Today, I finally got the riding mower in to the shop for some TLC. We finally got to use the new ramps my brother bought me. <3 The girls and I had to take the middle seats out of the van (one of the first things we did after buying the van was take out the bench seat in the back; we never put it back and left it behind when we moved) to fit it, but we got it in, with room to spare.

It was rather funny when I got to the shop. After talking to the lady at the counter and getting the work order form filled in, I asked about getting it unloaded out of my van.

She did a double take and looked at me. “It’s in your van?” Yes. I can fit a lot in that thing!

She got someone to come out to unload it with me. As we were walking out, he asked me where it was, and I told him it was in the van. My van was the only one in the parking lot at the time.

He did a double take.

“You got it in a van??”

:-D

Yes. Yes, we did!

So that is now delivered, and I will get a call with an estimate before they work on it. I made sure to mention the drive chain had come off, and that I didn’t bother putting it back on, since I can’t reach under to tighten what needs tightening. I also mentioned the tire I think may need replacing, as well as mentioning that it’s had a hard two years, so if they see anything else, let me know!

Thankfully, we have the new push mower, so there is no rush to get it done.

Once that was done, I called up my mother to see if she was home for the next while. My timing was perfect, as she did have something booked later. The building she lives is has started to hold social events again, organized by a social worker. I had just enough time to pop over. I told her I had something for her; a mushroom!

“Oh! I hope it’s okay,” she says.

It took me a moment to realize she thought I meant mushrooms I’d picked at the farm. :-D I cleared that up with her!

Now, I wasn’t sure how she would respond to the spoon. My mother is not exactly gracious with gifts. In fact, she is often very cruel, and I would not have been surprised if she refused it. As it was, when she finally saw it, she immediately started talking about what kind of mushroom it was that she wanted me to carve for her, and doodled it on the back of an envelope. I explained to her (again) that I got a spoon blank in my carving kit, and when she asked for a mushroom, I decided to include on in the spoon, and a morel was basically what fit. I would need wood in a different size and shape to carve what she wanted – and now I have her sketch to go by. She just laughed and said there was no hurry.

I had to ask specifically if she wanted to keep the spoon or not, since she had dismissed it immediately to do the sketch. I told her it was my first carving, and that I was offering it to her, if she wanted it. She said she would keep it.

Getting that straight was a bit like pulling teeth! I think she might actually like it, but I’m not sure.

Then she asked me if she’d ever shown me her Russian spoon. No, she hadn’t! So she brought it out for me to see.

While the spoon is from Russia, she got it from her late aunt, who was born in Canada. My mother said that it was spoons like this that they used for eating, when she grew up in Poland. (What a large size for an eating spoon!) She mentioned that the spoons they used were painted, too, and commented on how they must have been eating the paint, as it came off over time. Who knows what was used to make the paint; it’s unlikely to have been something commercially prepared, in that region and time period. Home made or purchased, any paint still could have been potentially toxic!

I’m really glad she showed it to me.

Once at home, I decided to spend some time in the basement to work on a hair pin my daughter requested. I’ll post about that separately. Before I do, though, I just had to share my company!

Of course, as soon as I sat down at the work table, I had kittens all over me. They did eventually move on, except Big Rig.

Who decided to give my arm kisses.

My goodness, she looks like Susan (who would be her big sister!).

Then she heard a kerfuffle and ran off to join her siblings.

Beep Beep is so patient! :-D

Later, I looked up from my work and found this face, staring at me.

Nicco looks ready for a nap! :-D

The lilac wood she has a paw on is the branch from which I’d cut off a piece for the hair pin.

Unfortunately, at the point I was at when I took that picture, I was needing to use the Dremel, and the noise chased her away.

I was actually able to start and finish the project, even with the kittens crawling all over me, so that worked out much better than expected!

I’ll have photos of the finished hair pin in my next post.

The Re-Farmer