Sunday, August 26, 2012

Busy Week

Not only has work been busy, but so has life after work.  On Wednesday night Jim and Ammon went with me to attend a work BBQ in South Fork (up Provo Canyon) that corresponds each year in August with the annual University Conference. We got steak and salmon and lots of other goodies in that meal. Fall has come very early this year as shown on the mountains at South Fork.


 This year the BBQ was nice because it wasn't nearly as hot as last year. Clouds had moved in but we did not get rain.  That's been a normal thing this year with the weather. It dangles the clouds above and we hope and hope and hope. But no rain until last night.
 Friday night I picked a second round of raspberries. They are coming on heavy and beautiful this year. Last year I had to buy a flat to have enough to bottle but this year I don't have to buy any extra. With this one picking, I was able to bottle 8 pints of berries, made 5 pints of freezer jam and have 3 large bags of whole raspberries in the freezer to use in smoothies, milkshakes, on top of ice cream or on cereal. We still have at least this much coming on with more pickings. AWESOME!
 Our apple trees just don't produce. I think, between the two trees we have, we have maybe a dozen apples altogether. Sad -- they will probably be cut down next spring.
 Jim planted watermelon this year and we have 9 - two have already been picked and eaten. One is on the other side of the fence on the neighbor's property.
 These two will be picked some time this week.
 Jim also planted sunflowers. I have no idea why. I really quite dislike sunflowers and the seeds are too much work to make it worth planting. This giant is about 3-4 feet taller than me. It's to the south of our garage behind our garbage cans. There are 4-5 big plants like this one.
 We have found that we have to pick our peaches early and let them fully ripen inside the house because if we leave them on the trees, the deer get to them first. They don't touch the peaches until they are ripe. So we picked them today and will either bottle a few or make lots of fresh peach pies. (I want both!)
Last night we went to our Stake High Priest Quorum dinner which is an annual event. We didn't know what to do with Ammon so we took him with us.  He has a virus of some kind and lost his voice Friday night and couldn't talk very loud so no one could hear him. He was frustrated beyond belief by the time we went home. When the dinner was over, rain was coming down in sheets and we were clapping our hands and cheering for joy. But we had to wait for it to subside before we made a dash out to the car. Once we got in the car Ammon said, "Mom, you need to find somebody to stay with me next year because I will never go to one of these things again. It was boring!"  I didn't blame him one little bit.

Ammon seems to be enjoying school. He is taking English, Seminary, Men's Choir and photography plus the resource classes he is taking (many just to do assessments at the beginning of the year). Next semester he will take health and science in addition to choir and seminary.  He was very nervous before going to school but he has adjusted nicely and seems happy. He will see the orthopedist on Sept. 10 to see if his arm has healed. He hates the sling and is anxious to get it off.

We received an e-mail this week from the BYU Football team informing us that they had 3 tickets for us to take Ammon to a game. We will go to the Weber State game on Sept. 8. Ammon will get to go out onto the field through the tunnel where the players come from and he'll get to watch various activities before the game starts, including a real-live version of the Haaka which the team does before every game.You never get to see that on TV so it will be so much fun for him.  We are really excited to go to the game.

Life is busy and we are happy. Kaitlin moved out last week and is excited for school to start tomorrow. My knee is getting stronger and stronger every day. Last week, for the first time in 9 months, I woke up and looked down at the knee and said, "It doesn't hurt right now."  I have a lot of hope that it will fully heal within the next couple of months. It's been a long 9 months and I'm anxious to never think about this knee again.

5 comments:

Jason said...

I love Mom's canning. I always loved canned cherries. I remember eating them for dessert as a child and thinking they were the greatest thing on earth. I am impressed with the watermelon!

Jess Clark said...

I think I'm in Ammon's corner when I say it'd be okay if I didn't have to hang out with the high priests. I long to be around people my own age at church.

The "fruits" of your labor look appetizing and awesome. Way to go!

I also have been noticing the trees change color and it's a bit hard to fathom because it's still in the mid 90's out here (94 today still). It just doesn't feel like fall is right around the corner. -Jess

Mike and Adrianne said...

I wish our garden produced like your's. We are used to gardens that don't take a lot of work and gardening here in Colorado is quite different. We had our garden grow but not produce. Though, we do have some apples, plums, and raspberries. But, the other garden stuff was a flop. Next year we will have to try some different techniques and a bit more water.

Jason said...

If any of you were closer, you could have my tomatoes. I have brought bagfuls into work and still have too many. About half of them are rotting on the vine because I can't get rid of them fast enough. Apparently, they are very tasty - I just don't plan on finding out.

The Duke said...

Send them in the mail and we'll eat them! :) Hardy har har...