(note to readers…The Knoxville Girl is a very famous bluegrass tune… here’s a link to the Louvin Brother’s rendition… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhMiKeSffns)
so here we are, napping and enjoying the finally cooling days of september. all h*ll breaks loose – the fed ex dude is at the door…geesh, lousy timing when you are having a great dream. so guess what – we got a package from our texas cousin fortis…it sure smelled like fortis… we opened it up, and guess who popped out?? barney! we just weren’t sure of what to make of that smell…
oooh fortis sent us some yummy treats!!! yeah fortis!!!
even mr. murphy was a bit confused by the visitor…geesh…did we send an invitation??? we never get visitors…
barney explained that he’d spent a wonderful spa vacation in texas, but now wanted to get the real ‘tripawd experience’ here in east tennessee. he wanted to ‘earn his keep’ and get the feel for life here in the ‘volunteer state’. his first duty was to help make dinner. he did a great job of ‘cooking’ for the girls.
well, it was kinda funny…but all through dinner, i could tell barney was staring at charon’s feet. it was almost creepy, but then i realized he wasn’t staring at her feet, but at my ‘gayle juju socks’. he was just marveling at them and at the magical powers they possessed. so, after we cleared the table, barney asked if he could learn the secrets of the ‘juju’. i must say, he took to it like a ‘duck to water’!!
barney was so focused – one could say driven – that he finished his socks that very first day!!! he found the feel of ‘gayle juju socks’ to be indeed magical, and refused to take them off the rest of the visit…geesh those pigs got a little ripe!!! barney also noticed how our Don wore a Cubs Cap when he went out to run errands, etc…our local baseball team, the tennessee smokies, is a cubs’ AA affilliate… so, barney decided it would be ‘manly’ to wear a cubs cap too. 
geesh, you’d think he was ryne sandburg….but, it was a good look for him.
well, by now it was way past time for some education in the fine art of ‘the nap’.
everyone was tired – having barney around requires alot of supervision and facilities management!!
barney tried to gleen the best possible napping tips from the three best nappers – gayle, jane, and carmen sue the kitty.
after a fine recuperative (and medicinal) nap, barney decided it was time to try his hand at working outside. there’s always work to do here in east tennessee, so jane agreed to take barney outside, while gayle stayed inside and made sure all the inside chores were taken care of. barney really liked coming down the ramp charon built for gayle!
at first barney wanted to help mow the yard, but it seemed his legs were too short to reach the pedals..geesh, he so wanted to drive around like ‘green acres’, but it wasn’t meant to be…
then barney spotted the garden. he loves to garden – who knew??? well, we’d just cleared off the summer crops, and needed to put in some fall seeds – lettuce, spinach, beets…the cool crops… unfortunately, barney bit off more than he could chew… he jumped right in, insisting he could help with rototilling the soil…geesh, looks like the tiller got away from him!!
barney was ok, a little ‘shook up’, but no worse for wear. he was so discouraged at this point…he so wanted to help out and show gayle what a ‘team player’ he was. but what could he do??? he just seemed too short for most of the chores…then…geesh, there’s a chore even short guys can do!!!
barney did a ‘poop patrol’!!!!!!! he did a great job!! even though it had rained prior to his visit, he was able to get quite a large bag full!!! he really came through ‘in a pinch’ and showed us how a little purple guy can really get it done!!!!
well, after such an active day outside, with so many wonderful east tennessee experiences under his belt, there was only one way to celebrate the end to an excellent visit…..
napping with the sisters is PRICELESS!!!!!
barney is now packing, preparing to move on to his next adventure. oh, the memories, the highs, the lows… we’ll always cherish the time with our little purple friend, barney.
What a hoot!!!!! Poop patrol! I bet that’s a first on Barney’s list of adventures!!!!!!!!! HAHAHAHHA!!!!
I see you feed Honest Kitchen too! 🙂
Tracy, Maggie’s Mom
I love that Barney was the poop patrol!!! Oh man he probably got up close and personal with that job…
GREAT story! Loved all the pictures of him”helping” around the farm! And of course, his socks.
-Chloe’s mom
I see the socks are UT orange- goes so well with purple!!
Barney was a great napper when he visitied us in February- I’m glad to see he still has the ‘nap stuff’!
Karen and the pugapalooza
Wonderful! I love the juju socks and Tennessee Smokies ball cap but was really hoping that tiller did a number on Barney’s head! You see, I Fortis’Dad, really hate the little purple dude. My suggestion is to send his “pompous ass” off on an extended stay with Holly and Zulu. By the sounds of it, his poop scooping talents may come in handy 🙂
Fortis and Dad
Oh, if only Barney could come here and help with poop patrol then maybe Zuzu wouldn’t eat all of Holly’s poop! Honestly, that was the funniest picture I’ve seen in a long time – I laughed really hard at that one! Sounds like Barney had a great time in the volunteer state! And I LOVED the picture of him knitting! Maybe he needs some mittens to go with those socks? I could send him a pattern! LOL.
That was a great read, Charon!
Susan
WOOHOO! A grand time was had by all, even with the poop. My tour map is really starting to fill up now.
OK! I LOVE the socks Barney!!! very very sexy!!!!!
Whoa!! I don’t know if I can handle all this Barney lovin’. First, Fortis was a true gentlemen, and now Gayle was so nice to the little purple dude. At least you put him to work. He had to earn his keep, which is a good thing. From all the napping, I’m guessing he just got tuckered out. Plus, with being on poop patrol, I’m surprised he didn’t have to take a shower!!! Now, that’s a job he’s qualified for. My guess is you are going to have to force him to leave it’s been so nice in TN.
Can’t wait to see where he goes next,
Ginger and her pack
P.S.: Go Cubs Go, but maybe next year?
Ok. I totally wasn’t expecting the poop picture. I laughed so hard I fell off my chair and I’m typing this from the floor. OMD.
He’ll be one stinky purple poop picker-upper by the time he gets to his next stop.
All in all, sounds like a wonderful time for all. Well, maybe not so much the poop patrol part; it never occurred to me to have him do that when he was here. Of course, he didn’t offer either.
Jeez, Charon, how many animals do you have?! Two cats and two dogs? That’s a lot! I love the photo of the orange cat and Barney. Such a cat face. Totally unamused.
Tell me about the green herb/ powdery looking stuff in the kitchen. Is that “Honest Kitchen” that someoneMaggie mentioned? I’m going to get some cancer fighting herbs from Dr Judkins, our homeopathic vet later this week.
Looks like you had a lot of fun with this post. I’m catching on to this whole visiting Barney thing. Great idea 🙂
indi, we have a zoo. three cats: carmen the chubby tabby, murphy the fluffy ‘dreamsicle colored’ ragdoll, and jack (camera shy) grey shorthair. our two dogs, gayle and jane are pretty well know through the blog. yes, the green stuff is Honest Kitchen – we feed Thrive (variety). it is dehydrated, we order it over the internet. alot of kale, veggies, etc..the girls really love it (the cats think it stinks…) we use it at ‘pill time’ to get them down, so the girls have about half a cup each, per day (reconstituted). we feed blue buffalo chicken kibble as the dry ‘set out’ food, which they also like – it has the highest protein level of their regular food..we need to be careful not to have too much protein, as it’s rough on the girls’ kidneys etc… who knew there was so much to consider….
Bravo! Bravo sister Gayle and Jane (and all of the fur felines)!
He is dead, right???
If that Knoxville Girl song, rototiller and pooper scooper duty didn’t kill him, it at least tortured him! I got goose bumps, I’m so giddy!
Sister Charon may be a good hostess but I know Gayle and Jane just wanted him dead. And at the risk of ruining some perfectly good knitted socks, I know they resisted the urge!
Paw Bump to my gal friends in Tennessee!
Comet
That was quite the Barney adventure in Knoxville! Sounds like Barney had a great time! Love Barney being on poop patrol and that poop bag too. (LOL) But just one question, where is the “kill” in the killbarney tour? Sounds like you gals had a lounging around spa day like at Fortis’…napping, gardening, and knittig socks?? I’m with Ginger – just too much lovin’ goin on around here with these adventures of late…(ok well maybe with the exception of the poop patrol chore.) So it looks like Barney has once again made it out alive! Poor Comet when she finally hears the truth…..
Can’t wait to see where Barney ends up next and when he finally gets the stuffing ripped out of him!
Well maybe not really, cause then the killbarney tour would be just an empty shell traveling the world.
Thanks for sharing this leg (pardon the tripawd reference) of Barney’s journey.
Spirit JD’s mom
OMG Barney first I thought you got eaten by the rototiller and then I saw you by the pile of poo! Wow, I’m shocked you made it out of there alive!!! I’ll bet with all that volunteerism you’re even stinkier now. EeeewWWWWWW!!!!!
LOL! I love the poop patrol! Good job trying to take him out through sheer physical labor! I guess that guy is tougher than he looks… You might want to send him out our way, what Sammy doesn’t finish the rest of our pack surely will..
And if for some odd twist of fate he survives, there is always Dr. Pams office and all her waiting patients.
Elizabeth and Sammy