The door was Grandpa’s idea. We went into his wood shop and he showed me how to cut the wood pieces and glue them together. I dug around in the wood pile for scraps to create the arch that would frame the door. I even attached hinges just to see how to do it. Everything at Grandpa’s house was a learning experience.
Finding the wooden shims inspired the creation of the gate. He showed me how to use the coping saw to carefully shape the pickets. I enjoyed the finer detail most of all. Grandpa pulled out some leftover Testors paint and found enough blue to paint the door so it would stand out.
“We will show that snake who’s who around here”. Grandpa chuckled. Building the fairy garden was his way of blocking the snake hole I kept poking around in. Grandma was on board, thinking it would give the garden a little spark and discourage the snake at the same time.
Mind you, I never ever saw a snake, but Grandpa was convinced and there was no arguing when his mind was made up.
The next morning, we walked to the side yard with a gardening trowel and a rubber mallet. Grandpa carved the dirt out just enough to force our newly constructed wall into the mound of dirt. The rubber mallet allowed us to set it back into the dirt securely without damaging anything. I put the gate in securing it to the ground with garden pins.
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”It certainly is beautiful.” Everyone nodded in agreement. “What a nice gift.”
“Let’s eat”, mother said. We all headed inside and Dad pulled the blue door closed behind him.
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The next morning I went running back to the house. “Hey, Grandma, Where did you get the miniature picnic table and bowls and stuff? They are so cool!”
”Child! What on earth are you talking about. Now sit down and eat your breakfast.”
I had fun with Fandango’s Flash Fiction Challenge today. Check it out! #FFFC