Thursday, April 24, 2014

Cooking Dress

Children are just such little learning machines. I love the way they work at figuring things out - the younger ones, say, about age 2 to 4, especially, when they have some vocabulary, but are working out the nuances. They can sure come up with some charming ideas.

For example, Granddaughter Mira (she'll be four this summer), watching her mother get dressed, asked what 'that' was.
"It's a bra."
"You have a bra on your back," Mira observed, having learned a new word.
"Yes, and on my front, too," her mother answered, turning around as for show and tell.
Mira looked her mother over, and said, "You're a mermaid!"

Grammy's Cooking Dress
Jenny, who will also be four later this year, noticed my apparel the last time she was here and asked me if that was a "cooking dress." Of course I knew immediately that she was asking about the apron I was wearing - so, new policy at my house: Aprons will henceforth be known as "Cooking Dresses." Here's one now:

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Order of the Day

 
For the first time in months I've let the chickens out. (They've been in protective custody due to predation.) 

They knew just what to do as soon as I opened those doors, and they seem quite happy to be out. 


Unfortunately, Annie The Dog (aka "A. T.") has to stay in when the chickens are out because she plays too rough, so she's not quite as happy. We endured a little power struggle for a few minutes, but she is now sleeping at my feet.

There's some issue with the riding mower. I'm working on getting someone over to look at it, but in the meantime, I fire up the walk-behind mower and do 30 minutes to an hour at a time. I could do that about every other day or so and it'll be just like painting the Golden Gate Bridge - it's so big that by the time you get done, it's time to start over. 

I imagined someone giving me some flak about mowing a little bit every day, like why don't I just get it all done at once, as if I lived in the city on a normal sized lot. Here's why: my perimeter fence encloses about two acres, and there's yet again three more acres of field and bar-ditch to mow; all five acres takes a full day to complete on the riding mower. Full day, hat, eye and hearing protection, breathing filter, long pants, long sleeves and boots, or at least closed-toed shoes. You never know what that riding mower might kick up. Anyway, I figured I'd mow 30 minutes to an hour on the days I don't go to the gym - quite suitable for cardio.