma (not spelled exactly like this), Call the home phone if you want to call me. Love , Gavin. Tell Wall-E that I love him.

I wonder if I am the only one who got written notification? And he considers me to be one of his friends ........ I cried a little. Is he the sweetest boy ever?

Gavin with Max ...  on Max's first birthday. Who could not love that sweet face? The boy, the dog is cute, too.

Here Comes Honey Boo-Boo

Three of my favorite little faces. I wish I could cover these faces with kisses. So nice to find this in my e-mail after a long day of outdoor chores. In case you have never read this before, these are my granddaughters, Maya, Zara and Jada.

You may be wondering about the title. If you have not seen this show on TLC yet, you must have heard all the talk. Saturday Night Live, the Today show, too. Makes me remember when Roseanne Barr came to the attention of everyone. Funny? Yes, but so distasteful. Outrageous, for sure.

Honey Boo-Boo is the youngest of the disrespectful brood of children. Her "attitude" may be cute to some, but I find her to be in need of some discipline. The other three children are in the background and are equally undisciplined. For some reason, he who watches very little TV, actually CHOOSES to watch this. He thinks it is hilarious and depicts a true portrait of southern living.

It is true that people in the south do, indeed, live like this ........ but every region has some that live of the edge of normalcy. They are the exception, not the rule. The "Mama" of this tribe is exploiting her family shamelessly and holding them up for ridicule. Is this some deranged attempt at popularity?

They enter the chunky little girl, Honey Boo-Boo, in beauty pageants and seem to spend an outrageous amount of money on dresses, make-up, and coaching for the child. Money that would be better spent on cooking nutritious food for the family. Their favorite meal is "sketti" topped with butter and ketchup. Wasn't real butter, but whipped margarine, just in case you may be thinking that were at least getting a dairy product. They are also fond of candy and those artificially flavored cheese balls that you can buy in those huge barrel shaped plastic jugs.

They don't eat at a table, prompting one of the daughters to quip, "don't need no table manners, don't eat at no table". The table is surrounded with plastic shelving units filled with the results of extreme couponing ......... mostly toilet tissue. This same table hosted a manners coach trying to teach the beauty pageant contestant some basic table manners. The older sister joined the lesson and asked if it would be okay to fart at the table. This lesson went by the wayside when the youngest met Miss Georgia and shared a meal with her and farted at the table, then announced it. Charming. She then said that Miss Georgia was pretty and she bet that Miss Georgia didn't fart.

This is all hilarious to my husband. I just can't get past the fact that this is not an SNL skit, it is a reality show and this woman is exploiting her children by making them the butt of a joke. And she can't cook!

This is a wedge of a stump end. I was torn between a watermelon wedge and a slice of pizza. Can't eat either one, but the watermelon is healthier ...... just in case Honey Boo-Boo reads this.

Reunions

Toni Louise continues to heal. Her bandage is still intact. I have caught her chewing at it a couple of times, but she pretty much leaves it alone.

I put a nice soft pillow in the kennel and prepared for the homecoming. I thought she would be more comfortable and it would be easier to restrict her activity. Wall-E was her first visitor. His ears are back and down. This means he is still very worried about his playmate. Wall-E is sensitive and worries a lot.

Old guy, Oscar, had to get very close to "see". His cataracts make him rely more on his nose lately, but he was assured that she was back home and all was right with the world.

The kennel did not last long. Toni Louise prefered to be with her best friends and lay on an old blanket on the floor. I was afraid she would try to jump up on the couch, but she didn't even try. She did try to jump into our bed the first night and fell, but I caught her. I think it scared me more than her.

She has to take an antibiotic twice daily and some liquid meds for pain once at bedtime. Greenies makes these fabulous beef flavored pill pockets. They smell like beef jerky and she loves them. I would have used bread and peanut butter, but these are less messy and she thinks it is a treat.

The first night she slept like a baby. Oscar woke me at 3:24. I took him out and he wandered aimlessly through the yard. This went on for about 10 minutes before I insisted that he come back in. I was so annoyed, I could not go back to sleep and watched the sun rise. Last night he slept fine. Toni Louise woke me. I have no idea what time it was, it was still dark, though. All three dogs went out and this time Toni was the one wandering around the yard. She followed the other two in and walked straight into the wall, bumping her head against it and just standing there. I was watching her, figuring she was goofy from her pain meds ...... then she peed in the floor! It smelled like her antibiotics and before I could mop it up, Wall-E pranced through the puddle and hopped into my bed .......... on my clean sheets.

So, today was another big laundry day and I could not go back to sleep again!

Tomorrow, Toni Louise will get her bandages changed, and then again in a week. Mr. Martha will be going along on the last visit. He will be losing his ability to procreate, and I will have another furry patient to tend. Reunions will start all over again.

Running Away From Home

This is Toni Louise. Look at that mischievious sparkle in her eye. She is my escape artist. She loves to run and run. Any opportunity and she will bolt from the gate or the door and run like the wind.

She is easily entertained and will chase her own tail for hours. She has a sweet disposition and is so easy going.

So sweet, my Toni Louise. This is the sweet little girl in my lap every night ........ whether or not I want her to be. She will use her head to lift my hands from my laptop and demand my attention. She will pounce on my keyboard and not give up until she has all the affection she wants. And just look at that sweet face ........who could not love her? Mr. Martha, the cat, is her favorite plaything and she is his.

Yesterday, Toni Louise and Wall-E, world famous author of "Letters To Gavin", totally took advantage of he, who is apt to open the gate without checking to see if canines are playing in the yard. They both ran through the open fields and gave he, who jumped on the golf cart, the slip.

Wall-E, being older and wiser, knew better than to push his luck and stayed on the property and let his Papa pick him up. Toni Louise, however, hit the black top and was galloping down the road to parts unknown. After dropping off escapee #1, Doggie Daddy took off after the willfull Toni Louise.

I have had to round her up before and can tell you from experience that this is no easy task. Scolding just rolls off her like water, bribery does not work, either. I spent an entire afternoon chasing her one day ....... in my car. At first I rolled along the roads of the park and lied about treats through the window. Then she took off down the road after a car. My heart in my throat, I followed in my car and lost sight of her. That is, until I looked out the window to find her loping along beside me. I was going about 15 mph! She looked like she was grinning at me. I noticed a delivery truck coming into my park and I growled at her to stay out of my way and threw the car in reverse and backed half a mile down the road to recieve the pool paint.

The Fed-X driver joined me in trying capture her. We finally corralled her into the fenced area around the pool. He went on his way and I spent about 30 minutes chasing her round and round until she discovered the steps and raced into the almost empty pool. Then I chased her on a slope. I was lining treats up to try to grab her, but she was too fast. Then ......... then she discovered the nasty, slimy, utterly gross water that needed to be pumped out and proceeded to prance through it and splash it everywhere. This made her slimy and slick, so that when I grabbed her she would slip right through my hands. This all ended with her consuming half a pound of hot dogs and getting a bath. I was not happy, but she was going through her toddler stage.

I thought the search party would be out longer, so I was more than a little surprised when a mere 5 minutes later I saw the golf cart with Toni Louise aboard rolling up to the office. I went out to pick her up and scold her. I lifted her and carried her in the store and told her how unhappy I was that she had pulled her latest stunt. Tail wagging and licks to my face ensued and I noticed a funky odor ..... familiar. I have smelled this before. Can't place it. I put the bad girl down and noticed her limping. Then we see the blood on the inside of her hind leg.

I remember the odor I could not place. Same odor that my other bad girl, Louise, the Saint Bernard, had when she ran into the SUV and crushed her elbow. I looked at my Toni Louise's eyes then and knew that she was hurt pretty bad and shocky. I called my vet and relayed all the information. Toni Louise had surgery last night. Her hip was dislocated and the blood and wound on her lower leg was full of gravel. I saw one truck on that road before she got on the golf cart. Don't know if she chased it and took a slight hit and tumbled, or simply lost her footing and flipped over.
 

She came home this morning with her leg in a sling to keep the ball joint in her hip in place. She is not allowed to run or jump or play with her siblings.

Last night was very subdued for the remaining animals. I am sure they were aware of the odor she emitted and they saw her carried out with towel around her to immobilize her and catch the blood. Last time they saw one of their own leave wrapped in a towel, she did not return. Two of the saddest little dogs climbed into bed last night and snuggled close to me. Even Mr. Martha, the cat was looking for his best buddy.

It was joyful reunion that I cannot show you until tomorrow! Blogger hates me and won't post all my pictures!

Small Appliances

I can post, but I can't comment. I commented on one blog, but after that my priviledges were suddenly revoked!

I recently bought a Baby George Foreman Rotisserie. I know you are thinking, "Does she think this is a new thing?" I know I don't get out much, but I am not that isolated. I bought mine from my favorite consignment store, Four Doors Down. Ten bucks. It looks new, like it was only used once them cleaned with a magic eraser. That made me suspicious. Maybe it doesn't even work.
There is a return policy and it was only $10.

I had a couple of pre-packaged filets wrapped in bacon. My new rotisserie was lacking a manual. I looked it up on line and cooked my steak. I am impressed! It was tasty and the only problem was the bacon unrolling and sticking out. It was over done. My fault for not securing it better.

Yesterday I did a chicken. It was better that the ones I buy at the grocery. I shoved an apple up the butt of my chicken before I tied it up. I have an abundance of apples and I figured it couldn't hurt, might help. It was so good and moist. My only problem today is trying to find something to rotisserie! It is a dreary day. Soup or chili sounds good and I don't know that the rotisserie will be called into action.

So, on to my trusty crockpot. The crock pot has been busy all week with apples. Apple butter and applesauce. So easy and the house smells like cinnamon. But, how much applesause and applebutter can two people eat? Still, I am thinking about making more today and freezing it. I don't know why. I have been giving apples away as fast as I can and I will be making apple pies this weekend. Apple muffins, apple bread, apple fritters, baked apples ........... I am open to any apple ideas.