Delayed!!!!!

Roger learned today that the shuttle launch has been delayed!!!!!! Rescheduled for Wednesday at 3:30--I think...........We will still leave as planned and rearrange our plans there. Thankfully, we have kept things very loosely "planned" just for such contingencies..........I just hope they don't delay and delay and delay till we are on our way home!! At any rate, I will have lots of pictures to share when we return.

...feeling like a squirrel?

I just thought I would share with you what I've been doing this past month to six weeks. I'm aware that the number of my posts dropped dramatically............well..........for good reason, I think. I'm still not completely finished with all this, but enough so that I thought I would pretend I was finished. How's that? May I just say that I am really ready to have it all done? I was so tired of tomatoes last week that I just about didn't do the "last" batch. Then Peggy told me of her wonderful enchilada sauce so I thought I'd give it a try...........I had to punt though. There is no garlic juice in town. But with all the garlic in the basement why in the world should I go out and buy garlic juice?????? And my tomatoes were already juiced, so I hope I have something slightly similar to Peggy's. I have no idea............but we'll give it a try. Okay! Here goes!!! This is sometime in September.........

A typical picking of cucumbers once they really start to bear well.

After I wash them in the washing machine (I offer a prayer of thanks for my friend every time. It has been such a time saver.) I dump them in the kitchen sink where I sort and check them over. The small ones go in a bucket to brine for sweet pickles, the larger ones in bottles for dills and the largest in a pan to make bread and butter pickles.

Dills.........some in pints for some of the children.

A bucket of sweets and the pan of larger ones..........

A bucket of sweet pickles with the sugar/vinegar syrup on them. The cheesecloth holds the spices. I start doing pickles as soon as the cucumbers start bearing. Bless Roger. He picked most of them this year. That is such a help!

 Some of you may know that we try to go to Idaho for a load of potatoes every year.........well, this year was  no different..........Here is our load for this year, sitting on the truck in front of our house. Nine and a half TONS of them!! Roger and Michael went to get them the day I was supposed to start doing the peaches. 

You'll notice I said "supposed to". I think we did them the next day. A HUGE thanks to sweet Sarah who helped me all day long. We did seven and a half bushels that day!!! I can only imagine how her shoulders must have ached. She peeled and cut peaches all day long! I couldn't have done it without her and we were able to do them all that day! 127 quarts of peaches!!!!!

After the peaches, we did the pears......... I think I did them mostly by myself. Michelle helped as much as she could, for which I was grateful. But there weren't too many of them. I don't remember how many quarts I did...enough to be heartily tired of bottling fruit!

All the children came home for general conference. It's so fun to have them come, even though sometimes we have "bedlam". Richard went out and pulled all the beets. I thought, "Oh no!!" We had a bushel of peaches to do for Grandma! But Richard did the beets almost all by himself!...washed, cooked, slipped the skins, put them in the bottles..........I made the syrup, put the lids on and processed them. Don't they look pretty? (Yeah, sometimes it takes me a few days to get the full bottles hauled downstairs............)

My sweet "daughters" helped me with Grandma's peaches. We had a great time........I think........... I did, and it looks like they are having a good time. Looks like Lisa is sampling the goods..........

 Last week I finished up the tomatoes.........thank goodness!!!! I have made three kinds of soup from the "Ball Blue Book".....well, two are from the book, the third is from a friend. A pint is just right for supper when Roger is away--quick and easy and all in one bottle/dish--doesn't get any better than that, right?

The apple jelly is not all done yet...........OH!!!! And I forgot to get pictures of the 14 quarts and I don't know how many pints of applesauce we did one Saturday a week ago.............Richard came with three boxes of apples--I already had one here--and we made applesauce--yummy, chunky, beautifully white applesauce.

I'm not sure when I will really call it all quits and put the cookers away............well, I put one of them away the other day. But I might have to get it out again if I decide to do something else. I'm not planning on it at this writing, but you never know when I may get a hankering to try something new. And it's really quite a rush to go sit in the fruit room and look at all the beautiful colors of food sitting on my shelves. I sometimes wonder if this is how mother squirrels feel???

10/10/10--Happy Birthday, Daddy!!!

Yes, today is the birthday of another amazing and wonderful man--my father! The thought was enough to propel me to my feet in testimony meeting this morning. I feel sorrow to know that I wasn't old enough to truly appreciate who and what Daddy was before he left us..........but what a legacy!! As a teenager there were times when I was unhappy to know that his name precluded me from some activities in our small town. Thank goodness we grow up and recognize that sometimes teenagers are just plain stupid! How thankful I am now--and have been for many years--to have learned that I didn't miss anything of vital importance and was possibly protected from situations and experiences that may have proved unhappy and/or hurtful.

I want to share just a couple of other deep seated memories.......my father always took the time to answer my questions. It didn't matter how silly they must have sometimes seemed to him. He always answered. I remember an early morning drive to Ogden, to the orthodontist, in the old black truck with a load of shavings (we tried to double up on trips as much as possible). We talked about clearance lights on semis that morning. I loved riding in that old truck. There was always plenty of time to look at everything. And you were high enough to see lots of things you couldn't see in a car. Going to Price for a load of coal was a grand time indeed!

I loved to go with him to do the chores in the winter--when I wanted to, of course. We would walk through the snow to Grandmother's. Once he had "blazed" the trail, he would walk in the same footsteps. Of course, his stride was much too long for my short legs and I was always thankful when there was a crust on the snow that I could walk on. I remember a few mornings in the early, pre-dawn light.......remember, I'm not a morning person, but I loved the mornings I made the effort to go with him to feed.

One more--July 4th--I was probably about 16 years old. I played the flute in the high school band, and the band always marched in the parade in Oakley. I was proud to march past our family--all sitting in or standing around the car backed into a spot along the highway. We tried to park in front of the creamery where there would be shade for most of the duration of the parade. At any rate, this particular July 4th Daddy was not going to be there. (Of course, I was unhappy about that!) He was going to irrigate for a member of the ward so she could take her four young children to the parade. I'm embarrassed to admit my uncharitable feelings about that...........but what an example he was to me. And I'm so sorry I was not mature enough to recognize at the time what a priceless gift Father in Heaven had given me. There really are disadvantages in being one of the "little ones" and I feel the loss acutely in that I had a whole ten years fewer to know him............that I was never really old enough to appreciate what I had until he was gone. But I'm so very, very thankful for what he did give me............not a great deal of the world's wealth, but many things of infinitely greater value. How I pray I will never disappoint this great man!! What a happy day it will be to be wrapped safely in his arms and tell him how much I have missed him and how often I could have used his wisdom!!.....how grateful I am for him. I anticipate many, many exquisitely happy hours............eternity............with him. Thank you, Daddy. And happy birthday! Next year we will celebrate the centennial!!!!

my other father

I can't let this day pass without being grateful for the birth of an amazing man: my father-in-law, Willard Stephenson. From the very first day I met him he treated me with his own cheerful kindness. I will never forget his happy smile while leaning on the counter in Deseret Book (where I worked) to ask me if I had recently received a letter from his son--serving a mission in Brazil. The day after we told him of our engagement--years later--we all went to Salt Lake City for general conference--in April. As we were getting out of the car I said something about joining the family. He immediately put his arm around me and responded to my question. (Up until a few years ago I could have told you verbatim what was said, but my mind has become more slippery. Many of you know what I mean, the rest of you just need to wait a few years and you too will know!) But I remember the feeling of love and acceptance in that hug and I was never once given a cause to question it in all the years since. We had the privilege of living right next door, so our children had grandparents close--a mixed blessing sometimes. But I am so thankful for the relationship our children were able to have with their grandparents. He's been gone 17 years now and there are times when I miss him terribly. Dad, I love you, and I'm so thankful for the good name you have given our children. We are working hard to continue the legacy.............HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!