The Flyin Lion

07/09/2026

fixed it

07/09/2026

This week’s specials.
The kids had a play date that went pretty well yesterday. That rope I bought came in handy for tug of war, Which Talls looked to be taking rather seriously. There was swimming in the creek and pool and a hike. At one point my dad took the time out of the day to cross the street stand at the edge of the yard with his hands on his hips and aggravatedly ask “what all the screaming about?”
“FOUR boys in the crick, FOUR dad.”
I get it …I did send them to the crick hoping they would be far enough away…. apparently not…I did give them two buckets….
All that play time yesterday led to a pretty grumpy Smalls this morning, He couldn’t find his shoes. Two pairs were located outside in a bucket…wet, one pair was located under the dog bed , they were also wet from the day before. Another 2 pairs were found that were too small. One hey dude was found missing its partner. This aggravating search was accompanied by his older brother making noise and comments designed to irritate him. He finally (grumpily) decides to just wear a damp pair but not without complaining. While struggling into them he declared “ I hate the earth, because it’s full of people.”…
Find your shoes
Come to dinner
Don’t hate earth
1498 W. Pitt St
Jennerstown Pa 15547
Open Thursday -Monday 4-9
(814)703-8177

07/08/2026

The Hollyhock and the Mullein seem to be competing…. Like the kids they are growing like weeds

07/06/2026

It’s been a minute since I wrote a little something, but I am feeling it at the moment, and it’s raining so…this might get long as I have two little somethings.
First, I am on the receiving end of Mary’s temper lately, because I keep leaving the door open and the air is running. In my defense…
Last week Mary asked Ninepin (the oldest) to switch the laundry from the washer to the dryer as she headed to the shed. I know she did, because I heard her, I was a few steps behind, heading out to help her with some heavy lifting. I come out to see him just lounging around playing in the birdbath….In my opinion my kids (aside from putting up with me) have it pretty easy so when they are asked to contribute, I expect them to. That oldest has gotten in the habit of just blatantly not listening to Mary, and while I can’t parent for her, I can back her up. So, I speechify at him and while he isn’t happy, he heads toward the laundry room. I continue to the shed. It’s not two minutes later that I look up to find him standing in the doorway in tears….in a very small voice he says “mom, I messed up, I messed up really bad this time…”
He sure did…he waited until he was out of sight to alleviate his feelings… and slammed the front storm door… and shattered the top glass…sigh…in a slight parenting win (or we are just exhausted) I think he was more stunned by Mary and I’s almost complete lack of reaction than the fright of accidentally breaking the door….As he went to find something for us to put the glass in I say to Mary “ of all the things he could have gotten from you…” and She replies “ I know, I am still kicking things and wondering why my foot hurts”. Not that there wasn’t speechifying later, but in the moment, we didn’t overreact and completely lose our collective minds. After all he was brave enough to come and tell us instead of starting to pack for his life on the lamb. He’s a great kid but I ain’t looking forward to his teen years.
So now, we are short a door, so I keep leaving the other open. I tell you this because I also tell you so many things that look like internet perfectly cute kids, great mom yada yada. That’s not reality, that’s the good stuff and all of you struggling, juggling parents out there shouldn’t feel alone.
The other thing I want to talk about is pretty mundane, it’s my trip to Rich’s Electric the other day.
Now I have about a million things to do in a day and this day I had to meet the salesman at the lion to get a new steamtable since mine died. On my way there I do think-time and daydream time. One of the things I thought of was adding a pully to the kid cabin, so I decided I will just swing by Rich’s on the way home since that shouldn’t be a huge expense…besides we need a clothesline, the kids keep stripping naked on the back porch and leaving a scattering of wet shorts everywhere.
I pull into Rich’s, notice the boxes out front marked free fire starter and with an internal grin I open the door. There’s Shari at the counter, I wave and head to the back… clothesline should be in here somewhere. I pass a familiar face or two…get questioned about what I might be cooking this evening….it’s weird (nice but still weird) having people know who I am and greet me more than they used to. Bill Blough catches me wondering the aisles, (they don’t let that go on for long here) he guides me through his familiar (bewildering) maze. As he helps me to locate this and that. He leads me passed Rich who smiles and says “Hello, young lady” (as he always does). I spot some rope in the corner and decide I want some. I am a bit like Samwise when it comes to rope, you just never know when you are gonna need some.
My rope is being measured out and I am being questioned about it’s purpose. I mention some ideas for the boys entertainment. I wander over to chat with Shari and a voice calls out “Hey, Buckham!, you know how to tie a knot?, Come mere ” and that’s how I got a lesson in neighborliness and knot tying at the local hardware….Three different men asked me if I could tie a knot before I left, I pointed out to Shari I have google, she just laughed.
This folks…THIS, is why you shop local, this is the feeling of small places in a community that you are lucky enough to be part of…
That’s it.
Be kind
Be real
Watch for the good stuff.
Speaking of good stuff a friend stopped by this evening for a chat, Thank you for sharing, I am here anytime.
1498 W. Pitt St
Jennerstown Pa 15547
Open Thursday -Monday 4-9
(814)703-8177

07/04/2026

The ladder dad has was broke so we used it for a boat ramp… the people at Rich’s Electric either think I am cool
Or really nut , but they can wander around and point out the pulleys … Thanks guys

07/04/2026

The people at Rich’s Electric either think I am super cool
Or nuts. But they can wander around and point out the Pulleys for you… Thanks guys

07/04/2026

Mary’s gonna be less than thrilled with this but we are putting the finishing touches on the kid cabin and trying not to break the bank so I thought I would ask…. Anybody have an old wooden ladder, slide or I don’t know plastic pipe big enough for kids to crawl through just laying around taking up space?… or other ideas? worth a shot

07/02/2026

Which Dressing though?

Dinner when it’s 90 degrees

07/02/2026

Dinner when it’s 90 degrees

07/02/2026

It’s Thursday and I have to think about heading into work soon but at the moment I am sitting in my little back yard oasis wishing that rooster would quiet down a bit.
It’s going to be 90 degrees today so I am in no mental rush to head to the hot box I will spend the day in. Instead I am writing to you and thinking about all the things I managed to jam together in the last couple days.
We stained a deck.
We managed to add benches and desks to the kid cabin, scoring some rather awesome chairs from Salvation Army.
The kids had two healthcare appointments in the same day in greensburg and somerset.
They also earned new nicknames this week. I am calling the youngest Tick because he always seems stuck to me. The oldest earned his new moniker ( and another trip to the ER) by standing up and passing out last week…no worries, he’s fine (one of the appointments was his follow up), but now I am calling him Ninepin.
Other than that, it’s too hot to work much.
I guess since I didn’t grow up with air-conditioning it doesn’t actually occur to me to just retreat from the heat. Mary couldn’t take it though, so she spent the bulk of the day inside while I was left with Tick and Ninepin to entertain outside. It occurs to me to wonder if I am parenting or being left with playmates to run wild.
No big traveling vacation for us so we are making our own adventures this summer and they are epic.
We kayaked the maybe ¼ mile of navigable stream at the bottom of my yard about four times, living out my own childhood dreams and giving the cows in the pasture a bit of excitement. The little Kayaks say they hold 130 lbs…I pushed that by a couple but managed to stay afloat. Teaching the kids the finer points of steering and safety. We found a submerged log that the oldest dubbed the loch ness monster and decided this is way better that TV.
In between we all got into the pool.
Now it’s time to get back to being an adult, as I turn my thoughts to heading to work…can I make a Cherry coke frozen drink?...I think I will.
I am thinking Chef salads for dinner.
Make your own adventures.
Stay cool
Come to dinner…not Saturday
1498 W. Pitt St
Jennerstown Pa 15547
Open Thursday -Monday 4-9
(814)703-8177