No More Tomatoes!

 Whew!

I pulled the bags and bags and bags

of frozen tomatoes out of the freezer

and let them thaw in the sink in

the prep room.

(It took nearly 2 days....)

So this morning when it was all thawed,

I stood at the kitchen sink and

squished all the guts out of the skins,

put those in a bucket,

and then ran the guts through the 

food mill to get the seeds and any

other hard parts out.

(Like the core...)

Romas don't always have a core,

but when they do, it's pretty tough.

Anyhow...

I ended up with 2 big pots of

tomato sauce on the stove.

(And a BIG MESS.....)

I seasoned it up, allowed it to simmer

for a couple hours, 

and then got it into pint jars.

They went into the pressure canners

just about the time I started class tonight.

So at first break I opened up the canners

and let a little cool air in

(to avoid syphoning...)

and then got them out onto the counter.

Every one of them sealed!

(On the internet, everybody is complaining

about the Ball brand lids and saying they

just aren't getting a good seal....

but every one of these were Balls and 

they all sealed just fine. I'll take the bands

off tomorrow and double check, but

tonight they all look good!)

We now have thirteen more pint jars

of seasoned spaghetti sauce.

Tomorrow I'll put cute little labels on

all of them and get them on the shelf.

And we are DONE with tomato products

for 2026!!!!!

YEA!!!!

(We still have lots of other stuff to

process, but I needed those out of the

freezer so I have room for the other stuff.)

Congratulations to GREG on an AWESOME

half-marathon!!!!!

So proud of you!

Hope you aren't toooooo sore!

Wichita Temple Trip and More Walls

 Yesterday we got up and headed south

to Wichita to volunteer at the open house.

We were signed up to be "Talking Point" 

guides - they give you a card to read from

and you stand in one of the rooms and share

with the folks on the tour what the card says

before they move to the next room.

After a lovely drive (3+ hours) we stopped

at the Taco Bell up the street for a quick

burrito and bathroom break and then

headed to the volunteer tent.

Where we were NOT on the list of volunteers.

(Our Relief Society President texted and 

asked if we wanted to pick one of the days

she had left - she signed us up...)

Anyhow.

The talking point jobs were already covered,

so Rod ended up in the parking lot with a

UV umbrella and a yellow vest and stick to

help people know where to park.

Sometimes he sat down...

They made sure he had lots of nice cold

water bottles. 

I ended up on the veranda (where I could keep

an eye on him) putting shoe covers on

people before they went in for their tour.

When we were done, we went into the

distribution center to get him a new white shirt,

and then slipped into a tour group to go through

the temple again.

Tomorrow is the final day of the open house.

They were at over 12,000 visitors by Thursday.

And were expecting big crowds today and

Saturday. (YSA conference, AND three

mission reunions!)

Meanwhile, today Rod worked at the hardware

store from 10-4 and I puttered around the house.

Tuesday he finished the other side of the wall

under the west side of the house and on

Wednesday he got started on the east side.

Ran out of concrete to put in the blocks, so had

to pick up more when he went into Hays for Mutual.

We are getting closer to having it all closed in

for the winter!

Jim and Kyle went and worked on the new fence

for our friends - got all 57 posts in the ground

and concreted. They will let those cure over the

weekend and be back on Monday to put up the wire.

And now.... dinner is ready!

Hope Connecticut is treating you well Rozann & Greg!

New Island

 The new island is finally

ALL DONE!!!!!

So this morning, we decided to

eat our breakfast sitting there.

It was very nice!

We have some fun place mats that have

yellow lemons on them to protect

the wood, but with the wonderful

varnish, it says it is protected from 

scratches AND household cleaners.

It was fun to sit there though.

(I was going to eat breakfast there yesterday,

while Rod was at work,

but it was a little chilly in the house and

there was some yummy sunshine hitting

his recliner, so I sat there instead... lol.)

Anyhow.

It looks so nice!

I just love it!!!

Jim had another good day selling his

pumpkins, AND he got a nice write up

on Facebook from one of the residents.

It goes on to say "and Jim is very friendly"

or something like that.

And then there were some nice comments

from some of the folks who already bought

pumpkins from him.

He's enjoying meeting some of the folks

from town.

He said he's pretty sure he has waved

at EVERY resident in town and several

of them multiple times!

He's set up on one of the "busier" spots

in town and most folks drive by there.

Rod got the whole east side of the cinder

blocks under the house and today he

started on the west side.

Got 2 layers on, but then ran out of

the mortar so had to go get more while

he was in town for Mutual.

Kyle loaded up his excavator and dug

a trench for the EQ President and his

wife. (The people who actually own

Winston, the guardian dog who has been

living here for the last year while they

decided how / where they wanted their

new fence.) They have finally made

the final decision, and the weather is

finally cooperating.

(NOBODY wants to build fence when

it's in the 100's... and then we had all that

rain, and you can't fence in the mud either.)

Kyle will be ordering all the fencing material

and picking it up tomorrow probably

while Rod and I run down to Wichita to

volunteer at the new temple.

Anyhow.

Life continues to be one adventure

after another around here.

Punkins!

 Jim set up his pumpkins in the back

of his truck and parked in a really

good spot there in town.

He had several folks come by,

one lady bought TEN of them!

Another picked up 2.

And another lady bought a couple.

It's still early in the month, and

today is was still 90 degrees.

It just doesn't really feel like fall yet.

Next week we are expecting a cold

front coming through, and I think that

will help people feel a little more

like decorating for fall.

Fingers crossed!

Monday Musings

 There is stuff to do.

But I don't want to do it.

(grin)

I could say it's because I taught

over the weekend.

Or because it's chilly in the house.

Or I'm a teeeeeny tiny bit burned out

on preparing food.

And all of that would be accurate.

I have cucumbers that need to be

put into the freeze dryer.

And tomatoes that need to come OUT

of the freezer.

And onions that need to be chopped

and put IN the freezer.

And a chest freezer that needs to be emptied,

inventoried, and organized.

And I need to get a big pot of soup on

the stove for dinner after class tonight.

(yum!)

But I don't WANT to do any of that.

Kyle came by and we went for a walk

up our magical path.

It's so pretty after the rain last week.

We got to the fence where we usually

turn around, and instead we headed up

the hill to the hill top tree.

If you squint really hard, you can

just barely make out the garden.

With my glasses on, I could just see

some of the white tops on the t-posts

and a couple of the orange buckets.

It was a lovely walk.

The dogs were tired!

(Bear starts with a trip to the pig yard

where he runs and plays with the big dogs,

and THEN they walk down to our house

and what ever walk we decide, and then

they still have to go back up the hills to

their house...)

So we stopped for a bit at the big stock

tank and Kyle lifted him in so he could

play in the leftover rain water.

Cool off and get a drink.

(I just dipped some water into a bowl

for Beau, he's not as big a fan of

"swimming" as Bear.)

Rod is busy putting another coat on the island.

In between getting the cinder blocks cemented

in under the house.

And Jim just arrived, so he and Kyle are down

harvesting pumpkins for Jim to take into 

town and try to sell now that it's October.

I guess I should get something done.

I blogged....... doesn't that count?

hahahaha.

(I also sat down and played my piano

for a bit - first time since we moved!)

Need to get ready to teach here in 2 hours.

And maybe I can have the guys help

put the freeze dryer on a pallet so we can

get it shipped back to Utah for repairs.

Ok.

Get crackin' girl!

Smallest Class EVER......

 Well.... not EVER.

But since I started teaching Louisiana.

I only had 17 students registered,

so was expecting a tiny class.

And then about 7:58 they started to

dribble on in.

And by the end of the first hour

I had 6. (And then somebody popped

in at 9:03.) 

Seriously?

You're gonna show up an HOUR LATE???

A few hours later she quit.

And then another student who was also

quite late quit.

And another.

And then there were FOUR.

Which doesn't make it very fun to play

Kahoot. Or have any real interaction.

On top of that, zoom decided to do an

update and EVERYTHING is different

and so much more difficult.

Sheesh.

Ain't broke - DON'T FIX IT!

It took me nearly 10 minutes to get

my zoom started. So I wasn't unhappy

that nobody was waiting for me right

at 7:30.

Anyhow.

Here's hoping they all decide to come

back again tomorrow.

It won't be any fun with only 2 or 3 students.

(When that happens in my night review

classes, I have "fake" students....

Stephanie, Michael, Jonathan and Emily.)

And they are GOOD students and get

all the answers right.

But in this class you have to have your 

camera on, so all the students can see you.

And it would be pretty obvious.

Oh well.

Rod is working today until 6 and then

running to the church to conduct a baptism,

so I won't see him until late.

Probably after 9:00.

I'm going to hop on the 4-wheeler and

run up to Kyle's. 

I went for a walk during my 3:00 break

down to the mailbox (where I got a fun

card from Mom, thanks!!!)

and I saw him grab the tractor with the

post hole digger on the back, so I want

to go see what he's up to.

And then I'm going to read a book.

Island Looking GOOD!

 Rod and I dashed into town

(Hill City) this morning and

picked up his paycheck and some

varnish for the island.

Also 2 boxes of brownie mix.

And a loaf of bread.

(grin)

And then he got started on the island!

Doesn't it look good???

It really brings out the grain and

the interest in the beautiful acacia wood.

And I'm happy that it's a little darker

than the floor.

Now it's a statement piece, not just an

extension of the floor colors.

This is after one coat and a light sanding.

We are going to let it dry overnight

(it was dry, but it's pretty chilly in the house

and it was balling up a little on the sander,

so we are going to give it another day...)

I hope to have a class tomorrow, but there

are only 17 students pre-registered... so we'll see.

He has to work at the hardware store and

then head straight into Hays for the baptism.

So there won't be time to do another coat.

So we will probably do one on Sunday between

conference sessions.

We'll see.

Anyhow.

I'm excited with how it is looking!!!