Wanted: Idiot's Guide To Color

So after talking to my sis-in-law on the phone this morning I decided to play around with the colors on my blog... Maybe having color on the page does make the photos "pop" after all. I'm pretty clueless about color, but thought, why not add a little where it won't hurt anyone? Maybe if I can add color to the blog then someday I'll add a little to my walls at home.

I attended Enrichment last night where we learned about gardening. Yet another area of life that I am pretty clueless about. I talked the sweet sister who gave the presentation on square foot gardening (see squarefootgardening.com if you want to learn too) into coming over to "consult" me on my garden space. I'm pretty excited about starting our garden and ever grateful for the hand-holding others are willing to provide...

Steps and Slides

Well, our baby is growing up...and too fast I might add. While on vacation Tosh took his first steps (pictured below, notice that he is going after a ball). Tonight, he was taking 5-6 steps at a time and also started climbing down the stairs (he's been able to climb up them for a while now). He would slide down halfway, stop to clap for himself and then continue on. This was very cute of course but made me nervous. These landmarks are happening much sooner than with our other boys. Clearly it is very important to try to keep up with the older brothers.



I'll post more from our fun vacation soon; still cleaning up and putting things away...

Pondering Wheat

Let me start off by saying that this is not intended to be a Seinfeld-esque, "So, what's the deal with wheat?" entry by any means. I've been thinking a lot about food storage lately. The LDS people have been asked (for years and years) by our church leaders to keep a year's supply of food. There are some excellent women in my ward who have gone to great lengths to educate and provide detailed information about how to accomplish this seemingly daunting task. I am one who needs complete hand-holding in this area. I regret to say that I have never gone to a cannery to dry-pack my own flour, sugar, etc. although this is on my "As soon as the baby is weaned" list. Rob and I have filled cannery assignments before (once on our anniversary), and I spend time each fall canning fruits and other perishables with my mother-in-law. We have a pretty decent amount of food stored in our basement: canned tuna, vegetables--lots of tomato products, rice, cereal (usually 100 boxes at a time), etc. etc. I just can't get over my confusion about wheat. Wheat always seems to be at the top of the list of "essentials." I know some who just have wheat to have wheat. They figure they can just buy it and keep it until it goes bad and then replace it...it's keeping the commandment after all. This idea is somewhat tempting to me; but not ideal and won't compute to my fiscal and frugal husband. I guess I can't get over thinking, "if (or when) we do have a major problem and are unable to get food or supplies from stores will I really be baking bread?" You've all read "The Little Red Hen." There are several steps to baking bread including grinding the wheat (requiring a grinder, and a hand grinder if you plan to use it should the power go out) and of course then there's the actual baking of the bread. Again, if we are faced with having to use our wheat in a survival setting, then we would need a way to bake the bread. My attitude regarding cooking without power could be summed up with "if you can't grill it or boil it, why bother?"

Baking homemade bread regularly (I have many friends who do this and I admire and salute you) and rotating wheat while doing so is obviously the solution; although I don't spend a lot of time baking. Besides the time factor and the little people at my feet excuse, the main reason I don't bake much is because if I bake, then I eat what I bake and more of it to boot. Homemade baked goods are hard for me to resist; I'm continually setting goals about eating healthier and making attempts to do so (see blog entry on "how I lost the remaining baby weight," oh, wait--hasn't happened yet...).

As I was thinking about my wheat dilemma today (in the shower...I do some of my best thinking in the shower) I considered the alternatives to bread, "...boiling rice and oatmeal would be so much easier than making bread and don't require the sugar and other ingredients..." I then contemplated the following, "Could this be compared to having oil in my lamp (see Matthew 25)? Will I be held accountable for not having wheat as part of my food storage supply? Bread is certainly something we can live without, isn't it?" My thoughts then turned to the last supper and the fact that we eat bread each week to remember the Savior. Could this be the reason we have been asked specifically to store wheat (I am aware that other foods may be substituted for bread during the sacrament)? Personally speaking, this weekly ordinance is certainly worth any amount of time, money or work involved. That being said, I will need directions to the dry-pack cannery and most likely some hand holding while I'm there.