Labor Day weekend has officially came and went. Overall I would say things went quite well. Our daughter, Taylor arrived Friday afternoon, me following shortly behind after a trip to the grocery store for weekend meal shopping. I was looking forward to having 3 days off and had plans to cook up something really good. I’m not sure why, but I couldn’t make a decision on what. After too much time was spent on trying to figure it out (how hard could it be to decide between chicken enchiladas and spaghetti and meatballs?) Randy suggested we just get take out, sounded good to me, indecisiveness makes me tired.

Ordering take out should be pretty simple since Okmulgee is not the size of town to offer a large array of eateries. Our first choice was the 102 Restorante but we discovered after several attempts to find an online updated menu that our two favorite dishes were no longer being served. As time was ticking away, we had to complain amongst ourselves about the loss of our beloved prime rib and smoked salmon and caper pasta. Our second choice was the place just next door to our first choice, Morty’s, where Randy and I had some really good fish and chips and a seafood platter. It was settled on rather quickly and I dialed the number just to get a busy signal. After 20 more minutes and numerous redials we conceded that they were losers and didn’t need our business. I offered to whip up the enchiladas but Randy said he didn’t want to be eating his dinner at bedtime, we were getting a little testy. Since I had the goods for a Mexican meal I didn’t think it would be the best idea to order from El Tapitios so to save time and further frustration I ordered Dominos online and it arrived promptly. Having dinner on a Friday before a holiday weekend shouldn’t take so much time or suck the life out of you.

I don’t know if it was my growling innards or the expertize of the cook at Dominos but my veggie sandwich was amazing, I’m going to choose the latter. The pizza and spinach feta bread was extra good too, Randy and Taylor agreed but then again, we were all starving and irritable.

With no real plans we thought a second go at getting in to the Mercantile in Pawhuska was a plan worth considering. We had taken my mom and Taylor a few months back and left town without even entering the building because of the huge lines out front. Randy rousted Taylor, we had waffles and set out for our day trip. Taylor wanted to drive the Equinox so Randy settled in the back for the rare passenger and gawker experience but this also made him the official “back seat driver” if needed so I wasn’t sure how that was going play out.

First on our stop list was a meat market in Tulsa. Randy had put in a request to have bison steaks for a cookout and after some research I located one that wasn’t too far off our path. As we got closer to the market the area began to look a little shady so all three of us went in together. As it turned out, they sold bison steaks but they were in a little box and frozen; not what we had in mind. This is Oklahoma! You know, where the buffalo roam?! We stalked out, loaded up and listened to Google Maps “Samantha” tell us repeatedly how to get out of there.

The remainder of the drive was uneventful (not even any driving commands barking from the backseat) and we enjoyed the scenery of rolling hills, old barns and thriving soybean fields. Once we arrived in Pawhuska the scene changed dramatically. The Pioneer Woman’s hometown was swarming with people and their cars. The Mercantile had only one long line instead of two like before and it appeared like we might be able to make our way in to the store at least. Taylor found a spot to park in across the street in a little Mercantile only parking lot and we strolled over to the stop light to cross the street. I started to just look both ways and make a beeline for the store but Randy stopped me and said we better go to the corner like everyone else and get the go ahead for crossing. Who would have thought jay walking could be deadly in Pawhuska, OK?

A friendly lady welcomed us at the door and we commenced to perusing all the clever displays and unique items.  After we had shopped the store out we noticed the seating for the restaurant was not very large and realized we could be spending a considerable amount of time waiting outside and it had become quite hot out. As much as we wanted to try the chicken fried steak and other irresistable items on the menu the decision was unanimous to move on and get something on our way home. Although our trip , once again, was incomplete we knew there would be a third attempt in our future so no one was mad or anything.

The next day was mowing day for Randy.  I got around early and went back to the grocery store to grab some beef steaks (we didn’t find any bison.)  Josh, our eldest son and our daughter-in-law Robin were coming for the cookout on Labor Day. The youngest, Wes, and his girlfriend Emily were on a holiday hiatus to Davis, OK so they would be missing out on all the fun (like they wouldn’t be having any going to Turner Falls and the fried pie place.)

I know better than to go to Walmart on a holiday weekend but I had a plan to create the portable chicken run and I needed bicycle training wheels to make it happen. After escaping the Walmart parking lot I hurriedly put away the food and paraded out to the shed with the training wheels where my potato rack is. Randy had made it last year out of 2x4s and chicken wire. All it needed was wire stapled to the sides and the wheels to make it portable! By the time Randy finished mowing, I was having complications with the mounting of the wheels and sweating because the sun was beating down on that end of the shed. Randy wanted to know why I hadn’t just drug the rack into the shop where the big fan was and plus I wouldn’t have to make so many trips back and forth trying to get the right tools. I didn’t have a good answer for that one.

Within minutes he had the wheels properly mounted with little help from me. As I was wrangling a roll of chicken wire a family of yellow jackets did not take kindly to my rummaging about their space and sent one of their kin out to teach me a lesson. I’m not sure what all I yelled but I’m sure I don’t want to repeat it. The back of my leg felt like it had been skewered by a hot welding rod! Randy had cut down a little tree growing in the garden fence a few days before and had gotten stung on the thumb. He thought the yellow jackets would vacate the nest once it was on the ground and dead so he tossed it under the shed lean to. They didn’t. They stayed. They conquered.

The potato rack with the training wheels was easy for us to roll in the back yard under a shade tree. I headed back to the shed and found another roll of wire inside avoiding the mad yellow jackets. It didn’t take long for Randy to realize that I was probably going to make a mess of things with the staple gun. Just for the record, staple guns obviously are intended for only strong men with large forearms to operate. He took it from me and had the wire quickly stapled to the boards in what would have taken me hours to do.  My right hand was sore the next morning reminding me where my strengths don’t lie.  Just for the record, Randy complained of his right hand having cramps, just saying.

We wheeled the run out behind the fence and put the hens in it.  They scratched around happy to be in the grass.  Rocky the rooster didn’t get to go in the run with the “girls”,  we knew he wouldn’t wander off anywhere with them confined.  He stayed behind in the yard instead of going through the gate out back.  I didn’t really want him in the yard because of the potential to cause unsightlyness to areas of the grass not to mention my flowers and herbs.  As Taylor was coming out to join us, me and Randy were trying to herd Rocky out of the yard and it wasn’t going very smoothly.  She watched the rooster rodeo from the lawn chair.  Rocky refused to go through the gate.  You would think he would be eager to get as far away from us as possible.  We gave up and plopped down in our chairs to rest.  Taylor said she wished she had her phone to record the whole thing but I was glad she didn’t have it.  Josh and Robin arrived a little later just missing the show.  I am sure they would have had some helpful tips on herding roosters but we were over it by then.

Steaks and freshly made pesto with pasta was on the menu along with Italian bread topped with grilled homegrown Italian bell peppers, eggplant and mozzarella.  Taylor sat at the table plucking basil leaves from bushes I had just clipped.  She encountered several “critters” among the leaves including a cute little snail.  She didn’t think it was very cute, just slimy.  I took the stem it was on and placed it back in the basil planter.  Robin accepted the sous chef position and sliced and diced at the kitchen cart the peppers we needed for grilling while Josh and Randy jockeyed for the master griller spot out back.

Dinner was delicious and we had a great visit.  The kids dispersed and Randy and I were left with Jake and the chickens.  I guess all of the activity was a little too much for Jake.