Enjoying the Summer

We have been busy, as always.  We had a wonderful Branch Picnic.  Everyone brought food.  The Branch provided hamburgers and hot dogs.  We had lots of activities for the kids to do.  Craig and I rounded up some games.  I brought some things to make hats.

We also had a live bluegrass group who played for several hours.

We invited everyone we knew, members and friends to come.  We were a little disappointed that more people were not there.  But those who came had fun.

Everyone's gardens are starting to produce.  Our neighbor, Stacey, has this really wonderful garden.  She grows a lot of gourds that she sells to the local grocery story.

Aren't they cute??

Everything in her garden is thriving.  I helped her pick beans.  What she doesn't want, she takes directly to the market.

Look how green and lush everything is.  She sprays weekly for insects until the plants begin to fruit.  Then she sprays with a "friendly" insecticide.  She also feeds with Miracle Grow weekly.  She has a fence all around the backyard to keep out the critters.  She has an electrified fence around a large part as well to keep out squirrels, rabbits, and other smaller animals.  And look how high her corn is!!!

We've learned that when you discuss corn, you must make the distinction between "corn" and "sweet corn."  Sweet corn is the corn you grow to eat.  Our friend, John, is planning on picking his sweet corn about the first week of September.  Corn that is sold commercially is harvested when the stalk dies.  It is used for corn meal, corn bread, etc.  Sometimes it is harvested still green.  That corn is used for silage.  Stalk, corn, and all plant parts become animals feed.

Craig and I bought corn at the side of the road last week.  Six ears for $1.75.  It was delicious.

We spent a few hours helping Joe in his garden.  Joe is one of our investigators.  He is hiding in this picture.  Can you see him?

Joe's garden is infested with Japanese beetles.  They love beans.  And broccoli.

This is what results:

Joe has also gotten some great produce from his garden.

Joe gave us beets and lots of other vegetables.  I like beets, but I've never cooked raw beets before.  They were delicious.

We've seen some great lawn decorations.

This is right next door to our friend, Rob.  (Rob's house is the white one in the background.)  The propeller on the plane spins in the wind.  Cool.

We saw this one just driving past.  The sun was in the wrong place for a good picture.  It looked life-like and kind of surprised us at first.

We think these tractors are cool.  It feels like you could drive right under them.  Some are even higher than this one.

Craig and I went with two of our neighbors, Stacey and Teresa, to go see a play at the local high school, "Once Upon A Mattress."  The sets and costumes were wonderful.  The actors did a good job for a small community.

Two last items of interest.  Maybe?  The corn is so high now that it sometimes feels like you are driving down a corn maze.  You actually have to be careful at intersections because you can't see if any cars are coming.  It's a change from being able to see FOREVER.

And finally, Sam.  We bought him this really great toy.

It's called a box.  He's pretty skittish outside.  The cars, dogs, and people make him nervous.  

He doesn't stray too far from the front door.  

Craig takes him for a walk every evening - out into the fields.  

At home in California, Sam used to sleep in our bed.  In a king-sized bed, there is a lot of room for all of us.  But here in Indiana, our bed is smaller.  I don't like Sam laying on me.  He can be on the bed, but if I can feel him, I kick him off.  

I took this picture the other day after I had gotten up.  You can see that my 1/2 of the bed is clear.  Craig, on the other hand, has to squish up around the cat.  Sigh.  A man and his cat.

This Sunday is our quarterly "linger longer."  The entire branch brings food.  After all our meetings, we fold up the chairs and bring out the tables.  We are hoping that some of our inactives will come and participate.  We'll see.  Last week we had an inactive single father bring his four young daughters.  It doubled the size of my primary class.  There were 8 kids in primary.  A record group!!!