Charlyn’s Web

After last Christmas, I decided to go the “minimal” route and leave most of my knick-knacks packed away. Even a beautiful object doesn’t look good under a coat of dust. Also, even though I try, there are the odd balls, stuffed toy, sock or airplane being thrown around which can wreck an artfully laid out display in seconds. Then, there are the little hands that just have to move things around and re-organize the display. It wasn’t worth playing havoc with my control issues to have it all out.

This Autumn as the leaves started to turn, I thought it would be nice to put out a few “fallish” items to celebrate the season. But everywhere I turned I found the spot already “decorated”

On top of the piano.

On the antique buffet.

Here’s a detail of the tractor- the other tractor gets hooked up to the “implement” every other day. You know, for variety.

On the printer.

On the shelf.

The shelf and printer are unique because they not only have tractors but also have airplanes. The airplanes were there first and then it was decided that it was the season for tractors. A close up of the planes.

They are everywhere. I don’t know where this decorator came from or who gave him permission to decorate my house but come Christmas time I’m staging a coup! I will take back what is mine! There will be no lights on tractors! No shining balls on airplanes! I am woman and I am strong!

Who is with me?!

There are times when raising children that one feels that the child will grow up to be the most selfish, inconsiderate, obnoxious person out there. It’s a challenge to tear the child away from selfish desires and teach them to think of others. It’s not a natural thing. I am dismayed to see my child go over to another and whack him for no apparent reason- or, I should say, no apparent reason that I can see. Then one refuses to let another have a toy even though she isn’t playing with it at that time. These things can trouble a mother’s heart.

When we were visiting The Grandparent’s this summer the kids partook of many treats. The freezer at Grandma’s is full of really good stuff- ice cream treats and Popsicles. She also bakes very well. After lunch the kids got to have Popsicles. I dolled them out, trying to avoid the arguments about what color every one wanted, and gave The Boy broken ones two days in a row. On the third day, I pulled out one that was broken but knowing that he had endured two flawed ones already, I handed it to his Baby Sister and gave him the whole one. Baby Sister stared at the broken pop in her hand and started the high pitched whine.

“I don’t want it! It’s broken!”

It’ll still taste the same.

“But it’s broken!” wailing in a higher pitch.

Your Brother has had two broken ones, he gets a whole one this time. You can still eat it.

Squirms in her seat and starts to cry. I am contemplating what action to take when I look at The Boy.

“She can have mine.”

Baby Sis calms down and makes the trade. After prodding she says “thank you”.

He smiles.

One definitely needs more work but the other shines a glimmer of hope into his Mother’s heart.

One of my many cousins came over for a visit when we were at my parent’s back in July. Looking back, I see I promised stories and photos about the trip. And then didn’t post any photos! I took a ton so we may have to go retro here and revisit July.

Back to my cousin. This Cousin, a dear friend to me, has an artistic eye. I have often admired her sense of style and her ability to “see” things. I take tons of photos with the belief that sooner or later I will take a good one. Later as I go through what I’ve taken I’ll think- oh! that turned out nice! or the more often that didn’t work! Cousin pointed out to me one of my Dad’s planters on the patio and commented that it would make a neat picture. I didn’t imediately run and get my camera but I did remember what she said and later I went back and took a few. The Girls had “watered” the plants- took cups full of water to them earlier so there is a bit of a darker area from the water that I wish wasn’t there but it still is a neat perspective.

I also like this one even though it’s a bit crocked. (oops, I see they are both a bit crocked- what does that tell you about my ability to “see” a picture?) I think they might be better if cropped down so just the wood of the planter shows and not the rock patio.

Thanks Cousin for a neat perspective!

Directly across the lane from us is a five acre plot that no one lives on. The people that own it make improvements off and on and we carefully watch the goings on- you know, to keep an eye on the place for them (cough). Some people were over there working late last week so, being the thoughtful neighbors that we are, the kids and I walked over to check things out. There were large holes in the ground for the poles that would support their new garage/shop (at least, that’s what the building permit called it- just trying to be accurate here. You want us for neighbors, don’t you? We let our weeds go and we snoop.) We checked out what was in the holes and found a bunch of garbage.

There are cigarette butts, ear plugs and gloves down there. Eww.

Then the Girls said “There’s a bird in this one!”

Really?

Sure ‘nuf.

I have no idea how it got down in there but it couldn’t get out because the hole wasn’t big enough.

Here’s a closer look- it’s a Killdeer.

So being a innovative person, I stuck a stick down in there hoping that the bird would be able to use it to climb out. Maybe that should be “not to smart” person because it was a wild bird, not a trained parrot and so it did not use the stick in such a resourceful way. The bird and stick were still there when we checked on them after we got the mail.

I talked about the situation with my much more resourceful and innovative husband and he thought that using a rake to try and lift the bird out might work.

Unfortunately, I am not a good judge of size.

The rake would fit but didn’t have a lot of room to maneuver. I knocked some dirt down on the poor bird a few times. I could get the bird on the rake…

but it would hop right off. So we gave up and decided we’d have to wait for the true hero to arrive home from work. (photo credit: The Boy)

I had plans in town so I took off right after The Col. got home but the kids dragged him down to check out the bird. The bird continued to be unhelpful and wouldn’t stay on the smaller rake that The Col. used. The next idea was to lower a child head first, because there was no room to bend down if they went in feet first, into the hole, grab the bird and be pulled out by their strong father. They all chickened out. Pixie was held upside down but wouldn’t let go of his legs. So the bird was left there again.

All the long, cold night.

I prayed that it would somehow find it’s way out of the hole when I got home and found out it was still down there. I was half afraid that in the morning instead of finding a bird we’d find a coyote in the hole. Him, I was not going to rescue.

The Col. got up, and while it was still cold, he and The Boy trudged on out there again. I sent the camera with The Boy to capture photos of the great rescue. He took things like this-

and totally missed the Event. There was no coyote in the hole just the poor cold, hungry bird who finally gave up and stopped hopping off the rake and allowed himself to be brought up.

Rescue complete.

We went to a wedding today. It was lovely to see two young people, in love, making a commitment to each other before God. It was a joy to see their families and friends support them as they start their journey together. I thought I’d share some of the 322 pictures I took.

Two guests arriving at the Church.

In the receiving line the Bride complimented me on my dress. I told her that was what *I* was supposed to say! She did have a lovely dress.

I asked before the wedding if I could bring my camera and they said “yes!” I warned them that I took pictures of odd things.

The bouquet.

The Bride.

We are friends of the Bride’s family. In fact, the Father of the Bride has made an appearance here before. The receiving line was long- I think the Mother of the Bride had the right idea.

The Bride again, getting pelted with wheat.

The Groom helped his lovely Bride into the car- which, surprisingly, wasn’t too decorated up- and got in himself. Then the horn started honking. I thought that was rather odd. Until I realized that every time he pushed on the brakes the horn would honk. We laughed as they drove down the street and honked to a stop at the intersection. We had a grand time listening to them drive off into the sunset.

Now, do you think I should go into the wedding photography business, or keep my day job?

I was asked a question in the comments on this post and I thought I’d answer it in a blog post since it was going to be a fairly long, drawn out affair. I am good at making short stories long.

The question was:

“I’m curious… when Pixie refuses to wear the clothes she has vowed to wear, do you return them knowing that she will never cave in, or do you hang them in the closet to be “stashed” until you pass them on to someone else? I have often wondered the fate of Pixie’s rejects.”

I don’t take them back usually because it’s been too long before I realize that she has “issues” with it, or I’ve washed it first, or it was bought at a store far, far away in a another galaxy. In the case of the jeans, I had washed them in an attempt to set color and keep them from fading as quickly. I bought two skort outfits at the beginning of the summer that she swore she would wear- she’s worn one once or twice and the other not at all. I hope her sister likes them- which is usually my back up plan. There is also the chance, which does happen- see below story about the jeans, that she will change her mind.

Pixie just gets strange ideas in her head about things. She doesn’t want to wear some shirts because they are too long and cover up the waist band of her pants/skirt. I don’t want her having short shirts and flashing her belly ring to the world. (Just seeing if you are awake.) She finally wore her new jeans on Saturday, which is a long, drawn out story in itself but I am sure you are tired of hearing all the angst, she wanted them rolled up even though they are a great length. I don’t know what it is with her and short things- preparing for the flood that is bound to come, I guess. I refused and she some how managed to get through the day and now declares that she likes her jeans and has worn them everyday since. Heavy, heavy sigh.

Anyway, what should I do with the things she will not wear? One suggestion was to make her buy the clothes with her own money and return on her own what she doesn’t want. She is only 5- would that be a good idea? She tends to be very visual and I know we will have to work with her about “wanting” everything and blowing her money on all things pink. So would putting her on a clothing budget at this age be a good idea? Also, I often go alone to the great Mart here in town and pick things out of season from the sales rack at great discounts- she’d have to be with me on those occasions to help pick and pay for those items. Although, one could argue that even if bought very cheap, if she will not wear it then it’s of no value. There is a beautiful pink polka dot dress hanging in the closet that is just such an example.

What other suggestions do you have? Give her two choices daily of what she can wear instead of letting her pick? I’m open to suggestions.

I am getting tired of the whining and upset about what she is going to wear. I’m also getting sick of seeing her in her favorite outfit.

Even if she is pretty cute.

Whoosh! Where does the time go?

(Warning: This photo has nothing, absolutely nothing, to do with the subject matter of this post. To view larger, click- at your own risk- on image.)

• My children get very excited when they get new underwear. They need to get out more, the children- not their underwear.
• Boxers are, apparently, a sign of manhood.
• We bought Pixie new jeans, even though I swore I was not going to buy her any new clothes. She was all ready for a flood so I caved. She tried them on, liked them, said she’d wear them, yada, yada, yada.
• She is refusing to wear them.
• Pixie comes alive while shopping and trying on clothes…. as long as they are for her.
• I canned 27 pints of tomatoes. My first time canning tomatoes- all of them sealed.
• I canned 14 quarts of peaches Sunday afternoon between church services.
• The pears are ripening while they wait their turn in the canner.
• We went to a parade on Saturday but we got there too late to get a spot on the curb which means the kids didn’t get hardly any candy. (The rules of the parade are that the candy cannot be thrown so only the people right on the curb get any.) The kids were disappointed. I tried to tell them it was fun to just watch the parade and not get candy. Yeah, I know, they didn’t believe me either.
• Sunday we joined other churches in a service at the park. We were about the last to leave- even the clean up crew was gone. Hey, there were people to talk to- who are slower to leave than us.
• We went back to town for evening church because there was a special singer there. Very nice.
• This weekend just flew by!
• I think we are all caught up now.

We enjoy watching the hummingbirds that frequent our feeders.

It’s fun seeing them zip about.

They even share, once in awhile.

Alternate title: Embarrassing Oneself On the Internet….Again.

We have a weed problem. Due to various reasons, too numerous and varied to mention, the weeds got ahead of us this year. Well, they often do but this year it seems extra “bountiful”.

The Weeds are up and down the driveway, around and in the parking area and taking over the driveway to the shop. One method of weed control we are aggressively pursuing is the “Drive Over Those Puppies” application.

You see The Col. applying the technique here.

At first the kids were a little apprehensive about going down the driveway at such a slant but now think it’s quite fun. We’ve all come to appreciate the smell of weeds burning on the exhaust.

It even works, kind of. It’s sort of environmentally friendly- no chemicals being sprayed about. It’s an efficient use of time- The Col. is on his way to work here.
I think it’s a “win, win” situation.