Up and Down the Gravel

1. It's beginning to sound like a broken record 'round
here. Everyone, and that includes absolutely everyone,
says the same thing when they pull into our driveway
and hop out of their cars. It doesn't matter if they
are friends, neighbors, relatives, the merest of
acquaintances, the UPS man, the mailman, the gasman,
or a salesman, he first words they say are ALWAYS the
same. "You've got cows in your yard."

Of course we've got cows in our yard! It's in the high
90's, and we've not had but an inch of rain in weeks and
weeks. We're graining and haying them, but the yard grass
still has some nutrition in it, so everyday either we
purposely let some out or they escape over or through the
fence. They pretty much stay by the house, but a few
times we've had to chase them out of the road.

2. Last night, after coming in from putting up the lone cow
that was in the yard, I looked down and saw some cow
manure on the floor. "Kent, you just tracked manure in
the house," I helpfully informed the man of the house.

He checked his shoes...clean.

"Hattie, you just dragged in some manure."

Checked...clean.

"Oops!" My pretty little sandals are sitting on the porch
until I'm in the mood to clean them. That may be sometime
next spring.

3. Dad was bush hogging on The Home Place (his property that
corners up to ours and is where both he and G'ma Opal were
born) when the tractor broke down---again. He had to walk
to our place and hitch a ride with Billy to get his truck
to pull the tractor back to his place to be worked on.

4. Uncle Jim has been holed up in his house nursing a sore thumb.
He got his grand injury in a fight with briars and stickers
around the old pond on his and G'ma's acreage. He says he
won the battle, but lost the war.

5. The 4 young'uns have been spending time on the river. When it
is 97 in August there really is no other place to be. They
borrow Dad's boat and go a'boating and swimming. Hattie loves
being old enough to be included.

6. We have lots of donated garden tomatoes. Oh my, I think we
could be buried in tomatoes and be happy. We have zucchini
from G'ma Opal and other neighbors, AND this year G'ma is
giving us butternut squash. Oh my! Good eating.