It's Potato Time!

Yeah - the trucks are rolling, the equipment out, the dirt turned, and potatoes are being harvested! I was visiting teaching night before last and the lady whom we were teaching asked if we had gleaned any potatoes yet (for those of you who are not familiar with the term - it means take what you can use, and applies to not just potato harvesting). Yikes! I hurried and gave the lesson and was out the door so I could get some good harvesting in before sundown. I called my sister Julie and told her to hurry and bring a bucket or box for us to use.

For those of you who do not live in Idaho, the harvesting of potatoes is all done by machinery. About 3 weeks before harvest, they kill the plants (some farmers just roll over them with heavy equipment - others spray them with a chemical that kills the above ground part of the plant, others wait for the first freeze). This process actually sets the skins on the potatoes. If they skipped this step, the skins would come right off. Once the skins are set, large machinery comes through and "digs" the rows of potatoes up. This same piece of equipment has a conveyor belt. As the potatoes move up the belt, the dirt and vines are shaken off and then the potatoes are dropped into a huge truck that rolls along side the harvester. Click here to watch a short video of an actual Idaho potato harvest.

I explain all of this for a reason. The trucks only make one pass over each row, and they have to turn corners with a machine that has zero turning radius. Tons of potatoes are left on the ground - especially at the corners. The farmers are more than willing to let the average Joe go in after the machinery is done and get as many potatoes as you can find. Otherwise, they rot in the ground. So needless to say in just under 30 minutes, Julie and I were able to get a good size tote full of potatoes.

Potatoes on the ground after the truck has run through the field

We decided it would be great fun to take her 3 little boys out yesterday after school for their first potato harvest. At first we were met with quite a bit of opposition to the idea - they were just too busy playing with friends. But after my assurance that it would be fun, they reluctantly got in the car. Once we hit the fields, they were off having the time of their lives. They compared it to an Easter egg hunt - with the coveted prize not being the most brightly colored egg - but the biggest potato. Let me tell you we found some WHOPPERS. Nothing like these ever make it to the stores. You could feed an entire family on 1 potato!

Bryan, my nephew & his HUGE potato

The potatoes are "California Whites", which the farmer explained to us are strictly a "processing" potato. They do not kill the plant to set the skins on these ones. They are meant for the processors who make them into french fries, dried potato flakes, frozen hash browns, etc. They are not good for baked potatoes, but they make excellent mashed or au gratin potatoes. The russets are being harvested later this week so we will head out and get some of those also. Believe me when I tell you there is NOTHING like fresh potatoes.

Fall is, by far, my favorite season..

Fall is by far my favorite time of year. The smell when I step outside, the coolness of the air, the changing leaves - I just can't put my finger on what exactly makes me love it so much, but I do. Each year, there seems to be 1 particular day for me that signals the onset of fall, and today is that day. I can't tell you exactly what brought about the change today, but to me, today is fall.

Fall not only brings changes in my surroundings, but I change too. The meals I cook change, the things I do around the house change, the way I feel changes. Funny how such a small change in your surroundings can change the way you feel about so many things.

So here are a few things that I absolutely LOVE about fall:

• Burning my Pumpkin Pie Gold Canyon Candle
  
• red, gold, and brown leaves
• cool morning and evening air so I can open windows and air out the house
• making "harvest type" deserts (pumpkin, apples)
• digging up fresh Idaho potatoes
  
• Halloween (and the Decor that goes with it)
• driving in the country with the windows down
• Wearing cute sweaters
• Having my husband home for dinner
• Making casseroles
• Breaking out my extensive boot collection
• All my network shows are back on TV
• Cream Soups and Chili
• fresh Utah peaches
  

So now that fall "has arrived" for me, I will have to be careful and not put on 10 pounds with all of the deserts, casseroles, and cream soups!

Dyson's Are NOT GOOD VACUUMS!

So the place we currently live has the "Idaho standard" carpet - that is what I call it since I had never seen it til I moved here. It is just a speckled shag carpet. I thought it was crap carpet. I vacuum 3 to 4 times a week and it still always looked like crap. It got all matted down in the high traffic areas and basically just looked like poo.

So I have a $450 Dyson vacuum that is supposed to be the best vacuum out there. It seems to pick up dirt cause every time I vacuum I have to empty the canister - mostly just fuzz and stuff, but there is some dirt. Dave kept saying it was a crappy vacuum and totally not living up to its name.

So Last night I went to Walmart and bought myself a $139 Eureka vacuum. Right on the front of the box it said "Cleans 60% Better Than Dyson". So I grabbed it and went home. Dave put it together for me and I started vacuuming.

Let me tell you - my carpet is not crappy! It was the vacuum! Just the upstairs yielded an entire bag full of dirt. And it was like the really fine sand type - you could hear it as I was vacuuming. I could not believe how GROSS that was. Me being somewhat of a neat freak - ugh, I thought I would die knowing that all that dirt was in my carpet! And I just had them shampooed 2 months ago, so that is only 2 months worth of dirt!

Now my carpet actually shows footprints after you vacuum and then walk on it. My Dyson is going in the TRASH! Even if this new vacuum only lasts 3 or 4 years, then for the same price as my Dyson, I can by a new vacuum every 4 years and it will be 16 years before I spend the same money!

Labor Day as a Family

It was so nice to sleep in this morning! I think we all rolled out of bed long about 10:30 - which must be some sort of record. The weather turned a bit cold today with a fall storm moving through the area so normal Labor Day activities like going to the river or having a BBQ were out.

We decided have the girls do an outdoor photo shoot in one of the more beautiful areas around. We found some great locations and were able to get some pretty cute pictures of them.

I guess today was the first time I really realized that Haley is no longer a little girl, but has grown into a beautiful young lady. She is quite photogenic and loves to pose for the camera.

Reagan is still my baby and still looks like a little girl, which I hope to keep that way for awhile longer. I am not ready quite yet to have 2 young women.

It was so nice to spend some family time together with Dave around. Tomorrow will be back to work as usual though. The weather is supposed to warm up a bit so we have not officially entered fall... although I can't wait! Fall is by far my most favorite season and there is a distinct feeling and smell in the air when it arrives. I will most certainly post a blog when I feel like it has officially arrived, and will list all of the reasons why I love it!