LIFE ALERT

Most days baby bo peep calls me on her way from work for the drive home to lunch

I always enjoy our chats, but today was 

EXCEPTIONAL

It has to do with technology and all the ways it can go wrong

and I am still laughing...I hope you enjoy the story too!

She had a long evening meeting

Coach Been is the head coach at Anton (Lubbock) and also teaches Chemistry and Physics

Her boss texted her and said her daughter was having a bit of trouble understanding physics

She lined up a tutor session without asking Coach Been

during a break in the meeting she tried to call him to give him a heads up that the student would be arriving soon.  No answer.  Call. Call. Call. Call. Text. Text. Text. Text.

NO. ANSWER.

She was sure he had fallen asleep on the couch

so

from her phone

she

cranked up the heat

87

that should wake him up!

She also decided to turn on the "AWAY" alarm so that even the slightest move from him or the pups would wake him.

both worked

 when he went to open the door 

the alarm went off

the company tried to call him...except his phone was dead (because they only have one charger and she took it...so that explains why there was zero communication from him)

they had no choice but to send the police

in the meantime the alarm company called her and she told them the dilemma so she also called her neighbors

who, like a good neighbor, arrived next door amid police and alarms and barking dogs to find a very sweaty coach with 18 missed calls and texts as the cute student drove up for her physic session

FAIR IS FAIR

Since we moved in to 822

Mr. PV had a vision

I rather like the way this looks, where the gravel meets the green grass,

but....

he had something else in mind all along

I have to admit these rock fences will be pretty cool with up and down lighting

so we made a fair trade

he gets his rock fences 

and he builds me a 

HUGE farm table

 lately I have been obsessed with 

bigger than Donald Trump HUGE farm tables

old porch posts from a house down the street

3 x 12 x 10 foot pine boards, some screws and 2 x 4

it's pretty amazing in all sincerity that Mr. PV and cute carpenter man

on a weekend

with a very small budget.....

can make it all happen

hoping the fence will have rock before October but I would never dream to ask

COOL

Mr. PV popped out with a good one

he said, and I could not agree more!!

COOL IS ALWAYS COOL

TRENDS

FOLLOW COOL 

NEW TO THE PARTY

MY NEW INSTAGRAM

As with Facebook, Pinterest and now Instagram, I am late to the party.

Are we all not beguiled by the lovely Anita at

CASTLES CROWNS AND COTTAGES?

for me, she and most of you as well,

are a source of inspiration with all the beautiful things you post

I love to look at pretty things!!!

so I asked my baby bo peep to clue me in on the fun

and it's like I couldn't get enough of the instagramming

and then I read the etiquette of it and it specifically states not to over gram on the instant

we ended summer with our annual learning vacation

spelunking through Southern New Mexico

with Betty

I'm pretty sure she's wishing for a road trip with Poppy and B

she keeps a notebook of our trips

this warning was given 30 miles from home...as we began!

thanks trooper Ed for not giving Mr. PV a ticket

and thank you Miss Betty for filling in the blanks

our first stop was Coach Been's house in Lubbock

they were gone on their own trip so this was a fun instagram surprise to them

it seems blue became the theme 

oh my the lovely colors of the magical enchanting 

New Mexico!!

If you could see how high this cliff was at the Blue Hole

you would be so proud that Miss Betty, 8, was brave enough to jump off of it

Tucumcari!  

The best Mexican food on the planet

New Mexico

we explored you for 8 days and still didn't discover you all

kind of like Instagram

so much more to learn!

like...how to add the gadget to the blog

as our summers come to an end and a new school year begins

I hope yours was the best summer ever and that your fall holds all the good things

we are feeling in the air these days

THE CUP WITHOUT A HANDLE

A MOMENT OF SILENCE
(link)

can you imagine???  I think you probably can relate to my friend Elizabeth at the 

Little Black Door 

when her 

Blue & White came crashing down

it made my mind go back in time to those days of broken stuff and a certain day 

when I had had just about 

E.N.O.U.G.H.

I actually threw that cup at the wall and scared the bajeebers out of Charles when I 

shouted 

"if you're going to break it Charles, then surely you can break it better than that!"

(he was 8...he was helping me by unloading the dishwasher...and broke yet...another treasure)

that night, when I looked in on his sweet little guy self, in peaceful sleep...I felt like such a horrible mother...did I actually throw a cup at the wall over his head???

I sat down, full of sorrow and wrote this poem...

The Cup Without a Handle

The picture frame had flowers

The cardinal had a crest

      The cup had a handle

  The broken trifle dish my best

   The topiary had roses

         Grown in my garden last year 

    The sofa was a handsome print

           But no one confessed to the tear

   The china baby had a head

With a bonnet of crochet lace

        One hundred dollars became nothing

             Especially without her face

     The carpet has only one stain

                   That’s significantly Orange Crush vomit

   The roller blade rut in the kitchen

           Has an iron imprint on it

   The lapis rabbit had two ears

  The dryer stores a dime

The cuckoo clock had two hands

     And once kept perfect time

      After years of collecting

             A passion becomes immense

      Yet with baby hands and clumsy feet

    It doesn’t make much sense

           This year’s vacation film

       Is in a camera without a winder

A chair without a leg

  Only serves as a reminder

That the trade of a treasure

Through different eyes I see

That nothing can compare

       To what only once will be….

     A giggle in the dark

A band aid on the knee

      A wet oatmeal kiss

A lullaby till three

A smile without a tooth

     A left foot in a right sandal

  A tree house on the ground

                And a cup without a handle

Now...here I am...all those years later...

I talked to Charles on the phone yesterday and he said to me

"mom, I gotta go...gotta situation here"

.... I heard a crash in the background as he hung up...his 2 year old had broken something...and I just had to laugh.

As I took these photos I realized 3 things

1.  Could I have not done a worse job glueing?

2.  Why did I save all the broken rabbits and not the rest?

3.  The hands that broke these treasures are a treasure to me...and I would not trade how they are today for all the world!

ooopsie...it's leg came off

BUTTERFLY RELEASE

 Baby Brother Ross

gets his college diploma

are you like Ross?

life got in the way of reaching your goals?

ups and downs and ins and outs

life happenings that put things on hold that don't seem important when life is happening

and then

there is a time and a place

and suddenly and easily

(NOT)

the goal is met

and so like at every normal graduation there is a celebration

where you have 

a Choctaw mother, a Navajo drummer and a bossy big sister

to bring it all to the real side

your celebration includes

Indian fry bread, a prayer drumming and a monarch butterfly release

whisper a wish, release the butterfly and know

that quirkiness in a family

is worth celebrating!

yay Rossie....you are what it is all about today...my butterfly wish?

for all your dreams to come true!!!

VENUS FLY TRAP

Lawdy!  

Mr. PV told me he got me a "surprise" the other day

clearly....this "surprise" was for HIM!

but for the record....I do that to him all the time...get "surprises" for him that are

clearly for me!

I have to laugh when I see his beaker of distilled water and his Granky's tweezers

he's like a mad boy scientist

catching bugs to feed it

VENUS FLY TRAP

Maybe you'd like to get a surprise like this too?

This is NOT my video..I found it on youtube...but it could be....sadly...it could be.