Apples to Apples winner................

Julie Langford is our winner and will receive a “Breakfast Basket” from Apple Barn which contains: 1-12oz. Apple Syrup, 1-1/2 pt. Apple Butter, 1 Apple Cinnamon Pancake Mix, 1 Spiced Apple Cider Drink mix (1oz packet), 1-Double Apple Muffin Mix, 1-jar Fried Apples.

Congratulations, Julie, and thanks to all of you who left a comment.

A brief response:
Far and away Gala came up the most favorite of those commenting. The only others even listed were Fuji, Granny Smith, and Pink Lady. I happen to like all those listed, including the debatable Pink Lady.

Joel---you know me so well. However, in this particular case, I got my fun facts from a recent article that was tossed the minute I read it, and from the Internet.

May you all enjoy weeks of absolutely fantastic apple eating!!

Apples to Apples

We love playing the card game “Apples to Apples” with our grandchildren. Well, we enjoy playing it with anyone. We also enjoy good, tasty apples. September speaks apples.

Did you know?

Archeologists have found evidence that humans have been eating apples since at least 6500 B.C.
The apple tree originated in an area between the Caspian and the Black Sea
In colonial times apples were called winter banana or melt-in-your-mouth
The science of apple growing is called pomology
It takes about 36 apples to create one gallon of apple cider
The world’s top apple producers are China, United States, Turkey, Poland, and Italy
The apple variety ‘Red Delicious’ is the most widely grown in the USA with 62 million bushels harvested in 2005
Many hybrids and cultivars have been developed, giving us the 7,000 varieties in the market today
In Norse mythology, a magic apple was said to keep people young forever. (Ever hear the saying “An apple a day keeps the doctor away?”)

If you want to learn more about apples click on APPLE.

To celebrate APPLES, we have a give-a-way. One entry per person. To qualify, you must leave a comment and tell us what your favorite variety of apple is. Good luck everyone!

The winner gets a yummy “Breakfast Basket” from Apple Barn which contains: 1-12oz. Apple Syrup, 1-1/2 pt. Apple Butter, 1 Apple Cinnamon Pancake Mix, 1 Spiced Apple Cider Drink mix (1oz packet), 1-Double Apple Muffin Mix, 1-jar Fried Apples.

Sixty Five Cents.............

Great guesses on the amount of money in the egg. Y’all were all around it. We didn’t try to disguise it. It's just as you saw it in the photo: one quarter, three dimes, and two nickels---or sixty five cents. Since Lisa was the closest to that amount, we will give her the sixty five cents. FYI, we did put the coins through the dishwasher. They still don’t look so great, but they are CLEAN. Here's a close up picture of the coins.

To answer some queries: the egg in the grass appeared obvious, because Dad sat it there after the fact. When he actually found it, it was half submerged in the mud with grass on top, which he mowed and pulled away from the egg.

Lisa, I’m wondering, too, where the candy went?? Bugs? Just melting away? Hmmmm. Maybe the grandchildren’s Science Club can figure that one out for us.

Julie---oh, that we really did have hundreds of dollars hiding in the back yard. Wishful thinking!

Thanks everyone for playing along. We enjoyed your comments and the fun of looking back at Easter Egg Hunts of long ago.

Lost and found.....................

There’s a tradition at our house that’s been around since our first child was born. When our six children grew up and moved out, the tradition continued for the grandchildren. It’s actually become quite famous: “Grammy’s Easter Egg Hunt.” Over 200 plastic eggs are hidden in the back yard. The eggs are filled with candy and money. Mostly, there are a number of coins in each egg. However, some special eggs have $1.00 bills in them and other special eggs have $5.00 bills in them. You may have read accounts of this egg hunt and especially this year’s hunt for the missing $5.00 egg, which eventually was found by Carter Langford, who never gave up the hunt. But low and behold, here we are into September, and Grandpa found yet another egg while mowing the lawn. However, due to the condition of the coins, we are guessing that egg has been hiding for several years. Here are some pictures of the "lost" egg and its content along with hunts of the past. The first person to guess the amount of money inside this found egg and tell us here, will receive: the contents of that egg. :) One guess per person.

Can you see it hiding there?

Voila!

2005 - Opening the Eggs

2005 - Carter and Trey hit it big!

2005 - The younger group is ready

2008 - It all adds up - Just ask Allie

2008 - and they're off!

2009 - Pictures before the hunt.

It's a Small World

As we have been reading the histories of our ancestors, we have come to realize that several of the Barber and Thorpe ancestors undoubtedly knew each other. We have already referred to the families that were in Nauvoo at the time of the exodus in 1848 that were likely acquainted – the Knight, Egbert, and Loveless families (Mom’s ancestors) and the Casper, Bennett, and Durbin families (Dad’s ancestors).

James and Eliza Stratton and William and Elizabeth Casper were among the families called to the “Muddy Mission” in about 1870 to help colonize the region around the Santa Clara River in Southern Utah. The Caspers were there for about one year and the Strattons were there until Eliza died in 1871.

The Bennett (Dad) and Egbert (Mom) families were among the first families to settle in Kaysville, Utah. The James Bennett family settled there in 1852 and lived there the remainder of the parents’ lives. The Joseph Egbert family settled in Kaysville in 1854 and lived there until 1887. Both became quite prosperous and their histories both refer to the homes they built that were quite large for that era and looked very similar to each other.

Fortunately none of our ancestors married each other. Mom and Dad could have ended up cousins instead of husband and wife.

James Bennett Home



Joseph Egbert Home

Tomatoes and green peppers----or the red and green of summer

Yes, this is our “red and green” of summer. With the children all grown and out of the nest, we have cut way back on our veggie gardening. For several years now, we are exclusively “red and green” people. We grow tomatoes and green peppers. What we can’t eat fresh or give away, we freeze to be used later in sauces and stews.

But we haven’t forgotten the days of growing 6-ft. high corn, carrots, onion, zucchini, peas, and other yummy veggies. Here’s a look back:

Lisa and Troy shucking our corn - 1974 - Walnut Creek

Sharlene and Lisa by our Walnut Creek Veggie Garden - August 1976

The Beatles -- then and now

I was a teenager in the 60’s and I loved the Beatles, the Beach Boys, Elvis, and many other popular groups. I remember being 16 and tapping my foot and singing along, “…I wanna hold your h-a-n-d…..” and other lyrics. In my innocence, I saw “Lucy in the sky” as a beautiful young woman with the sky in the background, and she was wearing diamond rings, necklaces, and earrings. Now I’m in my 60’s and as I am walking through my neighborhood with my ipod—ear buds firmly in place, I can almost hear the Beatles breath, and I definitely hear lyrics I never heard when I was 16. I’m shocked at what I hear. My innocence lost, I try to figure out how I missed all that as a teenager. But I still dial into the Beatles as I take those morning walks---singing along to the phrases I remember from my youth. After all---“all we need is love.”

HERE ARE SOME OF MY FAVORITE PHRASES: (Just a few from the hundreds to choose from)
I wanna hold your hand
Life goes on
Here comes the sun, and I say it’s alright
Speaking words of wisdom
Let it be
With a little help from my friends
Hello, good-bye
Ticket to ride
Life is very short
Try to see it my way
We can work it out
Is there anybody going to listen to my story
I wanna be a paperback writer
Look at all the lonely people
Hey Jude, don’t make it bad; take a sad song and make it better
Strawberry fields forever
Nothing’s gonna change my world
She loves you, yeh, yeh, yeh
All my loving

Do you have a favorite Beatle memory? Do you have favorite lines from their songs? Have you ever tried putting together lines from their songs to make up a song of your own or story of your own? Did you know that there is a Beatles Rockband game being released on 09-09-09? I understand you can pre-order. Of course, I don’t have PlayStation 3, so guess that’s out for me. (smile)


Some of my children may remember the group “1964.” I took some of you to their concert when they came to Knoxville while you were in your teens. I think we may have danced in the aisles. Well, the group is back performing on Friday, August 7th at the Tennessee Theatre. Their concert is billed as “The Tribute." Click here to get the details. Don’t think I’ll go this year. I’ll just keep pace with the rhythm as I listen to the original Beatles walking through the neighborhood.


My DVD's.....................................