New Flower Bed

Temple day.  We left a little after four this morning and were home a little after two this afternoon.
I worked in house one at several different times this after noon.  I am slowly removing the tomato plants.  The photo below shows quite a large section where the tomato plants have been cut down and removed.

Looking at the west end of house five.  There is a flower bed on the south side of the door and mostly weeds on the north side of the door.  I cleaned it up this afternoon and hauled the weeds and stuff away.  There are a few randomly place rocks at the bottom of the picture.  They will be places in a much better arrangement.

This seems to be an odd picture.  Several years ago I built a munch of big tubs using cement, perlite, and peat moss.  Over the years they have been broken.  Some of the pieces were in the flower bed below.  I hauled them out to the road where they will become part of the east end driveway.

Comments and questions welcome

Direct TV the Last Package

The return box came last week.  This morning I disconnected all of the parts of the Direct TV including the black box and put them in the box.  It took some time.  Every time I pulled a cable loose  I thought that the TV would shut off.  Finally I got it all done. The photo below shows it.

There are a lot of red bell and Anaheim peppers in house six.  I picked a bunch of them and took them to the post office for.

We had to go to Fillmore to get a few things.  I wanted an Elmer's glue dispenser that makes the applying glue much simpler and quicker.

Saturday I found a ten inch saw blade that had 84 teeth.  This is a used for sawing wood with less tear out.  It took me a long time to remove the throat plate.  I needed allen wrench or hex key..  I thought the set screws held it in place. I screwed out the set screws as far as it would go.  It kept getting tight and tighter until the hex key slipped out.  I found that the throat plate just sets in the slot.  The set screws are used as spacers to keep it level.  I finally got the new blade in and tightened the blade.  I cut the first piece of wood.  The wood started to burn.  The blade was super dull.  Looking for a new blade.

We had some chicken left over from Sunday dinner.  Carol made some chicken noodle soup with carrots, onions, and celery.  She cooked the noodles and mixed it in the soup.  The noodles was full of weevil larva.   We drained of the broth.  We separated the noodles from the chicken and vegetable.  The larva was also removed.

Tomorrow is Halloween and I haven't carved the pumpkin.  I emptied one of the kitchen drawers looking for a little pumpkin carving knife.  That took about an hour.  Finally I was ready.  I put the seeds on some newspapers.

There were two pumpkins.  One we raised and the other that we bought.  I made a smiley face on the orange one.   It was soft and easy to carve.  I put the pumpkin on a plate, therefore, I could turn the pumpkin around either to the left or right.   The other pumpkin was hard.  I got my jig saw to cut the top off.  It spread pumpkin sawdust all over.  I looked for a small saw in one of my tool box.  I removed all the tools and at the bottom of everything I found the little saw.

I then was able to finish the other pumpkin.  I call them happy pumpkins.

That is it for today.


Comments and questions welcome

Manti Utah Temple and Devotional

We got home quite late last night for we were at the Manti Utah temple.  It was after eleven before we went to bed.  I turn off the alarm light so I might sleep a little longer.  The alarm light is a light attached to the timer clock.  It turns the light on and it stays on for thirty minutes.

We had breakfast and listened to the Sounds of Sunday on a local radio station.

It was about ten when we left for Manti.  We were at the upper Manti parking lot a little before eleven.  The doors were to be opened at 12:15.  The door was opened about five minutes later.

We drove on the south side of the temple.  We made a sharp right turn and drove on a somewhat narrow lane that  took us to the top of the hill to the east parking lot.  There was a dozen car already parked.  Some were waiting in their cars and others were walking toward the temple.  There were ushers directing parking.  One of them waved us on and we parked much closer to the temple.  The photo below is taken from the parking area.

We had to walk back to the east and then turn back to the west and follow the road to the east temple doors.  The photo below is just before we turned back to the west.

Here we are walking down toward the temple doors.  Carol is walking ahead of me while I snapped the picture.

There is a window at the center of the temple and double doors on both sides.  There were some discussions going on with the people around us.  It was said by one of them that we could enter the temple through either door.  Once inside, Elder Quenten L Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles would speak to us. One door on the right was opened.  A card reader read our recommend as we went into the temple.  Once inside we sat on the third row from the front.   Below are the east doors.

This picture is looking to the north.  Below the higher part of the building is the north temple entrance.

Some people parked in the lower parking lot which is near the baptistery door.  Patrons walk up these steps to reach the east temple doors.

I got this shot just before the opened the doors.  By the time the doors were opened there were a lot of people in line to get in.

The devotional was inspiring to say the least.  Elder Cook talked about temple dedications, gathering of Israel, some temple experiences by other people, and his own temple experiences.  So glad that we were able to go.

We were home by 3:30.  When home we had our lunch.  Mainly chicken and tomato sandwiches.


Comments and questions are welcome.

Off to Lehi and Other Places.

  We left at 8:30 for Lehi.  We planned to be at the home of Holden and Megan at twelve, so we stopped at Walmart, Sam's Club, and Home Depot.  We got a few supplies and then went to Lehi.  We followed the directions on my phone.  It took us right to their apartment.  We were going to meet Lisa at the Holden and Megan's apartment.  We both drove to the right street at the same time.  We didn't recognize their car.  We turned left right in front of them.  They followed us a hundred feet or so and we walked into their apartment together.  We visited for an hour or so.  Holden helped me some with eBay.   I took some pictures and Holden took the pictures of me.  

Below is Carol and the new baby, Grant Danny Johnson.

Carol and Ezra.  Emi and Lisa Gray are on the left of the picture.

That's me holding little Grant.

It was hard to get a photo of Ezra. He would not sit on my lap or stand still,  I took a bunch of pictures and the one below is the best one.  Carol and Lisa are in the background. 

We left.  There was a Chuck-O-Rama a mile or so away.  We followed Lisa.  That is where we had lunch.  We waited there for the waitress to come back and she took our picture. Getting a good against the window is difficult.  Lisa and Emi on the left and Carol and myself on the right.  I should have taken off my hat to get more light on my face.  

One the way home we stopped at Costco for gas and the red barn for ice cream.  There were a lot of people getting ice cream and other things.  We got home about 4:30.  An hour later Carol fed the hungry cats.

Comments and questions are welcome.

Another Stool or Small Table

The plants planted about a month ago have germinated an doing well.  Except for the chives which have done anything.

  Red beets and radishes planted about a month ago.

Monday I started on this stool or table.  Today I put the top on.  The middle piece and the two outside pieces are made with three small slats glued together.  I glued them up this morning.  I cut five inches out of the slat in the middle and then glued them.  While the glue was setting up or drying I use pocket screws to hole the legs to the skirt.  It worked out quite well.  I use grabber screws for two legs. I pre-drilled the holes which made it much easier use the grabber screws.  I also use glue.

After lunch I ran the slats and glued up slats through the thickness plainer.

All pieces are screwed onto the base.  I made a couple of mistakes so I had to unscrew them and do it again.  The next two photos shows a little space between the slats.

I was cleaning on the right side of the fridge and discovered this tray that was in the fridge.  I thought that I could use it for fruit from the garden.  instead I used it as a tray under my work bench.  I could clear the bench and put it in the tray.  I made pair of gliders and them attached them to the bottom of the bench.  I put the right one in first and had to move it to the right because there wasn't room for the left glider.  I had to move the right one again so the tray be completely under the bench.  Finally I got it right.

I hoped to make all of the kitchen cabinets.  I bought a lazy Suzan type device for the corner cabinet.  I decided to by the cabinets and have somebody install them for me.  I found them today and the hardware that goes with them.  I will give them to a friend who does kitchen remodel.

One customer came for poplar trees.  I didn't have any.  I cut some branches and told her to stick the branches about 18 inches in the ground and the will root in the spring.


Comments and questions are welcome

Work,Big Help From Carol

After breakfast we went to the garden west of the garage and began the clean-up.  We removed all the tomato cages, tree baskets, and placed them next to the garage.  It was quite a job.  Some of the tomato plants were huge and the stems were thick.  We had to cut some of them loose.  Carol raked the branches and stems.  With a pitchfork, I carried them to the new compost pile.  Carol raked the frozen and spoiled tomatoes and I loaded them into the wheelbarrow.

 All of the plant material from here and from other areas in the yard goes on the new compost pile.

The frozen and rotten tomatoes went to a spot on the far west side of the garden.

We remove the spikes and fabric staples from the weed barrier. We turned each one over to remove any dirt on top.  Then they were folded, tied with a piece of twine, and stored until next year in house three.  The spikes and fabric staples are also stored there.

After lunch I worked on the production of a video, that explained the things that we did today.  I made one. Not to good,  I made another one, also no good. I made a few more and finally got one that seemed to be pretty good.

I harvested some of the beans, then cut the rope trellis put the vines and strings on the new compost pile.

I took most of the vines hoop cattle panels and the cucumber vines of the cattle panel.

power outage,

At the Manti Temple

The Manti Utah temple has been closed for the last four weeks.  We were up at 3:30 and left a little after four.  We picked up the Masner's and Sister Gager.  It was good to be back.  After our shift we hurries home.

I have been planning a small stool.  I worked on it several hours this afternoon.  The parts are all cut out and tomorrow I hope to have it put together.

Comments and questions welcomed

Getting Ready for Sping.

Soon as breakfast was over and a little news,  Carol says, "Lets pull the geraniums."  I got the tarp and laid it in front of the geraniums east of the porch.  We quickly pulled them up and placed them on the tarp.  

We then moved over to the geraniums west of the front porch. It didn't take long for these either.  The total time was 7-9 minutes.  I drug the tarp to the new compost pile.

From there we pulled the Wave petunias west of the driveway by the corner of the garage.  Leaves are falling and show up on many of these pictures.

Some of the dahlia tubers that I dug last week were beginning to wilt.  I took them out to house five which has no poly.  I loaded the wheelbarrow with recycled potting soil.  I sprinkled some of the soil on the tubers.  Then I sprayed them with water which washed the soil in and around the tubers and their roots.  I continues this process until all the tubers were covered and the soil was wet.

I saw a 2x4 by I don't know how long.  I have been contemplating making another short stool out of 2x4's.  I would use this one.  I pulled the nails out.  It is fairly straight.  It is a little hard to see; part of it is sticking of the bench to the left.

After lunch I covered the three flower beds with compost.  The following photos show the compost.  Last year we put compost on those beds.  The two pictures for some reasons are not very bright

We went to Fillmore for a few groceries and to deposit a check.  Fillmore main street will soon be finished.  Also, to fill the car with gasoline.

We are going back to the temple tomorrow morning, Tuesday, and Carol wanted the car vacuumed.  I used the Harbor Freight vacuum . It worked better than what I thought it wood.  I worked on it for over and hour.  I blew the leaves off the lawn with the Harbor Freight blower.  It has always worked well.  I used it to blow the dust off the vacuum filter.  It really did the job.

I made a little change to the out feed table for the table saw.  I put a small self drilling into the side of the table saw.  Then small grabber high on the table leg.  I wird these together which holds the saw and the table together.

I want to make a small stool. I cut two legs out of a 2x4.  the legs will 1 1/2 x1 1/2 x20 inches long.  I

made a tool to help drill a plumb hole through the table leg.  The screw goes through the leg hole and into the skirt.  I tried many different ways to attach the leg and skirt together and in square.

Comments and questions welcome

A Drive to Orem for a Baby Blessing

This morning we drove to Orem, Utah for the naming and blessing of our granddaughter, baby of Emily and John Lewis.  She was given the name of Madelyn Lewis.  We were there plenty early, like 40 minutes.  We waited in the car for about 15 minutes before we went in. We attended the Canyon View First Ward.  Her grandfather Lewis gave the name and blessing.  I with a few other brethren were in the circle.  The speakers did a good job.

After the meeting we went to the Lewis's home for a light lunch.  We visited for awhile with others

there, then we went to Robert's house and visited there for a little while.

We drove straight home.  South of Santaquin, the north bound traffic was bumper to bumper and some of the traffic was stopped.  There were numerous place where traffic was diverted to one lane. When we were north of Scipio, some the cars were turning around and going back to Scipio and then head north on the frontage road.

Comments and questions are welcome

Piolet Light Went Out, Two Times

There is a funeral this morning and the viewing starting at nine.  I helped Carol with the funeral potatoes.  She cooked them yesterday and this morning she peeled the and I shredded them with a salad shooter.  With a spatula, I ate what was left in the bowl.  After pots and pans were cleaned I went outside.  The piolet light in house two was out.  I think that it was the heavy wind yesterday afternoon.

I cut down the perennials that were growing in the kidney.  I hope to kill the grass that is growing there

The lawn needs mowing today, but on the east lawn are tons of leaves.  To many for the lawn mower to get.  I was going to mow this afternoon when the leaves are dry and more brittle.  I decided to rake the leaves this morning.  I made a nice windrow of leaves.  I started with a large push broom and finished with an aluminum scoop shovel.

I laid out the tarp and put a heavy piece of iron on two of the corners.  Using the shovel and broom I pushed leaves on the tarp.  I drug the tarp out to Robert's garden.  I pulled about six loads to his garden.    About this time Carol called and told me that it was time to get ready for the funeral.  That I did.

After The funeral we came home for lunch.  I then hauled more leaves to Robert's garden.  There is quite a pile out there as shown in the photo below.

With most of the leave on the lawn removed,  I started up the lawnmower and began sucking leaves.  I dumped the lawnmower on the place I call the no till or no dig garden.  I filled the grass catcher again, but this time I over filled it and plugged it up.  I unplugged it, I thought, and started mowing again.  I had to unplug it again.  I built a little tool to help remove the plug.  It was a three foot stick with a screw through the end of it which made it easier to pull the leaves out of the shoot.  I made about five trips to the no dig garden.  The front lawn really looks nice with all of the leaves gone.

I found the stepladder after looking for it in every greenhouse twice.  With the ladder under the furnace I could light the piolet light.  The knob has three positions.    !. which is off  2. which is piolet, and 3. which is on.   Every time I try to light the piolet,  I turned the knob to off, thinking that I could push the knob down.  I discovered that I had to turn it to piolet, then I could push the knob down.  I did this and I was able to light the piolet.

Yesterday, Frank and I potted up 37 bush clemantis and we partially covered them with recycled potting soil.  I left a sprinkler running on the all night.  This afternoon I got one more wheelbarrow of soil so I could cover them completely.  I wetted the soil before I covered them.  This is how they looked this morning

The soil is wet and ready to use.

And this is how they looked after I had wetted the potting soil.  When it is powdery dry, the water runs off instead of soaking in.

I checked the piolet light just before dark and there was no light.  After dark with flashlights in hand  I was able to light the piolet.


Comments and questions are welcome

Surprise Visiter From Provo

This morning as soon as breakfast was over and I had watched some of the morning news, we, Carol and I, pulled all of geraniums and a few other plants in the kidney.  We put them on the tarp.  We also pulled the volunteer flowers that in the gravel next to the lawn.  I pulled them over to the new compost pile.  It is getting pretty big.

A sprinkler had run all night on the dahlias. The flower bed was really wet and muddy.    I planned to dig them this afternoon, but decided to do it this morning.  The ground was muddy and soft and it was easy push the shovel into the ground.  I dug all around the dahlia far enough away so not to cut through a tuber.  I then pried back on the shovel at several locations and pulled the dahlia plant out of the ground.  I grabbed it by the stem.  I cut the stems of yesterday and cut too short.  That made it hard to hang on and hard to find some of them.  I dug all of the dahlias in the same way. I dug the rest of them in less time than I dug one yesterday.  Some had a lot of mud clinging to them and others there was not to much mud.  The photo below shows the muddy dahlias and where they came from.  There are three drip lines visible.

Here is a close-up.

I moved them over to the lawn close to a garden hose and a spray nozzle. It took me awhile to get mud off all of them.  The photo below shows them pretty well cleaned up.

I had several ideas about a container to put them in.  I used a large nursery can.

I stopped for lunch and a little relaxation surfing the internet.  The doorbell rang.  Carol went to the door and there stood Frank Williams.  He brought with him a bail of potting soil and some thirty bare root bush clematis.  He wanted to put them in containers.  I thought a two gallon nursery can would be good, then after a second thought decided to use a one gallon can.  It would take a lot less soil.  We worked on that for about an hour.

Where should we put them.  In a cold frame, some where out side.  We decided to put them in house five.  There is no poly on it and a smooth surface.  That is were we put them.  I wanted to have some potting soil that covered the pots up two the top edge of the pot.  I filled the wheelbarrow with two loads of recycled potting soil.  When they were pretty well covered, I a put sprinkler on them and  turned it on for the night.

Frank and I had a discussion on what and how we should proceed next year.  I won't go into detail.  We discussed

• What to grow
• How much to grow
• How to sell what we grow.

Frank picked peppers and tomatoes that he took home.  He may be back some time next week.

The red beets and radishes in the north bed are germinating well.  The seeds that I planted in 1206 tray are beginning to germinate.

Comments and questions are welcome.