just me saving photos again

Had a few photos that I don't want to lose.  You know - documenting the grandkids growing up  now since my own kids aren't very excited about my photography needs.  Wrenley likes to have her photo taken!  She is also busy.  When she gets out of preschool, she has ideas and goals, dreams and cookies to bake.  :)  Nobody told her swimming season is toast.  

Between my office job and when I leave to drive my afternoon route, I have about 2 hours.  I try hard to do something productive when I am home.  Yesterday, I decided to dig up the sweet potatoes.  There were a lot, but there were not many that are very big.  I am happy to have something for my effort, but also not happy that I have a lot of finger sized sweet potatoes rather than baking size.  I will spend the winter doing some research on things I want to improve.  There is always next summer right? 

I am also blown away by the number of pepporchini peppers I have been getting off of 2 plants!  I have a gallon size ziplock in the freezer filled up!  When we make Philly sandwiches, I use about 3 or 4 peppers.  We have a lot of sandwiches in our future!  I saw the forecast for the first freeze of the season on Saturday this week.  I know we had a good long run, but I am still getting lots of stuff from the garden, and am not very excited about the weather killing off the rest of my plants!  I will try to cover a few of the things and keep my fingers crossed!  

The goats and pony were pretty excited about being given the sweet potato vines!  They are such gluttons.  Always acting like they are starving despite the fact that they left their piles of hay to come over where I was!  I know there are too many, and that nobody really needs a bunch of pet goats....but I love them anyway.  They are always excited to see you, and they have such funny personalities.  I can't help myself.  They sort of make raising livestock fun!  Until they break out and eat unauthorized plants that is!

Some photos from the baby shower.  

I love these people!  And this cute photo!  This year, Volt doesn't even look like he wants to eat Santa!  Good boy!

The girls claimed the rest of the snakes from Harper's Medusa costume.  I was laughing about the names they were giving - Linda?  Never thought of that as a snake name, but now that they mention it....

Quincy came down Sunday for dinner.  I gave her some elderberry syrup and other goodies.  She cracks me up with how excited she gets!  She went right home and drank the elderberry syrup and then told me how much she liked it.  :)  Her antioxidant level is on par!

Harper and Saige attended the 4-H awards banquet.  Harper got an award for being the first kid in the county to enroll for next year (you're welcome Harper).  She also was recognized for completing the CWF program.  Saige also had some recognition but didn't tell me what.  I couldn't attend with them since I had a township board meeting.  I am proud of them! 

 

Saturday stuff

 

Fall is officially here now.  The 80 degree October finally gave way to actual chilly temperatures and trees starting to turn colors. It seems like a month later than it used to be?  I like fall weather but the rapid drop  from 80 to 40 was a little too quick.  I came home last night from the bus freezing.  We (when I say 'we' I mean “I”)  broke down and turned on the furnace.  Which I hate.  I hate needing it.  But I also hate the turn on the furnace smell.  So gross.  

This week seems to have beat my rump.  I sat down with Jim to watch a little tv last night, looking forward to sleeping in the morning and having a little time at home to get some projects finished. Right about then, Saige bounced in to “remind” me she had a debate team meet and needed to be at the school at 6 am.  

Because of course she did. 

I managed to get her there, with a sack lunch and a caffeinated beverage AND on time! 

I dropped her off with the idea that I could come home, take a small nap and then hit my list.  That didn't happen.  But I did accomplish somethings today.  Nothing major, but still crossed a couple things off the ever present, and ever growing list.  

I did stop on the way home to take some photos of the sky - the sunrise in the background of the moon and whatever this star/planet is looked really neat!  So maybe I would have missed that if I had slept in.  

Harper and I were sad to find that our new billy goat Gruff passed away.  We had to have a little cremation service early this morning right after chores.  Do I know what happened to him?  Absolutely not.  I noticed him acting a little off yesterday morning, and I even went in the pen and checked on him, but when I went in there, he went running over and was eating his breakfast, so I thought he was just in a weird mood or something.   Apparently should have done more.  Goats are weird.  Some die for no reason at all.  Sometimes they act sick and stay sick for months but you never figure out why and then one day they are just fine.  Some never have any issues no matter what happens.  And sometimes despite all the best efforts, nobody will believe that you think something is wrong and you are only basing it on a hunch because you see them acting different..  All just a part of the process if you decide to raise any goats.  

We had a little baby shower for Garrett and Bailey.  I can't wait to meet the new guy!

The girls had fun playing with lawson. 

Cameron and Tatum, Preston and Sunny all planned to go to the KSU game.  I didn't really watch the game, but I did hear Jim cussing and yelling "throw the damn ball" so knew it wasn't going well.  

After the shower, Dusty and I worked up the elderberries that I put into the freezer during the fair.  I have to clean out the freezer for some meat we are getting (thank you for the Chrsitmas beef mom and dad!).  When we were working, the girls showed up with Mallory.  They are having a sleepover, but came out to visit for a bit.  Evelyn really wanted to help, so we let her pick the frozen berries off the little stems.  She was having fun.  

It is really hard to tell from these photos, but elderberries make the most beautiful shade of purple!  

We made elderberry syrup - I have been reading it is full of antioxidants and is actually one of the best cough suppressants that there is.  We also made a batch of elderberry jelly.... which I can't wait to try!  It was a really fun evening, even though it was a ton of work, it was fun work!  We have a few berries left, which we will use as soon as we get more jars!

Saige got home and reported that her team didn't win today.  She now says she is not enjoying debate and cannot wait until the semester is over so she can move into a different class.  

Anyway....Saturday - happy place!

Sometimes I forget things

Jim became a published author this month.   I meant to post something about this earlier, but I couldn't figure out how to screen shot the photos on my phone (perhaps it is time to admit that I need to purge some of the photos off of my phone so that I can utilize it to its full potential).  

Anyway, part of his new job is occasionally submitting articles to their magazine.  The first article that he wrote, they were not super excited by.  But the second article - they loved!  And he got published!  

I know that when Jim was the city clerk, people commonly told me how amazing he was (which I already knew).  He was helpful to them, often doing way more than his "job description" said he had to.  He was a very big asset to the city, and to the people in the town.  He was important and he was also comfortable.  He knew his roles, he did what was expected and he didn't really have much in the way of challenges, other than settling neighborhood disputes or the occasional medical issue that was brought to the city rather than people calling the police.  Then he retired, but was not old enough to actually retire.  I knew that whatever new job he got, he would work hard and would become an asset to them as well.  But I also know my Jim  does not adapt easily to new things.  He is a creature of routine and habit.  He has stepped into his new role much as he did his old one.  He has already become known as the guy that will help you.  He has to step into many new cities, and meet with new people and travel around to do it.  Sometimes, I think it is easy to get involved with what you have going on and you only half listen to the things your spouse says or only halfway pay attention to the things they have to do at work.  I am guilty.  This new job has brought with it some challenges for him, but he is meeting them and learning stuff each day.  I am beyond proud of him!  And I know, without a doubt, he will have more articles, more challenges and more days where he has to learn new things.  But I also know that he will do it all with the same willing attitude, great ideas, thoughtfulness and care that he always puts into what he does.  Way to go Jim - you rock!

Some stuffs

I was down at the end of the driveway today, cutting down the Halloween decorations. I realized that my roses are bloomed out and looking gorgeous.  For the second time in 2 summers, they came up, looked amazing and then wilted over and looked dead.  My best guess is that they are catching drift off of the spray from some of the neighboring farmer’s fields.  Weirdly, it is November and this is the best they have looked!  My pots that I painted to match the mailbox are also looking amazing currently. I guess the flowers are as confused as we all are about the weather.  This week it actually feels like fall, but still isn’t overly cold and we haven’t had any frosts yet.  My personal opinion is that it can stay this way all winter and I’d be just fine.  

Saige made the JV quiz bowl team.  She had her first meet this week. They went 2 wins 3 losses in their rounds. She said she got some answers correct and that was the goal for her first meet.  I am proud of her for trying  new things and maybe being out of her comfort zone.  

My fall garden is producing a ton of herbs and peppers.  Jim and I LOVE Philly cheese steak sandwiches.  And we love Peperocini peppers in ours.  I hate the price of a jar of those things, so I set out to grow my own.  They are not easy to find!  I had to order seeds online.  I got them to grow, but the weather was so dry and hot that they never really produced anything.  And then it cooled down and wow!  The plants turned into bushes. I picked the biggest ones off yesterday just to give the branches a break!  I got 35 or 40 peppers off of the 2 plants and they are still loaded!  I’ve never been quite as excited over a pepper plant before.  Now I’m wondering if I can dig them up and keep them indoors for the winter.  Also, I planted some squash plants back in June.  They grew but never really looked very good.  Now?  They are everywhere.  I have little spaghetti squash all over and some butternut squash too.  I’m not sure if they will mature before cold sets in, but I’m excited that I got 1 

Spaghetti squash before they die!  As I have said before, my gardening skills are not as good as they could be, but I am excited about it anyway. One thing I can safely say, I mastered growing herbs!  I have enough basil, oregano, thyme and sage to last for 24 years I think!  Anyone want to learn to make pesto?  Cause I think that is going to be my next project with all this basil.  

Easton loves lights.  They are always sending me videos from the light aisles at various stores. He is infatuated. Nothing like a Christmas tree display for the light lover!  I love this!  

I also love this one of him chilling out with his dad!  Such a funny boy. 

First official meeting with the new 4-H officers.  We mastered the art of thank you note writing and already did our first community service project - this is going to be a very busy year as we have a very motivated group this year!  I am excited about it.   They collected 26 birthday cake kits for the food pantry.  One of my favorite projects.   It always reminds me of when we lived in Osage and there was a rental house next door.  One summer a family moved in. The kids were half kept, always seeming to need something, and always seemed hungry to me.  I fed them snacks just because I could.  One day the girl told me it was her birthday. I asked her what kind of cake she was getting. She hung her head and told me her mom said they couldn’t afford a cake that year.  So I baked her some cupcakes and took them over. She was sooooo excited. I will never forget that little girl’s face when she saw her cupcakes.  I will always strive to teach kids that small things can make a big impact.  

Jim and I joined Costco this week, and I was excited about  the new store they put in Lawrence.  We are trying to make better decisions in the companies we spend money with. Also, I felt some sense of relief at stocking  up on supplies and baking items.  I might be doing too much doom scrolling, but something about other countries telling their people to stock up and the government telling the military to figure out if they can survive without power has made my nerves on edge.  I was thrilled with the results of this week’s election. I know not everyone will agree with me, but I am hoping for some accountability, but even if we don’t get that I would settle for a restoration of sanity, decency, humanity, and empathy.  Fingers crossed we are on a better pathway going forward. I don’t see how it could be much worse than what it has been for the last 2 years.  

 

All Souls’ Day

Mallory and I attended the candlighting ceremony at the cemetery this evening for All Souls’ Day. My parents and sister were also there.  It is a really neat ceremony and I love seeing all the candles lighting up the cemetery.  We can all use more people to pray for us, and it is a privilege to be able to pray for the deceased members of our communities and family.   

Including my brother and grandparents.  I miss them and I pray that we will all be together again some day. 

These two are adorable. This is their All Saints’ Day photo.  I believe they celebrated with attending a volleyball game for Tatum’s little girls team and eating French dip.  Good job on celebrating the good holidays! 

If you ever want proof that Madison married a man like her father, hang out with the two of them together.  It’s a mess.  I’m glad they get along.  But….

I’m not convinced Jim needed an ally.  

We had a good weekend even if I didn’t get my list even started. So much fun and lots of family time.  

 

 

Happy Halloween!

We had a great day here!  I heard from all the kids, hat a great time with my sister and my friend getting a tarot card reading.  And Harper let me help her with a last minute costume where we made her into Medusa.  

We got our 50 cent corn dogs! 

 L

Rescued a turtle 

Had a wrestler man 

Dracula and Doc McStuffins 

Homelander 

Medusa 

The cutest Tigger I have ever seen 

My absolute all time favorite day of the year.  Halloween is happiness.