Who Done Stole the Bride?

Just got back from a very fun evening. Jen, KL, and JD were all part of the cast in a fund-raising dinner/play at Sierra Pines Church in Oakhurst. The proceeds will go to the youth groups to help pay for summer camp and mission activities. The play "Who Done Stole the Bride" was the story of a hillbilly family living in the Ozarks. Jen played Eulah, mother of four daughters and I think she had a couple of sons. KL was one of the triplets, and JD was a little brother. And they all had to perfect a hill-billy accent, y'all!

It's been nearly 25 years since we've watched Jen perform on stage. She loved participating in dramas in high school, and she hasn't lost her touch. She was hilarious, and played her role quite well (of course we're probably a bit biased on that subject).

KL seems to have the acting genes in her also, her stage presence was superb for a kid with no previous experience. And JD is another natural ham . . . I wonder where he gets it?

We are proud of all of them, they were so fun to watch as they performed their parts. They all stayed in character even during intermission. We sat behind some folks, so my pictures are not the best, but I think they'll give you an idea of the evening. Oh . . . it was a dinner show. We enjoyed Chili, salad, corn bread, and "Eulah's Peach Cobbler" for dessert.

JD tried out for a part but was too young to play it, since it was meant for an older teenager. So the director had a part written in especially for JD because she liked his natural acting ability.

It was fun to watch all the expressions Jen portrayed in playing her character. She's a natural comedian.

A lot of hand on hips, too!

Here she is talking to her daughter who is about to get married.

And here are the triplets, KL in the blue. These are the dresses we made last week.

I like this shot because Jen and KL are together . . .

More facial expressions . . .

So I guess no matter how old I'm getting and no matter how old my kids are getting . . . I'll always be blessed to be their mom and I'll always be forever proud of them.

Jen and PD treated us and Gary and Cecile to this evening of fun. Gary and Cecile will soon be house-sitting and animal-sitting for them for a few days.

Two our our three stars for the evening. JD was probably socializing with friends when this picture was taken. What a fun night. Thanks PD and Jen.

Life is good!

In the cool of the morning . . .

I was enjoying my cappucino in the cool of morning and noticed there are lots of things in my funky garden that make me smile!

One of my chrysanthemums is blooming beautifully. I had to move them onto the front steps because the nasty squirrels would come every single day, when the potted mums were sitting near the bird bath, and munch on the mums, one whole branch at a time. They'd chomp a branch off at the base and run away with it. I swear I could hear them cheering themselves on escaping with their treasure! So I move all three and the stupid squirrel hasn't discovered their new location which is a mere five feet away.

I guess this is the only one I'll get to enjoy until our return in the fall . . . but wait . . . do you see what I see . . . that bloom at the top of the picture toward the right . . . it appears to be a freak!

. . . actually it's kinda "purty"

Jen gave me this pretty plant for Mother's Day. I thought it was a Freesia, but now I'm thinking I'm wrong. I love it and it's getting prettier and prettier every day. The blooms keep coming. Somebody please tell me what it is . . . thanks to friend Farmgirl DK I can now tell you it's an Alstromeria!

And my pretty herbs are being taken on the road with us.

The bird baths need to be filled every morning. The birds seem to understand our schedule because they always come back in the fall.

Another watering hole for the birds.

We have four of these solar powered lights that light up our garden at night.

Garden bunny

Many birds have checked out this birdhouse, but it is constantly being rejected!

This birdhouse was painted by R when he was three years old . . . that would be six years ago!

My favorite place to sip my morning cappucino!

This sun shines every day!

Life is good!

Sew what?

Daughter Jen volunteered to get her mom (that would be me) to help her make three dresses needed for costumes for a play she is "starring" in next weekend at Sierra Pines Church. That's pretty funny, because she's the one, as a teenager learning to sew, who would get really ticked off if I made her take a seam apart should it need to be sewn correctly. She also remembered the story I told her of when I was a small child in fourth grade, I volunteered my dad to make match-stick furniture for a miniature log cabin. (My dad had no clue of constructing match-stick furniture, but together we managed to come up with two chairs and a table.)

Fast-forward nearly sixty years . . . I found some inexpensive (meaning it was quite thin, and raveled excessively) gingham at Walmart and a pattern that I could adapt to the three sizes needed for the dresses. I took my sewing machine up to Jen's so that we could "mass-produce" the dresses in order for her to have them for dress-rehearsal in three days. Remember, Jen is a stay-at-home mom who is also home-schooling her three children, and she is catching the kids up on work needed to be finished in the next couple weeks. So it was obvious to me that she was not going to be much help in the sewing department!

However, as the kids finished up their work, they were curious as to the mass of fabric and patterns and pins and sewing being done, and expressed an interest in learning to sew. I put two of them to work, and with yards of straight sewing to be done, they helped out quite a bit. (Jen did have a bit of time to help the second day.) KL got out their sewing machine so we had two machines going for a couple of hours and, together with JD, we got all three dresses finished. Actually CD helped too . . . he was our model for the smaller sized dresses. He refused to let me take his picture in a dress, however . . . I believe his words were "No way, Grammy!"

Now I'm anxiously waiting to hear that they all fit.

KL took some sewing classes this last year at Mountain Home School. She was quite comfortable at the sewing machine. She didn't mind me telling her some of the stitches had to be removed and re-sewn—she wanted her sewing to be perfect. She's such a neat kid!

JD liked handling the machine, and did a great job. Next time he said he wants to turn the speed dial up so he can sew a bit faster. What a cool kid he is.

Life is good!

Pitched for the Houston Astros

Part of the pitching team for this mornings game, CD did his best to strike out his opponents. It was a sizzling morning, with only a small patch of shade to escape the hot sun. But you'd never know it with the determination of the Astros and the Padres in our little mountain town. Final score Astros 9, Padres 10.

I love to watch him "wind up." Notice the wad of gum pushing out his cheek . . . very important to a good pitcher.

He gets better every game!

There's more to pitching than I ever realized. Once the ball is pitched, if there is a player on third base, the pitcher has to cover the plate after he has pitched the ball, trying to keep the runner from coming into home. And if the player doesn't run in, the pitcher has to retrieve the ball from the catcher and then hurry back to the mound so that all play is ceased . . . a whole lot to remember especially for an eight-year-old!

Way to go, CD, we love coming to your games!

Life is good!

Elwood's Reward

After Elwood held so still while he enjoyed a pedicure . . .

It works! You're never too old to learn new tricks, it's just the remembering how you did it . . . that's tricky!

Life is good!

Relaxed Mother's Day

I just had the most relaxing Mother's Day ever, it was perfect. In my lifetime of motherhood, well actually since 1970, Mother's Day was normally spent at our house with the entire extended family engrossed in our annual Mother's Day Ping-Pong Tournament (M.D.P.P.T.). We all enjoyed it and had lots of fun and shared prizes and trophies and laughs. One of the best parts was that the men did all the cooking. It was a lot of work getting the back yard all spruced up, making sure the pool was spotlessly clean, and just the general shopping and getting ready for about 30 guests. It was an all-day affair. Then after we retired, we would drive down to Southern California where my sister and husband hosted the MDPPT. That family tradition made for lots and lots of wonderful memories.

This year was different. With Jen and family moving up to our mountain town, and sister and brother-in-law retiring in Big Pine, and Mom's passing away last month— there will be no more MDPPTs. We simply drove up to Jen's place, kicked back with her precious family, and relaxed by the pool . . . while my son-in-law barbecued dinner. Life just can't get any better!

While sipping a nice glass of wine, Jen's maternal instinct struck and she, somehow, needed something to cuddle. JD brought her one of the bunnies, Elwood, for Jen to play with.

Then I witnessed something I've never seen before. That sweet little bunny laid back in her lap and let Jen trim her "toenails." Amazing!

Such a sweet bunny.

After his pedicure, Elwood enjoyed munching on a carrot. I got a cute video of this but I can't figure out how to get it on the computer. I've done it before, but somehow it's now a mystery!

How's this for a gourmet treat? It was awesomely delicious.

Life is good!

Not a Typical Saturday

What an exciting day this has been. I have so many pictures that I think I'll tell the story with them. Today was the "Chicken Competition" getting ready for the Chowchilla/Madera County Fair next weekend. And members of the local 4-H and FFA clubs were geared up to win. KL was the only one in the family to compete. (The boys were busy with baseball games.) There were three categories in which to compete: "Market Birds," "Showmanship" and "Eggs."

Simply Country Farm received their day-old chicks "meat birds" or some call them "market birds" around St. Patrick's Day . . . here is a picture of them at just three-weeks old. They grow so much faster than the egg-laying hens did. It seems that their goal in life is to eat and gain weight.

And here is the pair of them KL picked out for today's competitions. Yesterday she bathed them in three different solutions so they'd be all cleaned up and ready to show the judges how pretty they are. They are about seven weeks old today.

Bright and early Jen and KL arrived, after having all their chickens pass the "mites" examination before being allowed to enter the staging area. Here they are bringing out "Rosalinda" the beautiful Australorp hen KL picked out to show.

KL wiped down "Rosalinda" which she will soon use for the showmanship competition, and who will later be judged personally. Hmmm . . . can a chicken be judged personally?

Rosalinda, all cleaned up and ready to shine!

A member of her competition . . .

Another competitor . . .

And one more . . . there were probably a hundred birds in all.

The meat birds, or market birds, each had to be weighed. The idea was to submit a pair of birds of equal weight, the top six winners will be able to be auctioned at the fair next weekend. Apparently their scale at home isn't as accurate, or the same, as this one because the birds were different by about 12 ounces.

Jen passing on some advice to KL, who is waiting for the showmanship competition.

They are mother and daughter, and also good friends! And I'm proud of both of them.

KL, after waiting about an hour for her turn (the judge really took his time asking the kids lots of questions to test their knowledge of chickens). There were more than forty kids competing, nearly 20 in KL's division.

She truly shined today. This was her first competition ever, being put in the Intermediate division because of her age, which put her in competition with kids with years of experience under their belts.

I was quite impressed watching KL in front of the judge. While speaking to the judge, KL looked at him right in the eye, with a smile on her face, and spoke with so much poise and self confidence. The judge asked her all kinds of questions, including "How can you tell if a chicken has ever laid an egg?" And she immediately turned the hen upside down, ruffled up her feathers, and proceeded to explain that inquiry. I was so impressed, and even learned something I never thought about!

Holding the chicken for a good fifteen minutes, answering all the questions, the kids are asked to put their chicken down on the table and "pose" them. The chicken is supposed to stand still and not try to get away. Rosalinda did beautifully.

Glad the competition is over, and anxiously awaiting the results.
The meat birds placed 8th. And Rosalinda placed 2nd overall! Way to go KL . . . great job for your first ever chicken competition.

Now it's time for the egg competition—submitting one dozen chicken or duck eggs of the same variety. They are judged on size, color, quality of both inside and shell.

The judge has just cracked one of KL's egg. He was quite impressed, even said the word "superb" on the quality of the inside. However, after careful examination of the shell he noticed "ruffles" which means the chicken needs more calcium. Apparently that fact cost a lot of points. She'll know better next time. She finished in 5th place in the egg competition, there being nine dozen entered in the competition.

This is her egg . . . there's just nothing prettier than a fresh egg!

After the end of the day, we were there from 9 a.m until 4:30 p.m., we were all pretty tired. But to see the smile on the 2nd place winner overall is well worth every minute of it. We all learned so much and will be even more prepared for the next competition.

Life is good!