Last year on Memorial Day I came home to find that a couple of friends had brought me a present for my Mom and Dad. Daddy's dog had recently been killed and this feisty young man had outgrown the big city apartment life so they figured he might do well in the country. I fell in love at first sight with him and Amy handed him over with tears of joy in her eyes because he had found a new home.

He stayed with my parents for exactly two nights, spending most of the time in Daddy's lap in the recliner. Mom called and told me that he was just a little too much for them to handle ( they have NEVER had an inside dog ) so once again Sammy D was up on the hill with the rest of the critters. He is quite the athlete and when he leaps through the air that tail of his looks like it belongs to a deer! He still tries to outrun the Camry to the end of Pecan Lane but usually gives up somewhere around the dairy barn.

We seem to have eased jumped head first into the typical summer weather pattern for Tennessee. High around 90. Daily chance of pop-up thunderstorms. If it rains on YOUR crop, say thank 'ya to the big guy and keep the faith. I had the opportunity to sit up at the kudzu bar the other night and listen to a couple of generations of farmers talk about their present conditions in the field. They chatted about locations and water levels and the price of beans and corns. They are paying the high price for diesel just like truckers and struggle to keep up the pace that supports their families.

I remember Mama telling me about how Daddy would stand defeated at the window of our honest-to-goodness log cabin and watch the rain wash away crop after crop before no-till farming came along. If I had to guess, I'd say the growing shit thing comes from his side of the gene pool. She likes to look at pretty flowers but hates to get dirty because she might need to cook up what he grows. That woman and an iron skillet are a gift from the heavens..I'm just saying.

I've been playing with the water hose like a little kid in my middle aged style swimsuit and no shoes, irrigating what I've planted and transplanted. The (h)erb garden is on the side porch in pots and the flowers are here and there. There's one very beautiful chocolate lab having a period all over the new floors and looking right pitiful, bless her heart. All is well.

Here's something that caught my eye about what Memorial Day is all about. Besides going to the lake and eatin' barbecue, I mean.

^j^

I am, as the old southern saying goes, happy as a pig in mud for no reason other than the fact that I'm enjoying day one of three in a row doing my own thing.. as the spirit moves. That's the finest freedom I can possibly think of. The weather has been nice for a week of work in the hay fields and the corn got a nice mid-afternoon shower today. So did my newly transplanted four o'clocks. Big Ernie is good to smartass country gals who keep the faith.

A recent visitor commented that she had gone back and read what I wrote in 2005, which struck me as kind of odd in a way that made me think that perhaps what I say possibly does make a difference. I had to go back and see too..just for fun. My writing had a bit more of an edge three years ago...and the readers are mostly not around Casa Poops these days as far as I can tell. Just the faithful old friends.

Gotta go burn some daylight now that it's cooled off a bit. Ya'll hang in there. Tomorrow is always another day.

^j^

Ain't she just the prettiest girl you ever saw?

I am, like most of you, aware of the dangers of phishing and scamming on the internet and always use caution while on the web. I also routinely check my bank statement online every day or so just to see what's up. Imagine my surprise when I found an unauthorized debit card transaction there today to these thieves . I immediately started researching and it seems that this ring is well known for stealing debit card numbers ( and HOW exactly do they do this??) and charging small amounts assuming that most people won't notice. I also found a site that lists many many complaints against a company called MCA Technology that is the front for all of the mules who do the thefts. According to what I've read, this is a ring that is widespread in scope.

Am I pissed? You bet your smart ass I am. And hell hath no fury like a poor woman when you mess with her hard earned money.

Anybody got the number for the attorney general? Never mind...I'll look it up.

Wordless

...and how are ya'll this Terrific Tuesday? On the old 1 to 10 scale, yesterday and today have both been tens in my neck of the woods. With two days off, there's been plenty of time to piddle which is my greatest joy. Piddling is also my worst enemy because I go from one project to another and never seem to finish anything! Hay baleing is going on right now which has been an excellent reason to be out and about with the camera soaking up the ambience that is the farm dressed in spring. Around this time of the year I have to start watching my step so as not to step on Mr. Snake because I would faint and fall out right there he would bite my smart ass. I'm not just a little bit afraid, ya'll. Terrified is more like it.

*piddle piddle*

ohmygod! Somehow I managed to crack the PVC pipe out by the tank and there's water runnin' all over creation. I just hope the overflow makes it down to the corn field in time to save this year's peaches'n'cream crop. Our life here is kinda like Green Acres only I don't look a bit like ZsaZsa and there ain't no pigs anymore...just cows and horses and turkeys. And quail and fast turtles!

*walk the yard*

Peonies are taking their last breath and lamb's ear is peaking. There's honeysuckle every dang where. I've been trying to train it around the barbed wire so it doesn't choke out the transplants from other beloved yards. Daddy went on a mission the other day and pulled a whole bunch of larkspur out of his sunny bed to wilt in the sun. Can't say that I haven't done the same thing when the situation calls for it.

*dO THe cheF thang*

Time to thaw out what's in the freezer and add some finishing touches. BG did angel hair with her own special sauce. I'm having chicken ala Poopie and some peas. Ummmmm...good.

*sunset*

*american idol*

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

^j^

As weekends at the day job go, with several hours of computer downtime, this one was quite nice. I suppose we can attibute that to the fact that fewer people are sick and dying coming to the ER with every little sniffle and snot. We appreciate ya'lls good health more than you will ever know..really. There was drama of course. One of my friends decided she'd had enough of the indecision and could make it on her own with two kids and a roommate, as long as she didn't have to drive a grannymobile. Maybe I can sell her the trusty Camry with three door handles and a very exposed right taillight.

Followed the smoke signals and turned into the kudzu bar where John was busy grillin' bird for the hungry flock that gathers on the patio for a sunny Sunday afternoon. Bev is the proud new owner of a laptop so she can stay in touch with those of us who don't come around very often *snort* She was having a bit of trouble not grabbing for the mouse but I think she'll catch on.

All of this rain has been lovely and stuff but, dang...that grass needs chopping again! I'm counting on the mowers to last one more season and then it's all over for me and them. I'm too old for that shit. The flowers are to die for so far. Long live perennials + a water hose!

I'll be out in the yard for two days playing. Leave a message at the beep.

^j^