Fall Festivals

We went to Glendale Crossing Days to enjoy their fall festival and realized that it was a very big event.  This usually very small town (smaller than Hope) was covered on all sides with booths and vendors.  We like to wander around these flee market style events.  Occasionally we even buy something... like kettle corn.  Grandpa Jenkins and Grandma Jane came to join us for the marathon of crafts.  There were over 500 booths, and there were over twenty thousand visitors.  We walked and talked until we dropped.  No real bargains but beautiful weather and great company.

This sign is on the edge of town about a 1/4 of a mile form the train track and a restaurant called the Whistle Stop Cafe.  The booths extended past this sign for another 1/4 mile.  Lots of exercise!


Tyler joined us and Adam deserted us for part of the day.
Beth wandered around with her 'granny' and aunts who were visiting.



 The Amish community that is just south a few miles brought baskets and quilts.  It was beautiful handiwork.

The old Massey Ferguson tractor ran the ice cream churn, it was a 5 gallon churn! 

Fall festivals have a way of bringing back simple pleasures of good food and family fun.

Hunter or Conservationist?

Grandpa Shoaf is definitely both.  Paul cares about animals of all kinds.  For as long as we can remember, Paul has hunted everything from squirrels to deer.  He has also rescued everything from skunks, quail, pheasant,  foxes, to deer.  Last year after the floods of spring, Grandpa brought a fawn home that had been separated from its mother.  He bottle fed it and raised for a few months.  It finally jumped the enclosure and took off to freedom.

 A couple of weeks ago, someone called Grandpa Shoaf for another rescue.  A young deer tried to jump a barbed wire fence and got its hind leg tangled in the wire.  It was found dangling and just barely holding itself up by its front legs.  Grandpa and Grandma Shoaf went to free it.  Grandpa had to try to release the wire while Grandma got the leg loose.  It couldn't stand so they brought it home and wrapped the leg and are keeping it in the barn until it can walk.  Grandpa said it was Grandma's 'first deer' (her first catch) and Grandma Shoaf just rolled her eyes.   Grandpa won't let it out until hunting season is over to give it a fair chance at recovery.

 Diane (Beth's mom) couldn't wait to see it and we were surprised it let us touch it.

The deer was old enough to no longer have spots but it was still every young.

We have learned a lot about caring for animals from Grandpa Shoaf and we have lots of fond memories of seeing and enjoying wild animals close up.

A true outdoorsman will always be the first to be a real conservationist.

Apple Cider

Beth and Tyler wanted to make apple cider at Grandpa Shoaf's house like we used to when the kids were little.  Joel and I and our kids got to go help.  Diane (Beth's mom) and Beth picked apple and we used up all the apples Grandpa Shoaf had.  We knew it had been a dry year, but we didn't know how dry until we started pressing.  We started with about 5 1/2 bushels of apple and only got 5 1/2 gallons of juice.  Paul said he had never seen so much pulp and so little cider before.  The apples were really 'dry'.  We weren't discouraged though, we plan to make a day of it again next year.



We had to remove a few unwanted guests.



Grandma Shoaf purchased this press when they were first married for $17, it was old then.



 Cranking the press was the hardest part, harder than it looked.  Everyone took turns to get the job done!



Look at our treasure, liquid gold!



Grandma Jenkins' Geek Squad

We sure take for granted how easily we can stay in touch with e-mail, etc.  We sometimes forget to relay messages to Grandma Jenkins.  She hasn't been online for a few years.  Grandma's Geek Squad came to the rescue on Saturday.  Joel bought a used computer at work for $25 and it runs better than our own.  We happily set it up for her and she is back in business.  Grandma hopes to be back online soon and is excited about doing some genealogy and family history work of her own, an eternal reward for a small investment!

Ready...... Set..... GO!

HOME means Family (Crystal's Dictionary)

We always think about our family members that we can't see regularly, wishing for more time to spend with them.  Our visit to Indiana took us straight HOME. 

Our first stop was to see Grandma Jenkins but some how we forgot to get the camera out.  She had only one surviving tomato plant, it was as big as she was and only had one tomato on the vine.  What a strange year for vegetables.

We visited with Grandma Jane and Grandpa Jenkins.  They showed off all their gardening projects this summer.  Redoing flowerbeds, taking down over-sized trees, and still getting a few fresh vegetables are some of their successes. 

Grandpa Shoaf was a little disappointed with his garden this year, he didn't have the bounty of tomatoes he expected due to the hot and dry conditions.  His pumpkin patch and sunflowers did great though. 

We carted several pumpkins home with us.  Karina wanted the kitten, but it stayed at the farm.








Sorry, no hitch hikers!