Book Club and a trip to Loveland

After several weeks of quite warm weather we are having a little bit of winter again. Today and yesterday there was actually snow. Last night it rained very hard in the evening at our house and this morning everything looked wet and rained on, although it was clear, but this morning more clouds have come in and it is actually snowing a bit today, although the snow is not sticking. We are still without a furnace or air conditioning, but are managing quite well anyway. The fireplace in the family room with its blower takes the chill off the main floor in the morning and in the evening and we have a nice space heater in our bedroom which keeps it pleasant at night. Last week we didn't use it at all, but last night and this morning with the cooler weather it seemed like a good idea. I was doing some initial investigation on a heating/cooling system, but Paul is going to take over now and make the final decision. I think we could wait for another month or two, but we might be sorry if we don’t get the air conditioner installed before the summer hot weather arrives. It just depends on how hot the summer ends up being. I spend a lot of the summer in the basement where the weather is always cool…anyway, we have had a number of service people giving us bids, but we have been gone a lot, too. Thursday this week, was one of my book club meetings. The book this month was The Light between Oceans. It had actually been selected as a choice for my other book club earlier this year, so I had already read it, but decided to listen to it again as my “car book”—the book that I listen to while I’m driving in the car. The Light between Oceans is a debut novel from an Australian born author M.L. Stedman. Set on a tiny island off the cost of Western Australia, where the Indian Ocean meets the Southern Ocean this novel explores the consequences of love and the desire to please and satisfy. Tom Sherbourne is a lighthouse keeper at Janus Rock, a position that has afforded him some measure of peace after the horrors of World War I. During his infrequent visits to the mainland at Port Partageuse, he develops a relationship with the spirited Isabel Graysmark whom he eventually marries and the two create a life together on the island. Their happy marriage is marred only by Isabel’s repeated miscarriages so when a boat drifts ashore carrying a dead man and squalling infant girl, Isabel convinces Tom that they have been granted a gift. Lucy becomes the light of their lives, but Tom’s unease with the situation never dissipates and when he learns the devastating truth, he is torn between right and wrong, guilt and innocence, love and duty. With sensitivity, Stedman explores the grey, murky waters between the absolutes of right and wrong. Decisions made with good intentions, with love, prove ultimately to have consequences that cause irreparable harm. This is a story that has strong emotional impact and is written so that I was torn between sympathies for both women protagonists and the man who wants to do right by both of them. It is a book that I would recommend—if I were the type who normally recommended books to other readers, which I am not. This weekend Paul and I headed east to Loveland, Colorado to visit Grandma Kern. We had planned on going over Easter Weekend, but ended up at the cabin that weekend and it worked out better because last weekend Rob and Cindy were in Loveland, and going a different week from them spread out the companionship a little bit. Our trip was short. We arrived at about 10:30 on Friday night. Spent the day on Saturday and then drove home after Sacrament Meeting on Sunday. Our drive on Friday night was very uneventful. We had very nice weather. Coming home on Sunday was another matter. There were storm warnings for snow and rain and high winds all the way across Wyoming. It was already windy at 10:30 when we left, and we ran into snow before we got to Laramie. It was very windy and stormy between Laramie and Rock Springs, and it was stormy pretty much the whole way into the Salt Lake Valley. We saw many big rig trucks pulled over as we drove, but we didn't have to stop and we still made pretty decent time. We were glad to get home and by 8:30p.m. in Sandy we had heavy rain. We were glad to be home and safe. On Saturday, Grandma wanted to do some activity and not just sit around in her house in Loveland and so we went on a little adventure to Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park. Estes Park was already crawling with tourists and Saturday was a very pleasant day---not super hot, but springy and sunny. We drove through Estes Park and headed for the National Park. Grandma wanted especially to visit two areas. Bear Lake and the YMCA Conference Center. Paul and I had driven through the park last summer and had really enjoyed the Ridge Trail Road which took park visitors above the tree line, but this part of the park was still closed for the winter. When we got into the park, we discovered that winter was still very much present with snow everywhere. We drove down the road to Glacier Gorge and then continued on to Bear Lake. Grandma assured us that it was open to hikers year round, and it was if you were prepared. There were a number of winter hikers prepared and enjoying the hiking. The snow was probably four feet and quite slick and slushy on the top. Paul and I followed the foot trampings around about ¼ of the distance around the lake before giving up because of the difficulty in navigating the terrain in inappropriate footwear. I was in canvas shoes with smooth bottoms and Paul’s weren't much better. The lake itself was still covered in snow and ice. Grandma remained in the car and it seemed wrong to be out hiking when we came to be with her. She was interested in pointing out to us the YMCA of the Rockies Conference Center which is really an impressive facility. It is massive with many, many buildings and styles and levels of accommodations. It is a possibility for us—presumably for a Paul Kern reunion and she thought we would want to see it. It is a fabulous facility, but we will probably continue to trade out our time share for locations for Kern Family Reunions. But it was fun to see. It is not a five star type of accommodation, but probably about a three star—but many programs and activities available. It looked like a great place to have a camp or event. We were glad to have a chance to see it. We stopped in Estes Park for lunch at KFC—and then headed back to Loveland where we were scheduled to have a “birthday” dinner with Holly and Caden and Connor. The celebration was for Connor who has a birthday at the end of May and Paul who had a birthday at the end of March. Grandma went all out with a fancy “Sunday” dinner including roasted lamb, mashed potatoes, sweet corn, green salad, cantaloupe and rolls. There was an angel food cake for the birthday cake. It was a fun time for the six of us. Later after Holly and the boys left we had a nice visit with Grandma before going to bed. Sunday morning arrived with its grey weather—we went to Church on Sunday morning and then after sacrament meeting Paul and I headed back to Sandy.

Spring Break, Furnace Drama, St. Anthony Cowboy Poetry Gathering, Island Park and a New Job for Erika

Last week from the 14th to the 18th was my spring break from school. Because I was out of school I didn't update the blog or write letters or do the things I normally do at the beginning of the week. It was nice to have a whole week without having to go to school. Paul and I planned a trip to the cabin for the last half of the week, but I had three days at home to do my projects. One of the things that we are doing at the present time is going through some of our “more congested” areas of the house and deciding what to get rid of and what to keep. We made a big Deseret Industries drop off this week and got rid of some household items that had been hanging around filling space but not being used. Paul calls it changing our focus from our child rearing years to our empty nester time, and some of the things were associated with children, but some of them were our things as well. After we got rid of all our wheat, I took a look at some of the other things that were being stored in our “storage room” and felt quite comfortable getting rid of some of the items that had been stored there for the last fifteen years and never used and actually forgotten. I use as my barometer of whether or not to keep something—“Will I want to move this to Petersboro?” or more to the point—“Will my children even keep this after I’m gone?” If the answer to either of these questions is “No.”, then it goes into the DI pile. I've been throwing away stuff, too, like magazines---I have been subscribing to Real Simple for the last two years and have really enjoyed it. I was keeping all the old issues, this week, I threw them all away. If I ever need to reference anything—it can be found on line anyway. The saga of our water heater has a new, unhappy and expensive chapter. When it was installed the workman who was doing the work cut a refrigerant line to the air conditioner. This didn't affect the water heater or the furnace so I scheduled the workman’s revisit to repair this problem for last week on Monday when I was going to be home from school. He came and welded the line back together and then checked the line. He claimed to have discovered a leak in the line somewhere and called in his supervisor. The supervisor came and did an inspection and essentially condemned our furnace. Of course, they wanted to sell us a new and improved system, but we were pretty frustrated by this. They unhooked the furnace and removed some of the duct work so it is completely disabled. But they picked the wrong people to play this game with. It isn't a time a year where the furnace is an imperative. It is 70 degrees during the day and isn't going below freezing at night. Paul and I aren't home during the day and we have the fireplace with the blower and a space heater if we need it. So we are investigating other options and certainly other companies but it looks like a new furnace and a new air conditioning system are in our future. The thing that is so frustrating about this is that the furnace didn't break down, it was working and doing a good job. Admittedly it was original to the house and didn't include all the safety features that are a part of present day models, and is relatively inefficient compared to newer, more modern models—however, both the air conditioner and the furnace were keeping our home cool or warm respectively and we didn't intend to make this home improvement this month. So we are feeling a little cross about this. In the meantime, I am listening to presentations with furnace people and trying to decide what make and model of furnace and air conditioning will suit our needs the best. My opinion of all of this is---Grrrrrrr. We were planning on going to Loveland over the Easter weekend; however we had a change of plans when Paul was invited to participate in the 27th Annual St. Anthony Cowboy Poetry Gathering. We had never even attended this event, so it was quite a surprise and honor when Paul was asked to be one of the performers. The event runs on Friday and Saturday and Paul did two sets each day. Paul was reluctant to even talk about this because he and we really had no idea what to expect or what he would be doing exactly or how the event was run or any of the details. We really just plain didn't know what we were getting into. We left on Thursday afternoon and stayed in Island Park at the cabin and drove down to St. Anthony both days. But before I wax lengthy about the Cowboy Poetry Gathering, I need to tell about the cabin a little bit. We had not been to visit at the cabin since we were there last fall. Usually we make one winter trip a year, but this year when we usually go—over Martin Luther King weekend or President’s Day weekend we were in the midst of planning and preparing for Erika’s wedding so we didn't make it to the cabin this year. We had made all the appropriate steps for winterizing the cabin, but one never knows what misfortunes may arise in the absence of “real people” attention. So we were curious how things would be when we arrive. And we were totally amazed at how perfect everything was. We had set up the fan with the timer and had left the windows cracked about an inch in the master bedroom and the great room and when we walked in it didn't have a strong cabin smell at all. The heat tape which Paul had carefully set last fall didn't fail and we had water immediately—and within the hour we had hot water. We got a good fire roaring in the fireplace and we were good to go. There is still snow on the ground everywhere in Island Park, but the roads are totally clear and it was in the high 50’s every day that we were there. Aspen Ridge roads are all plowed and while not really dry were not particularly muddy—at least not rut filled. We were able to drive easily on the roads. The Aspen Ridge entrance is still unopened and we came in on Lodgepole Drive from Red Rock Road. Our driveway still has about four feet of snow on it, hardpacked; we were able to drag our suitcases and storage boxes across it easily. During the day we sank in a little, but it hardened up during the night hours each evening. The snow has slid off the roof from the garage making a seven foot mound in front of the garage door, but the rest of the roof is still covered with snow. Fortunately for us none of the neighbors on our street were visiting this weekend, and so we just parked on the road each night and walked across our snowy tundra of a drive-way. We had to hop down to the porch from the snowbank to get into the cabin. But it was cozy inside and we were really happy to be there. There was a significant rainstorm on Thursday night, but the rest of the weekend was clear and as I mentioned in the 50’s. The snow on the roof is slowly melting and there was water dripping of the roof every day, although the melting progress was not particularly visible to us. It was very satisfying to find the cabin in such good shape. We felt it was wonderful to be able to come up and find that all the precautions that we took were to good use and we were able to shower and wash dishes and enjoy our time there. While we were there we took the opportunity to drive over to see Ralph’s new building. It is an impressive structure—the ground floor is about the size of our carriage house and there is a second story attic style loft. It is a pole building and doesn't have a floor finished at the moment, but it is closed with a garage door in the front and a side door entrance as well. On Saturday—between Paul’s sets—we drove down to Rexburg and dropped in to see Connie and Ralph. I was surprised to see his new house is under construction. The excavation is in progress and part of the foundation has been poured. Ralph showed us pictures of the floor plan and what he is planning on doing—we visited with Ralph for a few minutes and then I left Paul and Ralph chatting while I went in to visit with Connie. Ralph has made a very pleasant room for Connie with her hospital bed and a television and other entertainments (her tablet and her computer) near at hand. We were there about an hour and then had to head back to St. Anthony. Our experience at St. Anthony was a very happy and positive one. As I mentioned this was not a gathering that we had ever attended or which I was at all familiar with. Paul knew of it, but he had never been invited to participate. The majority of performers were drawn from Cowboy Poets of Idaho. There were also a few participants from Utah as well as us and also from Wyoming and Montana. The event was held in the South Freemont High School which is in St. Anthony. It has a cozy auditorium and a very nice sound system. Many of the other events that Paul has participated in have multiple stages, but this was the sole venue and so the audience was not fragmented at all. Paul knows some of the Idaho performers from some of his Utah events, and they are a very congenial group and were very embracing and welcoming. This is not a huge event, it does have longevity in its favor—it is supported and sponsored by the local chamber of commerce and the Veterans of Foreign Wars. The event was set up with daytime sessions and then an evening show on each of the two days of events. Paul was schedule to perform in two of the daytime session, plus he performed in the Start-Up Session on Friday as well. It was a great time. Lots of really good musicians and poets. Paul has been working for the last year on adding guitar accompaniments and backgrounds to his poems. His first time both reciting and playing the guitar in performance was at the Cache Valley Cowboy Rendezvous in February. He also performed at the American Heritage Center in Logan in the beginning of April;—this is still a work in progress for him—and he really rose to the occasion in this event. He did a great job and drew the comment from lots of people, including other performers. He had some of his CD’s on display—along with many other performers and sold a number of those as well—which is a testament to the success and effectiveness of his performing in this way. It was a happy experience to have everything go well for him. And when you have moments of success like this—it makes trying it again a much more comfortable experience. I was really glad that we had gone and had a wonderful experience. At least at this stage in the game, the Cowboy Poets of Idaho have a very inclusive feeling and Paul was glad to have a chance to be a part of this event. He has already been invited to participate in another CPI event in May. I guess you could say that success begets success. I feel like it was really worth the effort of coming. So to sum up the weekend: We got to see the cabin and how it had weathered the winter. We got to see Ralph and Connie and his new building in Island Park and the start of his new house in Rexburg. We got to participate in the St. Anthony Cowboy Poetry Gathering and Paul and I had a nice little get-away together. Win, Win, Win. And one last thing. Two weeks ago on Monday, Erika interviewed at Corner Canyon High School to become an English teacher. On Tuesday, the next day, the vice principal called and offered her the job and she accepted. Incidentally there were 11 candidates who were interviewed for the position. It was always her desire to teach high school English and this seemed a good time to make the change. Our district, Canyons District has 9-12 grade schools and Jordan district where she works has 10-12 grade high schools so she was at an advantage because Corner Canyon needed ninth grade teachers and she is experienced. The vice principal, Marsha Morgan, who was in the interviews talked to me later and said, “while it is true that you work here, I want you to know that Erika was hired on her own merits and not because she has a mother who works here.” I thought it was very nice of her to tell me that and I shared it with Erika. As for Erika—she is thrilled and of course, I am delighted. It will be such a nice thing for us to be working in the same place. It is a lovely school and we have the best administration in the world. I hope that she will enjoy working here as much as I do.

Bountiful Basket, Baby Animal Days, General Conference and things for sale

We have been surprisingly and amazingly busy this week. Not with very much that was terribly important or pressing, but we have just been keeping those wheels rolling. I am in the midst of working lots of vegetables and fruits into our menus. Erika has signed with a company called Bountiful Baskets and we are splitting it. Maybe you have never heard of them. Well…. Bountiful Baskets is a volunteer-driven cooperative that aims to deliver produce, both organic and not, to participants at low prices. Every week on Monday, you can place an order (they call it a contribution) online and it will be delivered to your location choice that weekend. It’s always a surprise what you will find in your basket! They usually consist of half fruits and half veggies, and you will find old favorites and a few new foods that you may have never heard of! Bountiful Baskets also feature various add-on packs for an additional price… breads, tortillas, Mexican packs, granola, bulk fruit. So---How much does it cost? It depends on how much and what you buy—but the standard price for a half and half mix of fruits and vegetables is $15.00, plus a $1.50 service charge. With Erika and I splitting the cost it is about $9.00 a week. Our drop off location is at a fire station about a mile and a half from our house—Erika and I have gone together to pick up the produce and we split it there. It has been full of very normal things—nothing too weird—this week there were artichokes, but I have been eating those since I was a kid. Because we have this regular supply of vegetables and fruits coming in, I am dedicated to making more things with vegetables and fruits in them—not that I didn't prepare lots before, but even more now and thinking that I have to use them up before the next batch comes in. Incidentally, I came across a good food tip on line. You can make your own sliced apple package, rather than buying the expensive ones in the grocery store by cutting your apple and then soaking your apple slices for 10 minutes in cold water and then 10 minutes in a clear soft drink—like Sprite or 7-Up for another 10 minutes. That will retard browning for about two to three days. I do that with my apples and then take them in a baggie to work. They stay fresh looking and crisp. This weekend I washed and bagged the lettuce that came in the bountiful basket and cooked and puréed two butternut squashes for soup, made a casserole with sweet potatoes, broccoli and green pepper in it and prepared some fat-free delicious sweet potato fries. On Friday I begged off work an hour and a half early so that I could go with Paul to Logan where he had a cowboy poetry performance at 4:30 p.m. This was a new venue for Paul and it was a very nice event. He was invited to perform at the Baby Animal Days. This is held at the American West Heritage Center, which is a very nice facility. Paul and I didn't have to wait in any lines or pay the entrance fee, we went in through the service entrance and then had access to the whole place. Paul was set to perform at 4:30p.m and we arrived a little before 4:00—so there was time for Paul to get warmed up and for me to watch the performers who were on deck before him. While he was practicing I wandered around a little bit. By far the biggest attraction was the baby bears which they bring up from Bear World in Rexburg. The line was super long and I didn't go into the barn where they were being displayed. There were many attractions: a hayride, a kid rodeo where little kids could ride sheep, a mechanical bull. There was an opportunity to milk a cow. Outside the cow barn, there were opportunities to hold chicks, ducks and rabbits, and to pet sheep, goats, a donkey, baby calves, and baby pigs, in a pen just outside the barn was a brand new colt and mother. There were baby lambs that weren't more than a day or two old. There was a mini train to ride; there were also pony rides, the kind where the ponies are on a wheel and walk around in a circle. There was also a building with animals from the local Logan Zoo, with a king snake, cockatoo, iguana and other smaller exotic animals. There were people in period costumes roaming the grounds with more animals to pet. They were really good to answer questions and stay in character. There is a mountain man camp, a general store, a farm house, a root cellar, a smokehouse and a blacksmith shop all in working order. And there were loads of people, lots of families, lots of children. There was a candy cannon which they shot off into a large field a couple of times a day. They had an outdoor stage covered by a canopy where they had a continuing round of performances. When we arrived the stage was occupied by men from the local search and rescue organization demonstrating their dogs—and how they sniff out and find a particular human or human remains. Then right before Paul was a poet and singer. And then Paul went on. It was pretty cool outside, but there were benches for people to sit on and a sound system and people kind of came and went and listened as long as they wanted to or while they were eating food from any one of a number of vendors who were hawking their wares at the event. When Paul finished his set, we wandered around together. They have a very impressive barn and Paul was curious how it was put together. They had concrete footings and foundations both externally and internally and Paul was curious about how it was all put together. We had a nice time and then headed over to see how our Petersboro property was doing. We broadcast quite a bit of pasture grass seed last fall and hoped that we might see a few new blades of grass coming up. It is still pretty cold in Cache Valley—at least two or three weeks behind Salt Lake, but even so we did see a few blades poking up which was very promising. Saturday, Paul and I listened to conference at home, I streamed the afternoon session on the downstairs computer while I was doing a bushel of ironing and during the other sessions I worked on handwork. I am doing the hand quilting on another T-shirt quilt. We passed the time very pleasantly. And wasn't conference great? It seems the older I get the more I enjoy conference. I thought the messages were wonderful. I am looking forward to rereading them when our May Ensign comes. Peter and Eleanor came up from Provo on Saturday evening. Paul and Peter went to the Priesthood Session together and I had Eleanor. I went over to my parents’ house for a little family get-together on Saturday evening. My nephew, Crawford Gates—(he’s my brother David’s youngest son) is leaving on a mission in May and we had a sort of farewell event for him. Family members were invited to bring or send a card or letter of well wishes. They were opened and read and a light supper of pizza and vegetables was served. David and Carole and Crawford were there and my other brother Stephen and Steve were also there and me and Eleanor and some family friends from Salt Lake of David and Carole as well. Erika and Jono stopped in for a few minutes too, on their way to another event later in the evening with some of their friends. Paul and Peter did not come, Paul took Peter to dinner after the Priesthood session which they attended at our Stake Center. Paul wanted to have a little one on one time with Peter since mostly we see them in larger family groups. I had a great evening with Eleanor who is just over two, now and is loads of fun, very articulate and well behaved. Sunday after the last session of conference, I went with Paul to feed the horses. They are looking very good. Lakota is a full sized horse now, having completely lost any indication that he was once a colt, and a handsome horse he is. Indy has become a very friendly horse—and wants to be petted and given an “atta boy” regularly now. They are losing their winter coats and are going to be sleek and handsome in a few weeks. In the meantime, Paul is brushing them down with his blade and they are shedding like crazy. Paul and I are sensing the need to clear out some of our excess possessions and with this in mind, Paul put a few things up on KSL.com for sale this week. One of the things that had been weighing heavily on us was our wheat food storage. We bought 1200 pounds of wheat when we moved back from Europe, and while I had been using it regularly and grinding it for homemade wheat bread for a number of years (until Paul was diagnosed with celiac disease)—we had hardly made a dent in the volume of wheat we had. And now the possibility of using it is greatly diminished. So Paul listed all our wheat for sale. Just to have someone come and get it and take it away would have been worth it to list all these bags for free. Another difficulty in my mind was that during the first year after we bought the wheat we had a mouse find his way into our storage room and make free with some of our bags. We had taken everything out of the storage room, cleaned everything up, set traps and caught the mice, and then set out mouse pellets. We have never had mice again, but some of the bags were damaged. During the cleaning process, I had repaired the bags with duct tape, but I wasn't sure that anyone would be interested in buying damaged wheat bags. Actually Paul got several calls, but the man that finally purchased all 20 bags of wheat, plus a couple of extra containers that we had additionally, was a man who intended to use the wheat to feed his 26 laying chickens. He said this would be enough wheat to feed them for a year and he didn't care in the slightest that some of the bags were damaged. It would make no difference to his chickens. He filled the back of his truck, with our bags, paid Paul and drove them away. Hooray! Paul also listed a few other items which have sold, including our cabriole which we haven’t used at all since we got the surrey. Now we have more room in the carriage house, too.