We weeded.
We tilled.
We planted (pregrown plants).
R covered the dirt with black stuff.
He covered the black stuff with lots and lots of grass.
He gathered the grass with the kids
From the Jr. High
With a four wheeler.
It was lots of work.
And now we harvest.
Harvest is good.
The original view.
While this is a gorgeous huge tree that produces the most amazingly huge leaves, it also produces the most annoying amounts of cotton. This results in seeding all over the place, large piles of cottons in every corner of anything open, and amazing amounts of allergies.
They set out the cones. (One car drove right through them without realizing what was going on...luckily no one injured)
This is exciting stuff. Everyone comes out to watch and cheer them on.
The sawing begins.
The scouts start hauling off the branches.
Now they are serious. Climbing up in the tree.
The bigger ones are starting to fall.
H pulled out the binoculars so she could see a little better.
They tied up the big branch to the big truck so they could pull it away from the cars parked out in the street.
They pulled that huge branch down like experienced woodsmen.
Sometimes it was a little boring to watch.
That's quite the thinning job.
One of the big scouts climbed high. So Dangerous. He tied up the rope so they could pull the branch away from the houses as it tumbled down.
It started to rain.
They all stood around. Lots of heads are better then one.
They didn't know what to do. The saw was stuck in the tree. (maybe not really, but it sounds funny)
Then out of a phone booth comes Mr. Savetheday. A real professional. This guy just zooped branches off left and right, up and down.
Thar she blows. A real action shot...the top is about to tip off...good shot huh?
Cut down top of tree...check.
E laughing as she comments, "the tree is naked."
Mr. Savetheday is done here.
This is what was left...the scouts cut this down too.
So I have a funny VERY immature story for you. It's actually not about this photo...which is another story (yes, immature). Okay it's short so I'll share it first. Isn't it a cute picture of M. Fooled you. Just like we fooled everyone at the museum. Slyly we got a shot of the red hat club in the background. Lot's of giggles going on at the museum.
The real reason for this post, I am sharing an email I sent to my friend J who lives in Germany:
I am sure that I will get fired from my calling shortly...except that our Bishop laughs at immature things sometimes.
Here it goes:
The lesson was on Reverence, which makes this even more immature.
First off one sister (whose remainder of name shall remain anonymous so as not to be made fun of...because I'm not that immature :)...) spoke of how she felt people shouldn't chew gum in sacrament meeting.
I have to agree because gum gets really gross when you chew it with bread. I usually don't chew until after the sacrament for that very reason, but occassionally I have forgotten and had to put it in my cheek.
While she was making this comment I realized I had gum in my mouth and she was sitting next to me...and well, I'm sure she was realizing my immaturity at this point. I chewed slowly and quietly so as not to disturb too badly. But I was caught in the act by one of the "ladies" new in from Young Women...in that she is 19. Luckily she found this rather funny.
SO the comments continue and I notice a few other people chewing gum and I relax a little and probably chewed with my mouth open because another sister, (whose name I can't spell because you would fall over laughing knowing what was to come next) had several comments about being reverent in church including not chewing gum at church. Well this was it...I couldn't handle it any more. Sister C looked at me and smiled. I stuck my gum through my teeth to show her my dilema to which she folded over in laughter. The two ladies sitting on my one side said "quick swallow it". And hopefully the one sitting on the other side of me didn't notice...because immaturity was leaking from my every pore. By the way Sister C was sitting on the front row...so hopefully no one else noticed my gum show and tell. SO there was a little irreverence while we gathered ourselves back together and I wondered where I was when they announced the new commandment about not chewing gum at church.
This same sister had a few things to say about opened toed shoes at church one week. I was sitting in the back at the time and I chuckled a little too loudly as I watched all the ladies heads go down as they tried to non chalantly look and see if they had worn open toed shoes that day. Sister H was exuberant in exclaiming that she was sure glad she hadn't worn hers that day.
Have a great German Day!
They probably don't chew gum over there since body oders are a good thing in Europe :)
PS. I chew purely for aesthetic reasons...I look so cute chewing gum! :)
And to all of you reading this...I really am immature, but I understand the other womens maturity...I just don't relate well :)
We've had some pretty good success with our garden this year. There are a few reasons that I would attribute this to:
1. I bought everything as plants...no seeds started here...I guess that's cheating a bit.
2. We water everyday. What can I say...it's not against the law in our city yet...so I am going to live it up.
3. I way over planted! Who in the world is going to eat all the tomatoes from 12 tomato plants, even if they are different types. (Those that didn't plant gardens may be bribed into liking us :)...)
So just for my own record, we planted 12 tomato plants (4 on the side of the house...one was pulled as a weed by the wee one), 2 pumpkin plants (one was planted outside the regular garden), 4 pepper plants, a couple of cucumber plants, 4 crookneck squashes (what was I thinking!), a couple of watermelons (one died), and a canteloupe.
We thought we had lost the cucumber and cantaloupe plants...but lo and behold we are out there last night and they are certainly producing.
We have had one ripe tomato.
The pumpkins are thoroughly thriving and we've got at least 10 with 3 of them headed to their "Big Max" stage.
The crookneck squash are producing far too many of themselves...I will go for zuchini next year.
The cucumbers are keepers.
And the cantaloupe. Those things are huge. We weighed the largest one today...at least 10 lbs!
The watermelons are so cute. You should grow them just to look at them when they are baby watermelons and look like real watermelons already. So Cute!
We also have some strawberry's working on their 3rd year. There is nothing. noth. ing. like a fresh homegrown strawberry. SO SWEET!
Which brings me to the reason for posting gardenish today.
I went out to record this beautiful garden today. I especially wanted a picture of the huge watermelon.
As I bent down to get just the right angle, out of the corner of my eye I saw something move underneath one of the pumpkin plants.
What?
A little mouse!
Not in my garden.
How in the world?
At least it isn't the coons that have been wandering through the nearby neighborhood.
But still...a mouse.
I hope it eats spiders or it is not welcome in my yard!
I no longer am comfortable searching freely for my beautiful strawberries.
I know mice and I know they don't like to share their strawberries.
Especially with bears.
Maybe I can work out a deal with it!
A few weeks ago R went to Alaska fishing.
We now have 100lbs of fish in our freezer.
Mainly Halibut.
I will post the recipes we like best once we try a few more.
In other fish news:
One of our pet fished died.
This fish was amazing.
While I don't remember it's name, it had characteristics that made it unforgettable.
This fish was dropped while it's tank was being cleaned.
It's owner quickly scooped it up despite it's gooeyness, and saved it's life.
It was never the same though.
The poor guy lost his equalibrium or something.
He was constantly found floating on his side at the top of the tank.
This would normally indicate death of a fish.
But after a quick tap on the tank this little miracle fish would start swimming around again.
Life at the top of the fish tank continued for at least 4 months.
Then one day we found him at the bottom of the fish tank.
We tried tapping the tank.
Nothing.
His day had come.
I think his name may have been beauty or princess or something like that.
I think his name should have been trooper.
