Guests Are Gone - Back to Work - Sort of :-)

Its berry picking time here in Western New York. We have a couple of great Blackberry patches. Our hands and arms make us look like a couple of drug users but the rewards are worth it.
We must have about 20 quarts by now and more are coming. Sister Parkerson has made 30 pints of seedless blackberry jam to date and has many quarts individually quick frozen.

This is my good friend Elder Huffaker giving me a little instruction on how to use the wood turning lathe. I would like to make a rolling pin. This particular piece had rot in the middle but at least gave me some experience in turning wood.

This little friend is a
three toed tree toad ( now say that real fast three times!) He joined us on a trip through the Sacred Grove. We left him there.

As part of our weight loss program we are supposed to get moooore exercise. So cheap me found that the local supermarket chain Wegman's offers a little book of walking tours that when you complete them you get a gift card for their store. So of we go. we started with a three mile trek in Savannah New York at the Audubon Society Conservation site. They have a little museum there and as you can see I can't get this stuffed bird to eat out of my hand. :-)

Sister Parkerson and Sister Huffaker have done a great job with the historical gardens at the Joseph Smith Farm.

Now this is my kind of light pole. Instead of having to climb a 20 foot ladder I just unbolt the base and it hinges down to replace the lamp. The only I gotcha is you got to watch for hornets in the base and the fixture!!!!

A certain someone got the big tractor stuck in the mud and another saved the day by pulling it out with the back hoe. However it got a broken hydraulic lone in the process. I hate working with the messy stuff but we successfully replaced the line and got her working again.

Of course I had to test it when we were done. Its a little bigger that it looks here.

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