October adventures

Rockville Park wierdness
My friend Jeannie had the day off, so Saturday she, friend Len, and I hiked for 3 hours over at least 1/2 of the perimeter of the large Rockville Park.  Since it was the 27th of October, we found many goulish places being made ready for the park's nighttime haunted walks.  Here is one of a large spider holding a redhaired woman prisoner.

Sprouting Lesson
I was asked to teach the Relief Society women on Oct 11th how to sprout seeds for eating.  Here you can see:  mung bean, lentil, wheat, alfalfa, and other wonderful seeds already sprouted.  They can be used in salads, soups, omletes, bread, meatballs, spegehtti, you name it!  Very easy and good for you since, when sprouted, they have many needed amino acids used in building our bodies.  I supplied information sheets and a plastic mesh for use in either regular or wide mouth canning jars as well as wheat so the women could do their own sprouting.  Several of the gals really have been going to "town" on this knowledge.

Tarek ad Bjorn Barenbroch
In 1993 our family housed Bjron as a German  exchange student for the school year in Rexburg.  He is the same age a Sara.  Last year and now this year he and his first child, Tarek, visited me here in Fairfield for a few days and then went on to visit other friends in the area.  Tarek is teaching his day how to play a marble game our famiy has had for years.  Bjorn is an air traffic controler at the Bremen Air Port in Germany.

                                                                  Dr G's Pumpkin Patch

Politically carved pumpkins

 

For days before Halloween, many in our ward and neighborhood can be found gutting and carving 500 or more pumpkins donated to Dr Craig Gillespie by Larry at Larry's Produce for his wonderful lighted showing of local talent on Halloween.  Several families make carving these golden objects a family home evening project.  I got to gut many sizes of pumpkins for 3 days.  Below is a very large pumpkin that I opened on the side for someone to create a design on the oposite side.  The inside, or guts, of this pumpkin were so very interesting, like a cave complete with mysterious growth, that I just had to take a picture.   I saved the seeds, some for growing pumpkins in my own garden and some for roasting and then eating.

 

 

 

Rows and rows of lit carved pumpkins decked shelving and tables in the front yard of Dr G's home.  Can you see the snake on the ground that I drilled holes into after cutting and gutting LOTS of small pumpkins?  By 7 p.m. it had a head and a tail, but not yet in this picture.

 

 

Costumes and lit pumpkins are the fun of this Halloween night.  The pumpkins are really a sight when seen in the dark.  Since rain was supposed to start at about 6 p.m., tents were erected over ALL of the display.  This is quite a feat:  gutting, carving, placing, getting equipment in place, etc., and Dr G has many helpers.  He also has a pot luck on the night of Halloween for anyone who wants to come with a dish to pass.  He often has about 900 lookers.  Parking is tricky along the narrow Green Valley Road by his home, but the treats are wonderful!

The King and I

My recent trip to the coast.

This past Tuesday my friend, King, said to pack a lunch and when he arrived said, "Dog park, not far." A few weeks ago he had taken me to the Marin County Dog Park and showed me where he and dog BO like to romp. I thought that this trip would be not far from there. HA!

Not Far, my foot! We were on a straight run, 2 hours of it, passing the famed dog park, going NW, and ending up at Pt Reyes Light House along the Pacific Coast, no breaks!

What an adventure! I quickly found out that small bumps to a car passenger are HUGE ones to a motorcycle rider in the back! I heard and felt every bump in my neck. I honestly thought I would be seeing a chiropractor ALL day Wednesday.

Not only that, but neither of us had an easy time getting OFF of the cycle. Age does set in! Talk about cold and stiff. My index fingers were numb, not due to the cold so much since I had on good motorcycle gloves, but due to the fact that I had been holding onto the struts behind me that secure the back seat to the cycle! This at least kept me ON the bike and not flying off into the barrow pit.

But when we arrived, the views and waves were worth it. We were atop a huge Cliff with the light house at the bottom on the edge of the sea. Just our luck that the light house was closed Tuesday and Wednesday, but we still had great views. I could see the Murres on the cliffs and rocks below.

King suggested eating our picnic lunches at a beach and we headed back to South beach that had lots of sand, but I was amazed that the sand was very coarse, not like any other beach I had ever been on. The rocks over which the water moves must be different.

I would love to go back again, this time with a camera and my binoculars AND in a car! King took the pictures sent here.

On the way back, I wised up and did a bit of "Posting--English style" so that my legs took the brunt and not my neck. Did NOT have to visit the Chiropractor!

It is nice to know that King deems me as good a friend as his dog, BO, since he takes me to the dog parks!

Jane's adventures keep going on!

Never a dull moment in the life of Jane

garden vegies
I love to saute my garden produce for breakfast.  I probably have potatoe, onion, zuccini, yellow squash, squash flowers, egg, and tomatoes.

Rockville Hills Park Lake
In the fall Canada Geese gather and a Great Egret is overseeing their meeting from his perch on a dock.
Hunter and Haydn and I trekked up the trail into the park for a fall adventure.  It is always fun to see what is new.

Garter Snake
Hunter, the outdoors-survivor, is afraid of nothing.



Haydn heading for college students
A class was studying the invertebrate zoology of the lake.  Of course, Haydn needed to be present in the adventure.  See him running in the bottom middle of the picture?

Muir Woods in October
Jeannie Foster and I headed west into the Redwood forest on her day off, 5 Oct.  We came across many beautiful, serene places the one above.

All Burned Out
Jane and the twin burns.  These trees survive almost everything including diseases and fire!  Many are several hundred years old.  I am learning about the stream and its livng properties as well as the forest from two great books that I bought.

Columbus Day Hike
Holly, friends Len and Marlin, Haydn and Hunter, and I headed North-west last Monday for a wonderful adventure-filled time at the Bothe State Park NW of Napa.  the rest had fun at the creek while Marlin and I visited the nature center.  Then we had lunch at Gotts and then watched the boys rock climb at a great place in Napa.

Cub Scouts trash pick-up Service project.
These are 14 of our 17 cub scouts plus 5 adult helpers.  We picked up trash along the highway north and south of Rockville Hills Park for an hour.  We have done this for two years now, and it really helps create a lovely environment plus giving respect for nature.  The boys added this to their earning of the Citizenship belt looop.
 

Inspiration

         I am constntly amazed at the almost continuous inspiration I receive in my life.  By this I mean that as I go about different activities, thoughts come to me that help or solve a situation. 

        For instance, last Saturday Haydn and Hunter and I were hiking in Rockville Hills Park and came to the lake at which were about 10 college students wading collecting specimens for an invertebrate zoology class.   As we aproched a table where their specimens were displayed, one girl was concerned about something on her hand.  I thought it was a wood sliver.  But out of my mouth came, "Hair, use your braid!" and I grabbed her braid and got her hand up to it and brushed the end of the braid over the hurt place like a paint brush.  She then indicated that it had been a bee sting and that the stinger was now no longer in it.  The forester produced a sting-ease medication, and all was well.  They all were thankful that my quick thought and order had worked so well.  So was I!

        Then on Monday while at Rush Ranch for a panel painting project, four sticky places needed to be gotten rid of.  Sandpaper was suggested, but none of the 6 of us had any.  Then, popping into my mind was the fact that this was a ranch with a work shop across the large parking space and perhaps some was there.  Finding a Docent working nearby, I asked her if she had sandpaper and she asked what number.  100 was one of the painter's answer, so I relayed this information and soon had two wood-blocks surrounded with the needed sandpaper, which I quickly used to make fast work of getting rid of the unwanted surface.   After returning the sandpaper blocks, I realized that I was not needed since there were already too many to do the job, so I headed home thankful that I had filled a need.

        Later, I got a call to help a mom with her 2 day-old baby needing a look-see at proper latching--which is my specialty concerning breastfeeding.  I helped with new techniques and suggestions, and all went well then and later.  It seems the Lord really cares about these nursing mothers and sends inspiring thoughts to me when I am about this business.

       Much later, I got a text from a granddaughter concerning creating a thesis statement.  I texted back several times and was amazed at the information that I gave with hardly even thinking about the answers!  She was very thankful as was I to again fill a need.

      I really feel and know that the Lord helps us as we strive to do His will.

Fun trip to Utah Aug 29 - Sept 4, 2012

I had the priviledge of flying to Utah this past week for several Marsh Morford events. 

 

On Thursday evening the 29th of August, we attended a BYU-Washington State foot ball game.  BYU won 30 - 3, I believe. 

 

Then on Friday morning Alisa took me and the two little ones to Benjamin Park for a get together with other home school mothers while the older children were at an Academy. 

 

 On Saturday morning, chores took up much of the time and in the late afternoon Lasangia was created to cook while we attended the baptism of Nastia and Ruslan.  They had been taking the missionary discussions for the last month and were now ready for their next journey.  The extended family that resided in Utah came to witness the ordinance and then dinner and games.

 

Sunday at church the two children were confirmed (of course the baptism and confirmation were in Russian with Marsh performing the priesthood ordinance.)

 

Monday saw us adventuring to the mountains for a small time of river activity.  Ruslan and Nastia were estatic.

After that we dressed in our church clothes, prepared sack lunches, mounted the 15 passenger van, and drove for 2 hours to Brigham City for the Temple Open House.  It took at lease an hour of slowly walking in the sun around the temple block with hundreds of others before we entered the temple area for the explaination video.

In complete silence we entered the temple proper and admired the workmanship, ordinance rooms, baptismal faunt, and and peach motif of this the newest temple.  Alisa wanted these newly baptized children to have an understanding of what a temple was so that in 2 weeks, they will join many baptized Utahans and attend the dedication in their designated areas.

 

 

 

River experience

 

 

Emma posing in a tree

 

Morford river bonding

Chores and farm life in Genola, Utah

All of the Morford children have daily house and farm chores, and I loved taking pictures of them.

 

 

 

Chase is cleaning the Microwave

 

Chris gathering corn ears

Ruslan and Chris cutting and carrying corn stalks to the goats

James washing the bathroom mirror

Ruslan cleaning the stove

Ruslan watering the sled dogs

Nastia watering and feeding the rabbits

Chase feeding the chickens

Nastia sorting laundry

Lucy feeding the goats

Nastia in her 2nd childhood

Nastia watching dad separate goat milk for drinking and butter and ice cream

Lucy helping feed goats as Marsh milks them

Fattening future bacon

Baptism Day at The Marsh Morfords

The Marsh and Alisa Morford Family

      We have Marsh, Chris, 15, with Lucy, 2, Patty Lyn, 12, Ruslan, 15, James, 4, Nastia, 10,
                                                       Chase, 6, Emma, 10, and Alisa

                              The Extended family celebrating the baptism of Nastia and Ruslan

Present were the Marsh Morfords, Hanna Bennion Redfern and Husband Chris, the Jack Morfords, the Banners (Alisa's parents), the Sara and Nick Warnicks, and me, Jane.

                                                   The Morford grandchildren at the baptism

James M, Chase M, Tyson W, Connor W, Damon W, Kelton W, Emma M, Patty Lyn W, Chris M.  They and the Banner cousins all sang at the Baptism.

 

Nastia's desert

Alisa is explaining the ice cream desert she and Nastia made for the family dinner.

 

The three youngest

What cute kids these three were and very happy.

Kelton, Lucy, and James

 

Patty Lyn with her "living doll" Lucy

What can I say?  I have beautiful grandchildren!

 

Three of the Morford girls in hair bands all ready for the baptism.

Emma, Patty, and Nastia

 

The Morford boys and Lucy all ready for the baptism.

Chris, Lucy, Ruslan, James, Chase