Waterbed Hippies

Well it finally happened, we are finally growing up......  Well, sort of........  Well, maybe not too quickly anyway and in small increments.  A couple weeks ago our waterbed sprung a leak.  It is the second time since the 70's that this has happened.  This was big compared to the first.  Dry, warm and comfy one night and cold, wet feet the next night.  Water in the liner was major. 

So we decided to look at something different.  All of our children have sleep number beds and love them.  So we went to see what the fuss was about.  And the salesperson did an excellent job of making us totally comfortable.  Maybe we shouldn't have gone in the late afternoon, when nap time sometimes calls us ever so gently now and then.  Yes, it was comfy and I could have napped while pondering the choice of another waterbed or the sleep number.  Not exactly what the salesperson encouraged.

Almost two weeks later the new bed arrived.  We have just slept the third night on this overpriced air mattress and I LOVE it!  So we are no longer hippies from the 70's.  We are reaching our mid-life crisis it seems.  I guess that isn't so bad, we are in our 60's! 

I Live With Santa

My wonderful hubby looks like Santa.  He has the most beautiful white beard and moustache.  When he puts on a Santa hat, everyone comments.  Being a man with an easy smile and a true gift of gab, he will certainly visit with you if just say "hello".

We have often been places that little children point and try to alert their parents that Santa is eating at the table nearby.  I have been witness to waitresses flirting and people smile when he walks past them.  He has the most fun wearing his Santa hat and driving his old model A Ford Truck and going through Tim Horton's drive through.  I wonder though, is he playing a part or have I watched waaaay too many Christmas Hallmark movies!!!!

As I look back on the years, I have to wonder exactly what he does with all his time since retirement.  He might actually have a workshop in our other barn.  I have never really snooped through that barn, it's usually too messy.  And yet, I remember how shocked he was one day when I just "happened" to open the doors while he was in there working.  Nothing looked especially different......, but then I didn't check the "back room".

Now I am seriously wondering about his trip to Florida in December for the last three years.  He is supposedly "helping a friend drive to Florida".  He then spends the next ten days doing exactly what?   I don't really know.  He tells me that he is getting a little R&R, relaxing at the pool, going to a car show, kayaking in the gulf, checking out the Harley shops and enjoying time with his friend.  I have to wonder about all of this, there are no pictures, no real evidence to prove he is in Florida!!!!

Meanwhile, I am at home.  Taking care of elderly dogs, Christmas shopping, wrapping gifts, planning Christmas dinner with the kids, checking and re-checking my lists, making sure packages are mailed to far off places, creating and writing Christmas cards and even trying not to make a mess of the house!!!  And  I ask, who is the real Santa?????

Mr. Claus is due back from his ten day trip today.  I am rushing around, picking up the house, chasing porch cushions that blew away last night from the mighty winter wind, running snacks to Village Artisans open house this evening, bring in the trash cans from the curb, trying to finish the last minute handmade gifts in the studio and all before I have to pick him up at the airport this afternoon. 

I hope he is well rested for his journey on Christmas Eve.  I'm not quite sure how he does that, he is always snoring away when I finally finish the morning homemade cinnamon rolls for breakfast and climb into bed.   I might just keep an eye open this year and make sure he isn't secretly leaving after I've fallen asleep.  Oh heck, who cares, I'm worn out and need my sleep............

Merry Christmas friends!  Remember it isn't the gifts, it's family near and far and the love they share every day.  Blessings and Joy and Love to you all!

Spring And The Doors Are Open



Japanese Iris just starting to bloom, 2012

It is truly spring in Ohio.  Only a few days into April and flowers are blooming throughout the gardens.  I have been checking Bluebird boxes and two nests are started by bluebirds and sparrows have claimed several other boxes, even laid eggs.  Of course, sparrow nests are removed from the Bluebird boxes.  Of the seven boxes, two have bluebird nests and I'm so excited about that!

The frogs in my frog pond are too many to count, they slowly push their eyes above the water edge and watch me watching them.  Some sit bravely on the old decayed leaves and soak up the sunshine.  The water Iris are growing strong in the corner of this rather unsightly frog pond.  This used to be my fish pond, before a branch fell and punched a hole through the liner.  The pump was turned off and the quiet water was perfect for frogs to lay eggs.  Now I don't exactly know what to do with it, I don't want to upset the balance of this pond for the frogs.  So the fall leaves rot in the water and become the perfect place to raise frogs.  I have to let go of the idea of clean sparkeling water that the fish used live in before the hole.


front flower bed, 2012

I have already had to mow the yard several times and that started on my birthday on March 19th.  Never have I mowed the yard in March.  Records were set this year for temperatures above eighty degrees and the number of days in a row it has been that warm for the month of March.

The redbud trees have already bloomed and the tulip trees were stunning this year.  Forsythia have also bloomed their sunshine yellow flowers and the yellows are now fading away, the red and purple phase of the garden in taking over, with wild violets as well as tulips, lilacs and iris are blooming.



bluebird box.....

I love when it is warm enough to throw open the windows and doors.  Most of you will find this highly irregular, but I stopped putting screens in the windows and we have no screen/storm doors.  I find the there is only a brief time between the furnace running and when we turn on the air conditioning and screens are just not necessary.  I haven't used them for years and love that the views are not altered by screens, it's like being outside when I'm in the house.

I also love when the cleaning fairy comes and starts my spring house cleaning.  She climbs the step stool and cleans shelves above the windows, gets the nooks and crannies free of winter dust bunnies and whatever else lurks in those places.  She was just here and the house sparkled.  Everything dusted and swept and cleaned. 

So when I took a moment to sit in the back room that looks out to the barn, past the blooming flowers and the fresh mowed yard, I was content to just relax with a little coffee.  It was then that I notice a white spot of something on the table where the TV sits.  I was a little far away to determine what it was, but it looked like a paper had be laid down on a wet spot and when picked up, some of the white page was left behind.  I stopped worrying about it and made a mental note to check it out.  Of course I forgot and went on with my day. 

The next day, sitting in the same chair, still basking in how nice everything looked inside and outside and sipping my coffee, I again noticed the white stuff on the table.  This time I dragged myself from my comfy chair and forced my still new knees to get me up, yet again, and went to seriously look at the white stuff on the table. 

I was rather shocked to discover it was bird poop.  No doubt about it, a white splat of bird poop was on the table that was just cleaned a few days ago by the cleaning fairy.  I conclude that a bird came calling through my open door into the house.  He obviously found his way out of the maze and went back outside, but not before bringing me back to reality and noting why other people must use screens on their doors and windows. 

Our Dog Jessie

I'm a sucker for animals, I have cradled more orphan pigs and lambs than I can even count.  I loved trying to nurse them back to health and watching them thrive.  Later, during my married life I wanted to save other critters looking for a home.  We have had geese, a goat here and there, runt pigs, dogs, cats and even lovebirds.  It didn't help that I worked for a veterinarian for a few years.  My children still call me today to see if I will take a cat looking for a home, or just because I live in the country, could I adopt this dog because someone found it or it's a dog they can't keep.  I won't get on my soapbox about people getting cute little critters and not thinking of them as grown animals, then try to "get rid of them". 

Anyway, when I worked for a local veterinarian there would be people bringing a stray in for shots or neutering.  Many would be looking for homes for these animals.  That is how I acquired Jessie.  She was a beautiful, sweet face, soft eyed, mostly Lab dog.  She had come to this person as a stray in the middle of winter and then proceeded to have a litter of puppies.  She was barely a year old herself.  The person bringing her to the vet was having her spayed and taking her to the Humane Society and they were going to find her a home.  Well, she didn't get that far, I fell in love and took her home with me in the car that evening.  I remember her sitting quietly in the passenger seat beside me, she looked at me with those soulful eyes and we fell in love.

Then next day the anesthesia wore completely off and I had an overgrown puppy romping through my flowers, following me around like I was her mother and running everywhere.  She knew no boundaries.  All my other dogs stayed in the yard or horse pasture, they knew their limits, they had learned them as little puppies.  Jessie had no clue! 

I remember watching her hunt in the horse pasture, she instinctively knew how to point a bird!  I'd never seen anything like her attraction to birds, she would get real still, pick up that front foot and her tail was up and she would stand at perfect point attention.  It was awesome to watch.  Later she and my little Yorkie/cross dog would hunt mice together in the field.  Jessie would smell them out and Gabby would make the kill.  Hours later they would come in soaked from the morning dew on the grass and being exhausted they would sleep the rest of the day away. 

Now Jessie has the rare privilege to be a house dog.  I don't really like her in the house, I like having barn dogs too.  She is just big and hairy and sheds year round.  The little dogs in the house are another story and they don't shed.  It is a constant effort in cleaning and you all know how I feel about that!

One Christmas Eve the dogs went out at chore time with us to feed the horses.  When it came time to come in, Jessie was nowhere to be found.  I called and called.  We walked the road in front of our house in the dark, looking to see if she'd been hit.  Calling and calling.........  Nothing.  Finally we gave up and went to bed, it would be morning Christmas morning before long. 

Hitching a ride is easier than running anymore.....

Next morning we got up and low and behold, Jessie was waiting at the back door, anxious to be inside from the cold.  We welcomed her joyfully.  A couple days later our neighbor came over and sat down to visit.  It was then we found out the rest of the story about Jessie's dissapearance.  Jessie had gone to our neighbors to eat the cat food in his garage.  He'd run her out before and never told us about it.  Christmas Eve she got locked in when he closed the garage door, he hadn't seen her sneak in.  Our neighbor lives a quarter mile away, but on a cold clear night, I am sure Jessie heard me calling.  She proceeded to tear all the insulation off the bottom part of the garage door, as high as she could jump.  She was trying to come home.  Sometime during her confinement she jumped up and hit the garage door opener, door opened and she came home.  Our neighbor, thought he'd been robbed in the night, with his garage wide open the next morning.  He knew when he saw the mess, who had done it.  It did solve the mystery about our stray dog and her ability to "find" food.

She was obsessed with food, she'd eat anything, she'd get into trash, clean the ground under horse feed buckets and eat an entire loaf of bread off the counter.  She was constantly getting into trouble.  When she ate food off the picnic table one day because no one was watching, it was almost the last straw.  She had never learned her puppy lessons about people food and dog food.  We had to put up a low electric wire around the yard to keep her home, it worked and she did become a respectable dog.  Oh, she still has this thing in her brain that keeps her from starving, but she stopped stealing from the neighbors cats and she doesn't take from the tables anymore.  Maybe it has to do with age, she is almost 12 now.  She still has that beautiful face and those sweet eyes, it is speckled with gray now.  She loves her people and she still lives in the house, not the barn. 

Well, she is this moment trying to take down the back door because we are inside and she is outside and I need to sweep the floor of dog hair again..........

Not My First Big Job

Kellen, McKinley, Aidan and baby Tatum

Our daughter and her sweet husband are taking a long weekend Valentine get away.  I am sure it is much needed, they have four children!  The children will be taken care of at home, with different family members coming to the house to do a couple days each until their parents are back home again. 

For our daughter it means working overtime to get everything ready.  She was trying to get all the laundry done, packing for the trip and making endless lists for the family helpers to read that hold vital information to the children's needs.  She also managed to freeze some meals ahead, making sure enough food was in the refrigerator for the five days they would be gone.

Everyone had a "bug" a couple weeks before they were scheduled to leave and many trips to the Doctors office was required.  I think the baby is the only one still on antibiotics.  Trisha was seriously wondering if they would be well enough to go themselves. 

I am scheduled for Sunday evening through late Monday night.  Trisha sent me an email about Monday morning school information.  I am to make sure the Valentine boxes go to school with three of the children and inside the boxes are the cards they are giving to other classmates.  I was also given instructions about Kellen's packed lunch, he wants his ham and cheese on a white bun with ketchup.  Kellen is very worried I might get this wrong.

Trisha called the other day, concerned that I might have a hard time, did she forget that I raised three kids?  I know how to fix meals, I know how to send kids off to school and so what if babies don't sleep through the night, I assured her I would hear her if she was crying.  I told Trisha not to worry, I would be fine and her children were in good hands.

Then she reminded me about the time I was visiting a friend and her family.  My friend had a daughter about first grade age.  My friend had to work at school on bus duty and that particular morning her daughter wanted to ride the bus.  I agreed to put her on the bus at the appointed time if my friend wanted to go on to school and do her bus duty.

After years of putting kids on the bus, I knew we should be outside waiting a little before time, in case the bus was early.  My friend lived off the road a little ways, so there was a lane to walk.  We could see if the bus was coming and the bus driver could easily see us waiting. Their dog went out with us and was racing and playing in the snow and at some point the dog crashed into this little girl.  Suddenly everything went wrong, little girl skinned her knee and it was bleeding, her tights were torn and I panicked!  I didn't want the bus to not stop if we weren't waiting, so I had the little girl wait (crying in the lane) while I ran to the house for a washcloth and bandages.  Of course I could find no band aids and I was terrified that while in the house the bus would come.  I grabbed the washcloth and went outside to clean up the wound.  Oh dear, big hole in the tights, boo boo bleeding and the bus is coming.  What could I do?  If I didn't put her on the bus my friend would panic when she didn't get off and I had no idea where the school was and this was before cell phones!  The little girl got on the bus.........

About an hour later my friend came home.  She was laughing at least.  She said she was shocked when her only child and the love of her life got off the bus.  When she left home she was sure her daughter was in good hands.......  Oh my gosh!  I will never forget trying to do such a simple thing and it went so wrong so quickly!

I assure Trisha all will be fine, this is not my first big job.   

Post script:  Everything went well, no disasters, baby slept through the night, the children got to school on time, they ate my cooking and were perfect in all ways.  I know why the young have children, it can be exhausting!  It was wonderful spending so much time with our grandchildren, they are smart and responsible and respectful.  It was awesome!  They even ask me to play my flutes!  A very happy Grandma here!

Trisha's Story

My daughter, Trisha is a constant source of amusement to our family.  I have told her often she needs to write this stuff down and yet with four children, I'm pretty sure she has no time for that.  So maybe I'll tell you a couple of stories about her and she'll have them recorded, even if it's by her mother.

If you have brothers and sisters or children of your own, you know that they are each different, even when they are brought up in the same environment.  You have to figure when the environment is the same, genes must come into play in regards to your way of acting or thinking.  I fear Trisha is a lot like her mother, that would be me........  Sometimes she even surprises me!

Trisha has a very strong dislike of mice.  Not due to anything that happened at home, although the cat that our kids grew up with was a great mouser and would insist on hunting a night.  Upon stalking and catching her mouse, she would bring it to the girls bedroom and play with it awhile and then proceed to eat it.  Trisha would tell me of the event in some detail, I will spare you the descriptions.

Trisha's dislike of mice came when she was in college.  First she found the sofa she was using had a mouse hole under the cushions.  Don't think she ever saw a mouse there, just the hole.  The second event occurred when she and her friends rented an old house together one year.  As I recall the story, Trisha fell asleep on the bed with a bag of chips and a book.  When she awoke to the noise in the bag of chips and was confronted with mouse on her bed.  She then discovered mouse droppings in her closet, the kitchen drawers and wherever else.  I will never forget her call to me that morning, she was very upset and needed to know what to do. 

Trisha was off to the store for traps, bleach and poison.  She bleached the silverware for days before she would use it again.  If a mouse was caught in the trap, the trap and mouse went in the trash, there was no way she would touch that thing!  Oh, the days of knowledge didn't all come from the college class room.

Trisha and Bill and their four children live in a very nice new house.  They have a very old house cat that stays in the house, unless she can find a way to get outdoors.  Greta, the cat, has very cleverly learned to open the screen door on the sliding glass door and escapes on occasion.  Upon these joyful escapes, she hunts.  Greta, being a generous cat, brings her mouse to the back door to show her family what a great hunter she is and then she proceeds to eat it on the step, leaving blood drips behind. 

This event sends Trisha, the girl who grew up on a farm, in an old farm house, over the top!   The first time this happened, the cat was allowed back in the house, only after Trisha had thoroughly wiped her clean with Lysol bleach wipes.  It then occurred to Trisha that the cat might get sick from cleaning herself with the cleaning solution on the wipes.   She then proceeded to give the cat a bath.  

Ice Cream

A break in the hot and humid week we have had in Ohio was celebrated last night with a trip to get ice cream.  It seems the Model A Ford truck was purchased just for this reason, to make a run for ice cream.  We haven't gone for this cool treat in some time and it's happened twice in the last month!

This trip was a little further from home to a kind of yuppie area at the edge of a busy population.  We took all the back roads to avoid people that may be in more of a hurry, the truck runs about forty MPH.  The cooler early evening is the perfect time for a drive on the country roads. 

Air conditioning consists of the windows being open.  The joy of feeling fresh air cannot be explained, there is a freedom about having the windows open and smelling the air.  The joy of actually seeing the countryside at a slower pace.  I was most upset at not taking my camera, I missed the picture of a flock of gold finches in a patch of thistle that went to seed.  There was a beautiful picture of a pond and an elderly fisherman with his pole over the water.   I also missed the mares and foals in a pasture, the foals bucking and kicking as they ran and played together.  I am astounded at the corn fields, most are taller than me and I swear, they will tassel before the Fourth of July.  In the old days, the saying for corn was, knee high by the Fourth of July.  This year it is well beyond that!  We also saw many fields of first cutting hay drying and to be baled tomorrow.  Talk about a wonderful smell...........   you just don't get that in a car with the windows rolled up as you travel four lane roads.

We arrived at the fancy little ice cream place, Richard backs into a shady spot were we can sit and have our ice cream and watch the other people coming and going.   Both of us ready for the cool treat.  Funny, we hadn't even had supper yet and we were getting ice cream!  My friend said, "Life is too short, always have desert first!" and so we did.  Richard always has a chocolate milk shake and I will usually have a hot fudge sundae.  Yummy!

My wonderful husband goes to the window to place his order.   People come and go and I am watching their reactions to our old truck.  I have noticed some interesting things about people, not the adult people, I notice the children.  I wonder what in our genes makes boys look with wonder at the old truck and little girls just skip past without a glance, obvious to the truck.  How does that happen, I didn't "teach" my son to like the mechanics of cars and trucks, I didn't teach my girls not to be interested these things, it just happened.

Oh my girls, like myself think the old truck is pretty cool, we don't need to dwell on it's coolness.

So while I'm sitting there, on my ice cream date, a man comes over and within minutes he and my date are talking about the truck.  And right there in the yuppie ice cream parking lot, my wonderful husband raises the hood of the old truck...................  I shake my head and continue to enjoy my hot fudge sundae.

The Golden Arches

I love technology, I don't really understand how it all works, but for the most part it is very exciting to use the computer and connect with people around the world.   I love having the GPS in the car and helping me find the way around a busy city.  I love being in the right lane when getting ready to exit because our GPS friend, Clover, tells me what lane to stay in.  I don't really like it much when she doesn't trust me to follow my instincts and I pick the better route.  She argues with me when this happens, then her name is not as sweet as Clover.

When I started my Wild Gourd Studio business ten years ago, interesting things began to happen.  It has to do with my last name being McDonald.  For some reason technology has decided that we are chain eating establishment.  We live on a country road between three very small villages that have no chain restaurants.  Somehow, somewhere in the tangled web of technology our home phone number is listed as a McDonald's Restaurant.  I choose not to eat at such a place and my wonderful husband doesn't support them due to their views and support of gun control.   Not writing a political blog, just meandering a little. 

Cedarville is a college town, people come for sporting events, summer camps and whatever else that draws out-of-towners.  We have seen increased traffic on our road, some drivers are unusually slow or use our driveway to turn around in.  The most annoying thing that happens and has given me a reason not to answer the home phone, is the calls.  Just this evening I got a call about the type of toy we had, my brain couldn't comprehend what they were even talking about, I failed to follow any part of the question.  Then I found out they were talking about the new movie toy that comes with kids meals.  We have taken calls in the late night asking if we could handle a bus load of hungry kids.   My husband loves when we get that call, he always says that they are welcome to come, but his wife doesn't like to cook, might not find the kitchen open.  We have talked to drivers on their cell phones as they drive past our house, asking directions, telling us they can only find a corn field at the address their GPS is giving.  I also love it when they want to know if we are taking applications for a job.  I love telling them there is no application necessary, I have lots of jobs around the home place that need doing.  I even get mail to the restaurant chain.  It is just some quirky glitch in our modern technology I could live without.
Moral of this story, don't call me on the home phone looking for a restaurant, no one is cooking at McDonald's today.

Morning Gratitude

This morning is one of those mornings.  Mother Earth is wearing her brightest smile.  I awoke to beautiful sunshine.  Everything was wash clean again by the rains in the night.  There is a breeze in the air, rustling of the new bright green leaves.  The heady scent of my lilac bush fills the morning air.  Everything seems to sparkle from the drops of water still resting on plants and leaves. 

Long before the sun was up, I heard a bird.  I have no idea what bird it was, it was already announcing the start of a new day.  I lay there only a moment listening, I wasn't ready to join him, sleep took over any thought of getting up.  The birds here are all busy with their spring chores, courting Cardinals will feed their mate a seed from the feeder.  The barn swallows use the soft wet earth as the glue to weave their grasses into the perfect nest.  The Northern Oriole is singing in a clear and perfect pitch for his mate to come to our trees and build their nest.  I am astonished how they find the tail hairs from my horses to build their perfect nest basket.  The robin has been feeding her babies on the front porch lamp for more than a week now.  I can't quite see them, but soon they will peek above the nest. 

I'm delighted to see the first tree swallows in over three years.  After the two week ice and freeze in many states, we had a noticeable decline in tree swallows and bluebirds.  The numbers dropped to were they were in the eighties.  The tree swallows are building a nest in the box behind our mailbox.  Did you know they always decorate their nest with a feather or two before they lay first their egg?

I forgot, I believe I was sharing how beautiful this morning was...........   I know for sure that on a morning such as this, I have to say, "thank you".  I don't know who hears that gratitude, well, maybe I do, it just has to be said.  It is what I believe is a perfect moment and I want to keep it close.  I want to savor it and sit with it for as long as I can.  Think I'll take a flute, my coffee and go outside right now.

Nightgowns

I have two nightgown stories............  they both make me giggle just remembering them.

The memory occurs when my children were young.  For some reason I went out on the front porch in my knee length, ruffled nightgown.  We live in the country, so you can get away with things like this.... but when the door slammed shut behind me, I knew I was in big trouble.  The door was locked and my ruffled nightgown was caught!  Couldn't pull it through and no one else was up to help me.  So for a few brief moments I thought about slipping out of the nightgown and making a dash around the house to the back door.  My senses came to me when I realized how long I'd be in the open as I made this dash.  We don't live that far from the road and farmers (who love to road farm)  they often use our road on the way to the local coffee house in Cedarville.  I couldn't risk being the morning topic at the coffee shop and I continued to push the doorbell until someone got up and finally let me in the house.

My second memory comes during the same time period, probably early 80's.   I was talking to a friend on the phone as I sat at the dining room table, looking out the front window.  Along comes a County mower on a big green John Deere tractor.  We mow on both sides of the road, our mail box is across the road, so it looks very nice in the summer.  In the middle of the mowed, well kept area of our mailbox, grows a big patch of wild tiger lilies.  They were green but not blooming.

As I'm talking to my friend, this guy on the mower, lifts the mower up to pass what we mow and go around the mail box.  Then he proceeds to drop the mower on the bed of tiger lilies and mow them off.  I am off the phone and out the door in a flash!  Yelling loud enough to be heard over the tractor and mower!!!  The driver probably doesn't hear me, but he sees this wild looking woman, in her knee length ruffled nightgown, that perhaps had be wash to thread bear.  He looks like a "deer in headlights", he politely turns the mower off and takes off his ear protection to see what the heck I wanted.  I proceed to give him a lecture about the difference between flowers and weeds.

As I recall, he was just a kid, doing his summer job.  I expect he learned a little about flowers that day, but he also learned that women in flying nightgowns are not to be messed with!  By the way, we have lived here for 34 years and the flowers out there were never mowed down again.

The Water Bed and the UPS Man

A few years back, I noticed that I'd wake up in the morning and my shoulder was damp.  It occurred to me that our water-bed had a little tiny leak.  I tried to patch it with various things, fingernail polish, duct tape, vinyl patching product and then just resorted to a towel under my shoulder each night.  It was most annoying!  We have had our water bed for years, yep, you could say, "since they first came out".  Was that really back in the 70's?  We like the water-bed, it's always cozy warm to crawl into at night.  It has never bothered my back, but I will say that Richard didn't like sleeping in it after his rotator cuff surgery.  But, I am not sure he could be comfortable in a more conventional bed either.

OK, back to the leak.  So, my daughter, Emily says, "Mom, get online and order a new liner".  Well that is pretty easy.  I placed the order and it arrived by UPS when I was out of town.  My husband just moved it inside the house and when I came home we would dealt with it.  Now many of you know that water-beds hold lots of water and getting the water out is not an easy task.  The day we decided to replace the liner, Emily was there to help.  We had drained as much water as we could out of the bladder, but it was still squishy with liquid.  Lifting it out of the frame was difficult, water is heavy!  Plus, the liner was like picking up jello with your fingers tips.  It tends to squirm and fall every which way.  We decided to move it by trying to put it into the cardboard box that the new one came in, of course, it was bigger than the box.  So it kind of eked out the top. the cardboard started tearing so I proceeded to duct tape the box to keep the squishy liner inside.
We managed to drag, scoot and lift it to the front porch.  Richard said he'd use the bobcat to move it out the the curb on trash day.  Trash day was almost a week away and it rained sometime during the week, creating a more unstable box.

In the mean time, I'd had some gourds delivered by UPS and several had gotten broken.  So I was dealing with UPS to make a claim.  They told me to pack up the broken gourds and they'd send a UPS truck to pick them up.  So I waited for this to happen.

One day I was going to the mailbox and realized the water-bed in a cardboard box that was sitting at the front door was gone.  The thought crossed my mind that Richard didn't haul it to the curb, but where did it go?  Couldn't figure it out at all, even Richard was puzzled.  The next day my UPS man came to pick up my broken gourds.  Off hand I ask him if he'd come the day before and he said no, he was off yesterday.  For some reason I told him my puzzlement regarding the water-bed liner in a taped together cardboard box.  Then he said "Ohhhh, so that is why my boss ask me this morning about that broken box with a water-bed liner sitting on the office floor at UPS!"  My UPS guy knew nothing about it, he'd had a sub yesterday.   Then we both started laughing, trying to figure how this UPS sub managed to get my water-bed liner into his truck and then into UPS. 

The story doesn't end............  UPS sent this box back to the company I'd ordered the liner from and less than a week later a new water-bed liner arrived from the company!!!!   Of course, UPS then had to come out and get the new liner and ship it back to the company, we certainly didn't need another liner.

Today I ran into my UPS guy at another place of business in Yellow Springs.  He and I just look at each other and start laughing.   The people around us think we are loosing it!  I know UPS guys have a bunch of funny things happen, if a book was written, this story might make the pages.