In other news

Am I the only one tired of turning on the t.v., radio, or opening the newspaper to nothing but doom and gloom? The economy is so bad we are all going to be living on the streets unless we can afford an old refridgerator box to live in. Mr. Obama walks on water. Or not, depending on who is being interviewed. We all need to run around in a panic because someone forgot to get their pig immunized.

Whatever happened to good news?

Last Saturday and awards banquet was held for LDS books released in 2008. The book I nominated did not win, but I was happy about the winners that I had read because I loved them all. Here is a picture of the winners.

You can go here to read more about this award and the books, their authors and how to nominate books for next year's awards. And even though it is not out yet, this will be my pick for best historical fiction. This year's winner in that category was my top pick when my first choice was not a finalist. She is the only author that I have read that has come close to evoking the same emotional experience when reading as David does. Deep, gut wrenching, soul touching experiences that engulf my entire being as I read. If I could choose only 1 author's works to have in my house, they would be David's works. If I could pick 2, H.B. Moore's would be my second pick to go along with them.

Our stake president has asked every home in our stake boundaries to have a garden this summer. I need to get my garden area tilled and planted. I hate my garden area and want to move it. I have been toying with the idea of tilling up most of the back yard and turning it into garden space, but mine is not the only opinion on the matter and the other opinion is saying no. Don't ask, it gets really complicated really fast. Since I don't plan on being in this house much longer and he can have it and all it's flaws, I am not going to argue. What I am doing is planting every space I can.

The other day Brandi, Ethan, Jacob and I pulled weeds. And pulled weeds. And pulled weeds. And I think I pulled something in my back, I don't think backs are supposed to hurt like this even with Ankylosing.

Last year I cleared an area in the front yard for a fairy garden. I took out the grass, fixed up the pond, Matt built me a waterfall for the pond and I made and area for the swing. Brandi and I planned what plants we wanted in there for the fairies to use for their homes and dresses and playground and what would invite them to live there. We made a path from the sidewalk to the porch and spent the winter dreaming of this summer and sitting in the swing on warm nights enjoying the flowers.

This spring about all that came up were weeds. Note to self: if you are going to use weed barrier cloth, buy the expensive heavy duty stuff, not the wimpy grey flannel stuff.

So after all the weed pulling, we planted. Again. This time we decided that we would add something besides flowers. We put flowers in, but I went to my favorite nursery and got some rhubarb and a currant bush to add. I was going to add a couple of boisenberries but they didn't have any. I'll have to order them from my other favorite nursery. (After I got home I realized that I meant to ask Noelle about crab apple trees but we were so busy talking about other stuff that it slipped my mind.) Brandi and I decided that we are going to put some melons in the fairy garden, some more berries and maybe we will even put a couple pea or bean plants in there as well. Then we can sit on the swing and snack at the same time. Brandi also wants me to get a couple of those topsy turvy things for tomatoes. Any thoughts on that? If we do that, then the small backyard space can be used for other veggies. And instead of petunias in the porch pots, I think we will fill them with strawberries.

While doing some research on the no sugar eating I ran across this


Dr. Stan Gardner's website

And speaking of no sugar, I made some caramels the other night. I used butter, Agave nectar and coconut cream. I don't particularly like coconut, but found that it lends itself well to caramels. I also found out that when the recipe says "stir constantly" it means stir constantly. I also found out that when the biggest ingredient is butter, you don't have to butter your dish to keep it from sticking. If you do you just get greasy, slippery caramels. I feel like I am having to learn how to cook all over again. At least so far everything has been edible and the kids even ask for me to make things a second time.

I think that just about uses up all my news items. Feel free to go back to your regularly scheduled gloom and doom.

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Indeed.