Lots to Do

 I've been busy - seems like that is how

I start ALL my blog posts!

But... that's my life right now...

This week has been full of unusual things.

Like helping clean out a storage unit for a

sister who moved out of our ward 2 years ago.

One of the sister in our ward is a friend and

she volunteered to take care of it.

She and I went through a little bit of stuff on Wed.

I'm meeting the Elders from her ward on

(she's wasn't even in our ward boundaries...)

Wed morning at 8 and we will see what we can

go through.

But then that's it.

We have lots of options and none of them

include me going through all this stuff.

The storage unit is owned by the mother of 

Jim's high school girlfriend.

It's a really nice facility!

But... it's storage.

And it's pretty full.

(of bugs!)

Anyhow.

I DID get a walker and a couple of canes

that some of the women in the ward

would be happy to claim.

I'll be taking those to church with me on Sunday.

And yesterday I cleaned out my closet!

(Well... let's say I did half.)

This is embarassing.

I like to buy clothes.

I don't like to get rid of them.

I might get skinny enough to wear them again!

HA!!!!

We had a call out for size medium shirts and

size 3-5 pants for a non-member lady who escaped an abusive

situation and had literally only the clothes on her back.

So that was a good reason to get started.

I gave her a box full of shirts (and only 1 pair of

jeans - mine are all size 6...)

And then I boxed up 2 more boxes of shirts.

And a box of pants.

I have more pants to go through - probably another

2 boxes, maybe?

And I tossed out two bags of shoes / shirts / etc

that were beyond salvaging.

Those shoes / boots on the shelves are only there

so I can see them and decide what to do with them.

Most of them are going to the women's shelter.

I'll keep the boots and a black and a brown 

pair of loafers. That's all I need.

GOTTA get rid of this stuff.

We do NOT want to haul it all to Kansas!

(I DID find some long johns though - they

are staying! lol)

Yesterday I got a phone call from another non-member

lady who wanted us to pay their rent so they don't

lose their apartment.

Unfortunately, the Bishop wasn't able to help.

And I had to make that phone call.

It broke my heart.

And today I took some food pantry / self

reliance information to a sister in the ward,

then went back to the storage facility and picked

up the walker, canes and some truck ramps,

and then headed to Walmart for a few things we

need for this weekend.

(We are having a "friendsgiving" mingle on the 15th

and we need to post the flyers - I bought a barn board

frame to put it on in the foyer)

My counsellor (who I just found out is MOVING in January)

did a really good job making it.

More details to follow.... lol.

Whew!

I'm "off" (from teaching) next week, but I'm going

to use the time to do LOTS of prep cooking.

Need to get that freeze dryer full again. 

I gave it the week off, simply because I didn't 

have the time / energy to deal with it.

But the guys really enjoyed the freeze-dried meals

I sent with them on hurricane clean-up, so I

want to do more of those and fill up our larder.

And I need to make lunches for the guys for next week as well.

And finish my closet.

And I'm sure there's a bunch more stuff I'm forgetting.

But I'll remember when it's time.

Or too late.... 

Ha.

SHHHHH Peaches!

 We MIGHT get a couple of peaches this year!!!!

Kyle and I are super duper excited.

The old tree looks mostly dead

and every year we nearly rip it out.

But this year.....

We have some actual blossoms!!!

And "possibly" a baby peach!!!!!

I don't want to jinx it, but... PEACHES!!!!!

Kyle also discovered a couple of cherry blossoms.

The hurricane blew all the rest of them away.

(sob.....)

But MAYBE we will actually get a little harvest this year?

Fingers crossed.

I spent most of the morning helping another sister

clean out a storage unit for a sister who moved out

of our ward a couple of years ago. She was friends with

Wendy - so she offered.

And then I offered to help too.

It's more than we can do on our own.

So we have the missionaries from the other ward

(she's in their boundaries)

coming next Wed morning to see how big a dent

we can make in it.

We got through .... 25% this morning? 

Maybe?

Maybe more, but we only had Wendy's car,

so most of the stuff we went through we

had to leave there.

I'll try to take a truck over and get some

of the trash so we will have some working

room for Wednesday.

And then I had to teach this evening.

Working at the town tomorrow.

And then a Presidency meeting at 4.

(or 4:30? lol)

Zoom.

Gotta get "Friendsgiving" planned.

And the ever present ministering adjustments.

Freezer Camp

 We picked up the first beef from the butcher's today.

I forgot to take any pictures.

But it went fairly smoothly.

We got 2 giant coolers full of meat and when we

got home we split it into 4 coolers

and then put it into boxes and then weighed it.

There was less meat total than we were hoping.

But the people were happy.

We will probably wait a couple extra months

for the other two to be a little "beefier"....

Hahahahaha.

I reserved a steak that we are going

to cook - one of these evenings when

I have more than 2 minutes to rub together.

I'm looking forward to seeing how it

turned out.

We used a different butcher this time.

Our other butcher is much easier to work with.

But the quality has declined to a point where

I'm not happy and uncomfortable selling it to others.

This guy is WAY harder to work with and I'm

not sure where all my meat went.

I only got charged for the meat I got,

but I'm pretty sure my steer weighed more than

he said he did...

But on the other hand, we got a LOT of variety!

Which I love.

The other butcher did a large number of a few cuts.

This guy does a few of a lot of different cuts.

Which is fun.

And different.

And, hopefully, tasty!

So.......

there you have it.

A very busy, productive day.

That finished up with teaching a class.

So..... here's a random picture, because

you know how I hate a blog without a picture.

More About Mom.....

 You know...

As I was looking through pictures and

deciding which to post on yesterday's

birthday tribute I noticed something.

Go back and look and see if you notice it too.

(never mind, I'll just put them here again... grin)

In each of the pictures she is giving 100% of

her attention to the person she is with.

That is such a fantastic skill!

Some people say its a trait, but, although

some come to it a little more naturally than

others, it is something that must be 

nurtured, honed, perfected, and

practiced over and over and over.

My friend Teresa Tapp had that skill.

She might be surrounded by 20+ people,

all waiting to talk with her,

and yet she was 100% present with the one

she was currently speaking with.

Mom is like that.

What an amazing thing!

And just another reason I aspire to be like Mom.

Happy Birthday Mom!

 Today is my beloved Mom's birthday!

She looked so beautiful that night!

And I took several pictures.

And in every. single. one. she is making

a silly face.

So I won't post them here.... lol

You're welcome.

Happy Birthday.

Hahahahahahaha.

This birthday marks the end of another

trip around the sun. 

And what a trip it was!!!

She and Dad got to take a plane trip to Butte.

(Something I think they were INCREDIBLY brave

to be doing... that's a little bit of a scary landing!)

Had a lovely visit with her sister, Aunt Karen.

She got to spend lots of time up in the mountains

in Pine Top - what a wonderful place that is!

She played the piano every day! (almost)

A record I just can't seem to achieve.

She is loved by her many many family members

both there in Tucson AND around the world!

She has made lasting friendships with the people 

in their little community.

People who had likely never spoken with each other

until she introduced them to tea parties and 

fun neighborhood get-togethers and even

just door step drop-offs and visits.

She has continued the many lasting friendships

she has made in their ward.

Despite the year(s) of being quarantined and

unable to get out - that didn't stop Mom!

Finding and spreading light and laughter 

and friendship and love is what she is all about.

They have made friends everywhere they go.

Whether its at home or abroad.

They count friends they made in Winipeg,

London and Salt Lake while serving.

(No we don't "only" eat when I visit....)

(But we DO eat..... lol.)

My Mom is such an example of pure love.

Free from judgement, 

freely given.

And now that I am serving as a Relief Society President,

I am so grateful for her experience and knowledge!

I look to her more than she knows.

The conversations we held over the years,

the example she set,

these are the things I draw on to help me

as I learn to serve - hopefully half as well as she.

She will always be my guiding light.

I love you Mom!

Happy Birthday!

Monday Monday

 The guys worked over the weekend down in

Arcadia, Florida - which is over on the

west central part of the state.

They said the devastation there was incredible.

Mobile home parks and campgrounds that are

STILL under water and people either can't

get to their units, or someone has pulled

them to the front (in a long line) so they

can try to salvage what they can.

Giant trees down all over the place.

(That's what they work on, thanks to Kyle's

equipment - the Stake President stopped me at

church yesterday and said his BACK thanked Kyle

for his service... lol.)

It's amazing this same ocean that is so quiet and peaceful

can also be part of the reason for the devastation.

(Kyle and I stopped by on Friday...)

This morning my co-worker is sick, so I'm covering

for her at the Town.

I can't stay too long though, I need to get home

and get a bunch of food cooked so it can

go into the freezer for 12+ hours and then

into the freeze dryer for 36+ hours.

We need to have MEALS - mostly we have been

drying individual ingredients or fruit.

But they have been taking their own meals

and freeze dried is so much more convenient.

But if you purchase it already made at the store

it is $9.97 per serving!!!!

And I can make it for a fraction.

So that's my goal for this week.

Make a TON of freeze dried individual meals.

I'm going to do scrambled eggs/omelet things.

And some chili.

And some... thing else.

Hahahaha.

Probably chicken and rice.

And?

I don't know, but that's a start.

Oh yeah, beef stroganoff.

That turned out really good.

Anyhow.

Happy Monday!

Nothing New.

 LOL.

There's really nothing "new" happening around here.

That's not to say there's NOTHING happening.

Just not really blog worthy.

The guys are leaving this evening to drive to the

other coast to do more hurricane recovery.

That's always "fun".

(And a LOT of hard work...)

(And expensive - at least for Kyle...)

The kitchen table is loaded up with food

and snacks and drinks and snacks

for them to take with them.

Kyle took the day off today - he needed a break

before he jumps back in to another weekend

of being "the man of the hour". (hahahahaha)

So we have some errands to run and then

we might try to swing by the beach for an hour.

He recharges his batteries on the beach.

Jim came by yesterday after work for a visit.

Unfortunately the vast majority of the claims 

coming in (so far) are flood claims.

And he isn't rated for flood.

But the claims just aren't coming IN at all yet.

(A lot of the areas are still closed or are just now

getting opened....)

Citizens has only gotten 40,000 claims.

They are anticipating over 200,000.

So he is still in "waiting" mode.

And I'm just doing what I do.

Teaching, working at the town,

trying to take care of the sisters as best I can.

Kyle and I took a bunch of stuff over to the

church last night to restock the kitchen.

We now have plates, drink pitchers,

a drain rack, towels and wash rags.....

That feels good.

I have a couple of unusual requests I need to try

to address this week, but nothing too weird.

So... that's about it.

A gratuitous picture of Beau sleeping with his

latest favorite toy.

A bright green dragon.

Hope everyone is well, healthy, happy, enjoying life.

Talk to ya' later!

SUPER Cute!

 Got a package from Mom!

With the CUTEST earrings!

Forgive the photos.

Hello... selfies... NOT my forte.

Super cute skeleton.

Fun and dangly and sparkly!

Can't wait to wear him!

And a much more subdued yet still adorable

ghost with a little "Boo" caption.

So fun!!!

Beau says, GET THAT CAMERA AWAY FROM ME!

Just finished teaching for today.

Now I'm going to do a quick workout,

and then I have a trunk full of stuff

that needs to go over to the church.

I am re-stocking the kitchen.

(I have a larger RS budget than I thought...)

I found some plastic plates on clearance

at WalMart. Dark blue, square dinner plates

for, get this, $0.25 a piece! 

I got 89 of them. (Cleaned them out...)

I was going to buy more at the other Walmart,

but they didn't have ANY.

So went back to my store yesterday after

work and bought all the same color,

but 10" round plates.

They were $0.50 but still a great deal.

That way we don't have to keep buying

paper products. And, who doesn't have great

memories of standing in the kitchen after an activity,

washing and drying the dishes while visiting with

another couple of sisters (and sometimes brothers)...

That might be my favorite part of any activity!

(Yes, I'm weird.)

I also got a bundle of tea towels and

another bundle of wash rags.

And a new dish drainer.

And SIX new plastic water / koolaid jugs

because ours have magically disappeared

and we only have (had, we tossed them)

12 of the lids.

Oh, and a clock for the YW room since theirs

died and we have our Ward Council in there

and it drives me NUTS that I don't know what

time it is without pulling out my phone.

(I wear a watch, but just for show... I can't

actually SEE the numbers... lol)

And then?

Who knows.

Maybe I'll take a nap.

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving!

 

I always thought we did it right.

We actually give thanks at the end of harvest.

Seriously.

WHO is harvesting at the end of November???

We've been under snow for like 6 weeks by then!

(Ok, there actually ARE some folks just getting

started with harvest down here a little further south...)

And we ate the right food too.

None of that nasty pumpkin pie.

Who makes pie out of a jack-o-lantern.

That's just desperate.

And wrong.

(unless you like it!)

In honor of Canadian Thanksgiving,

for dinner tonight we had.....

Pork Loin, Salad and Tater Tots.

Lol.

But it was yummy.

(And I forgot it was Thanksgiving until

Rozann reminded me after dinner...)

UPDATE!!!!!

WE JUST SOLD OUR BIG BLACK TRUCK!

So excited!

We have been trying to sell it for 3 months.

A nice gentleman drove over from Kissimmee

and was happy to own it.

YEA!

New Adventure (Jim)

After months and months of

schooling and training and

more schooling and more training,

Jim looks like he is finally getting

his first deployment

as an insurance adjuster!

He signed a really nice contract with the

largest adjuster company that represents

the biggest insurance company in Florida.

Now they are just waiting for the claims

to start rolling in.

He will likely be in Ft. Myers.

 The first thing he will buy with his new paycheck

will be a TRUCK!

Hahahaha,

But the ladder fits.

And if it fits, it ships!

(hahahahaha)

He is really excited to get going.

(Reminds me of all those canoe trips

with the boat strapped on top of the

old Chrysler, Sara!)

Cow Boys? People?

 Looks like this will be the

week of the cows.

Tuesday morning before work,

Chris, our neighbor to the south

called in a panic because there were 

three small cows in her driveway.

By the time she got me on the phone

they had started to wander to the rear of

her property.

Which is good - since she has an open

pasture back there, with a gate into

our fenced back pasture.

They are Brock's cows.

His cows used to get out ALL. THE. TIME.

And we had to wrangle them.

This group was easy.

We have a large gate going into Chris's property on the south

and a small gate going into Brock's property on the north.

Brock was already searching for them, so he

brought over a bucket of feed and they

followed him across our pasture and back to

their own place.

Tuesday after work Kyle and I took

Spot down to the butcher.

He was a good looking steer.

And a good size.

Probably over 1200 pounds.

(He didn't want to get into the part of the alley

with the scales in it, so we just opened it up

and put him straight into the trailer...)

He was the friendliest of the three.

But also a feed hog.

I'm hopeful with him gone the others will finally grow!

Meeting the new neighbors.

Off-loading went nice and smooth.

AFTER we figured it all out on our own and got him

in a stall, a young man came out and apologized for not

being there to help, took our information and we left.

Wednesday (yesterday) we got up and met Brock in our

yard where he hooked our trailer to his truck,

Kyle and I hopped into his F450

and went back to Brock's where he loaded a bunch of

corral panels into our trailer and we headed up to

a little dairy farm in New Smyrna, to pick up

a new 24' stock trailer for Brock and a bull

and a show cow.

Good grief.

They got a LOT of rain from the storm.

The pastures were super wet - they had to traipse

all over the pasture to drive them into the one

that has a load-out chute.

We eventually got them into the pasture.

The cow went into the barn, so the lady locked

her in a stall.

Then the bull headed into the barn.

Instead of putting him in another stall and just

backing the trailer into the alley of the barn and loading

them from there, she tried to put them in the same

stall - so they both got out.

Never did get them back into the barn.

And neither one really wanted to get into the

little pen with the load-out.

We ran them up and down and up and down

and up and down... this silly pasture.

FINALLY got the cow into the pen

and went ahead and loaded her into the trailer.

And then used Kyle's truck and the trailer

as a catch alley to push the bull into the pen.

(NERVOUS that bull would kick out and

dent Kyle's fancy new truck... but he didn't. WHEW!)

Got him in the pen, and then he loaded into

the alley BACKWARDS and couldn't figure out

how to back into the trailer.

So she had to turn him around in the alley.

(We would have let him out of the alley, he was

IN the pen, and just re-loaded him, but he's not

our bull, not our show, not our call...)

Anyhow.

Eventually we got them all loaded.

Meanwhile, Brock hired a cowboy to pick up

6 more cows from another place and take them

to the butcher up there, so we didn't have to do

that as well. We took the 2 we had, along

with the 2 trailers and headed up the highway

to a farm just down the road from where we

go to get our feed.

(Wish we had our barrels!)

This is the "pasture" the next herd was in.

There were 6 of the lady's dairy cows

and supposedly 10 "yearlings"

(but actually weanlings)

that Brock had purchased.

Brock and Angela(?) put on their hip waders

and away they went.

Meanwhile Kyle did some amazing driving and turned

his 50' rig around on a very tight, very wet,

dirt road and didn't get us stuck or scratched

or anything!

We got all set up while they brought in the herd.

Luckily these ones are trained to feed so they

just had to go find them and then they pretty well

just followed them in.

We used the extra corral panels to create a pen out

in the little dirt road so we could sort off the calves

and load them in our trailer, and then she put her

cows into her trailer.

It went more smoothly than I thought it would.

Luckily dairy cows are more like big dogs.

VERY docile.

Anyhow.

We got them loaded up, turns out there were only

9 little guys - while we were setting up the panels

one of them wandered off, so we only had 8.

Brock and Angela put on their waders again

and headed back out to try to find the missing

calves. (We still thought there were 10 total...)

The wanderer wandered back.

They never did find another calf.

Anyhow, we took the 9 we did have,

put the panels all back in the other trailer,

and headed out.

The new trailer had REALLY low tires,

so we hit a gas station and aired them up

and then headed north to near Kyle's old ranch.

Met a guy in a field and let out the babies and the bull

into a nice big, green, lush, DRY pasture where they

will grow up. The boys will head to freezer camp

and the girls will become a new cow/calf herd.

The show cow stayed in our trailer to come back

to Brock's farm for his "petting zoo" thing he has

going on over there on Thursdays.

It was a LONG day.

We finally got back into town just before 8:00.

Kyle had to back into his pasture in the dark.

Brock helped guide him in.

I got out and walked home and fed out animals

and made dinner.

Whew!!!!!

Today it's a non-cow day.

(I hope)

Just working at the town,

Kyle and Rod are back at work at the airport.

And then.....

tomorrow is another cow day!!!!!

Stay tuned!

It's Freezer Camp Time!

 This afternoon after we both get

home from work,

Kyle and I will be loading Spot

into our trailer and heading to

FREEZER CAMP.

He is the largest of the 3.

And he eats like it!

The other two get pushed off the feed

so we are hoping that once he is gone

they will start to put on weight

like they should.

He is the friendliest of the three.

So hopefully that will make him 

yummy. (grin)

He is quite a bit larger than the others.

And that was a month ago.

I'll get a better photo this afternoon.

We are going back to the original butcher

we used with our first set.

Sirloin (Sir) and Moon Pie.

I'm hoping he does a great job,

because I'm not super happy with our regular guy.

He is getting older, his team is getting smaller

and his office manager / coordinator retired

so he has his wife (a hair dresser) running the show

now, and....... I miss the other lady!

So.

We are only taking the one.

Fingers crossed.

Google Locates

 The guys are out of town this weekend.

They are often out of town.

Many of Kyle's jobs take them to 

various and sundry parts of the state.

But although he has his equipment with him,

this isn't a paying Buffalo Land Clearing job.

This one is his FAVORITE THING IN THE WORLD.

Hurricane recovery.

He is honestly a bit depressed at the 

start of November when the hurricane

season has ended and there has not been

a significant storm that season.

Not that he's wishing mayhem on others...

but... kind of?

Anyhow.

Bring on Hurricane Ian.

And the devastation on the west coast.

I shared a few pictures yesterday

of their adventure.

That's Rod in the yellow

"Helping Hands" shirt.

And Kyle in the plaid making his professional assessments.

And, thanks to Google Maps,

here is where they are!

Right this minute!

I'm the blue dot on the east coast of the state.

(The red heart is our Stake Center)

The guys are almost directly across

in a town called Fort Meade.

The dots at the bottom left are where I was teaching

at the start of covid.

I love knowing where they are.

If I zoom in, I can see exactly where they are.

Like Rod is at the front of the property and

Kyle is in the rear.

Technology is a wonderful thing.

Thanks Google!