November 16, 2008

Ready for some cold weather.	There was a much smaller crowd at church Sunday morning.  I think I saw 99 on the board.  We were missing a fair number who were up at Hartwell, GA for the fellowship meetings.  Mark Hochstetler preached on "Personal Integrity & Responsibility".  We were invited to Andy Korver's for lunch and to help celebrate Gilbert's 6'th birthday.  A delicious dinner of lasagna, salad, green beans, cake & ice cream.  We visited for a while and toured their finished home.  Then home for short naps.  In the evening the service was oriented around the children with children's songs, a story, and a sword drill.
The farmer with his livestock.	I was fasting once again on Monday.  I had not intended to do this every week but it seems it is about the only way I can keep on my schedule of weight loss.  And it really is not too bad.  Ina Sue says I normally act kinda grumpy when I get home on Mondays but she is a big supporter of my new diet.  I spent the day at work while she did the laundry.  It was a pretty day but getting pretty cool outside.  I got home around 8:00.
With a real farmer.	We made egg mcmuffins for breakfast on Tuesday.  Then I went straight up to Orangeburg on a service call.  From there the rest of the day was solid service calls.  Ina Sue did some sewing and cleaned out some of the cupboards.  She took the children over to Carl's field where Myron Brubaker was combining the field peas.  He had very kindly offered to give them combine rides so they had really been looking forward to that.  Ina Sue said she even got a chance to take a ride around the field.  After I got home from work we ate a quick supper of asparagus puff pancake then I kept the two oldest children while Ina Sue took Savannah with her to Glenda Stover's baby shower.  Landon seems to have come down with a fever.  After the combine ride he came home and has just laid around all evening.  Definitely not himself!
Supper with Chad Brubakers & Hendrick.	I went in to work Wednesday morning but was able to come home after lunch.  Landon is definitely still sick and seems kinda pitiful.  He is acting really nice about it but is very feverish.  We had planned on leaving the children at Patricks this afternoon but with him being sick we canceled that.  I worked all afternoon on making our supper.  We invited Chad & Kendra and Hendrick over to share our meal with us.
Part of the broccoli harvest.	We had a Middle Eastern meal with an appetizer of roasted red pepper hummus and pita chips, then the main course of falafel sandwiches in pita bread with cucumbers, lettuce & tomatoes.  I had made two different sauces for the sandwiches.  One was a tahini sauce and the other a yogurt/cucumber sauce.  We also served a vegetable soup, tabouli salad (parsley, bulghar wheat, tomates etc), and for dessert we had a mixed fruit dish and basbousa (a cake made with semolina flour and drenched with honey syrup).  It was definitely a different type of meal but I think we all enjoyed it.  After supper Chad's shared a game of "Settler's of Cataan" with us.  Ina Sue and I had never played the game before but really enjoyed it.  It was pretty late before we finished up.  I think Landon is starting to feel a little better.
One of Ms. Jane's puzzles.	Thursday was rainy and somewhat dreary.  Ina Sue put up 12 pints of broccoli from our garden.  I spent the day at work but came home around 5:00 to get ready for our supper appointment.  We dropped the children off with Jane then Daniel rode along with us in to a Volunteer Appreciation supper put on by Generations Unlimited.  We had worked with our youth group several times over the last year to build some handicap ramps for people under their organization.
Keeping out the voles.	The lady in charge had asked me to talk for about 5 minutes about what we had done.  I was not thrilled with the prospect but agreed to say a little.  Unfortunately, after we got there and sat down unobtrusively at a corner table, they came and got us and said they wanted Ina Sue and I to sit at the table up in front of everyone because I was one of the "speakers".  Oh my.....  It was a nice meal though and it did give me a chance to thank them for allowing our group to help others in this way...
My newly planted fatsia (third edition)	Ina Sue made us "Mommy Eggs" for our breakfast on Friday.  Mommy Eggs by the way are what our children call scrambled eggs, in contrast to "Daddy Eggs" which are fried and served with ponhaus.  Ina Sue did the regular cleaning and I did the regular work at the office.  For supper we had aspargus quiche and apple salad.  After supper I finished up two web pages then played a game of "Settlers of Cataan" on the web for a reward. :)
Sewing Carolina a new dress.	I was home for most of the day on Saturday.  I did take Landon with me on a short service call up to Denmark first thing.  After we got back I finished sawing up the tree we had cut down in the back yard and carted it off to the burn pile.  I also cleaned up our lean-to on the back of the shed and tried to organize our garden stuff better.  Then I planted some more of our shrubs, made a wire cage to keep out the voles and planted a fatsia for the third time in the corner of our fence.  Around 4:00 Carolina Sue went along with me over to Danny Heges to help Benita with some mail merge issues she was having on her computer.  After we got back I made up a batch of taco salad for us while Ina Sue bathed the children.  Savannah has been really gassy the last several days and had a very difficult night.