I was standing at the counter at Co-Op Country Store, purchasing the newest supply of doggie biscuits and some nuts----the metal kind.
After searching and searching in every container in our two shops, I could not find a nut to fit the threads on the back of a large metal flower ornament Bill had given to me for my birthday last year.
The flower has four layers of petals, and the largest layer fits in the back. It's pretty neat to watch the parts twirl whenever a wind comes up; however, it's never neat to go outside and see that the wind has blown over the entire ornament.
All this up and down stuff over the course of last summer and fall did a number on that metal flower, and sometime during the many snows of the winter, the whole contraption collapsed to the ground and lay there in pieces under the snow for the rest of the winter.
So, when I could actually walk inside the garden area last week, I cleaned off the layers of petals and put them back on the stand. Everything was great except for one missing nut on the back side.
I finally gave up and decided to purchase a nut or two from Co-Op.
Has anyone ever gone to the nut drawer at a country store and felt guilty buying just one nut?
I'll bet I'm not the only one. I bought four nuts yesterday. Turns out when I brought them home, they were the wrong size. Helps to measure as opposed to eyeballing.
Anyway, while I was making my purchase, Steve Wood, owner of Wood's Meats came to the counter, greeted me and asked, "Well, did you make it through the winter?"
I looked out the window at the millions of wet snowflakes falling outside and immediately engaged my English teacher perspective to Steve who once sat in my class years ago during my student teaching experience.
"Did you use past tense?" I asked, in a tone ranging between a bark and a growl, then turned again toward that snow falling outside.
Steve quickly agreed that maybe "past tense" on making it through the winter wasn't quite appropriate just yet.
It's been a hard and long winter, Steve acknowledged.
I thought about Steve and all the other farmers around the area whose patience is probably getting pretty thin as Mother Nature continues to inflict obstacles in just about any plan outdoor work.
And, so a day which started out brisk and dry and hopeful with a beautiful sunrise eventually turned ugly and wet.
Yesterday was an indoor/outdoor sort of day. Any stoppage of rain or snow signaled an opportunity to rush outside and try to get something done, even if that meant simply staring at Lily or kicking a ball through the pasture for Liam.
It turned out to be a two-bath day for Liam. I put him in the run during the morning hours. Liam loves to dig, so he dug and dug into gravel and down into the mud with such vigor that he was virtually unrecognizable when I went to let him out of the run. All white markings had turned muddy gray.
Liam is a beautiful dog but pretty much looks like a scrawny street dog when muddy and wet.
And, so another day of weather misery has passed. Another day of waiting for Lily has passed.
I'm in a rather foul mood in regard to Lily this morning because I had such hopes that she'd let go overnight and little baby could greet the world on one dry day.
Starting tonight, however, two more days of rain with flood warnings are coming So, at this point, I'm inclined to hope she waits out the wet stuff and just follows the trend that April, the giraffe has set.
This thought also brings to mind that I also saw my friend and former student Doug Stockdale yesterday Co-Op. In fact, he was also in one of my classes during that student teaching experience back in 1969.
Doug said in his experience that no matter what he's done to make the foaling experience right, sometimes they just go find a mud hole, lie down and give birth.
That was uplifting!
So, that's it from the wet Selle Valley on this morning that looks like a nice day coming, but we can never be too sure.
Happy Tuesday from the Lovestead where the fowl are very happy. All others? Not so much.
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