A Sale

I planned a garage sale. Here's a rundown of how it went.

Locate and haul things out to the shop where I will have the sale. Check.

Lay out things on tables and clean them if necessary. Check.

Price items on tables. Check.

Make signs. Check.

Advertise in the local paper. Check.

Plan it for May so the weather is warm enough. Check.

Wake up early and...

What was that last line? Un-check it!

We woke up to 14 inches of snow. On May 3! And the high was only 35 degrees! We went ahead as planned, but had to keep running out and wiping off the sign. We did ok actually, but are trying again in a couple of weeks. We still have so much stuff left to sell. The snow was gone the next day, of course.

A Bouquet For Mom

Every summer my kids bring in bundles of wildflowers found out in the pastures and fields.

The boy is the best at arranging them. Go figure.

Have you ever seen milkweed look so pretty?

I have allergies, but I don't want to hurt their feelings or prevent them from giving from their hearts, so I endure the sniffles and headaches. They are pretty in a very country way. I really do like them. I just wish my sinuses did too.

However, we have had a late spring this year. The wildflowers are later blooming. So, imagine my surprise when Baby brings me a full bouquet of "flowers". She's holding them behind her back and says, "I brought you something, Mommy. Please don't throw it out!" And then followed it with those sad puppy eyes reserved for just such an occasion. She pulls them from behind her back.

"Tada! I'll even put them in a vase for you, Mama."

Oh dear! Flowers have never looked so much like weeds to me! Now I'm "dupped up and diffling".

Happy spring and may you, too, get flowers of love.

I Am The Mother Of Cousin It

Here's the proof.

Of course, Cousin It doesn't know who Cousin It even is.

Wisdom From My Dad And Sometimes My Mom

I thought I'd share some wise words I remember from my childhood. Some are from my dad and some from my mom.

"Eat your vegetables. It will grow hair on your chest." Not something girls need to aim for and not something future husbands hope for.

"Does your nose run? Do your feet smell? You must be made upside down." No comment.

One time, we were re-modeling a camper. My mom had painted some drawers and set them outside to dry. Our dog, Chuck, came along and peed on one of them. She caught him in the act and yelled, " Chuck! If you pee on those drawers again I'll cut your little wiener off!" We've never let her forget that.

"Pretty is as pretty does." This was in response to us girls talking about how cute a boy was.

We got this one every time we went somewhere. "Do what you know is right." How many times had I wished they would forget to say that so I could be naughty. Not really. Sort of.

"We all have an infinite ability for self-justification." Let that sink in.

"Just because someone else does it, doesn't make it right." Yes, but it still might be fun.

"This is no place for fun!" The funny thing about that phrase was that it was said by my mother, in a serious voice, while we were on vacation. She didn't see the irony until we burst out laughing and pointed it out to her. My poor mother. Most of us inherited my dad's sense of twisted, sarcastic humor. My mother was born without it. Unfortunately for her, sometimes it was too much for us to ignore.

"You can pick your friends and you can pick your nose, but you can't pick your friend's nose." It's no wonder I'm brilliant with wisdom like that!

That's all I can think of right now. Did you grow up with any imparted wisdom from your parents? Or did you pass some on to your kids?

The Drought Has Ended

In the last day or so we have had over 6 inches of rain. It literally thundered and lightninged  an entire 24 hours, non-stop. Our pond has recovered and is back up to where it should be. I'll bet the fish are glad to have more room again.

Because of all the rain, I had another adventure. What's more fun than wrestling greased pigs into tutus and leotards? Cleaning carpeting in a basement that's been flooded with muddy rain water! Good thing we went down last night and moved stuff out of the way, so I just had to clean the carpets and nothing got ruined.

Buddy was allowed inside during the storms because he has sensitive ears and it was very windy. Yes, we baby him. Today, however, he has been made to stay outside again. Like a dog. A dog who is muddy. He has taken to howling in order to be let in. Ok, I actually have been training him to howl to ask to come in, rather than just bark. I think it's funny to hear him howl. I'm weird. You should see what I make the kids do to ask to come inside.

We had an exciting event here yesterday. One of our cats, Mrs Puff, had her kittens. She had five but one died right away. The other four are doing well. She seems to be a wonderful mother. As pretty as she is, her kittens did not inherit her beauty. She had two orange tigers, an orange and white, and a black multi-colored. One of the orange ones is sooo tiny. I'm hoping it'll make it. It seems full of life, though. Here are some photos of it. The pictures can't really show you just how small it is. We have one more mama to go yet.

That's the happenings around here lately.

The Animals Are Thankful

The other day I posted about our adventures in mulching around the house and yard. Now I want to show you how much the cats appreciate the new litter boxes and beds.

Don't worry. I'm only going to show you how they appreciate the beds we put in for them. I'll let your imagination show you how they use the flower beds for a litter box. You're welcome.

 Sorry about bad quality of the picture of Buddy. I had to take the photo through the screen window so he wouldn't get up when he saw me.

I just hope they don't get too used to it. When the plants come up, the animals are out!

A Hose, A Hanger, And Lots Of Water

Let's suppose that a certain farm wife told her farm husband that it was warm enough outside at night to be able to turn on the water out in their barn. This would allow the farm family to use the toilet and sink out there so they wouldn't have to run to the house all the time. It would also allow them to clean a very winter-messy shop and prepare for an upcoming garage sale. The farm wife likes things in her garage sales to be clean and sparkly as much as possible when she sells them.

Anyway, the farm wife's farm husband finally gives in and turns on the water to the barn. After all, the animal waters have not frozen in many weeks. He turns it on and we work out there a whole day, scrubbing, cleaning, organizing. No issues with the water.

The next day, the farm wife goes out to the other barn to measure some stuff and finds no tape measure. She heads to the shop in the other barn to get a tape measure. She opens the door. She hears a great noise. (great= loud, not super awesome, oh-happy-day) She looks. Oh no! There is an inch of water in the bathroom and surrounding rooms. She rushes to the bathroom where the water shut off valve is located and shuts off the gushing, spraying geyser. Now what?

There are boxes on the floor full of garage sale stuff. Move those. There is an antique buffet that the farm family is using for a sink base in the bathroom. Thankfully, they have yet to install the sink, so the oldest of the farm kids helps the farm wife move it out of the bathroom and to a dry place. They get the wet/dry vac and clean up the mess. They enlist the help of the other farm kids and move all the garage sale stuff into the main (and dry) area of the shop. Crisis cleaned and cleared.

Now this sore farm wife returns to the house with the carpet vac she used to finish drying the shop floor. She decides to scrub out the dirty water container since it stinks. She fills it in the sink, empties it, and waits for the sink to drain. She waits and she waits. The sink doesn't drain. Now what?

Go find the only wire hanger in the house and straighten the hook. Use pliers to make a small hook at the end. Fish out a sucker stick and a bit of gunk out of the drain. Fill sink with water. Wait for it to drain. She waits and she waits. Again. The sink still doesn't drain. She uses her hand to create suction like a toilet plunger. It works a little. She repeats the process. It helps a bit more. She realizes her hand is just too small to cover the drain completely. She looks around and grabs the sink drain stopper. She uses it the same way as she uses a toilet plunger. It works! The sink drains quickly.

She does it a few more times to make sure the drain is cleared up. Crisis two for the day has been handled.

The farm wife goes outside and measures what she needed to measure first thing that morning. She is quite glad the the farm husband didn't have a tape measure in the barn. It meant more work, but it saved money and a bigger disaster. And it saved a work-weary husband from a mess later.

The farm wife apologizes that she didn't take before and after pictures for you. She was distracted. She hopes your day is a bit better.