Ah yes...I know I haven't blogged in days...it's been rather crazy (fun)...

Let me see...the Tale of Two Gates must have taken place on Monday...no, it must have been Saturday because Junior was here Monday.

Anyway, we (Aunt T, Philip, Joel, and I) were going to plink. I had tied Snip to the gate at the head of the driveway because I didn't want him down range. I fired one shot from my .22 rifle and ol' Snip backed up in fear. Guess what? He pulled that gate and it's post right out of the ground! Of course, the post, while practically a foot in diameter, was rotten off at the bottom...
That was the end of the shooting. Instead we built a gap gate. Then, after Aunt T went in, the boys and I built the gap gate I was intending on building when I first constructed the horse lot. Well, it was mostly Philip that helped...Joel was busy holding Snip off. It was the horse's suppertime and he was quite insistant that his feed ought to show up sooner than later. He even got so close that he nipped my backside. Stinker!

Now, that would have been more exciting if I had written it right after it happened...but I didn't. Sorry.

Then next adventure...Monday. Uncle Rod brought Rod Jr. over for the day. Rod was supposed to mow...it never did happen what with the battery being dead...the belt shredding...and then the engine quit...Anyway, Jr. drove Joel nuts. I was grieved to hear some of the language my young cousin was using. I scared him at one point and he swore...while laughing. It is sad. He's still a 'nice kid' but with his ADHD and the life he has had, you don't want to let him out of your sight.

That day we fixed the fence where the old tree--that ancient oak, had fallen. I also shot an armadillo. I think I went to town at least twice. Both times I had all three boys...at one point, Jr. had his toes jammed against my heel making driving difficult--he obligingly moved them once I mentioned it.

Tuesday morning we got a surprise. Uncle Rod dropped Cassandra off early. I wasn't dressed yet (I usually drink my coffee and read my Bible before getting dressed.) After I let her in, I explained that the boys were still asleep in 'my' room and that I would wake them when I went in to get my clothes. Well, she started to go in anyway. I have difficulty explaining exactly what I felt--somehow it wasn't modest. (You're thinking--what's the difference between me and her? I'm older...they are used to me popping in in the mornings...they probably know me better...and anyway, it just down-right irritated me that she was going to preempt me.)

Let's see...I saddled Snip up early (the bit went in really fast) and rode off to open the gates. The cows didn't rotate til later and I hear the boys went out and closed the gates. I let Aunt T ride Snip and then I gave rides :) 

Later, after lunch, Savannah and I loaded up and headed off. We were going to V.B. for a SCV meeting. (Why were girls going to a Sons of Confederate Veterans meeting? Why, we were invited, of course!) We left a little early because we were going to go to some pirate musuem and walk on the beach. Well, we got to the museum five minutes before it closed...then it started to pour down rain and flash lighting...so no beach walk either. We drove around for a while to kill time :) Fortunately, Mr. F. showed up at the resturant 30 minutes early. He is all fired up over my Cow Cavalry documentary and I am thrilled. I fully intended to write stuff down yesterday, but didn't...the explaination will follow. Anyway, Mr. F. is basically offered to get me into contact with whomever I would like and he has some suggestions on who to contact, etc. I will certainly get around to squaring my head up with the stuff...but I think I will wait till next week. Why? Well...other stuff is going on around and around here :) I'm going to be totally wiped out on Monday.

Okay...Wednesday. I started the day out in a skirt. I ended it in jeans, dirt, and grease.

Episode one: Shortly after breakfast, Aunt T and I went out to take a look at the mower. I tucked my skirt up the way I do and went to taking the cover off the mower engine. In just a short time I discovered the problem. The gear on top of the starter was broken! I went in and changed...after I washed off the grease that encased my arms from the elbows down. Savannah told the boys to get up if they wanted to go to the feed store with me...I was going there as well as the mower place. We hopped in the truck and it didn't start. We jumped it. (The boys had driven it the night before and I guess it quit on them at some point.)

Episode two: The first trip to town. As we left, I had Joel call Daddy and talk to him about the truck. He told us to take it in to Tex and have him check and see if it was the battery or the alternator. Well, I decided to just swing by there last, since it would be on the way home, and just not turn the engine off at any of my stops. First stop: lawn mower place. All three of us piled out of the truck, leaving the engine running and walked towards the bays. The owner walks out and says something like, "What you got?" (We had the starter and the whirly-gig in hand). I said, "A starter and this piece is broken." I'm not even sure he looked at it, but he went straight to the shelf and got the right part. I had mentioned it was a Murry mower...but still it was amazing. I paid him and then we hopped back in the truck and went to Bryan's. Philip stayed in the truck, but Joel got out and came with me. I ordered my two bags of 'Stock and Stable 12', paid and left. Next stop--Smith's. Philip again remained in the truck...at Smith's it was a good idea since I could not see the truck from inside. I got some dewormer for Snip and 4 bags of mineral. Then we roared off to Tex's. I walked in, tailed by my cousins, explained who I was, and what Daddy had said. So, Tex gets his alternator tester, checks it and says, "It's the alternator." We took our mower part and horse medicine out of the truck and I called Savannah, "Come get us!" While waiting for her so show up, I called Daddy to let him know what was up.

Episode three: Post-lunch...we went back to get the truck. When we got home we started to put the part on the mower...we just couldn't get that little clip thingy (I can't recall the exact name) on so Aunt T said, "Let's take it back to the shop..." We did and he put it on in no time and didn't charge us a cent :) (That's good buisness sense.)

Episode four: It was time to put out the mineral. The truck wouldn't start. So we hauled the mineral out on foot. Joel and I took a sack to the closest mineral tub while Philip headed for the one on the north side of the pasture. After dumping my sack I got the fourth sack and followed him. Joel jumped in the golf cart and caught up to me, so I climbed in with that 50-lb sack in my lap. We did carry it the last 100 yards or so--that way we didn't have to open the gate. Joel got on the runway and I handed the bag to him, then I dashed to the other side and he handed the bag to me (there is electric wire surrounding the runway). I took the bag the rest of the way. Poor Philip, having walked the whole way, was out of breath--as he said later, "It had run on ahead of me so I was just catching up to it." (Philip is funny in a slightly different fashion than Joel ;) ) Anyway...that was the mineral adventure.

Episode five: The fourth trip to town. Philip and I took the truck battery in to Wal-Mart. Philip carried the old one in and I carried the new one out. I felt sorry for the scrawy fella :) That and he stayed to aske the cashier a question. When we got back we installed the new battery and the truck roared to life!
 
As a side note...the boys mowed the yard to that day.

Thursday...I was really tired yesterday, but I still ended up doing stuff. The other half of the oak came down yesterday morning. I am really glad no one was out there...

The pump was leaking some and later in the day we tried a fix with glue on the outside...it helped some although there was still a slight leak. Granddaddy told us it was fine and to leave it be. He was in a mood yesterday where you don't cross him.

Joel and I went in and picked up my post hole digger handle while Philip finished mowing. Aunt T came in this morning and said it doesn't fit. Before I take it back I'm going to do some looking at it myself. 

Joel lost his hat yesterday somehow and somewhere...so, if you happen to find a camo Florida Gators hat with a blue back let me know ;) *grin*

After dinner, the boys and I went mudding in the golf cart. It was really messy but lots of fun! I certainly wouldn't want to do it very often, but I did have fun--I even hollered as we barrelled down the 'hill' to the mud-pit (about 6'x6' area down by the creek). We kept getting stuck and having to push the golf cart out. I don't suppose it really is the healthest activity for the cart to be engaged in, but it's kind of too late now. After the last time we got stuck--we only got out because I found some sticks to put under the wheels--we went back to the house. We knocked on Savannah's window and told her to get the camera. The result was hiliarious!

Now, as to what adventures today holds...other than K. and M. second wedding ceremony (so everyone can be there)...I have NO IDEA. I imagine I'll get into some kind of scrape before then...

See you! (And check out the Photos page...I'll be putting pictures up. And yes, I know I still haven't gotten July 4 up yet...I will sometime.)

As you all know (I think), I do not normally enjoy shopping...so when I tell you I had fun going on a shopping spree yesterday, I hope you believe me ;)

Savannah and I took off for a 'girls day' yesterday morning. We went to P.C. and started our shopping spree at Goodwill. We got a stack of books: another complete set of the Lord of the Ring Trilogy (no Hobbit *shrugs*); another complete set of 'My Book House' books (children's books with lots of great stories); a Civil War reenactor's encyclopedia (that's pretty cool!); New England and the Sea (three authors); Last Flag Down (about a Confederate ship); After D-Day (self-explanatory title); John Adams by David McCullough; a kid biography on Charles Spurgeon; The Pirates Laffite by William C. Davis (who wrote the book about Jefferson Davis I read last year); and an encyclopedia of Film Directors. I thought that might be interesting for me as a new director.

We ate lunch at the Greek Resturant we like there (the Garmin dude said 'resturant' really weird). Like usual I had grouper. I know there had to be sugar in the cole slaw, but I ate it anyway!

The health food store was next. I got some dates :) Mmmm...Savannah got figs and apricots, along with supliments. Also a Kumbotcha (did I spell that right?) gingerade. I like the gauva better...

Then we bounced over to Target...Aunt Laurie had sent us a gift card. I think we used it all up--minus 4 buck or so. I got a shirt (my shade of pink) and Savannah got a dress and some pads for her shoes. Plus I got another SD card for my camera and we bought a pack of pens (I love Uni-balls and haven't had any for quite a while). Last, but not least, I grabbed a copy of Courageous. There were only two copies left... I look forward to watching it.

One more stop--Books A Million. We got three books there. Two of them War Between the States history (original documents reprinted!) and the other about a particular Army unit during WWI.

Then we came home and joined everyone at the table for Joel's birthday dinner. He ate quite a pile of mac and cheese :)

So, yes. I had fun. However, even then, I don't think I really want a repeat performance anytime too soon. Thankfully, I didn't get starved :)

These visitors will be here for a while, how long exactly I don't know. Anyway, Aunt T. and her two youngest, Philip and Joel, are here. Philip is blond and skinny at sixteen. Joel is a tad pudgy, but he moves surprisingly quick despite that; he has dark brown hair with some serious curls. He's cute with that mop of curls all over his head :) He's almost 14. Those guys like to sleep. Last night I warned them that I would be barging in this morning to get my clothes (they are bunking in my bedroom and I moved in with Savannah). One of them asked me what time that would be. I responded that it'd be sometime been 8 and 9. "That's too early!" To which I retorted, "As long as you've got clothes on, I'm good with it." I kept my word too. It was about 8 this morning when I opened the door and walked in. I wasn't particularly quiet either. (Not that I was purposely making more noise that normal.)

Shortly after breakfast, the boys, Aunt T and I went out and trimmed the trees in the driveway.

We also got started on the fence by the road. Most of it is pretty good, it is just leaning badly. Being the only one with jeans, I ended up ditch walking. At one point, I was down in the ditch and I needed to get up on the level with a post I was supposed to tamp down. I poked a hand up and said, "Hey, Joel!" He got the point and gave me a hand up...it was pretty steep right there. I'm just glad I didn't flip back into the ditch at any point. That would have been a humorous sight I'm sure...but it would have hurt. Particularly in the briars :)

To close, I'd like to give you a quote from a book I am reading off Project Gutenberg:

"This [idea] was eagerly seized, for the appetites of sailors are always sharp, except immediately after meals." ~~The Red Eric by R.M. Ballantyne 

It just tickled me--that could describe yours truely most days :)

See you later!

Yesterday, I started out working on the horse lot. I got three posts in the ground--two for the H-frame and the dead-man. I was ready to put the cross-bar on when I realized I had no nails. I looked in the barn, truck, garage, and house. None. (At least the size I needed.) So, I plowed off to Do It Best. I found the nails I needed and picked up a couple of pakages of zip-ties--for use as stays :)

I came home just in time--the two W. brothers, Ricky and Tommy, who helped us work cows today, were just fixing to head of into the pasture and to the pens, with the others. Anyway, we got everything figured out. Then was lunch.

As Ricky had said that we would need more worm-medicine (which turns out we didn't--Daddy was right, there was plenty), I headed to Smith's. While Skyping with Daddy after lunch, I must have mentioned that there were some work in the pens that needed to be done. So, I also got some boards at Smiths. That was--to say the least--interesting. First off, I drove back to where I figured the wood would have been. Well, nobody came out and I wasn't sure, so I started to drive up to the front of the building--I was going to talk to the 'old man' (disrespectful I know, but somehow I doubt he would really mind), since he knows who I am and I know who he is--sort of. Anyway, a tall, skinny, long-haired, drummer-player looking dude is standing there. I slowed down and then backed up a bit. A big "hint-hint". He took it and asked if I was the person for the boards. "Yes." About this time, I saw in the rearview mirror, the Redneck fellow I mentioned in a pervious post coming out of the back of the building with a "what does she think she's doing" look on his face. (Hey, this was my first time getting boards!) Anyway, with the directions straightened out, I drove on back and got loaded.

That was fun :) Redneck (I have to give them nicknames--it helps in the story-telling) put the first 16 foot pine board in the back (16' is the only length for pine). He made some mention about tying them down and I crawled into the back of the truck, "I have a chain here." I started pulling it out from under the fence posts, while stradling the board. All of a sudden, I realized that Redneck had reached out and grabbed the board. I'm glad he did, or I would have gotten a rude shock! Anyway, I looked over my shoulder at him and we both grinned and laughed. I said something to the effect of "Thanks--that would have been uncomfortable!"

As he headed off to get the second board, I sat on the edge of the truck and put my foot on the one already in there. The old man came up and within minutes, he and Redneck had my five boards loaded. I wrapped the chain around them (the boards, of course!) and the Ol'man said something about getting some rope to tie them in better. Very well, I was to drive to the front of the barn for that process. Redneck sat in the back of the truck and held the boards down and helped with directions as I backed up two or three times to maneurver in a tight spot. Up at the front of the barn, Redneck and Ol'man proficently got me ready to head out. Drummer-dude showed up and got some pine sap on his hand--and made a semi-big deal out of it. Both of the other men baiscally said, "It's just pine sap--no biggie." I wonder if Drummer-dude felt the "what a whimp" coming off me.

Anyway, I got home without knocking into anything or anybody with the (at least) six feet of board sticking out of the bed--at an angle. I'll have to let the old man know I had no problems next time I go to Smith's :)

I promptly put some of those boards to work, fixing a section of the chute in the pens. Last time we worked cows, Daddy just about got hit in the head with that broken board. 

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This morning, ten minutes before my alarm was set to go off (6:oo), Savannah opened my door and told me it was time to get up--Granddaddy was trying to rouse us :) (Maybe that was why I was mostly awake anyway.) Anyhow, after dressing and having breakfast and coffee, we started out to push the cows into the pens. (By the way, the cows put themselves in the trap last night! There was no need for the bag of pellets...) Just then Ricky and Tommy showed up. Ricky has a real nice diesel Dodge Ram pickup :) So three pick-up trucks holding a total of five people, headed to the pasture. The cows worked real nice today.

Once we had the cows in the pens, I strolled around doing a few last minute things while the fellas (and one gal) drove around the way we always do. Here's the work order: Granddaddy was on the squeeze-chute tailgate (through which we let the cows out), Tommy was medicating the cows, Ricky was working the hopper gate (from up on the fence--he does it different--but it is actually safer), Savannah ran the beef gate, and I did any extra leg work (i.e. pushing cows from one holding pen to the next, encouraging them up the chute, climbing up the fence on the other end of the hopper to encourage the cows to exit). We started by parting the calves from the cows. As we pushed the cows up the chute, Tommy sprayed them with the worm poison. Once all the cows were finished (we forgot to count them!), Granddaddy came up to the hopper and basically ran that gate and made the call on which calves went to market. Ricky and I did the parting. At one point, I was standing there and one of the white calves was standing on my spur! I couldn't move and he wouldn't :) I guess it is good 'hopper experience' to work with the calves like that--a good starting place. They won't hurt you as bad as a grown cow will.

After that Savannah and I went with Ricky to Al C.'s place to pick up his trailer (I guess Ricky always uses Al's trailer). I was in the front so I got gate-duty. Fine with me :) Then we came back and loaded the calves and took them to market! I rode with Ricky and Tommy, while Savannah drove Granddaddy. Granddaddy was seller 19. The auction starts at noon and it was about 9:30 or 10:00 when we got there. Somebody said something about not many people would be bringing calves in today because of some beef convention going on. So, hopefully the prices will be real good. Oh, by the way, the load was 16 calves. There was another one that for some reason Granddaddy said to keep--it was a bull and big enough to send. But like Ricky said, it was good for Granddaddy to be out there and making those decisions. I certainly agree--even though I disregarded the order to leave a particular gate open...I had previous orders from Daddy. I'm going to rotate cows this summer and now is as good a time as ever to get started!

Savannah and I played some music...Granddaddy slept through (at least most of it). He is tired; it was big day for him.

I love working cows!

Friday was J.P. and Debora's wedding; which we attended. The story of the day is as follows...

We arrived at the S.'s house and ate lunch. Shortly thereafter we piled into the car to head to Clearwater. We met up with a young fellow named Charlie for coffee at Starbucks. I say this at the risk of sounding totally not hip--this was the very first time I have put foot inside a Starbucks. The coffee was good. We must have sat there for two hours while the conversation rolled freely.

At the end of that time we had to leave to make it to the 6:00 wedding on time. Turns out the 6:00 wedding was actually scheduled for 6:30; but it didn't get underway til closer to 7:30!! As Tope told us later--for Haitians it is culturally acceptable thing to be anywhere from 1-2 hour late. (So...if you want an event to come off at 6, you should tell them 4!)

J.P. and Debora had a beach wedding--neither one had ever attended a beach wedding before so they wanted something different. It was a beautiful event even with the rain. At least it didn't pour down rain, but rather just sprinkled. Debora was just georgeous and J.P. looked debonair. Andre became an unoffical part of the wedding party because he held the umbrella for Dr. T. It was kind of funny:)

The ceremony was held on the beach (of course!) in a heart drawn in the sand and lined with flowers and shells. I will post pictures once I take my stick to Savannah's laptop. (Besides, I think I had better use the big computer...it would literally take me ALL DAY to post them on this one.) I helped Mr. S. get the video camera set up early on. He had to stand there holding an umbrella over it most of the time...

I am having a difficult time putting into words the dee-lightful time we had pre- and during the ceremony. The entire day was great. It is always a ball to hang out with the S.'s no matter what the occasion.

Random things about the ceremony: J.P and Debora hired a duo to play music for the wedding. I think they were a father and son...the elder playing the cello and the younger the classical guitar. (Which I believe was a Cordoba like mine! Only this one had an amp jack.) They played beautiful music like Bach's "Minuet in G" and Pachabel's "Canon in D" (my Favorite!) During the exchange of vows (or part of them at any rate), J.P. held this big multi-colored umbrella over them--it was sweet.

What was so awesome was the entire lack of racial tension--black people and white people rubbing elbows, laughing with each other (even when the latter's umbrella is unkindly--though unhelpably--dripping on the former), and rejoicing with one another.

The reception got started around 9 or so and ended shortly after 11 p.m. I blew my diet--I ate some rice. I really needed to eat, so I did. I think Savannah and I probably should do the GAPS introducry phase this week. It wouldn't hurt. The dancing afterwards was stuff that we didn't know, so we sat out--expect for the first song. I had done this dance at my cousin Beth's wedding several years ago. You should have seen J.P. bouncing around out there! It was hilarious!

It was about 12:30 by the time we got back to the S.'s house and closer to 1 (if not after) by the time everyone got to bed.

Saturday was a slow day...Mrs. S. made a delightful breakfast for us and I will be honest, I cleaned up the leftovers. However, I also washed the dishes (all three meals we ate with them). Mr. S. jokingly said that Mrs. S. wouldn't want me to go home since I took care of the dishes :) I don't think they would really--I eat a lot!!

Later, Dave and Lucy came over so Dave could get a hair cut. Dave also put something on the S.'s computers while Mrs. S., Savannah, and Lucy went to the store for lunch material. We (minus Dave and Lucy) had lunch not long after they got back. It was about 2 by the time Savannah and I finally turned our tired noses back home.

After we got home I curled up in front of the computer to watch "As You Like It", my favorite Shakespeare play. I'll write a review on it here in a bit.

Anyway, the weekend was tiring, but throughly enjoyable. It is probably actually a good thing that we decided not to try to mooch a ride to General Assembly. We really wanted to go, but decided it wouldn't be best.

P.S. Grrr...irritation has jumped me...
We just found out that my uncle has been over here this afternoon...and he must have taken the cat food!! It has simply disappeared. WHY would he take the cat's food??

I can now say that I have attended a graduation ceremony. My cousin Ashley graduated from High School yesterday. It was interesting simply for the fact that it was something new. A couple of students gave speeches. My least favorite was given by a young man who had been homeschooled up to the 8th grade. The boy has been throughly converted to a liberal. Literally, within his speech he listed off Leftist-cliches! I think my favorite speaker was the one I couldn't hear or understand very well. A black kid who stated that some of the things he learned from his mother (these are funny); such as: Circle of Life--'I brought you into this world, and I can take you out!'; Foresight--'Always wear clean underwear; you never know when you'll be in an accident.' There were several others...but I can't remember them.

Probably the best part was the ROTC color guard (yup...the uniforms) and the singing of The Star Spangled Banner. Ashley was part of the group that sang. I would have perferred if they hadn't did some strange 'wiggling' with the high notes. I just don't like it when people mess with songs--particular that one.  

Savannah likened the crowd going in to the building to that in an airport. On the way out it was just a solid crush. Complete strangers pressed into one another. Once we got back to the car I decided to check my back pocket and make sure my wallet was still there. It was, thankfully. I never did spot Aunt C. or Uncle L. I sort of shouted at Ashley on the way out. She saw us and waved and said something like, "I'll have to see you later!", since she was being carried along with the flow. She is so skinny; she doesn't weigh enough to stand her ground in a press. We didn't spot her again, so we went ahead and left.

Okay...I've got to scram.

Well, my friends, yesterday was a big, unusual day. A fun one for sure.

First off, before lunch, Savannah and I went over to our place and opened up the honey house to let it air out/dry up some after Fridays rain. Savannah had tried calling our cousin Ashley before we left Granddaddy's. Straight to voicemail. Anyway, we just zipped on over to their place (right next door). Aunt C. was home by herself, packing things for a move. Ashley was at school doing exams (she graduates high school on Friday) and Uncle L. was going to pick her up on the way to a doctors appointment. We told Aunt C. that we wanted to take Ashley out to lunch. It was fine with her, so she called Ashley and had no more success than Savannah did. So she called Uncle L. Anyway, we ended up going to the doctor's office to pick Ashley up and headed out for lunch. We went to a 'tea room' called Mary Margeret's. Savannah and I had salad with some very nice baked salmon (at least I think it was) on top. Mmm. We had a ball. After lunch we took Ashley home and must have sat around talking for at least an hour, an hour and a half. It is really kind of funny. I didn't use to like Ashley...she was rather a mean little girl...but she has really developed into a sweet and funny person. (I have actually told her this to her face, by the way.) Anyway, I always love 'hanging out' with her. She's just a hoot!

Once that adventure was over, we went back to our place, closed up the honey house, grabbed some books, and popped back over here to Granddadddy's.

Adventure Two: The Interview (of Myself)

First, I changed my shirt and did my make up. Well, most of it. Savannah told me I hadn't done my eyeshadow right (that always seems to happen anytime someone actually looks at my eye jobs) so she fixed me up. Those make up brushes tickle a little.

Then I compiled my gear: one camera, one battery, one tripod, one stinger (didn't get used), one lavalier mic, an xlr cable  and one umbrella (just in case it rained). Also, a resin chair for me to sit in :) We headed off to the creek. Once down there, I put the camera on the tripod. We had forgotten something (I forget what--but it was something we needed) so Savannah went back to the house and got whatever it was. Well, we got everything hooked up and realized we had a problem--a big one. Let me explain--Daddy has an electical outlet rigged on the truck battery to run the sprayer motor. Well--it's a 12 volt. The mic has to run off 120 volt. So, we packed things back up and roared up to the barn were there is a plug. While the background isn't what we were planning on (*shrug*)  it worked fine. It was kind of funny because the water pump kept running...I glared at it a time or two. There is plenty of goofs, but overall, I think I did alright. Just about the time we were half done, I got comfortable. We decided to attempt a take two--shouldn't have tried...it was terrible :) I probably was getting hungry even though my stomach wasn't talking yet--my brain was though. You know, one of those "uh duh" moments.

I had to go feed Snip. He was happy to see me (of course--it was really the feed he was happiest to see).

...know how to make old cowboys forget to watch their language sometimes. First off, the thing won't start. Second off, we attempted to start it after pouring gas in the carburetor (I did that--sloppily). Third, we start the take down--that took a while to get started because the correct sized wrench was eluding us. I finally found it and took the 6-8 screws out of the cover. Next we took the grate off the...well, I don't know what it is, but it's the thing that spins around (flywheel, maybe?) We were attempting to get the above mentioned circular object off and well, we couldn't. After pouring some oil over the bolt, we let it set. I think we'll return to it later (or someone will--I think I'll return to soda apple distruction this afternoon if the clear skys hold...I took the day off yesterday since it was rainy and cloudy all day).

Anyway...all that to say that today was one of those days when I had a brief wish that I was the Fourth...'cause then I'd be a boy and I'd probably know this stuff WAY better than I do and plus I'd more than likely be stronger than I am...and also Granddaddy might feel more inclined to let me take work out of his hands. He has this problem watching other people work, and I think it's worse with girls. Some of that left over Southern male chiveralry, perhaps?? (Or perhaps not...)

Anyhow, I got both hands happily filthy and was glad I had changed into my pants before I headed to the barn...I probably would have gotten my skirt nice and dirty.  I'll let you in on the mower outcome...eventually :)

Later: The mower is sitting in the back of the pick-up...as soon as I finish my coffee, Granddaddy and I are going to take it to town.

I'm using the same title as I did over on my Director's Blog here...it works.

Basically, I have been sittin with my nose to my laptop, reading my narration (draft 3 still) and adding above each paragraph visual cues. Such as: {image of Capt. Hendry on horse--don't leave it static}. This captions the paragraph where you first are introduced to Hendry and the esteem that Col. Munnerlyn held him in. I can use that one picture for the entire paragraph so long as I don't leave it static!

Beside that, the director has also been making a list of b-roll shot's she would like to get (some of them a little less important than others--of course) and she has been compiling a list of possible foley effects. (I think I'm going to have fun with that one!) Along side all this, she (hmm, sounds like I've been reading Capt. Boggess' autobiography. He seldom refers to himself as 'I'; it's generally 'Capt.Boggess' or 'he/him' :) ) has been scribling down stuff like "15 or 50 thousand head?" and "Where was said Navy Officer from?" Now, those cryptic remarks may not mean much to you, but to me they speak volumes! (Well, not really volumes, but I know to what I refer :) )

I have now learned how to hold a urinal properly. Never thought it would come to this, but hey, when dealing with old men, you just have to get over it. No squeemishness allowed! As long as it don't bother him, it don't bother me. 

Grandpa has been really sleepy. He has also been eating alright. Not extravegantly, but eating sufficently. I don't think he's had a bowel movement (at least, not a real one) since he's been home, but then again, he hasn't eaten that much. The worst thing is that he lost a great deal of his eyesight in the hosptial--not enough nutrients.

Of course, Grandma has been in the house and the two of them go at it like usual. Blah, it can get bothersome. I still quite don't understand why, when they have been married for 68 years, that she hasn't figured out that when he's sleepy don't argue with him because he gets nasty (so do I for that matter) and says hurtful things he (most of the time) doesn't really mean.
 
There ought to be a new book review real soon...

Daddy brought Grandpa home; they arrived just after lunch as I was doing my final wipedown of the kitchen cabinets. Grandpa wanted to sit outside for a while, but now I think that he is just in the garage with the door down trying to take a nap :) (It rather looks/feels like it is going to rain and I hope it does.)

While Mum and the sisters went to get veggies from the vegetable stand around the curve, Daddy and I moved my bed out to the front room (actually, I really don't know what to call that room--it's almost more of an entry way than anything.) Daddy went to the barn and cut some serious slats for the bedstead. The old ones were kind of weak. The dust under my bed was horrendous and I really ought to be ashamed of myself for letting it get that bad. (I'll admit that dusting and really deep cleaning are two things I do not get around to often enough.)

Daddy brought the cot in along with a couple of memory foams that the girls usually use in the RV and we got that set up in my room. So, now both Grandpa and I are set for the night!

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A few minutes later...now Grandpa is sitting in the living room in his wheelchair with his feet propped up in Mama's recliner. He is extremely sleepy and I hope he drops off here in a minute.

Shortly after they got home (by that I mean--after I drank my coffee) I stretched his legs some and made him do a few exercises. Then I did a brief shoulder session. He's a little sore as he hasn't done anything in over a week.

I do not know if Daddy still intends to attempt heading north on Monday or not. Since I don't know, I'm not packing. If it ends up that he wants to go, all I really have to do is get a couple sets of clothes (I have clothing up there), shoes, my hairbrush and hair clips (actually more important than my brush; I could get by without brushing my hair, but I have to keep my hair out of my face!), shampoo, toothbrush and toothpaste, soap... Savannah and Mom would probably make sure we had food so I wouldn't have to take care of that; except after we were on the road. Then I would try to take on that duty (I say 'try' because Grandma can be rather possessive about stuff like that.)

Maybe I'd better go see if Mama has anything I can do...