Houston, We Have an OKRA!!!

 

YEA!!!!!!

There are actually THREE okras in that particular

patch so far...

I don't have high hopes since we interplanted 

them with the beans and they got a bit (a LOT)

stunted, but hey.

An okra is an okra!

Also....

Time to pick beans!

Isn't that the coolest thing ever?????

A Week of Goodbyes

 We decided that we should just let the insurance

company total Rod's car.

He will drive the big black truck and we will

update the Trooper's information and I'll drive that.

I LOVE the trooper!

And he might get a paint job!

He got new seat covers...

And new tires!!!

*but he doesn't get his tag until Monday...

And we also decided it was time to let Kyle's

faithful and wonderful dog Shadow go.

She was deteriorating quickly.

It was quick and painless for her.

And sad and painful for us.

But that's what love is.

RIP dear Shadow.

Thursday Garden Update

Good morning!

It's Thursday.

I'm eating my oatmeal and waiting for Soni's call.

 

Just came in from admiring our garden.

I am in LOVE with the sweet potato flowers!

(Speaking of flowers, there were 3 okra flowers this morning!!!)

And the tomatoes are slowing starting to turn yellow.

(the correct color for these... lol)

And what garden tour would be complete without

the riot of color that is the sunflower / zinnia bed?

LOTS of flowers on the pickling cucumber.

Only 1 tiny fruit though...

Wonder why we are only getting male flowers????

And a spaghetti squash!!!!

We are keeping an eye on him!

And putting up a panty hose sling for him later today.

Happy Thursday!

Bye Bye Beans!

 The Slenderette beans were pretty heavy producers

and really delicious.

I think we will do another bed of them next fall...

But for now they are done.

The rattlesnakes have another week or two...

the tops of the plants are still flowering like crazy.

So as long as you have a stool, you can still

harvest 5 lbs or so every couple of days.

But the others got pulled last night.

There were a lot of them!

We want to amend the beds and maybe change out

some of the drip water lines that seem to be clogged.

(Hard water woes...)

And then we will replant in okra.

(pretty much the entire garden is going to be okra

over the heat of the summer... about all that will grow.

Well, maybe some sweet potatoes too...

We'll see.)

The cows were extremely happy for the snack!

Well except for "big red" who simply MUST come over to

check out anybody who dares to approach his fence.

Excuse me...

are you on the guest list???

Oh, ok.

Silly steer.

Full Freezer!

 I've been slacking in the freezer dept lately.

So I fixed that yesterday and today.

Now there are 5 trays full of Cowboy Grub,

4 trays of roast with mashed potatoes, gravy & veggies,

4 trays of jalapeno sausage and egg noodles

and 4 trays of beef stroganoff and rice.

Oh, and 8 "McMuffin" sandwiches for breakfast.

Whew!

And, of course, about 20 pounds of frozen beans.

(And Kyle is out there now picking the last of the

Slenderette green beans... so there will be MORE!)

I feel better.

Random picture of a cool truck in the Walmart parking lot on Saturday.

And a COOL "Tonka" truck in my parking lot at the town

on Thursday.

The guy said it was being used as a snowplough in 

Wisconsin or Minnesota (don't remember which now)

so he bought it for $37,000, brought it down here,

painted it and voila!

A cool toy!

Done Teaching! (for the week... lol)

 Whew!

I finished up this week's (and this month's)

teaching sessions just now.

The evenings I had an average of 28 students

(Thanks Mom, Dad and Rozann for letting me

teach from your places! It was fun!)

This week for the morning sessions I usually

had 7 students.

Which is about normal for the mornings.

But sometimes its harder with fewer!

I taught for an hour this morning with only ONE!

Ugh.

Thankfully the rest of them showed up EVENTUALLY.

Sheesh.

And now I'm done!

Kyle is off on a job with his Cat.

Beau is outside with the other dogs.

So I'm going to make myself something for lunch

and curl up on the couch with a book.

The day started EARLY (5:45) with a rocket launch.

BEST ONE I HAVE EVER SEEN!

They are always good in the dark sky...

See the little bump on the left of the main?

You can actually SEE the stages separating

and then we could watch as it returned to earth and

fired to line up exactly with the ship on the ocean

where it lands so they can reuse it!

I've never been able to see that!

It was amazing!

And beautiful!

And worth getting out of bed for.

Although I went BACK to bed and slept for a 

couple of hours before I had to teach at 8:30... 

LOL.

OH!

And yesterday I finished my baby blanket!

(Or was it Wed? Who knows...)

I was pretty happy with it.

No idea who I will give it to...

I have another ball of the same yarn so I'll probably

make another one.

It was fun.

And easy.

AND Kyle has been harvesting and processing beans!

LOTS of nice long, slender, juicy, delicious

"rattle snake" beans!

Like, LOTS!

And some carrots too...

He's been freezing them in 8 oz packets.

That's about what we eat in a meal.

(the red things are bags of frozen cranberries... I always

buy a BUNCH while they are on sale - I use them in

lots of different things... LOVE cranberries!)

Random picture of me at work yesterday with a TON

of work on my desk but showing off my pretty

new necklace Nancy made for me from "gems"

from the gem show!

OK.

I've got to go get something to EAT!

(I was running a little behind this morning,

see above... and just made myself a

chocolate cherry smoothie for breakfast.

That is LONG gone.....)

Have a GREAT Friday!

Next week should be much quieter (fingers crossed).

Talk to you then!

Rainy Days

 It POURED rain.

A couple of times today.

I was very grateful Kyle was playing

Driving Miss Daisy so he could drop

me off and pick me up right at the door.

It was HANDY!

(And dry...)

I could almost not SEE my desk under the

piles and piles and piles of things that

needed to be caught up on after being 

gone for a short THREE days...

(I only work Tues and Thurs)

so I had lots to do.

And I felt appreciated.

Nice to know they "can't live without me..." 

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Anyhow.

Beau NEVER watches TV, so when I caught him

studying the Instant Pot (food you know...)

on a YouTube I was watching, I had to snap a pic.

Don't know if it was the pictures of the food

or the man's voice that captured his attention,

but I thought it was funny.

I have been busy knitting.

I always enjoy it!

And then I finish a project and don't pick

up another one for a good long while

and then I wonder why I quit!

The other day Kyle picked up some really nice

yarn for me to make him another new 

LONG TV watching blanket.

He likes to be able to stretch it from his feet

to his chin (and wrap it UNDER his feet).

And then he turns on his window A/C unit

and it nearly snows in his room.

And he is a HAPPY MAN.

LOL

I'll take a picture when I get it done.

(Gotta finish the baby blanket first.

Who knows, SOMEBODY somewhere might need

a cute little pastel colored baby blanket... 

Surely there has to be at least one pregnant

sister in our ward...)

OOPS!

When Rod came to pick me up at the airport

on Thursday... he was driving the big black Ford pickup.

Which is unusual.

He generally only drives that if he needs to pickup

like wood. Or feed.

Not me and my tiny carry on bag.

Sadly, it was because his little VW had to go to the

car hospital. He bumped into another car

(who took off - so no tickets or anything)

and we have GREAT insurance so its not much $$$

but a little inconvenient because he is now driving the truck.

Which means I'm vehicle-less.

Unless I want to drive the Trooper.

Which I LOVE.

But needs insurance and I don't want to put 

coverage on it for a week. That would be silly.

So Kyle gets to play "Driving Miss Daisy"

or "taxi Mom".

Hahahahahahahaha.

Luckily nobody except the car's nose got hurt.

Whew!

And it will be back before we know it.

But it made for a good blog post... 

so thanks honey!

(grin)

Meanwhile...

I just finished teaching my Monday morning session.

I only had 6 students which is pretty normal for the

morning sessions. Most people are at work.

But it was nice.

I got everything done.

And now Kyle is going to drive me to the grocery

store to get some stuff and to the pharmacy to get

Rod's eye drops.

Have a GREAT MONDAY!!!!!

Popping In

 Look at the interesting information you can

follow while flying across the country!

Check out the OUTSIDE TEMP!

And I thought we were cold in Calgary!!!

(It got as low as -78!!! I just didn't take a pic)

I thought it was WILD that I could fly all the way

across the country from Tucson to Atlanta in

THREE HOURS and 22 minutes...

Of course, we WERE flying 600+ mph with a pretty good tail wind.

It was fun to watch my little airplane make its way

across this big, beautiful country.

Bye Tucson!

Til we meet again!!!

(pretty sunrise, eh?)

Anyhow.

I obviously got home safely.

All in one piece and thankfully on the way OUT

I spent 4 hours in the Atlanta airport, because otherwise

on the way back I would have been TOTALLY lost

and stressed since I had a much shorter layover.

It was EASY the 2nd time though.

(I got lost twice on the first trip... lol.)

They need better signs.

Rod, Kyle and Beau were happy to see me home again.

And I was happy to be home.

I LOVE travelling and visiting family

and getting to catch up on all their lives.

But it is always good to be home.

I jumped right back in with both feet.

Taught class that evening.

And again Friday and Saturday nights.

As well as did a bunch of cooking and 

grocery shopping and laundry and stuff.

This morning I had to go to our old Ward's

ward conference to meet with the Primary Presidency.

They are doing a really good job but having some

struggles and challenges - as are everyone.

It was nice to see some old friends.

At least from the eyes up.

Then home to watch our ward's church and

get on the computer to catch up on a week's worth

of admin stuff. (I usually do it immediately after

a class but didn't feel like it... I was on VACATION!)

Anyhow.

I'm all done now and I'm heading back to the living room.

(Oh, and I bought some pretty baby yarn and I'm making

a little baby blanket - for - somebody.... who knows!)

I'll take a picture when it looks like something.

I had SUCH a great time!!!

THANK YOU EVERYBODY FOR MAKING IT

A WONDERFUL WEEK!!!

(And I'm so GLAD Dad is home again and feeling well!)

I'm teaching from 9-1 tomorrow morning but I'll hop

on after and update.

Maybe.

Tucson Day 3?

 We are having a wonderful,

low key, lots of family, visiting,

talking, laughing time.

Yesterday after our walk we all got cleaned

up and then Rozann and I did some grocery shopping

and then over to Mom and Dad's house.

We sat out on the patio with Soni, M/D and

chatted for a bit and then Soni, Rozann and I

went over to Rozann's house to see their awesome

home gym they set up and then over to the office

to see all the latest developments and sit and

talk business ideas (and eat great snacks... lol)

until Nancy said they were back from the gem show.

Back home, called Rod and chatted for a bit

and then over to Rozann's to help her make dinner

for everybody.

(Greg went to Phoenix for Naomi's birthday.)

We had a great chinese food dinner with awesome

roasted veggies and rice.

It was delicious!

It was just the 7 Stoddards.

No spouses.

And nobody got any pictures.

Sheesh.

OK, I took ONE of the puppies intently

watching Rozann cook...

Everybody headed home and Rozann and I hung

out for a little bit and then I headed home to bed.

We were all wiped out!

(unfortunately Rozann remembered about 12:30

that Sam and Randy were out of town and she and I

were supposed to go close up her chickens at dusk.

OOPS! She ran over and did it herself... 

How many times have WE done that!)

This morning Rozann and I took the dogs for their

morning walk (with a quick stop at Nancy's to see

her and Gary out eating breakfast in the yard)

and then home to get cleaned up.

Rozann went to church, I didn't know they were "live"

so didn't bring church clothes, opted to stay here and

watch our ward on Zoom and then made some

breakfast and set up my computer for this week's

Zoom Reviews I need to do from here.

And now we are heading to Mom's to spend the afternoon

before Sondra has to get on an airplane and head back

to SLC. Waaaaa!

Tucson Day 2

 Yup, I know.

There was no Day 1.

Its because I didn't have any wifi yet.

And I wasn't home much.

Yesterday started with a fun walk with Rozann

and her two beautiful dogs, Zoey and Kodiak.

And then a shower and over to Mom and Dad's

to spend the day.

We had a great time visiting!

And then back to Nancy's to help prepare a dinner

for EVERYBODY - so good to see them!

Soni is doing pretty good considering!

She was REALLY tired, but not in much pain.

So thankful!

Lisa just got her hair colored and cut.

Doesn't she look gorgeous?

Lots of family!

Thanks Christopher for being an awesome photographer!

And putting up with our silliness!

Of course Nancy and I had to try a selfie!

After a good night's sleep this morning I woke up and

had just turned on YouTube when Rozann texted me and

said they were up earlier than planned and did I want to

go walk the dogs with her? 

(It was 6:30)

So I hopped out of bed, got dressed and we headed out

across Nancy's property.

And then Nancy joined us!

And then Gary showed up!

So the 4 of us took a nice walk around the block with

the dogs and had a great visit!

It's a BEAUTIFUL morning!

Back to our respective houses.

I did a 30 minute T-Tapp while Rozann did 45 minutes

in her amazing home gym, and then I hopped

in the shower while my oatmeal was cooking.

Now I'm sitting here enjoying my morning bowl

of oatmeal (with a little spoonful of peanut butter

stirred in for fun...) and getting ready to go shopping

with Rozann. I just want a couple of things...

water

eggs

maybe some okra... (lol).

And then I think we'll head over to Mom's.

Nancy is taking Lisa and going to the gem show

for the day.

Getting Ready

 The time is counting down!

And I'm busy (hahahaha) getting ready.

Ok. 

I colored my hair.

That's it.

But I've been thinking about what I'm

going to wear / pack / etc.

I bought a cute little purple suitcase that

goes UNDER THE SEAT in front of me!

So I don't even have to try to lift it into

the overhead bin thingie!

It's not very big.

But should be big enough.

Since we aren't going anywhere...

I'm wearing my jeans and packing

shirts and undies.

That's all.

Oh, and my computer so I can teach,

but it has a handy insert that will hold my

laptop securely and safely.

Nifty, eh?

Guess I need to bring my teaching shirt too.

And earrings.

I can't teach without earrings.

It's my "Dumbo Magic Feather".

(Yup, she's weird...)

Anyhow.

The vet was supposed to come out today to look

at Buddy and verify he's old.

But he got called out on an emergency,

so hope he'll be able to come tomorrow.

If not... well we'll cross that bridge when

it gets here.

I'm not worried.

(My Town Manager thinks I should just blow the

whole thing off and let them try to cite me.

I don't think I'll do that.)

Anyhow.

I'll be back on again tomorrow.

But now I just got home from work and I need

to eat some lunch!

And get ready to teach this evening.

Are We in Kansas?

Good Night It's WINDY!!!!

Kyle just came in from the garden and said there

is a bunch of wind damage to the rattlesnack beans

that are growing on the trellis.

We've had strong winds (not hurricane, but still) 

all day long.

And it's coming from the NORTH so it's COLD!

I'm wearing a thermal long sleeved shirt,

a giant sweat shirt

and a coat.

BRRRRRRR!

However, he DID pick a really nice carrot!

The other two he picked were pretty small,

but TASTY!

He spent some time this afternoon

(while I went to get my hair cut)

finishing the new facility.

This is looking out through the sweep 

towards the catch pen.

From the same spot but looking to the 

left down the alley to the scales

and out either back into their pasture

or into the trailer...

The catch pen minus the 12' gate out into the pasture.

And the feed bins.

The corner heading into the sweep.

He put panels in the corner so they

don't get stuck in a 90 degree - they just

continue along the fence line into the sweep

and from there into the alley.

Looking into the sweep from the catch pen.

He learned a LOT while building and re-building 

Linda's two facilities and we are benefiting from

his vast knowledge and experience!

All he has left is to put up the big gate

and Rod will build and install the feed bins

and then we are ready to give it a try!

We plan to feed the cows in there for about

a week and then we will try running they down

the alley and over the scales.

Exciting times!!!

Grrrrrrrrr

 Buddy, our horse, is OLD.

He is 30+ years old.

He has no teeth.

So he kind of slimes his food,

spills lots of it,

but eats a good amount as well

*as evidenced by his poop.

Anyhow.

Thursday is City People day next door.

And one of them called Animal Control

because they were "worried" about him.

If you bother to look, you'll see the horse CJ

standing next to him who is FAT as a butterball.

And three FAT steers.

But be that as it may,

Animal Control had to come out and check.

And now I have to have a vet come out next week

and verify that he's old, toothless, but essentially healthy.

And then the A/C lady will come back out

and take a picture of the vet's report and close our file.

Meanwhile,

Rod is going to make a sign to hang on our fence.

Hi.

My name is Buddy.

I'm OLD and I have no teeth.

But I'm healthy and happy.

My vet said so.

Thanks for your concern.

I'd LIKE it to say something else.

But I won't.

I'd also like to bill the happy little Do Good-er

the $110 I'm going to have to pay the vet.

Grrrrrrr.