Misty May and Mothers Day

We have survived the first heat wave of 2020. It was in the 80s Friday, Saturday and Sunday; that's summer weather for us. On Friday Poppy got to play with the 'neighbor boy' for the first time since the splint came off; they had a blast! I had to wait until they got kinda-sorta tuckered out to get anything but a blur:

On Saturday evening we took a three-mile family walk at sunset, which was lovely:

But I think all that exercise might have been a bit much; Poppy has been pretty gimpy on her bad leg ever since. 😕

Mothers Day was a disorganized jumble, but hey, that can be a good thing – like tossed salad. 😆

The neighbors to our east had work for Brian in the morning, which he jumped on since he hasn't saved up enough for his part of the car insurance yet and it's due this month. And Rick took off without notice to his mother's to help her with some stuff, leaving me to my own devices (it's a good thing I don't have a lot of expectations!). So I called my mom for a nice, long chat. Gardening came up, and I mentioned that our plot is ready but for the rototilling, which is a bit of a roadblock. Brian and I were ready to rent a walk-behind; Rick's been stalling because he much prefers to borrow a client's tiller attachment so he can sit on a tractor seat, but we have overwintered kale, parsley, and beets that I don't want to sacrifice. After talking to Mom, I decided to call and ask Rick (as a Mothers Day favor 😉) if he would rent a tiller if he was going to be done at his mom's in time to use it. Glory be, he conceded! He also brought his mother back with him, which momentarily threw me for a loop. But rather than feeling obligated to "entertain" without notice, I went ahead with my plan to shear a sheep. I pulled out Bette, who was surprisingly easy to do (I was able to roo her undercarriage, hence the woolly line at the lower edge of her belly.

It was nice to have a relatively quick and easy shearing job, especially on a hot day. Last Wednesday I sheared Bardot, who I thought would be easy but ended up taking longer than anyone else so far. 😳 But that's seven done; only four more to go.

Bardot's BIG fleece

Bardot, sans fleece

I carried up my fleece harvest about the time Rick finished the garden. He needed to return the tiller and I needed a shower, after which I was looking forward to the mother/son horseback ride Brian had promised me for Mothers Day. But before we got to that, Rick returned from town – with his mother still in tow! Unwilling to give up the one thing Brian planned for me for Mothers Day, I initiated a conversation about how the remainder of the day would be spent (Rick's side of the family is not big on communication😏). Rick (or his mom?) wanted to drive by the iris fields; Brian and I needed a certain amount of daylight for our ride; I suggested getting take-out food to eat so we'd have time to do both. Win-win-win!

But wait; there's more! After our short ride I asked Brian if he'd be willing to help me with Stella. I thought it would be special to get to sit on her back for the first time for Mothers Day, but realized that might be too much to try for. But with Brian holding her I was able to lay on her back, then put a leg over the saddle while holding onto the arena fence. At that point Brian decided he didn't want me to risk getting hurt so I held Stella and he eased into the saddle from the arena fence – from both sides. Stella was tense and nervous, but stood like a rock and made me proud. So did my boy. 😊

I didn't get store-bought flowers for Mothers Day, but that's just fine because we have so many beauties just outside:

Yesterday after work, I picked up some vegetable seeds and starts. There wasn't enough time to plant everything by the time I got home from Poppy's PT, but I did get the starts in the ground to take advantage of the predicted showers. I got one each of the three eggplant varieties, and two each of the pepper and three tomato varieties. I didn't realize until later that I was charged for 14 starts instead of 11; hopefully the store will take my word for it and give me three more starts when I go to town on Thursday.

That's it for now from . . .

They just keep coming!

I'm talking about Poppy pictures. What did you think I was talking about?!? 😉

I've collected sooooo many photos that prudence dictates I not put them all in one post. Here is an adorable series from a week ago. Poppy was being unusually mellow.

Last Sabbath (before the social distancing mandate) my MIL came out for lunch, and then we all went for a walk through nearby Willamette Mission State Park. It was Poppy's first big outing, and she thoroughly enjoyed it. It was a beautiful day and lots of people were out enjoying it (Poppy wanted to meet them all); lots of wildflowers, too!

Even though we only walked about a mile and a half, Poppy was pooped by the end. I think it was as much all the sensory stimulation as it was the exercise!

Hopefully I can find time tomorrow to share this week's Poppy pictures.

That's it for now from . . .