03 June 2020
988
R. Linda:
Me poor Mam! Yesterday it was rather a humid and hot day, a day to stay indoors with the AC on, your feet up, sipping iced tea and really caring about nothing. But me Mam didn't have a day like that, no she did not. Yesterday was the last day of homeschooling. Tonya was working with Guido, O'Hare was up in his room working on his school work, and as she usually does to help out, me little grey-haired, apple-cheeked Mam was sitting at the children's table schooling the wee one.
For some reason (maybe it was the heat), the wee one forgot everything he had learned, the entire alphabet out the window, counting to 100, out the window, counting by tens also out the window. We all have days like that when the brain turns off and you can't find the on switch to save your life.
"Couldaya tell yer brain cells to hold hands so we can git yer work done?" Mam asked the wee one. She was hot, at her wit's end and trying her best to be patient, but all the time spent prior was not paying off it seemed and she was near losing it.
He, had his hand in his hair bunching it up like this was just way too much to ask!
"Ima tryin'," he huffed.
"Dats all I be askin'," Mam said with a sigh.
About two hours later of pulling the work out of him, his work was completed for the school year. She looked exhausted for her part and him? Well, he was completely a new person! Energised and ready to go in the pool. Since the other two were long done with their school assignments, Tonya had run out to the store, I was working from home and that left Mam to supervise the three resident kiddos did not drown each other in the pool. The pool we got because we know it was going to be a long hot summer with three rambunctious kiddos in lockdown, and to cool them off as well as give them something to do, we sprung for a pool. So far it seems to be working. They go out and yes, they do try to drown each other and the splashing, the yelling, the squealing, the general mayhem -- well good thing we don't have neighbours close enough to hear all that.
Mam went out in the hot sun and decided it was too much for someone her age, so she went back into the AC and sat in the big window overlooking the pool with a book, keeping an eye on them. To her, it seemed like hours when it was really just one hour that they got tired of the horseplay and came inside to heat up the house with electronics. This turning on the wi-fi interferes with me work it does! I was in each one's room yelling they needed to turn it off so I could work.
Meanwhile, Mam had made herself a fresh glass of iced tea and had snuck out to her garden to sit among the honeybees and flowers. She has a hummingbird feeder there and she likes to watch the small birds zoom to it and then zoom away. As she was sitting there enjoying being kiddo-free, a box truck slowly pulled down the driveway with that awful beeping sound, which disturbed her communing with nature. It pulled down to our garage and proceeded to rumble up the door to unload its cargo and unbox pieces of furniture. Now this intrigued her as she was not far from them, and they did not see her sitting among the flora wondering who ordered furniture.
Thinking I would come out (I was in the back of the house and was oblivious), she started to get curious. She popped up from her chair scaring the one man closest to her. The screwdriver he was using went up in the air and lucky it didn't kill him when it fell pointy end first into the soil.
"Wot yer dooin' dere," she shouted to the now two startled individuals.
They shouted an address to her asking if this was it and she shouted back that they weren't even on the right road. Silently they exchanged dirty looks at each other and huffing started to rebox the furniture they were putting together to bring inside the house. Without a word they packed it all up and slowly and quietly this time, went back up the driveway, never to be seen again. She hoped.
Mam sat back down once again in the endeavour to enjoy her garden when she hears the beep, beep, beep of a truck. She looked over her tall iris plants to see the same truck backing back down the driveway. She threw up her hands like 'what now' and this time went to meet them. The one who wasn't the driver got out with his invoice and showed it to her asking for directions. She did her best but told them she wasn't sure of the house number but she knew the road. They asked if they could have a glass of water before they tooled off. Not happy but realising it was a hot day, she went in and brought them both bottled water. They thanked her and once again set off to hopefully never be seen again.
She sat back down and it wasn't a minute later she hears a smaller truck zooming down the driveway. She stood up to see it was the mailman this time. He had a special delivery and she was mystified because she didn't know of anything ordered she'd have to sign for but sign for it she did. She was handed a light box and it was addressed to her. Sitting back down in her chair she proceeded to open the box to find a vile of blood and a lab request. She jumped up!
It was maybe a few minutes later that the eldest noticed his grandmother dancing around the garden and thought she was having a heat stroke. He came and got me and we ran outside to find Mam looking at the ground like she was staring at a snake. It was the blood vile in a baggy that said clearly on it "bio hazard material." I picked it up and the discarded box opened the lab request and read it while she was telling me someone sent her a vile of Covid blood and oh my goodness saints preserve us all!
"For one, it isn't Covid blood, it's horse blood." I read it was for a Coggins test and looked at the address on the box. "For heaven's sake, this isn't even addressed to us. It's for the neighbour's horse down the road and I think it should be addressed to a lab, not the owner." I scratched me head.
I reboxed everything and went in to ring up me horsey neighbour. Sure enough, she had ordered a blood test for her horse and was stymied why the test was sent to anyone but a lab. Well, because she was away from her home, she had me bag the entire box and put it in our refrigerator until she got home and could come and get it.
Calming Mam inside with a cuppa I sat her down in the living room with her book and suggested she read and get her mind off all this crazy foolishness. Well, she tried she did. While she was "resting from the fright" her mobile dinged and there was a text from Amazon that her package had arrived.
"Wot package?" She mumbled to herself and got up. Usually, Amazon sends a photo of where they left said package, but this time there was none. Feeling maligned she heaved herself up and went to the front door, no package, the back door, no package, the side door, no package. She got herself in her car and drove to the mailbox, no package there either. It was hot, the car had no time to cool off, and she was done with delivery people and deliveries.
"So what did you get from Amazon?" I asked her after Alexa informed me I had a delivery.
"I did newt order anything' from dere." She said shrugging her shoulders. Heaving a great sign she went outside to her garden to try again to enjoy the shady, flowery haven she had created for herself.
It was maybe ten minutes later as I was sitting at me computer I saw movement out of the corner of me eye. I took a double take because headed in the direction of me Mam's garden was THIS:
I jumped up to warn her but wasn't sure what to do. Should I shout and she jumps up causing unwanted attention, or do I say nothing and hope the giant passes by without seeing her?
I shouted hoping to attract Mr. Bear to me, but instead, he ran off into the woods. I ran out and there was no sign of me Mam, but the cat was all amazed.
It seems Mam heard and smelled the bear before she saw it. Knowing what that smell was, she wasted no time gathering herself up and left for the great indoors.
This isn't the first time we've had bear, moose, bobcat, deer, and fox, traffic in that particular part of the yard. It must be a wildlife trail. The cat has not gotten over the fright, it is out there this morning bunkered down in the woodpile on alert. I wish I could have had a closeup of its face because it looked totally gobsmacked.
And that's what's new here and we still don't have a clue about the Amazon delivery, unless it was a real bear they dropped off.
Gabe
Copyright © 2020 All rights reserved
988
R. Linda:
Me poor Mam! Yesterday it was rather a humid and hot day, a day to stay indoors with the AC on, your feet up, sipping iced tea and really caring about nothing. But me Mam didn't have a day like that, no she did not. Yesterday was the last day of homeschooling. Tonya was working with Guido, O'Hare was up in his room working on his school work, and as she usually does to help out, me little grey-haired, apple-cheeked Mam was sitting at the children's table schooling the wee one.
For some reason (maybe it was the heat), the wee one forgot everything he had learned, the entire alphabet out the window, counting to 100, out the window, counting by tens also out the window. We all have days like that when the brain turns off and you can't find the on switch to save your life.
"Couldaya tell yer brain cells to hold hands so we can git yer work done?" Mam asked the wee one. She was hot, at her wit's end and trying her best to be patient, but all the time spent prior was not paying off it seemed and she was near losing it.
He, had his hand in his hair bunching it up like this was just way too much to ask!
"Ima tryin'," he huffed.
"Dats all I be askin'," Mam said with a sigh.
About two hours later of pulling the work out of him, his work was completed for the school year. She looked exhausted for her part and him? Well, he was completely a new person! Energised and ready to go in the pool. Since the other two were long done with their school assignments, Tonya had run out to the store, I was working from home and that left Mam to supervise the three resident kiddos did not drown each other in the pool. The pool we got because we know it was going to be a long hot summer with three rambunctious kiddos in lockdown, and to cool them off as well as give them something to do, we sprung for a pool. So far it seems to be working. They go out and yes, they do try to drown each other and the splashing, the yelling, the squealing, the general mayhem -- well good thing we don't have neighbours close enough to hear all that.
Mam went out in the hot sun and decided it was too much for someone her age, so she went back into the AC and sat in the big window overlooking the pool with a book, keeping an eye on them. To her, it seemed like hours when it was really just one hour that they got tired of the horseplay and came inside to heat up the house with electronics. This turning on the wi-fi interferes with me work it does! I was in each one's room yelling they needed to turn it off so I could work.
Meanwhile, Mam had made herself a fresh glass of iced tea and had snuck out to her garden to sit among the honeybees and flowers. She has a hummingbird feeder there and she likes to watch the small birds zoom to it and then zoom away. As she was sitting there enjoying being kiddo-free, a box truck slowly pulled down the driveway with that awful beeping sound, which disturbed her communing with nature. It pulled down to our garage and proceeded to rumble up the door to unload its cargo and unbox pieces of furniture. Now this intrigued her as she was not far from them, and they did not see her sitting among the flora wondering who ordered furniture.
Thinking I would come out (I was in the back of the house and was oblivious), she started to get curious. She popped up from her chair scaring the one man closest to her. The screwdriver he was using went up in the air and lucky it didn't kill him when it fell pointy end first into the soil.
"Wot yer dooin' dere," she shouted to the now two startled individuals.
They shouted an address to her asking if this was it and she shouted back that they weren't even on the right road. Silently they exchanged dirty looks at each other and huffing started to rebox the furniture they were putting together to bring inside the house. Without a word they packed it all up and slowly and quietly this time, went back up the driveway, never to be seen again. She hoped.
Mam sat back down once again in the endeavour to enjoy her garden when she hears the beep, beep, beep of a truck. She looked over her tall iris plants to see the same truck backing back down the driveway. She threw up her hands like 'what now' and this time went to meet them. The one who wasn't the driver got out with his invoice and showed it to her asking for directions. She did her best but told them she wasn't sure of the house number but she knew the road. They asked if they could have a glass of water before they tooled off. Not happy but realising it was a hot day, she went in and brought them both bottled water. They thanked her and once again set off to hopefully never be seen again.
She sat back down and it wasn't a minute later she hears a smaller truck zooming down the driveway. She stood up to see it was the mailman this time. He had a special delivery and she was mystified because she didn't know of anything ordered she'd have to sign for but sign for it she did. She was handed a light box and it was addressed to her. Sitting back down in her chair she proceeded to open the box to find a vile of blood and a lab request. She jumped up!
It was maybe a few minutes later that the eldest noticed his grandmother dancing around the garden and thought she was having a heat stroke. He came and got me and we ran outside to find Mam looking at the ground like she was staring at a snake. It was the blood vile in a baggy that said clearly on it "bio hazard material." I picked it up and the discarded box opened the lab request and read it while she was telling me someone sent her a vile of Covid blood and oh my goodness saints preserve us all!
"For one, it isn't Covid blood, it's horse blood." I read it was for a Coggins test and looked at the address on the box. "For heaven's sake, this isn't even addressed to us. It's for the neighbour's horse down the road and I think it should be addressed to a lab, not the owner." I scratched me head.
I reboxed everything and went in to ring up me horsey neighbour. Sure enough, she had ordered a blood test for her horse and was stymied why the test was sent to anyone but a lab. Well, because she was away from her home, she had me bag the entire box and put it in our refrigerator until she got home and could come and get it.
Calming Mam inside with a cuppa I sat her down in the living room with her book and suggested she read and get her mind off all this crazy foolishness. Well, she tried she did. While she was "resting from the fright" her mobile dinged and there was a text from Amazon that her package had arrived.
"Wot package?" She mumbled to herself and got up. Usually, Amazon sends a photo of where they left said package, but this time there was none. Feeling maligned she heaved herself up and went to the front door, no package, the back door, no package, the side door, no package. She got herself in her car and drove to the mailbox, no package there either. It was hot, the car had no time to cool off, and she was done with delivery people and deliveries.
"So what did you get from Amazon?" I asked her after Alexa informed me I had a delivery.
"I did newt order anything' from dere." She said shrugging her shoulders. Heaving a great sign she went outside to her garden to try again to enjoy the shady, flowery haven she had created for herself.
It was maybe ten minutes later as I was sitting at me computer I saw movement out of the corner of me eye. I took a double take because headed in the direction of me Mam's garden was THIS:
 |
| The biggest bear I've ever seen! |
 |
| Lucky for me Mam he veered in the other direction |
 |
| But then he turned to Mam's direction! |
 |
| The cat in the lower right watching "the thing" disappear into the woods |
It seems Mam heard and smelled the bear before she saw it. Knowing what that smell was, she wasted no time gathering herself up and left for the great indoors.
This isn't the first time we've had bear, moose, bobcat, deer, and fox, traffic in that particular part of the yard. It must be a wildlife trail. The cat has not gotten over the fright, it is out there this morning bunkered down in the woodpile on alert. I wish I could have had a closeup of its face because it looked totally gobsmacked.
And that's what's new here and we still don't have a clue about the Amazon delivery, unless it was a real bear they dropped off.
Gabe
Copyright © 2020 All rights reserved
