Saturday, March 31, 2012

This isn't my story. But I'm stealing it anyway.

I ended up having to work on Wednesday.  It was okay as I got Thursday off instead.  However, my neighbor (the flower lady) met me in my yard almost as soon as I arrived.  She had expected me to be home and had tried to catch me all day. 

"My daughter brought over some flowers for you, so come on over!"

This time I was wiser and just drove the pick up over instead of making fifty trips up and down the street...

As we were chatting she told me how ornery her two boys were growing up.  They loved to play practical jokes on her, and still do.  I told her that it's fun to get a rile out of our mothers.  After all, we all still tend to gang up on my mom, just because it's funny.

Sorry, Mom.  But it's just true.

Anyway, she was telling me about when they lived in a different house in a different town, and her kids were all young.  They lived next door to her husband's brother and wife.  Before Emmett left for work one fall day he said, "You boys better get up on that roof and clean out the chimney.  A bird built a nest in it, and we will need to light the fire soon."

Well, being the good boys that they were, they eagerly obeyed their father.  Katherine was sitting in the living room, happily stitching or knitting or some such domestic thing when suddenly something flew  past her chair and made an exploding sound right behind her!  She jumped up, let out a scream and tried to figure out what was happening.  Very quickly another something flew out of her FIREPLACE and flew into the living room and it exploded too!

They were pop bottle rockets!

The boys had decided that the easiest and most exciting way to clear the chimney of the bird's nest was to blow it up.  The only glitch was their failure to make sure the flue was closed before starting their endeavor.

At least that's the biggest glitch I see on first glance...

Well, her sister in law had been watching the boys from her house, and she saw Katherine coming out screaming bloody murder and threatening to "wring you boys' necks!"

The boys just began to laugh.  She yelled more threats of dire consequences.  "But, Mom!  You can't get us up here!"

"Well, you'll have to come down some time!"  I can just see little 5'0 Katherine yelling and shaking her fist at those boys.

She didn't tell me what the consequences were, but I would love to have been a fly on that wall when those rockets came flying down the chimney!

Hey would you like a sneak peek at my new flower bed I built all by myself?  I planted a lilac bush, some lilies, iris, malva, and maybe even a small shasta daisy.  Here's a picture I snapped with my phone.  Sadly, it's already short three plants as the puppy decided to pull them up and chew on them. 



So tonight as I ran into Wally World to buy some supplies for an impromptu tea party the girls and I are having since my husband went hunting, I bought some unsightly fencing to put around it...

*sigh*