Willy Snake

[Laleldil]

Well still at work and bored. All the machines are running fine. Nice for them I guess, sucks when they want you to stay busy. They farm out most projects now and don't want us to shut down production to work on their machines. Nor do they want maintenance in the shop unless production is running, hence no real catch up repair work on the weekends. Eventually the machines will start messing up during production runs and then their claim will be it is too costly to make parts at this facility. IMO you can't do 'on time' production style, if you do not do serious preventive maintenance. A machine goes down now, and immediately you fall behind schedule. with no stock, no saved time, so then expidite. Expidite repair parts in and expidite product out to customers. Brakes are heavy.

Anyway, the so story is out.

On with what I plan to do with the 6 year old boy:

Got me a ceramic type shallow washbasin type, well, basin. Got me a 4" flower pot. Got me some dirt and grass seed. Got to get me some round eyes, a pieces of red felt, a young girls brown or black panyhose style hose, and some paper white bulbs, Maybe even find a crocus bulb.

Objective: Create Willy Snake lurking in the flowers.

Take crocus balb and stick it in the toe of the stocking with about a half cup of dirt, I am thinking. Try to leave the part sort of elongated, as that is the tip of the tail. But we want the bulb to flower so need keep it near bottom (away from the very toe end of this portion) where the twist in the stocking will keep the tail as a segment.

Carefully mix some grass seed and soil. Now the harder part. Might use a bread tie to hold that twisted toe end where the crocus balb is located, cause now need to pick which side of the snake is going to be the back. Lay the seeded soil on that side. So we should now end up with 1/3 the snake diameter filled the length with seeded soil. Need to finish filling the length of the snake with regular soil. So the snake going to be about 15 inches long and a chubby couple of inches thick, we need seeded soild all 15 inches on the top (bottom as you make sanke) and the rest of its thickness filled with regular potting soil. Or cheat and mix enough soil and seed together to the whole dern snake and care not which side is up.

But leave some of the head end of the snake without seed so the eyes, glued to the stocking when done and the red felt snake tongue cut out, wont be hidden in the grass.

Set the small flower pot in the basin, maybe use some pebbles and stuff to lift the wider part of the pot high enough that Willy the Snake can be coiled around the pot inside the basin. Going to need the flower pot's top edge about two inches higher than the back of Willy. A little dirt in the flower pot, alot of bulbs, think they like to be tight with each other, and an inch or so covering the bulbs and we should be about done.

Set the basin to one side, probably a not real bright spot, until the grass seeds begin to sprout. Then move into a sunny warm location. I am thinking the red felt for the tongue should be a pretty good water gauge, when it is dry, water Willy. If the tail works and was propped up, yet still leaving the crocus bulb buried and next to other parts of the snake, the crocus bulb should, I hope, sprout out like a rattler. And if we are really lucky the potted bulbs will grow 6-7 inches tall and Willy will have a hairy (grassy) back that Keagan can keep trimmed with scissors.

Did something similar a few years ago making Potato Heads Without Potatoes. Took nylon stocking material, twisted the top end and bread tye tied it. Turned it inside out so tie knot was inside. Sprinkled grass seed and dirt , then tried to finish filling head with dirt and seeds, without too many seeds in face area. Glued eyes nose and lips on it. Some had more than a few errant whiskers, but the kids had fun with them.

Hum you weren't expecting a story on Willy Snake were you?!!