Law Enforcement Torch Run

What a fun week so far! Pulled out of my little funk to do some activities now that we have a car back! Amelia, Phillip, and I can be seen biking around between 8-9 am of late. It is not too windy this week. We went to the pool Monday and Tuesday. I am sporting a fun little sunburn, honestly it doesn't hurt. Right after my mission I went to the beach with my two little brothers and a friend. I got the sunburn of my life, peeled five times, three layers of blisters, and during the healing process my back felt like someone was sticking me with pins for about six days. Yep, must've burned all my nerve endings off. Amelia and Phillip love swimming this year. Phillip gets cold faster so we only stay about a hour. I have to time the pool between naps, it is verrrry strategic. I stripped the varnish off the chairs and little table set during first nap. After swimming I sanded everything as much as possible. It was sooooo hot out in the blazing sun. My new cowgirl hat was much appreciated.

Justin is working late these days. We celebrated FHE without him by going to the park and finding lovely creations made by God. Amelia was playing on the slide when she suddenly started to cry. She hid under the play area just sobbing. She finally told me her poop broke out of her pannies. Poor thing had some diarrhea, probably residual cleansing from her flu on Friday. I cleaned her up and threw away her underwear, disgusting. Why does this always happen in public places? LOL. We stayed to play without underwear, which at times proved to be a little risque with her skirt. We had my favorite dessert at DQ, dipped cones. Phillip ate all of his, part of mine, and the rest of Amelia's. That kid can eat.

Tuesday my new pressure cooker arrived just in time for canning season. After reading the instructions I learned that my pressure cooker cannot be used on a glass top due to its weight. Bummer! Guess I will be canning outside this year on the grill. I finished up a couple projects last week, an outfit for Amelia, a onesie I dyed orange for Phillip, and a new camera strap. The strap is pretty couture! I took apart an old strap for the leather binding, made a new strap with a red ruffle, and sewed the new strap to the old leather bindings. Not too shabby for only $1. Not pictured, I resewed three skirts that were too bunchy around the waist for Amelia, added a onesie bottom to Phillip's Sunday shirt to keep it tucked in, and put a new bum piece in a pair of Phillip's pants.

Tuesday afternoon it was super-duper hot. Karen from Nebraska State Extension came to visit our yard. I called her Monday to request her help on some yellowing and dying plants on our property. She was a wealth of information. She identified several mysterious plants for me! I love knowing the names of my plants. She suggested we remove the bushy dead tree in our yard and put in a shade tree or large bush. The dead bush was not winter resistant, especially on the North-west corner. Our main problem is iron chlorosis, which means that our soil is alkaline, which binds the present iron from being consumed by the plant(s). To correct the problem we should lower the pH by introducing elemental sulfur or phosphate. In the fall we need to spread some sulfur and iron on the ground around the plant so the mixture can be slowly dissolved throughout the summer. She was amazed by the size of our garden grubs. She was not sure how to treat them, she suggested trying an insecticide applied to the dirt and soaked in with water. I also learned that if you want your tomatoes to produce more fruit apply phosphorous, it causes the plant to flower. If you apply iron, the tomato will grow tall but not produce much fruit. I called our local farmer's supply to get a quote on ironite phosphate, I had to laugh when the lady quoted me a price of $1500 per cubic ton. What if I only need an ice cream bucket full? Oh, that will be $.75! Phew, much better. If you have any gardening questions contact your local extension office, it was well worth my time. She also asked me to teach a class for the university's Master Gardener series come next spring on Square Foot Gardening. My garden was the first one she saw grown in the square foot method.

This afternoon we went to the park for a picnic with the ladies in our ward and alllllllll the kiddos. We had a marvelous time eating and talking while the kids played until their cheeks burned rosy red from the heat. Right before we wrapped up a police office asked us if we would be the cheering party for "The Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics." It is the largest grass-roots fundraiser raising $34 million for Special Olympics Programs around the world in 2009. The torch was run into Sidney this afternoon by about 20-25 law enforcement officers. Sister Hackleman organized us all to shout, "Welcome to Sidney" and clap the runners into the park. All the little kids were enthralled with the excitement. Amelia gave high-fives all over and Phillip was amused to discover that many people can clap just like he can. One runner presented Amelia with a fun little pin and a hug. What a fortuitous experience. The runners almost made it to Sidney without fanfare. The group is now at Cabela's spending money, to support my husband's job. Bring on the business.