Are you wondering why we didn't see an economic crash this month. If so read this article https://endtimesand2019.wordpress.com/2015/09/19/the-expected-shemitah-crash-did-not-happen-on-91315-why-not/.
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Wow, is it potato harvest again?
We decided to head up to the hill and glean potatoes at the Jensen farm for FHE tonight. The kids didn't grumble too much, and even Cammie and Tristin came with us again. These days the farmers have amazing equipment and are able to harvest with much less loss. This makes gleaning a bit more work. Nick showed us to a low spot where they couldn't dig because it was too wet. Infact they almost got one of the tractors stuck and decided not to dig there at all. We only brought one shovel which made it slow going. It was really wet, with water standing in the spots where the tractor tires had sunk. Nick wanted us to go to the cellar and get the potatoes from there, but Steve doesn't like to do that because they sell those potatoes. He feels better about gleaning. Gleaned potatoes were going to be left in the field to rot anyway. Unfortunately the field they were digging at the time, didn't have the best soil. Nick told us it was more rocky than the rest, so the potatoes were smaller. We picked up a bunch of potatoes, but didn't get any of those big, nice Idaho bakers we like so much. I picked up many potatoes that were no bigger than a fifty cent piece and I have been trying to think of ways to cook them. We stayed too long and we all got a bit cranky at the end. But for the most part it was a good family project. The ice cream we bought on our way home pleased any disgruntled children. Look what I found while I was cleaning today! Aren't we cute...and so young. Where do the years go? Before the wedding I traveled home to Washington and gained ten pounds. It must have been five pounds per boob! The sisters are almost falling out of my dress. Steve didn't complain though:). Grant, Hannah and I started to tackle cleaning and organizing the add on. It used to be the sunroom, I guess we need to come up with a new name for it. All remodeling is on hold, that means no cupboards, bookshelves or gun vault will be built in the family room, no new kitchen and the sunroom add on will stay a shell until further notice. Below is what we had to clean up. Imagine sawdust and spiders everywhere! The room sat unused for a year. I have been waiting for the cabinet maker to give me a bid on the bookshelves for the family room, that is, after he marries his daughter off. Ended up calling him last week to tell him to stand down. So, with no new bookshelves, we rolled up our shirt sleeves and made due with what we had. Surprisingly, I'm excited to have the room clean, even satisfied. It's amazing how the Lord comforts you during stressful times. I'll post pictures of the clean room once it is done, may take a few days. Grant helped out until he had to leave for his day date. Tonight is the Homecoming dance. There are sixteen teens in the group he is with. That is a bunch of teens! They went to the zoo and had a fun time, then took their dates to dinner. Grant said he ate a lot of food. Poor kid didn't have time to eat lunch because he helped me clean until the last minute. He must have been starving!
Long awaited home improvements have been put on hold, but we are trying to finish up a few of the smaller projects that were in process at the time of Steve's job los.
One of those projects was replacing the bay window in the family room. For over a month we had a boarded up hole in the wall while we waited for the windows to come in. Then it was a few weeks of waiting before the trim work inside and outside was finished. But finally all the carpentry is done and now it's time for it to be painted. I put the wood fill in the holes today and will be sanding tomorrow. I had planned on completely remodeling the room. But with finances what they are, I will paint it and probably have the carpets stretched and cleaned...if I'm lucky. The new window is huge and takes up most of the wall. It will brighten the room tremendously. I'm really excited about it! I love fall colors! Because it is so beautiful, people come from all over the valley to have their pictures taken on our road. Sometimes there are so many photographers snapping pictures, that it's hard to get down the street to our house. That is why last fall I decided it was time for us to take advantage of our blessed lane and have family pictures taken ourselves. We aren't the most photogenic family, but you work with what you got! There is nothing like being a day late and a dollar short! In this instance I'm posting these pictures almost a year late! I know shoe shopping can be a trial for any mom, but for me it's a nightmare, and It about breaks the bank. Grant is really easy to please when it comes to buying clothes and shoes. The problem lies in the size of shoe we have to look for. He wears a size thirteen shoe! Hannah wears a size 12 womens shoe and those are hard to find too. In order to find tennis shoes that fit her, we have to settle for men's extra wide shoes and you don't see those everyday. Here they are at Big 5 trying on shoes. We were lucky and found a pair for each of them! I'm detecting high levels of sass!
Yesterday my new renter, Jacqueline told me how to mix up a tasty bait that was sure to draw the skunk into the live trap. I didn't have all of the stuff she said to use, like rotten eggs and the such, but I mixed up a nice mash of soft cat food, leftover sloppy joe, hard dog food, and chunks of summer sausage. Once it got dark and with the cats locked safely in the barn, Steve baited the trap and we all crossed our fingers. I'm happy to say, the skunk took the bait! But now what? What do you do with a live skunk trapped in a trap, right next to your barn. Steve shot a skunk outside our house one year and the house stunk for months. The barn is certaily not the house but we would prefer it doesn't stink. Grant and I thought we had all the bases covered, yesterday Grant tied a twenty foot piece of twine to the cage and the plan was to drag the cage to the middle of the pasture and then shoot the skunk while it was still in the cage. Unfortunately the skunk chewed through the twine, on to plan B. Plan B was to try to this: Let me tell you, not everything you see on the internet works. Unfortunately we did a few things wrong. First of all, the wind was blowing and Grant couldn't put the sheet on the cage without help. Luke and Steve were faint hearted, Steve still thinking we were nuts, and Luke was on the far side of the pasture making sure he was out of "spray" range. I was going to film the entire thing but had to put my phone down to help grant get the sheet over the cage. Grant scolded me for peeking over the sheet and then panicked when I dropped my end of the sheet a bit prematurely.
The second thing we did wrong was not allowing the skunk to settle into having a sheet over him. The third thing we did wrong was that Grant took a hold of the cage and ran with it across the pasture. Close your eyes for a minute and imagine what that must have looked like. Yes, it was that funny! Now, I can only imagine what the poor skunk must have looked like bouncing around in the cage. To say that it was rattled would be an understatement. It was no surprise when halfway through the pasture it proceeded to spray. Grant starts yelling, we all scatter because the wind catches the spray and carries it all over the place. Grant then drops the cage but forgot to take the sheet off (I don't blame him one bit, the rest of us were running in circles) so Luke could get a clear shot at it. If you took the time to watch the above YouTube video you would notice the gentleman walked calmly while carrying the cage. It all happened so fast. We are all yelling at Grant to pull the sheet off. He runs back and snatches the sheet off and sprints away. Once Grant is out of the danger zone Luke takes the shot and has a clean kill. Yes, just another day at the Holley house. Life has been a bit wild lately. So Friday night, when Steve asked me what I wanted to do Saturday, I told him that I thought we should clean windows and do work around the house. He then asked me again, "What do you want to do tomorrow?". I couldn't figure out what he was getting at. Finally he said, "Honey, it's your birthday tomorrow, what do you want to do?" Oops, I forgot. Which means I forgot to get my Dad a gift (we share a birthdate) or even send him a card! Man I'm a horrible daughter!
I had told a few of the ladies in my OA group that I would go to an LDS addiction meeting in Idaho Falls that morning with them. It sounded like a good idea at the time, but when I realized it was my birthday and that I had to get up at 6:00 a.m. in order to get to the meeting on time I kinda felt sorry for myself. But I'm glad I went. We had a good chat during the drive, there and back, so it was well worth the time spent. I came home to find Steve and a few of the kids folding the mountain of laundry on the floor in the family room. I'm glad they folded them for me. Trish called shortly after I got home and wanted to take me out to lunch. Of course I went. I'm also a terrible friend because I forgot her birthday a few days earlier :(. We talked for hours. I was afraid they were going to kick us out of the restaurant, we stayed so long. I am blessed with amazing friends who mean the world to me. When I finally made it home Lizzy and Cammie were waiting for me. We chatted while I frosted the BTS cake that Grant baked for me the night before. Thanks Nine Buddy. After a while Cammie and Tristin went to eat dinner with Jency and Lizzy went to Idaho Falls to eat dinner with her youth leader. Turned out to be a good time for me to run into town and get pizza. I was not about to cook dinner on my birthday. Luke was at work, Grant was at lift auditions, Hannah was chilling, no one was going to be back at the house until eight o'clock for my party. When I got home with the pizza Steve was sitting in the recliner watching mash, he had been splitting and stacking wood most of the day and was beat. Turned out to be a perfect time to rest and do nothing. Finally everyone began migrating back home which meant it was cake and gift time. Everyone loudly sang happy birthday :) I loved it, then they gave me my gifts. Well, the exercise bands Cammie ordered hadn't arrived yet but the other gift had. Steve picked this one out and wrapped it, so it was still in its shipping box (amused giggle). Hannah felt bad and said she should have wrapped it, but I didn't care if it was wrapped or not. When I opened it I found the steel tripod that I have been wanting . You know the kind you can hang a dutch oven from and cook over the coals with. All you preppers out there know what it is. Good job Papa Bear. It was a perfect birthday. The best part was being with friends and family. That is where the crying comes in. I was feeling so very blessed that I couldn't keep the tears back. |
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October 2017
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