Our old friend from California days (where Lesley and Peter were born) Brad, his wife Sara, and their kids Mera and Carl, spent the night, visiting from Ohio.
Mera, age 8They spent a few years in London, so we didn’t see much of them for a while.
Carl, 7, in the atelier with the prism on his face as light shone through the leaded glass window.
It was supposed to rain and storm, but the storms thundered all around us and never hit.
Sara on the porch with me while the "kids" - Carl, Don, Brad and Mera - horse about
So there was croquet and other sorts of “horsing about on the lawn” while thunder boomed in the distance.
Don and Carl, instant buddies
Let me ‘splain. When Don and I were in Scotland in 1980 (when I was pregnant with Lesley!), staying at a b&b, a British couple met us at breakfast and became excited because we were Americans and they could finally ask Americans a burning question.
“When we were touring Windsor Castle last year, we heard an American couple talking. The husband said he was going to go inside, and his wife said, I’m going to stay out here and ‘horse about on the lawn.’”
“What does that mean, ‘horse about on the lawn’!?”
We had to explain that they’d gotten the idiom slightly wrong; it was “horsing around on the lawn” and that “horsing around” just means doing nothing productive except relaxing, playing, whatever.
I had to look up this idiom online and see what the origin was. I found this site called “Sports Talk” which says that it came from horse racing.
Horse around–to waste time; to be careless
"During the meeting the boss shouted, 'Stop horsing around and get to work.'"
Maybe not too tough to guess that one, eh?
10 comments:
Oh Ruth! I love how you put this together! And the pics are so perfect for the post. So glad you got to have this nice visit (with thunder booming in the background, which would have been like heaven for me!).
My favorite pic is of Don, of course. We all just love that "Child at heart" that definitely knows how to horse around. Kids are always so drawn to him, aren't they!
Thanks, Boots. I think in some ways little Carl is like Don was when he was a little boy.
I bonded with Mera (you can see she was modeling for me in a little photo shoot). She helped me cut up ingredients for chicken salad for lunch.
Wow! How great for you all to see each other again--
I had no clue they were your "company" you referenced a few weeks ago in email!!
Brad's children are both adorable. Any more pictures?
Yes, Mrs. M., and before they arrived I was at a retirement party for a work friend. I barely got here before Brad & Co! It was a busy weekend. I hope the kids are having fun at Hukilau!
I do have more photos. I'll play with a few and send them to you in an email, ok?
Thanks for the photos! Last minute fall-throughs postponed the Hukilau Event. :(
Isn't it nice for her she'll be able to reschedule more easily in the autumn!
Oh wow! That must have been quite a disappointment! But yes, she'll be so close come fall. But I'm guessing the same friends won't be able to come?
I used to say that to our boys all the time. Its fun to hear what the real meaning of words are and how we change them to fit our language now.
It looks like you had great fun "horsing around" with your friends.
PW, my husband was just telling me about "knuckling down" because he and his 3rd graders are playing marbles at school. I didn't know it was a marble term.
So, that explains my entire life, just horsing around. i am a horse Ruth.
Best time is when we have guests at home, lot of activity if there are children around, now that my niece and nephew have grown up like Peter and Lesley into sensible adults, they are lot more sensible than me. Sometimes i wish they never grew up.
rauf, what can I say, you're one of the lucky ones. You get to horse around, and it sounds like you never grew up. Please don't!
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