End of the Month

I have slogged through the year. Now it is like the toilet paper at the center of the roll... winding off so fast I won't believe it is gone.
Tom and the twins individuals and I went out to Hobbs State Park yesterday to go hiking. We were on the trail that makes a 4.1 mile loop. My knees were screaming at me before we even hit the trail proper. I didn't mention it to the guys, because I don't want to hold them back. We walked as far as Beaver Lake... where the guys decided we would turn back. I had picked up a 'hiking stick' along the trail, and relied heavily on it as I gimped back to the car. I guess it is a start at getting back into shape. (Even though I keep telling Tom, Round IS a shape!)
Little Dakota Rose has a birthday coming up really fast. She will be a year old on November 11th. I haven't found her a gift yet. I best get with the program with that, as it takes time for gifts to ship.
Connor and Alana are supposed to come visit us this upcoming weekend. I need to find some fun things for them to do while they are here. Fun and inexpensive. (I am supposed to be job hunting but haven't applied at many places.)
We had our first hard freeze this past week. The boys went out and picked all the peppers left in the garden. I did seven pints of peppers with carrots and onions. I also did fourteen more jars of jalapeno jelly. (They are the little half-pint jars.)
I am starting to think about Thanksgiving. Mr C has to work that day, so we can't go anywhere. It looks like it will be just the four of us... :-( (Sad Face).
With the weather turning cooler, I have started doing some baking. Sam wanted some fresh cranberries to make one of his brewed sodas. It didn't take the entire bag. Yesterday I used some of the cranberries, and one of my apples that was getting a bit too soft for anyone to enjoy, and made some cranberry apple bread. It was really good. I have to admit... I have never cut open a cranberry before. I had NO IDEA they are white inside! Any time in the past I have used them, I left them whole. The bread turned out really well. We had it instead of supper last night!
Well, that's about all I can think of for today. I hope you have a blessed week. Thanks for reading!

Happy Birthday!

Birthday! Mine was Saturday. I pretty much wallowed in doing nothing all day. When supper time rolled around and people started wondering what was for supper... I said I don't know!, it's my birthday and I'M NOT COOKING.
So Mr C and one of the boys went out and got fried chicken. He asked what I wanted, and my only input was that it be something I didn't have to cook.
Of course, if he had started into the kitchen to make some of his endless goulash, I might of been forced to decide on something. His goulash is good... though usually entirely too spicy for me. And he is even worse than I am on judging the amount of elbow macaroni to put in. He usually puts the entire pound... for four of us. By the start of the third day, I am getting the stink eye from everyone as I drag out the goulash yet again in my efforts to get it eaten up. I think it regenerates itself in the refigerator... some reaction between the plastic wrap and the macaroni and jalepenos.
Mr. C and Sam also brought me home two presents.... a new slow cooker (because he saw me eying them last week) and a new set of Corelle dishes (but not my pattern.)
I was eying the crock pots because I use mine several times a week, and was thinking of getting a smaller one to supplement the big one. My household is diminishing in size... so unless I get a smaller crockpot, I will have to stop using one. Mr C got me a really nice one... the same size I already have.
We took my gifts back yesterday. I eyed the smaller slow cookers again... and wondered just where I would store one more appliance. I opted to wait on getting a smaller slow cooker for now. I really didn't need dishes.  Mr C had reasoned we needed more bowls. I had purchased a stack at the thrift store a few weeks back... he thought I would like my dishes to match. It really doesn't matter to me whether they match or not. I am the person who bought nine luncheon plates in different patterns just so they would NOT match.
If I am doing a nice occasion and want my dishes to match... I have a beautiful real china set with service for TWELVE.
His thinking was sweet. He didn't seem to mind that I changed my presents for cash.
I know me... I will nickle and dime my cash out and not have any grand thing to show for "what I got for my birthday". But I will enjoy every LITTLE thing I do use the cash for.
In fact, when I leave the library today, I am headed to Hobby Lobby to get a couple of picture frames to embellish, and maybe a canvas to try out a Pinterest idea.
Have a blessed day, and Thank you for reading.
Please remember the Knight family in your prayers in the loss of their child, and the Wilhelm family in the loss of their wife/mother.

Still here... despite the Zombies

The family reunion was nice. I had a good time. Tyrel and Kimber had fun with random cousins that I couldn't even begin to figure out just HOW they are cousins...
Afterwards we went to my Dad's house in East Texas.
I was given a beautiful wall hanging for my birthday. I'm sure most of you have seen it on Facebook. (My birthday will be this coming Saturday.)
This week, I finally went two days in a row without crying over Bill.
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I have been trying to stay away from the grocery stores, and cooking as much as possible from stock on hand. I believe I did pretty well. The cupboards were getting bare (for me), so yesterday Mr C and I went out and stocked up. We went to Sleepy Hollow, a local Seventh Day Adventist run gas station/ health food store. (Quite a combination, right?) We stocked up on things like oatmeal, barley, honey, apples, sweet potatoes, and several spices. From there, it was Aldi's- where we got quite a bit of canned goods. We finished out the trip with a stop at WalMart to get the rest of the items on our list. Except for fresh vegetables, milk, eggs, and meat, we are set for awhile. (The items we use up most quickly.)

I don't know exactly what it is in my makeup... but I "need" to have food in my cupboards and freezer. My in-laws looked at me strangely when I was living in Ohio last year... wondering why I bought more than just a few days worth of food at a time. If I happened to get snowed or iced in... I was ready! It bothered me that both my BIL and my MIL couldn't just go to their pantries and choose something to cook for a meal. Maybe my years of worry over what I was going to feed my children warped my brain! (When my eldest two were toddlers, I had to feed us on about $7 a week. Even in the early 80's, that was hard to stretch.)
At any rate... my pantry is well stocked at the moment.
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I am thinking that my change of routine yesterday affected my dreams last night. In recent weeks, I have been having a cup of herbal tea before bed. Last night, it was "Sleepytime". I also ate a small slice of jalapeno cheese and a few cornbread crackers. A short while after getting into bed, a fit of coughing hit, and I just didn't feel great, so I got up and took a dose of Nyquil (generic, in Original Green Death flavor). I fell into a sound sleep.
I started out dreaming I met Ree Drummond (Pioneer Woman) and was with her as an episode of her TV show was being filmed. We went to the grocery store.... camera crew in our wake. I don't know whatever happened to Ree and the camera crew once the Zombies attacked. I have to tell my boys that planned to hole up in WalMart during the Zombie Apocalypse.... It didn't work. I did discover Zombies can't work round door knobs well, and are really slowed down by locks. At once point... I realized I was dreaming and that really helped a lot.... though I did wake up in a cold sweat. I remember thinking in my dream, that the boys were really going to laugh at me... dreaming I was being pursued by Zombies.
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That's all for this week. Be blessed and tell somone you love them!

October!

Here it is, the tenth month already.
In a couple of days, my Mom will have her birthday. A few days after that is Benjamin's birthday. Happy birthday, Mom and Ben!
Before the month is over, my birthday.
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This has been a difficult year for me. This time last year, I was living in Ohio, waiting for Tom and the boys to move up. I had started a new job. By the first of this year, I was back in Arkansas. There were no big plans on my horizon.
I made a whirlwind trip through Texas and Oklahoma and saw all of my kids. I began job hunting. Then came my Dad's 75th birthday, and we planned a party for him. It was like a family reunion. I got to see six of my kids and four of the grandkids. It was to be the last time I saw Bill.
We just never know how long we have with our family members and those we love.
Job hunting was not happening.
Just over two weeks ago, I was online instant messaging with my friend Laurie. This past Friday, she was laid to rest.
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Good things have happened this year as well.
 Benjamin got married, so I gained the first Mrs. Coder daughter-in-law.
I  made the rounds again and saw all of my kids in August.
(I suppose for the rest of my life, there will be that "someone is missing" weight in my heart.)
I saw my sister Lalani for the first time in seven years.
I got a picture of my grandson Gavin a few weeks ago.
This weekend, I am getting to go to my mom's family reunion.
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Tom and I went out to eat with Becky and Stephen and the kids on Friday night. We ate at the Wooden Spoon, where the twins are working.
The children's menu offered a choice of chicken, catfish, or macaroni and cheese. Tyrel decided he wanted the mac and cheese. At first, Kimber had decided on the chicken. But just before the waitress came for our order, Kimber said she had changed her mind. She says, "Actually... I think I will have the cat food." We were cracking up. (She did get the catfish, and she ate it all!)

The boys came home from work recently with the news that The Wooden Spoon is on a short list of restaurants in our area being considered to be featured on The Travel Channel.

Have a blessed day. Tell your family how much you love them!

Etiquette

Today, I believe I have something important to say, so feel free to direct others here... repost... whatever.
I'd like to remind people about an old fashioned idea called etiquette.
Etiquette, according to an online dictionary, is:  a code of behavior that delineates expectations for social behavior according to contemporary conventional norms within a society, social class, or group.
In today's society, we have almost instant access to information. When we have news that we feel others ought to know, we can tell dozens, hundreds, multitudes of people at a time. Technology that allows us near instant access to information, and equally fast disbursement of information seems almost exempt from any form or rules of etiquette.
Many people don't fact check before passing along information. If the source we got our information from is reliable, we assume that their news is reliable. Sometimes it is, other times the news just seemed so important to share, facts were not verified.
Take a moment to verify your news before you pass it on.
I'd like to address more than just fact verification.
Yes, you have the facts. Straight from the source.
"Oh, I just heard Susie Que is having a baby! Isn't that exciting? Congratulations, Susie!"
That seems harmless enough, doesn't it?
Susie Que told you, her best friend, before she told her mother. And you told the world on your favorite social network. Your own mom sees your post, and calls Susie's Mom to congratulate her.
This leaves Susie in a bad spot with her family. The news wasn't yours to share.

There are some things that need to be shared with many people in a short amount of time. Social media is a great way to accomplish this. Yet there are still few rules you should observe.
Immediate family should be notified of deaths, and funeral arrangements before it is posted in a public forum. I know first hand the pain of learning funeral arrangements of a close family member from a public media forum rather than from the family.
Yes, it is easier to let everyone know at one time. However, it is poor etiquette not to prepare close family members for the onslaught of phone calls they will receive once the news is announced.

Instant social media can start a wildfire of misinformation and pain when seemingly 'verified facts'  are posted. A friend of mine has been in a coma in the hospital. I got a telephone call that she had passed away. I checked her social media site, and saw that one of her family members had posted of her loss. There were dozens of condolences posted. Her daughter's site also was swamped in condolences. Tears flowed for hours as my family grieved.
Then we get news... our friend is alive!
We rejoiced in the miracle... only to learn that our grief was founded on an unsubstantiated rumor.

Please, before you post congratulations, condolences, the missing child report... check your facts. Don't post news that isn't yours to share. Don't assume all you read on your social media source is true. Be kind, be thoughtful, be caring as well as careful.
Be blessed. And please be prayerful, always.

Learn something new....

I really don't understand some of the rules that govern Arkansas. Yesterday, Daniel and Sam went to take their driver's test. Despite passing the test... the newly minted driver must STILL have an adult over 21 in the front seat with him... until he has hit the six month mark of  passing his written exam.
WHY let them take the test before the six months is up, if they cannot drive solo?
I understand that the reasoning of getting six months supervised driving is quite desirable. However, I don't understand allowing the new driver to take (Pass or fail) the test before the six months is up... if they cannot, in fact, drive solo upon passing the physical driving test.

So, After the test yesterday, we went to the Revenue office. This is a separate place from where one takes the driving test. They had a sign on the door... No photo ID's or Driver's licenses will be done today. ARGH. Home we went. We went to a different Revenue Office today (as our town errands took us in the opposite direction of the Revenue office we were at yesterday.) We learned in our almost two hour ordeal... the Revenue Office changed computer systems yesterday. The folks there are on a learning curve. The lady who did Daniel's license handed him a receipt.. which I read.  He was listed as Daniel Joseph. Which was wrong. It took the lady and her supervisor almost 45 minutes to figure out how to correct his name.

Library time ran late today.
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In other news, I got a new picture of Grandson Gavin! Taken on his sixth birthday. I can hardly believe how much he has grown. Many thanks to his Mommy for sending it.

The whole driver's license ordeal has put a crinkle in our plans for Ohio in October. Looks like Becky and the kids will be going with Mr C. I will be staying in Arkansas, to ride with the boys to and from work. They don't even want to ask for time off, as they had taken a week off in July, and another in August.
I'm sure Mr C will enjoy having daddy/ Daughter as well as Umpaw time.
Here is a vidoe Becky made with the kids. COOKIES 
Thanks for reading.

September...

Today is September 11. What a day in history...
For our family, September 11 has two birthdays. My brother Robbie is 49 today. And my grandson Gavin is SIX! Happy Birthday to you both!
I haven't seen Gavin since he was two years old. And his Mom hasn't sent me pictures, nor posted any online that I am allowed to see, in over a year. I sent him a birthday gift, regardless, to the last address I had for them.
So I am down by two grandchildren... Gavin, and Nickole.
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Yesterday was six months Bill has been gone. It was hard for me. I really am TRYING to 'move on' and not cry every day. Right now, I don't know when the tears will stop. It isn't like I spend every moment wracked with sobs, as I did the first week. I just can't seem to get through a day without the tears breaking out at some point. I'm adjusting. But it is taking awhile. I am up to twelve days of not crying... still shooting for the two in a row.
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The boys have really been working a lot recently. Between working with the neighbor on his projects, and working at the Wooden Spoon, they have things to do almost every day. Sam got called in to work at the Wooden Spoon this morning. Dan went ahead and came to the library with me. He will work at Anthony's (The neighbor) this afternoon, and Sam will join him once he gets off. Tomorrow Dan starts his latest position at The Wooden spoon. He is promoted to Salad Chef. The Wooden Spoon has a LOT of salads, so this is a big deal. Fully one side of the menu is salads.
They are still squeezing in school work as well... actually asking if perhaps we can do Library on Mondays rather than Tuesdays, so that they can have Tuesdays as an uninterrupted school day.
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There are pictures of TREK up at MooCrew3.
Thanks for reading!

Batty

The night before the boys and I headed back to Arkansas, we went to Mason, Texas, to see the bats. The bat cave is a Nature Conservancy operation. The Bat Cave has millions and millions of bats.
Becky and Stephen and the kids went, as well as Tommy, Daniel, Sam, and I. When they learned that we were a group of home schoolers... they refunded our entry fee! We told them we were not there officially as a home school group, but the docent insisted! Cool!

The cave is down seven+ miles of dirt/caliche/ stone road. The road crosses several cattle guards, and a couple of (dry while we were there) creek beds, and finally, the James River. You have to drive across the river. In the water. As in... there is not a bridge. We couldn't judge the depth of the water, and I was afraid my little Toyota would flood out or wash away. So I parked on the side of the road, and rode over in Becky and Stephen's truck.
As it turned out, the water is not deep, and there is a solid rock bed where the road crosses. A smaller car than my own made it across without problems.
We saw the bats exiting the cave like a constant stream of smoke, swirling up, up, and up. They just kept coming. A red fox put in an appearance, as well as a hawk. Tommy got a great picture of the hawk, which we are hoping may win a contest for photography. He was using Becky's nice camera.

The next morning, the twins and I headed back to Arkansas as Ben and Paula and Tommy headed off to their jobs. I was going to show pictures of the trip to my Mom... but I couldn't find my camera.
After me fretting all week, Tommy found my camera yesterday! It was in the front floorboard of Becky's truck, where it had apparently fallen from my purse when I left my car by the riverside.
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The past week has been fairly quiet. Daniel and Sam are working a LOT between their job at the Wooden Spoon and our neighbor Anthony preparing his tractors for the Tired Iron of the Ozarks Tractor show coming this weekend.
Thanks for reading!

Wow and Awe

I don't get to post my blog nearly as often as I might like. Two weekends back, the twins and I drove to West Texas, where all four of the Coder boys joined up with some Zesches and a few others, and left for the wilds of New Mexico. Daniel and Sam have looked forward to Trek for a number of years now. They had a great time in the Pecos Wilderness.
Meanwhile, I awaited their return, staying nights with Paula and days with Becky. This past Friday, however, I boldly set out on an adventure of my own.
I drove down to see my sister Lalani.... just 35 miles from Corpus Christi. While I had really hoped to get to go on down to the gulf, that just didn't happen.
I haven't seen Lalani since 2005. I went to see her shortly after her husband Gene passed away. So it has been just almost 7 years since we have spent any time together. Lalani is doing well, and has remarried, This was my first time to meet her husband Henry. The three of us had a nice dinner at a Chinese buffet. Upon returning to their home, Henry went into the bedroom to watch TV, leaving Lalani and I to visit and catch up. We laughed and cried together until almost 3 in the morning. We only finally said our goodnights then because I had to get some sleep, as I was leaving by 7 the next morning to go see Chris.
The visit with Chris was good. He has adjusted to his circumstances, and made his peace with God. We found so much to laugh at... and laugh we did. Tears rolling down our cheeks laughter. The visit was over too soon, and I headed back to Ballinger.
At some point between Kerrville and Junction, my cell does not get service. The service doesn't pick up at all until I am nearly to Ballinger... which is well over 100 miles. After having driven six hours on Friday, got two and a half to three hours of sleep, and started the long drive where there were no distractions to be had... I was getting tired. I stopped for some lunch and an iced tea. I had just specified "Iced tea"... one would assume that you got unsweetened tea and would add ones own sugar. Not so! It was syrup sweet. I don't really like sweet tea, but needed something to keep me awake.... and I wasn't going to go back down the freeway and ask them to change it.
As I traveled north up Hiway 83, under sunny skies, I could see dark storm clouds in the distance.
I was very glad to see the town of Eden approaching. Eden is the nearest town south of Becky... and while I wasn't going to Becky's house, it made my destination seem so much near its end! Just as I rounded the curve with Eden coming into sight, I saw what I at first thought was smoke. It took little time to discern it was not smoke... but a tornado far in the distance. I was pretty hyped about it. I saw it for less than a minute. By the time I was through Eden, it was gone. I wanted to call or text and tell Becky and Paula and even the boys (who were by this time headed back from New Mexico.) But... no service.
So I'm still driving north... wide awake and hyped! I come down a little hill, and there, standing at the corner of a dirt county road that joined the hiway... I saw the most magnificent elk I have EVER seen. It was looking as if it were about to step over the decrepit  bob war (barbed wire) fence. I have seen a LOT of elk. We used to live just outside the entrance to the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge, and right across the hiway from Ft Sill. But this one was beautiful... the largest rack I've ever seen!
How could I see an elk in West central Texas? There are no elk in this part of the country! I mentally decided that maybe it was one of the animatronic decoys that game wardens use to trap people who try to shoot game from roadways. Or maybe it was a statue/sculpture to indicate the entrance to some rich ranch.
I go along still marvelling that I have seen a tornado... and an ELK where no elk should be. I get past the turn-off to Becky's (I am headed to Paula's!) still traveling under blue skies, with thunderstorms far ahead. I come over a rise (I would of said I came over a hill, but that would be misleading) and see there is a car ahead of me, and a semi ahead of the car. They are a good mile or more in the distance. (In this part of the country, you can see a whole lot of nothing for a very long way.) Suddenly, before my eyes... the semi disappears. Just vanishes. Moments later, so does the car. I am travelling along at the 70 MPH speed limit... thinking of the two amazing things I've seen in the last 20 minutes... and now this. Beam me up, Scotty! Or am I sure I'm not dreaming?
At 70 MPH, it was quickly apparent what happened. Rain! A deluge that quickly caused me to drop my speed down to about 15 MPH. It was so hard and heavy, you couldn't see three car-lengths ahead.
The wind was blowing, and the rain was COMING DOWN. I came into the very small town of Paint Rock... the nearest town to the north of Becky. Water was running 2-3 inches deep across the hiway. If you were outside and looked at the sky, you'd have a good chance of drowning.
Paint Rock is a "blink and you miss it" town. It was pouring as I entered town... yet as I drove out the north end of town, I was back under sunny skies. The bridge marking the north end of town was where I pulled over and rolled down my window to try and get a picture of a TRIPLE rainbow! Still no phone service... I was really wanting to call Becky and Paula and tell them to LOOK east at the rainbow!
In another four miles, I finally came back into phone service. I called Becky... and she warned me to be careful passing through Paint Rock... there was a super-cell on radar! (You think?) I asked her about the elk... and learned there is a hunting ranch in that area that imported elk... but it should of been behind a big game fence, not a falling down barbed wire one. I called Paula and sent her out to see the rainbow... but it was long gone.  Neither Becky nor Paula had gotten any of the rain... it passed right between them. (They live about 25 miles apart).
Next morning, as we headed to the Zesch home, I had just turned up the road to Lowake... and came across huge (for mesquite) limbs laying along the roadside, as well as crumpled metal against a fence line. Evidence I DID see a tornado.
It was a pretty amazing afternoon.
I have pictures on my camera and more stories to tell... but I'm out of library time... and my camera didn't make it home with me. Be praying it turns up soon!
Thanks for reading!

Good morning (Would be accompanied by a Happy Dance, but the boys frown on my Dancing)

In public especially.
And why am I so happy this morning?
The AC on my car is fixed! Back up to the point of needing a sweater even on short trips to town.
The AC/heater blower has been making an awful noise since June. It was bad on the trip to Ohio in July, and we almost roasted on the drive. It has whined and moaned so loudly,  we try not to run it unless we have to. And going anywhere in a sealed metal and glass box in triple digit heat, pretty much REQUIRES it.
I was figuring I would have to take Mr C's vehicle down to Texas next week to get the boys to the Wilderness Trek departure. It is generally hotter in West Texas than in Arkansas. Yesterday, I asked Mr C to have a look at the blower, to see if it would be difficult to replace.
He found it located directly behind the glove box, which pops right out. I asked him to pull the cabin air filter as long as he had the glove box out. I had replaced it a couple of years ago, and figured the filter at least needed vacuuming.
 Mr C pulled the filter.
It was destroyed.
 It was collapsed and had been sucked into the blower blades. Mr C turned on the AC with the filter removed... and NO NOISE! The AC blows cold enough to freeze me out! It was less than $20 to replace the cabin air filter... and would of been closer to $200 for a new blower.
Happy Dance!

Tomorrow is AUGUST? Already?

Goodness. We have been hunkered down inside against the heat. The last few weeks have been more like West Texas than NW Arkansas. Yesterday we were 107*... at least! We have been keeping the windows dark with comforters over the blinds, and using three gallon containers of ice set in front of fans to help out the AC. The inside of the house has stayed around 85*, which is about as good as we can expect.
The boys have been working for a neighbor many afternoons. On Thursdays, Dan works at the Wooden Spoon. Sam joins Dan on Fridays. Other than our normal routine of errands and work, the boys haven't been getting in a whole lot of driving time.
Today, the errand routine is taking us on a brief jaunt down a hiway where the posted speed is 70 m.p.h. . Joy. We have to go to Academy Sports so the boys can get the few items they still lack for Trek. That is over in Lowell, a town just south of Bentonville/ Rogers.
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With the heat and red-flag burn ban, we haven't been able to use the grill as much as we normally do. We are year round grillers, but in the summer, it saves getting the house so hot the AC can't overcome. When we don't grill, we usually use the slow cooker. I have made a LOT of slow cooker meals lately!
When I bought groceries a few weeks back, I had expected to be able to grill. The food I bought reflected that expectation. So  have had a 10 lb. bag of chicken leg quarters in the freezer. Yesterday, I went ahead and thawed and cooked them. We had slow cooker BBQ chicken. (Toss the quarters in the slow cooker, cook awhile, pour off liquid. Add sauce, continue cooking.) I boiled the majority in my biggest pot. After slipping the skins when they were loose enough, I added onions, bay leaves, and sage to the liquid and cooked until the meat was falling off the bones. I then removed the bones and divided the meat. Tonight, the broth and half the meat will become chicken and dumplings. The remainder was frozen, to become either chicken enchiladas or whatever I decide at the time.

Mr C and I have our 28th anniversary coming up this Friday. Perhaps we will go have dinner at The Wooden Spoon! You have a blessed week, and thanks for reading!

'Lazy American Dream'

WATCH: Country star's latest hit an ode to Democrats: 'Lazy American Dream' | Campaign 2012: “Anything worth having we should have it all for free. In the land of the ‘What about me?’

Quiet week

It has been a thankfully quiet week! Hot as southwestern Oklahoma, complete with blast furnace winds, grasshoppers, and 100+ temperatures. No rain in weeks. The grasshoppers have eaten almost all of the garden. We are still getting a few peppers and a few tomatoes. the neighbor sent us over several big bags of tomatoes a few days ago. After making a huge bowl of fresh salsa, I made spaghetti sauce from scratch. Also made use of the accumulating peppers to do another batch of pepper jelly. Tom had said, "You should put a ghost chile in it!". (Naga Bhut Jolokia, the ghost chile, is among the hottest peppers in the world.) So I added ONE to the mix of peppers I had. Dan wore gloves and deseeded it for me. The jalapeno peppers are already VERY hot, having cross pollinated with the ghost chiles. Tom comes back into the kitchen, where my jelly is already starting to cook, and asks, "You didn't really add a ghost chile did you? I was kidding!"
Oops! Now we have some extra spicy pepper jelly!

The power went off at the house this morning. I let the boys sleep in until the last minute, before awakening them to get ready for their library duty. The power was restored just as we were leaving the house.
Dan and Sam are preparing for "Trek", an annual/semi annual trip that the church group the older kids attend in West Texas, sponsors. this will be their first time to get to go. The group hikes into the wilderness and spends time together, with God. The twins have wanted to go with the group for several years, but this is the first time means and opportunity have presented themselves together.

It is less than 2 weeks until Tom and I have our 28th anniversary. I am sure we will celebrate in the usual manner... by doing nothing. Unless we get significant rain between now and then, we can't even cook out on the grill.
The red-flag burn ban in effect has forced me to stop grilling, which is mostly how we survive meals in the summer. Instead, I have been relying on the slow cooker. I don't think the crock-pot has seen in inside of the cabinet for two weeks now!

That's about all from us here. Have a blessed week and Thank you for reading!