Ridgetop - our place and how we muddle along

[Finnie]

You really do know how to tell a story.

 

[Ridgetop]

Thanks all.

However after every triumph is a great fall. As you know I printed, stuffed, and mailed the invitations a few days ago and was dancing around the house in triumph! Yesterday, however I received a shattering call from dear friend who wished to attend the wedding but did not know what time. I assured her the time was printed on the invitation just under the date. I pulled one of my invitations to double check and LO AND BEHOLD! The time was indeed missing! I know I had typed it in since I had to spell the whole thing out instead of just 10 a.m.
Jump little emoticons, jump and emote! Much worse language was heard issuing from these lips of mine. And my lips occasionally touch food!

Off to Hobby Lobby to buy some printable correction cards to send out to all the invitees. Then to print them out, stuff more envelopes, Print off address labels for a second mailing of 50 cards, return addressed, stamped, etc, and ready to mail. Pure drudgery!

Then sew the pink sashes on to the flower girl dresses, along with the 50 satin rosebuds scattered over the chiffon skirts, and assemble the flower girl baskets. A word of caution to any moms with marriageable girls - current thoughts on rose petal scattering is a firm "NO", due to slipping hazard, or mess which the gardener or maintenance has to sweep or vacuum up. Instead just use a little nosegay of a couple of flowers to match the
dresses and they will be happy. Use artificial flowers for those since the flower girl will be using the bouquet as a sword to fight with the ring bearer. He will be well armed (or shielded) with his pillow.

I have now finished my Christmas shopping for all the grandchildren. I am on a very strict budget with having to pay for the wedding, the adoption, and the redo of our Trust (to provide for all our children including DD2. Since this s a legal adoption, we have to redo portions of our trust to encompass DD2 and DGC3 and protect her share from DGD2's greedy baby mama in case something happens to DD2.

Got to go to bed today. Tomorrow I have to finish some wedding arrangements and decide on the photographer if we have one. Might ask DDIL2 if her sister will do the photos. She is doing quite a lot of good photos now and sis very interested in the field.

 

[Baymule]

Time of the event! Like you needed more work. I think I would have been pitching a screaming, cussing hissy fit myself. Peeling bark off trees! Always pitch a fit outside as you don't want to peel the paint off the walls with the sheer volume of cuss words, and thus have another chore to do, repainting.

 

[Bruce]

Probably why the young folks now do online invitations. Get a postcard in the mail with a link to an event website. Not quite what we old folks are used to but errors/omissions are easily corrected and it is way cheaper than printing and mailing invitations.

 

[Ridgetop]

Well, took 2 tranquilizers last night to avoid going into a full blown hyperventilating panic attack!

Today not so darling GS1 turned 13. Family party Saturday night. All had lots of fun.

DGS1 allowed to have 4 of his friends over for a party in the back yard yesterday, Apparently they decided to go for a hike. Grandpa got a call from DGS1 that his friends wanted to come meet us. ??? Strange but OK. We waited for them to show up at the front door when we would the dogs in the barn.

Next thing is DS1 coming in and telling us that DGS1 and his 4 friends are climbing over the back pasture fence in the empty acreage. All 3 dogs, naturally, were barking and growling. One boy was actually hanging on the fence when DD1 saw them and ordered them to get off the fence. Apparently DGS1 told them the dogs were harmless!!! DS1 told them the dogs were dangerous, to get off the fence, get away from it and go home. He told them they couldn't come in. Go Home! The boys got off the fence.

DS1 then came into the house to get his phone and call his sister to ask why her partygoers were climbing into our yard. 30 seconds later he returned to find the boy that had gotten off the fence had decided to climb it again. This time he was inside the yard with DGS1. DGS1 was struggling to hold back Bubba while the other boy was scrambling back over the fence. None of the children said anyone got bitten. DS1 yelled at them that he had forbidden then to enter the yard and they were to GO HOME!

Next I got a call from my daughter. DD1 told me that the boy had bee bitten and his mother had taken the boy to the emergency room. He had several dog bites on his leg and back. The bites were punctures, not tears - so no stitches needed. and were not serious according to the boy's mother who is a nurse. Also according to the mother this boy is one of those children that routinely gets into situations where he ends up in the emergency room. The bites were not that deep, no stitches were needed. Punctures don't get stitches anyway but there were no slashing tears.

DS1 says they were probably warning nips from Bubba since a serious bite could have killed the boy. Thanks for those encouraging words DS!! Have you considering going into the mental health field to counsel people with deep anxiety issues? I am glad I have my little friends to calm and console me. Ativan, let me count the ways I love thee.

The mother is a nurse and said the bites were not that bad but the emergency room insisted on the name and address of the owners since all dog bites bites are required to be reported to the Animal Control. I provided the rabies and inoculations information . In this case, having seen what Bubba can actually do when attacking something, these bites were probably more his version of warning nips.

On top of everything else, we can now expect a visit from Animal Control about our dog that bit a "child".

The 3 other boys (also 13) told the DD1 and the mother of the bitten boy that DS1 told them that the dogs were dangerous and not to enter the yard. While I don't l want the appellation of "dangerous" to be applied to Bubba who was just doing his job to keep strangers out of the pasture, all the other boys did admit that they had been told NOT to enter the yard by DS1. DGS1 had told them the dogs were friendly. DGS1 did not realize that they were friendly to only to HIM since they knew him from a baby. The saving thing here may be that all the "children" are actually 13 years old, and were trespassing. The 13 year old boy that was bitten is also taller than his mother and as tall as DS1. Apparently when a "child" gets that big the dogs no longer recognize him or her as a child but as an adult. DGS1, having never seen Bubba in protection mode was a little shocked at how powerful he was.

The dogs had announced their opposition to the strangers entering the yard by barking and growling. When DS1 appeared and ordered the strangers to back away and go home, the dogs fell silent. When DS1 left to get his phone, he left the 3 Anatolians on guard silently watching. When the strangers decided the dogs being on quiet watch and they could climb over the fence in spite of the warnings, the dogs did not bark again.

Like Erick had told us, Anatolians issue warnings. When the warnings ae ignored and disobeyed, they escalate with a higher degree of protection. When the predator enters the property after being told to stay out by the dogs, they simply dealt with the intruders/predators the only way they can. Barking and growling didn't work, their silent presence at the fence did not work, so they moved their aggression up a notch to biting. If the boys had not retreated but had tried hitting the dogs with sticks, etc. the dogs would have upped their game, meeting aggression with aggression.

This io what these dogs do to protect our flocks and ranches. After consistent warnings, escalating each time, to meet threat with threat, eventually an aggressive predator who did not retreat would have been attacked and killed.

These dogs know the meaning of the "Thin Red Line".

After scoffing at me about my insistance to raise the fence around the property, now DH is congratuating himself on doing it. Apparently they stopped at one steep spot and I was informed that I told them to stop there ???
I never told them to stop, I told them to do the entire property!!! I think they ran out of wire and never went back to finish. Now, however, they have decided to finish those few feet since that is where DGS1 is climbing into the yard. I will also have to invest in a bunch of "No Trespassing" signs too! I don't suppose our liberal residence would honor or even know what purple fence posts meant.

 

[Larsen Poultry Ranch]

Wow, I'm sorry that happened but glad the boy is ok. Hopefully he will have learned to listen when an adult gives him instructions. I hope the animal control visit goes smoothly. Your dogs were doing their jobs and the boy was trespassing.

 

[Ridgetop]

By bedtime Sunday the Ativan had worn off so I took a second and managed to get a good night's sleep.

OK, Monday. I woke in the morning with the feeling that our insurance and evidence was on our side if anything did happen in the way of a potential lawsuit. The dogs were contained in a fenced yard. We had raised our fences. The 3 large dogs had been barking and growling at them. The boys had been warned by one of the dog's owners not to enter the property. The other boys were standing back from the fence. The boy that got bitten had gotten down off the fence and was standing on the ground back from the fence when DS1 went to get his phone and returned. In that 30 second window the boy had decided to climb back over the fence! At that time the dog gave him several warning nips (Anatolian nips to be sure but nips all the same). So, yesterday, after another call from DD1 telling us that DSIL was going over to the boys house to talk to the parents, I was again in need of calming. However, I had decided that if the boy's parents sued us I would file a counter suit against them for trespass, mental anguish to us and our dogs, and would also counter sue the boy, my DGS1 and his parents. A good offense is the best defense.

I did not take another Ativan since I hoard those for emergencies like hearing that Martians have landed and are attacking sheep farmers or my dog had bitten someone.

Instead, I printed out the corrections to the invitations, stamped and return addressed, address labels, etc. etc., and DS1 mailed all of them. Done. On to the next chore.

At least the dog bite incident put the alterations cost out of my mind. The total alterations came to just under $600. AND a petticoat was produced that "was needed to make the dress fill out and look better". Why wasn't this petticoat mentioned when we bought the dress? Price? $80.00. The salesperson hopefully asked if I wanted it. My scowl answered her, and DD1 tactfully said "not now". As I was telling the lady to bag the dress up and I would do the alterations myself, DD1 stepped in, wrestled it out of my shaking hands, and forbade me to try. I whined that I could at least do the hem but she said she would pay for half of the alterations. OK, the dress now comes to about $1600.00! Without the necessary petticoat! I told DD2 to be very careful with the dress so that she could wear it to her next wedding. Both my daughters exchanged telling glances and rolled their eyes, carefully saying nothing. They made me ride in the back seat.

When I got home I pulled out one of my old square dance petticoats. That petticoat was very full but very short since it was made for square dance airplane skirts. I will fit it on DD2, and add a long slim top to make it the length for the wedding dress. It does not need to be full at the top. I used to have my old wedding petticoat, but remembered that I got it out of the Halloween box and used it for DD1 for her full wedding dress 16 years ago. I think this square dance pettticoat will work fine after a little work from me, and I can save $80 plus tax.



Next, I got to work on - What Else?! - more wedding stuff! Having warded off a panic attack by incredible self control instead of my trusty drugs, I managed to send out all the correction cards. (I have already gotten 1 response - I wonder if they realized there was no time printed on the invitation? No matter, the correction will take care of that.)

I finished sewing on the last pink rosebuds on the flower girl gowns. I finished their flower crowns with ribbons pearls and extra ink flowers, then I moved on to the baskets. I took off the blue ribbons from DGD1's basket to change it into a pink basket. I wrapped the handles of both baskets in pink ribbons then filled them with a tasteful arrangement of white , pink, mauve, and rose flowers and tastefully stitched on pearls. The dresses went back into their plastic bags the crowns were wrapped in tissue and packed in a box, and the baskets were bagged ready for the big day.

Next, I sorted all the bridal junk out. The picture of the cute bottles of bubbles on the cover of the box showed the bottles dressed in black and white bows and rhinestones. When I opened the box to admire them I realized that was a LIE! The box did not even have any ribbons or rhinestones in the box to use on them. False Advertising! I had to get out my Craft Box, my Black/White Ribbon Box, and Pink/Purple Ribbon Box. (Yes I do have all those boxes and they are labeled. Doesn't everyone?)

Anyway, several hours later half the little bottles are dressed in black ribbon ties with a gold rhinestone stud. The other half have white, pink, or mauve ribbon bows with a pink flower. I also printed little labels for the bottles, announcing the bride's and groom's name and the date. This is necessary in case some drunk party goer stumbles into the wrong wedding. Or some relative or friend cannot remember whose wedding they are attending! Absolutely adorable, taking only 3 hours to accomplish. Tying those tiny bows are tricky. Luckily I could do it while watching the interminable political rallies and Confirmation swearing in.

A gift arrived today for DD2 as well. Now I will need to empty the spare bedroom/DDIL2's office/wedding gift storage of a DS2's and DDIL2's gifts. That will give us room to stockpile DD2's gifts. While this sounds easy, actually it is not. I first have to empty out and rearrange DS2's storage shed in order to get room for all their wedding gifts. They are both currently living in their 1 room apartment in San Diego somewhere for his job. They might come home next weekend, or not, but in order to make sure this gets done, DS1 and I will have to do it.

I also realized that I have used up my computer printable labels. I will pick up some more today or tomorrow. Today I also have to go out to Porter Ranch where there is a very large Joanne's Fabric store. I need to see if I can match some fabric for my 2 dressy wedding pantsuits. Sadly, I hate to admit that they both need a gusset to make them more comfortable to wear to DD1's wedding and reception. In other words I am too large for the pants. The pink one I wore to DD1's daytime ceremony is still wearable, but a bit tight. I made the pants fit tight so it is my own fault - I should have made them flowy evening trousers, but I was lighter and more vain 16 years ago. The other one is a lovely light green chiffon which was passed on to me by my dear friend, but the pants are uncomfortably tight. If I can find a matching fabric, I can add a gusset in the side seam and an elastic waist. Otherwise, I can't afford a new outfit right now.

While at the Joanne's store, right next door is a Walmarts and possibly a Staples or Office Suppy. So 2 birds with one stone. Next order will be Amazon - the individual cameras for each table for the guests to take pix. $80 for 10. We have 10 tables so that works and if we have an extra table, none for the children. Still not clear about the photos and how much to pay. The photographer has lowered the 2 hour mini package to $695.00. Still high so still thinking about having DDIL2's sister take them.

Maybe I should just take another Ativan and a nap.







Instead I

 

[thistlebloom]

I think if you ever get tired of raising sheep you could kick butt as a wedding coordinator. Truly! I'm in awe and very pleased that I have sons.

Remembering my dad offering us $100 to elope to Las Vegas, haha.
My folks got off easy, we paid for our own very simple wedding... I never was princess material.

 

[thistlebloom]

I'm hoping your tresspassing and dogs protecting your sheep incident is a non starter in the sue department.

 

[Baymule]

CLIFFHANGER!!!! Will Animal Control show up demanding that Bubba be out in quarentine?

Will STUPID BOY'S parents sue?

Will STUPID grandson pull another stunt like this?

Will STUPID BOY ever learn his lesson about trespassing?

Give Bubba a steak. Good dog.

Give STUPID GRANDSON a swift kick in the butt.