Autumn

It is so beautiful here in Indiana.  Wow, it's been a long time since I lived in a place where the leaves changed to such vivid colors.

It really just takes your breath away.  As you can see, I'm always stopping the car, jumping out and taking a picture.

This is called a "burning bush."  (With reference to the burning bush in the Bible.)  

They are all over town.

In other news around town, it is finally time to harvest the crops.  We have been anxious to see how this was done.  This field is partially harvested.  The machinery cuts the corn, tumbles it around somehow, funnels off the corn, and spits everything else back out.  You can see how cluttered the ground is.

This is what is left.

And even more close up it looks like this:

Bits of corn cobs, stalks, etc.

Craig spent a couple of days last week building a ramp for a man in our ward who has had some surgery on his foot, and is in a wheelchair.  He enlisted the help of Brother Morrison, who is a master woodworker.  Brother Morrison had all the tools and know-how.  They built it in one day, and poured the cement for the ramp the next day.

The cement at the bottom allows for a smooth transition from dirt to wood.

Along with the help of Brother Wagner, those three men did an excellent job.  In addition, many others in the branch donated funds for the materials.

I thought I would show you a picture of our primary.  We just finished making masks for an Activity Day.

Because we have no scouting program, the boys are invited to Activity Days.  We try to incorporate some of the scout activities.  Next month we are doing "knots" and learning to tie ties.  Yay!

Oh, BTW, the tall one is actually our Primary President.  LOL

We FINALLY finished painting the back of Sister Sutton's trailer.   What a comedy of errors.

But, the blue streaks from the shutters are gone.

Craig even painted the door jam of the garage door.  It was pretty weather beaten.

I managed to get a picture of Sister Sutton supervising.

I snapped this picture of Craig the other day.  He is eating breakfast and enjoying the sun.

I don't know how he squats like that, but he is comfortable and can stay like that for a long time.  If I remember correctly, I think he's talking to Sam in between cereal bites.

Finally, I wanted to share our trip to the Covered Bridge Festival.
We were invited to go to this at the beginning of summer and have been waiting all this time.
We actually saw several beautiful bridges.

I learned some things about covered bridges.  They were covered to protect them from the elements.

They had windows, which I think is really cool.  Here is Craig and Robert Wagner enjoying the view.  You can also see graffiti.  Sheesh.  Is nothing sacred?

The view at the other end was really beautiful -- all the fall colors.

Here is the bridge in Bridgeton.  Parking is on this side of the bridge, and everyone walks across it to get into the town.

Here is a view from the other side.

Even though the Festival is to commemorate the bridges, believe me, 

IT'S ALL ABOUT THE FOOD AND SHOPPING.

Imagine every town having a giant craft fair.  We spent the day in three different cities.

This was one of the food courts.  We had homemade potato chips with cheese and bacon.  YUM

You can see that the sky is overcast.  It was threatening rain, but luckily stayed dry.  I guess that, no matter the weather, it is always crowded everyday of the 10-day festival.  At least it was not freezing cold.  This picture was taken on a Monday.

Rows and rows of shopping tents selling everything imaginable.

AND, I found a spinning wheel for sale.  A bargain price of $75.

Craig tried on several hats looking for the one that best suited his style.

There were performers.  This guy were advertising a melodrama taking place that afternoon.

And you KNOW we had to have the solid mahogany 57 chevy

There were craftsmen, of course.

The countryside was gorgeous.  Fall leaves, hills, trees, valleys.  Different from the corn fields that surround Rensselaer.  It was a great day with good friends.

Finally, we had our Branch Chile Cook Off last Saturday.  It was a great turn out.  I think the investigators almost outnumbered the members.  NOW, if we can just get them at church.  Maybe we should offer more candy?  Ya think?

Feast of the Hunter's Moon

Think Renaissance Fair - but 1700's early American.  It was wonderful.  All the exhibits were authentic.  The food was authentic and cooked as it would have been.  Everyone - yes just about everyone - was dressed in period costumes....... and that is saying something because it was COLD!!

The participants were "housed" in white tents.  There were hundreds of them.

So many of these skills have been lost.  These women were making yarn.  

Here is another spinner.  Where would you go to even buy a spinning wheel??  And how would you learn to use it??

We thought this guy was cool.  He had rigged a "band saw."  The rope attached to the flexible pole is looped around the piece of wood and then to a foot treadle.  As he presses the foot treadle down, it springs back up automatically, and spins the wood.  He then uses a knife to carve the wood.  I think he is making a table leg.  It was fascinating.

See what I mean about authentic?  These guys were the real thing.

And, frankly, I think they were warmer than we were.

Some families were just hanging out.  Maybe they were performing later.  They all had small fires going and most had pots of "something" cooking.  The whole campground smelled delicious.

There was the obligatory firing of the cannon.  Very loud.  Each group had their own uniforms.

There were performances at several locations.  Here is a fife and drum corps.

You can see that is was muddy.  There was straw in a lot of places because of the mud.

Craig and I discussed that this is just what the roads would have looked like.  Women's skirts would have dragged through this daily.  I can't imagine doing laundry back then. 

There were many, many people dressed in native American Indian dress.  Some were selling crafts.

Some were performing.

These kids were doing the hoop dance.  The little boy was darling to watch.

One family had a teepee instead of a tent.  I like how the American flag is flying outside of it.

The food booths were sponsored by community groups.  We had pork chops that were to die for.  So moist and savory.  We also had fry bread.  Oh so good, fried over a fire in oil and served hot.  There was homemade root beer.  You had to bring your own container or buy one - we passed.  There were homemade apple dumplings (like individual apple pies).  The line was one hour long.  Yeah, we didn't wait.  But our neighbor did!!!  And she bought us one.  Now that's what I call friendship.

Although we thought we would stay all day, we were cold and tired after about four hours.  

To remember our wonderful adventure.  We bought a bowl.  We actually watched the carver work on a bowl like this while we were there.  You can see the carve marks.  It's cherry wood.  And even though the food at the festival was very reasonably priced, the bowl was not.  But then, what would you charge for a bowl that took hours and hours to carve and sand?

My neighbor promptly filled it with gourds and squash from her garden.  It looks love-er-ly.  

Very "fallish".

It was a very enjoyable day to be sure.

Rensselaer is Growing on Us

Rensselaer has it's quirky side.  Here are some great examples:

Sidewalks are only finished in front of lots where homes have been built.  If you live next to a vacant lot, the sidewalk ends and resumes on the other side of the lot.  I walk past this section every day.  I can't help but wonder how they are going to continue the sidewalk when and if a home is finally built there.  Someone should have noticed this, don't you think???

And here's another one.  Kinda looks like the fire hydrant might be in the way.

I totally love this one.  Craig noticed it right away.

Can you see that they have put in a door on the second floor?  We can only assume that they are planning on a porch or balcony.  However, we haven't seen one to date.

Remember how I said that the city will pick up your grass clippings and yard waste?  Well, we found the pile where they are dumped.  The pile is HUGE.  This is just a small section of it.

One of the things I will miss is the clouds.  Most days look like this.  Really beautiful.

AND, gas is fairly cheap here.  $3.09 is not bad.

Fall is coming.  We have had a few cold days.  The crops are dying.  The corn fields all look like this.

Beans look like this.

They should be harvesting them all soon.  Then it will be barren fields everywhere.
The trees are just starting to turn.

We spend a lot of our time doing service.  I thought I would share some of the things we've done.

We worked at Pat Sutton's home.  She is wheelchair bound and needs help around the house.
Craig fixed her front door so that the screen door would swing shut automatically.

We weeded her front yard.  Craig decided to paint her shutters.

They looked great............. until the next day.  It seems that because we painted in the shade on the back side of the house, the paint didn't set right.  During the night, the humidity was so high, that the paint literally ran off the shutters and onto the siding.

I guess all the neighbors came to offer suggestions as to how to remove the paint.  "Goof Off" worked best.  We used four cans and numerous rags to clean it.  It's still not done.  Going back this week to finish the job.  Now, we must decide whether to repaint the shutters.  Sigh.

Craig and I went back to the Francesville Rest Home to finish the shuffleboard courts that we started at the Helping Hands Day of Service.  You can see in the picture the area of cement that is clean.  We power washed the dark area so that the courts could be sealed.

We went with the Sister Missionaries to the Rensselaer Care Center.  They have a garden area that has not been tended in a long time.  It looked a lot like this.

We worked with the sisters and one of the nurses on staff.

The patients would come out a few at a time to watch.  

OK, so it got warm and they all went inside.  Here is Craig taking a much deserved break.  We made a huge dent and you can actually see the garden.  There is a much larger area that is still not done.  The Elder's Quorum is going back on Saturday to finish the job.

The nurse who requested we come was thrilled.  When we were done, she asked if we could pray with her.  She said we were an answer to her prayers.  I told her that she had prayed, God had heard, the Sister Missionaries had listened, and we had answered!!!  Isn't it great when it works like that??

We love serving here.  BUT, we are NOT looking forward to winter and are hoping it is not nearly as bad as last year.

Our primary is preparing for the Primary Program (we have TWO regular attending children and 9 others who may or may not show up.  Oh, yes, and a 3-year old, who had several lines to say!!)  Please remember us in your prayers for missionary work.