Yes, we have been MIA...

Yes, I am a deadbeat blogger.  Who knew this would be such a time-consuming effort!  In the meantime, here is a note from my sister that explains some of what has been going on around here.  I promise to get back on posting this week – Lizzie has sent us a stack of cards and I’ve got some catching up to do…

So, it’s been a while…

And, Lizzie is still on the move…

And, the kids still love hearing from the world’s most chatty cat…they can’t believe how fantastic his writing is getting.  Just yesterday, my daughter commented on how “pretty” Lizzie’s handwriting is looking.  “Man he can write Mom… I hope my writing will look like that soon.”  What a crack up!  I have even tried to interject the idea that Lizzie is pretty cunning and getting people along the way to help him write these cards, but, it never takes.  The kids are convinced that all of the postcards that arrive are written in his own “paw”… so you see; Lizzie is only becoming more incredible all the time.

Where have we been you might ask?  Well, we have busy with this thing called farming… like way busy.  The warm winter brought with it a super early spring with some damaging freezes and advanced perennial crops.  We just wrapped the 2012 cherry season last Saturday (normally it would just be starting), and we are still picking a few lingering strawberries.  Who would have thought that we could pick strawberries and the first peaches at the same time (not me!) but 2012 has been full of surprises and I am sure it isn’t over yet.  The guys gave the first squash patch a run through last week… we figured they would pull a couple hundred pounds and instead the emerged with over 1,000 lbs!  So, squash season has officially started – hey grocery stores we are on our way!  Every August we say that we, “ have the tiger by the tail,” and we are just trying to hang on.  Well this year the tiger has been trying to bite us since March… and we are tired of being dragged around.  Come on 2012… cut us some slack!

Shortly after the last post we had a tragedy here on the farm.  Truthfully, we weren’t really ready to tell you, or the kids, about it for a while.  We lost our beloved Bob… a captain in the “orange cat army” as Auntie Anne likes to say.  He was dumped off at the barn about eight years ago with his sister.  We had them fixed, and lost his sibling to a rare clotting disorder post surgery.  We worried that his recovery would be hindered by her passing… little did we know that a great love affair was about to begin.  Bob soon decided that he wasn’t actually a cat, but in fact a miniature chocolate lab.  Oh he was quirky… but he was hilarious… and we cried crocodile tears when we realized that the road out front had taken him from us.  At first, my husband wanted to tell the kids that he had left to meet Lizzie but we knew we couldn’t do that.  So we worked up to it.  And, about a week after his passing, once we were settled down a wee bit, we told the kids that he wasn’t coming home.  They cried.  We did too.  And then wanted to know where we had buried him at the farm.  And then they wanted to dig him up.  Hopefully we are past all of that now.  And they realize that all we have are our memories and whatever lovely plants may choose to grow over his grave.

Bob - Catnapping in the Spring Sunshine

Best Buddies

A side note:  I insisted that Cocoa, our lab, see Bob before we buried him.  My husband thought that I was being ridiculous but he obliged.  Even he was incredibly moved by what happened.  She sniffed over the basket and then her tail dropped.  She stood perfectly still, and then sat down right next to him.  She stayed like that for about ten minutes, staring out over the fields.  And then, she stood up, turned and walked slowly away.  A final vigil for a friend… and it makes me tear up to even think about it.

Exhausted after a long day of Guard-Dogging

We’ve got a stack of postcards here waiting to be posted.  Hopefully we will be back at it soon.  (I will harass Auntie Anne into posting ASAP.)  Lizzie will amaze you with what he has been up to.  All the way to Canada, Alaska, and an inordinate amount of stops at South of the Border.  Until the next time…

Mary

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, What?

Hmmm.  Lizzie loves Texas.  We received two more postcards from the beaches of Texas in the last week and a half.


The first one was from the Gulf of Mexico and read:

Eating yummy redfish and building sand castles.  Wish you were here!


Love, 
Lizzie

The second postcard came from Padre Island National Seashore and read:

Having fun, great new adventures.  I miss you!


Love, Lizzie



So what is it that is so great about Texas that Lizzie keeps going back?  I can only assume it's the intoxicating combination of Southern hospitality and Redfish - which Lizzie has mentioned on multiple occasions.  And what is Redfish?  Thankfully, I don't have to wonder about the answer to these questions because I have a father who, as he once told me, "is an expert in all areas and could answer any questions you could possibly ever come up with."  So, why wonder when I can just call and ask...

Me: Hey Dad, I have question for you.
Dad: You can't borrow any money.
Me: I didn't ask for any money!
Dad: It was preemptive. What's the question?
Me: What is Redfish?
Dad: Redfish?
Me: Yes, Redfish. 
Dad: I can only assume that it's a red fish.
Me: Yeah but is it a Texan specialty or something?
Dad: Why do you ask? Don't you have Wikipedia?
Me: Yeah, but why would I use Wikipedia when you can answer any question I could ever come up with?
Dad: (smug chuckling) In that case, it's a red fish that they have in the Gulf of Mexico.
Me:  Are you just saying that because I said something about Texas?
Dad: Does it matter?
Me: Yeah, is it true?
Dad: Sure.  It's sometimes called Red Snapper.
Me: Okay, so Redfish is the same as Red Snapper.
Dad: Sure, whatever.  While I have you on the phone, your sister wants to run a Windows program on the Mac and she needs to use a program called VM Ware Fusion.
Me: Yeah, I don't want to talk about that right now.  I want to talk about Redfish.  
Dad: If you're so interested in Redfish you might consider checking the Wikipedia.  Now your sister will need an old copy of Windows XP... blah blah blah (I didn't actually hear the rest)

Side Note: Redfish is Red Snapper... unless you're in Australia where it's called Crimson Snapper or in Trinadad and Tobago where it's called Vermillion Snapper (according to THE Wikipedia.)

Lap It Up!

The past two weeks at the farm have been wildly busy.  In addition to my sister and brother-in-law attempting to manage the unpredictable weather (it’s spring; it’s snowing; it’s 80 degrees; there’s a frost coming tonight; etc.) and its effect on the crops, we had a yard sale.  This seemed like an amazingly good idea last fall when we came up with the arbitrary dates of April 20^th & 21^st.  It wasn’t.  It was, in fact, a terrible idea.  We spent all week sorting, cleaning and digging through closets, storage spaces and the barn.  And this was all in addition to working real jobs…  As for the actual yard sale, I will be positive and say this: we got rid of a lot of stuff (mostly via donations to Goodwill) and the weather mostly cooperated.

In the meantime, I got a little behind (four postcards to be exact) updating Lizzie’s travels.  But don't worry, he is still on the move and we are still happily accepting postcards (hint, hint, SEND US A POSTCARD).  Meanwhile, I will preemptively apologize for the multiple postings.  First up, Lizzie traveled through Roanoke, Virginia and sent us this very silly postcard along the way:

The inscription, if you can't make it out in the picture: 

Hey Ya'll,

I shared my bowl of milk with this boy & he drank it like I drink!  Happy Spring!

Love, Lizzie

Stay tuned...  more to come!

Letter From Home

One of the more amusing parts about Lizzie’s postcards is the change in his tone from message to message. Sometimes he sounds wide-eyed and curious.  Other times he seems confident and savvy.  He almost always sounds happy to be exploring and occasionally expresses a bit of homesickness.  In the last card that came before Easter, Lizzie seems to have acted on the homesickness…

This card was postmarked in Smithsburg, Maryland – where we live – and had a distinctly loving (dare I say “grandmotherly”) tone.  But I’m just the blogger – you be the judge:

Dear ____ & _____, 

I was in your area last night!! I had to come to Smithsburg to get some extra things for my travels.  I stopped to visit, but you were sleeping!  I was glad to see ____ in his car bed.  _____ was cuddled in her bed with her stuffed animals.  I really miss you, but oh am I ever enjoying my travels.  Do you like the cards you are getting?

Things in Smithsburg look "springy."  Hope you are enjoying the warm weather.

Love, Lizzie

PS - I had a snack with Fluffer at Pap & Cilda's.*  She said she is visiting both houses now and enjoys living on ______ Road.  We may room together if I ever decide to settle down.  Love you!

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* Pap & Cilda are the kids’ grandparents.  They live next door and may or may not be attempting to coax Fluffer Muffin into living with them… the subject is under debate.

Elvis... in Richmond, Virginia?

I don't usually associate Elvis with Richmond, Virginia.  However, when we received this postcard from Lizzie, I learned something: my niece and nephew don't understand postmarks.  At all.  So, basically Lizzie could send them a postcard with a picture of Australia on the front and a postmark from Richmond and they'd be none the wiser.  They were also too sidetracked by the card's message to even listen to me discuss something as boring as a postmark.

My Niece: Lizzie is wearing a sparkly jacket and belt!

My Nephew: Lizzie is wearing a sparkly jacket and belt!  

*maniacal laughter*

Lizzie Visits the Lone Star State

Lizzie surfaced again last Wednesday in Texas.  He was apparently enjoying the seafood in Port Aransas.

The next day an additional card from Texas arrived in the mail.  This one was from South Padre Island - a vacation destination in Texas.  I was relieved that Lizzie had been there AFTER spring break as it might have been a little too wild for a small traveling kitty.

The note on the back of the postcard read simply:                                            

Having fun chasing seagulls! The fish here are yummy!               

Love, Lizzie

Thus far in his travels, Lizzie has only ventured to places I've been.  With the addition of these last two stops (Alabama & Texas) he has now officially traveled places I've never been.  That is one adventurous cat!  We can't wait to find out where he spent Easter!

Meet the Cousins

Okay, so when I said I would post the Alabama postcards, “tomorrow,” I guess I really meant, “midnight on Saturday while waiting for my brother-in-law to finish mowing the lawn.” *  

Many apologies to Lizzie fans everywhere!  In the meantime, Lizzie has been doing quite a bit of traveling.  In order, the kids received a postcard from Connecticut, a postcard from Alabama, a letter from Alabama, a postcard from Texas, a postcard from South Padre Island (which, of course, is also Texas), another postcard from Richmond and a letter from here in town.  So, starting with Lizzie's Alabama adventures:

On Monday, we received this postcard with the following message: 

Dear Farmhands, 

Just look at this big water bowl!! It's not too easy to drink from but some usually spills over the sides.

I'm going to find the big kitties everyone here talks about.  Wish me luck. 

Love, Lizzie  

After reading this postcard, the kids and I got on the internet and discovered that the University of Northern Alabama are the Lions.  We even found a picture of their mascots, Leo and Una.  We wondered (my nephew especially) if the lions were friendly and would be happy to visit with Lizzie.

Leo and Una - UNA Mascots

My nephew: They're really very big guys.

Me: Yes they are - lions are pretty big animals.

My nephew:  Will they be nice to Lizzie?

Me: I would think so - I mean, they're practically cousins. 

My nephew: Oh my goooo , Lizzie's cousins are lions!

My niece: We don't say, "oh my God."

My nephew: I said, "oh my gosh."

My niece: No you didn't. Auntie Anne, did he say "oh my God?"

Me: ...look at the lions! **

Our questions (and my nephew's concerns for Lizzie's safety) were quickly addressed the next day when we received a follow-up letter from Lizzie in Alabama.  He even included a magazine article about Leo and Una!  My nephew was very impressed.  My niece declared that this card is now her, "new favorite letter from Lizzie."

Tomorrow I will post the Texas postcards. ***  Also, please note: although I have been slightly remiss in posting, please know that the kids have been LOVING hearing from Lizzie.  Thanks again to everyone who has (or is going to) send us a note from our favorite traveling kitty!

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* Why is he mowing the lawn in the middle of the night?  Oh, because it’s Easter and here at the farm the Easter bunny has delivered the traditional Easter croquet set.  Feeling confused?  Here is the CliffsNotes version: My niece and nephew have been eying an old croquet set they spotted in the rafters of the barn for the last few weeks.  My sister thought it would be a fun Easter present.  But, since it’s not in a box, we are going to set it up in the yard.  Which leads to the lawn.  Although Butterball (the pony) has been working diligently at keeping the grass down, the weather lately has led to a bit of a growth surge.  So, here we sit...

** What my nephew actually said is unclear.  However, you can't even say something similar to something on the banned list without being corrected by our live-in, five-year-old manners cop.  Just yesterday I was corrected three times in thirty minutes for 1.) saying "stupid" 2.) saying "oh my God" and 3.) talking with my mouth full.  HA.

*** Tomorrow (today) is Easter so I can't promise it will actually be tomorrow.  But I will do my best.  Happy Easter to all and to all a good night!