Happy Black Friday!

 Happy Black Friday!

(Is that still a thing?)

Poor Rod and Kyle...

they had to drive into Hays because it's our

week to clean the church

and as long as they are in town,

they stopped at Home Depot to get some stuff

(as always)

and UPS to return some stuff

and WalMart cuz we ran out of milk.

"Unfortunately" I had to teach this morning.

Hahahahaha.

(I had a whopping THREE students... but I kicked

one out of class - they have been in class but

refuse to give me their registration info so I decided

to kick them out... feeling feisty this morning. LOL.)

Anyhow.

It's just Beau and I here this morning.

It's quiet.

And chilly.

On it's way to a lovely 40+

but currently still 33.

But the sun is shining and it looks lovely out there.

We had a nice Thanksgiving dinner yesterday.

So I'm going to make myself a leftover

turkey sandwich with cranberry sauce

on a Rhodes Roll.

YUM!!!!!

I hope you all had a wonderful, relaxing

Thanksgiving Day. 

I saw lots of pictures of yummy dinners.

Mom?

You and Dad still out there?

Haven't heard from you in a bit.......

LOVE YOU ALL!

Snow, Snow, Snow, Snow!

 Snow, snow, snow, SNOW!

(I sang it, did you?)

About the time I finished teaching the morning

class yesterday, it started to snow.

Originally it was raining, then those little

tiny styrofoam balls

and then it turned into big fluffy flakes.

It was easiest to see on the truck.

As the day went by, it started to finally

stick to the grass.

Kyle let the dogs out.

Luna was FASCINATED!

(And discovered it was fun to EAT...)

Bandit thought it was a blast!

(Beau, however, was not terribly impressed...)

Of course, what is the first, wet, snow without

throwing snowballs?

Rod went outside and they tossed a couple

snow balls at each other 

(and me, at the window...)

until their hands (no gloves) got cold.

(They HAVE gloves, just didn't have them on... silly boys.)

We got a good layer.

It gets more wind in the front (no fences)

so it didn't stick as well,

but it was definitely beautiful!

Reminded me of one of my earliest memories.

I remember the brown couch (with the weird texture)

was up again the big picture windows.

I was leaned up against the back, looking out

the window, staying quiet because Rozann 

was taking a nap.

Mom was in the kitchen - doing something...

and there was "easy listening" on the radio.

And I was BORED.

Hahaha.

(Dr's office music ALWAYS gave me that

melancholy, winter afternoon, nothing to do feeling.)

Thank goodness I finally learned to READ!

It quit snowing about 3:00-ish.

I had to teach again in the evening,

but after class I just had to take a picture of the

beautiful lights reflecting off the snow.

It's warming up to the 40's today,

so it won't last.

But it was only 18 this morning and still

only 27, so it's still beautiful.

Welcome winter!

(It's going to be in the high 50's next

week, so this is just a "sneak peak"...)

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYBODY!!!!

PS - I'm watching one of my favorite

Canadian YouTubers and she just mentioned

they are having a postal strike up there!

So glad none of us are still there. 

It's the perfect time for THEM to go on

strike - but sure inconvenient for 

everybody else who lives there.......

Winter?

 I got a fun package yesterday.

Jim and Sabrina sent me a wonderfully soft,

snuggly warm, plaid scarf!

(Which Kyle immediately stole...)

I'm crocheting him a scarf, but he

snagged this one in the meantime. 

LOL.

And JUST IN TIME!!!

It is currently 34 in WaKeeney.

Feels like 27 because it is kind of raining

a little tiny bit.

But if you look carefully,

at 1:00 pm through 3:00 they are

saying it will likely change to

SNOW!!!

The first "official" snow of the season.

(There were about 6 flakes the other

morning when Jim was here... just

so he could say he saw snow...)

It will melt right away.

And the forecast next week is back

in the high 50's.

But Thanksgiving is going to be chilly.

And we get to bundle up for the

Annual Christmas Tree Lighting

on Saturday.

I told Kyle we should go for a walk

if it actually snows.

And he said NO!  I don't have a scarf!

Hahahahaha.

(I tore out the one I started yesterday,

it wasn't as wide as the one they sent

and he likes that width better... so I'm

starting over - I only had about 8 inches done,

so it's not a big loss...)

Anyhow.

I'll "see" you again tomorrow.

If we don't freeze.

Haha.

(We have natural gas heat in the house

so it's cozy and lovely.)

(Plus a space heater in each of the bedrooms/office)

(Plus a brand new heater in the garage for the

dogs and baby chicks...)

We are FINE.

LOOKS like a snow day, though, doesn't it?

Mint Rice Krispie Squares

 I haven't made rice krispie squares

in.... I don't even know!

I hadn't EATEN one in decades

until just before we left Florida

and Val brought some to an activity.

Oh my goodness, the buttery,

marshmallowy yummy-ness!

So.

Saturday when I was at WalMart,

I saw they had restocked the peppermint

flavored marshmallows.

They are REALLY good freeze dried!

So I grabbed a bag.

And while I was standing there,

a man asked what I planned to do with them.

So I told him I was going to freeze dry

them and then either just munch on them

or float them in hot chocolate.

He said.... OH, you should make rice

krispie squares with them!

So, I headed to the cereal row and 

bought a giant box (all they had) of

store brand rice krispies.

(The official ones were over $6 for

a little bitty box! The giant box was

$3 and it's just squares........)

Anyhow.

Go.

Now.

Buy the marshmallows.

Make the squares.

They are DELIGHTFUL!

And super easy.

And gone.

Monday, Monday!

Good morning on a chilly Monday morning!
 

It is currently 37 and "feels like" 30.

There is a nice breeze blowing.

(Although its hard to tell, cuz all the leaves

fell off the tree outside my office window...)

But the guys tell me its chilly out there.

I'm doing a double this week.

Beth (the other instructor) is "on a cruise". 

Sheesh.

(hahahahahaha)

It was a fun class this morning - 6 students,

but a couple of them were chatty,

so that was good.

Anyhow.

Yesterday was a nice day!

It was actually in the 50's.

A lovely day.

We got up and headed into Hays for church.

Rod spoke in Sacrament Meeting and did

an excellent job! We both got multiple compliments.

After that, we headed to our classes.

I headed to YW, where we had a member of the

Stake YW Presidency visiting.

We ended up with equal numbers of adults to girls.

We have a fairly small class.

I talked a "hall walker" into coming to class,

but she only lasted for about the first 10 minutes

and then she slipped out again.

We have 2 sisters (the Bishop's daughters) and they

are class Pres and Secretary.

They are moving in May. (Dad is military...)

We have 2 new girls coming in January, but

they are semi-active, so...

We had 5 girls this week. We sometimes have 6 or 7.

Anyhow. We ended a little early and had a good

visit with the Stake person while the girls chatted.

Then I went across the hall the the RS room for

a ministering group leader meeting (monthly).

We don't do "one-on-one" ministering for the

most part since we are all SO spread out.

Our group all lives in WaKeeney except for one

sister who lives on the polar opposite from us,

but she is Stake Primary Pres, her husband is

1st C in the Stake Presidency, she is BUSY,

and is a "call me once a quarter" kind of gal.

Anyhow.

We will get together and decide if we want to do

a monthly get together, or what.

We have the 2 Sister Sisters (who live together)

and then me and Lynn Furbruiz who has

a non-member husband and does a lot of traveling for work.

She is REALLY nice (we sat together in Sac Mtg)

but is very busy.

So..... we'll see. It might end up being me and

the 2 sisters who are older and don't get out much.

Anyhow.

After that I went back across the hall to the YW room

for Bishop / Youth Council since our Pres is also

in charge of the Christmas Program and was 

practicing with the choir.

(Oh the joys of a small ward...)

Then jumped in the truck and dashed home to be

10 minutes late for the YW Youth Presidency Zoom meeting.

WHEW!!!

Then I might have eaten something?

And sat in my chair with some Hallmark movies

and taken a well deserved nap.

After all, I'm OLD now.

Hahahahahaha.

Oh yeah, Sondra called me on Saturday while

I was at the activity, so I hopped into the hall

and sat in the comfy chairs and we had a good visit!

And Rozann and I had a fun text session!

Anyhow.

I baked a Reid Roast (sensing a Sunday theme here?)

and Kyle made us some candied carrots and salad 

and we had dinner and more movies.

All in all, it was a nice day!

This morning I got up to teach the morning class.

Now that I'm done with that, I'll go make some lunch

and see what the rest of the family has in store.

Kyle stayed out at the property Friday night to make

sure the concrete didn't freeze during the first stage

of curing (but HE nearly froze!) He was in his

house, so protected from the wind, but the little

space heater he brought and the heavy blankets

and mummy bag were NOT sufficient.

If ONLY we could get our electrician to come

out, we could have electricity and hook up a

"real" heater. (And then get the wiring in the walls.

insulate, and close up his house!)

Anyhow.

I'm not sure if they are going out to the farm,

or what the plan is today.

My door is closed and my little heater is on.

Hahaha.

And Beau has happily joined me.

Sabrina and I chatted lots yesterday as well.

They have their tree up already!!!

When I was in town yesterday I looked for one.

But they are in the lot, all bundled up and not

open for business yet.

So we will probably make a run into town tomorrow

to get a tree and anything else we need for the week.

But for now....

I'm heading to eat something and get ready

to teach again this evening.

Have a LOVELY Monday!

Fun Relief Society Activity

This morning we had a fun RS activity.

It was from 11-1.

I got up, made some Panera copycat 

Broccoli Cheddar soup.

Took a shower and headed into town.

(Rod also left a few minutes before me,

to run to the hardware store.)

On the way out of town, I stopped at the

service station to gas up.

And Rod pulled in at the same time!

That was fun....

Anyhow.

We started the activity by all doing a

decoupage craft.

They had some little boards cut for us.

We sanded them and then stained them.

Then we put mod podge on them and

added a print out with all the name of

Jesus Christ.

While we waited for them to dry,

we sat together and enjoyed lots of

different kinds of soup and rolls

with pumpkin or pecan pie for desert.

It was fun to sit and visit with the sisters.

There was a pretty good turnout for a Saturday.

Once we were all done I headed to WalMart to

return a tote I bought for Rod (wrong size)

and I bought a package of peppermint marshmallows.

A man was standing there when I picked them up.

He asked what I was going to do with them.

I told him I freeze dry them and then plop

them in hot chocolate. (Or just my mouth... lol)

He said... OH! You should make rice krispie

squares with them!

So I headed to the cereal row and grabbed

a box of rice krispies.

Soni called while I was at the activity

and we had a nice visit.

Now I'm home, getting ready to make the

little squares. 

Enjoy your weekend!

Whew! What a DAY!

 Today was the LONG awaited day for our

concrete delivery!

They were supposed to meet us at the farm

between 10:30 and 11:00, after they did

a pour for the hospital.

We got out there and finished up the

last little things that needed doing,

and just as we were done, 

here they came!

(They were about an hour late, but we used the time well...)

We had a total of 3 trucks.

The guys were all bundled up since it was 

still pretty chilly out.

They dumped mud into the lane and then

Kyle and Rod dragged it down to

fill half the form. (We did the other

half from the other side...)

It was a LOT of mud!

As the day went on, the clothes came off.

Hahahaha.

It actually got quite warm!

While they were moving mud, I came along

behind with a level attached to a 2x4 and

scree-ed it to make sure it was level and smooth.

We got better, and faster, but it still took a LONG time.

Off to the right is the mud room.

The only section that is totally concreted.

It was easier to do the whole thing than to try to just

go around the edges like the rest.

And then the center sections are just for the pilons. 

(You know, the posts that stick up and hold up the floor joists...)

(I have no idea what they are actually called.)

If you look closely, Rod is smiling.

While they finished up, I ran to Hill City and got us each

a ham/pineapple personal pan pizza.

And then while I was driving into town, I passed a 

semi coming down our road (not super common)

carrying somebody's trusses.

OH WAIT - those are OUR'S!

I forgot those were coming today.

Yes, the neighbor's dog came by again.

Kyle tied him to the stock trailer because he REALLY

wanted to come down into the hole with us and

get his little footie prints all over our fresh concrete.

Uh, NOPE.

I had to leave and rush back to WaKeeney to

get started teaching this evening's class.

While I was gone, they cleaned up

(Kyle had to use the skid steer bucket for some

of the concrete, so he had to get that out of there...)

and then they put the new Mr. Heater,

a diesel powered heat blower thingie,

down into the hole and covered the whole thing

with two 30x50' tarps and weighed it down

with cinder blocks. (Since we have 800+ of them...)

Kyle came home to grab a sleeping bag, a space heater,

and some snacks. Then he headed back out there

to babysit the heater.

They hooked it up at 7:00, so he went out about 9 

to see how much fuel it used in 2 hours.

Then he'll set up camp in his house and come back

by and check on it at midnight and again during

the night a couple of times to make sure it hasn't

run out of fuel or whatever.

By tomorrow it should be well on its way to being

cured. The low is 30, so it will freeze, but just barely.

So it should be fine.

It was 28 last night.

We got a TON of rain all day Monday (which is why we didn't 

get to pour that day - bummer, Jim was here to help!)

The pond was FULL to the top.

It's gone down significantly already.

But it had a nice little layer of ice.

It would be nice if it would hold water.

It would be fun to have a pond.

Although, we aren't allowed to have one if we

do the chickens - ponds attract geese and ducks.

And they potentially carry Avian Influenza.

And if the chickens get it we have to "depopulate" the flock.

And 20,000 chickens cost $125,000.

So that would be bad.

So.

No pond.

Anyhow.

I just finished teaching,

I'm EXHAUSTED.

So it's off to bed with us.

NITE!

(Yes, I know you aren't supposed to start a sentence with

the word "SO". Obviously it doesn't bother me a while bunch ..... lol.)

So much for my college english... hahaha.

Springfield MO

 I didn't bring my laptop with us on our trip.

So I'll try to re-cap now...

We drove over to Springfield on Tuesday afternoon.

It was a 7.5 hour drive... through some

really beautiful country!

We stopped for fuel and loaded up on

some snacks. (hahaha)

Got into town after dark (about 7:30).

We stayed at the Bass Pro Anglers Lodge.

And CHRISTMAS is in the air in Springfield!

This was our lodge.

Super cute.

Right across the street from a large Bass Pro.

It was so pretty!

The room was super cute.

A little fish on each headboard.

There was a little bag of gummy worms on each bed!

(And the beds and especially pillows were COMFY!)

Very fishing / angler themed.

We walked next door to Taco Bell for a quick dinner

and then turned on the TV to a cooking show and

fell asleep for the night.

Wed morning we were up and eating a yummy

breakfast of biscuits and gravy down in the cafe

and then we jumped in the truck and headed

6 minutes away to the venue.

Of course, we had to take a selfie with the Vital Farms sign!

Once inside the building, there were vendors set up

around the edge of one end of the large room,

and tables and snacks on the other end.

We wandered around and chatted with a few

of the different vendors, a banker, some

of the nest box folks and a builder or two.

We didn't really talk with everyone, figured we

would visit with them AFTER the presentation

when we knew more of what we needed to ask.

The presentation was excellent.

They had us start with signing a non-disclosure agreement.

Once we had signed, they handed out a very

comprehensive packet that gave us a sample copy 

of the contracts, pay schedules, breakdowns,

rules, schedules, etc and he spent an hour or so

going over all of it and kind of taking us through

not only the process, but also what it looks like

going forward. What to expect both in cost and

compensation, anticipated problems, etc.

It was a LOT of information, but VERY EXCITING!

Unfortunately, while he was speaking, 

the vendors all LEFT!

So we lost the opportunity to visit more with them.

We are only allowed to use "prequalified" vendors,

so once we are at that point, we will decide

who we want to use.

But first we had to sit with the guy in charge.

He brought our property up on his laptop

to do a preliminary approval of the land.

We were nearly the last group to sit with him.

He pulled it up and said "OH THANK GOODNESS! 

An EASY piece of property to work with.

You guys can pretty much decide to put it wherever

you want - you are the PERFECT situation."

So that was encouraging!

(You need 52 acres with the barn in the center

and 8 equal-ish paddocks surrounding the barn

but some people's property were L shaped, or long

and skinny, or whatever and were quite a 

challenge to get laid out.)

Our next step is to talk with the bankers

(they gave us the name and number of a 

Kansas banker who has already financed several

of these operations, so he is familiar with the

process and will hopefully be easy to work with...)

It's exciting!

Scary.

But exciting!

Travel Day

The long awaited day is HERE!

Today we are traveling east to

Springfield, Missouri.

It's about a 7 hour drive from here.

Of course, you have to add in

fuel stops, etc.

But at least we aren't travelling with dogs.

We are staying tonight in the Bass Pro Shop Hotel.

It should be nice. 

It had good reviews.

And they have a good "southern" country breakfast.

Then the event starts tomorrow morning at 9:00.

I got us each a notebook to write notes and questions.

Since everyone will hear something different.

And then we can compare notes on the long drive home.

Just waiting for my clothes to come out of the dryer.

And then we can load up and head on out.

Jim is HERE!

Jim got here Saturday evening!

And we have been having fun!!!

Lots of "boy talk".

(We need more chairs!)

Yesterday was a BEAUTIFUL day.

So we had a nice breakfast of bacon and

french toast (made with raisin bread)

and then we headed out to drive around

town and show Jim a little about where we live.

And then it was out to the farm.

We had a patch of wild "ditch weed".

The guys walked over to check it out.

(Speaking of checking things out...

look how green the grass still is! And it's mid November!)

Some of that stuff got like 9 feet tall!

(It's no good for anything, just funny.)

We took him by to check out the antique plough.

It might be fun to clean it up a little and

move it up front as yard art!

Meanwhile, Rod is doing the final tweaks

in preparation for concrete.

Unfortunately, it's pouring rain today.

So we had to reschedule to Friday.

In preparation for the rain, Kyle dug a trench

along the leading edge where the water runs

off the hill and straight into our foundation hole.

That should reduce the amount of repairing

we will have to do to prep for Friday.

(We hope...)

It took him longer to drive over and back

than it did to dig the trench.

He's very talented!

He also put Jim in the drivers seat and let him

play on the hill for a bit!

It's HARD to run an excavator...

both hands are working at the same time,

and each hand is in charge of two operations.

All at the same time.

But he caught on pretty quickly.

By the way, the random dog is NOT our's.

He is from a couple miles down the road.

His name is Chester.

He likes to race the vehicles that drive down

the road... we were standing on a "cliff"

at the front edge of the property above 

the 5-ish acres we set aside for Jim and Sabrina.

He is thinking digging INTO the cliff and having

a walk-out basement/garage.

So we were standing there.

The neighbor's cow came over to check us out.

And then Chester showed up!

(I guess he could see us up on the hill...)

He spent the afternoon with us.

We will probably see him lots, now that

he knows we are there.

And we're friendly.

At least until Luna (the rottweiler) moves to the farm.

She's not quite as friendly.

Hahaha.

Anyhow.

It was a fun day!

We came home and made one of Reid's

famous roasts.

And some mashed potatoes.

And a couple of our spaghetti squash.

It was YUMMY!

Today we are watching lots and lots of

farming and chicken farm videos on YouTube.

Hopefully it will have a break in the rain

at some point so we can go outside

and harvest all the rest of the tomatoes.

It's supposed to drop to 27 tonight.

And with all the water, that's not going

to be great for the tomatoes.

But for now, we are snuggly warm inside.

Just watching and learning.

And enjoying family time together.