It’s all in the dough

It’s never a breeze to get a new marriage off to a good start. There’s so much for the newlyweds to learn about each other, and each other’s families, that it’s no wonder that sometimes things get into a bind. 

And, another area of potential conflict revolves around the kitchen — who likes or dislikes what foods, who does the cooking, who does the cleanup, who does the grocery shopping?

And, finally, it’s almost inevitable that the economics of the new family can spark some tension. Who manages the bank account? Who keeps watch on the credit cards? Which is best — joint or separate bank accounts? What about savings? 

Only recently when I wuz talking to my old friend, Kleenan Baggitt, who runs a family seed cleaning bizness at Ottawa, Kan., did the situation of newlywed problems arise.

Seems that pretty recently Kleenan’s son got married. Kleenan said his new daughter-in-law is a lovely addition to the family, but she is city raised and rural illiterate and wuz pretty pampered growing up.

As we talked, Keenan said he’s become aware of some tension in the newlyweds’ life. Seems the source of the attention involves dough. He said his son thinks that his new bride should be able to bake homemade bread just like his mother baked all the time while he wuz growing up. But his new wife hasn’t a clue about baking bread.

“But, that’s just half of the source of tension,” Kleenan said. “My new daughter-in-law is unhappy because my son works for me and he’s ain’t making the dough that I am.”

I don’t know how that family will get the tension level down.

***

Many cattlemen are now having a fall calving season. While driving around, I see a lot of fall-birthed calves.

It’s the nature of the cattle bizness that first calf heifers too often need assistance delivering their first calf. And, often that problem stems from the owner using bulls that don’t have a genetic history of low-weight calves.

Recently I overheard a conversation in the cafe at an cattle auction. The two cattlemen were discussing how many calves they’d each had to pull this fall with their first-calf heifers.

One guy said he’d used a low-calving-weight purebred bull on his homegrown heifers and had to assist a half-dozen heifers.

The other guy shook his head and said, “The bred heifers I bought were bred to a crossbred bull. From the number of heifers I had to assist this fall, I’m guessing that the sire wuz a cross with a buffalo and a pair of wire stretchers.”

***

From what I read, there’s a shortage of large animal veterinarians. Also, many of the veterinarians who graduate from vet school are becoming specialists.

This is a story about a veterinarian who graduated as an equine and bovine dermatologist. He thought that specialty would lead to quick riches.

But, alas, that wuz not the case. He had so little work come his way that he wuz pressed to become an evening shift taxi driver. But, the vet wuz a talkative, affable guy who made good money moonlighting as a taxi driver.

Well, one evening, he picked up a fellow whose car had broken down on the road. As the vet and his rider got to talking about how hard times are, the rider said his old car broke down because he couldn’t afford to repair it.

The vet described how his vet dermatology bizness never materialized and that wuz why he wuz moonlighting as a taxi driver.

The rider got in the last word when he stated, “Well, buddy, when you figger both of your jobs. you could call yourself a taxidermist, couldn’t you?”

***

As readers know, my ol’ buddy from Asbury, Mo., likes that atmosphere inside a good ol’ country tavern. But, since he’s short on cash about all the time, A.C. had to come up with a plan. Now he goes into a tavern and sits down next to the first stranger he sees. Then. A.C. says, “Guess who I am? I’ll even give you some hints. I’m not Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday,” 

The stranger then replies, “Then you must be Thursday.” 

A.C. then says. “Why, yes I am. Thank you, I’ll take a tall, cold one, bartender.” 

***

I had a memorable fishing experience last Saturday with my son-in-law, my grandson, and my two great-grandsons. We went to a newly-found pond about an hour from home. It wuz our first planned four-generation fishing trip.

As luck would have it, Saturday wuz raining. The mud wuz deep and sticky. The fishing was iffy. We only landed five small bass and three of them escaped our fish basket.

But, despite being soggy and muddy from head to toe, we laughed a lot and ended up with a memorable fishing trip despite the nasty weather.

***

Words of wisdom for the week were plucked from a sign in front of a church. It read, “The lost keys to success are usually found in the pockets of those who work.”

Have a good ‘un.