Five Word Weekly Challenge 5/22/23 Fine and Dandy

Granddad never threw anything out. What distinguished him from a hoarder was the clever method he used in repurposing his ‘treasures’. He never failed to surprise me with his ingenuity.
Granny was amazingly patient with his “collection”, but she demanded a neatly kept yard adjacent to her house.
They lived in a remote valley on a dead-end near a secluded pond. I didn’t know what I’d find there this year as I arrived to spend the summer with them again.

Granny met me first.

“So happy to see you, Charles! It’s been a ‘dog’s age’. Why you look ‘fit as a fiddle’, dear!”

“I work out a little. Thanks! Where’s Granddad?”

Granny and Grandad had a way of talking that always included cliches. They made me smile but I’d be afraid to try to count them.

“‘In a nutshell’, he’s ‘in hot water’ with me. I’d like to ‘knock his block off’! Look at the old skiff he dragged onto my lawn. I just finished ‘laying down the law’ to that man so he’s ‘licking his wounds’ behind the shed.”

“It looks like he intends to make you a little garden in the old wreck, Granny. It could be pretty with paint. I’ll help him make it nice.”

“‘Over my dead body’, Charlie! I have too much to grow to use that contraption for a garden. ‘Mark my words’ “you’re going to need a bigger boat”. The ‘long and short of it’ is he’ll have to keep it out of my sight.

“I’ll drag it around back then. Maybe we’ll just make it an herb garden. Okay?’

Granny waved me off and stomped inside.
As I rounded the corner inching the skiff along with a rope, there sat Granddad on an old stool. He was chuckling to himself.

“I heard ya talking to Granny. ‘Come hell or high water’ that ‘squeaky wheel always gets the grease’, doesn’t she. But I hope you know this is all ‘a blessing in disguise’, my boy. The ‘ace up my sleeve’ was ‘making a fuss’ enough to get her distracted into letting me keep the dang thing. It worked ‘fine and dandy’! I’m on ‘cloud nine’.”