The Scoop On The Gourd

Some of my Facebook friends are probably wondering what the post on Facebook was about the gourd that I painted. I was going to add "with chickens" at the end of the previous sentence... but that just seemed silly... sounded like I painted the gourd using chickens! Hee, hee!

Anyway... one of our local museums is having a fundraiser which involves people decorating gourds for a contest and auction. The museum is the North Platte Valley Museum in Gering, Nebraska. What? You've never been there? Well... I hadn't either until a friend of mine, Katie Bradshaw, was named the executive director and invited Dan the Man and I to a "Business After Hours" party at the museum last month. Wow-wee, were we in for surprise! What a great museum full of many, many interesting exhibits. There was way too much for us to look at so we will be planning a trip, actually it'll probably be several, to see all the neat stuff. I LOVE that kind of stuff and all the stories that go along with the artifacts. I think I should have been a pioneer... I always loved "Little House on the Prairie" and wished many a times that Laura Ingalls Wilder was my friend while I was growing up and I was on the prairie sharing in all her adventures.

So anyway, back to the contest. This is the info I received on the contest.

"The North Platte Valley Museum will be hosting a contest for area artists that will serve as a fundraiser for the Museum. This contest involves creating an original work of art from a birdhouse gourd, which have been donated by Gene Koenig. The gourds will be provided on a first-come, first-served basis. Gourds can be picked up beginning on Tuesday, August 16 at the NPVM. Hours of the Museum are Monday through Friday, 9am-4pm.

Artist can decorate their gourd and return it to the Museum by September 26th, where they will be a display through October 21. The community will be invited to vote on their favorite gourd. Votes cost $1 each, and people can vote on as many as they like, beginning on September 29. The winner will be announced on Sunday, October 23, at the kick off 50th Anniversary Celebration of the North Platte Valley Museum."

So, that is the scoop on the gourd. I decided to join in on the fun and pictures of my gourd are posted below. When I turned my gourd in on Monday I got to see some of the other ones that people had done. There are some really cool ones and if you want to see them you HAVE to go to the Museum and check them out for yourself. I know several of the artists and hope you do take a few minutes to run over and see them and cast your vote.

Remember you can vote as many times as you like! Let's raise some money for the Museum. And don't cop-out on me by saying you can't because you live out of town. What nonsense... I already took care of that. When I was dropping off my gourd with Katie at the Museum, I asked her if people from out of town could vote by sending a check made out the Museum and enclosing a little note saying that they were voting for a specific gourd (like mine!) and she said that would be wonderful. So family and friends from out of town... I am counting on you to send a little donation. Please and thank you!!!

Send your donation and vote to:

North Platte Valley Museum
P.O. Box 435
Gering, NE 69341

Be sure to include a note that you are voting for the gourd fundraiser! And if you want to vote for mine, you'll have to specify that you are voting on Kathi Manville's gourd. Although you could probably say the "Country Chicken Girl's" gourd and they would know it was me!


PS... I know I say this all the time, but if you want to see a larger view of the picture, simply click on it! Hit your browser's back button to return to the blog.

The Gourd BEFORE.

Top of the gourd with a painted vine with berries.

The Museum is located in Gering at 11th & J Street!

You can also "like" the museum on Facebook.
Search for "North Platte Valley Historical Association"




Oh...
and Sammi says...

The END.

Perhaps Mother WAS Right...

Do you remember your mother telling you things as a child that you thought were ridiculous. Things that she warned you not to do because it would result in some disastrous outcome?

I am talking about warnings like:

Don't run with scissors, you could fall and stab yourself.
Stop looking cross-eyed or your could permanently become cross-eyed.
If you drink coffee as a child it will stunt your growth.
We won't buy you a BB gun because you'll shot your eye out.

Well... perhaps mothers are right when they tell you not to pull off the tab from your soda can and put it IN your soda can while you are still drinking it... it COULD come back through the hole and you COULD swallow it.

Oh pleaseeeee... really mother? Don't you think I would notice that the tab had come out, into my mouth, BEFORE I swallow?

Well, yesterday morning I was making phone calls to my chicken customers letting them know that their chickens for Batch #4 were going to be ready this weekend. I was sitting in the office/spare bedroom at the desk enjoying a soda while I was making my calls. Sometime during the course of the calls, I pried the tab off the can and mindlessly dropped it into the hole. Something I do, I don't know why. Such a random act of reckless abandonment.

So there I was talking to one of my customers when I took a drink of the pop while they were talking.

EGADS... what was that?

Was THAT the pop tab?

Did the POP TAB actually go into my MOUTH??

Customer: Blah, blah, blah... Don't you think?

Country Chicken Girl: Frantically thinking what to do with the pop tab that is in her mouth, tries to take a tiny swallow and catch the tab between her tongue and the roof of her mouth.

Meanwhile Customer is waiting for a reply.

The Country Chicken Girl panics and swallows a bigger amount of the pop than she had intended to and swallows the pop tab!

Yeppers, down the old hatch it went.

My mother's voice (in my head) says, "Now didn't I tell you that would happen? I don't know why you kids never listen to me."

Well, there was nothing I could do about it now. It was gone, but I could feel it about half way down my throat. I carried on with the conversation on the phone like nothing had happened. I couldn't let the customer know that I had to go because I just swallowed a pop tab. What would they have thought?

They would have thought... "Doesn't she know not to ever do that? You could swallow the tab if you drop it in the can."

I ended the conversation as soon as I could, hung up the phone and sat in my chair stunned.

Now what? Do I try to throw it up? Do I just let it pass on it's own? Do I tell Dan the Man who is in the next room?

As panic sets in, I decide to try to throw it up. I decide to let Dan the Man know what is going on in case something drastic happens and he needs to call an ambulance! Let me tell you... crazy thoughts run through your head when you have a semi-sharp piece of aluminum lodged in your throat!

Country Chicken Girl to Dan the Man: I just swallowed a pop tab.

Dan the Man: You WHAT?

Country Chicken Girl: I just swallowed a pop tab.

Dan the Man: How in the world did you do that?

Country Chicken Girl: I pried it off and dropped it into the can and while I was talking on the phone I accidentally swallowed it.

Dan the Man: You should NEVER put a pop tab in the can. Why didn't you just spit it out?

Country Chicken Girl: Because I was TALKING on the phone and I couldn't just say... excuse me, I have to go spit out a pop tab! Do you think I should throw it up?

Dan the Man: I don't know... I would.

So I go into the bathroom and grab a toothbrush and stick it in my throat to try to make myself throw up. I HATE to vomit. Absolutely HATE IT! First try, nothing. Second try, a little cough. Third try, a little gag and a cough. Fourth try, I am starting to panic that this is NOT going to work and I am going to have to go to the hospital and explain that I have swallowed a pop tab. But, after several tries, I am FINALLY successful! I had never been so happy to vomit before in my entire life! Out came the pop tab! Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!

I go into the living room and let Dan the Man know that we won't be needing to go to the hospital after all!

Dan the Man: I can't believe you did that.

Country Chicken Girl: Me neither.

Moral of the story... Mother is always right!

Early Morning Confessions from Dan the Man

I know I shared this on Facebook, but I thought it was just too funny that I had to share it with the people who read my blog but are not on Facebook.

Yesterday morning as I was beginning to wake up and wipe the sleep from my eyes, Dan the Man mumbled, "I dreamt about processing chickens all night long."

Me: "What?"

Dan: "I dreamed about processing chickens all night long."

Me: "Are you serious?"

Dan: "yeah, I kept grabbing whatever cat was laying next to me in bed and was feeling their legs thinking this isn't a chicken, it has four legs."

Me: "Where you trying to put the cat in the killing cone?"

Dan: "I don't think so, but I would find myself sitting up in bed feeling the cats legs!"

Both of us: laughing out loud!

Good thing we only have approximately 800 more to process for the season. We should be done by October 5th or so! Thank goodness we don't raise chickens all year round.

Dan the Man has had some pretty wild "action-packed" dreams in the past from chasing wolves while growling at them to setting irrigation tubes off the side of the bed! Hee, hee!

Dan the Man with his co-pilot for the day.