Monday, June 23, 2025

Oops!!! - UPDATE

 I kind of forgot we had radishes in one of my 
garden beds, in there with the potatoes,
and between the peas that are getting TALL
and covered in peas.....


Looks more like a BEET!
(And I got another the same size today...)

I can TOTALLY recommend growing radishes.
Even if you don't think you like them.

Because if you slice them up, spray them with a little
avocado (or olive) oil, and season them with
a little salt and pepper and then roast them at
400 for about 20 minutes
(I used my air fryer)
They are SOOOOOOOOOO GOOD!

Kind of like Lays potato chips.
You can't eat just one.
And then you are really glad it was HUGE.
And kind of can't wait to grow more.

******************************************
UPDATE

Speaking of beets, look what Kyle just brought
home from our farm garden!


Our first beet!

Thanks Nanc for introducing me to these beauties!!
It's in the air fryer as we speak.....


Also, back in the "saddle".
Walked 2 miles today!


Sunday, June 22, 2025

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ROZANN!!!!!

 HAPPY BIRTHDAY FROZIE ROZIE!!!!

Whew!
Just squeaked it in before the day was over.....
(Darn these all day teaching things...)


I love that you are so quietly caring.
No big splashy stuff... just swoop in
and take care of what needs to be taken care of.
Whether that's getting a landline in 2025 when
nobody even knows what those are anymore,
or fixing / updating / replacing computers,
printers, phones.....
Keeping the "home" stocked with puzzles.
Or just quietly sitting and visiting.

You are such an example to me.
Running a business.
Running a family.
Keeping it all straight.
AND working hard to stay healthy and happy.
(Not to mention having a new puppy and we
KNOW what a challenge that can be! hahahaha.)


Happiest of birthdays my little sister!
I love you!

Saturday, June 21, 2025

Teachin' in the Bayou.... lol

Today was a Louisiana class.... 

I had 51 students registered, but yesterday I sent
an email reminding them that they HAVE to be
ON TIME or they won't get credit.

So I had 14 students, but they were the 
cream of the crop.

Last month I had people wandering in 2 hours late,
sticking around for a bit, and then wandering
back out again, only to come back after a bit...
and angry they didn't get credit.
(Attendance was a NIGHTMARE! Took me nearly
2.5 hours on Monday to get it all straight...)

So this time... nope.

And it was MUCH MUCH better.

Unfortunately, I missed some good stuff today though.
There was a Primary activity this morning,
they were doing "pioneer" stuff to prepare for
our annual Pioneer Day Picnic on the 26th here
in WaKeeney.
Then right after that there was a goodbye party
for the exiting Bishop and his family.
(deploying to Hawaii to finish his final 2 years..
he's medical...)
His oldest daughter was our YW class President,
his middle daughter was our Secretary,
and his younger just turned 12 and joined us.
They are all amazing young women and we will miss them.

And then tonight was our stake's turn to clean the temple
from 9:30 to 11 (or whenever...)
But it's about a 4.5 hour drive and if we left
RIGHT THIS MINUTE we MIGHT make it.
So we didn't sign up.

And I teach again tomorrow.
Our first time meeting as a Relief Society with our
new presidency.
Darn.

But, it was a good class.

Yes, those are salt & vinegar pringles.... gotta have a snack during break... lol

A more manageable size group.
They learned a lot, and had some fun along the way.
Hopefully they will come back tomorrow....... lol.
(I'm always SO nervous they won't!)

Ok, so I'm tired of sitting in this chair.
I'm OUTTA HERE!

Friday, June 20, 2025

Cute Shirt!

 Rod got a fun package the other day...


Thanks Jim and Sabrina!
(gift giving really IS your super power!!! You
even spelled it correctly!)
He's going to be SO popular at the NOEL picnic
on Wednesday night!!!

I'm doing a double today and gearing up for
another Louisiana class tomorrow and Sunday.

Yesterday was a presidency meeting (2 hours)
(40 minutes from my house)
and then a trip to the store to get some last
minute stuff 
and then home to cook chicken tacos for the
4 missionaries in our ward.

And then.... BED!

So... lunch? And then maybe a nap, and then
back to work.
(I got up at 6:30 with the dogs and so I took
Beau and we went for a short, 15 minute
walk up and around the park / swimming pool)
It was nice and "cool" at 75 degrees this morning.
Predicting over 100 today.

I know, you folks in AZ are laughing at me.
Luckily they fixed the AC though.
That's warm.

Wednesday, June 18, 2025

Rest Day!

 I took a rest day.
Rod spent the day yesterday UNDER the Isuzu,
working on fixing a .... mechanical thing.
So he was tired and had a sore back.
Kyle spent the late afternoon Monday
weeding a LONG row of carrots that was FULL of weeds,
and the tops of his knees were FRIED.
So he hung around until later than usual.
And I.......... read a book.
The whole thing.

It was LOVELY!

Monday it was pretty warm here...
and the AC quit again.
So this morning the AC guys came and fixed
the leak (under warranty) and it's all  better now.

(They set it to 68 while they were working
on it.... Kyle and I nearly DIED! LOL)

Anyhow.

Tomorrow we have our first RS Pres mtg at the
President's house, so I'll be driving into Hays again.
(Rod is there tonight for Mutual....)
We're going to have zoom meetings going forward,
because I just can't drive into Hays every day.

(Tues - groceries, etc.
Wed - Mutual
Thurs - Pres Mtg
Sun - church)
NOPE.

Anyhow.

Friday is both the Pres and the Secty's birthday,
so I'm thinking about bringing fresh strawberries
and whipped cream, but we'll see.
I'm also having the Elders over for dinner that night.
Hahahaha.

Anyhow.


Gratuitous picture of setting up the zoom for Sac Mtg.
Cuz I got nothing.
Hahaha.

Monday, June 16, 2025

Annnnnnnnnd ANOTHER NEW CALLING!

 I'm beginning to wonder....
NOBODY wants me?
or EVERYBODY wants me?
Hahahahaha.
(just kidding)
(but not really)

Anyhow.

Saturday we had an interview with the Bishop.
He's new.
Only been in for 3 weeks.
And his wife was the RS President.
So we KNEW that was going to need to change.

Luckily I have an "insider" so I knew I wasn't
being tagged as President.
And after that, any calling was ok with me.

So...

Introducing the new RS 2nd Counselor!

I'll be over activities and Temple & Family History.
Luckily, the old presidency (our new Pres was 1st C 
in the old presidency, so she has a good handle)
had JUST revamped all the ministering assignments.
So we don't need to tackle that for a while.

That makes 4 callings in the year we've been here.
Started as a Primary teacher.
Then 1st C in YW.
Then Secty in YW.
Now 2nd C in RS.
That just leaves SS...... wonder when I can
expect THAT calling? Hahaha.

These are all excellent women and I'm looking
forward to serving with them.
(Although I would have loved to be secty, we are
keeping the old one, she was only called about
3 months ago and she's a really great lady!)
(Lives in WaKeeney so that automatically makes
her awesome, right? Just retired from our local school.)

So.

Other than that, we had a nice Father's Day.
I led the singing in Sac Mtg.
Haven't done that in DECADES.
(And totally messed up the Sac hymn, luckily
nobody looks at the chorister... lol)

Then the YW handed out the cookies to the men.
And we had an excellent Gospel Doctrine lesson.
And then, as 2nd C in the Bishopric,
Rod got to set me apart.
That was really special.

It was a nice day.
Rod had lots of meetings after, so Kyle and I
headed home for some lunch and then out to
the farm to water his raised beds.
The stupid cows got out again.
They were in his yard sometime in the last day.
Tramped all through his nice new grass growing
over his septic system.
Now there are 10" deep hoof holes all over
his yard that WAS nice and smooth.
But at least they didn't EAT everything.


I only got one picture though, my battery died as soon as
I took this picture.
His oats are heading out and looking really good!
And his wheat, what little there is, the heads are getting
plump and looking awesome.
His mustard has gone to seed... guess we need to do
some research and figure out what to do with it exactly.
He just planted it for fun, and because it's good for
"fixing" the soil.

Then down to the main garden where everything is
LOVING the heat.
Well, not EVERYTHING, the broccoli is done.
And looks like the cabbage won't ever really head out.
But we will start more here in a few weeks for a 
fall crop. Once the tomatoes are done, we will
swap them out for a huge planting of peas.

*************************************
Quick interruption... just got a call from a 
young lady from the local Catholic Parrish office.
I ordered 4 boxes of peaches and 1 box of pears.
"They" say Colorado peaches are better than Georgia.
We'll see... but since we can't really get
Georgia peaches out here, I hope they are right!
But we won't get them until August.
************************************

Ok.

Back to my regular post.


We have SNAPDRAGONS!!!


(And some eggs I just gathered...)


With more to come...
I'm so excited!
I haven't had snapdragons since Calgary!
(Our sad little bean patch in the background....
Kyle ordered new seeds, should be here later
this week and we will replant... these seeds were
just too old.)

Wednesday, June 11, 2025

Flowers!!!

 Flowers take SOOOOOO LONG to grow!!!


For the longest time, our flower bed was just dirt
with TEEEEEEEENY TINY little green dots.
Now they are finally big enough I could put down some shavings
to help protect them and keep the moisture in.


But LOOK!
We have FLOWERS!
Little, teeny tiny things.
But still...
They are flowers!!!


And the snap dragons are looking promising!
I love snap dragons!
We planted a bunch but only a few of them actually came up.
So I put 4 in my garden and Kyle put 4 in his.
And then the rat ate them.
And then he killed the rat.
And they started to come back.
And the rabbit discovered he could climb up the stairs
and then hop over into his raised beds.

GRRRRRRR!




There you can see his stairs better.

And then, yesterday, a DEER stomped around in his
strawberry raised bed!
BIG giant foot holes in the dirt and several of
the strawberry plants either got munched or pulled
up by the roots.

Farming.

Anyhow.


We also bought some cute little colorful pots (plastic) from Hobby Lobby.
These are in my kitchen window.
(We have the Trooper on the driveway right now, waiting for parts.
It needs brakes and ... something mechanical...)

Anyhow.
My marigolds, basil, spring onions are coming up.
I saw a TEENY little parsley this morning.
Still waiting on the chives and rosemary.

Kyle put flowers in 4 of his and herbs in the other 4.
(I only planted 6 of mine, the other two are white and cream
and I wanted COLOR in my kitchen...)

Anyhow.

Today I went around and opened all the windows.
We've had several open for a couple weeks,
but I opened the ones in the office & kitchen today.
And tomorrow I'll probably close them and 
turn on the AC.
It was 95 today and pretty warm, even with the breeze.

But it was nice while it lasted.
(Last year I opened the windows in the evening
and then around noon the next day closed them all
and turned on the AC [once we got it replaced] so
I'll probably do the same this year...)