There is going to be a carefully planned festival with a year of planning going on at Elwell Park in Weaver on September 24th. The gates will open at 8 am and will close at 3 so get there early and dont be left outside and disappointed that you didnt get to see the exhibits; eat the fresh foods; see the crafts and artists displays; and hear the live music that will be there that day. Courteous Weaver Alumni  attendees will be on hand to answer questions and to sell you a raffle ticket for $1 or 6 for $5 for a chance to split the pot. Around close to time for us to shut the gates and call it a day, we will take the amount of money raised from the sale of the raffle tickets, and one ticket will be drawn. The owner of the winning ticket will be awarded half of the cash from the sale of the tickets.  There will be arts and crafts scattered throughout the park; live music on the bandstand; plus many more attractions of every size and scope.   So come on and we will see you at the Park on the 24th!!

This is a repeat to some of my readers, but I lost my beloved Muff The WonderDawg about a month ago. So every night, out of habit, I tell all the animals here on the Ponderosa goodnight, and I still include Muff. So at first when she left this world to join her maternal Mother, I told Muff out loud that I wanted another dog just like her. I wanted one that would love me and follow me and be real sweet and nice and would get along with the other animals here and would just be a dog I could love on. Well, Muff, a puppy is not exactly what I had in mind. So here I am. With UnoPoppy.  Didnt want to name the dog, didnt really want a puppy, but what do you do?

My husband and I were coming home from the grocery store and I noticed a small puppy dog on the side of the busy road. I shouted at the puppy not to get in the road and against my husbands better judgement, I looked back and saw the puppy trying to find food in the gravel.  So I turned the car around, went back, parked across the street and walked over and picked up this little, warm, sweet puppy. As I entered the car, and laid the puppy in my husbands lap, he said, "What is this?". Of course, being the sweet person that I am, I put the car in drive and told him it was an elephant.   We drove the next few miles home.

Once we got home, I placed the dog on the pavement and I told it to wait while I found the key, etc.   GiraffeDawg (whom by now has gotten accustomed to being the only house dog) didnt like the sight. She knew there was something wrong and proceeded to tell me with her screaming in Dog Language through the closed window and door.

As I entered the house I tried to reassure GiraffeDawg that everything was ok and nothing was going to change. So after many sniffs, growls, cowering and a little tear, my husband came on in.

The funny thing is, (if it is funny at all) GiraffeDawg is fine. She looked at the puppy, they ate together, and then it was bedtime for Giraffe. She went to her pile of stuff she sleeps on, formerly known as my clothes, and she went to sleep.

I got a plastic bin, placed a pillow, water, small bits of food and a sheet across the top and put UnoPoppy in it. The bin was placed in the room where my husband was on the computer and all was right with the world. For a while. After a few minutes, the house was quiet, I was sleepy and felt I deserved a nap.  So I drift off for a few winks only to hear, "Deb, your puppy wants out of the bin, I think she needs to go out." Ok, not a problem. I go get the pup and out we go.

Well, Sam E and Yhap Yhap didnt think that this was a good idea. They barked, shouted a few things in dog language and this made Uno go up under the house.

I was not prepared for this. So I had to get down on hand and knee and try to coax a new dog out from under a strange house. The whole time I am thinking, I wonder if the dog is wishing it had just taken its chances in the road.

So we go to the front yard. There is a snake. Ok, I go back inside the house. We have some old papers, so I let the dog get housebroken. First time, YEAH!!! I think my job is done. Oh no.....the puppy is no wanting to chew.

Time has a way of making you forget things and I forgot about the chewing a puppy does, especially with needle sharp teeth. Of course there is puppy breath and that makes it sweeter, but still, CHEWING??? Come on.....

Now Uno has decided its time to nap again. Ok, fine. Back in the box. Nope. Uno wants in the bed with me. I guess she figures, Hey you rescued me, we are in this for life and its going to be a long trip, so buckle up.

A few minutes later the phone rings and its my mother in law, and I dont have the heart or courage to tell her about Uno. So I agree yes, we will certainly meet sometime Monday for making pickles (I had totally forgotten I am the one that wanted to do this!!) and Uno proceeds to chew the cord on the phone.  No, we dont have a cordless phone, we have heard there is such, but we are going to wait and see what happens.......(told you I am a little behind the times)

So after a discussion with her, I call my cousin that is more like my sister. We discuss all sorts of things, her grandkids, Mother, other stuff and then I make the mistake of saying, "No, Uno, dont chew my foot."  At the other end of the phone there is silence and I am thinking, ok, she didnt notice that, and am feeling real comfortable when all of the sudden I am told, "No, you didnt.   Tell me you dont have another dog." So on goes the story of UnoPoppy. 

After I got off the phone, I looked at Muffs painting and told her that when I said I want a dog that will love me, I didnt plan on a puppy.  With the wisdom and wit that I know must have come from Muff herself, the thought came into my head, and when you rescused me, you asked the same thing of Femur (the dog that had recently passed before Muff came along and stole my heart).  So, I guess you are never too old for wet sloppy kisses from a puppy; finding chewed up stuff; putting a wind up clock in the bin with the pup so it will think its the dogs moms heartbeat and fall asleep; and then the last thing that comes with having a new little puppy,

Losing your own sleep. We have a routine. Its called going to bed at night. Not being up all hours of the night with a baby dog.......do you realize when this dog reaches the average age of dogs we have had, I will be old enough to draw Social Security!! That is if they dont raise the age anu higher than it is now.  Man, you just never know what you will get when you ask for something.......This morning I never dreamed I would be getting UnoPoppy.   Who knows what life will bring us tomorrow?

Just please, no more snakes.

I can not draw a stickman with a ruler. I always got so excited about my new coloring book and Crayons. I loved the newly sharpened Crayons and the variety of colors that came in the 64 box. But, sadly, thats about the extent of my artistic abilities.

My brother, Brock Parker, though is a different story. He is a professional artist. and he has an upcoming Art Show in Montgomery. During the month of August, he will be the featured artist showing his oil on canvas paintings at the Armory Learning Arts Center in the Anita P Folmer Gallery. I cant imagine having the talent to have an art show and it feature my works. I mean, how wonderful!!!He paints in an impressionistic style.

I am blessed to have a few of his paintings and I always marvel at his work, hoping I will acquire yet another.

Among my treasures is a painting he did of my dog, Muff The WonderDog that just passed away in June of this year.  If you have seen me in the little red Honda going back and forth to Weaver, or any of the local drive through restaurants in Calhoun County, she was the other white haired female in the car, ususally with her head out of the window, but then sometimes we would swap it up.

A few Christmas' ago, he surprised me with a portrait of my beloved Muff The WonderDog. He had taken a photo of her upon one of his visits to Mothers house, and then gave me the painting as a gift and I absolutely love it.

Another favorite of Brocks work is a painting he calls Big Momas window. Our grandmother had a window in her kitchen which was on the outside of a shelf. On the shelf she placed vegetables, flowers, fruits, plants and at one time, a terrarium. Just looking at the painting takes me back to a pleasant time and I am sure that if you have a scene in your head of your Mother or grandmothers house, then he probably has a painting to match your memories.

Brock comes home quite often to visit with Mother and myself, and along the way from his drive in Montgomery, he is likely to stop and take photographs of farms, farmers, chickens, horses, houses, plants, sheep, cows, trees, or a sunset.

While I cant draw a strait line, I am very proud of his accomplishments. He is very talented and he started his art career early in life as a teen artist. He won a blue ribbon for the painting he did of some horse heads, at the Calhoun County Fair. While he was just a beginning artist, he was always looking for art in everything he came across, and now that he has traveled the world, he has taken up the brushes again after a long break, and he is doing a wonderful job in it.

We were and are so very proud of our artist. If you're in Montgomery or going to be going through Montgomery on your way to the beaches, then stop in and see the local artist work. You will certainly be glad you did, and tell him, Deb sent you.

Dont know that it would get you a price break, but it cant hurt, after all, he is my brother.