The Lucky Dog Blog

POOR DEAR

On Marilyn and Al's trip coming back to the cabins they saw a little fawn that was looking for its mother.

                 

The mother did not seem to be around. I hope the little poor dear finds her.

Lucky

COUNTRY STORE

When Marilyn and Al were on their tour of historic McDonald County they visited a old Country Store  outside of Anderson, MO. They are not sure if it was a real store that was moved to that location, or if it is a reproduction. There is great attention to detail in any case.

    

Dan Rickets (who is now deceased) collected the artifacts in the store as a hobby. He and his friends would gather by the old pot bellied stove and play checkers and tell tall tales, just like they did in the old days.

   

The store is not open to the public,but Judy Rickets, (Dan window) did share the store with for this tour. It was a special privilege to have the opportunity to see it and step back into a moment in time, Al and Marilyn said.

Lucky

THUNDER AND LIGHTNING

This morning I woke up to heavy thunder and lightning.

I am worried that we will lose the power and the Internet.

I did download a picture to use in the Lucky Dog Blog post.

I will shut down now and go back to bed.

Lucky

GREEK NIGHT OUT

Thursday night Marilyn and Al were honored to be invited to a Unity in Diversity dinner with  a Greek theme. Their hostess and the evening moderator welcomed all for food and fun. I must say that she really did look like a Greek goddess, herself.

       

Every one brought a dish of Greek origin to share for the dinner. The food was delicious, I’m told. At each meeting, they choose a different country to celebrate and learn more about. Thus, they widen their knowledge of the world and learn about ways in which we are the same, yet differ. They also had entertainment for the evening. Of course, it had a Greek theme as well.

       

It looks like they had a lot of fun, but as my Lucky Dog readers might expect, this little black puppy was not invited.

Lucky

BIG NEWS ON BIG SUGAR CREEK

Well, wouldn’t you know it. When our area makes the news, it is seldom for a good thing. Yesterday, as Marilyn was going into town she saw an amazing sight.  There were a number of official looking vehicles parked around the entrance to the Big Sugar Creek Park. The photo doesn’t show many of the cars and SUV’s that were there also.

     

Now, you must understand that like this little black dog, Marilyn is pretty territorial about things going on in our neighborhood. She wanted to know what was going on.

    

She stopped and took some photos for my blog (Isn’t it nice that she always thinks of me?) No one even acknowledged her presence. (So much for all of those murder mysteries where when the protagonist tries to enter the crime scene, cops are all over him.) She must have been invisible.

    

She tried to find some answers, but I must say that was a futile attempt as her calls to the park authority and sheriff’s office didn’t provide any answers. Both said “I know nothing.” She knew it had to be a big deal to have both the Highway Patrol and the ATF involved, but it might have been a training exercise although surely they would have had enough sense to avoid that on one of the hottest days of the year in a place infested with ticks and chiggers. So, not knowing any details she went on about her business.

On her way home, she met more than ten official vehicles rushing back toward town and when she passed the park, the big trucks and other vehicles were still there. Later in the evening, Marilyn & Al were coming back from a special dinner. (I will write about that tomorrow.) They learned from a neighbor that there was a search for one of our “neighbors”.

This morning’s Joplin Globe had the full story. It seems a local self proclaimed white supremacist, Robert Joos had been arrested and they were searching one of his training camps that evidently was established in the park. Joos is a well known figure around here having had several skirmishes with the law and is a convicted felon. He claims to be the leader of a church that (among their more menacing beliefs) advocates long hair (evidently he never got over his hippie stage), fringed clothing and a total disdain for any governmental entity (the exception seemed to be his frequent use of the Older Americans Transportation bus, since he refuses to get a driver’s license and has served time for driving without one.) I suggest you read the story in the Globe to get the details that I am not able to get typed in a timely manner (my paws are tired.)

Tomorrow’s story will be more upbeat.

Lucky

CLOUDS

We have been having some unusually hot weather for June. The temperatures have been in the upper 90’s for several days. Yesterday it was starting to cloud up, and as she drove though town, Marilyn thought the clouds were pretty and they promised some relief from the heat.

                   

It might rain, she thought. As she neared the cabin, there were even  more clouds in the east.

                  

The rain never came, that is lucky.

No wait, a minute – I am Lucky.

Lucky

YELLOW TOMATOES

About ten days ago I did a story about Al’s tomatoes on our front deck, Tomatoes.

At that time, the tomatoes were just started to grow. Now the yellow grape tomatoes are making their first appearance.

             

Here is a better close up of the yellow tomatoes.

            

I still do not like tomatoes, but if I did, I would want to eat red ones. Those look like some kind of mutant tomatoes.

Lucky

STEAM MOP

Marilyn has a new gadget here at the cabin, that she thinks might be of interest to my Lucky Dog Blog readers. It is called a “Steam Mop” which is a mop that uses steam to clean hard floors.

Because Brutus is getting old (over 15 years old) he sometimes does not make it outside when the urge comes. Sometimes he leaks inside (the house, not himself).This reporter is better about going outside but accidents do happen.

Marilyn and Al hate the sticky floor after the puddle is wiped up and Marilyn would have to get a regular mop and a bucket of hot water to clean the the floor and then rinse the mop and so on and so forth.

Now with the steam mop she can clean the floor without the extra effort. Just fill the tank with distilled water, plug it in, wait a minute and then use steam to clean. The floor is clean and dry and when the pads get dirty they go into the washer and dryer for another time. She has used it for several days now, and finds it very handy. (No, that isn’t a photo from our house, but it looks nice.)

Lucky

OUR EAST COAST FARMERS

Al received a nice telephone call from his son David yesterday on Father’s Day. He also received a E-Mail message from David with a nice picture of his grandson Eric.

             

David’s message also said:

We have become suburban farmers this year, we set 7 topsy turveys with tomatoes, peppers and strawberry's.  (Word to the wise don't do strawberry's they don't grow real well upside down apparently.)  Last night we had fresh tomato, pepper, peas, and cucumber, Yummy. We have also planted on the back tiered area mint, strawberries, basil, tomatoes and no doubt more to come.

       

I can see that our east coast farmers are better gardeners that Marilyn and Al.

Lucky

VISITORS

Yesterday, Al & Marilyn went to meet Cousin Jim and his friend Marianne. They met at Zella’s home and then went to lunch in Neosho. After lunch, they came back to Zella’s and looked at family memorabilia. When Zella was a teenager, she worked at the newspaper office printing labels for the local strawberry growers. She has framed some samples of her work.That was back in time when Anderson, MO was the “Strawberry Capitol of the World”.

 

The framed pot holders were made by their Aunt Dink (Sarah Ellen Bunch Edmonds). Aunt Dink had severe rheumatoid arthritis and doing hand work was her therapy to keep use of her hands. The flour sack came from the mill in Southwest City, MO where Grandpa Bunch took his corn and wheat to be ground. He went with a wagon and team of mules and it was at least a two day trip. The ice tongs are from the days when ice was delivered in blocks to homes for the “ice boxes” to keep food cool.

 

 

 

This arrangement is of mementos of family members who were in law enforcement. The photo is of Marilyn & Zella’s grandfathers who were the Sheriff and Chief Deputy of McDonald County in the early 1900’s. The single spur is one of the few effects returned from their Uncle Clancy who was a cowboy in Wyoming before WWI and he died in France in the last week of the war in 1918. It is called a “Gal” spur as there is a silver image of a girl’s leg on each side of the heel piece. The shoulder holster (hanging from a thong) belonged to Grandpa Bunch when he was the deputy. Marilyn doesn’t know the story of the Kachina doll in the foreground.

 

Lucky