Putting Away Christmas for Another Year

Carol hinted this morning of putting the Nut Crackers away.  I thought that we could wait a couple more days, but then I changed my mind and started to empty the closes where our Christmas decoration are kept.  We have one big tote used for the nut crackers. It is on the bottom and to get it I brought everything out.  Most were empty boxes.  There was a tote waiting in my bedroom. 

I handed the nut crackers to Carol and she put them in the tote.  She placed plastic grocery bags between the layers of nut crackers.  The first tote was full and we filled a smaller tote.  We then brought out the box that had our photos and some statues.  They were placed in three different locations.  On top of the milk safe, the TV,  and a small table near the front door. 

This afternoon I spent time at the nursery.

The Day After Christmas

The power was out a couple of mornings ago.  I adjusted my wake-up light but for some reason it was wrong.  I got up a little late.

We are expecting Robert and Jeanne and their family.  We don't know how many will be here.  We had breakfast and then prepared to dinner for them.  We did potatoes, corn, pies, and a ham. They called around 10:30 and said that they are on their way.   Robert and Jeanne, Sadie, Halley and Jared were here.  After dinner we opened presents.  We had a nice time together.

It's been cold all day. 

Christmas 2015

It is not often that I wake up on Christmas morning and there is a ton on new snow.  I can remember of only two other mornings of Christmas snow.  There have been a bunch of times that there has been snow on the ground, but it has been old snow.  Following are pictures taken from the front door looking north.

 Looking to the northwest

Looking to the northeast

Looking straight north

My light alarm came on this morning at 5:22 which is earlier than what I want to get up.  I laid in bed about twenty minutes more.  After showing and getting dressed which was 6:00.  I then made a mine adjustment.  We will see how it works out in the morning.

We opened our presents.  I gave Carol a mixer.  She gave a temple robe.  We got some nice gifts from our children.  All but Robert called us during the day.  Robert and some of his family are coming tomorrow.

I did some vinegar soaking in the toilet bowel and a hard water spot in the tub.  This evening I removed the soaked paper towels in the toilet and tub. The toilet looks almost new.  The hard water test in the tub was also successful.

We had breakfast and finished up on the loaf of home made bread that we got from AnnaRae.  That is all that I had for breakfast except candy and nuts.  We were gifted with candy and jams and cookies and other good stuff.

Laying in bed this morning and idea on snow plowing came to me.  It is I would hook on to and old tire rim with a chain and drag it through the snow from the house to the greenhouses.  I picked up a light weight chain, wrapped it around the rim, and tied it back on the chain.  It looked like a good idea, the snow was a little to deep for it to work the way that I imaged that it would work.  The snow was nearly eight inches deep. 

I started dragging the rim from house one and ended up at our house.  I then went back a little ways and went to the back of house five.  Then to house two,  I turned to the south and dragged it past four, five and into house six.  traced back toward house three and then left it house one.  Kind of boreing.  I had to stop and rest quite a few times.

I started up the tractor and cleaned our driveway.  After lunch did the Masner's parking area in front of their house.  They were gone so it was much easier to do.  I went to Venez's house, but it was already done.  On the way home cleared the following:  Adamson's, Stephenson's, and Mary Miller.  It took quite awhile to get their cleared.  A man that sometimes stays there wanted me to clean in front of the big truck.  He offered me money and I rejected is offer numerous times and did it any way.

New Christmas Eve

The light comes on about 5:44 am.  It woke me up and I was up a few minutes later, showed, shaved, and said my prayers.  I read from the scriptures last night, therefore, I spent some time this morning trying to connect our TV with the internet.  One major reason was to be able to got to the LDS.org, which is the main church website.  I was unsuccessful in this effort.  I did find a couple of videos produced by members of the church and one that was anti Mormon.  It didn't start out that way, but after watching it awhile it appeared to be so.  I turned it off, and watched the 7:00 news.  Fifteen minutes later the power went off.  It is still dark.  I found a flash light, Carol was up and she found the emergency lamp, and then had her bath.

With the power off, I was concerned about the temperature in the greenhouse.  I grabbed my light and walked to house two.  The temperature was 40 degrees. I checked it several more times during the next two hours.  The lowest that it dropped was 38 degrees.  The temperature outside the front door was 24.5 degrees.  The sun came up around 8:30 and things began to warm up a little. 

When it was a little lighter I did a job that I kept putting off.  I cleaned the toilet.  There were a lot of yellow hard water stains.  I removed the water from the bowl by pouring water quickly into the bowl. I it was a quick flush without emptying the tank.  Since the tank was full the bowl remained empty.  I soaked paper towels in vinegar, then covered the stains with the towels.  I left them on all day.  I took them off this evening and scrubbed and remaining stains.  the bowel looks like new.  There were a few places high under the rim that I could not see.  They will get another treatment in the morning. 

The photo on left has the paper towels soaked in vinegar.  Photo on the right it the cleaned toilet bowel.

The power came on about nine.  We then drove to Fillmore to gas up the car and get a few groceries.

I worked in the nursery in the late afternoon. 

This morning Carol went to Fillmore to get some groceries to give to a single mother in our town.  While she was gone, I organized our addresses.  There were a bunch of notes of addresses and phone number stuck in our Rolodex.  I put the notes that are no longer needed and combined some others to make it easier to find an address or phone number.

This afternoon I drove to Fillmore to get Carol a Christmas present.  I got her a heavy duty hand held mixer.  The clerk wrapped it for me.  I paid a bill at the Credit Union.

I worked in the greenhouse some.

To Manti and Back

Last Tuesday morning we did not go to the Manti Temple.  The forecast was for a lot of snow.  We decided not to go Monday evening.  Last night was a different story.  The forecast was for rain.  My alarm clock is set to wake me up at 3:26.  I heard it this morning and was up immediately.   Carol was also up by then.  The outdoor temperature at the front door was 37 indicating there was no snow.  When we left it was raining a little.  After picking up the Masners and Carol Gager we headed north.  Our route takes through Scipio, Salina, Gunnison, Sterling, and then to Manti. 

It was raining most of the way and there were  a few spots in the higher areas, that it was lightly snowing.  The snow melted as soon as it hit the highway.

It was raining in Manti I parked the car and I my hair was somewhat wet by the time I made the short walk back to the Temple.  The person who was to be the initiatory coordinator did not come so I was the one who got the job.  The day went really well.

After lunch in the Temple cafeteria, we began the journey home. It rained most of the way home.  As we approached the Scipio Lake the rain began to freeze as it hit the road.  I was more a partially frozen slush.  Carol slowed down to about 40mph.  There were a few cars and trucks that had stopped ahead of us.  One car had rolled over and landed upside.  We slowly passed by them and cautiously went on our way.  Coming toward us was three patrol cars with lights flashing, and ambulance, and several tow trucks.  As we got near Scipio the icy roads were replaced by wetness.  There were trucks off the road on our way to the Scipio summit.  We passed more tow trucks.  We arrived safely home.

Easy Day

Not much done today.  We drove to Fillmore where Carol bought a Christmas present  for me, a wireless indoor/outdoor thermometer.  I thought that she would wrap it and put it under the tree, but instead, she wanted me to install it. 

Most projects where there is some assemble direction say to read the directions first.  I tried to read them first but the instruction were folded numerous times to fit in the small thermometer package and with thin paper with font that was almost impossible to read.  The direction written by a Chinese  person wasn't that familiar with the English language.  Inserting new batteries into the base station was straight forward and easy.  Putting batteries in the outdoor remote sensor was some what difficult because it was hard to open the battery compartment.  Finally got it done, then it needed programming.  There were six button to push in certain order and a certain amount of time.  Got that done after many tries.  I put in the date, the time, and which sensor to use.  I have only one, but I could use two more for two different locations.  One could be in the freezer.  I put the outdoor sensor in a zip lock bag to make it somewhat water proof.

This afternoon, I begun to work for Carol.  She made applesauce cookies and chocolate chip cookies.  I helped by chopping the walnuts, by washing the beater, by retrieving materials from the pantry.  When she finished,  She prepared about ten plates,  We then drove around town to make the deliveries.

New Insurace Policy

Got the chores done this morning.  Tiger, one of our cats, who I feed in the greenhouse was missing.  There have been a couple of times that she was gone, but come back the next day. 

Our car insurance was ready, so we drove to Fillmore.  They had a few questions for us that we answered.  The I picked up my lap top which is now fixed.  I had a tool bar on which prevented me from watching videos.  The tool bar is gone and now I able to watch some.

After lunch I cut down the Elderberry bush that was growing inside house six.  It was growing over and under and all around the furnace.  If I started the furnace it may start a fire.  So cut them down.  I couldn't find my hand saw that I wanted to use.  I think that it is somewhere buried in the snow.   I got my chainsaw, but it was so cold that I didn't think that it would start.  So I used my electric chainsaw.  I had to use pruners to remove some of the lower branches before I could reach the large main branches which I cut down with the chain saw.  Finally I got the furnace cleaned off.

Early this morning I was a little concerned about the heavy snow on house six.  If the next snow was like the last one, the weight of the snow might bend the bows and cause some serious damage.  I was able to get some of the snow to slide off the roof by using it as a punching bag with gloved hands.  I then braced some of the bows with 2 x 4 by eight feet.

This evening just before it got dark, I removed some of the snow in front of the Masner's home.  Someone else had removed most of the snow.  I finished it off moving the snow which was left by the large grader.

Tonight I went home teaching.  We had some nice visits with our three families. David was not ready when I got there, cut soon he was.

The weather has been cold all day, but house two was very comfortable just from the shining sun.  Outside it was cold.

Home Insurance or House Insurance.

I am changing insurance on our house.  There are quite a few details about the house that the agent needs before they will write an insurance policy.  Size of house, construction details, heating, and has there been an insurance claim in the last five years.

I got thinking about home insurance.  There seems to be quite a difference.  The home is about the people who live in a house.  Is there happiness or contention.  Is there love and warm express between the residence.

How can you get home insurance.  I will list a few. 

• prayer
• scripture study
• dating
• church attendance
• temple attendance
• consideration of spouse, parents to children and children to parents.

Doing all of these things will pay the home insurance premiums. 

Sunshine Today

I watched a couple of videos on making spice cabinets on YouTube this morning.  Wondering what I should do that was a little productive, Flash.  do a little more snow removal.  The tractor started easily.  I cleaned the snow from yesterday off the bucket.  We live on the southwest corner of town and I wanted to remove the snow of a widow who lives on the northeast corner of two.  It took me fifteen minutes to drive there.  On the way there, someone was driving a four wheeler ahead of me.  He was going much faster than me.   When I got there, Ross, my cousin, was there with his four wheel pushing snow.  He had half of the driveway partially cleared.  I told him that I wanted to finish up.  The snow was packed down.  It took quite awhile to get the heavy pack snow off.  I had to put the blade of the bucket down at about 45 degrees.

On the way home I drove by Frank's home.  He was gone but there was a lot of snow with one set of tracks in his driveway.  It took me awhile there.  Some of the snow had turned to ice.

I drove past the church.  The parking lot was clear of snow, but the sidewalks were covered with eight inches of snow.  I worked there for about one half hour.  I can just push snow and there no place to put it.  I drove of the sidewalk on the lawn and there I dumped the snow.

It was time for lunch when I got home.

I worked in the nursery for an hours or so.  Then I waited for two phone calls.  I got one from Stuart Electric about my lap top computer.  I didn't hear it because I was on the tractor.  The other call was about our house insurance.  That call didn't come until four.  I gave information, but it was enough.  The agent drove over here and got additional information about the house and information about our car insurance. 

Snow Day Two

This morning there was about four more inches of snow.  By the  end of the day in some places there was twelve inches.  The light snow fell most of the day, and did not want to shovel it until this afternoon.

I have a difficult time holding the camera still on a warm day.  On this cold day, my hands were cold and shaking.

After lunch I started the tractor and cleared the snow from the driveway and some of the snow just north of our yard.  I saw someone using a shovel to move snow on the north side of Miller's home.  I drove the tractor over there.  Someone had used a large tractor to move snow.  My small tractor can manure and get snow where a large tractor can't.

I drove to Fillmore to:

• get some money from our credit line at Zion's bank and make a deposit at the credit union.
• stop at Stuart Electric and have my lap top fixed.  For a couple of days now it will not play any videos.  To watch a video I have to use my ipad or desk top computer.
• get home owners insurance.  We have insurance from American National.  They dropped us because of the Nursery which is on the same property as our house.   I went to Myer's Insurance to get a new policy.

First Real Winter Snow

The forecast yesterday was for a big snowstorm to come through Utah today.  It started snow some early this morning, I think that it was about 3:30.   A light comes on every morning at 5:44.  I don't have to have an alarm wake me up, and it usually wakes me up as soon as it comes on.  When it came on I chose to stay in bed just a few more minutes.   I must have gone back to sleep because in was a little after six when I climbed out of bed. 

I showered, pulled of the sheets to be washed, and read a chapter from the Book of Mormon,  Carol was up by now and began the laundry.  Tiger, our cat, lives in one of the greenhouses.  I take her food out in the morning and again in the evening.  That I did and she was there waiting for her breakfast.  I let the chickens out so they could get a drink from the dish the has water running in it night and day.  I usually through out hen scratch to them each morning but there was too much snow.  I fed them their mash in a large rubber dish in the hen house.

It snowed all day.  This morning there was about four inches of snow.  This is when I took the picture.

and by night there was about eight inches.  

After lunch, I worked for Carol.  She is in the Cub Scouts and every two years she has to be trained. She was trained on line and is now certified to work with the scouts.  It took about fifteen minutes to get her and account.  She took the training and now has a Youth Protection Training certificate.

This afternoon I put air in the tractor tires, attached the shovel to the tractor, and began the task of pushing the snow off the driveway and a walking area through the back yard.  Carol had made vegetable soup, with potatoes, left over roast from Sunday, carrots, celery and some leaks that I dug from the garden.  They were covered with snow on top of the leaves to protect the from freezing.  It was very good..

Looked out the door just now and there is another inch of snow.

Outside Lights are Pretty Much Finished.

worked on making address labels.

spent several hours trying to fix the out door lights.  I could not fix them.

decorated some trees

shrubs

Icicle lights on the house.

More Decorations

This morning I paid some bills.  One morning chore is to feed the cats.  I took the cat food to house five where Tiger lives.  She is usually waiting.  I called for her and could hear her whining but couldn't see her.  I looked up and she was sitting on the header above the west door. She couldn't get down.  I stood on a cement block and was able to reach her and take her down.  She didn't want to let loose of the two by fours she was sitting on. 

I was working in the house while Carol went visiting teaching.   When she got back we had some lunch and then to Fillmore for a few more gifts and cash at the bank.

A couple of days ago be bought a bunch of gifts that we will be giving our children and grand children.   Most however, are getting money and a small gift.  This afternoon Carol wrapped the gifts and prepared Christmas card for family members.  She took one of them to the post office.

Later this afternoon I began working on the outdoor lights.  I got a string of icicle lights east of the driveway and another set east of the front sidewalk. 

Mowed the Lawn for the Last Time, I Think

Today is eighth day of December.  It is probably redundant to put the date at the beginning of this posting.  We were at the Manti Temple today is which we are every Tuesday Morning.  We leave home around 4:15 this morning, instead of eating at the cafeteria and getting an ice cream cone on the way home, we came straight home arriving around 1:30 this after noon. 

I had a little snack and then mowed the lawn for the last time.  There was no grass to mow, but a lot of leaves.  The mower needed air in one of the front tires.  I usually don't leave the compressor plugged in all the time.  The front left tire was a little soft.  The compressor was turned on and in a few minutes the pressure was high enough to shut off.  After pumping up the tire, I mowed up all the leaves. I had to dump twice.

Being quite a warm day for December I began to put out more outdoor lights.  Yesterday I bought two stings of colored lights and two multicolored net lights.  It was a big job to get the lights out of the box and pull them apart to look more like a net.  I plugged the in two nets and the lights all worked.  I stretched them apart to make them as large as I could.  There are two yew shrubs.  One on each side of the porch where I put them.

I am making a line of icicle light along the north side of the front lawns.  I put the pipes in a couple of days ago.  The ground was frozen and it was hard to drive the three foot conduit pipe into the frozen ground.  It has been so warm the last couple of days the ground has thawed out.  The conduit which was once tight are now loose.  There it took ten pieces of pipe about four feet apart to cross grass west of the side walk.

Above is photo how the conduit holds the icicle light above the ground.


I took them all out, stretched a wire from one side to the next to make them all straight.  I then pounded them in the ground again.

To keep the wire lined up on top of the pipes I cut short pieces of wood and made a notch in them somewhat like a notch on the end of an arrow.  Last year I cut some forked tree branches and made a crotch.  I stuck the handle in the pipe.  The notch made this year works a lot better.

I hooked the icicle lights on.  It looks pretty good.  It is starting to get dark.  I will do more tomorrow.

Outdoor Lights

Today is the day to get the outdoor lights up and working.  After Christmas last year I stored  each set of lights in plastic grocery bags and small plastic garbage bags in several totes.  The extension cords are in one tote.  The lights were in two other totes. I had to move a lot of things to get back to where the totes were.  After moving things around I got the three totes into the house.   I put the tote with the strings of lights and some netted lights in the front room by the outside door.    I put them all on the floor and began to plug in each strand to check them out.  Most of them did not work or had only one strand that works.  There are two strands that had some single lights that were brunt out.  I spent over an hour replacing the burned out bulbs. 

There are two square pillars on the front porch.  I placed a netted on the east pillar and began wrapping the two strands on the east pillar.  Back in the house I found another netted lights.  I plugged it in and all of the lights came on.   I then removed the strands from the east pillar and replaced them with the netted strand.  It took a while.

We have a long white rope and two short ropes which one is red and the other is green.  Carol wanted them on the front.  They don't bend around a square post.  After some thinking decided to have the long white one start in the middle on the roof of porch between the two pillars.  How was I to use the green and red ones.  I decided to put the green and red start in the middle as I did the white one.  I could not keep the together.  I then taped the middle of the four lights together with clear packing tape.  I tape all the ropes together starting at the middle and right and the left until the red and green ropes were taped to the white rope.  I drilled a hole in the middle of the roof of the porch between the two posts.  I screwed in and eye bolt into the hole which I then used tie wire to hold the rope up.  I then attached them two a wire that was there from last year.  A few more adjustments and it worked just like I planned.  Turned the lights on and it looks pretty good.  As it got dark it looks even better.

The picture is pretty fuzzy.  It was hard for me to hold the camera still when it is so dark.

Servicing Our Car

We haven't had our car serviced for quite a long time.  Last night after many tries, I was able to make and online appointment.  The problems was the phone number.  Asked:  what is your phone number?  Answer: We don't recognize that number.  Asked: Do you have an other phone number?  Answer:  What is you car license number"  Answer:  We don't recognize that number.  After putting the numeral "1" in front of the phone number, I finally got on the right track and then was able to enter some car concerns and select a time.

There were about seven cars lined up a head of us.  Our thoughts were that it will take us a long time before were get out of there.  It wasn't long before they took our car away.  We waited for a little over an hour when the told us that they finished  They changed the oil and filter, the air filter, and replace the sparkplugs and wires.

We ate lunch at in and out.  We walked in and surprise, there were no one ahead of us.  Before we had finished our lunch the line reached the door.  We were there about ten minutes to twelve.  The customers that came in looked as if they left the high school for lunch.  We both had a cheese burger and we shared fries and Pepsi.  I ate mine and half of Carol's.  Their burgers have always tasted good.

We stopped at Toys R us.  We walked through the store several time before we picked up some toys for our great grandson and two grand daughters. They have birthdays and also have Christmas a head of us.  We looked for the simple wooden blocks like the ones that our kids played with.  Almost everything in the store was plastic.  So we bought three plastic toys.  Carol paid for them with a check.  It appeared to us that the clerk did not know how to process a check.  She run it through the check reading machine right side up and top of the check first.  Then she turned the check from end to end.   The she turned the check upside down and sent through two more times.  That may not be the exact way, but finally the registrar printed a receipt.

Our next stop was Sam's Club where bought cat food and toilet tissue and garbage bags.  When we walked in there were a small flock of ducks there waiting for some handouts.  Carol bought some lettuce and bread to feed the ducks when we came out.  We left the store and someone a head of us were feeding them bread.  Carol first through out lettuce.  The ducks walked over the top of it.  Our ducks we had loved lettuce.  Carol then broke the bread into pieces.  The seguls swept in and began their feast on the bread.  The ducks began their afternoon lunch.  I was dropping bread between my feet and they came close enough where I could reach down and touch them. 

We also filled up with gas at $1.939 per gallon.  We have bought gas that cheap for a long time. 

We always stop at the Red Barn on the way home.  Today was no exceptions.  We drove up and there were no cars.  Few cars came in after us.  I had a small bowl of hard ice cream.  Carol had a soft ice cream cone. 

We got home a little after four.

Inside Christmas Decorations

The closet inside of my bathroom is packed full of decorations

To make room for them I rearranged the boxes of seed in my bedroom which also serves as my office.  The seeds are on a card table in the north east corner of the bedroom.  I set all of the boxes on my bed and moved the card table to the west side of the room.  I arranged the seeds in alphabetical order.  Annuals first, then the vegetables, and then the perennials.  There are two boxes of pepper and tomato seeds that I can't locate.  The native seeds are in the Middle of the table.

That being done, I emptied the closet and put the all the boxes where the card table was. 

I got a large box out of the garage and gathered all the framed photos and put them in the box.  The large box was filled to the top, but there was a little room to put some of the vases and statues.

We cleaned the tops of cabinets which hadn't been dusted since we put the Christmas decorations last January.  Most of the nut crackers were put on the large oak TV cabinet.  A few more were put on the fireplace mantle and small table.  The pie safe was the home of crystal balls and a few other battery operated things.

We put out one nativity  scene.  We usually have several nativity scenes on the piano, but left the Willow carvings. 

The next job was the Christmas tree.  The Christmas trees is in a large box behind the trash can, behind the coolers, behind some totes.  I moved them out of the way and stacked some outside the garage and some by the car. There are three totes in the garage that had our tree decorations.scl

The tree was heavy.  I muscled into the kitchen.  Carol helped me to get it into the front room.  ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;

The Warm Before the Storm

We have had cold evenings and somewhat warm days.  There is still a little snow on the lawn in the shady areas. There are a bunch of leaves on the lawn and much more under the trees.  Storm according to the forecast is expected Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving.  Today was the last chance to more the lawn and suck up the leaves. 

This morning we drove to Fillmore to get our turkey and a few other things.

After lunch when the lawn has dried out from the night frost, I mowed the lawn and collected all the leaves.  I had to dump three time.  I dumped our by the road just north of the garden as a mulch to help control the annual weeds.

Organizing The Kitchen Drawers

The cabinets under the counter have a double with door.  We open the door and there are two drawers.  Both have glides so the can be extended.  The bottom drawer will not open.  We have tried to pull it open over the years.  This morning I was going to fix it.  I put the contents of the bottom drawer on top of the counter.  The empty drawer should be a easy to pull out.  But it wasn't.  I pulled harder.  I used two flathead screw drivers, one on each side.  I was then able to pull it out.  I put it on the table making it easier to work. The front of the drawer had been pulled so many times that it bowed out and become disconnect to the bottom of the drawer. I put Elmer's glue in the rabbit and pulled it all together with one clamp.

I reinforced the inside bottom of the drawer a 1" x 1 1/2" board almost the width of the drawer.  Then a smaller piece of oak underneath the drawer bottom.   It was trial and error to get the holes in the right place and then put screws in to hold it all together. 

Carol organized everything and made it easy to find what we needed.

I worked in the nursery after lunch.  We went for a drive through town.  We do that almost every day.  The day was cool, but quite nice.  The sun was shinning most of the day.

Cleaning the Kitchen

I worked all morning on washing the doors of the kitchen cabinets. The first thing was to remove everything off the counters.  There wasn't room one the kitchen table for everything.  So I moved some of it to the end of the counter.  As I cleaned the west end of the cabinet doors and counter top I was able to bring some of the things back. 

Above the stove they were particularly dirty.  Over the years grease has accumulated and it took quite a while to get them cleaned. I use soapy water and degreasing solution and finally I got them clean.  The stove top was hard.  Years of pans boiling over and splashing grease was hard to remove.  I used a razor  blade to scrape of the hard grease.

This afternoon I worked in the nursery for an hour. 

Lemons & Pomegranate Jelly

As soon as breakfast was over we began to juice the lemons. Shown is four tubs.  We got five all together.  Carol gave one tub to here DUP friends at the meeting on Monday evening after we came home from Las Vegas.  We juiced two tubs.  We got quite a system going.  Carol cut the stem and blossoms off and then cut the lemon in half.  I would squeeze the juice out.  It took us over and hour.  Carol then filled each cell in an ice cub tray and then put them in the freeze.  Each cell held about two tablespoons of juice.

Over a period of a month we picked the pomegranates from the two bushes in the front yard.  Carol froze the seeds.  We put them in the steamer and got three pints of juice.  We made two batch and which resulted in 11 half pints and one pint.

This afternoon I took the luffa sponges and placed on the benches in house two  I don't think they will work out because they are too green.

We planted some late cabbage and broccoli and both have turned out very well.

To St. George and Back

Yesterday, A Face Book posting showed Anne, Carol's sister, with a lot of lemons.  I posted on her post that we should get together.  A few minutes later we get a phone call from Anne.  Carol and Anne decided that we would meet in the St George Temple parking lot at eleven, to pick up the lemons.

This morning we gathered some of our garden produce, ie, cabbage, sweet potato, celery, and onions, to take with us.  We left about 9:15 and got there just before eleven.  Monday is a day that there are very few cars in the parking lot.  Surprise. The parking lot was full so we drove up and down several of the isles look for an.  We decided to park on the street.  As we had to wait for one car to go by before we exited the parking lot.  Another surprise, The car that we were waiting for was Anne's car.  We then turned on the street and they pulled up behind us.  We gave them our produce and we loaded five big tubs of lemons in our car.


This summer when we took them tomatoes, we ate at the Big Bear Diner.  We at there today and had a nice dinner of fish and chips.  We ordered two dishes and two empty plates.  Anne and Fred shared theirs and Carol and I shared ours.  Lunch was very good and we visited for quite some time. We parted, they headed back to Las Vegas, and we drove back home. 



Last week I bought a 3/8 inch cordless drill at Harbor Freight in Orem.  It didn't work.  There is a Harbor Freight in St George.  I stopped there to exchange it for an other one.  We didn't have a problem changing it.  On the way home I took it out of the box and couldn't get this one to work either.  It would no go in reverse.

We got off the freeway at 200 west, went west and turned to the south on Cove Street.  We drove to the top of it and found the Cedar City Temple.



We stopped in Beaver at the Cheese Plant,  Carol got a cone and I got a small cup.

I called the number for Harbor Freight, and was on hold for a long time.  I tried a little later and was still on hold.  I went to their web page to see if I could get help there.  I tried to put the drill in reverse again and discovered the problem.  There is a switch on the side of the drill.  When the switch is clear out, it will drive in a screw.  I pushed it in a little which felt like the reverse, But the drill still went clock wise.  I pushed it all the way, it locked.  I was messing around with the one from St George and pushed the button a little harder, it went further in.  I pulled the trigger and it went in reverse.  Problem solved.

After we got home I began to remove the annuals an cut the perennials to the ground from the brume west of our driveway.  We had one plant like a decennia that would freeze.  I dug it up and repotted it in a five gallon pot.  It is in house three.

Emi Went Home

Emi, our granddaughter, has been with us since Sunday.

We met Tai in Provo at one.  He will take her back to Layton when he is finished with his class tonight.

Emma

I drove to Fillmore the first thing this morning.  Carol had her hair done.  It really looks good.  This evening Carol, Emi, and watched the play Emma. It was a high school setting where Emma was a match maker. 

Wednesday with Emi

I had a few things that I wanted to do and Carol had a bunch of things that she wanted to do.  I did some watering in house 2.  We started digging the annual flowers in the kidney north of the house.  I hauled all of the plant material out to the no till garden.  It is getting pretty deep out there which is what I want.  We pulled the geraniums in both beds just north of the house.  Emi, our granddaughter was a great help. 

I was going to drain the pipes that grow throughout our yard and nursery.  I walked out the door,  and it looked like it might rain.  I quickly changed my mind started up the lawn mower.  there were a lot of leaves on the lawn and I plugged the blower shoot two times.  I can't lift because the hernia operation I had 2 1/2 weeks ago.  I used a lever two lift the deck.  I was then able to clear the shoot that was packed with leaves.  I dumped about six times.  Most was dumped next to the road where it will cover winter annuals and decay.

I then drained the water lines.  It went quickly.  I opened hose bib at the lower end of our garden.  The water began to flow.  Hooked the compressor to the water line, and turned it on.  Air was blowing out the hose bib. I shut it off and went to the next one. It soon began blow air.  I did the other two the same way.

It was getting time for supper.  We took Emi to Delta and ate at MacDonald's.  We then watched the show, PAN.  It was a fast moving show that lasted nearly two hours. It intense drama.  We then went home.

Working in the Office

The lawns were very wet this morning.  I started out by working in the office.  That is my bedroom.  I always sleep in the office.  I spent most of they organizing my files and organizing the seed boxes.  I printed labels for the folders and removed most papers that  were dated 2014 and older.  Were dated as twelve years.   I have a file box where nearly half of the papers inside went to the round file.

Yesterday, Carol got her annual driver license letter from the state driver license division.  We drove to Fillmore where she turned in at the clinic.  They will sign it so she can get a license for next year.  Emi is staying with us next week.  We bought some groceries so there will be food for her.  Carol and I sort of piece, graze during the day and don't often do a lot of cooking.  We cook for Sunday and have warm-ups the rest of the week.

This afternoon we moved the cabbage and broccoli growing in tubs in front of our house to greenhouse two.  There are some good hard cabbage heads the size of baseballs.

Provo in the Rain

It rained some in the night, but only enough to have a good wet lawn and wet sidewalks.  I did a little watering and we then drove to Provo to do some shopping.  The weather has been cool and no sunshine all day.  It sprinkled off and on all the way up and all the way home.

I bought me a small lamp for about five dollars and a timer for the same amount.  On the way home we stopped at the Red Barn in Santaquin for ice cream.  Carol got a soft ice cream cone and a I got a small cup of ice cream.  Mine was huge.  It had two scoops and lasted me nearly two the Yuba lake exit.  Next time I will bet a little cup which has only one scoop.

I am not to lift any thing weighing more than ten pounds.  Carol had to lift the cat food and the soap products. 

I set up the time that will turn the lamp on about 5:30.  I don't want to use the alarm clock to wake me up,  I would like to think that the sun light is coming through the window.

The last thing that I did was to carve the pumpkin.  A picture tomorrow.

Check Up

Two weeks ago today I had my hernia operation.  Today was my two week check-up.  The appointment was at ten and we were there a little early.  There was only a few parking places in front of the clinic.  The waiting room was packed and only a few  empty chairs.  I spoke to the receptionist and I just barely sit down when they called me.  The doctor said that everything went well.

We were finished and did a little shopping and went home.  I worked most of the day organizing the folders laying around and in the file cabinets.   I renamed the hanging folders and placed the in alphabetical order. 

We had the coldest night so far this fall.  Checking out the garden this afternoon revealed the extent of the frost.  the squash and cucumbers were frozen, and tomato plants that were not well caged.  Those higher in the air were frozen only on the new growth. 

The only thing done at the nursery was the watering. I watered everything.

We had home teachers tonight.

Friday

Today as gone very well.  I slept good last night even thought I made a lot of trips to the bathroom.  I could lay without any pain.  Getting in and out of the bed was a little painful, but when settled everything was good.

I haven't done much today.  I did walk at Carol's side giving her directions on what to water and how much to water.  I made a couple of videos of the Roundleaf Buffalo Berry.  I deleted the first one will put the second one on You Tube.  A professor at Utah State University wanted some information on growing that plant.

That is about it.  I had a nap this morning and again another one this early afternoon.

Surgery This Morning

Yesterday
I got the watering done at the greenhouse and in the back yard.  Carol took care of the dogs that she is baby sitting or should I say dog sitting.

When she got back we picked the tomatoes.  There is not as many this time because day light is nearly two hours less even though the days have been in the low 80's.  In spite of this were able to get nearly two bushels of tomatoes.  We picked these for Lisa who for the first time is putting the in the bottle.  We then picked beans.  Here we got two, 2 1/2 buckets full.  We gave these away.

It was nearly eleven this morning when we left Holden to meet up with her to transfer the garden goodies.  Carol called her a little earlier and she reported that she was really busy and indicated that it would be difficult for her to meet us.  We decided to deliver them to her house.  I called her and told her what we had planned.  The traffic moderately heavy, but we made it with out any difficulty.  The used to have a road split, this time there was not a split.  The concrete company has a huge gravel pit at the point of the mountain.  The have mixing machine that makes the concrete which is loaded on a conveyer belt that dumps it into a container which is loaded in a truck which takes it a section of road being built.  The procedure surely save a lot of time, whereby, trucks don't have to leave freeway and then return loaded.

We stopped at Sam's Club in Provo.  I bought a blue tooth device that is worn around the neck with ear buds for music and telephone conversations.  I wanted it to transmitted voice to my iPhone videos.  I did not do that.  I returned all the parts and receipts hoping for a refund.  After answering a few questions as to why I retuned it.  He credit the amount to my credit.  Thanks Sam's Club.

Our next stop was at the Red Barn where we got some ice cream.  Mine lasted quite away past Nephi.

Today
I had my hernia operation.  I did not eat anything after ten last night.  This morning I read a chapter in the Book of Mormon.  The chores had to be done early.  I watered the nursery, watered, and fertilized the pots and tubes in front of the house. 

We entered the hospital in Fillmore and they were waiting for us.  All my vitals were recorded.  There were a lot of papers to sign which took quite a while.  They gave me a gown to put on.  I then made a trip to the bathroom.  Next was the electro cardiograph, Interesting when read was better than the one I had about five years ago.  I was then hooked up to the IV where I received medication and anesthesia.  More questions were asked by the doctor and anesthesiologist.  Then I came back in about an hour.  I was a little dopy but soon went home.  Carol has been taking care of me until I went to bed.

Weding Anniversery #54

Tomorrow is our 54th wedding anniversary.  We won't be able to celebrated it tomorrow because of our assignment at the Manti, Utah, temple.  So we did it today.  Not much of a celebration, no trip to some exotic place.  No expensive restaurant. but mainly something pretty simple. 

Carol Called her brother, Larry, asking if they would be home.  They recently moved into their new house after their old house burned down.  We planned to meet them at ten.  Its been over nine months since we have been to their house and we had a hard time finding it.  We would have been there at ten, but couldn't find it until we called.  We got less than a block away put turned around and called them. 

We had a nice visit.  The house built on the old foundation is beautiful and the enterier has been completely changed.  They gave us a private tour which we would have missed had we been there when they had their open house.  They said that there were so many there, there was no time to visit.

From there we drove to West Jordon where Eric and April live in a town house until their new home  is built.  It should be finished towards the end of November.  We found it easily when I the gps working.  It is the first time that it as worked for us.  It took us right to their house.  We parked in front of a garage door thinking that we will go in and get out fast before the owner of the spot comes.  We choose differently and found a guest parking area near by.  as we got to his door and I rang the bell.  As I was ringing the bell Eric drove up and parked in his parking spot which was the same one that we were going to park earlier.  He just got home from back east where he was working this week.

They have a full time nanny that is living there while she goes to school.  She is a member of the church and a return missionary.  She will be with them for quite awhile.

The two girls, our two granddaughters, were there and in the past Payton would have nothing to do with us and Hanna was not walking.  Hanna was walking all over the place.  Payton, stayed close to here mother an dad.  I was sitting on sort of a bench, and Payton came right over and climbed up on my lap.  What a pleasant surprise.  I still can't hardly believe it.  I then had Payton and Hanna on my lap at the same time.  They are going to Fish Lake and will be back tomorrow 

We had lunch at a Chinese restaurant, which is one of Carol favorite places to eat.  They have a large selection of items at the buffet.  We stopped at Costco for gas and stopped at the Red Barn for and ice cream cone, which we always do on the way home.  We got home around five.

Diamonds in the Field

Diamonds in the Field

     A good father, Walter Johnson, lay dying of cancer in a Salt Lake City Hospital, the early months of 1915.  His family of eight children and the young wife, Hettie, lived in Lynndyl, Utah, where they had moved from Leamington, to be on the new farm.

     The youngest child, a baby of about a year old, was also dying of a birth defect, an open spine, and required constant care.

     The mother was torn between the needs of her family and the desire to be at the bedside of her husband.

     They both knew well, there was not much time, maybe a few weeks, filled with pain and anxiety.  Walter knew the mother’s troubles.  He had been the breadwinner and could no longer keep his job, working on the railroad crew, and fill his place as the provider for the family.  The doctor and hospital bills were piling up, and the family’s needs continued.

     One day Hettie got on the train and went to be with Walter.  He was in great pain.  Hettie could see that he was under medication but grateful to reach out his hand to the woman that he loved.  She sat beside him with tears dripping to her jacket.  He said to her, “There are diamonds buried on that farm.  You find them and they will provide plenty of money.”

     The mother knew that in his drugged mind, and pain filled body, he had found a way for the family to get along, and all the needs to be met.

     The baby died and was buried on a Leamington hillside.  Two days later the father died.  His body was brought home and he was buried beside the baby.

     The Family lived in a small home of three rooms, for the seven growing children.  The home had been moved to the new farm, north of the railroad tracks near Lynndyl.  The oldest, Mina, a girl of about 15, Lester, Effie, Mary, Bert, Max, and Alice, the youngest, about two and one half years old looked to their mother for comfort and support.

     The mother gathered her children around her, “Your father said there are diamonds buried on this farm.  If there are, we will have dig them out with plowing and planting, irrigating and harvesting.”

     Hettie knew how the work on the farm would have to be done.  She would have to do it with the help of the young children.

     She worked in the fields.  She helped the young boys reach to fasten the collars and the harnesses on the horses.  She helped the young boy hook the horses to the plow, the mower and the rake.  She carried the lantern and helped the children irrigate in the fields at night.  She bargained with other farmers, to sell the harvests of the fields. 

     She hitched the horses to the wagon and took her children to see her mother and their grandmother, in Oak City.  It was a time of recreation, of support of her brothers and sisters.  One day her mother said, “how can you do all that you have to do and take care of baby Alice?  Let me keep her for a while.  I will love her and take good care of her.”  So, little Alice was left with the good grandmother and Aunt Ida in their good home in Oak City.

     The girls were taught to keep the home, to cook the simple meats, to plant a garden, to sew the family clothes, on the foot pedal sewing machine.  They went out to work in other homes when there was an opportunity.  Hettie went to help in homes where good nursing was needed, or where a new baby was born, wherever there wan an opportunity to help someone and to make money to help her family.  They learned the value of all working together, for the common good.  They learned the important values of living.  At the end of the day, they knelt together and thanked the Father for all blessings.

     Walter’s brother, Peter, came to help the family.  He and Hettie soon were married.  He was a great help to the family.  He worked on the railroad and gave his check for the family needs and was a good father to the children.

     The family of seven children grew to nine when two girls, Helen and Muriel, were born.

     The grandmother got old and the little girl was able to come home to live with her brothers and sisters.

     The children grew up, all good faithful people, taking their place in the world and meeting the vicissitudes of life with courage, knowing how to work and make a place for themselves.  They all reared good families and passed the values of their good heritage on to them.

     Alice said, “I was not able to live with my mother when I was young, now that my mother is old, I will live near her and take care for her,” and she did.

     All the children came and said, “When you were young, you cared for us, now that you are old, we will care for you and Uncle Peter.”

     The father was right, there were truly, “diamonds in the field” in the courage of the good mother and Uncle Peter, and the lives of nine resolute children.

Near Tragedy

One evening I wanted to have some cracked wheat mush.  I usually put 1/2 half cup of wheat and two cups of water, some raison and salt.  I bring it to a boil turn it off, put a lid on, and let it sit all night.  The next morning I put them in to two mush bowls.  One goes in the fridge and the other in the Micro wave for 90 seconds.

I put it on the stove and the stop clock to see how long it would take to bring it to a boil.  The next time I would be able to set the time for the amount of time it took to come to a boil.  When the time would be up I would turn the burner off, put the lid on, it would be ready for the next morning.  I got busy with some thing and did not notice until we could smell smoke.  I went to shut the gas off, but there was no flame.  I took the burnt mush and pan outside.  I opened the doors, but it still took an hour or so to get the burn smell out of the house.

When it was time to go to bed, Carol asked me if I had locked up the chickens for the night.  I hadn't and didn't want to.  Carol made quite a fuss over that so I locked them up.  When I came back into the house, I could smell gas.  I then notice that the gas was still on.  The mush had boiled over and put out the gas flame.  It must have been running for about and hour. 

No telling what would have happened if Carol hadn't insisted on me locking up the chicken.  We ould have gone to bed and the rest of the story would have been speculation.  We could have smelled the gas during the night, turned the light switch on, and most likely there would have been and explosion and a fire. 

We have been blessed and thank the Lord that everything turned out well.

Wedding # 2

The long awaited day for Holden and Megan finally arrived.  For six weeks there has been a daily count-down on Face Book. There was a trip to the Payson Temple where Megan reiceved her endowments.  We have visited them several time during this period of time.

This morning we did the watering and left Holden, Utah for Salt Lake City where we met then in the Salt Lake Temple.  We were there plenty early and were able to visit with his mother, and sisters before we went in the temple.  There was a nice group of friends and relatives in attendance.  After the sealing ceremony was over we were able to give our congradulations and warm wishes. 

We waited for them in a waiting room adjacent to the temple and temple grounds where pictures were taken.  They soon showed up to cheers and well wishes.  Tai, Holden's cousin, took the pictures.  There numerous pictures taken with various groups of family and friends.

In the afternoon we met them again at The Barn in Mapleton, for a dinner hosted by Megan's parents. It was a delicious meal.  We visited with family and friends.  Carol was really tired so we left before the reception really began.  It was a good thing because there were some plants that had really wilted for the lack of water.  The celery was really droopy.  If we were 30 minutes later it would have been to dark to see.