We had some fun tonight talking about all the different idioisms we use as every day language and how much of it most people don't understand, use it incorrectly and end up making a fool out of themselves. Funny how the English language has changed so much.
Like "pulling someone's leg" Formerly used to describe a person who would trip up someone, aka pull their leg, in order to make them fall and rob them. So the act of stumbling, mishap and comical effect of someone falling over came to be adapted to the making fun of someone in general.
Or "getting someone's goat"? Ever wondered about that one? Back in my grandfather's day, they would place a goat in a stable with the prized race horse. For some reason they had a settling influence on the horse. Now if you were the competitor, you would try to steal that goat, aka getting someone's goat. So today we use it as a reference to an act that upsets someone.
Another one is "to get a rise out of someone". Basically it's to to succeed in annoying someone. Over 300 years ago this phrase was coined by fisherman. Just as the fish rises to the bait and is caught, the person who rises to the lure of a practical joke becomes the butt of it. From its original meaning of raising a laugh at someone's expense.
The last one we talked about was "ego trip" Not much as far as origin on this one other then it was first heard in the 1965-70's--way cool man! The description-Some incredibly annoying people are on permenant ego trips. Wheee. They're fun to watch, being so absorbed in themselves that they can't even listen to anyone else speak. Still, in the end, nobody looks out for you or cares about you more than yourself. Perhaps being on an ego trip is better than having unrealized potiential.
Yes, we do have some interesting discussions at home. With a smart kid, college student and husband as the self proclaimed encyclopedia of useless knowledge, what more do you expect? So when was the last time you gave someone "an ego trip" by simply "pulling their leg" and getting their goat" and all for the sake of "getting a rise out of them"?
Later gators...
C
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Spring Fling
Sun is out. Dogs and kids are bored. Bristol is on a rain delay. David's working on our taxes. Time to go for a walk, or in Pete's case--as few swims.
Pete doesn't just go to the creek to play, she goes for the swimming.
The intrepid explorers with the tools of the trade-bucket, fish net and stick. Time to stock the duck pond with more minnows. Today they came home with some bullheads, several large fish and minnows and a HUGE crawdad carcass. For those of you who haven't been to our place, the upper left hand corner is the house and barn or part of it.
This one cracked me up. I usually can't get good action shots of the dogs, but this one caught Pete in a moment of glee. Man that was really a good spot to roll.
And guys, you can explain why Moose looks a little uncomfortable as he went across the creek. The water is very cold, especially with all the melted snow from yesterday's storm.
Ah, there's my Moosie man. Wish I could have caught him on level ground so he doesn't look high in the rear, but he does strike a pose for the camera. Needed something with a little more class after the first one in the creek.
Pete, swimming, again.
Just a little bit of foot traffic on the beach. Dog, kid, coon, goose, heron, otter, mink and a few that I didn't id.
Oh, Pete, Oh Peterman. She does strike a pose. You know, I'm the first to admit that she is not perfect. Far from it. But she's also not that bad. I'm still on the fence about keeping her. You know how sometimes you have these high hopes about a dog? This one I don't and it's kind of a relief. She may or may not finish, no biggy. I can go in the ring with her and just play, have fun and enjoy it without any pressure. There are moments I go"what was I thinking?" Then there are times like this when she's trotting around and her movement is OMG. Or when she strikes a pose like these. Then there are the other times when you get her aunt's and cousin's-WHAT?? look. Eeks, that's just trouble.
I couldn't really get the Red Man to stop long enough for good photo. So most of Frankie is either on his back rolling or I got his butt. Oh and that's Pete in mid roll as she went off the bank-almost landed in the creek, again. Anyway, Frankie has said it before, his contract stated after he finished, he didn't have to pose for photos, go back in the ring or make any effort to stay beautiful. Diva dog, if you can call a boy that.
The weekend went by way too fast. At least the 7 day forecast doesn't contain that four letter word-snow, but it does have the other one-rain. Meredith has suggested that next weekend we plan on having a picinic at the creek and I'm hoping that we can. But that's after we get our taxes taken in to the tax man, move Ellie and Ian to their new apartment, work on fence repairs now that the snow is out of the pasture and hope that the front yard is dry enough to do the finish grade and seeding that we didn't get done last fall. I'm tired of muddy paws!
Ah yes spring is here and I'm ready for it.
Later gators....
C
Pete doesn't just go to the creek to play, she goes for the swimming.
The intrepid explorers with the tools of the trade-bucket, fish net and stick. Time to stock the duck pond with more minnows. Today they came home with some bullheads, several large fish and minnows and a HUGE crawdad carcass. For those of you who haven't been to our place, the upper left hand corner is the house and barn or part of it.
This one cracked me up. I usually can't get good action shots of the dogs, but this one caught Pete in a moment of glee. Man that was really a good spot to roll.
And guys, you can explain why Moose looks a little uncomfortable as he went across the creek. The water is very cold, especially with all the melted snow from yesterday's storm.
Ah, there's my Moosie man. Wish I could have caught him on level ground so he doesn't look high in the rear, but he does strike a pose for the camera. Needed something with a little more class after the first one in the creek.
Pete, swimming, again.
Just a little bit of foot traffic on the beach. Dog, kid, coon, goose, heron, otter, mink and a few that I didn't id.
Oh, Pete, Oh Peterman. She does strike a pose. You know, I'm the first to admit that she is not perfect. Far from it. But she's also not that bad. I'm still on the fence about keeping her. You know how sometimes you have these high hopes about a dog? This one I don't and it's kind of a relief. She may or may not finish, no biggy. I can go in the ring with her and just play, have fun and enjoy it without any pressure. There are moments I go"what was I thinking?" Then there are times like this when she's trotting around and her movement is OMG. Or when she strikes a pose like these. Then there are the other times when you get her aunt's and cousin's-WHAT?? look. Eeks, that's just trouble.
I couldn't really get the Red Man to stop long enough for good photo. So most of Frankie is either on his back rolling or I got his butt. Oh and that's Pete in mid roll as she went off the bank-almost landed in the creek, again. Anyway, Frankie has said it before, his contract stated after he finished, he didn't have to pose for photos, go back in the ring or make any effort to stay beautiful. Diva dog, if you can call a boy that.
The weekend went by way too fast. At least the 7 day forecast doesn't contain that four letter word-snow, but it does have the other one-rain. Meredith has suggested that next weekend we plan on having a picinic at the creek and I'm hoping that we can. But that's after we get our taxes taken in to the tax man, move Ellie and Ian to their new apartment, work on fence repairs now that the snow is out of the pasture and hope that the front yard is dry enough to do the finish grade and seeding that we didn't get done last fall. I'm tired of muddy paws! Ah yes spring is here and I'm ready for it.
Later gators....
C
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Three Kings
Some years they visit and it's not too bad. Then there's this year. 4" of snow overnight. Yes I measured it in the front yard. But now......it's gone and well, this is what is left behind.
Now, here's some fun. If you can ID the feet in these pictures, I might just have to a prize or two to give out. How does a box Walker's Shortbread and a package of Yorkshire Tea sound? Enter in the comment section and if there's a tie, I'll have the Ms draw a name out of the hat. You've got till Wednesday afternoon!
David suggested the next contest will be ID the muddy foot print on my clean carpets :)
Later gators...
C
SaPaDaPaSo so so so so
Sorry these are late. We enjoyed the parade on Wednesday-lunch was awesome and the parade was a welcome diversion.
Now I didn't get great shots because there were these kids that kept creeping up in front of us. So here's a just a few of the front of the parade.
A look west down 3rd Ave, right in front of our offices. Across the street is the historic Guarantee Bank Building. On the corner the Armstrong building, now housing Hills Bank. Formerly the home of the Armstrong Dept Store.
Colour Guard
Can't have a parade in his honor, without him! St Pat!
Local off-leash dog park group.
Yes that is a green Great Pyrenes.
Later gators....C
Friday, March 19, 2010
Finally!
So Thursday was a nice day. No gorgeous compared to what we have just dealt with for the last 5 months. And considering what this weekend is like, gotta take it while you can. Nothing major to do outside and the umpteen loads of laundry are not going to get done while the sun is shining. Meredith spent the day up in Dubuque with her Nana and cousin, touring the River Museum and keeping them from getting lost. The kid has been in that town enough times to know her way around.
It was 62 degrees per the bank clock on the way home so I made it my mission to enjoy what was left of the day. Change clothes, rearrange dogs, pull on my new wellies, grab the net, bucket and walking stick, a couple of kids and of course some dogs. Off to the creek we go.
Last week, David and the Ms got a close up view of a new resident in our creek---an otter. The argument at home that night between them and Alec over it was funny. Continued for a few days. But from what they say, it wasn’t the mink or the weasel that we know are down there. It was indeed an otter and after last night, the tracks all over the banks prove it. Of course we didn’t see it ourselves but it’s exciting to see that it’s there. The heron is back too-tracks all over. A few coon prints, I think we saw some of the mink’s tracks too. Now this is just a little head water creek meandering through a little pasture, but it’s a gold mine for wildlife and we love it.
Kids took the big fish net and bucket. Caught some minnows for the duck pond and then found some dead baby snappers. Hate to say this, but rather have them dead then biting my dogs. BUT the find of the night was a nice healthy red eared slider turtle! They are endangered in Iowa and illegal to take. We checked it out a little, making sure it was in good shape and let it go in the bog area. So happy to have that little guy around and Meredith is making sure she checks up on it regularly.
Did I mention dogs? Oh yeah, took the Old Man, Moose, Frankie and for her first ever creek adventure, Pete. A few PETERMAN’s were yelled along the way but for the most part, she was perfectly behaved. Did I also mention that I breed water dogs? The boys knew darn well what we were doing when I opened the paddock gate—SWIMMING! Fred was in first, followed by Moose. Frankie brought up the rear and not to be left out, Pete jumped right in and started swimming. And swimming and jumping and swimming. Frank tried to jump the creek in one spot and like a cartoon, he wasn’t going to make it, stopped in mid flight and belly flopped. They all had a blast. Mud, sand, water. All of them went not only wading but swimming too.
I love correct coats. The water just shed off them, the mud dried and fell out of their coats. Granted they did spend more time in the yard after we got back to dry off but it didn’t take too long.
We did have an incident and now Frankie is considered a tattle tail. Fred and Moose ran ahead while we were admiring the turtle. Frankie and Pete said, wait, they are wayyyy to far ahead. They actually ran up to the north fence line and were thinking about investigating the cattle pasture. Big no no. So Frankie started barking and kept looking over his shoulder with a –look Ma, they’re not supposed to be there! One holler at Moose and they wandered back down by us. But the whole tattle tail part is now causing issues. Moose tried to run Frankie off the bank and into the creek, more then a few times on the way home.
So it’s now spring in the pasture and I am assured that the dogs will be asking for more adventures to the creek. No worries, as long as we don’t have too much flooding, there should be many more of them.
Later gators...
C
It was 62 degrees per the bank clock on the way home so I made it my mission to enjoy what was left of the day. Change clothes, rearrange dogs, pull on my new wellies, grab the net, bucket and walking stick, a couple of kids and of course some dogs. Off to the creek we go.
Last week, David and the Ms got a close up view of a new resident in our creek---an otter. The argument at home that night between them and Alec over it was funny. Continued for a few days. But from what they say, it wasn’t the mink or the weasel that we know are down there. It was indeed an otter and after last night, the tracks all over the banks prove it. Of course we didn’t see it ourselves but it’s exciting to see that it’s there. The heron is back too-tracks all over. A few coon prints, I think we saw some of the mink’s tracks too. Now this is just a little head water creek meandering through a little pasture, but it’s a gold mine for wildlife and we love it.
Kids took the big fish net and bucket. Caught some minnows for the duck pond and then found some dead baby snappers. Hate to say this, but rather have them dead then biting my dogs. BUT the find of the night was a nice healthy red eared slider turtle! They are endangered in Iowa and illegal to take. We checked it out a little, making sure it was in good shape and let it go in the bog area. So happy to have that little guy around and Meredith is making sure she checks up on it regularly.
Did I mention dogs? Oh yeah, took the Old Man, Moose, Frankie and for her first ever creek adventure, Pete. A few PETERMAN’s were yelled along the way but for the most part, she was perfectly behaved. Did I also mention that I breed water dogs? The boys knew darn well what we were doing when I opened the paddock gate—SWIMMING! Fred was in first, followed by Moose. Frankie brought up the rear and not to be left out, Pete jumped right in and started swimming. And swimming and jumping and swimming. Frank tried to jump the creek in one spot and like a cartoon, he wasn’t going to make it, stopped in mid flight and belly flopped. They all had a blast. Mud, sand, water. All of them went not only wading but swimming too.
I love correct coats. The water just shed off them, the mud dried and fell out of their coats. Granted they did spend more time in the yard after we got back to dry off but it didn’t take too long.
We did have an incident and now Frankie is considered a tattle tail. Fred and Moose ran ahead while we were admiring the turtle. Frankie and Pete said, wait, they are wayyyy to far ahead. They actually ran up to the north fence line and were thinking about investigating the cattle pasture. Big no no. So Frankie started barking and kept looking over his shoulder with a –look Ma, they’re not supposed to be there! One holler at Moose and they wandered back down by us. But the whole tattle tail part is now causing issues. Moose tried to run Frankie off the bank and into the creek, more then a few times on the way home.
So it’s now spring in the pasture and I am assured that the dogs will be asking for more adventures to the creek. No worries, as long as we don’t have too much flooding, there should be many more of them.
Later gators...
C
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