I have always enjoyed spending time with people older than I.  When I was a kid, I enjoyed visiting my grandparents.  I loved hearing them tell stories of when they were younger people… what they did… where they had been. 

I like the term “oldster” to define people significantly older than me.  “Old person” is not an attractive label.  I use the term “youngster”, so why not “oldster”?

We are celebrating Independence Day in the United States today. 

Ever since I was a child, I remember this day being about picnics, campfires, and fireworks.  There was always a parade somewhere nearby, and Mum would take us to sit on the edge of a street, usually with some of our cousins, and await the fire trucks and marching bands, and the clowns (apologies to all of you reading who fear clowns :-)).

Mum comes from a big family.  Perhaps calling it a “big” family is an understatement.  She is one of nine children.  Those children grew families, and had over 25 children.  The children have all had children, and the family continues to grow.

When I was a child, we celebrated holidays with the big family.  It was fun to get together with everyone, as there were always other kids for play.  One of the “holidays” we started to celebrate when I was a teenager was “Granny’s Birthday”.

It takes almost an hour to get to Mum’s house from the homestead.  The transport of the “Hello Kitty” cake to the birthday celebration was without incident.  My niece gave her squeal of approval with a very loud “Aunt-Aunt made me a Hello Kitty cake!”

Visual inspection successful!

This weekend, one of my nieces celebrates her 6th birthday.  Tradition in our family is that Mum prepares a dinner of choice.  My job is to provide a sweet treat.  The usual request is for white cake.  My niece has requested a white cake.  Specifically, she requested “kitty cat cake”.

Oh boy.

Yesterday was puppy school day.

After the major frustrations suffered in class last week, I emailed the instructor hoping for words of wisdom that would whisk us past the bumps in the road and get us back on track.

I woke up this morning to sunshine and bird song.  As summer fast approaches, the days have been full of glorious light and dry, warm air.  Days like this keep me busy with more on my list than time usually allows.  My brain runs in high gear and it is often difficult to slow it down.

Today is one of those days.

This week I had class number two of the second round of dog training with Jaxon. 

Jaxon, our now six-month old boxer, passed puppy school and did very well despite being easily distracted.  VERY easily distracted.  This week we had class number two of the second round of dog training.  The objective is to build on his puppy skills.  Week one he was a model student.  He even acted as model to some of the younger dogs in the class.  What a proud moment for a dog-mom when the instructor picks him to demonstrate a skill!

Although the weather has been a bit unpredictable, overall the temperatures have been warm and welcoming.  After a bit of a cool, wet spring, the end of the season has allowed things to dry out a bit.  The grass is growing, the trees are green, and the underbrush in the woods surrounding the house has grown up and become a bustle of activity with squirrels, rabbits, and chipmunks (to the delight of the barn cats). 

I have spent most of the past few days in the dirt.  Literally.  For me, working in the dirt is a labor of love.

When I was in my early 20’s, I lived in Virginia.  I was on a visit “home”, and my dad and a dear friend of his were going fly fishing behind the house.  (Being raised on a trout stream is yet another story!)  They asked me if I wanted to join them.  At that point, I had better things to do than fish, but enjoyed being outside, so agreed that a walk along the stream would be nice.