Plants

Hello,

All large house plants are now inside. I was going to bring the small ones in this morning but it was so much warmer out that I just left them on the porch and deck to enjoy a few more days of the outdoors. They are debugged as much I can see anyway, pruned, and watered lightly. I expect to take clippings from the impatiens and the coleus. If I do not get that done before our trip my landlady assures me that she will do it for me. I did so enjoy those plants last year as the impatiens bloomed almost all winter and the coleus added another color to the environment.

Leroy again went to the community garden last night and pulled up all the cucumber vines. He took the garden cart over because it is easier to haul a large load such a distance. He almost filled both of our yard waste containers that will be picked up on Wednesday. Sunday afternoon we will probably again work in the garden. Then we need to work in the garden in Ely. I will go there after work on Thursday. For sure I will pick the last of the peppers. Maybe I will even pull a few weeds and tired plants.

Leroy and I have been asked to be in charge of the community garden next summer. Will we be here? Who knows? I think we are expecting to be here by the way we talk. However, our lives have changed on short notice from time to time so it might be something different.

My co worker did indeed show me how to get the book I borrowed from the library onto the Kindle. More of that learning. As she kindly said, “It probably would have been easier for you if it was your own and you were setting it up from the beginning.” I love kindness.

Paula

Learning, Learning

Hello,

I have borrowed the kindle fire from the library so I can learn something about it. I have learned quite a lot about it, but not what happened to the books that I borrowed from the library or the one that Leroy downloaded. It is as good as being in a vault at Fort Knox. For all I know it might even be more difficult to find those books than an entrance to the fort. I can do lots of things with this device, but apparently not borrow a book and read it. I will ask one of my co workers tomorrow. She has a Kindle and she surely knows what has happened.

Leroy had trouble watching a DVD that he got from Brian. The first disc would not work. I remember this happened before to a different disc. The problem is that he made if full screen and then the instructions are hidden from view. Once that was corrected all was fine. Play was there for all to use, just momentarily out of sight.

I do feel that I do know some things in spite of burning those apples yesterday. The pan still looks quite abused. Leroy assures me that he will work on it from time to time when he is feeling strong. I like this pan otherwise I might just eliminate it from our collection. It is the only one that is this size. Course I use it frequently.

I am going to work on debugging those house plants. It was quite cool this morning so I know that killing cold is coming soon. Or is it just teasing us once again?

Leroy tells me that he was quite sleepy during church. I was happy to be in the soprano section of the choir and not sitting by him. I suspect he probably did take a short nap. I did not have to poke him. Or even know about it and feel embarrassed.

Paula

What's Happening!

Hello,

Because of a special event at the museum, last night or yesterday Leroy spent a long day at work, from 8:00am to about 12:00am. He told me he would be home about midnight. I woke at 12:22 to learn that he was not yet home. I realized that I might not know until morning if anything were wrong or if it was just later than he thought it would be. I didn’t worry too much as I rolled over and almost slipped back to sleep when I heard the door open. It was great to have him arrive safely. He rode his bike as usual. I was a bit concerned about that because I do think there are more likely drunk drivers in the night hours. He reported that it was no problem.

I am still picking tomatoes, picking peppers, and watching soybeans. I even managed to pick enough tomatoes to can four quarts. I was saddened when I opened the canner and found that one of the jars had broken. Generally I do not use nonofficial canning jars, but someone gave me some and because I wanted to save these tomatoes I used them. I thought it would not matter so much when it was not in the pressure cooker. We buried those tomatoes this morning in the flower bed so hopefully they will contribute to the health of the soil.

I am starting to get my house plants ready to come indoors. We will be gone at the end of the month and it does not seem prudent to leave them out on their own with frost possible. It is the end of October after all. Getting the plants ready means picking off leaves, spiders, webs, and other hitchhikers. I have brought in three of plants. The others I have started to look through. Usually more webs show up if there are still spiders in residence. I like my plants, but they do crowd our living space here. I have the two big Christmas cactus that I will hopefully take to the school library and then collect when blossoms are set. Today I was wondering if I should see about selling one of them especially because I have no room for two in this apartment. Decisions, decisions!

Paula

Walking

Hello,

Leroy and I did our usual walk to church for a total of two miles. Then in the afternoon we participated in the crop walk which we believe to be 3K or about a mile and a half one direction. The crop walk started with cool temps and overcast sky. It was a good day to walk with a bit of head cover as well as gloves or hands in pockets. We headed out at a brisk pace. At the half way or turn around point it started to sprinkle which quickly became a bit more serious rain. Our walking companion had a small umbrella that she raised with a hint of flair. A few other umbrellas popped up. Some people just turned around and did not make it the entire way. That is fine as it was an unpleasant, cold wet rain rather than a warm summer refresher. Leroy and I ran (ok, ok just jogged) intermittently on that return trip. We were the first to make it back and we had even traveled the entire way. I think we made quite good time as it was only a 40 minute trek. I congratulated us as being not bad for people who do not run regularly and who are over 64 years. I even felt quite good.

I had been concerned about this walk because on Saturday my big toe started hurting when I walked. It seemed somewhat better Sunday morning. For some reason at the end of running it was fine. I must have hurt it and it healed? Miracles still happen.

Paula

Vacation Time

Hello,

Leroy is getting ready to use the rest of his vacation time. Two weeks feels so like so little when he has been used to four. It certainly narrows our options. Once in a while he complains because all we do with time off is to visit our children. There are many other places we would like to go, but hopefully there is still time in our lives. We had thought to fly out to Salt Lake on Thanksgiving Day, but Miriam called today to ask if we could come on Tuesday before because she and the girls have Wednesday off. We would not be flying back home until the Tuesday after because of the flying expense. Unfortunately all of them will be occupied on Monday, so not visiting with us. But Leroy and I can fend for ourselves.  Now we just have to decide if this is what we want to do.

On the 22^nd of October we will be heading to DC to help Stephen with the girls there as Sarah will be in South Africa. We will get to see her for a little bit on the weekend as she comes home on Saturday. How tired will she be? I would think quite a bit. But then maybe we can be some help with this and that.

At Christmas time, weather permitting, we might go up to visit with Brian, but only on the weekend if Leroy is not working on the Saturday. Leroy’s job is possibly over at the end of December, but he is once again hoping for an extension, certainly there is work to do. It is just a question of finding the money to pay him.

Maybe someday we can take a “real” vacation. I am not sure we know how to handle that. It has been quite a while. But then I forgot about the traveling around that we did the last time we were between jobs. That included a nice view of some beautiful spots in the western US. I was looking at National Wildlife magazine with advertisements of trips that they organize. I was ready to sign on the dotted line. Now where is the money for that?

Paula

Four Quarts

Hello,

I got four full quarts of tomatoes canned yesterday. I decided to puree them in the blender before putting them in the jars. That went fairly well, but sometimes I did not have them in the blender just right and they would not get down to the blades. A wooden spoon helped me out of that dilemma. Last night as Leroy was washing dishes he commented, “Something took a bike out of this wooden spoon.”

“Oh no,” I exclaimed when I saw the spoon, “We have wood in one of our jars of tomatoes.”

“It is probably ok,” Leroy said soothingly, “it is just cellulose. Surely that is good for us.”

If you ever eat at my house I promise not to use one of these jars of tomatoes. Leroy and I will consume them all. So if we don’t make it sometime you will know it is because of a piece of wooden spoon in our innards. At least it was clean wood.

I rode my bike to a store today. I could tell it has been a number of days since I have ridden because the seat felt uncomfortable. How did that happen? I will have to get out some more before the weather causes me to forget about the bike. My new helmet went for its maiden voyage. After adjustments it felt quite comfortable. I am having a hard time thinking of throwing my old helmet away because it is not broken as Leroy’s was. But then it is seven years old and the felt pads no longer work. It is time.

Paula

A day off

Hello,

I am not moving so fast on this unexpected day off. It should not be unexpected because I know I am working Saturday. When that happens I do not work on Tuesday, but somehow it slipped my mind until my co-worker commented that she would not see me. Grateful for the heads up otherwise I would probably be at work and then just coming home.

In spite of taking it easy I went to the garden this morning. Not to pull weeds or any of that type of work, but to harvest things. Leroy and one other person were at the garden last night for just that harvesting, but I wondered if some things had been missed. Indeed, I picked several tomatoes including some very large ones, hidden in the mass of leaves and vines. I even found two nice cucumbers along with one chili pepper. I cut off a few leaves of the strangest chard I have ever seen, one kale leaf, and two broccoli leaves. The broccoli leaves are an experiment to see if they are good. They look so much like kale why wouldn’t they be good tasting and good for you? I shook some of the soybeans and they rattled in the pod so I picked a small number. I figure Friday is going to be soybean harvesting day. We are blessed indeed by this garden. Leroy even picked four more green beans last night. Oh than there is the exquisite small pumpkin that I brought home because the vine had died. I could not leave it to perish with the others I saw being attacked by various insects.

Now what to do with all these tomatoes? I am out of quart canning jars. I do have some gifts of pint jars that I might use if I can find a good salsa recipe. Then there are the random “blue” jars that I have been avoiding because I wonder if they are too old to use. I will figure out something. I have been creating many dishes with tomatoes and that can continue. Leroy and I eat like kings.

Paula