Challenge Corners

The bulletin board on the left-hand side of the chalkboard in our Relief Society room was turning into a modge podge of colors.  I purchased some large-sized card stock so I could swap out what was already there and make it a bit more uniform looking.  We have a few pieces of colored cardstock on the board that we pin upcoming birthdays on for the month and also our monthly lesson schedule.  Even though we change the lesson and birthdays every month, the cardstock stays the same.  The cardstock has been stuck so many times with pushpins that they actually have holes, approximately the size of pencil erasers, punched right out. 
I got to wondering if I adhered the old style photo corners to each piece of cardstock then all we would need to do each month is slip in the new papers instead of fastening them with stick pins.

I called quite a few ladies to see if they had any corners but not a single person had any.  I think corners are kind of an old school thing that no one really uses any more.  One of my friends said, "Marsha, make some....I know you can do it....you'll think of something".  Before deciding to make them, I turned to E-Bay and of course they had some but the ratings on self-mounting corners were not very good and I was afraid they would not stick permanently when trying to change out the lesson and birthday papers.  At first I tired folding packaging tape into a triangle but then couldn't figure out how to make it work.  Then I thought, why couldn't I just use some laminating pockets, cuts out some triangles and seal the edges with an iron.  Bingo, I was on to something.

First I put the corners on a piece of paper, placed it where I wanted it to be then adhered my corners to the cardstock using Super Strength Mini Glue Dots.  They don't call them super strength for nothing....If you place these in the wrong spot, it takes an act of congress to remove.......just saying.

What I hadn't thought of was how difficult it was going to be to open up the corners to get the papers to slip in.  Think, think, think.......that's it.....I made some strips of cardstock that I slipped inside each corner and adhered them also using the mini glue dots.

It worked fantastic and made it really easy to slip a piece of paper into the corners.

I need to thank my friend for putting me up to the challenge of making my own corners.  I don't think I would have thought to make them if she hadn't suggested it.  Challenge.....yep, that did it....even though I stayed up till 11:30pm getting it all figured out.



Clogged Utility/Bathroom Sink Drains

Well, I sure wasn't expecting this!.................

 

 

 

Last week our bathroom sink was not draining very well so I got our sink plunger and plunged it really good then I dumped baking soda and vinegar down the drain.  I let that sit for quite some time then I ran really hot water down the drain.  After doing that it seemed to be running pretty good, but still not great.

This morning I noticed that our utility sink was draining very slowly so once again, I got out our sink plunger and started plunging.  I heard a weird noise in the bathroom and the mess you see above is what I walked in on.  Evidently our bathroom sink and our utility sink share the same drain and when I was plunging the utility sink it made the bathroom sink explode.  The mucky mess also got on the walls, floor, and rugs.  I hurried and cleaned up the mess because I had to drive to Arco and pick up my prescription glasses....thinking I would start back on the sinks when I returned home.  I didn't want to leave the house with all that mess.

 

Upon returning home, I started plunging away at the utility sink, but not before placing some paper towels over the drain in the bathroom sink......I sure wasn't going to make a big mess like I did earlier.  I could hear noises coming from the bathroom again but continued plunging the utility sink.  Finally the utility sink was draining really well so I went to see what damage there was in the bathroom.  To my surprise, the paper towels stayed over the drain and caught all the gunk.  When I removed the paper towels, I saw a piece of something that looked like black plastic sticking out of the drain.  I pulled on it and was shocked to see what looked like part of a rubber gasket.  No wonder our sinks had been draining slow.

 

Wow, your guess is as good as mine as to how in the world that got in our drain.  But, it is nice to have free running drains, once again!

Be Careful What You Pray For...You Just Might Get It!...Still Getting Snow

For quite a few years now, our little valley has been in drought conditions.  It seems like a lot of times when someone is giving a prayer, they pray for much needed moisture to quench our little valley.  This morning I gave a little chuckle to myself as I thought of a quote that states...Be careful what you pray for, you just might get it.  Seriously though, we really do need the moisture.  We received about another 4" yesterday and today it has snowed off and on but the wind, oh my, the wind has not made it pleasant to be outdoors.  Drifts, there are drifts everywhere, making the roads a mess.  Really, this is what winters used to be.....................

 

 

February 2017 Visiting Teaching Handout and Poster...Christ's Atonement Is Evidence of God's Love

In making this handout/poster, the statement by Linda K. Burton hit strong and true. The Atonement, such an act of selfless love should send all of us to our knees, giving thanks to our Heavenly Father.

While thinking about the Atonement and looking at different quotes on the internet, I came across one by Louise Smith .  It has a sense of humor to it but still, oh so fitting for many circumstances...You can't reach for anything new if your hands are still full of yesterday's junk.

2017 Inauguration Snow

Here it is, the 20th of January at 10:30am...... Wow, the time has just flown....didn't we just have Christmas?! 
While watching the Inauguration, I looked out our dining room window and it was snowing.  The flakes were not large, but medium sized and it was coming down at a fast pace.  It only lasted a few moment but it was so beautiful.  I was thinking how beautiful and yet at the same time, I was thinking.......NOT AGAIN.  Yes, we do need the snow but I think a week or so of not getting any would be nice.  I still haven't shoveled the few inches of snow from the walkways and driveway that we accumulated earlier this week.

Fire In The Sky

About 7:30-ish this morning as I started to walk down our hallway, there was an orange glow coming in through our dining room window.  I went to look out and immediately went to get my camera so I could take pictures of the fire in the sky.  It was disappearing so fast I hardly had time to get photos but what I did capture was amazing.

 

 

 

 

Swedish Apple Pie

My husband loves apple pie and for me, ahem, well I just never make it.  Making the crust is not my thing.  When I first got married, I really didn't know how to cook and my husband and I got invited to the home of some people in the ward (who have since become very good friends).  I thought I would bring an apple pie....I mean really...how hard could it be to make an apple pie...make a dough, roll it out, slap it in a pie tin, fill it up with apples then cover it with another slab of dough....bake, DONE!  When it came time to eat dessert and the pie was cut, I was slightly embarrassed.  Who knew the apples would totally shrink down and the crust would stand proudly in a dome shape.  Their small son exclaimed.."hey mom, this pie's hollow"!  Moving on....................
I came across a recipe this week for Swedish Apple Pie.  It looked simple enough so I gave it a try.  It was fantastic, really.  In my husbands words..."It's a KEEPER"!  I have not been able to find where I got the recipe from (update: I found the recipe...highlighted above in red) but I copied it down and made a few changes due to not having the ingredients on hand and just making it the way I thought would be easier.  Quite a change from 36.5 years ago when I thought I had to follow a recipe exactly.  Following are photos of my Swedish Apple Pie, and the recipe I used.

 

Shoveling/Scooping Snow....Stop Snowing, Please.

Last Monday (1-9-17) morning we woke up to this....a foggy, dreary, cold day with 4" of new snow.  Oh we so need the snow to replenish our water supply, but oh I am getting tired of shoveling it.

 

 

By 8am, the fog cleared off and the sun came out so I went to work scooping/shoveling snow.  After two hours, I had cleared the walkways, in front of the garage and part of the driveway and the area where we get the mail so it would be better for the mail carrier to get to our mailbox.

 

 

 All during the day when I hear the rumble of snow coming off the roof, I go outside and dig it out of the walkways.  If I don't dig it out right away, it packs down and makes it nearly impossible to clear it out.  You can see in the last picture with the black cat where I had been working on clearing the kitty trail of snow that had just came off the roof.......I still had a ways to go.  I had everything clear when my husband got home from work and decided to clear the roof on the back side of the house over the doorway as it had not come down on its own.  When he was done clearing off that section, he cleared the pathway...........Yeah!  I was tired of scooping/shoveling snow.  I'd been scooping and shoveling for a few days as you can see by how deep the snow is on both sides of the areas I had cleared.

Elk Visitors

On December 31st, we had a couple of elk visitors in our field.  We also seen them one other time but have not seen them in over a week.  It's fun to look out our window at just the right time to see these magnificent animals.  They are much larger than the deer that often frequent our property.  Just for a comparison, here are pictures of both.  The deer are also much closer to our home (just over the fence)...while the elk are much farther away (at the bottom of the field).

 

It would be quite exciting if the elk came next to the house like the deer.  But for now, I guess it's OK to just get a little excited.

Christmas - 2016

I just could not get into Christmas this year.  I usually put my tree and decorations up the day after Thanksgiving but this year I didn't even put them up until December 20th.  I know....bah, humbug!  I didn't even go to our ward Christmas party this year....double bah, humbug!
But, once I did get up the decorations, the excitement starting settling in. 

 

 

 

Each day I got more excited for Christmas and was so looking forward to my family coming.....then things started falling apart.....piece by piece.  Our oldest daughter and her family had planned on coming on the 21st but due to sickness in their family they were not able to come until Friday.  But hey, that was OK!...at least they were able to come.  Our youngest daughter was not so lucky, she was also really sick and was unable to make it......we really missed her! 

On Christmas Eve, our little grandson opened up the traditional Christmas pajamas.  It was definitely a fun Christmas where he was old enough now to realize that something was inside that colored paper. 

On the bright side though, it turned out to be such a wonderful Christmas.  First thing Christmas morning, we just opened what was in the stockings, went to church, then came home to open presents.  Before opening gifts, and while everyone was in their church clothes, we decided to take some family pictures.  This was a process..............

 

When it came time to open presents, we face-timed our youngest daughter and it was just like she was in the room with us.  At first, our grandson was a little hesitant about opening up presents but once he got the hang of it, he was asking whose each present was, then he would take it to them and proceed to rip it open.  So fun.

 

 

 

That evening, we had our traditional Christmas meal by candlelight and yes, the little grand had fun trying to blow out the candles.  When everyone had finished eating, he innocently asked...."more presents?"  Oh, almost forgot to tell about this but it was so cute, I have to tell it....you know, grandma mode.  Our little grandson wanted to say the blessing on the food and in doing so, his dad would say a few words and then he would repeat what his dad said.  At one point, his dad said, "and we're thankful for"...and our grandson said "and we're thankful for, 5, 6, 7....................

Yes indeed, I did get that Christmas Spirit....so much so, that I still have my tree up and I've been watching a Hallmark Christmas movie almost every night since.

Snow At The Mine Hill Bridge

I needed to go to the post office today and while I was up town, I decided to drive up to the mine hill bridge.  I haven't been there for quite some time and I thought it would be pretty with all the snow we have been getting.  I was right..............

 

 

 

 

On the way up to the bridge, I remember seeing a bunch of deer off the side of the road so on my way back to town, I drove very slowly looking for the deer.  There were a group of 4 deer standing in the quakies just off the side of the road.  One deer was standing really close to the road, posing, so I decided to snap a picture.