keljonma's Front Porch - Settling in and adjusting

[keljonma]

WOW! I could imagine that this was an ugly mess for all the customers and dealers. I am surprised a group of you did not go straight to Purina with the name of the wholesaler!

Our farm co-op handles Purina, Purina SunFresh, and Buckeye feeds. We have only purchased the Purina SunFresh. And thankfully, we have never had a problem with it.

The problem I had with the organic from Baltic, OH was that it was an all day trip (down and back), and gas was going up to $4/gallon! The local feed mill had their own organic, but they closed shortly after we got the flock. We also looked at Blue Seal Organic, but no one around here carried it.

 

[Farmfresh]

I think a rather large stink was raised - but to no avail. From what I hear the Nutrina people are MUCH more focused on customer service!

I just wish I liked their feed as well as I do Purina.

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

Our local Landmark carries Flock Raiser, some of the Purina Dog foods and Purina Sunfresh Ferret food. Since it's closer for me to go to them for the Flock Raiser, I save about $10 in gas, but pay $1 more on my bag of Flock Raiser than I would at a larger town. Still, we'd rather pay the $1 more and have the $10 in gas savings

Last time I picked up my Flock Raiser I asked if they carry the other Purina feeds for poultry. I guess he doesn't order them in and keep them in stock regularly, but he said if I wanted them, he can get them!

I asked him about the Turkey Feed, Sunfresh Scratch grains, and Layena. Looks like they might order them in for next month!

I really like my local Landmark. They are all about customer service, keeping customers happy. (unlike the Scio feedstore remember that?) We had purchased a bag of the scratch that Landmark grinds and mixes themselves, and when we got it home it was 80% hulls! Barely any grains or corn.

When we told them, they gave us our next bag of scratch FREE!

 

[Farmfresh]

If a store wants to stay in business good customer service is the only way these days!

Great that they will special order just for you.

 

[keljonma]

Monday Sept 14, 2009

We had a wonderful week-end with perfect weather!

Three of the members of our Experiencing God group did not make it for our Saturday morning get together. It was great to catch up with the others. Dave was one of the members who couldnt make it. I told Laurie I wanted to find out from Dave how he prepared and cooked the ox roast for the Family Fun Block Party. It turned out that Dave had been on the WOW at the Lake team, so Laurie knew the answer. Dave slow-roasted it on a large spit in his yard the day before the event. Then he sliced it and placed all the meat into portable roasters and crock pots (borrowed from the church) to keep warm. The barbecue sauce was added the day of the event to half the meat, and the rest was left plain (and served with horseradish).

WOW at the Lake it over now, so more people will be back at church for services on Sunday. Laurie and her husband Don host the WOW at the Lake services over the summer. So we dont get a chance to see them until autumn, unless we go to the WOW service. Since we got to see Laurie on Saturday, we were hoping to catch up with Don on Sunday at church. However, he was over at WOW2 setting up the service at the biker bar.

After our gathering on Saturday, dh and I went fishing for a while at Harpersfield Bridge. Most of the park was taken up by a wedding party. We didnt catch anything but had a relaxing time. Then we did some laundry, bought some water and groceries, and then headed home. A local fire department is having their annual fundraising auction this coming week-end, so we took some items out of storage and donated them. Later we went to Pymatuning and caught some bluegill and perch. We had fish for dinner.

Sunday was Rally Day at church - the start of a new year of classes. All the teachers are consecrated. Pastor Meredith, who is normally very exuberant, somehow manages to kick it up a notch for Rally Day! So there is a lot of energy, which makes for a vibrant worship service! After the 11 am service, was the Rally Day Luncheon. Everyone brings a dish to share (I took quinoa salad) and the church provides grilled barbecue chicken breasts and corn on the cob. The mens class (the class dh attends) grilled the food. However, since dh was supposed to work this week-end, he did not sign up to help.

Afterwards, we went to Pymatuning to do some fishing. Because the weather was so terrific, the place was packed, so it took us a while to find a place to fish. We caught some perch.

I used up the last of the bread making dhs lunch for work today, so today I am making bread. The dough is in the bread machine now.

Last night we tried watching a movie on the computer and none of the dvds are working. So I think I will be taking a look at the computer today to see what the problem is. Everything was working fine on Friday.

At church this year, I signed up as a soup maker for the Adventure Clubs Lead The Way Caf. This Wednesday is the first meeting of the Adventure Club, and no one had signed up for soup, so I did. I am making a ham and bean soup (a soup maker provides 3 - 4 gallons of a soup).

I posted about Adventure Club last year

Our youth (grades 1-6) have Adventure Club on Wednesdays after school. Transportation is provided from the school to the church. There is a registration fee to belong to the club, but scholarships are available for those who need it. Also, the rates are lower for multiple children in the same family. Adventure Club is Bible-based, organized gym, play, crafts, drama team practice, choir practice, and bell choir practice. The kids are given a snack about 4 pm; usually fruit. Then at 5:30, the parents can pick up their kids or stay for Lead The Way Caf, a cafeteria style dinner. This is open for the children and their families. Each week there is always homemade soup, salad, hot dogs, beverages, fresh fruit, and an entre (mac & cheese, spaghetti, sloppy joes, pizza, nachos & cheese). The soups are made by the church women. The rest of the food is donated or purchased by the church. If a person gets soup, salad, hot dog, entree & beverage, it is 50 cents a serving. Pizza is 75 cents a serving. The money paid for the food is part of the youth group projects fundraising.

I am also making a dessert for tomorrows Christian Caf. I dont know dhs work schedule yet for the week, because he forgot to bring it home; so I am not sure if either one of us will go help at Caf tomorrow. DH has a Trustees meeting tonight at church, so I will drop off the Lead the Way soup and the Christian Caf desserts tonight. Wednesday night is our first night of our new study, When The Game Is Over, It All Goes Back In The Box.

Well, I better get busy in the kitchen. Have a great day!

 

[keljonma]

I got the bread for home done (2 loaves).

The soup for Lead The Way Caf is cooling down.

I got housework and dishes done.

I still have to make a dessert for Christian Caf. I picked some apples from a tree at church on Sunday, so I think I am making Apple Walnut Cake. Maybe.

I also need to start dinner because dh will need to eat before his 6 pm Trustees meeting at church. He'll have to leave here by 5:20 to be on time.

I still haven't figured out what is wrong with the computer!

 

[TanksHill]

That's a lot of soup. good luck and have fun making it. the youth adventure club sound great. Something constructive for the kids. Educational and fun as well.

gina

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

I hate it when my computer acts up. I understand how frustrating it is when it won't do what you want it to.

Hope you get it figured out.

 

[keljonma]

That's a lot of soup.

Gina, Last year, I borrowed a church pot to make the soup in, but this year, I forgot to pick one up. With the exception of my water bath canner, I don't have a pot large enough to hold 4 gallons of soup! So I make it in 2 or 3 stock pots.

Last night we took them in garbage bag/newspaper lined boxes. I transferred the soup to a large pot at church. It is in the refrigerator. I think Pat (our church admin) puts the soup on to heat up around 10 am the day of Lead the Way Caf. Traveling with the soup was still somewhat messy. So next time (Oct 28) I will definitely borrow a church pot!

I hate it when my computer acts up. I understand how frustrating it is when it won't do what you want it to.
Hope you get it figured out.

Well, I still haven't gotten it working. My yoga is on a dvd, so I haven't been able to do my routine since Friday. I think I will be opening up the computer today to see why the cd/dvd drives are not being recognized. fun, fun.

 

[keljonma]

9/15/09
My oldest niece is 38 today! That is just so hard to believe. I can remember babysitting her after she was born.

Last night we took the soup and apple walnut cake to the church. The soup spilled all over the boxes we transported the pots in; but thankfully we packed them well enough that the messes were confined to just under the pots. While dh was in his trustees meeting, I baked the cake and read some of the Knit Together book by Debbie Macomber. The cake blew out over the sides of the cake pan and took an hour and a half to bake, instead of an hour. That must be some potent baking soda I just bought!

We were at 54 this morning, and our high is forecast to be 76.

DH is working until Thursday this week. Then he has Friday, Saturday, and Sunday off. He will be going to Mens Koinonia week-end on Friday night.

I am going to be trying to figure what is going on with the computer today.

I redeemed some rewards points on Lightspeed today (its a survey thing) and am getting some Barnes & Noble gift cards that I will put away for Christmas gifts for nieces and nephews.

Nothing new on the job search front for me. There is a job in Austin that dh is interested in, at the same university where ds dgf works. But at the moment, it doesnt seem likely that well be moving there. Neither of us really liked living in Texas.