Comet

 I don't remember the name. It's long. But this is only seen once every 80,000 years( really? Who could possibly KNOW that?!?!)

But we found it! 

We drove out west and waited and watched. I got a photo. It's very faint, but it's there!

C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) ☄️ 

Then I came home it was positioned perfectly between houses and trees, so I got a better photo! So cool .

Mike and I had friends over for dinner tonight. A new member in our ward, and his wife. They are in their early 60's , perhaps late 50"s. Talk about a hard knock life. Both of them. But they are on good paths now. Many years of sobriety now between the two of them. But, I practically pushed them out the door in order for me and Mike to take our drive to find the comet! To be fair, we did first offer to take them for a ride with us,'West'. To get a better view of the horizon. They declined. 

I'm a nerd. I thought it was great to find it AND get a photo. Especially since my phone was almost dead.

I spent my ENTIRE  day in the kitchen. I DO love my kitchen. And it's a good thing.

I made:

One big apple pie with good home made crust. 

One batch of jalapeno corn bread. 

One BIG bowl of cole Slaw. I have SOOOOO much cabbage. 

One batch 8 pints of bottled salsa. 

One batch  4 1/2 quarts of bottled applesauce. (I left the peelings on this time... I won't do that again. ) ]

Heavenly halibut. 

Green beans. 

Sliced tomatoes. It was a really good dinner.

And we are stuffed. Nearly all from the garden, too!!

2024 St. George Marathon. SWOOSH!

 Damian ran the whole marathon, not just the half as originally planned. And he did it without Don, as he was injured at the last minute. Weight-lifting incident. 

I decided last minute to go watch him finish. Saturday , October 5, 2024. I tracked him on the app. I even helped another person track THEIR runner while waiting since she didn't have cell service.

And then I missed him! I thought I saw him, but it wasn't him... And then I didn't understand the app...it said he'd finished. But how? It wasn't time.

He sprinted the last few blocks, passing about 100 people ( including one cardiac arrest victim!)! When it looked like he was close on the app,  I approached the fence, I watched on tippy- toes, I didn't see him. Then my phone's camera kept turning off during the wait, so I did a practice video. 

AND HE SWOOSHED BY SO FAST I DIDN'T EVEN SEE HIM!

But my camera caught him. So glad I checked it before deleting the "practice" video. Go, Damian!

I have the video, buts its too long to put on my blog. Tell me how to edit it and I'll put in a clip of just him so you can see how FAST he was. It totally messed with the Marathon app algorithm. Ha!

September 25, 2024 Kanarra Falls

 Mike FINALLY got to hike to Kanarraville Falls! 

It was a lovely fall day, the water was a crisp 40 degrees Fahrenheit. Refreshing. Mike drank it. I hope he doesn't get sick for ingesting Creek water!

We left home at 1:00 pm, went withOUT hiking poles, got to Pam's afterwards at about 3:45 pm. We took a lot of breaks to catch our breath in the hilly areas. I don't remember those hills being quite so steep. 

I was going to text this photo of the first falls we saw to Tandy and say, "Look! We made it!" But this is NOT Kanarra Falls.

THIS, however, is!  A one-week old new steel ladder. 

We actually saw two trout! Here's the smaller one.

Leaf Peeping #1

 I named this post leaf peeping number one because I hope we can go again! Only the maples were at their peak. The quakies were beginning, but not at their peak.

Mom and I really enjoyed the view from the top of cedar mountain. There have been many improvements at the trailhead for the "C" trail. Toilets, handicapped access, fencing, benches, it's really nice. And on that day, we could see forever! It was so clear and gorgeous. 

We managed to get a lot of driving in, and even got a little bit lost. My mother actually likes to get lost while on drives. It's one of the things she misses most. I guess I should take her out more often and get lost.

I think the mountains in the far distance are actually Nevada. But I don't really know.

Aunt Tuny called Mom while we were up there.

Yet another failed selfie.

Fall canning, and 48 Years

 Three batches of raspberry jam.

One 5-quart batch of tomatoes.

Two dehydrators filled with fruit leather from older fruit . . . So I would have enough jars to bottle tomatoes.

One big baggie full of Anaheim peppers, roasted, seeded and peeled, diced and frozen.

One medium bowl of peaches peeled and in the fridge. That's the very last of them!

Yesterday I snapped and cooked a big batch of green beans, plus stir-fried a smaller pan of baby green beans with garlic and sea salt.  I also made muffins and pumpkin bread to take to a neighbor family who had a funeral and lots of people gathering. (Kim Holyoak's Dad)

Tina, Mike's niece from St. George stopped by today, so we ate lunch ( leftovers) together. 

I made so much apple juice from wind-fall apples over the past weeks ( I froze about 12 gallons, total) that it burned out the motor in my Sunbeam electric 2 speed juice extractor. Oh well. My hands were tired anyway. And it was kind of old, as far as appliances go.

It was our 48th wedding anniversary on Tuesday. Mike bought me lovely flowers and the perfect card. He's so sweet.