HERE I AM STUCK IN THE MIDDLE WITH YOU

House to the left of me, lawn to the right and here I am stuck in the middle with you. OK, I changed some of the words to protect the innocent but you get the message. I always mow my green acre on Thursday but it rained. I am not talking a little shower here, it poured 4. 7/10" of H2O on the Ponderosa yesterday. This leaves me once again doubled up on my projects donning the super-chick power cape.

I arose at 4:50 am to get started on deep clean Friday scrubbing, dusting and executing all the extras I do on this day. I know, I probably have a problem. Maybe I should sign myself up for a self-help group like Crazed Cleaners Anonymous but I enjoy cleaning. I find it quite soothing . By 9:30am , house in order and clothes tumbling in the dryer, I set off to mow my soggy thicket. It's a two hour mow no matter how I go about it. With full throttle down, by noon I am back in the house dryer humming, pork-chops soaking in their spicy rub and auto-pool cleaner rhythmically tap dancing in the pool. This is when it happens.

I pass by a window and see this deciduous crape myrtle (lagerstroemia incica) waving its big showy clusters at me like a prom queen on a float. Having OCFD ( Obsessive Compulsive Flower Disorder) I find it impossible to resist the dynamite fuchsia crinkly petals that beckon me to join it. Yes, I know, I should be medicated but I love my life. So "HERE I AM STUCK IN THE MIDDLE WITH YOU" thanking God every day for his beauty and this life He has given me. Enjoy this day, I'm Gonna'!!!

I'VE GOT HIM BACK IN MY ARMS AGAIN

What a "Supreme" feeling. I was blessed with an unexpected trip to Ash Grove Saturday to get my grand-baby withdrawal fix. Hubby is too good to me!(I tell him this often) I sniffed, held and loved this little bundle once again making every second count. My daughter does not get the new baby smell thing. One day she will know as she visits her grand-babies and will understand what Mama was talking about. This grandma was very happy that "I've Got Him Back in My Arms Again!!!"

DADDY SANG BASE MAMA SANG TENOR

Meet the group of calves that I lovely call the Young Guns born on the Ponderosa February. They have been a lively bunch providing me with exciting entertainment, especially the males of the herd. Each morning they can be spotted engaging in the head-butt challenge. It is kind'a like a group of boys playing king of the mountain to choose the leader of the day. The Young Guns are always together having a foot race or playing follow the leader. They once escaped through an open gate (Hubby dislikes closing a gate he is just going to drive back through) faster than this chick could run. Gone in sixty-seconds! We usually try to vaccinate and castrate our calves when the reach 200-250 pounds but time got away from us this year.

We dedicated last Saturday to this unwelcome yet necessary task. Oh, the cutting of the bulls who are now weighting in around 500lbs. Castration is the removal of the testicles of these young macho studs which allows them to fatten better for the food-chain. Gathering all necessary supplies for working the clan we headed to the working pens. Hubby operated, vaccinated and implanted the calves. A hired gent ran them into the alley and head gate then held the tails. I pulled the vaccines, handed syringes, handed scalpel and implant gun. Hubby and I have this system down to a rock and roll science.

The day went unusually smoother than anticipated. Things rarely go smooth on the Pondersoa. No one was injured, not even a foot smashed to smithereens . We all lost count of the number of bovine castrated and vaccinated but in our soreness knew we had put in a day. The new steers daddy may sing base and mama may sing tenor but the Young Guns.......hum-mm........well......their now singin' soprano!!!

GLORY DAYS or GLORY DAZE ?

Constantly looking for their next meal they will starve in a few hours if not fed continuously. Their voracious appetite allows them to consume their body weight in fat tasty morsels in a twenty-four hour period. No gals, I am not talking about your hungry hubbies or even your growing teen sons unless they are digging 200 feet a day to consume up to 200 sawfly cocoons as their preferred delicacies. A mole has launched an attack on my rose garden. These little soldiers dig five inch subways in a crisscross zig-zag manner destroying root systems and zapping the life out of a rosebush faster than Obama can say, "I should have chosen my words more carefully!" This being deep-clean Friday puts me in a huge dilemma.

As a compulsive neat-freak workaholic and thinking I'm super chick, I will throw on the old cape and ..."gett'er done!" Yep, this action adventurer can repair the rose garden and clean every crevice in my house in a day. First, I tackled the rose garden digging on my hands and knees for three and a half hours like a dog looking for his treasured bone. Next, I entered the house armed with a vacuum and a dust cloth wildly cleaning as the washer, dryer and dishwasher implemented their orders.

The climbing rose above is named Blaze of Glory. It is the beauty that lures me into my cottage garden as I try to wind down (using the term loosely) from my outrageously self-induced busy day. I sit here in a daze gazing at my healthy rose garden knowing the house is spotless nursing my battle wounds of scratches and rose briers. More "Glory Days" are ahead of me but right now I think I'll just veg out in my glorious glory daze. Good Night!

ACHY BREAKY HEART

The tenderness of pure smooth skin free of imperfections, melodious cries bolting forth from a tiny innocent being and the soft cuddly sweetness producing the fresh aroma of a newborn infant......Oh, I do love that new baby smell! My arms are aching and my heart is yearning to hold little Ian again. Yep, this chick is having grand-baby withdrawal symptoms. It has been a very long eleven days without a babe in my arms.

This is my first grandchild that puts miles between me and that glorious new baby smell. Unfounded territory for this rockin' Grandma. I have been blessed with the opportunity to drop in on a whim when the urge hits to get my fix with the others. My DIL has always been very sweet and accommodating when I need a fix as I know my daughter would be. It is the ninety mile difference that stands in my way.

Hubby chuckled at me on the journey home last time as I sniffed my arms hanging on to baby's smell as long as I could. We both stare at the computer pictures of the little guy like kids with a new video game. I look at baby-daddy here imagining the warmth he is feeling in his heart and my symptoms grow stronger. I am sure the only remedy for this illness is a trip to Ash Grove. Until then I will stare at my pics and deal with my "ACHY BREAKY HEART!"

I'M A YANKEE DOODLE DANDY

I am learning that the heat of summer is not the best time to idly sit at a computer blogging. It is not that this brain of mine is not filling up with creative ideas as fast as a newborn fills a diaper.Fact is, the great outdoors beckons me to join its vast incitements. Sweet fluttering chirps of hummingbirds,fresh aromas seeping from a rose garden in full bloom, shrill peeps of playful miniature frogs, the loud thrashing of a lawnmower and the inviting hummmmmm of the pool filter lull me into a trance I cannot resist. I find myself hypnotized beyond my backdoor.

The Fourth of July went as planned. The decorated cake was torched with sparklers as the kids all sang "Happy Birthday" to America. Displayed is the only fireworks picture that remotely looked like a firework. This photo obsessed chick found this process most difficult. The guests were all played out, filled up and tiredly entertained as they left the Ponderosa. No one was approached by any of our stinky tenants under the house. ( SKUNKS...Thank Goodness!!!)

Another annual Independence Day celebration on the Ponderosa a success. Another Nezzy exhausted from the work and preparation it takes to pull such a production off, yet so glad I did. Hauling my messy self off to the tub that evening to wash off the day's sticky homemade ice-cream and barbecue sauce, I lowered myself into the jacuzzi singing "I'M A YANKEE DOODLE DANDY" while planning next years event.

SIGNED SEALED DELIVERED

HE'S HERE!!! Meet Ian Ashyr Landis born 7/8/2009 at 12:53pm weighing in at 6lb.14oz. and measuring 19" long. The parents Charity and Philip are very proud and glad the pregnancy has ended with a healthy little champ. Grandchildren are Gods gift to us for not killing our own during their teen years. Charity mentioned last night that she had seen an old cow deliver and stated, "Yep, it's kinda like that." We are all bursting our buttons singing our praises that Ian is "SIGNED SEALED DELIVERED" and healthy.

Here we go Round the Mulberry Bush

The Ponderosa hosts a Forth of July celebration each year. That means that this compulsive gal kicks into high perfection mode. Hence the lack of blogging lately. I water the lawn to a lush green shaggy carpet then mow and cross mow leaving every blade even. The flower beds are weedless and every flower has been deadheaded, watered and fed. Hamburgers, hot dogs, my famous baked beans, a decorated Forth of July cake with cooked fudge icing, homemade hot fudge and ice cream await the guests. The house both outside and in is spotless, inviting and smelling like mulberry. Anyone that knows me knows my home and everything in it wreaks of mulberry essence.

I was checking my e-mail when I caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of my eye and went to explore. Right there on my carport casually eating out of the dog dish was a teen-age skunk (not a baby nor an adult). I observed to see where the little adolescent cat like creature went when much to my amazement he scooted behind this box that covers the air ducts to our family room. The space was less than two inches wide at the base of this box. Yep, we have a skunk under our house! The last thing our party needs is a skunk charging out from under this box while everyone is filling their plates. Hubby pulled in our drive home from a hard days work when I spotted the contemptuous black and white mammals mother. I yelled to him not to set foot on the carport or he would be blessed with the evil smelling liquid they share. Devising a plan he pulled up behind the pool and entered the back door.

Yes,the man had a plan! Grabbing the shotgun he told me to go into the dinning room and make enough noise to scare the mama off the carport so he could shoot her. I did my job carefully not to frighten her too much. Again much to my amazement, the adult skunk went through the same space her teen did. I saw hubby commin' round the carport sporting his ammo and weapon looking for the creature. I told him what had happened when he looked at the space and remarked, "NO WAY!" I am faced with the realization we have a smelly little family living beneath our abode.

Thursday morning around 1:30am just two days away from the big event we were awakened by an odor that brought tears to our eyes. The kids must have had a spat directly under our bedroom. Hubby left without breakfast because the smell had upset his tummy too much to eat. I lit as many candles as possible, brought out the old potpourri pot and aired the joint the best I could. The annual barbecue and fireworks display may go perfectly but the house, well let's just say.... '' it ain't goin' smell like mulberry this year!!!''