There Once Was a Birthday Party

Last weekend we attended a birthday party. A party extravaganza to be sure... and for the first time in ages, I enjoyed a picture scavenger hunt.

Now, I attended BYU... and anyone who has also attended BYU can attest to the fact that random strangers hugging you as you are walking down the street, or people begging to take a picture of you being piggy-backed are not too unusual. And maybe only slightly annoying.

But I now live in Salt Lake... and consider myself a quasi-adult. And I was a smidge scared that this was not going to be the funnest activity. Not to mention the fact that I absolutely despise audience participation. And photos of myself.

Luckily, my friends are awesome.

We had a great time. We didn't win, but we kicked trash in a few categories. And while I most definitely wont be sharing too many of those pictures anytime soon, I chuckle ever time I look through them.

This is us about two thirds through the celebration, on our way to a haunted "This is the Place" park. Yes, we are exhausted, but determined to get points for our matching costumes, and taking pictures with employees.

Thanks Sarah, for turning one year older, and inviting us to join in the festivities. Your awesomeness is astounding!

Pumpkin Patchin

I think the absolute, most rewarding aspect of being part of the CSA was the trip to the pumpkin patch this weekend.

The pumpkin patches I've grown up with were never like that. They were much more commercial, and while incredibly enjoyable I've never had that real experience.. you know, wandered through a field and actually pulled your pumpkin off of the vine. Though it was ridiculously hot outside, it was the most "fall" esque thing I've done this month!

It is possible we got a little carried away with our task at hand. Who knew there were so many perfect pumpkins out there... crying out to be taken home with me? When we got home, we kept walking back and forth from the car saying... "There's MORE!!?!?!" And pumpkin hauling is hard work. So we're saying we deserve our bounty. Can't wait to start carving!

Happy October 1st... and an Ode to Lauren's Worms

First and foremost, isn't October one of the most magical months? I'm feeling all kinds of love and good will towards mankind right now, despite some rather unfortunate occurrences today.


I also wanted to dedicate a small portion of my day to remembering Lauren's Worms. It appears they just couldn't hack the hot Paso heat. And really, I don't blame them. I remember 115 degrees. I doubt anyone could survive that is a moistened plastic bin. May they find perfect weather in their great dung heap in the sky.

My worms think they are freezing with our lovely cold snap. It is 52 degrees outside right now, and I'm contemplating coco and a good book in my cozy bed.

Happy October!

Red Trout Adventure

I had a really hard time remember the word "Salmon" this weekend. It was particularly unfortunate because we went to the Salmon runs up around Strawberry.

I might have referred to them as trout on a few occasions.

And I was heartbroken and frustrated about the separation tanks. Yes, there are dead fish floating in the background... and yes that often happens naturally after spawing... but they don't just give the ladies a squeeze to get out their eggs and then send them on their merry ways like I naively though might happen. There is some slicing and dicing taking place.

But it turns out the Red Trout/Salmon are not native to Utah. Just imported for sport. Which makes it all a little better in my fickle mind.

Speaking of fickle... It is possible I've eluded to a new overwhelming love for Spring. But, um... I've forgotten about that. All I can see are the changing leaves, and the wonderfully cool evenings. And the Pumpkins, and fall decorations, and warm soups, with bread. I'm so in love.

Worm Update

In case anyone as interested, but mostly for Lauren's benefit:

The worms are doing fabulously. For those of you who haven't read the comments of the "Guess what is in this box" post, Lauren guessed correctly. The box is a worm bin.

Since I don't really have enough room to compost, I figured vermicomposting would have to do. It is pretty excellent. You can make out some worms, some nibbled squash chunks, a lot of cardboard and some newspaper. All of the brown crumbles are the worm castings. Glorious, glorious castings.

I've been a little neurotic about them... I just about cried the first time I found a worm had escaped and slowly dried to death as it inched several feet away from his home. He preferred death to hanging out with me... Crushing. But it happens about once a week... so my skin is thickening.

Also, Jason does not wholly approve of the experiment. He's concerned about pests and smells. So I check on them at least once a day, and don't feed them very often. This seems to work fine, as I don't find anything more offensive then a slight musty dirt smell and there is always still identifiable food inside when I give them more.

Some random points:
I still don't want to touch them...
I don't understand how people feed their pound of worms a half pound of food a day. Maybe a week, but never a day...
I did keep them in the living room for about a week before Jason put his foot down.
I talk to them a lot.
I had no idea worms could and would eat egg shells.
I feel the need to go check on them again...

Whether or not you care, I'll keep you posted.