New Growth!!!

 Kyle and I planted some stuff over the weekend.

And this morning... there are BABIES!

Teeny, tiny little black eyed peas!

I'm excited to see them.

Not exactly sure what to DO with them... lol.

We've never done shelling peas / beans before...

but this has been a learning experience from word go.

Kyle's roses are looking beautiful!

They are happy after being transplanted and

SEVERELY pruned...

Lots of gorgeous flowers!

Yesterday morning we had a visitor!

He's a BIG ol' hawk!

I chased him away before I let the dogs out...

He's big enough to carry Roxie off.

Tuesdays and Thursdays are crazy days.

Up, feed everybody, eat breakfast, get cleaned up

and head to the Town to work until ... usually 4-ish,

but yesterday I had stuff to do at home so I left at 3.

(I'm supposed to work 10-3 but often stay late...)

Anyhow, as soon as I got home I hopped onto my

laptop in the ZoomRoom and created some new slides

for my evening class since we are now teaching a 

few VERY limited actual LIVE (face-to-face) classes

and we aren't getting many people signing up.

I wanted to "talk it up" in my Zoom.

Which meant new slides.

Plus our online course changed the way you need

to sign up and since that's what my Zoom is all

about, I had to do screen shots and create new slides

for all of those as well.

It took about an hour.

Then I created a quick Zoom webinar for me and 

my boss so I could go over the changes with him and

make sure he approved (or wanted to make changes),

started the zoom, stuck it in my ear and my phone in

my pocket and dashed out to feed the animals.

He didn't join until I was back in the house...

so we hurried and went over them together,

finishing just before my class at 6.

No students.

Read my book for a few minutes and then remembered

I hadn't done the admin stuff for my Monday night class

(I had 29 students and it doesn't end until 10!)

I got all that finished - was nearly done at 6:50 when I

saw a student FINALLY join my Zoom.

He said "I'm here for the 7:00 class, I hope I'm not

too early...)

Well duh.

My Review classes are from 6-10.

My Tuesday and Thursday Orientations are from 7-9.

Sheesh.

That's kind of how the whole day went!

But at least I didn't start LATE thinking my 6 started at 7!

Starting next week I'm ONLY teaching 

7-9 on Tuesday and Thursday

and 

6-10 on Saturday.

Well... until the last week of October 

when I am covering for another instructor.

Monday - 6-10

Tuesday - 7-9

Wednesday - 6-10

Thursday - 7-9

Friday - 6-10

Saturday - 6-10

Plus work at the town on Tues & Thurs.

Plus keep the animals (and people) fed and... well, alive.

Hahahaha.

But I have a couple weeks to rest up for it.

Rod stopped on his way home from his 2nd job and

picked up some Chick Fil A for us...

and we sat on the couch and watched the debate.

Sheesh.

*************************************************

Update!

I just got a little package from Mom!

The necklace and bracelets are BEAUTIFUL!

I'm wearing the bracelets!

They are the PERFECT size!

Thanks Mom!

LOVE YOU!

Monday, Monday....

 And now you have that song stuck in your head.

I do too... so you're welcome.

We had a relaxing weekend!

Kyle had a couple of jobs lined up...

he loaded up and he and Rod drove over,

but they weren't ready for him.

The 2nd got postponed - one of the storms

we had last week caused some damage to

their property that needs to be handled 

PDQ - so their other projects had to be

moved to the back burner.

Which meant the guys came back home.

Rod spent the rest of the day napping on the couch.

He is still getting over his cold and

his body NEEDED the rest.

Kyle and I watched gardening YouTube videos.

And planted some new shelling beans,

MORE okra (hahahahaha) and 

some herbs (dill and basil mostly).

We ordered a couple more kinds of seeds

and when those get here and we get them

in the garden, we are done for a couple months.

We need to plant our peas, but its still too hot.

I plan to try to plant them the end of October...

Kyle headed back to the ranch Sunday afternoon.

Rod headed back to work this morning.

I worked out, made breakfast, put a bunch of 

fish emulsion on the garden (fertilizer),

and then headed into the Zoom Room to do

3 hours of emailing future students.

I teach tonight from 6-10 and I need to open the room

about 5:30 for people to get in and get settled.

But I never did get around to mowing last week.

Guess I'll dash out there and do that...

then feed the critters, come in and shower,

and teach.

No pictures, sorry... I keep forgetting my phone

in the house.

Tomorrow y'all!

RIP Andy

My handsome horse Andy passed away today.

He carried me on many a ride through the woods over the years.

He loved a good nap in the shade.

He and CJ were good trail buddies.

He carried lots of little kids on their first

"pony ride".  (This little girl, a fellow instructor's daughter,

went on to take riding lessons and has a horse of her own now!)

He was equally fond of a nap in the sun.

Our annual Christmas Ride was something we both looked forward to.

We bought him and his pasture mate, Buddy 17 years ago.

When we were both younger!

The whole world was "Golden Corral" in his opinion.

It was ALL good to eat.

How can you not love that fuzzy nose???

He got so furry in the winter his nickname was Panda.

You could bury your hand in his fluff.

I think this was the only time Kyle ever rode him.

Bareback.

From the front yard to the barn.

(Before we built the dog yard... like 2012?)

This was always my favorite view.

RIP my Andy.

You were a good friend.

Say Hi to Joey for me...

Strep and a Challenge

 So Kyle decided, graciously, to share.

And I ended up with strep.

Woke up Monday morning with a horrible

sore throat - had to really work to swallow.

D3 and Oil of Oregano to the rescue!

I had planned to try to go into the Town to

help out for the day, but NOPE.

I actually felt much better after going outside

and feeding the animals and just breathing

some humid air.

Kyle got the mulcher head all loaded up

and returned to Ring Power and then back

home to load his car and head to the ranch.

Here is a picture of the job he did on Saturday.

That was ALL woods just 2 hours ago.

Thick pine, palmetto, pepper...

He said the palmetto is the worst because it

is so fibrous. All the light brown stuff on the

ground now is what we call "monkey fur". 

GREAT for starting fires.

NOT great for mulching machines.

I took a bunch of video, but I'll need his

permission to load them to YouTube.

Anyhow, he spent about 6 hours over there

and got everything mulched and cleared that they

wanted - they were SUPER happy and also happily

paid his outrageous fee. (hahahaha)

(Mulching commands a fee of ... wait for it ...

$400.00 per hour!)

It's worth it though. Clearing that lot any other

way would have taken 3 times the amount of time

and back breaking labor. I know, I've done it!

Anyhow.

He was pleased and so were they.

They want him to put a company sign in their

yard because they are sure many of their neighbors

will be interested in his services too.

But first he needs to buy a mulcher... grin.

Renting one (for $800/day) kind of mulches his profit.

Hahahahaha.

So... I spent the rest of the day kind of resting.

Although I did slip into the grocery store to

get some essentials. (Wearing a mask - which I NEVER do,

since I didn't want to share my strep germs...)

Tuesday was a BUSY day.

Got up, fed the animals, cleaned up, drank a quick

protein smoothie (dark cherry - yum!) and 

then dashed to the office. Worked until 3:45 and

then headed home to rest a bit, feed the 

critters and back to the Zoom Room for the

2 hour Orientation workshop.

I only had 2 students - 1 was having technical

difficulties, so I held his hand and got him all

set up, the other had attended before and realized

it part way through so she dipped out.

 I was done about 8:15 but had to stay on

until 9:00 just in case someone dropped in.

Which means I got to read a couple of chapters of my book.

Rod got home while I was teaching and ate

himself a fresh peach and then it was off to bed.

And then this morning...

I started a...

"61 day Challenge"

Since it's 61 days until I turn 61.

 I started the day with 20 minutes of T-Tapp.

I've been SUPER lazy lately.

Well, not lazy, but I haven't done ANY workouts.

I've gotten lots of physical activity between climbing

mountains and building a garden...

but it was time to get back into T-Tapp.

Sunday was the 2 year anniversary of Teresa's death.

It really spurred me to get back to it.

It felt good!

I did Tempo Basic (means nothing to you, but

this is also for MY records... lol)

And now I'm doing my quick blog while I wait

for my Perfect Priscilla Porridge to finish cooking.

It's old fashioned rolled oats, quick cooking steel cut oats,

flax and psyllium husk powder over the top of

about a cup of frozen blueberries.

Makes kind of a cobbler / crust thing and although

it looks disgusting and sounds gross, it is DELICIOUS!

So I'm going to go eat!

And then I need to spend about 4 hours sending 

emails for PFSU - drum up some more students. 

Gratuitous picture of my silly duck sitting on the compost pile.

It took them THREE DAYS to figure out they could go

out the OPEN DOOR of their coop.

But they've got it now...

(Also a peak of the new, baby beans popping up

out of the ground - can't wait until those hoops 

are COVERED in pole beans!!!)

And the first of, hopefully, MANY cut and come again Zinnia's.

Back to Real Life

 We are back.

And Blogger is back to forcing double space. 

GRRRRRRR

Anyhow, I suppose I could switch to regular paragraphs instead of centering everything. But I like the way that looks and the way the sentences flow.

Whatever.

Wednesday we mostly just did laundry and rested after a LOT of travel.

And Thursday it was back to real life.

Rod went back to work.

I went back to work at the Town, the Building Department Clerk is out sick and has been since the day after we left for vacation so they were in a PANIC to have me back and help get caught up... additionally the Town Manager is National Guard and he got deployed to the border in Texas for a YEAR and Thursday was his last day before deployment.

I ended up working 6.5 hours to help them get back up to speed. I also had a Zoom meeting with my teaching team at 1:30, so I put on my earbuds and listened/watched while I was inputting Building Permits and Inspections.

When I got off work I headed home and changed into my Zoom "uniform" and taught the 6-9 pm New Recruit Orientation zoom workshop.

Rod has gone back to working part time at FIT Aviation again, so he goes in to Embraer in the morning, works his normal hours there and drives across the airport to the school and works with his brother, Scott for 4 hours or so in the late afternoon/evening. 

Friday morning he got up to get ready for work and Kyle saw the light, so he got up too. Kyle had a RAGING sore throat. (Sinus infection - likely from re-breathing his own germs while wearing a mask in the airplane...) So I got up too... we had him gargle with warm salt water (since we are out of lemon juice - and honey makes his throat burn on a regular day... didn't think MORE burning would feel better... lol). And then he started my regime of 3 Oil of Oregano and 3 D3 capsules every 3 hours.

Rod left for work and Kyle hung out in my room while we waited for the sun to come up.

After taking care of the animals, I headed into the ZoomRoom for the 9-1 review class.

As soon as that was over, I headed into town to Sams to pick up lemon juice and some other misc. groceries and then over to Tractor Supply to refill the cow and horse feed bins.

Home to dump the feed and then I drove over with Kyle to Ring Power to pick up his latest tool/toy.

This is called a Mulcher Head.

He has a job lined up for this morning to clear an acre or so for the other ward's Bishop.

He was a bit surprised at how HEAVY it was...

But he got it successfully loaded on the trailer.

He decided he's going to try loading it front first next time.

There is a pretty big tipping point and its scary when you are

going backwards and you can't see where you are going...

(Shhh, don't say anything, but blogger is suddenly working!)

Anyhow. I had to teach again from 5:30 to 10:15.

But Kyle called Rick and Chris, our neighbors to the south.

They have been wanting him to clear a portion of their back

property for a year or more, so he let them know he had the

machine that would do it and they asked him to come over

and just clear the outer edges.

He was happy to have an opportunity to try the machine before

going over to do the BIG job (with an audience...)

I'll walk over later and see if I can get a picture of what he cleared.

He took one, but didn't send it to me.

And he and Rod have gone to the job site.

I've been on the computer all morning doing the admin stuff

for the 3 classes I just taught.

Anyhow.

Time to clean the kitchen, do the laundry, and maybe drive

over and check on the guys...

Oh, Kyle's throat is feeling better, his neck and shoulders were

super stiff so I massaged some magnesium into them this morning.

Hopefully it helped.

Last Day

We actually made it back to our hotel
BEFORE the witching hour.
Kyle was pleased about that...
He stopped in the little breakfast room at the hotel
and grabbed a set of silverware and headed
to his room to eat his leftovers from
Texas Roadhouse the night before.

Rod and I headed to bed!
(Well, after Rod ate his peach...)

We all slept in.
I don't think I got up until nearly 8.

We decided to forego the $50 iHop breakfast
and headed into downtown Salt Lake where
Rod found a Marathon gas station to fill
the rental and we each got a burrito.
They really are good!

And then we headed to Temple Square.

The traditional photo...

Even with the smoke in the air
(from the California fires)
the sky was beautiful and the
reflecting pond was gorgeous!

They have started wiring the trees for the
Christmas lights, and then lots of the
branches broke in the storm.
Only hanging on by their lights!
Lots of the bedding plants looked sad.
But there were teams of young gardeners
pulling out the old and getting ready to replace
it with the fall plantings.

Crab apple?

Whatever they were, there were a bunch of
them and they were all LOADED!
We picked a ripe-ish looking one and
dug into it with our fingernails.
It smelled like apple...

And then it was time to leave.

Salt Lake City got a new airport.
And the opening day was yesterday!
We were some of the first people to use
the new airport!
Of course, only Delta is flying out of the
new terminal, so we dropped off our car in
the new rental return (fancy and VERY easy),
checked in and checked our bags
(fancy and VERY easy)
and then walked a MILLION miles
(literally a full mile)
to the old terminal to the furthest gate
possible (F-20) to catch our flight.

Since we saw on the news that morning that
it was the grand opening for the new airport,
we made sure to get there plenty early
just in case...
So we had lots of time to sit and watch the
other people, nap, charge our devices, etc.

Good bye Salt Lake!
Until next time!

Oh.
So anyway.
We aren't mask wearing people usually.
Of course, they are mandatory in the airport
and while on the plane.
Some people were pretty lax about it,
and then there were others who were wearing
TWO masks at the same time!
Or even a mask AND a face shield.

Kyle and I were laughing about it when
I glanced over and saw this....

Is that SERIOUSLY a person with a bag on their head????
It was MOVING!

Turned out it was something on the lady's stroller.
But we laughed and laughed and laughed!

Made it home a little ahead of schedule,
everything at the house looked great,
Jim did a fabulous job taking care of everyone
and everything.
The dogs were happy to see us.

And we were happy to sleep in our own beds.

Day Five?

GOOD sleep last night!

Our room was lovely, our bed was small but comfy,

and we didn’t wake up until, like, 7:30.

(Well, 5:30, but I went back to sleep...)

Kyle came to our room around 8:30 and we headed

downstairs for the free breakfast.

Which was cold cereal.

So we found an iHop close by and had a

yummy breakfast.

And then we headed back to our hotel to

pick up jeans and jackets for our evening adventure.

Then it was off to drive the Alpine Loop.

Oh wait, on the way we stopped at a fruit stand

in Orem Greg told us about and bought a beautiful

box of O’Henry peaches. We took 3 out (for breakfast

tomorrow) and Sondra bought the rest. (The guy

threw in a ripe pear for me...)

He had two acres of the most beautiful tomato plants!

He said he has 8 more acres at another location.

They were all tied up using the “Florida Weave” technique.

We are excited to do the same with our plants!

There were also peach, pear and apple trees in the background.

And THEN we headed to the Alpine Loop.

Our little car and its amazing driver.

I didn’t get any good pictures of the color,

but some of the leaves are starting to turn.

We had a nice ride through the mountains

and then headed up to the Alpine Slide 

in Park City to meet Sondra and Greg!

We checked them out on Google - they

Are open on Mondays from 10-6.

Except when we got there, there was a

giant CLOSED sign!

Rod called and they said they are in their

“shoulder season” which is apparently 

code for closed until November.

BUMMER!

So we sat on some picnic tables and

visited for awhile and then decided to drive

down to Heber to the Dairy Keen!

Their peach shakes are THE BEST!

We sat in the park across the street.

AND STILL FORGOT TO TAKE ANY

PICTURES!

DOG GONE IT!!!!!

(It’s hard to take pictures when you are 

social distancing... that’s my excuse...)

Anyhow.

We had a great time laughing and talking

and eating and laughing and talking.

Until we had to leave to catch our evening

ride on the Heber Creeper!

We had to wear masks until the train started going...

so we decided to go with the train robber theme

and wore bandanas. (Well, Kyle and I did... 

we only have 2 bandanas...)

The scenery was beautiful!

The ride was fun!

And then we headed to the hotel.

Where Rod is on the other bed watching...

something on his phone.

Kyle is in his room eating his leftovers

from Texas Roadhouse last night,

and I’m catching up on my blog.

Tomorrow is our last day.

(Sad face)

It has been a GREAT vacation!

WAY Behind

We have been BUSY!

Having a blast.

But everywhere we go, there is no signal.

And by the time we get back to our hotel,

we just fall into bed.

So... let’s see.

Day 2.

We got up, went to “Maverick” (gas station)
for fuel for the Jeep and breakfast burritos.
And then hit the highway to Yellowstone.



We stopped at another gas station midway
and they had this yummy looking Huckleberry
Honey, jams, candy, etc.
But I was afraid it wouldn’t make the trip
in our suitcases, so I took a picture to order
online later if I want.
Meanwhile, I bought a little tube of
Huckleberry lip balm.
It’s great, but smells really sweet and
every time I put it on, Kyle gets hungry.
LoL.

On to the park.

It was wonderful to be able to just show
Rod’s lifetime membership card and his ID
and get right in!

We spent the day showing Rod all the cool
sights and sounds of the South loop.

Gibbons Falls...

Sapphire Pool

We even got to Old Faithful just in time to see it go off.

It was crowded, so my picture is terrible...

but in June I took a million pictures and this time

I just focused my attention on enjoying the scenery.

WAAY less pictures this time.

We left the park around dusk and headed to our hotel.

We stayed in the same Days Inn Kyle and I stayed

in last time - and there is a good little pizza place

just up the street, so we ordered a large Hawaiian

and walked over to pick it up.

Ate it in our room and BED!

**************************************

DAY THREE

Another day at Yellowstone.

We got up, there was a free “grab and go”

breakfast brown bag from the hotel.

It was a REALLY pathetic burrito.

We went to Nez Perce where we know there

is a herd of bison that hangs out. 

Rod wanted to get some better pictures.

He got some really good ones!

And then we decided we were HUNGRY,

so we actually left the park again and headed

back into town to the little restaurant 

next to the hotel and ordered breakfast.

In honor of Grandma Hanna, I took a 

picture with the “guy” in the lobby.

And then we headed WAY up north to Mammoth.

It wasn’t anything like what we were expecting,

but pretty. We climbed a gazillion stairs.

And saw some beautiful formations.

And then headed back down south to the 

“Grand Canyon of Yellowstone”.

It’s beautiful!

And huge!

We saw lots more bison, some herds of elk,

even a random bison walking down the 

middle of the road!

And then it was time to head back to Logan.

We stopped at Crushers again for a quick bite

and then hit the highway.

Poor Kyle.

He does all the driving for us and it was a 

LATE night.

We were all exhausted by the time we got there!

*********************************

DAY FOUR

Up.

Breakfast. 

(Burritos from Maverick again...)

And headed back to Tony Grove to do some hiking.

We headed to White Pine Lake...

which is 3.9 miles (one way!)

We used our nifty walking sticks!

It was SO beautiful!

There was a sword in a stone!!!

We MADE it!!!!
It was a LONG hike - 2 miles up hill and 2 miles down hill.
It was worth it!!!

So beautiful.

And Kyle’s happy place.

And then it was 2 miles UP and 2 miles down again.

Rod and I were pretty much done by the time we 

got to the end of the hike.

But it’s such a good feeling to know we made it!!!

And to celebrate we went to Texas Roadhouse

steak since we’ve eaten a LOT of carbs lately!

It was DELICIOUS!

And then Kyle drove us south to our hotel for the night.

A Ramada Inn on N. Temple.

Which turned out to be a crack house.

So we cancelled THAT reservation and found a 

brand new LaQuinta in South Jordan.

I’m sitting on the bed watching the “new”

Jumanji movie - Rod is snoring on the other bed.

Kyle only ate half his dinner and took the rest

with him for “second dinner” so he went to his

room to eat and go to bed.

And I’m heading there now too.

And we are all caught up!