Sue, you were are a special gift from the heavens. Your smile warmed my heart, and your presence made me whole. I love you today and forever!
When it comes to family, Sue was the greatest. She loved the kids (all of them all the time), the grandkids, and especially the great-grandkids! Her first was Miss Lilly, who is now going to school and becoming quite a character. Rebecca and Zack introduced Old Ranch to Lilly early in life so she would understand where to play golf and meet friends. While not a biological connection, Sue could not have loved anybody more than Silly Lilly. At the same time, she loved the elders, including Aunt Kaye, who is now 97 years young. Never made a difference; the family is family. I miss her kindness and warmth and wise words in times of stress.
Holding great-granddaughter Lilly at Old Ranch
Yes, indeed, it is Saturday, and my busy social calendar is marked with the planned arrival of Robin and Traci at 4:30 PM, so I must get my chores done early. Chores? Where am I, living on a farm? Well, I am learning that maintaining a home and doing EVERYTHING is a big job. Every day I get a better appreciation for what was going on in the house while I was outside doing repairs and maintenance.
From doing the wash to cooking to shopping to trimming the trees, there is hardly a moment to relax. I am not complaining, just making an observation!
Some mornings I do look better than this but not very often!
Since my local Lowe’s hardware store didn’t have the pieces I needed, I decided to go to the other Long Beach store and see if they had it. Ah-ha, I was in luck. I picked up the necessary end caps for the rain gutter at the Bellflower location. Now I can finish off the termite damaged area by attaching the new rain gutter. It was an exciting experience because Lowe’s I visited this morning was a mirror reflection of the one I usually visit. I was so turned around; what’s is on the left, should be on the right.
I had little visitors again! Mr. and Mrs. Duck looks like they are trying to find a home for the potential new arrivals. I hope they are NOT planning a nest in my garden?
I had early morning visitors!
My mind turned to gold this morning since the course is now opened. I will make a tee-time on Monday and get Charlotte and Bob Z. to join me in a round.
Thinking of Charlotte.
I talked to Zachary, and he and Rebecca are interested in Grandma’s treadmill. While it is an excellent device for exercising, I prefer a walk outside in the fresh air, so if the weather gets bad, I shall head for the mall!
This cartoon reminded me of Silly Lilly asking Great Grandpa a question.
I was thinking of me when the grandkids/great-grandkids and I talk!
The chores list was getting done little by little, including fertilizing the berry bushes, which, by the by, took great delight in leaving their marks on my hands and forearms. Blood everywhere; it is tough to be so thin-skinned!
At 3:00 PM, Robin called and changed the arrival time to 5:30 PM. Hey, I got an extra hour, so I needed to choose between a walk of a nap. The nap won today, so I zoned out for 45 minutes. Then the iPhone began its annoying vibrations and squeaked sounding like a stepped-on goose! Robin said, “We are twenty minutes out.” OMG, I was like the Flash jumping out of bed, racing into the shower, setting the outside table, getting the wine and margarita’s makings ready, etc.! The timing was perfect although I was out of breath.
We made our order at the Himalayan Grill in Sunset Beach, my favorite.
Dinner is served.
BEWARE! The plate below is Shrimp Vindaloo ordered ten on a scale of one-to-ten spicy! You could almost hear the ceramic plant yelling, “Get this volcanic lava off me now!”
Over the teeth and through the gums, look out tonsils, here it comes.
Bob decided to take a selfie, but after examining it, I could not figure out who the old guy was in the red (appropriately selected) shirt. It looks like Robin found a homeless man and invited him to dinner. Where was I? It truly is a puzzle!
All smiles.
Traci admired all the fruit trees and asked if she could go harvesting. I love the sound of those words because that means I do not have to pick them up off the ground when they fall from the tree. Go, girl, pick away!
Thank goodness the lemons are getting picked.
Robin packed up the remains because my frig is overloaded with food. When I go to the market, I get memory loss and buy more food. Next time I am hanging a sign around my neck saying, “Dear Cashier, PLEASE do not allow this person to purchase any more food!”
She has a little surprise at the bottom!
I reminded the pickers that the Kumquat tree was feeling left out, so they headed to the front yard to continue harvesting!
The top of the Kumquat tree finally gets a visitor.
Like the unique coffee beans you hear about nigh in the Andes Mountains of Ecuador, these Kumquats are extra special when picked at their peak, on the peak, and he should peak in the bag to make sure.
I wanted to do that, but I had better judgment.
Meanwhile, Robin and I prepare dessert! Yes, strawberry margaritas, which are reportedly suitable for putting out food fires in the throat! Robin and I enjoy these every night she comes over. We especially enjoy them when Colleen is here!
Dessert is served!
We have the table ready for the pickers. They deserve a treat for all the hard work and teasing they got during their adventure in the forest.
Our first and last round!
Here’s mud in your eye.
Did You Know? The origin of Here’s Mud in Your Eye expression is more common in British English than in American English. It is informal and originated around the 1930s. The exact source of this expression is unclear. Some people speculate it relates to mud from the trenches in World War I. Because the soldiers had to dig, live, and fight in these trenches in the earth, they would get very muddy.
I prefer, “Over the teeth and through the gums, look out tonsils, here it comes.”
We played 1950s music and sang along to the Statler Brothers for a good hour, getting sillier, and the evening progressed. Robin spotted the box of surgical gloves the rest of the evening was dodging speeding fingers as they whizzed by your head at 50 miles per hour.
Then things began to get silly. Jet-propelled gloves were flying all over, thanks to Robin.
We knew the evening was about over when Bob broke into song (?) using lyrics clearly made up on the spot (as they could NOT be repeated when we requested an encore).
At 9:30 PM, the party broke up at the behest of the local police who arrived in riot gear expecting to find a gang of fifty because of the noise and number of gloves shooting into he sky (not really, but it makes for a good story).
After a short clean up, I was ready for bed. Tomorrow I will get the ladder out and get the bright blue gloves out of the neighbor’s trees and off their cars and roofs.
BY 10:30 PM, this old carcass was horizontal, remembering that I had not talked to Colleen this evening! I will catch heck tomorrow morning.
