Lavender

 Kyle loves the smell of fresh or dried lavender.

It grows all over the place in Utah.

There are HUGE bins full of it

in the parking lot of the sporting goods

store in Logan.

So the smell reminds him of Utah.

(His favorite place on earth...)

He has tried.

And tried.

And tried.

And tried.

But he just doesn't seem to be successful

at growing lavender.

Until THIS time!

It's gorgeous!

And it smells WONDERFUL!

It is sharing a small box with my stevia.

Which is pretty prolific.

I keep trimming it and putting it in a bag

in the freezer.

When there is a bunch I'll pop it in the 

freeze drier - dry it and then powder it

in my food processor and

presto!

Stevia!

I'm excited.

But not as excited as Kyle is 

about his LAVENDER!

New Trees

 We have lots of new trees!

These pictures are before Kyle mulched them all

with nice fresh red mulch...

Here are the new peach trees.

Next to the garden - on the north side

so as not to shade out the plants, but to

offer some shade to the rest of the yard.

Out new little grape vine is already getting leaves!

We got 3, Catawba, Concord and.... something I can't remember.

We ordered them from Urban Farmer and 

they came as bare root stock, all wrapped

up in a wet paper towel.

They are looking healthy and happy!

The ice cream banana is in the corner.

Might have to move Sir's skull...

We are hoping the banana will get big and

then throw off shoots so we can plant

more down the fence line between our place

and Brock's next door.

(Screen us from the City People who come to 

pick up their produce on Thursdays...)

Plus, who doesn't want to eat a banana

called ICE CREAM!

The two Haas avocado trees are on the far side of the

shed, outside of the chicken/duck yard.

They will be MASSIVE one day.

We don't use that side of the yard for anything

so that will be perfect.

(And will again offer shade to the shed and

the chickens / ducks...)

We put one mango outside the dog yard

behind the pool.

We'll see if it stays there...

we might need to move it.

The other mango is between CJ's stall and

the water trough.

It gets early morning shade as well as late

afternoon shade, so again, we'll have to

see if it can stay there or will need to be moved.

(We are running out of space!)

Might need to put the two mangos out in the 

back pasture with a fence around them to keep

them safe from the big animals...

Fingers crossed they all do well!

We will likely prune the peaches so they don't

get HUGE - and so we can actually reach / pick

the peaches! (hope we get some!!!)

Good Monday Morning!

 It's a beautiful morning here in Florida!

Yesterday was Branch Conference in one of

our Stake's little branches in a town called

Okeechobee.

It was a nice couple of meetings.

Primary is 10 kids total and there were only

2 adults (plus we 4 from the Stake...)

Part way through singing time the Stake Pres

stuck his head in the door and called out

the Primary President so they could set

apart her family member.

So, Amber (St Pri Pres) took over singing.

The Primary President was using the app on her

phone for the music, but Amber didn't have

that loaded, so I sat down at the "piano".

(Electronic keyboard thing...)

We taught them "I Often Go Walking" 

for their upcoming Mother's Day.

After Primary the Primary President

(also the Branch President's wife)

was in charge of putting on a sack lunch 

(buffet style) for everybody.

She is an amazing woman.

We grabbed our lunches and Rod and I headed home.

I got to drive his new little truck.

It's a really nice truck!

Drives really well.

On Saturday, Rod and Kyle went to our local

annual tree sale and picked up 7 new trees!

2 Haas avocado

2 mango

2 peach

1 ice cream banana!

And then they went up to Mims (an hour+ north)

to Rod's brother's blueberry farm.

We had reserved 4 boxes (20 pounds) of

pre-picked blueberries.

They are DELICIOUS, as always.

So now the fridge is full of blueberries.

And so is my breakfast bowl

of yogurt and berries.

YUM!

Pasta King!

 We decided to try our hand at making

homemade pasta!

We've been watching Master Chef Australia

and they all make it....

it looks easy!

So we found a recipe and away we went.

I made the dough.

We let it rest for about an hour

while we ran to Walmart to pick up my

new thyroid prescription (I'm WAAAAY too

low now that I can't find my alfalfa pills

anymore - Teresa Tapp passed away a couple

of years ago and her company is still in probate.

I used to buy it from them... And the

company that replaced hers vanished off Amazon!)

And then we picked beans.

(THREE buckets of rattlesnake beans!)

Then Kyle rolled it out and cut it.

And then he hung it up to dry.

We don't have an official dryer.

(Or a cutter or roller - we just used

a rolling pin and a pizza cutter... lol)

He used our fruit tray (minus the top tray)

to hang it, as well as a koolaid jug.

And now..... we are off to EAT it!

(The bits I tasted already are delicious!!!)

I'm thinking its time to hop on Amazon and

get a pasta maker and a drying rack!

Out in the Woods

Kyle and I went for a walk the other day in the woods.

We have an active group of bike riders.

And sometimes they leave little things for

others to see / find.

They are usually pretty small and you might

not notice if you aren't paying attention.

I especially liked this one.

It's a little yellow sun flower (metal)

and two little toadstools!

I can just imagine the fairies living under there!

There is a particular tree they have always decorated.

Christmas time they REALLY do it up...

These pretty little wind chimes are a 

nice new addition.

The little "love" plaque has been there 

for years and years and years.

It makes for a fun walk.

Usually at easter time somebody gets out there

and "hides" eggs for folks to find.

I am out there as much as I used to be,

so I don't know if they did it this year...

but that was always a neat thing!

In fact, one year Jim and Kyle and I did it!

That was fun!

ROD'S NEW TRUCK!!!

 A couple of weeks ago we had to go to Verizon

to get Rod a new phone.

(His camera cracked and he needed

a new one so he can take pictures

and videos while Kyle is mulching...)

While we were there we learned that LG

doesn't make / support cell phones anymore

so my phone (which still works perfectly)

is no longer safe from cyber criminals.

So we ended up getting TWO new phones.

(Luckily we are OLD so we get the

awesome discount that makes Kyle jealous...)

Anyhow.

On our way home, we (all 3 of us) stopped

at the Ford dealership because Kyle saw a

new Ford Ranger on the lot on the way into town

and they wanted to test drive it before

Rod orders his own.

And, as often turns out, one thing led to another...

Turns out they had a really nice,

Cactus Grey Ranger ready to be shipped

to the dealership in another week or 10 days

that the buyer had backed out on and

did we want to just take delivery on that one?

(Sure, IF you give us the same price

for the one we were going to special order...)

Anyhow.

Two weeks later, the truck came in.

And she's PRETTY!

And Rod really likes it!

And they gave us the price we asked for.

So.........

Rod is the proud owner of a BRAND NEW

Ford Ranger.

First BRAND NEW vehicle he has ever purchased

JUST FOR HIM.

(I leased the Jetta for me - my expense account

paid for it and he didn't like it so he never drove it...)

We bought the Isuzu Trooper brand new, but 

it was for the family. 

(And that was 35 years ago...)

We will be cleaning up and selling the old

Black Ford 2000 with nearly 400,000 miles on it.

Right now the used truck market is INSANE

and we can sell it for about $2000 more than

we could have last year.

SILLY! But....

He is VERY happy.

And it has a TON of top of the line safety features.

So I am VERY happy.

(Anything that keeps my man safe is good in my book...)

Welcome to the family little truck!

Harvest Time!

 It's time for the BEANS!

We have two big beds of Slenderette beans

(a YUMMY bush bean)

and two tall trellis of Rattlesnake beans.

Slenderettes are DELICIOUS

and HEAVY producers.

First pick!

We got 5.6 pounds!!!

Last night I snapped a bunch and added them raw

to our green salad.

SO YUMMY!!!

I have a brand new phone.

And the pictures are WAY better than before.

But the greens are VERY green... lol

Food, Glorious Food!

 I've been having fun making good food!

Made a big ol' pot of Mom's (Nancy's)

Corn Chowder.

It was DELICIOUS!

Everybody enjoyed it.

We had it for lunch after church on Sunday.

And again on Monday.

I also made some of the chicken

fajitas from Half Baked Harvest.

(When I told Kyle the website he said

that's where he found the recipe for

the sweet potato casserole he made for

Thanksgiving and Christmas!)

Everybody liked that one too!

Turns out it is actually BETTER on

a tortilla than "deconstructed" like

I usually serve fajitas.

So I bought a bunch more tortillas.

Because I see that in our future.....

And, after church I also made a loaf of

banana bread. (walnuts instead of apricots though...)

Tonight I just finished teaching.

We spent the day running errands,

working in the garden, 

and getting Bison Bites up and running.

We created a gmail account,

and made a bunch of labels for our bags.

And did a run of candy to sell.

And now?

Bed.

Kyle's beautiful zinnia bed.

OH!

And we ate a couple of beans today!

Out in the garden.

They are SOOOO good!

(too small really, but we couldn't resist...)

Updates!

 Holy Toledo!

I was a whirl-wind yesterday.

I kept thinking I would take a minute

and post a blog, but then something ELSE

would happen and take my attention / time.

So let's see.

I started out the day by working out

(I'm starting a 2 week ARM challenge...)

and then showered, ate my quinoa breakfast

and then I headed to Sam's to get our groceries

for the week. ($185!!!)

But that included some meat for the

Freeze Dryer!

Then to Tractor Supply to get food for Buddy.

By the time I got home I needed to give

Beau his Ace (tranquilizer) so he didn't

bite the vet when she looks in his ears.

While I waited for that to kick in, 

I ate some lunch and put all the

groceries away.

And then I rolled five tubs of deli meat

and put it on the trays to go into

the Freeze Dryer.

I did 1 tray of roast beef,

2 trays of different kinds of ham

and 2 trays of different kinds of turkey.

Normally you pre-freeze everything for 12 to 24 hours

before putting it in the machine, but I didn't want to.

(grin)

The machine froze it for me in just 5 hours.

It took a total of 27 hours.

And it's DELICIOUS!

(I forgot to take a picture...)

I ate a piece of each and then we put one in a bowl

of water to rehydrate. It was AMAZING and only

took a minute for it to go right back to the original.

Put it all in mylar bags for us to nibble on.

And we will put some away for the future.

I have to set up a table at our Homemaking meeting

next week, so I'll take this with me.

Oh, we also did yogurt bites!

They are pretty good!

Then it was time to take Beau to the vet.

He was all wobbly and drugged out.

But he behaved very well.

And his ears are getting better.

I think (hope) we are on the mend.

He has one more visit in two weeks.

And that should be it.

WOW!

It has been a pricey little adventure.

Once we got home, I ate a quick dinner

and then it was time to teach my class.

20 students!

This morning I worked out again and then

headed to the Town.

They were happy to see me.

And my desk was less of a mess than

I was expecting, so that's good.

After work I headed home and Kyle and

I sat down at the computer and did his taxes.

Yikes!!!

Oh the joys of being a business owner.

And now?

I'm going to make some dinner,

feed the animals,

and watch a couple episodes of 

Master Chef Australia and head to bed!

HOME!

 As always, it was an adventure!

Starting with being EAAAARLY in the morning.

Poor Reid volunteered to drive me to the airport.

At 0:dark-30.

(3:30 am!!!)

Bless him!

We took the "scenic" route - and it worked 

VERY WELL!

(Not that there was a LOT of traffic at that

time of the night / morning, but it was 

pretty slick!)

Once there, I zipped through security with

no issues / problems. Tucson doesn't even

make you take your electronics out.

(And this time I didn't forget anything in my pockets.)

Off to my gate, got on the plane nice and 

easy. I was in a window seat and was the

first one there so I didn't have to displace anybody.

It was a nice flight.

I slept part of the way and read a book

for the rest of the flight into Dallas.

(I didn't take any pictures, the window was closed

since most people were still asleep...)

Once into Dallas it was a simple process to get to

my new gate - stopped at McDonalds on the way

for a bacon / egg / cheese McGriddle.

(I love those, my body doesn't, but whatever..... lol)

Sat for awhile and then got a notice that my 

gate was changed, so wandered down to the new gate.

Boarded the plane on time and as I was walking

to my seat (row 35 - next to last at the back of the plane)

the pilot came on and told us all to get off the plane.

There was a significant thunderstorm in Orlando

and they were holding us for awhile.

So, turn around and walk back off.

They moved us from 11:26 to 2:00.

But that's ok, I was reading a good book.

Once we finally re-boarded the plane 

(I paid for another window seat)

we taxied out and then he turned off the

engine and we sat there until after 3:00.

Finally got the all-clear signal and off we went!

I love flying over the Gulf of Mexico.

It is so pretty from the air!

As always, it was super humid in Florida.

You can't see it really well, but I've never seen the

contrail being created from the airplane before!

You see it on the ground all the time,

but it was drawing a line in the air,

coming from the flap on the wing!

My red line is a little low, but I was doing it on my phone

with my finger..... oops!

Anyhow!

It was neat!

I FINALLY made it to the ground in Orlando.
(Lots of turbulence, the pilot got a round of

applause when he got us stopped...)

And then, being the LAST row 

(and a family with two little twin boys

were on the LAST row so I let them go

ahead of me - I was literally the last one off

the plane except the flight attendants,  

and then fight through all the gazillion people

in the airport!

There were lots of delayed / cancelled flights,

so lots and lots and lots of people sitting around

waiting to finally fly out...

I got to the baggage claim area.

Called Kyle - he had JUST pulled into his parking spot.

(He got the last one left - on the roof!)

It was easier for me to walk to him than him try

to maneuver around all the other vehicles and

come get me, so I walked over (felt good after

sitting all those hours) and we headed home.

I am happy to be here.

My family (including Beau) was happy

to have me home.

And I'm (as always) looking forward to

my NEXT trip out west!

Final Day / Knitting

Darn it!

I meant to take some pictures last night.

But I totally forgot.

We had a fun dinner at Reid and Nancy's.

It was R&N, M&D, me, and

our cousins Ken and his lovely wife Pam.

They were in town for a few days.

And bless his heart, Ken (a tax accountant)

did M&D's Canadian and US taxes for them!

I tried to do the US ones on Sunday but was

WAAAAAAAY over my head.

It took quite a bit of time and BUCKETS of

expertise, but he got them done!

(And even got them a nice refund!)

Nancy had a french zoom class,

so I came over and Pam and I made some

really YUMMY (it was a new recipe, not the

amazing skill of the cook... lol.) chicken fajitas.

I can't wait to try it  again at home!

Rozann came shortly after dinner

(she and Greg had Boy's Activity Day)

and we had a really nice visit.

Right after dinner Ken had to go back to the

casita and do a zoom meeting, but he made

it back in time for Nancy to make him a new

bracelet to replace the one she made him

a few years ago that broke.

(He brought it with him, but left it at the

other house they were staying in Phoenix)

WHAT LOVELY PEOPLE!

We had a great time and I was so glad

to get to know them!

We stayed up WAAAY too late and then Reid 

brought me back to Mom and Dad's place.

Then up EARLY this morning to teach my

class while they met Nancy and went to a Dr appt

for Dad's swollen ankles / high blood pressure.

My temporary office this morning.

And now, I'm just relaxing and waiting for

their return. I expect we will go to the store

and get Dad a new replacement mouse and

maybe some command strips to stick their

fancy white board to the wall.

They have a white board, like our's only bigger,

where they can write notes to each other

as well as what's on the schedule for the day

so they always know what's going on.

Meanwhile, Mom has been making lap blankets

and slippers for a local hospice.

So I decided to join her.

I have finished 2 and am working on a third.

Might not get it done... 

Somebody is always taking a picture.

And we are always eating.

Hahahahahaha.

Tucson... continued

 We've been having a good time.

Lots of family visiting time.

Lots of food.

Lots of chatting.

Lots of talking.

Walter and Robert came to celebrate a school victory.

We had a wonderful visit with them.

Really nice young men!

We had a wonderful dinner over at Rozann and Greg's.

We had a good visit with Kurt, Michelle and their boys.

They made S'mores at the little fire pit

and had a great time!

Wow.

All the pictures are circling around food!

LOL.

Monday morning I taught my Zoom class from 

Reid's home office.

Nancy and I set it all up Sunday evening and

tested everything to make sure it worked.

It was Interesting!

She was a guest ghost.

(She was wearing a white shirt and the virtual

background wouldn't pick it up...)

It's been a wonderful vacation.

And its not over yet...