Reflections on Husbands and Wives

I have an anniversary coming up and in between harvesting, starting the kids homeschooling, and healing from a corneal abrasion (those things REALLY hurt) I have been out shopping for this anniversary.  These trips to the store have led me to ponder the differences between husbands and wives.   And so, I present to you, one man's take on husbands and wives:

A Fair New Fridge

Our refridgerator decided to quit right in the middle of the busy season.   Just went kaput.   No, explanations.  No, it was nice to know ya's.  It just died.   So we made an emergency trip to Lowes to get another fridge.   Word to the wise:  Bargaining works.   The new fridge was listed for $1699.   We paid $1289.    Not too shabby.  

Here she is, the new fridge.

We also spent some time at the fair this week and I snapped a couple of pictures.

We actually didn't get to spend much time in the animal barns because the kids were desperate to ride as many rides as they could.  But they did enjoy seeing some of the animals even though it cut into precious midway time. :)

All in all, it was a fun time.  

The Title Well is Temporarily Dry

This is the face of a dog who didn't know when to quit.   It was a good 95 degrees out a couple of days ago and Cocoa here spotted something in the field while I went to pick peaches.   She chased the thing and barked at it and just generally had a fit until she finally collapsed from heat stroke.   Not heat exhaustion, full blown heat stroke.

Now, by the grace of God, I got a hunch to stop picking and head towards the barn to check on her.   I found her, collapsed, panting like mad, about 10 feet from her water bowl and the shade of the open barn where she usually hangs out when we go to the field.   I hurried and hosed her off, brought the water too her, helped her lift her head enough to drink it and then managed to get her up and into the car so I could take her back to the house and get her into the air conditioning.   Unfortunately, her back legs weren't working properly so it was a struggle for me (weighing in at 130-ish pounds) to get her (weighing in at 75-ish pounds) to the car.  

We then called in the vet who told me that I was lucky to have found her when I did because had it been a couple of minutes longer she would've probably died.   He then gave her fluids and basically said that it would be a waiting game from there.   Fortunately, she came out of it and to look at her now you wouldn't be able to tell that she had been so sick just a couple of nights ago.

That particular picture was taken just after she threw up all over my brand new rug, hence the fact that she is laying on the non-slip mat instead of the rug itself.   And for all the animal lovers out there, do not worry, that little box by her neck is not a shock collar.  It's a spray collar that shoots a mist of water or citronella (depending on what you fill it with) everytime she barks, although it was empty on the day of the incident.

I did get a fairly nice (albeit small) bushel of peaches out of that trip.   Tasty too.  

A Little Humor Goes a Long Way

Ever find yourself giggling at the wording of some of the church bulletins in your parish?   Well, if that sounds like you then you definately aren't alone.   Here are some of the best church bulletin bloopers from around the web, enjoy:


"Ladies, don’t forget the rummage sale. It’s a chance to get rid of those things not worth keeping around the house. Bring your husbands.."


"Don’t let worry kill you off – let the Church help."

"Next Thursday there will be tryouts for the choir. They need all the help they can get."


"A bean supper will be held on Tuesday evening in the church hall. Music will follow."


"Please place your donation in the envelope along with the deceased person you want remembered."

"The ladies of the Church have cast off clothing of every kind. They may be seen in the basement on Friday afternoon."

"Weight Watchers will meet at 7 PM at the First Presbyterian Church. Please use large double door at the side entrance."


"The Associate Minister unveiled the church’s new campaign slogan last Sunday: ‘I Upped My Pledge – Up Yours’."

"It's Drug Awareness Week: Get involved in drugs before your children do."

"The Women's League reported that Mrs. Springston, a grandmother of five, made a hole in one last week. Good Shooting! "

"This Friday is our annual church hayride. Bring a pack of hot dogs and guns. We'll have a good time. "

Getting Ready for School

We've hit that time of year again, where it's time to start getting the kids back into school mode.   I don't introduce the workbooks usually until closer to the start of the traditional school year but I do start getting the kids used to the structure and routine that we have about now.   One of the ways I go about doing that is to start to give them short bursts of structured, focused play time.  
Yesterday Oldest spent her time building with some k'nex (and secretly learning how to follow directions from a pictures).   By the time her focused playtime was finished she had already built two butterflies, two fish and a dinosaur and still didn't want to stop.   So she spent about an hour AFTER her focused playtime building a hanglider.

Her dollhouse "father" is taking a harrowing ride.

And in orchard news:

One of our young peach trees "exploded" this year growing up and out and getting a tree full of fruit.  Unfortunately, it had more fruit than it's young little branches could handle and it started to bend almost all the way to the ground.

It's kind of hard to see in the pictures.

I ended up having to throw off about 40-45 peaches to ease the weight on that limb.   I wasn't really happy about that fact but "ya' gotta do what ya' gotta do, ya' know?"    In about an hour I'll be heading out to the bigger, established trees and picking peaches and plums for much of this afternoon.   Should be fun...maybe.