Blast from the Past: Thanksgiving 2011 Part 1a

In the first post I had problems uploading a video of the train pulling into town.  I thought the nieces and nephews might like to watch it so I kept trying.  I hope this works. . . 

Blast from the Past: Thanksgiving 2011 Part 1 a.k.a. I Choo Choo Choose You

The day before Thanksgiving and old steam engine stopped in town so we all went to see it.  It was the last steam engine (and, possibly passenger train) that Union Pacific made.  It was taking a round-about way back to Omaha after being in Arizona and New Mexico for their state centennials.  Of course, we had to take pictures:

 

Then, we found out they were letting people ride it.  However, the next stop would be 70 miles away and anyone who rode it would need to have someone pick them up at that stop.  We decided we could make that work (Thanks Mom!).  LL1, who had been ignoring 'Gramps' for most of the visit thus far, found a good reason to spend some quality time with grandpa.

FarmerDad, FarmerBoy, LL1, AuntC, and I boarded the train for the adventure.  We thought UncleD would want to join us too but, he was nowhere to be found.  Before we left, Moo jumped on to give us a bag filled with snacks and activities to keep LL1 entertained only to be told by the conductor that they had closed the doors, were leaving the station, and she had now had to take the trip.  She took the news quite well.

As we left town we located Uncle D heading back to the cars from way down the road.  

That's UncleD

There was nothing we could do but enjoy our ride at that point so we did.

Everyone had fun.  LL1 loved the train and most of the ride we did not need the bag other than for snacks.  He divided his time between all of us (although, FarmerDad thinks that the way I took pictures shows that LL1 spent way more time with him than he actually did.  Oh, well.  History is written by the vict. . . er. . . those who record it).

Pointing out Gran' and Gramps' home and farm.

Sitting w/ Gramps gave him a better view of the passing train.

Here's proof LL1 spent time with others of us too:

Here he is with Aunt Moo

And again, this time waving to people along the way.

He loved my hat

We also were able to see places from views we normally do not get to:

We only get to see the graffiti that faces the road.

We saw gorgeous views too.

October

Duh expressed interest in posts about recent events so here is a rundown of most of our October adventures:

Just after my birthday we went for a drive through Snoqualmie Pass and over to Thorp.  We wandered around a barn there.  The bottom sells fruit and other local produce, like pumpkins.  The top two levels house an antiques mall.  I thought about getting mom another metal plunger (you know, that thing she claims was used to help wash laundry back in the day) but decided she already gets enough flack for the one she owns.

It was a beautiful drive and on the way back Greg snapped a few pictures while I drove (on the way there he drove and I dozed.  What a surprise, right?).  Taking photos from a moving vehicle does not do the scenery justice but here is a glimpse at what we saw:

*****

One week for FHE we decided to make candy corn, which was funny since we had both admitted that we did not like the stuff.  However, we had watched an old episode of Alton Brown's "Good Eats" where he stated that people who think candy corn is gross probably think that because they have only ever had the kind that is mass produced and sold in stores.  We were curious so we set out on our first candy making adventure.

We concluded that homemade candy corn is WAAAAAAAAY better than store bought versions.  Quality control was one of our favorite parts of the process.

Our final product never quite set up (we're not sure if that was due to beginners' mistakes or the humidity where we live) and turned out looking like candy slugs.  We were quite pleased with the results anyway and are considering making this an annual tradition.

I shaped a few to look more like traditional candy corn

*****

We were invited to a chili cook-off.  Wanting to save money, I decided that we would stick mainly with ingredients we had on hand.  I found a recipe online for black bean and sweet potato chili.  It was a vegetarian recipe (meat is pricey so it was even more cost effective) but, I guess subconsciously, I thought it should include some meat.  While chopping the sweet potatoes I ended up cutting off a chunk of my thumb.

I caught what had happened right away and was able to keep the end result vegetarian.  I think if I ever make it again I would add hamburger.

*****

The last Saturday of the month, Greg and I headed out to a pumpkin patch.  We thought about getting only one but then realized that meant we would have to agree on a design when we carved it.

He makes his look light; it wasn't.

I was lucky and got to cut the pumpkin I picked off the vine.  Since it was late in the month, most the pumpkins left in the patch had already been clipped off by previous visitors.

Holding a pumpkin with both hands
because I am not as strong.

*****

We carved our pumpkins on the 30th but I did not end up taking any pictures.  Greg chose a classic jack-o-lantern face and I wished I had.  I was excited to use a scraper tool that came in the kit we bought.  I scraped the top to look like tree branches but when I put my candle in the pumpkin you couldn't see my design.  I scraped deeper and tried again.  Still nothing.  I should have thought my decision through more.  The pumpkin walls were too thick - about 2 inches - so I gave up and carved, "Happy Halloween".  That turned out to be quite a work out (again, thanks to how thick the walls were).  I was sweating by the time I finished the last letter which amused Greg (who had been done carving his pumpkin for over 30 minutes by that time).

*****

Our first Halloween together was spent preparing for and attending the ward party.  I was asked to help with it so, by default, Greg was too.  By the time we left the festivities, we were ready to go home and crash and that is what we did.

Blast from the Past: June 2011 AKA Why was there a 'Sportscaster' at that Event?

My last post on the poker commentary got me thinking (but not very deep - did you read the commentary highlights?), "Why was there a sportscaster at the event?"  Sadly, I realized that this would only be #3 on my 'Why was there a Sportscaster at this event?' list.  So what ones beat it out?

#2  Dodgeball Tournament June 2005*
The 'sportscasters' were going crazy with their electronic pens.  Now, when there is only one ball (as is the case with 98% of ball sports.  Although, that number may be off; I'm not quite sure where to include rhythmic gymnastics) you know the commentators are using their pens to illustrate actual points say, trajectory or showing better passing routes.  When there are several balls being thrown at once, the commentators are only using those pens to see fast they can draw 10 lines.

#1  National Spelling Bee appx 2003
Backstage after one of the kids had been eliminated from the competition he was approached by a sportscaster and asked, "How do you feel knowing that last year you got out on a French-based word and this year, your last year to compete, you were once again defeated by a French-based word?"  Come on - the kid was in middle school.  I hope the 'sportscaster' had to pay for any therapy the kid needed after that.

Can you think of any that should be on this list?

*I only know when it was because I saw it when my mom picked me up from the mission.

Blast from the Past: June 2011 A.K.A. It's Hotter than the Sahara During Heat Wave

So I'm hanging out with a friend right now. He's watching poker on TV while I'm updating my blog. Every now and then I catch some of the commentary. Let me tell you, it is special. I'd hate for you miss out on any of the award winning comments just because you weren't watching. Ready?

He's blowing up like my prostate!

He's hotter than my cousin's gold Rolex!

That's got to hurt like a Brazilian wax!

He's hotter than a cup of coffee at McDonald's.

Give him some butter because he's on a roll.

Comments specifically made about a man whose nickname was 'The Toilet':

'The Toilet' has overflowed!

Once again 'The Toilet' is running smooth.

'The Toilet' has got some fresh Tidy Bowl in his game.

The king has regained his throne!

Later on it got really exciting. It got so exciting that one of the players, as he stated himself, "may have snapped [his] ACL." No joke. He spent the rest of the game icing his knee with his leg propped up.

Sometimes Farm Work makes me Feel Strong. . . Sometimes.

Sometimes working on the farm makes me feel strong but mostly it makes me feel weak. 

I feel strong when. . .

• I carry 50 lb bags of calf milk replacer, calf feed, corn seed, etc
• I open and close stubborn gates.
• That's about it.

I feel weak when. . .

The jacks we use are similar to this one

• I try to turn a jack holding up a feed wagon or other piece of machinery and get NOWHERE.  I'll try pushing.  I'll try pulling.  It does not seem to matter what I do because the crank is not going to budge.  In the end, FarmerBoy or FarmerDad take over and in the amount of time it took me to get exhausted, they have lowered the jack and are ready to go. 
• I help with a water turn (for those few of you who do not know, we use flood irrigation to water fields in this area).  I am not quite sure why FarmerBoy brings me along because help is a very liberal term for what I do.  I can only do one-sixth of what he can.  Every now and then, I will think that I am doing good as I shovel away to open or close an outlet (from the ditch to the field) only to look down the field and see that FarmerBoy has opened all the rest and is on his way back.
• I try to close the driver-side door on the red truck from inside the cab.  The door is off-kilter and it requires a special technique and strength to get it closed.  From time to time I think that I finally have it mastered.  I will start the silent victory in my head, only to hit a bump in the road and have the door pop/fly open.  I spend the rest of the drive with my right hand on the wheel, my left hand holding the door closed, and hope that there is no need for me to shift into a different gear.  FarmerBoy or FarmerDad are usually nice enough to close it for me though.
• I try to open the passenger-side door on the red truck from inside the cab.  The inside handle has come off the door so the only way to exit from this side is to reach outside the window and use the outside handle.  For some reason the only way this works for me is if I turn around to face the back of the cab, lean out the window, use both thumbs to depress the handle, while my right foot is pushing on the door from the inside.  Oh, and what I mean by this works for me is it works for me one out of every three times I try.

Epiphany and Cattle Round Up

Hello there.  It's me, Marissa. . . you know, the one that occasionally posts things to this blog.  I have this bad habit of writing entries and never posting them.  I keep telling myself that when I get caught up-to-date on them, then I can post them all and just work on keeping things current.  Well, I had this epiphany.  Except for the year before I went on a mission, I have always played catch-up in my journal and, as this is basically a journal, why would it be any different?  Self, I thought, you don't want to disappoint your two followers.  It is time to make a change!  That's a lie.  It went more like this:  Self, if you spend all your time catching up on the past you might forget the moments that you are experiencing right now.  It was after that thought I concluded I needed to go about this blog stuff in a new way.  The new plan is to pick up where I am now in life and between posts of my awesome experiences (living at home, working on the farm & ranch - I know the excitement may be too much to read any single posting at once, but I cannot apologize for the incredibleness that surrounds me) I'll throw in some blasts from the past.

As far as the current happenings. . . today we worked to round up cattle from the pasture so we can move them out to the desert for the summer tomorrow.  When I say 'worked to round up' I mean FarmerBoy fed them in a fenced up area and then closed the gates. There were only 4 cows and, maybe, 20 calves that did not join the herd so FarmerBoy, FarmerDad, HiredHandR, and I jumped in the truck and headed to the east to encourage them.  Once we got them moving to the west, FarmerBoy and I walked behind them to keep them focused on our their goal.  FarmerDad and HiredHandR used the truck to cut off any independent thinking bovine in the group and send them back our way - although that really only happened right at the end.

When there was no longer a question that we were going to pen this group up too, one cow, that we were surprised stuck with the rest that long, decided that she and her baby were done being followers.  We tried to stop her but in the end I let her and her calf past me.  I don't like to get in the way of mothers on a mission (esp when there is a crazed look in their eyes).  The way I see it, if human mothers can get surges of adrenaline that enable them to throw cars off their children then I do not want to get in the way of 1000+ pound animal that has decided her newborn is endangered.  Hopefully, we will catch her when she comes to get water in the morning.

All in all, it went quite well and did not take us long (sans the time FarmerBoy put into feeding the herd and closing the gates).  Here's to hoping tomorrow goes even better!