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.