Saturday Slight

My long-time friends and former teaching colleagues, Ann and Rick Gehring

They paid a visit to the Lovestead yesterday. 

Warning:  In the following post you will see a word that often provoked my dad Harold to say, "I wouldn't have in my hand what you just had in your mouth."

Haven't used that saying in a long time, and it gives me both a chuckle and a good memory of Harold and his simple wisdom-filled sayings about life.  

Whenever he uttered them, we usually got the point, and to this day, I don't think a one of us has "stuck a bean up our nose" because we always knew that it was important in Harold's mind to "keep your nose clean." 

Well, anyway, I'm gonna use that word that Harold would not have in his hand. 

The folks in the above photo came to my house yesterday, and when they did,  I gave them a pile of shit. 

It's taken about four months for me to finally give them that pile of shit, but we got 'er done yesterday. 

Ann called the day before yesterday and, during our phone conversation, wondered if we still had that dirt I'd offered her four months ago.

Yes, I said, telling her they'd better come and get it before it rains.  

Ann thought all the while that it was just plain ol' dirt, but when I told her it was a well-aged combination of shavings and horse apples, she got really excited.

So, they brought their pickup yesterday, and I, like all good farmers who dispense "shit" for people's gardens, used the Kubota tractor and its loader to fill up their pickup bed.

After four dumps into the bed without incident, I figured I'd better stop, lest I make a mess or have my good luck of not crashing into their pickup with the loader come to an end.

After my announcement that load Number 4 would be it, I observed Rick leaning toward Ann and commenting. 

Well, we're old friends,  and even though I couldn't hear a word Rick said, I knew immediately that I'd better offer to put one more dump into their pickup.

You see Rick, the math wizard, can look at a pickup bed, calculate how much space has been taken and how much is left and know right off that more "shit" could go into that bed.

Within seconds of noting his reaction to "just four deposits," I hollered, "Well, maybe I could get one more dump in there."

Sure enough, Marianne, the people observer, read Rick, the math wizard, just right. 

Thumbs up, he enthusiastically motioned.  And, sure enough, I could dump more black gold into that pickup bed with ease. 

That's what's great about old friends.  We know each other so well that our expressions or physical reactions often communicate better than our words.

Rick had never been to the Lovestead, so we took a tour, and I took some photos.  It was a great visit.  Ann and I are still planning our forever goal of sipping a glass of wine and visiting on our deck.

Before leaving, they handed me over a bottle of red wine, and I promised it would not be opened until they return for the deck visit.  

In other news, my brother Mike is probably a happy cruise camper today.  After ten days on their cruise of the Greek Isles, his suitcase has finally caught up with him.   

He did have to purchase a second pair of slacks a couple of days ago, and he bought several essentials within the first few days.

Mike says the missing suitcase has definitely been an issue of concern but has not dampened the wonderful time they're having on their adventure. 

Now, though, I'm thinking he's gonna have to purchase another suitcase to bring home all those extras.

My sisters and Swiss Miss and maybe another friend and I are planning an adventure today at Farragut State Park. 

It's one of the few safe places to go for an extended horseback ride----with all kinds of hunting seasons opening around the area. 

We figure we'd better get it done before the weather turns bad.  Our main concern for today's ride is the camel.

Last time we rode at Farragut, we returned to our horse trailers to see another trailer a short distance away WITH A CAMEL TIED TO THE SIDE. 

Swiss Miss is having a hard time believing our story about camel spottings in Farragut, but it's true.  

With bad luck, she'll see the proof; with good luck, the camel will stay home. 

Well, that's enough of my B.S. aka "wouldn't have in my hand what you just had in your mouth" for this morning.  

Have a good Saturday, and don't take any wooden nickels!