New Friends, for Cellpic Sunday

One given when I come to the states is a trip to Walmart to stock up on items I either can’t get in Mexico or that are cheaper here.  Yesterday, Marti and I were supposed to go out to dinner but when she arrived to pick me up, she asked if I’d mind if we went to Walmart instead.

There was a family–mom and dad with two little boys and a baby girl in front of me in line at checkout. They had two cart absolutely full of groceries plus school supplies for the boys as school starts next week. The baby was in a carrier right in front of me and we started flirting. She held her hand out to me and I shook it. She had a darling big plush toy and I was saying how cute it was. She just kept “talking” to me.. no words, just gobbledygook, and smiling and holding her hands out to me and we kept holding hands and flirting with each other.

I told her I liked her toy and asked to hold it. I hugged it (it was sooo soft and cuddly)  then gave it right back. The mom said they were from the Philippines and came because her husband’s mom arranged it. I asked where they worked, etc. She was a nurse in Veteran’s hospital. Then the mom took the plush animal and put it on the display beside the cash register, saying she just gave it to the baby to keep her busy while they were shopping but they weren’t going to buy it,  it was too expensive. When the mom wasn’t looking, one of the little boys took it off the display and gave it back to his little sister.  So sweet. He said to me, ‘She wants it.”

Long story short, I bought the toy and gave it to her. We’d traded names earlier and before they left, the mom told me they were going to name it Judy!  Such a fun time. The mom and dad both gave me hugs before they left.

For Cellpic Sunday

Hibiscus Macro For FOTD, Aug 18, 2024

For Cee’s FOTD

My Friend Patty’s Garden for Six on Saturday

I am visiting my friend Patty Martin in Sheridan Wyoming. We have been friends since college–for 57 Years!!  For years, she has planted a block-long garden between her yard fence and the busy street that runs behind her house as well as a private garden between the fence and her house. Here are a few photos of both. The first four photos are of a portion of the streetside garden strip and the last two are details from her private garden.  To see more photos, go HERE.

For Six on Saturday

For dVerse Poets

Off the Path

I’ve always been a wanderer with no course firmly set.
The purpose of my journey is not established yet.
When my meandering’s over, perhaps it will be clear.
I cannot tell where I’ll be then. For now I’m merely here.

For dVerse Poets

See other poems for this prompt HERE. Image from dVerse Poets

YARROW for Cee’s FOTD

FOR CEE’S FOTD

Mismatched for SOCS

Mismatched 

When a certain fella has had a drink
or two or three, he’s bound to wink
at the little lady dressed in pink.
Her drink’s cubes give a subtle clink
as she decides what she might think.
Is he a stud or just a fink?
His clothes are sort of rinky-dink,
yet her long lashes, swathed in ink,
flutter in a come-on blink.
One fingernail is seen to sink
into her glass. He’s at the brink
of coming over to seal the link.
She checks her breath.  It doesn’t stink.
She reaches down and dons her mink.
But then he stops and seems to shrink.
In this sure deal there seems a chink.
It’s clear that when she deigned to flirt,
she missed the writing on his shirt.
This is the message that went unread:
“Be kind to animals,” it said.

The SOCS prompt is shirt. Image by Marco Lastella

For Pull Up a Seat, Aug 16, 2024

These chairs made of recycled materials were on view at the Denver airport. Their main component was old skis.  And, they were comfortable!

For the Pull Up A Seat Challenge  Week 33

More Blather For Fibbing Friday, Aug 16, 2024

 

Top Cat, Top O’ the Wall

For Fibbing Friday, Aug 16, 2024  the prompts to define are:

  1. Ambidexter: Dexter’s answer to the gender question on his draft papers.

2. Blatherskite: What townsfolk call the cat of the town gossip.

3. Breviloquent: How one would describe a well-presented short speech.

4. Crapulence: Any speech by Donald Trump.

5. Graumangere: A dog trainer specializing in threatening dogs.

6. Grimoire: Material for a burial shroud.

7. Illaudible: Sounds heard while upchucking.

8. Podsnappery: Static heard over earbuds.

9. Poetaster: A literary cannibal.

10. Polemic: An Irish resident of the northernmost point on Earth.

Hollyhock, for FOTD, Aug 16, 2024

Did you ever make hollyhock dolls? It’s one of my earliest memories. I’ve rarely seen them since moving away from the house I grew up in, but here they are in my friend Patty’s garden. Thanks, Patty, for the memories!!!

For Cee’s FOTD

Black Eyed Susan for FOTD, Aug 15, 2024

For Cee’s FOTD