Disappointment

My daughter, The Girl, was supposed to fly home with 'the kid' on standby yesterday. The flights to Minneapolis from Salt Lake City were full and they weren't able to get here. Evidently her suitcase made the flight. I'm disappointed I don't get to see them. I couldn't get ahold of anyone to find out if she was on the flight or not so I went to the airport anyway. She wasn't there. Disappointment.  I went to Home Depot and bought a Weeping Willow tree since that's my favorite tree. (It was the only Weeping Willow and looks really sad. I hope it lives.) Got home and checked my bank account and saw that they charged me double. Disappointment. Another trip to town to get that straightened out.

On the happier side, I got hired and will start my new job on June 2nd. The Girl is hoping to fly home for July 4th. And so far the deer haven't eaten my garden.

Bees

Yesterday was tragic. My daughter called to first tell me her fiance was OK. Then that brings on wide eyes and "WHAT HAPPENED?" It seem that Joe and his boss were each driving a semi loaded with bee hives filled with bees. They were on the interstate south of Minneapolis at a slow down for road construction. Joe was 2 cars ahead of his boss Darren. Darren felt a whump, looked in his mirror and saw bee boxes exploding, and then saw a white food service semi along side of him. The pictures on the news showed the white semi jack-knifed along side of him. There were 2 cars in back of Darren that the white semi ran over the top of before he hit the bee truck. The news pictures were dreadful. The two cars were so mangled it was hard to tell that they were two cars except for the colors. The abruptly released and startled bees were swarming in a black cloud over the wreck and caused great hindrance to rescue efforts. The firemen hosed the bees down with water and hosed both semis of bee hives down in an effort to keep them calm and cool. The loss of bees from both trucks must be horrible, but even worse was the loss of two lives of the drivers of the two cars. The cause of the wreck hasn't been determined, but there is a lot of speculation. I won't speculate here, but I do have to say it was NOT the fault of the bee trucks as I see a lot of comments on several of the news sites.

I stayed up very late last night looking for updates of the situation online since I don't have TV to watch the news. I was greatly saddened when I read that the second car driver who was airlifted out by helicopter had died. She was 24. The families of the two who died are in my prayers. I'm very grateful Joe and Darren are alright. We have yet to see how many bees were lost and the effect on the lost honey production and pollination.

Mustard or ketchup?

Two Wednesdays a month my daughter has meeting for the other 3 kids and herself at church- cub scouts, etc.- that Phineas just doesn't care to attend. So he comes over here to bring a chuckle to my day. Today I've been wiped out all day so all I've wanted to do is keep my nose in a book. When the weather gets over 72 degrees I melt. Well, Phineas & I stayed in front of the fan and watched Horton Hears a Who for the umpteenth time. He snuggles on my lap until I tell him to switch legs because that one is falling asleep. He thinks that's hilarious.

When the movie was over it was tubbie time. I got one of those soft scrubbie things on a stick for him since last time he said I scratched his back with my scratchie scrubbie thing (I don't like sharing those anyway.) I scrubbed him up and rinsed him and then he had fun making more bubbles all over himself again. Such a character. Then it was time to get dried off and in pj's and get a clean dressing on his foot. He had cut his foot going outside a while back, barefoot- 10 stitches. The stitches were out today! Got the foot dried and went to put bacitracin on the bandage to cover the wound and Phineas called it 'mustard'. I told him I was real glad I didn't have to put ketchup on it! And that brought on more giggles.

I am so fortunate to get the happy and pleasing side of Phineas when he's here. His poor mom gets the meltdowns and tantrums that come with his attachment disorder. I wish I could bottle his happy giggles and the cuddles so she could open it up and sample some on those tough days they share.

Next time he's here we both may do some painting together unless another kid beats him to the paintbrush!

SWAGGER WAGON

I borrowed this off a blog I follow. Has nothing to do with me anymore since my kids are grown, but I sure got a good chuckle out of it!

Playdate!!!

Playdate! Puppies and kids- what could be better?! Phineas & I played baseball. I pitched the pinecones and he hit them and then ran the bases the wrong way, or sometimes in a figure 8. The 3 puppies had a grand time running around too! Since that 5 year old had a ton more energy than I, I was only up to bat once. Great pitcher though, he pitched me a home run! So since this old nana was worn out, I sat under a tree on a chair and pitched pinecones from a stockpile we made so we wouldn't have to go searching each time. Talk about lazy! (But smart!) Phineas' family's 2 puppies came and met Molly for the first time and they all hit it off. Molly now has a boyfriend.

Roy the horse likes to be in the thick of things and had to watch us play ball. Then when Ferb and Phineas were playing on the haybales, she had to go oversee them there, too!

Toaster the cat was just a little miffed. The puppies ran over the top of him and didn't even notice my grey fur-ball. When were were all in the house together Toaster sat on the back of my chair hissing and was totally ignored. He didn't even get to arch his back. So that miffed cat had to go sleep in a corner and ignore the rest of us.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The other 3 g-kids came over after school. I hear they ran down the ditch 'tween their place and mine all holding hands- it's about a mile from their door to mine. They ran back home again when their mom came to pick up Phineas and the pups, but there were two dissenters about the holding hands part! And I had to put Molly in the house, she was very upset the kids were leaving. 

 

 

 

(A time out in the infield while the spectators were asked to leave the field.)

 

 

And now I'm tired after my playdate with the puppies. My puppy is already stretched out by my feet sleeping.

(Picture is of that rare 2-headed cross-breed dog called Bob-Perry taking a cat nap.)

Rain

We've had a goodly amount of rain the past week or so. Yesterday was dry enough to pack up the pop-up tent camper I had opened and airing. But about as soon as I got that done, the sprinkles started again. With the ground soft, its a good time to get post holes dug for the cross fencing I'm doing. I just have 2 horses and don't want them to have the whole 80 acres to graze. It would not be healthy for them or for the land. So I need several smaller pastures to rotate. I may complain about the rainy weather, but we really need the rain because the ground has been too dry. When my clay hardens all I can put in are steel posts, the holes are just about impossible to dig. So thank-you Heavenly Father for the blessing of rain!

I'm going to catch up on my crocheting! I just finished a clown and am now working on a brown teddy bear. I sewed a scripture bag for g-son Ferb, not shown, but I also sewed another bag for carrying scriptures or toys. The little gray doll was made up as I went.

SocialWrkr24/7 : Eyes Opened Wider: Book Review: Addition by Adoption

SocialWrkr24/7 : Eyes Opened Wider: Book Review: Addition by Adoption

Mother's Day revisited

Just read my daughter's blog and have to relay the poems her son Ferb came home with. He had a can of dirt decorated with floral fabric that he handed her with 2 poems:

I planted some seeds in hopes they'd grow.
Something went wrong. I just didn't know.
Instead of some flowers, it's a cupful of dirt.
I love you! I hope your feelings aren't hurt!

I'm your little flower, Mom.
Please help me grow and bloom:
Take the weeds but leave the roots
And give me lots of room.
Mom, you are my gardener,
My sunshine and my rain.
Too much will make me wither.
With enough I'll bloom again.
I'm your little flower, Mom.
I'm different from the rest:
Don't pick me, Mom, just help me grow
To be my very best.
 
That's one of the fun things about being a young mother- the neat presents the kids make for you.

I picked up the phone to give my daughter a call to see if she was feeling any better today. Yesterday on Mother's Day she got sick and today is still that way. She says one good thing about being sick is that she's just about finished her book. Well, when I picked up the house phone I realized there was a message waiting I hadn't listened to. It was from my missionary daughter in Florida.

Bea said, "Hola, mama, Happy Mother's Day! I'll call you on your cell phone, I'll be home in 5 months, don't keep this message forever, that's what the card is for!" She knows me pretty well. I deleted the message, but I should have listened to it a few more times! She sent me a card on which she recorded a Mother's Day message in Spanish first, then in English. After her message a canned message played saying, 'I bet you're the only mother on the block who got a card like this, this is what is called a keepsake! Whenever people come over you'll show it to your friends and say, 'My Child gave me This.'  That card is for sure a keeper! So I can listen to it whenever I want to hear Bea's voice and relive a great Mother's Day!

I can't forget all my other kids though- I got cards, calls, emails, text messages, and  Facebook messages. They all remembered me!

I'm adopted!

Shame on people who abandon animals in the country. But thank you for my new dog, Molly. She's a joy! I figure she's about 6 months old. She loves kids, leaves the cat alone, and is subservient to the old dog I already have. And she's housebroke. I leave her loose in the yard when I go to town and she stays there waiting on the porch when I get home. She needs obedience training which I can and will do. When I'm outside Molly stays close by me. She loves to go for walks in the pasture and doesn't bother or even bark at the horses.

I've called or spoken to neighbors around here and no one recognizes her, so I'm pretty sure she was abandoned. Now that I've fed her and named her and she sleeps on the floor next to my bed, I'll be heartbroken if someone claims her. Beside what would I ever do with a 44# bag of Dog Food?! The Pom can't eat that much in a lifetime!