What Doesn’t Belong?

Okay guys and gals, it’s time for another contest.  So let’s see how sharp-eyed you are!

I took a picture of the den the other day.  It’s full of The Farmer’s racing souvenirs and memorabilia, plus a few knick knacks of other sorts.  As you can see in this picture, there are just all kinds of goodies in there collecting dust.

However, at the time I took this picture, there was also something in there that doesn’t really belong – – it just doesn’t quite fit in with all the other stuff.  (If you need a closer look, click on the picture to enlarge it.)

So, can you see it?

I’m going to hold the comments until Friday, then I’ll announce the winner.

And what do you win?  This time you get a choice:

1. framed 5×7 of any picture on this webiste, or
2. large magnet (5.47″ x 4.21″).

This is what the magnet looks like:

It’s great for those refrigerators or filing cabinets!

So take a look, then take a guess!  Good luck!

Put A Plug In It

Once upon a time, long, long ago, after weeks and weeks of rain, we finally had a sunny Saturday.  Considering that, the Farmer’s buddy, Harvey, decided it would be a great day for he and his wife to take their cabin cruiser and spend a day on the lake. Accordingly, they hooked up the trailer with the 24-foot boat on board and headed out.

Once there, they slipped the boat into the water as usual.  All pretty routine.  Harvey’s wife, Sue, stayed by the boat while he went and parked the truck.

But then, as he was headed back to the boat, looking forward to a serene day of floating on the lake, he heard his wife scream, “There’s water coming in the boat!”

So much for serenity!  It would seem they forgot one very important detail with the boat — they forgot to put a plug in it.

Now, not being a boater myself, I wondered why boats have plugs. Why would you want a hole in something meant to float on the water? However, someone more knowledgeable about boats explained to me there’s a plug near the back of the boat so when the boat is taken out of the water, any water left inside the boat can be drained out.

Okay, that makes sense.  Of course you’re obviously supposed to put the plug BACK before you put the boat into the water again. Since neither Harvey nor his wife remembered to do that, the water was pouring into the boat through the open plug hole.

Once Harvey’s realized what was going on, he quickly found the needed plug and jumped in the water. Moving so quick meant he didn’t take time for such niceties as removing his flip-flops and hat… which were soon floating further and further away from the boat.

He dived once and tried to get the plug in the boat. No such luck. The water was so murky he couldn’t see to find the plug hole. He finally ran out of air and had to surface. His wife was shouting, “There’s still water coming in the boat!”

Once again he went down, and once again he couldn’t find the hole for the plug. Once again he ran out of air and had to surface. And once again when he came back to surface, he heard his wife shouting, “There’s still water coming in the boat!”

At this point, Harvey’s thinking, “I KNOW that! I’ve still got the plug in my hand!”

The third time he tried, still without success. He stayed under until he was desperate for air, and in his hurry to reach the surface again, banged his head HARD on the boat.

Seeing stars didn’t help his vision any, and hearing his wife shout once again, “There’s still water coming in the boat!” didn’t help his temper any. While nursing his sore head, he was giving a lot of thought to how he’d like to thump the tarnation out of her for continuing to scream about the obvious.

When he reached up to rub his hurt noggin, he finally realized why the water looked so dark and murky and he was having trouble seeing…. he still had on his sunglasses! Tearing them off, once again he dove under to see if he could get the plug into the boat. This time he could actually see well enough to find the hole and place the plug into it snug and tight. As he surfaced for air this time, his wife triumphantly exclaimed, “The water stopped coming into the boat!”

He decided to avoid wife abuse and go paddle after his roaming flip-flops and hat to give himself time to cool his temper to match his cold body. It did occur to him to be grateful no one else was around to witness his humiliation. Considering he’d been boating since he was seven years old, it was totally embarrassing to forget to put the plug in the boat for the first time at age sixty.

Once he’d gathered up his wandering shoes and hat, he hauled his dripping wet self back into the boat and started the bilge pump. It took over an hour to get the errant water out of the boat.

Next time, I bet Harvey doesn’t forget to put a plug in it.

Crack Pot Idea

I get lots of ideas.  If you look in the dictionary under “idea person”, why my picture will be there.  Some are good ideas, but others you might say were a little on the crackpot side and don’t work out so well.  The wool as mulch in my flower beds was one of those not-so-stellar ideas.

Here’s another one.

When we remodeled our hall bathroom, we put in a new commode (or toilet, depending on what part of the country you’re from).  I got this “bright” idea to be totally redneck (I know, so completely out of character), and make a little water garden out of the discarded commode.

Come on now, you know you think it would have been cool.  Okay, okay, so quit shaking your head then.  But hey!  At least I had the guys set in the back yard, not the front!

Anyway, come spring, I was going to fix a pump so the water circulated out of the bowl and into the tank, and then a little fountain of water could arch down from the tank and back into the bowl. 

To finish it off, I was going to put some marginal plants in pots in the tank (pots in the pot… now if it was legal to grow marijuana, I could have had pot in pots in the pot….).

I figured I’d put some floating plants in the bowl, plus a goldfish or two for movement and color.

Now admit it, doesn’t that sound neat?

Unfortunately, a flaw appeared in my plan.

Even without water in it, apparently the commode’s porcelain couldn’t withstand the wide variations of temperatures in the outside world and cracked under the pressure.

Yep, there was a definite flaw in my plan.  And it just kept getting worse.

My cracked-pot idea just totally fell apart.

Now I guess we’ll just have to junk the pot.  Too bad, cause I still think it would have been pretty neat.  I mean, how many people could say they have a commode fountain in their yard?

So much for my pot project.  I turned out to be another cracked-pot idea.

Life Goes On & Contest Winner For Guessing Toby’s Weight!

Life goes on.

It’s going to take a while to ease the ache of losing our little cria though.  It especially breaks my heart when I see our Lady Llama out there nosing around in the hay and humming softly to herself… you know she’s looking for her baby and wondering what happened to it.

Even our male llama, Samson, isn’t immune to grief.  He stands on the other side of the fence, his hum just a low cry.

Anybody who doesn’t think animals grieve has either never been around them much, or is terribly insensitive.  At this point, it hurts more watching them mourn than it did to lose the baby.  She’s gone.  They’re still here and they hurt.

But like I said, life goes on.  It kind of tickled me to see the one little chick peeking through the mama hen’s feathers.

This morning she was out with four little chicks.

She’s already teaching them to scratch around and look for food.  She scratches around and clucks for them to come see.  I tried to get a picture with all four little chickie bottoms in the air, but it didn’t work.

Like in this picture… only two little bottoms up, one chick half asleep, and the other one scratching.  Oh well, they’re cute!

Now, as for the contest on how much this silly dog weighs…

The winner is Amy from “Amy’s Corner” – GO AMY!

She guessed 85 pounds, and the vet’s scales said 82 pounds, so that’s a pretty good guess!  I was surprised someone got that close!  So once again, it’s time to choose a picture and let me know what you’d like!

Thanks to everyone who stops by and reads “Rural Ramblings”, and especially to those who leave comments, and even more so, those who take time to participate in the contests!

Have a great weekend ya’ll!

Toby Gets Board

As I’ve mentioned before, our American Farm Collie, Toby, likes to carry around a stick, a board, a log… just some piece of wood!  It can be anywhere from toothpick size to dragging around a big log.  He just has to have some wood in his mouth, because after all, someone might want to play tug-of-war or fetch with him!

But sometimes the big pieces of wood present a… well, a bit of a LOGistics problem!

Like how in the world can he get this big, long board through the door?  He just can’t lumber through any old which way.

However, being a resourceful dog, he gets a new “slat” on his problem.

Unfortunately, there are more obstacles.  Here’s yet another gateway he has to pole vault through somehow.

He has a stake on getting through though.  He likes to follow me around while I do chores, and maybe get a treat biscuit (or two or three…).

He manages a sort of “Beam me through Scotty” approach and gets through once more.

I’ve got him pegged however.  He’ll drop that board if I offer him a treat!

Of course, just maybe Toby has had a few too many treats.  Youngest son and I took Toby to the vet Friday to catch up on his immunizations and stuff (the dog, not the son).  While Toby was there, we got him up on the scales and weighed him.

Now you’ve seen all these pictures.  You’ve seen him compared to the chickens in the background, and sitting beside my about 6′ tall son.

So the question is: How much do you think Toby weighs???

I’ll give you a couple of hints.

1. About 4 years or so ago, he weighed 42 pounds.
2. Next month he’ll be 5 years old.
3. He may be just a tad fluffy, but he’s mostly pretty solid!

The person who guesses closest to his actual weight by this Friday wins the contest!  The prize is a 5×7 picture, your choice!  (And Jenny, yours is ready to go as soon as I have an address!)  I don’t say I’ll get it to you FAST, but I will get it to you!

So take a guess!  Just how much do YOU think Toby weighs???