Momma-sized!!

This story is to appease the complaint dept aka Nicole Wallace (hee-hee).

So the other night I went out to get the dog some food in the garage(I fill his bowl every evening so he can eat in the morning). I looked down at the ground only to see a huge scorpion near the doorway (it was making its way toward the house!). Not only was it big but it was really fat! Jared attempted to shew it away but it didn't budge so I pick it up with some long tweezer-type things we have and put her in a glass jug we have.
Jared looked at her the next day and said she has egg-like things on her back with legs. She was a momma with her brood! I thought to myself as I do with all arachnids, "I would love to kill her but I will show mercy only because of the babies". Had she been in my house she would have been sent to the spirit world a long time ago either by me or the little mousers (aka the cats). I let her sit in her "prison cell" for a couple of days.
Anyhow, last night I released her into the wild on the other side of our fence into the overgrown, vacant lot. I figured she needed a meal and a new home for her little creatures.

Canner Box

Our ward recently bought a dry pack canner. This was because the previous canner that the stake owned was dropped a couple of times and we had no canner to use for several months while this one was being repaired. The Bishop did not want our canner to be dropped so he wanted to assign the High Priests to making some sort of box to transport the canner in. I wanted to show up the old men so I volunteered to make it. I first added a handle to the top of the canner - this is probably the main reason it is ever dropped - there is no good way to hold it.

I started with the suitcase idea (two wheels that roll and extending handle) and went to work. Three months later this is what I came up with. It was bigger than I wanted but rolls well and will protect the canner from any damage from dropping. Things I wish were different are first, it does not fit into our trunk, second the canner is a bit difficult to get into the box if you are not able to lift 75 lbs up to mid-torso level and twist it 45 degrees while lowering into position. I gave it to our ward canning specialist for a trial run to see how it will perform.

Inspiration was the key to making this box. I had to think about how every thing would be done for hours, then I would work on the box, think some more work some more. The features in the box constrain the canner to be in the right position. If it is not the lid will not close. When the lid is closed it pushes the canner into place.

Handle added and Finished Box


Accessory Storage


Retaining Features and Canner in Position

4th of July

This year we had some friends over to our place to celebrate. We made Jalapeno Pepper Poppers. These are stuffed with a mix of cream cheese, chives, garlic salt Monterrey Jack cheese and all wrapped in bacon and grilled over an open flame. We used the peppers from our garden. They did not last long as you can imagine. The evening was spent watching our drunken neighbors light the good fireworks. After a while the show became more entertaining when the fireworks exploded on the ground and caught the grass on fire. We watched and laughed from our roof with hose in hand as this was repeated almost ten times. Each time they had to stomp out the little grass fires. It was nice not to have to go anywhere for the show, and they are not normally so funny.

Garden Harvest!

Despite all the garden pests and oppressive heat we experienced this year we had some good success. Produce listed in order of greatest success to least: Cantaloupe, Tomatoes, Peppers, Onion, Okra, Zucchini, Cucumbers, Lettuce, beets, Potatoes.

Marginal: Pumpkin, Cabbage, Green Beans, Strawberries, Sunflowers.

Failures: Watermelons, Corn, Peas.

We made a batch of delicious Salsa with some of the Maters and Peppers. We juiced the largest Cantaloupes and froze the juice for latter consumption. You can see that the largest Cantaloupe was 16.5 lbs, the next was 12.5 lbs and the last was 8lbs. We also had a 5 lbs one not shown.

We had trouble fitting them into the fridge.

Below are some of what we got to eat!

Spider Mites

Spider Mites also had their way with our garden this year. They love the heat and well, this year has been hot. They infested our entire garden before I realized what was going on. They were not easy to get rid of but I think I finally won...for now. They infested our tomatoes and cucumbers, which survived for the most part. They killed our zucchini and green beans.

What they did to our tomatoes! Notice the white on top.

What they did to our cukes! Notice the dead zucchini in the background :(

Rotten Blossom Rot!

Our Tomatoes were plagued with blossom rot this year. This was a result of El Nino which brought the heat a little early this year. Some tomato varieties were more affected than others - Big Mama loss was 90%. All gardens in our area were affected.