The Best Laid Plans . . . .

Tonight is Garrett's night to spend at Nanny's house. He was giving his mama grief over dinner, again, so I made a pizza to bribe him with. He can't have any until he has eaten his dinner. Of course, it has a few secret ingredients, like grated zucchini (just looks like more cheese), red peppers (to blend in with the added sauce), and of course olives that don't need to to be hidden. Add some more sauce, mozzarella cheese, bake and let the enticing begin . . . . . I don't think so! Oh well, that's the joy of being a grand parent . . just send them home before they starve!!

Silly Nanny!! Nice try, anyway ;-)

Is It Just Me??

I walked out the door this morning at 7:30 am and all I could think was, "This just isn't right!" Every summer I wonder why in the world anyone would have settled somewhere only ten feet above "you know where!" Guess it might have some appeal if you can't run down to the corner store or open up a catalog to get more clothes when the weather turns "cold".

Oh well, my mending is actually caught up . . . I think . . . that was NOT an invitation . . and you know who I am talking to . . . {:-) Time to make those very delayed quilts for some grand kids!!! . . . and maybe some curtains to block the sun from coming in . . . for me! I know, selfish, but just live with it!!!

Granny Nanny's Excellent Helper . . and her assistant!

Bri and the girls come over on Friday and it was a wonderful day. I am glad that we live close enough that they can come and visit often. We grownups had lots of time visit and get some things down. Brianna has school starting in 3 short weeks so there isn't much time to get ready for her to have some time savers in place before then. She is also pretty gutsy when it comes to trying some new ideas in the "using food storage" area so hopefully, that will help her find some new ways as well.

Arianna loves to help in the kitchen now and can actually be a real help. I promised her that I would find something for her to do. I decided to make "oven fried" chicken. I had a new bag of corn flakes, so I put it on the floor and had her stomp on it to start crushing them. I wish the camera had been in my hand. She gave me the funniest look! She did it some, in such a girlie way, too cute. I finally got some of the air out of the bag and gave her a rolling pin to crush them down better. That seemed to be a little more in her

comfort zone she is way cuter than the food processor.

Cinderella (the little light blue thing) is on the counter supervising the whole project.

If the boys had already been here, they wouldn't have had a problem with stomping the dickens out of those flakes!

Happy July 4th!!

I love this day each year. I need to be reminded how blessed we live in this choice land. As I was peeling peaches, for the third afternoon, I got to thinking about the church pamphlet telling us, "For longer-term needs, and where permitted, gradually build a supply of food that will last a long time and that you can use to stay alive, such as wheat, white rice, and beans. "

Can you believe that? There are places in the world where the gov't doesn't allow people to store extra food away, to help take care of their own families. I have known people who have experienced this. I know my kids felt more secure knowing that those buckets and cans were all over the place. As much as they love to complain about their deprived childhoods, they were glad that I knew how to use it all! I remember when Mariah got so concerned about the growing stack of empty buckets growing in the garage. I had to laugh and remind her that that was why we had that stuff . . to help us through the lean times! So then she just admonished me to get them filled back up . . . so Mariah!

So have a happy day, and be grateful! You'll be in good company . . . and now I need to go and peel one more batch of peaches to bottle them . . . mixed blessing, I guess . . . . it is a bit of a mess and I will be so glad when they are done!

Bored, Time For Some fun

Hot diggity dog . . . found the other box of pouches . . . let's seal up some more of the food storage for long term storage . . . oops . . need to get the bills paid . . . been careless and some are getting a little over due now . . . oh wait . . the peaches need to be processed . . . oh good! . . here's the new mattress pad . . . better get the two little ones made so that Lincoln can have clean ones when he spits up . . . Mariah can't keep when he is really going at it, like most of the time . . . . let's see what sounds good . . . . chip and salsa . . . just a little more and I'll be ready to get to "it" . . . . shoot! the salsa is gone . . . .

And such is my morning . . . guess I'll make a list . . . it's always good to have something around to ignore, makes you feel you have some control of your life.

Here's some of the pictures from the other day. I am still waiting for the email so that I can order the disk. It's the best we can get until then. 1. Actually posing 2. doggie pile on Aunt Sassy 3. Caught getting some sugar. 4. The "Teddy Bears" 5. The "Twins" or doggie pile on Daddy 6. Sarah in all her "singleness" (her words)

I have copied yesterday's post from my other blog. Don't want you to think that I don't know how blessed we are. I just get really riled when I see someone like Jon being underappreciated. It is hard to see somone put 40 years improving and always learning to stay current in his field, maybe being pushed aside. All this, when he is wishing he could do more for his kids.

We just keep reminding ourselves of an experience I had when Rob was on his mission. We were having financial concerns, a lot of them, and I was getting pretty puzzled why. While mulling things over in my mind and having a silent little talk with Heavenly Father. I told Him that I didn't want to get rich, but could we be blessed just enough to just break even?!?!? I had the most peaceful feeling come over me. I won't share everything, but I did know that we would never have extra money, but we would always have enough to provide what we needed. When I shared this with Jon a little while later, he was a pretty good sport about all the understandings that I had received and just reconfirmed, "but we will have what we need?" He is so cute sometimes!

Since then we (mainly me) have had to remind ourselves just what is needed? It is a hard thing to not get swept up into the world's view. So for now, I will spend more time on my knees, more time listening to the Lord, not the world or that nasty old devil, and practise more faith that we will be blessed according to our obedience. We will be living with some decisions we have made, knowing that we may be taknig some chances, but that is life.

On a fun note, these pictures are flaunting the "bounty" of our little garden!

1. This is the second yellow squash we have picked, along with the chiles. 2. We have had maybe a half dozen cherry tomatoes and now these are ripening. 3. This is the third big bell pepper we have picked. They are supposed to yellow or red, but so far if I left them to ripen, they have developed funny wilted spots.

Yesterday's Food Post

I made the CELERY SALAD again. I used craisins (dried cranberries) instead of the dried cherries, less expensive, and toasted the pecans more this time. It is even better than the first version!

I made the CURRY with no meat a few days ago. I just used beef broth powder. It was almost as good as the version with the ground beef. When I made it with a can of chicken from Costco and chicken broth, it was lighter and in a way I liked it even better.

I have the first make-a-mix ready to post, yummy waffles! I do have to type it up n

ow that I have all the amounts figured out, and I forgot to take pictures when I made them . . . :-} Sorry it is taking so long.

I have been getting the extra fruit from Bountiful Baskets. It is ripening fast since my home is so warm. Trying to keep up is crazy! I am so thankful that I have found this great source for putting fruit up for our family! It has been years and it is a beautiful sight! This is grape jelly, apples slices, apple butter, apricot/pineapple jam, bing cherries, and mango/pineapple jam. I missed the blackberry jam when I made the picture. Today I am bottling the peaches, as they ripen . . I have to go through them and do a few each day since they are ripening at different rates At least I won't have such a completely miserable swamp to live in this way.

I am so thankful that this opportunity BB (Bountiful Baskets) has come into Tucson for obtaining fresh produce. It was getting kind of discouraging with the garden as it has had good and bad days. I know, what should a person expect from beds that have been neglected for years? Nothing has happened but all the good soil being washed away for years.

All the good produce that I have been able to afford, has reminded me what my goal is and that it will take time. I have met some really nice people who can give me lots of guidance on gardening here, that is encouraging. When the new BB comes in, it gives me a lift and I get outside again and keep at it. Is there anything as wonderful as early morning air, gentle early sun rays shining on your back ,the birds singing all around you and finding something new that has struggled against the odds to grow? Not much, except family!

I would really encourage all of you who have any room to garden, however you can. it will give your soul a lift not much else can. God has given man intelligence that has made it possible for those with just a porch or patio to even garden in containers. Check out this master gardeners ideas and successes at Prudent Homemaker. She has great ideas, that work!

And now it is time to go peel peaches, another blessing! By the way, my kitchen smells heavenly with the scent of fresh peaches!

Life is a Teeter Totter and I am full of Gripes!

Our lives have become so full of ups and downs . . . I know, whose life isn't these days? But now it feels like there is an elephant on the other end of that balance! It's not that I am feeling sorry for myself, well, maybe a little, I guess I am just tired . . . and the heat has hit . . . whaa, whaa, whaa!

Jon has been working as a part time employee for the state forestry dept. since he retired from the DPS Communications. He has to or we couldn't make our monthly expenses. That is fine, neither of us really want to ever be completely "retired", what a waste of time! Too much going on in the world. We just never dreamed that it would

be such a battle to keep him working on a consistent basis.

He has a bachelors degree in his field, almost impossible to get now. Everything is based around computers now, not the same kind of electronics. He has been doing this two-way communications thing since he was 13 years old, literally, professionally for 35 years. He shows up when he is supposed to, works until the job is done, even if he isn't getting paid for it. He has been willing to work for 2/3 the pay he used to. Even then, he wasn't making what he would have been making in the private sector, but he wanted to serve his fellowman. I have supported him in this because that was one of my favorite qualities in him.

Before he was pushed to come down here to supervise, he was doing his hobby for a living, traipsing around in the piney woods, going up to mountain tops that scared me to death and climbing towers that gave him views of the world that few get to enjoy. (He often didn't tell me about some of these until he was back down on the ground so I wouldn't go crazy worrying about him.)

Now we are living in town, have realized that we are stuck here for the rest of our lives, will never have space around us again, gritting our teeth to get through the heat every summer, feeling very frustrating.

Whaa, whaa, whaa . . . now I am getting tired of myself. I get to see my kids and grand kids regularly and often get to see wonderful little moments like this of Jon and Gabriel.

I have so many projects that I NEVER get bored. Jon is eternally patient with all of it! I have great friends and neighbors, well most of them anyway. Through blogs, email, phones, etc. I can keep in touch with those I want to stay in touch with. I get to serve others through church and community. I am healthy, for an fluffy ole' Nanny anyway. I have an unbelievable husband who I fall in love with all over again, on a regular basis . . . usually right after he has really bugged me and then I step back and realize that we are both kind of weird and it's so good that we found each other . . .

So I had Garrett come over for a sleep-over, he is such a funny little guy, so different than Gabriel. He has been a little reluctant to not go home to mommy at night, but now is wanting to have his turn at Papa's and Nanny's now.

1. First thing in the morning, he wanted his picture taken "because he was cute". Nothing wrong with knowing the truth. 2. If you have ever made apple or tomato sauce the old fashioned way, you would love this strainer I've had since I was single. 3. It makes almost instant sauce! Garrett thought it was pretty neat, just like mommy did when she was little. Mariah did last a little longer at it than Garrett did . . . ;-) . . . I think Arianna would last longer too, she has become quite the little kitchen helper.

1. Next he wanted to check on the baby birds. It was disappointing when I told him that they had grown up and had flown away. He wanted to check it out anyway, and guess what we found . . . a different mommy bird! This one because it a little smaller. This morning there was an egg in the nest, I am so glad that I didn't clear it out when the last (third) batch left the nest! 2. This a little visitor is out sunning himself to dry off after visiting our lizard spa. 3. Yes, that is where we found him. The experience seemed to have scared the poo right out of the poor little guy! What do you think, should I fix the screen on our bathroom window? I'll have to think about that one . . I do NOT like to make screens!

So now the truth is finally out, I'm a whiner. I get fed up and do need to vent on a regular basis, most of you are just lucky enough to not be victimized by it. We just spent a few days wondering if Jon was going to fall prey to the budget cuts. He is back at work right now, we just don't have any idea for how long or for what kind of pay. Decisions, decisions . . . how could anyone not know how badly they need him!

He does know that those who know him, know his worth . . . at work (he has a great boss who really appreciates him), church (feel same as those he works with), friends, and his family. Now my job is to keep the "home fires" burning. Oh yeah, and be grateful that I have "home fires" to keep burning! Guess I should do a little repenting while I'm at it . . . .

Time to add sugar to my lemonade.