Last day

Today is Waymond's last day at the Tacoma Art Museum. I think he's sad about it! He's enjoyed working with an entire staff that has an appreciation for art - even if they are the bookkeeper. We'll see what happens from here!

Second round

We had more apples so we thought we would do another round of apple butter. We tried a different recipe this time and it is WAY more intense in the spice realm! We had some for breakfast this morning.

The potatoes

The ground dried out at least a bit so we harvested the last of the potatoes. Our last trash can had Yukon Gold potatoes in them and they are much bigger than the red ones. Our sweet potatoes weren't a huge success. We did get some, but they weren't very big. A couple looked like a sweet potato you would buy in the store only in miniature form! We'll eat them anyway! Here's a few pictures of the dumping on the trash can of Yukon Gold:













This big one was just under the dirt on top so Waymond pulled it out before he turned the whole trash can out.

The newest creation

I found this website (http://alifosterpatterns.com) where you can purchase patterns (bags mostly) and then download the pattern and instructions to your computer. I purchased & downloaded one yesterday. I had this orange fabric I bought from Ikea and I really liked it but wasn't sure if it would look good as a bag. But I went for it. I didn't have any fabric to line the bag with so I used one of Waymond's old dress shirts that he had in the Goodwill pile (which is shrinking quickly because I keep using them to make stuff). I loved the shirt, but he never did. So now it's the inside of my new bag. I really love it! Don't tell but I'm going to make a bag for my Grandma for her birthday. And, Lauren I haven't forgotten that you want one! I've been having such a great time with my sewing machine. I'm not good enough to just make stuff up but who knows - maybe some day!

I thought we weren't in Kansas anymore!

I was just on weather.com to see if the rains were stopping any way soon and found this (red highlighting mine):

I thought the big volcano & earthquakes were the only things we were watching for, but however we might have a tornado today! I haven't been in a tornado in a long time, but I'll never forget the drills in elementary schools!

Issued by The National Weather Service
Seattle/Tacoma, WA
9:59 am PDT, Sat., Oct. 17, 2009

... STRONG THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON...

A RATHER STRONG EARLY FALL COLD FRONT WILL SWEEP NORTHEAST ACROSS WESTERN WASHINGTON LATE THIS MORNING AND EARLY THIS AFTERNOON. THE FRONT WILL BE ACCOMPANIED BY A LINE OF HEAVY SHOWERS AND POSSIBLY A FEW THUNDERSTORMS.

BEHIND THE FRONT... THE AIR MASS WILL BECOME UNSTABLE AS COOLER AIR MOVES IN ALOFT MAKING THE REGION RIPE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF THUNDERSTORMS. THIS INSTABILITY WILL BE COMBINED WITH STRONG WIND SHEAR IN THE MID LEVELS OF THE ATMOSPHERE. THAT COMBINATION BRINGS ABOUT THE POTENTIAL FOR ROTATION TO DEVELOP IN ANY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS THAT DO DEVELOP DURING THE AFTERNOON HOURS.

ALTHOUGH TORNADOES ARE RARE IN WESTERN WASHINGTON... WHEN WE DO GET THEM IT IS NORMALLY UNDER SITUATIONS SIMILAR TO THIS WHEN THEY HAPPEN... BUT EVERYTHING HAS TO COME TOGETHER JUST RIGHT.

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILL BE MONITORING THE SITUATION CLOSELY THROUGH THE EVENING HOURS AND WILL ISSUE STATEMENTS AND WARNINGS AS NEEDED. WE ARE ACTIVATING THE SKYWARN SPOTTER NETWORK AT THIS TIME FOR THE POTENTIAL AFTERNOON CONVECTION AND ARE ASKING FOR CALLS RELATED TO UNUSUAL CONVECTIVE ACTIVITY.

This is Saturday

Our plans for our Saturday flooded away this morning as we woke up to pouring rain. Our plan was to dig up our sweet potatoes and our last bucket of potatoes, but however they will have to wait! I'm really hoping that at some point in the next few days - weeks that our ground will dry out a bit so our potatoes can be dug up & eaten! Rest assured that I will be taking pictures when the ground drys and our potatoes are harvested!

I think we are going to watch The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy instead and maybe see Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince at the $2 movie. Maybe do a bit of vacuuming!

Apple Butter

Yet another adventure for the Hampton's! We learned to can today! My mom sent me a few old books and I checked a few out of the library and have been reading about canning (and calling my mom several times).

There is a guy at work who has two apple trees and he brought me several bags of apples. I thought why not make apple butter!

It took us a bit to find a canning pot with a rack, but after a great tip from my mom we found one at ACE hardware in Lakewood. Waymond was shocked that ACE hardware would carry anything like that. A lady who was working told us of her canning adventures and what she usually makes. She was very proud!

FYI, the apple butter is TASTY!!!

Here's a few pictures of us:

Amazing!

I just read this on MSN. It's amazing. Can't wait to find the book at the library!

http://www.good.is/post/african-dynamo/?GT1=48001

Good News!

Waymond just got a short term position at the Tacoma Art Museum! Their graphic designer is going on vacation for a month and they need someone to fill in while she is gone. Waymond met with them today and he will start in a week! At least it's something! WOO HOO!