HEY STUMPY! YER OUTA HERE!

YES!  YES!  YES!

After how long? the stump is finally removed!  John brought in the "Big Guns" and the stump - even if it was loaded with paving stones, was no more.  Of course there was a little drama along the way ...

John had come about a month ago to give me a quote and time for removal; then he managed to lose my phone number and another message got him here.  I had to remove about 12 feet of the back fence.  As it was, I got the fence out and his machine was too big to get to the place where it was needed ... remember, about a month and a half ago the county "dredged" out the holding pond behind our fence; well now there's standing water - and it made it a bit tricky to maneuver the grinder.  Well, he finally got it going and after about 20 minutes he broke a throttle cable;  fortunately I had a hacksaw that help fix the process.  He managed to make me lose a half day of work - but I figure if I live to be a hundred, I'll probably never miss it!  heh, heh!  So it's gone, only the ground stuff is left.  But gone it is!

And here's the mulch to prove it (the fence isn't back permanently, in case we have to move it again for the landscaping that's coming)

After seeing Silas' picture, I thought I'd let him know they're everywhere!

Received a lot of copies of the Oregonian (Karina and her mom pic) from last week;  the star has finally calmed down, now reminds me that I probably need to get my 15 minutes of fame.  No thanks, I'm just fine!  

Had fun with the sermon - the parable of the two sons - on Sunday.  had several comments - one - from Phil Brandt, the Concordia University professor who is coming to PoP for a 6 week adult Bible class.  He commented, "I wasn't sure where you were going with that one when you started, but 'thanks' - good job."  Maybe that's my 15 minutes ... will get it posted on the website tomorrow.

Everything's ramping up for the new year; have 250 PreK/Kindergarten kids - have had all but the 3s in at least one chapel.  With Jeff here, what a treat it is to share these opportunities.  Have confirmation starting next week (we meet every other week); then have the Bible presentation class (3rd Graders) in October - we hand out the Bibles on Reformation Sunday.  Jeff also enjoys drama and music, so we can add extra pieces along the way.  

Did you get to see the new season of evening TV?  We follow the Good Wife, CSI (Las Vegas), Mentalist, NCIS, and Harry's Law, and Amazing Race.  We tried to see them all - and missed the beginning of one of them - but that's what DVR's are for!  Got them all "taped" and can keep them handy for later viewing (bought a terabyte hard drive last year to save shows).

We are trying our hand at Marionberry Liqueur this fall.  Started with berries and sugar 5-6 weeks ago; then added a couple cups of Everclear to the mixture a month ago  and kept it in a cool dark place; strained it through cheese cloth! last night, and bottled it a few minutes ago - one wine bottle and one Grand Marnier bottle.  Now it has to sit for another two months, and we'll see how this all comes out.  If it doesn't work - then there's no marionberries left so that means maybe no jam coming east ... heh, heh, heh!  or maybe not.

One last thing - the veggies we took to church last Sunday to share.  the garden was rather fun this year; spaghetti squash, zucchini, beets, and tomatoes are only things left.  also harvested about 10 pears and many, many apples.

That's about it from here tonight.

Have a great week!

Love ya.

Karina and Dan