By Alan on Jul 31 in Daily Inspiration tagged kids, on the skids, the same girl, times got rough, workin | Comments Off

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For The Family

By Alan on Jul 31 in Blog tagged appreciate, enough, funeral, good things, happiness, I wish you enough, in life, joys, loss, possess, rain, satisfy, sustain, wanting, wish, your love | Comments Off

I Wish You Enough

Recently I overheard a elderly couple in their last moments together at the airport with their daughter. They had announced the departure. Standing near the security gate, they hugged and the father  said, 'I love you, and I wish you enough.'

The daughter replied,'Dad, our life together has been more than enough. Your love is all I ever needed. I wish you and Mon enough, too.' They kissed and the daughter left.

The Couple walked over to the window where I was seated. Standing there I could see they wanted and needed to cry.

I tried not to intrude on his privacy, but they welcomed me in by asking, 'Did you ever say good-bye to someone knowing it would be forever?' 'Yes, I have,' I replied. 'Forgive me for asking, but why is this a forever good-bye?' 'We are old, and she lives so far away. We have challenges ahead and the reality is - the next trip back will be for one of our funerals,' he said.

'When you were saying good-bye, I heard you say, 'I wish you enough..' May I ask what that means?' The elderly man began to smile. 'That's a wish that has been handed down from other generations. My parents used to say it to everyone...' He paused a moment and looked up as if trying to remember it in detail, and he smiled even more. 'When we said, ‘I wish you enough,’ we were wanting the other person to have a life filled with just enough good things to sustain them.’

Then turning toward me, he shared the following as if he were reciting it from memory. . . 

I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright no matter how gray the day may appear.

I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun even more.

I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive and everlasting.

I wish you enough pain so that even the smallest of joys in life may appear bigger.

I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting.

I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess.

I wish you enough hellos to get you through the final good-bye.

The couple again began to cry and walked away. They say it takes a minute to find a special person, an hour to appreciate them, a day to love them; but then an entire life to forget them.

TAKE TIME TO LIVE....

To all my friends and loved ones, I WISH YOU ENOUGH!!!

Joseph Ollivetti
For The Family 

By Alan on Jul 28 in Blog tagged America, C. L. Bryant, Glenn Beck, It's a great day, leader, NAACP, USA | Comments Off

Former NAACP Leader – C.L. BRYANT

It’s A Great Day In The U.S.A.

Joe Ollivetti
For The Family

By Alan on Jul 28 in Blog tagged America, Glenn Beck, God, great men, Jesus Christ, Mormon | Comments Off

STAND AND FOLLOW GREAT MEN

GLENN BECK

Joe Ollivetti
For The Family

By Alan on Jul 27 in Blog tagged care, corner, cowboy, cruel, dance, dirty, ears, experience, fences, forgive, grudge, influence, interfere, judge, judgment, kindly, life, love, older, saddle, sermons, skunks, think, tractor, troublemaker, wallow, whispered, wisdom, words | Comments Off

WORDS of WISDOM from the SADDLE

By Alan on Jul 27 in Blog tagged beef, cereal, crisis, crops, emergency, food, food prices, food shortage, fuel, higher prices, meat, milk, obwise, pork, prices, record highs, soy beans, storage, turkey, water | 1 Comment

FOOD CRISIS

The world is in serious trouble on the

food front.

The US Department of Agriculture said the worst drought in half a century is expected to drive up the price of milk, beef and pork next year, according to The New York Times.

Some food prices, like chicken and turkey, are expected to rise as early as this fall.

“The poultry category is the smallest animal category, and we expect to see more of an effect this year because they grow the fastest and will be first to be impacted by higher feed prices,” said Richard Volpe, an economist with the USDA.

The data, released on Wednesday, shows increases in beef, dairy, eggs and pork in 2013.

“It can take up to nine months for rises in agricultural commodity prices to filter through into higher food prices in the stores,” said Paul Dales, senior US economist at Capital Economics Ltd., according to Bloomberg.

Meteorologists are predicting that conditions behind the drought will continue, putting crops at risk and raising food prices as well as the specter of a food crisis, according to Al Jazeera.

The Guardian noted that early this spring farmers planted 96 million acres of corn, the most in 75 years. A warm spring helped the crop, but the scorching heat and drought conditions of summer have ensured only 26 percent of the crop is rated good to excellent.

Al Jazeera noted that corn is a “mega-crop” involved in the production of everything from meat to cereal and fuel.

The US is the leading producer and exporter of corn, the Guardian noted. Corn accounts for four-fifths of the US grain harvest and exceeds China’s rice and wheat harvests combined. Corn prices have increased by nearly one half since the beginning of June and reached an all-time high in mid-July, said the Guardian.

The US Department of Agriculture predicts a sharp drop in corn exports, with prices for corn and soy beans already reaching record highs, said Al Jazeera.

The government said 88 percent of the corn crop and 77 percent of the soybean crop has been affected by the drought, according to The Times.

Lester R. Brown, the president of the Earth Policy Institute, wrote for the Guardian, noting that world stocks of grain will fall further near the end of this year, worsening an already precarious global food situation.

“The world is in serious trouble on the food front. But there is little evidence that political leaders have yet grasped the magnitude of what is happening,” he said.

ISN”T IT ABOUT TIME

YOUR FAMILY GOT SOME

EMERGENCY FOOD STORAGE?

(Scriptures say)

  “O be wise; what can I say more?”

Jacob 6: 12

BE SURE YOU HAVE WATER!

http://surewatertanks.com

For The Family 

By Alan on Jul 24 in Daily Inspiration tagged a visit to an advanced Master Gardener's farm, asparagus, currants, Dennis Adamson, Duane and Erln Madsen, gooseberries, Mapleton, master gardner, raspberries, Ut | 2 Comments

A Visit to an Advanced Master Gardener’s Farm

A couple of weeks ago many of our Advanced Master Gardener Group visited the farm of one of our members.  Duane and Erlyn Madsen’s farm is in Mapleton, UT.  They have 20 acres and are trying to be more self sufficient.  When you first walk down the lane you pass a large traditional garden.

We then went inside a large building they call Mapleton Manor.  This is used for many family functions, storing farm equipment and once a year for an Advanced Master Gardener/Master Gardener lab and luncheon.  Erlyn was busy preparing for the luncheon.

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Her husband Duane gave us a brief outline of what they were doing on the farm.

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He said it is in a low cold area of Mapleton so they don’t grow any fruit that has a pit.

They have 2 chicken coops and this year they have 100 baby chicks.  They were offering them free to anyone that wanted to take them home.

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They had a well drilled and at 360′ they hit water.  A column shot 200′ into the air.  They were hoping that it would turn into an artesian well, but after things settled down the water only came up 200′ into the well.  They have a pump on it that runs their irrigation system for the farm.  The rock is a fake one that covers the electrical system for the pump and the controls for the irrigation system.

For instance they irrigate their raspberries 2 hours every other day when the berries are ripening.  They have a large orchard of filbert (hazelnut) trees.  They have several apple trees.  They are also looking into growing apricot trees from Uzbekistan that are especially hardy and also said to be sweeter than the American and Western European varieties.  They may even try a cold hardy pistachio.

Duane is also proud of his asparagus.  He makes a trench 18” deep and 18” wide and then fills it with organic mulch.  He then continues to mulch it every year.  He grows millennium, purple that he likes better and Jersey Giant which he likes best of all.  He took us to the purple asparagus and broke some off to eat raw.  I was surprised how good it tasted.

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One of their specialties are raspberries, currants and gooseberries.  They like them for their antioxidant properties as well as their flavor.  They turned us loose in their patches and we gobbled down red, purple, black and yellow raspberries and blackberries.

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They also had black currents  and Invicta gooseberries to try.  Duane said that the Invicta gooseberries had to be fully ripe when picked.

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I don’t think that I had ever had a gooseberry before, but I found the flavor to my liking.  My favorite is still the blackberry. 

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Duane talked about the  Triple Crown and Chester blackberry varieties which are thornless and are floricane varieties.  This means they grow on last years canes.  The Prime Jim, Prime Jan & Prime Ark 45 are primacane varieties that grow in the current years growth and fruit in Aug-Oct.

We ate so many berries that we almost ruined our appetites for the luncheon.  While we were eating our luncheon Janet Stocks talked to us about the Cornaby family raspberry farm in Salem, UT.  They grow 20 acres of raspberries and they harvest with an automatic harvester.  They only grow primacane varieties so all the fall pruning that they have to do is to cut the canes down to the ground each year.

Erlyn provided us with a list of the red  raspberries
that Janet gave her.  Autumn Bliss:

This variety does not have as many berries as other varieties, but are great for fresh eating.  They are a rounded berry and very sweet.  They have truly big berries, but also big seeds.

Maybe this has one has the biggest berries of all the varieties grown in their raspberry farm.  Carolines: Of their 20 acres 14 are planted in Carolines. They have the smallest seeds, have the traditional raspberry flavor, are lighter in color and can be picked when they are a little greener.  These are Janet’s first choice for jam.  They are very high in antioxidants.

Heritage: A good spring bearer. This has a heavy crop.  It is a sweet berry and softer than the other.  Not as disease resistant as the fall bearers they grow.

Jacqueline: This has a long and skinny oval berry. It is very dark purple with a rich, intensely sweet flavor.  It is quite seedy but, holds up well.

Joan J.: The core of Joan J has a hook at the bottom which makes this one harder to pick than other raspberries.  It is an awesome berry and ranked very high on the antioxidant list.

Polka: This is a SHOW berry.  It is 2nd biggest of those on this farm.  It is a pretty red but, lighter in color.  They come on earlier by about 2 weeks of the other fall varieties listed here.  They have a tight skin which makes them shine and they hold their shape well.  This variety is a favorite for fresh picking and for selling at the farmers’ market. They are planting  more of this kind.  Janet puts a fondant in the cavity and then dips them in chocolate.

They don’t grow the black raspberries because they have a lot of seeds are also tricky to prune.

The ones that the Madsen’s grow are: Huron: large, glossy attractive fruit, ripens early, bred to replace “Bristoll Black” which is also early but smaller.

Munger: Most disease resistant

Jewel: Superior quality, excellent flavor.

The purple raspberries they grow are: Brandywine: fairly erect, large, unsurpassed for pies, jams & jellies out produces reds by 25%, place 30” apart.

Royalty: sweetest of the purple raspberries, and good for jams and jellies.

The Taylor a red/purple raspberry:  the Madsen’s think it is the best flavored of the reds/purple when really ripe, ready the first week of July.

Erlyn had the following comment on yellow raspberries, Brent Black grows 41 varieties of red raspberries (no purples or blacks) and a few varieties of yellows at his Utah State experimental station in Kaysville, UT.  Every year they have taste tests and every year the yellow Anne’s win for the best taste of the reds and yellows he is growing.

Janet had several flavors of the jams that they make.  They had a raspberry/jalapenos that she recommended trying it on the ham sandwiches we were making.  I took her up on this and it was delicious with just the right amount of kick.

Janet also told us that their farm also provides many of the raspberries for the Bear Lake Raspberry Days held each August.  Bear Lake, especially the Utah side, used to produce large crops of raspberries.  This has declined in the last few years.  This is similar to Strawberry Days in Pleasant Grove, UT where I reside.  There used to be many acres of strawberry here and the celebration was started over 100 years ago to showcase the strawberries.  Now they have to be shipped in for our celebration.  Garden City, UT on the shores of Bear Lake is also known for their famous strawberry shakes.  

There was even an article in the New York Times in 1989 about these shakes.  My wife especially likes these shakes since she is an ice cream nut.

Of course there are many more varieties of all of the blackberries, currants, gooseberries, and raspberries than were listed in this article.

“I went down into the garden of nuts to see the fruits of the valley…”  Song of Solomon. 6: 11

Next week:  Tips on growing and pruning

blackberries and raspberries.

Dennis Adamson - Master Gardner
adamsond@juno.com = Send Dennis any questions you may have!
For The Tamily

By Alan on Jul 24 in Blog tagged Assembly, Benjamin Franklin, constitution, Convention, evolved, george Washington, God, hand, Independence Hall, John Fiske, National, politics, The Almighty, the fainger, Thomas Madison | 1 Comment

The Constitution Evolved With The Finger Of The Almighty Hand.

Michaelanglo

As the delegates shuffled into Independence Hall during that hot Philadelphia summer of 1787, Thomas Madison was tense and uneasy as he failed to mention to them the real cause for calling the convention: to present his Virginia Plan … even to present a new national constitution.

Madison knew that if the delegates had understood his true intention, they may not have participated as they had no idea that they would be asked to form an entirely new national system.

Had not America’s two most inspired and respected citizens, George Washington and Benjamin Franklin, sat in council with them, and vigorously promoted the plan, the entire Convention might have ended before it began.

Benjamin Franklin pointed out, the interference of “all their prejudices, their passions, their errors of opinion, their local interests, and their selfish views.”  Perhaps it was Franklin himself who understood better than anyone else that something bigger than anything they could imagine was behind the Convention.

Franklin humbly offered the last and only solution as he declared:
The small progress we have made after four or five weeks close attendance and continual reasonings with each other — our different sentiments on almost  every question, several of the last producing as many noes and ays, is methinks a melancholy proof of the imperfection of the Human Understanding.  We have gone back to ancient history for models of Government, and examined the different forms of those Republics which, having been formed with the seeds of their own dissolution, now no longer exist.  And we have viewed Modern states all aroung Europe, but find none of the Constitutions suitable to our circumstances.

In this situation of the Assembly, groping as it were to find political truth, and scarce able to distinguish a when presented to us,  how has it happened, Sir, that we have not hitherto once thought of humbly applying to the Father of lights to illuminate our understandings?  In the beginning of the Congest with Great Britain, when we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayer in this room for the divine protection.  –Our prayer, Sir, were heard, and they were graciously answered.  All of us who were engaged in the struggle must have observed frequent instances of a Superintending providence in our favor.  To that kind Providence we owe this happy opportunity in consulting in peace on the means of establishing our future  national felicity.  And have we now forgotten that powerful friend?  Or do we imagine we no longer need his assistance?  I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth –that God governs in the affairs of men.  And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid?  We have been assured, Sir, in the sacred writings, that “except the Lord build the House, they labour in vain that build it.”  I firmly believe this; and I also believe that without His concurring aid we shall succeed in the political building no better than the builders of Babel:  We shall be divided by our little partial local interests; our projects will be confounded, and we ourselves shall become a reproach and bye word down to future ages.  And what is worse, mankind may hereafter from this unfortunate instance, despair of establishing Government by Human Wisdom and leave it to chance, war and conquest.

I therefore beg leave to move — that henceforth prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven, and its blessings on deliberations, be held in this Assembly.

George Washington, as we have previously demonstrated, certainly understood Franklin’s sentiments as well as anyone at the Convention, and therefore would happily add his own endorsement to such counsil.  Standing before the Convention, during a heated debate, Washington declared:  ”If to please the people, we offeer what we ourselves disapprove, how can we afterward defend our work?  Let us raise a standard to which the wise and honest can repair; the event is in the hand of God!”  

Historian John Fiske commented that something “from that moment the mood in which [the delegates] worked caught testimony from the glorious spirit of Washington.”  Indeed, the testimony from such spiritually powerful men seemed to change the entire environment, as a spirit of brotherhood and compromise, at last, entered Independence Hall.  The Lord had intervened once again.

Timothy Ballard
The American Covenant

For The Family 

By Alan on Jul 23 in Blog tagged fun, stop running, The Family | Comments Off

I have NO IDEA who created this but he probably has too much time on his hands!

After you click on the link below, keep the cursor out of the pucture UNTIL THE GUY STOPS RUNNING!

Then, place the cursor about one inch above his head.

Watch what happens!

CLICK TO SEE!

Kirk Matson
For The Family

By Alan on Jul 22 in Blog tagged emergency supplies, fear, fear no, food, Jesus Christ, LDS, Mormon, prepare, second soming, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, water | Comments Off

 LDS Church Leaders Preparing Us For
The Second Coming of Jesus Christ

IF YE ARE PREPARED. . .YE SHALL NOT FEAR.

Food and Emergency Supplies!

http://OBWise.com

WATER!

http://surewatertanks.com

For The Family