Well, as most of you know, I went on a last minute trip to NS last weekend. Let me tell you, when you have 4 horses, 2 guinea pigs, 2 cats, a dog, a fish, and a 7 year old child - leaving at the last minute isn't an easy task. Plus throw in a dead goose for good measure!
Last Wed Lord Gord had to go to a trade show in Moncton and then he was going to Metagan River NS for a couple of days and then returning the following Wed. Before he went he said he was actually looking forward to going and I said, "sure wish I was going too". He said, "you should". Well, this is one of those examples of beware of what you wish for! I never gave it another thought until late Friday night when I kept thinking how nice it would be to get away for some adult time. I checked my airmiles and I had enough to book a flight, plus there were flights available. Still not convinced though because it's such a challenge getting away. Saturday morning Fronie and I were doing the barn and I told her about my conversation with the Lord and she says, "book a flight - go - I'll look after everything here". Again, one of those examples of beware of what you wish for! When I got back in the house I thought, "what the heck - I'm gonna go for it!" So I booked my flight before I could change my mind. HOLY CRAP! All of a sudden at 11 am on Saturday I am going to be catching a flight at 6 am Sunday morning. What the heck had I done to myself!
So let the preparations begin ... this also just happened to be the day that Fronie had arranged for a friend of her's parents to come for a cart ride on Skipper. That's an entirely different story so will have to wait for it's own thread. Basically Jack is 80 and failing fast - always had horses he worked in the woods, etc. He'd heard about Skipper so Fronie mentioned to him about our Bucketlist project. he said that taking his wife for one last cart ride was on the top of his list. So we made it happen. And of course we had previously arranged for it - not knowing that I'd be srambling to get things ready to go away. Anyways, Jack and the "Mrs" came out. First I took Jack for a cart ride to make sure that he could still handle the reins. He did great so we went back to the barn for him to pick up his woman. Well the two of them giggled and giggled the whole time they were aboard. What a ball they had! It made me really happy to have gone through with the plans instead of delaying it. I have pictures and a video which I will post over the weekend.
Here are some pictures of Jack and Joan's cart ride.
But prior to this something else had occured which ate up more of my day. when I went to put the boys out around 10 I noticed that the neighbourhood goose was honking really loudly so I knew he was peeved at something. Across the river there was a car that would drive up to Mr. Goose, blare the horn and then back up. It kept at this for a few runs and Mr. Goose was getting really aggressive towards the car. After all, his job was to protect the ducks. Next thing I heard was the car backing up (a good distance), they hit the gas and floored it. (you can guess where this is going). I kept watching but didn't see anything as the car disappeared from sight. When I got back into the house I got my binos (you know the ones I use for spying on the neighbour who I think hides dead bodies!) and looked across the river but didin't see anything so I figured things were OK. About an hour later a man, who I've never seen before, is knocking on my door. I opened the door and he asked me if I owned the goose. I said no and he wanted to know if I knew who owned him. I told him that nobody owned Mr. Goose, he just hung out around the neighbourhood and guarded the ducks. The man said that he saw Mr. Goose every day when he went for his walk and that he had just found him dead on the other side of the river. I told him the story about what I had seen. Turns out the man had carried Mr. Goose all the way over the tressle because he thought he belonged to me and he didn't want Mr. Goose to be just left there. I asked him where the goose was and he said he had him up on the old track. "Bring him down" I said, "and I'll cover him in a sheet for now and then bury him later in the day". Just what I needed - a dead goose on the day I was trying to get out of town!
After the cart ride it was 3 pm. Time to bury the goose. So I called the Lord and asked him where I should bury him. He told me between the tree that had blown down and the one that he had cut down. No problem - I knew exactly where he meant (or so I thought). Got the back hoe over there and then couldn't get the darned arm to extend. There were two pins in it but there was no friggin' way I was going to pull out ANY pins. With my luck the entire backhoe would have seperated from the tractor! Instead I got out the old shovel and decided to dig by hand. Fronie helped. So there she was in her cowgirl boots, aussie hat and gucci bag (which holds her I phone) hanging around her neck, shoveling for all she was worth. Not an easy task on "the rock".
Hole was ready so we gathered the troops. There was myself and Fronie, Kayla, my neighbour Antje, Fronie's two boys and one of their girlfriends. Antje brought over some chicken feed that we all took a turn sprinkling on Mr. Goose so that he had some nourishment for his next journey. Then I said a few words and we covered him over.
By now it's 4:30 and I haven't even started supper yet - let alone pack a bag. I whipped up supper for us all and then got the kids to clean the kitchen while I packed. Fronie and I took a few mintues so that I could give her some final notes on everyones' schedules. Horses - check. Dog - check. Guinea pigs - check. Fish - check. Cats - check. Hmmm ... I knew I had forgotten something but couldn't figure it out. Oh yah ... Kayla - CHECK! I left around 8 as the troops were getting into the hot tub, and drove to my SIL's house in St. John's for an overnight because I was leaving so early. When I was there I finally got the time to post on this site to see if I could get hold of anyone to spend the day with.
I barely slept that night because there was so much going through my head. I called the Lord and told him I was coming. He wanted to know what my plans were for Sunday and I told him I hadn't figured that out yet - but not to worry - I'd think of something! I left my SIL's at 0445, and arrived in Hfx at 0700 - ready for action. And so it began ...
Fri Mar 26, 2010 6:01 pm
