Courting Quilt

When William and I were dating we would use a green quilt to curl up with when we were watching TV that Grandma Jolley had made. A few years after we were married Grandma gave us the "Courting Quilt" as a Christmas gift. Over the years the flannel became worn and frayed. I decided to pick it apart and put on a new back. I needed to tie in the same places because some of the old tie holes were very prominent. The ties were closer together than I would have done them. I can usually tie a quilt in 1/2 a day but this one took me 24 hours (including eating, sleeping and walking, but that was it!) Here it is as I am taking it off the frames.

Snow Day!

This is what greeted us Friday morning. I like it when the snow falls on the lawn but not on the streets and sidewalks! It is mostly gone now but the mountain tops are white.

Happy Birthday, William

Here are the Empty Nester's having dinner to celebrate William's birthday. Dinner was lasagna, garlic bread, green salad and grape juice from Righteous Vineyards (Robert and Cheryl's grapes). William prefers pies so we had banana cream, apple and cherry. Happy 52nd Birthday!

Give Thanks - I'm Done

Here is the end product. I am finished!

Applesauce

Friday and Saturday were applesauce days! We thought we had about 10 bushels of apples but after putting up the applesauce I think we had more than that. I started Friday morning, William joined me after work and Heather and Ryan arrived Friday night. We did 31 quarts that day. I was awake when William went to work Saturday morning so I just got up and started cutting apples at 5:00 am on Saturday. Ryan started cutting apples with me after he and Heather woke up. Heather made our breakfast, set up the movie for us, and did anything we asked her to do while we cut and cut and cut the apples. After the apples were quartered we steamed them. Then the softened apples were put into the saucer and sauced.


Heather added the sugar and cinnamon then the applesauce was put into the bottles, sealed and processed.


Towards the end of the cutting, my hands were hurting. My left hand was especially sore. As we were cleaning up I noticed a blister in the middle of my hand where the paring knife had been rubbing. I have never gotten a blister before while canning. But then I have never cut so many apples in such a short time in my life!! You can see how red my hands are. And they also have the canning look where the juices get into every crack and crevice in your hand and turn brown.



Here is the final product minus the 20 quarts that Heather and Ryan took home. I used a few pint jars to give to Kristine and Grandpa.

Apple Press

We were invited to press some of our apples to juice them this year. We haven't done the applesauce yet so we took one box of apples to press. David and Cathy had a lot of apples so while everything was set up we stayed and helped them.


David and I loaded apples into the chopper side where they dropped into the special press bucket. Thankfully it was a motorized chopper. Dad would then turn the press and the juice would come out, slide down the chute and into the bucket. I would empty the juice bucket into the larger buckets on the table and let the juice (it is really more like cider) settle a bit. Cathy would scoop out the juice and funnel it into the bottles.

This is a picture of the pressed apples that end up in the compost pile. They really feel dry to the touch. Oops- I should of turned this picture.

Walking with Grandma

I took Eliza with me on my walk one morning. There is a great park right by their apartment. Eliza is looking longingly at some kids on the swings.


Here we are at the swings.

#1 BYU Fan

Kristine sent Eliza a BYU Football shirt to wear during BYU games. Eliza needs to learn how to show off the shirt better.

Ford's Theatre

We went to Ford's Theatre. It had a wonderful museum where I learned some very interesting things about the conspiracy and assassination.



The theatre box where Abraham Lincoln was sitting is right behind Eliza.



We were able to stand in the doorway where John Wilkes Booth stood.



Charlie met up with us after work and we rode home on the Metro together.

Smithsonian

Robin, Eliza and I went into D.C. one day. I wanted to go to the American History Museum. I was able to see Dorothy's Ruby Slippers, Kermit the Frog, and many other things. The original flag that inspired Francis Scott Key's writing of "The Star Spangled Banner" was on display. As Robin was trying to keep Eliza moving faster than Grandma, Robin found a children's hands on center. Eliza had a great time playing with all the introduction to science things.



Of course, everything ended up in Eliza's mouth. We did wipe down all the toys before and after giving them to Eliza.

Eliza in the Morning

Eliza liked to get up early on a couple of mornings. Here she is entertaining Grandma.

She liked Grandma's camera case. Especially after she "heard" the Velcro sound she would open and close the flap.

Eliza was helping with breakfast by carrying around the whipped cream. The top popped off and and she turned it upside down and pressed it on her stomach. Of course, the whipped cream came out. The expression on her face was very cute when it first happened...she wasn't as happy when I got the camera ready.

Fall Leaves

Here are some "Fall Foliage" pictures for those of you that might of missed it or don't have it!!

This is Dad's favorite. Too bad there is a telephone pole!

Fan Mail

We love getting fan mail from Eliza!!

Pears

I went to Heather and Ryan's to help Heather put up some fruit. We put up 24 quarts of pears and 2 big batches of fruit slush. I continued at home and put up 57 quarts and 18 pints of pears. Also, Dad and I have frozen corn. We are looking forward to getting grapes from Grandpa and it looks like we have a good crop of apple for applesauce.

Before and After

Here are the peaches BEFORE:


And AFTER:

We started eating on the pie before I remembered to get a picture of it. I also have peaches to add to the frozen fruit slush that we will make with Heather and Ryan.

Yellow Pines

We took a beautiful drive near the Stillwater Dam and stopped for lunch at Yellow Pines campground. Dad said that Heather had a girls camp here one summer when we were in Glines 1st Ward.

Learning Curve

I am learning that I need to help your Dad read my mind!! I hope you can hear the audio...

Sitting Around

Dad is soooo happy that I am blogging. I have been taking the camera where ever we go so I have something to blog about! He now is in a lot of pictures. Here his is on the swing at Wanema's cabin.



There is a squirrel and blue jay that keep their eye on the deck. We put some peanuts out on the furniture and they came to get them like they owned the place.

The Cabins

Wanema is so kind and generous with her cabins. This is the view into the meadow by the cabins. I was standing on the little bridge that you can see in the "path" pictures below.



This is the first cabin that Wanema and her husband bought. She treats us royally with great food, accommodations and company.




This is the "guest cabin". When her next door neighbors were planning on selling this place she negotiated with them and was able to buy this cabin.



This view is from the road looking back to the cabins. Our car is the white spot in the middle. I really love the "Quacking Aspen" altitude and sounds.