Garage Sale, Part I

Leah and I agreed that we probably need to have a garage sale every year---to keep our abodes nice and tidy. My church will have a rummage sale next week, so I'm going to do what I did last year---have a garage sale, turn over half the profits and save my back from having to haul ALL of my stuff to church.
It was a bit of a challenge Thursday setting up with Eli.

We didn't put out the breakables until the sale began and Eli could be entertained in the yard.
One of my goals is to clean off a shelf of books each year. See, Rachel, there's a clean shelf (the crock pot is on last year's cleaned off shelf)
At the end of Thursday, we were ready to open up first thing Friday morning. We had our notebook ready.We found the sign Rachel made us last year and hung it with a few additions.
Leah had everything well-organized. This is "housewares."

We had our greeter/cashier/wrapper/babysitter.And, we had Eli under control.We advertised on Craig's List as beginning at 7 AM, but someone was waiting at 6 AM when I went out for the paper. . .

New Driveway

After 30 years, we decided to replace our driveway---it had buckled in several places making walking and snow removal difficult at times.
Bob of Infinite Concrete Solution came out and started breaking up our driveway.
The slabs were peeled up showing it was just laid down on soil with no reinforcement.
Bob claimed he'd never run into so many roots before.
As promised, Bob laid down a mesh and iron rods. And, then it rained or threatened to rain for several days. But, finally we had the pour on Friday! We'll be able to drive on it in a few days.

Teaching Miss Daisy

The dog show at Purina Farms inspired the children to have a show with Daisy, a 9 year-old Siberian Huskey. First, they set the balls and "frisbee" in front of her to entice her to run and jump.
Brett really wanted Daisy to jump in the pool after a frisbee, but. . .
Daisy showed little interest and the pool was a little small.
Next, they wanted to see Daisy jump in the air for frisbees, but. . .

this is all the further we could get her off the ground. . .for popcorn.
Next, was the obstacle course, but. . .
it was hard to do on a leash (Grandma's back yard is not fenced and Daisy has a tendency to run off).
Finally, we decided to create some "tricks" we thought she could do---this is balancing a "frisbee" on her head.
Next, we decided to test her tracking skills by hiding popcorn to see if she could find it.

Yea! What a good dog!
It didn't take much for Eli to celebrate---he does like to "drum."

Purina Farms

While the Twenters were in town, Leah and Eli came over and we all went out to Gray Summit to Purina Farms. We hadn't been out there for at least 20 years. We are very fortunate in St. Louis to have so many child-friendly places that are free or almost free. Purina was a St. Louis company founded by the Danforth Family before it was acquired by Nestle' several years ago.
The first building was about dog food and how it's made---Brett demonstrates.
Then, we went to the barn which had a hay bale maze, a rope to swing from and tractors for the little tykes. Downstairs were lots of barn animals---goats, cattle, sheep, horses.
There was a petting area with the cutest piglets, a rabbit and a chicken.

Davis and Eli petting the chicken.

At 10:30 AM, there was a milking demonstration and an opportunity for children to actually milk a cow.
Next, we went to the dog and cat house---that cat house is at least 3 stories of a miniature house with furniture for the cats. The dogs are used in the dog show (actually, there's a cat show later in the afternoon).

That is the dog and cat house next to the performance arena.Eli, Davis, Libby's feet and Leah waiting for the dog show to begin.
One dog demonstrated his ability to jump for frisbees (hard to get a photo in air)
Another demonstrated his agility on a obstacle course.
But, my favorite part was watching the dogs jump into the pool. The dog above was rescued by the trainer after it had been adopted and returned 5 times to a shelter---I'm guessing it had too much energy for the average family.

Eli's Birthday with Twenters

Yeah, Davis, that Thomas coloring book is cool, and. . .
so, is the Cardinal jogging suit, and the crayons, but isn't there something a little more exciting?
Hey, Eli, look at all of this tissue paper.
Yeah, that could be fun. Let's get this party started!

Good Times!