You up for real work? March 10, 2010

Playing library was always a fun game, because she got to be the grown up that stayed at the library all day long.  Placing little pieces of paper in the books, and pretending she was helping the people check out the books was fun.  Or taking a pile of books and pretending to check each one back in.  She only had a few books in her room since most were in a box in the new play room.

Violet was thinking she could pretend to check books out of her own library, her play room and then bring them up to her room.  Read them at night and then return them to her library the next day.  The very thought was so exciting!  Just then her mom called up the stairs “time for lunch!”

Violet quickly put all of the books in a pile and grabbed her hat from the door knob and as she was running down the stairs yelled “coming!”  Her mother and her had a great lunch with a lot of laughing and fun and hearing about how the play room was coming along.  Violet asked when she could see the room, and her mother said she thought it would be best if she waited to see it when it was all done, a bigger surprise.

They were well into a conversation about what Violet could wear in the parade and did not even hear her father come into the kitchen.  “Oh no you two against one me, maybe I should come back later.”  He was laughing and teasing them both and seemed to be in a really good mood too.  It is always a good day when the whole family is happy.

“Well shorty looks like you are ready to go, soon as I finish this sandwich we can head out to the barn.  Horses are being saddled up right now.  I know you can not get up and down off he horse and I want you to be able to help, actual help not just watching so I am thinking you and Grey can help hold a line at the gate, and not let the cattle move except through the gates.  We will have two gates and it should go smooth.  You up for real work?”

“Yes but I am not sure I know how to do what you want, but you will show me… right?”  Violet knew it was a big deal to be asked to help and have a real job, and she also knew she did not want her father to be angry or to let him down.  She was hoping she could do the job, and do it well.  ©

from left to right, like reading March 8, 2010

Up the stairs they went to Violet’s room.  “Now what we are going to do is place a line of salt on each window sill and we will leave it there for a few days until the moon is full.  That means I want you to stay out of it.  Do you understand?”

“Yes I understand, when will the moon be full?”

“Not till Monday next week and we will be gone for most of that on our trip to the city.  All I am going to do is take the spoon, stir the salt in a clockwise motion and then just spread it from left to right on the window.  The way to remember is it is just like reading you start here and go to here.  “  As she was explaining what she was doing she took a scoop of the salt on the spoon and started to spread a line, as the salt ran out, she  scooped more into the spoon and started where the salt trail ended.  Once they were done in her room, they went one by one to all of the upstairs rooms; the bathroom, the sewing room with the treasure chest, her parents room.

As they finished the last one, her mother said “Ok we are done!  Now I want you to go to your room and play quietly, I will call you for lunch.  I will be busy in the basement getting your window finished up in the playroom.  Your daddy was thinking you might like to ride with him and the guys this afternoon.  They will be moving cattle from one pasture to another here on the ranch so you might have some fun with that, if you want?”

“I do want! That would be fun!”

“Well then make sure you come down for lunch when I call you in riding clothes and shoes and with a hat because the sun is out today.  When we are done with lunch you will be ready to go when he is.  Now you be good, and play in your room until I call you, and remember be ready when I call for you. “

“I will, I promise.”  Violet went to her room and closed the door.  She immediately chose her outfit  and got changed for the afternoon, even putting on socks and shoes.  She took her hat and hung it on the door knob, so she would not forget it when she went down stairs.

Violet decided she would pretend library today and be the librarian.  She chose her books carefully, and then stood them up, opened just enough to stand on their own.  The same way they are displayed at the real library.  ©

Make a bubble when there is trouble. February 22, 2010

“Tomorrow you will need to play in your room all day.  I am going to finish painting the window, and will also get the cork board up on the wall.    Dean that reminds me, I will need some help getting that tacked up so you will have to make some time to come in and help me.”

“Oh I won’t have time tomorrow I will just ask one of the men to come in.  When do you need help?  In the morning or the afternoon?”

“What I need is your help, and not some dirty man to come and try.  I will spend as much time explaining what to do as doing it.  I might as well just do it myself!”

Violet took a deep breath because she could tell that her parents were going to have an arguing dinner.  She sat very still and tried to move as little as possible and make no noise at all as she ate.

“Well then do it yourself!  You know you are not any better then those men that work hard all day long every day, it is their work that makes it possible for you to go shopping and be the lady of the manor.”

“Lady of the manor?!  Violet are you done eating your father and I need to have a conversation, go to your room.”

Violet quickly slid out of her chair and ran up the stairs to her room, quietly closing the door behind her.  She could still hear them downstairs arguing.  She decided to sing a song, to try and not hear.

♫ Magical flowers in the field, and fluffy clouds in the sky ♪

♫ Animals dig, walk and run and they even fly up high  ♪

Just then she heard a loud crash from downstairs, and then another.  She knew it was best to hide in her room and not go look to see what was happening.   Then she remembered something her Aunt Grace had said to do when her parents were angry with each other.

“Make a bubble when there is trouble.  Make a bubble when there is trouble.”  She closed her eyes tight as she said it, and imagined that a big bubble was all around her, just like the kind she would blow from the bottle.  “Fill it with blue just for me, fill it with blue just for me. “  As Violet repeated it, she kept her eyes shut tight.  Suddenly she felt very warm and happy and then she finished “show me… Grey!”

With her eyes closed she could see Grey, in the barn, in his stall.  She could smell the hay, and she could see Max laying not far away.  Violet was so enjoying it all that she did not hear her mother come in the room.  ©

throw a potato?! February 21, 2010

“Was it the breaker?”

“Yes but for some reason it was the whole house.”

“I will come down after dinner with some salt and a mirror.  Violet come on I want to show you the walls.”

“I am going to close up the barn, and send the men home.  I will be back in about 30 minutes.”

They said good bye to her father and went to look in the playroom.  It was bright and pretty.  Three of the walls were a pretty light purple color, her mother said it was called “lilac” and the long wall was white.  On the white wall,  the window had been started.  There was blue sky and white clouds, and green grass with little violets in it.

“Oh it is so pretty!  Thank you!”  Violet was so excited she grabbed her mom and gave her a big hug.  All of the furniture was shoved in the center of the room, so they had to walk in a circle around all of it to see all of the walls.  Her mother paused at one point and said “And look what I found in town today.  When I went to get paint at the hardware store, I decided to see if they had any lamps and look what I found.”  She held up a box with a white lamp and a white shade on the picture on the side.  The lamp looked bumpy, and the shade had a little lace at the bottom.  “I got two of them, so you would have a matching pair, aren’t they pretty?”

“They are pretty, where will they go? Can we open them?”

“No lets leave them in the boxes for now, we will take them out when we put them up.  Come on lets go upstairs and get washed up for dinner, your dad will be back soon and it is not even finished yet. “

They headed up to the kitchen and Violet told her mother all about the heads that she had made with Sara.  When her father got back they were talking about what she might wear in the parade and about the candy to get.

“Well we do not want to throw suckers, because they break, and we do not want to throw chocolate because it will melt.  I just do not think it is a good idea at all to throw candy. “

Her father interrupted with “Well I suppose we could throw potato’s.   I am kidding, I am kidding.  I already talked to Bob and his wife is going to get some big bags of Salt Water Taffy to throw, so it is already taken care of and decided.”

why is it so cold? February 20, 2010

On the ride home she told her father all about the heads they had made and asked many questions about what she should do in the parade?

When they parked the truck and he pulled her out, he said “How about we go in together and find your mother and tell her about the parade.  Might be easier on all of us that way.”

Max met the truck and was wagging his tail to spend a quick moment or two with Violet.   She was happy to see Max, but it also made her remember that the calf was no longer alive.

Her mother was waiting for them and was anxious for Violet to see how the painting looked in the new playroom.  On the way down the stairs her dad mentioned that Violet wanted to ride in the tractor in the parade.

“That sounds like a great idea.  We can get you a parade dress when we are in the city.  Ok come on you two, come see the playroom.”

Just as her mother reached in to turn on the light there was a popping noise and all of the lights downstairs went off.  Violet jumped and reached for her moms hand.

“What happened?  and why is it so cold?”

Her mother squeezed her hand, and said “It is an old house with old wires that is all.  Dean go check the box. “  He was already walking away and opening the door to let some light stream in from outside.

“It is cold isn’t it.  There must be a draft from the door.  Violet I want you to go and wait near the door.  Go on, go now.”

Violet hurried to the door and was happy to feel the warm sunshine and to be in the light.  She could hear her mother saying something but just barely, it was like she was whispering.  She could only make out a few words and was leaning to try and hear more.

“into the light…no place …into the light…around the wheel…into a mirror”

Violet was listening so hard, that when the lights came back on she nearly jumped out of her skin.  ©

pinky swear? February 8, 2010

“What did you think about the truck going into the river last weekend?  I did not get to see you after because your parents put you in the camper.  Your father was so mad at uncle Jacob!  Every right to be mad too, at least I think so.”

“Why was he so mad?”

“Oh they didn’t tell you?”  Sara looked very surprised and Violet was very worried that this might have something to do with the secret she promised to keep with her father.

Sara did not wait for a reply and simply continued with the story.  “Well it seems that Jacob had been drinking, truthfully they all had been your father and mine too.  Anyway Jacob had too much to drink, and so when he was backing the trailer down, he went too far and too fast.   I didn’t see it right from the start but I guess your dad was in the boat and saw it all and was pretty mad.  Do you know that before you all left that Jacob and Dean got into a good yelling match?  Truth is it was pretty funny to see.”

“You mean my dad and uncle Jacob were having a yelling fight?”

Laughing Sara replied “A yelling fight, yes that is a good way to explain it!  But I overheard my mom on the phone, and she was saying everything was all patched up now, and it is fine.  No hard feelings or anything, so this weekend will be normal.”

“Oh but it won’t be.”  Violet was so pleased that she had something to share with Sara, something she could tell.  She stood up a little straighter and said “Mom and I will not be there, well not till the last day.  We are going to the city to go shopping for my new playroom and to stay with Uncle.”

“Really, I did not hear that yet.  Well good for you!  I bet you will have a lot of fun, and I did hear about the playroom.  It sounds very cool.  Are you excited or will you miss the barn?”

“I promised to be happy about it, so I am happy.  But I already miss the barn, and Max and Grey won’t be allowed in the playroom.  But Max has been in the house!  He is helping take care of Cocoa, a calf that needs to stay warm and have a bottle.”

Sara looked very surprised, and then seemed to be concentrating very hard on the last smile of the last head and not saying anything.

“Sara what is wrong?”

“Oh Violet I am so sorry, I thought you knew.  I will tell you but you have to promise that you won’t tell anyone that I told you.  Pinky Swear?”

“Pinky Swear” the girls said in unison and Violet listened very carefully as Sara told her the sad news that Cocoa had died last night and that was the real reason she was sent here today, so she would not be sad. ©

a long walk February 1, 2010

“Oh there you are, I did not hear you come in.  I was just telling Violet that perhaps you could paint the furniture white on Friday before you left for the weekend; then we could put it all together Monday.”

“That would work.  Violet it’s time to feed the calf do you want to do it?”

“Yes!”

“Ok well this time lets see if we can get him to just follow you and that bottle outside into the sunshine and grass.  Go try and coax him and Max into here, and I will hand you the bottle as we head out.”

Violet went in and found it was easy to get the calf up and Max was more than happy to coax him out of the room.  Being a Border Collie Max was a natural helper at the ranch.  Violet took the big warm bottle from her father and he held open the door as she led the calf and the dog out and into the grass.  The calf drank almost the entire bottle and still had enough energy to walk around some.

“You know shorty I think if he sleeps in the house tonight, tomorrow and tomorrow night then he can head back out to the barn.  We have plenty of warm enough weather, and it should give him time to catch up.   You going to be able to help one more day?”  He said it with a smile and a wink knowing full well Violet was loving every minute she was spending with the calf.

“I will let you feed him one more time after dinner, before you get ready for bed.”

“Ok”  Violet was having a lot of fun, and was more than happy to feed the calf as often as she could.  “Cocoa looks tired daddy.”

“Yes he does, how about I carry him in” he said as he scooped up the calf “and you get the door.”

They placed Max and Cocoa back into the room, and both laid down.  “I am going to walk out to the road and get the mail, how about you come with me and stay out of your mom’s hair for awhile.  Exercise will do us both some good.”  As he was finishing his sentence he was patting his stomach and laughing.

It was a long walk to the road and back, but it was one that Violet loved to do with her father.  Along the way he would explain how many cattle were here and how many there, what fence needed mended or had been fixed already.  He would wave and holler at the workers that they came across and they would always smile and wave back.  Usually Max would follow along but today he had a bigger job to watch over Cocoa as he slept. ©

the plan January 30, 2010

The room was empty, the cement floor and 4 white walls with one light hanging down from the ceiling.  Violet’s mother was explaining where the table and chairs would go, and the book case, the rug they would buy, the window she would paint, a set of shelves and a doll house.

“I do not have a doll house.”

“No not yet, but I am going to help you make one, and you will love it!”

That sounded very fun, and exciting to Violet.

“Also I was thinking we will get some pillows for the floor over there” as she pointed to the back wall “so you can sit on the floor to read if you want.  And on this wall I am going to put up cork board and fill it with little tacks so you can hang up your drawings or pretty things.”

It was all a bit overwhelming, but exciting and Violet was excited to see how it would all turn out.  Just then one of the men that works the ranch came and knocked on the door.  Her mother went to see who it was and quickly sent him to the barn to bring in the book case, table and chairs and to box up the tea set, books and such.  He was told to just come in and set it all in the center of the room when he was done.

“You and me we are going to go upstairs and pack up the books from your bedroom and bring them down here.  And we will bring your kitchen set and the food down too.  Come on there is a lot to do.”

Violet was surprised when she walked into her room and found there were empty boxes on the floor.  It did not take them very long to fill the boxes with the books and play kitchen food and dishes; and Violet thought her room would feel empty with it all downstairs.  They each carried a box down to the new playroom and found that most of the stuff from the barn was already there.  Her mother sent him upstairs to bring down the rest of the boxes and the play kitchen.

Meanwhile they started putting things where they would go and filling the book case with books.  In no time at all it really did look like a nice place to play.

“We will get the paint up on the walls  tomorrow so you will not be able to play in here until it is dry; and I will see when your father can get the furniture all painted.  Maybe he can do it Friday before he goes camping and then you and I can put it all back together with the new things we buy in the city.  Tomorrow I will get the walls painted, Wednesday I will start the window and Thursday I will finish the window and we will get the cork board up.  Most of this week though you will need to play in your room, out of the way… and help your father with that calf.” ©

the lights January 29, 2010

They left her mother to clean up the kitchen after lunch and Violet got the doors for her father as he carried the calf to the side lawn.  Max was waiting at the door for them, and was very happy to nudge the calf around.  In just a few minutes, there was a lot of giggling, laughing, smiles, running in circles and falling down and that was just Violet!

When it was time to head back in, her father scooped up the calf in his arms and carried him back to get settled in his nest of blankets.  Max laid next to the calf, and Violet covered Cocoa with a blanket.  “They will be fine, you just let them rest and be good for your mom.  I will come back in awhile and you can give him his bottle.”

He no sooner finished his sentence then her mother walked in “Ready Violet?”

“Yes I am ready, bye daddy.”

“See you soon shorty.”

“What are we going to do?”

“Well I thought we should decide what all you wanted in here and where it would fit. “  Her mother walked into the room,  flipping the light switch on as she walked through the door way.  Violet followed right behind and when she was about 3 steps into the room the light went off, and then on.  “Stop playing with the lights!”

Her mother spun around to holler at Violet but as the words came out of her mouth she realized Violet was not near the light switch, not close enough to have turned it on and off. “I am sorry, I thought you had done it.  I suppose we need a new light bulb in here or maybe have that switch looked at…” then as she finished her sentence she seemed to be talking to the doorway or the light switch “that will be enough of that! We need light to work with.”

Violet had the uncomfortable feeling, all of the hair on her arms felt like it was being tugged up and the hair on the back of her neck felt tingly too.  Her mother could see she was not feeling comfortable and said “What we will do is have a couple of lamps in here too, then you can use the lamps or the overhead light or both if you need to.  Just make sure that you turn the lights off when you leave we do not want to waste electricity.” ©