Pumpkin Seeds and Gopher Hills

I thought I would take a break from all things apple today. I got the kids off to school and hubby off to work and ran out the door for a yoga class. I have a love/hate relationship with yoga. If you've ever tried it, you understand. I love that since I began attending a regular yoga class, I haven't needed to see a chiropractor! I don't love the sore shoulders muscles so much. But that's actually improving.

After yoga and personal scripture study, I tackled my latest copy project. I made a lot of progress! Kati called just as I was taking a break, so I stepped outside to feel the sunshine on my face. I walked around the yard as we chatted, (all four of her children tested positive for strep...boo! but feeling much better already...yeah!) marveling at the convenience of cordless phones. Remember the days when we had to stand in one place to talk on the phone -unless you had one of those really long, stretchy cords? Remember twisting them around your finger, or stretching it as far away as you could so everyone at the table couldn't hear your conversation? LOL...You may be too young for that one. Wow.

Anyway...I wandered up the hill in the yard, enjoying the vibrant colors of fall while I talked to Kati and discovered this:

Holy Gopher Invasion , Batman! Where did that come from? (I put my foot in the picture as a sizer...yep...that mound is almost 6 feet across!) It wasn't there the other day! Hubby dear is not going to be pleased. This is war!

After saying goodbye to Kati, I decided to ignore the gopher challenge and tackle cleaning the refrigerator on the porch so that I could have another place to stash apples. My three-year-old granddaughter Rebekah called to talk. She prattered on and on about going to the splash pad at the park and "showed" me that she had new ice cream in the freezer, but that it is only for after dinner and how she really didn't want to wait until after dinner. Then she told me about her new baby and her Rapunzel doll and then said, "I love you Grandma. Bye!" and handed the phone to her mom (Elizabeth).

While cleaning out the fridge, and discovering I had another batch of applesauce waiting to be canned, I gave up trying to ignore apples and set up the canner. May as well, right? btw...have you ever tried spicing up your applesauce with cinnamon red hots? I didn't do it this batch...but it is super yummy!!! I use red hots in my pears, too. Makes everything a pretty pink!


I felt a little guilty about not opening my textbook while the bottles processed, but I opened up FaceBook anyway. I'm glad I did. I found this comment from our daughter, Brittany - a freshman and Northern Arizona University.


"This morning while studying in 3 Nephi, the answer to a math problem i had been getting frustrated about just popped into my head! I love the clarity the gospel can bring me :)"

Clarity indeed. My mother's heart filled with joy as I recognized the wonderful gifts I have been handed today. The worries and concerns that plagued me earlier in the day (like gopher mounds and looming projects) don't seem so important any more -- because they are all temporary things. Family is forever -- and that is how I make it through the day.

It's almost bed time. Levi is practicing his cello and I am munching on the pumpkin seeds that Micaela and I roasted yesterday. What? Did you think I would forget a recipe? No way! Sorry it's not about apples...but the whole "seeds and planting and harvest" thing put me in the mood for these:

Savory Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

4 - 5 cups of fresh pumpkin seeds, washed
4 Tablespoons melted butter
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt, (or a little more if you like, right Micaela?...inside joke!)
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

Preheat oven to 275 deg. Stir all the ingredients together in a large bowl and pour into baking pans in a thin layer. Bake for about an hour, (we actually needed almost 90 minutes, but I used one pan so the layer was really thick.) stirring every 10 - 15 minutes. Let cool and store in an airtight container or bag. WARNING: These are addicting...just sayin'.

toasty hugs~