I will show you how simple this can be!

This is one of the signs we used 2 years ago at a march against Monsanto.  Finally got a an initiative on the ballot to label our food.  Course you know what happened...big business flooded our little state with advertising for a "NO" vote.  Sad little farmers cleaned up and in their white shirts and cowboy hats explained how if this measure passed, they would have to spend soooooooo  much money for storage and labels that they would go broke and the prices at the grocery stores would sky rocket and they were just trying to make a living while keeping our costs down.   The end result was that almost 70%  of the voters bought that crap.  So now we are back to the drawing board, but I have a better idea.

This is a bag of chips I bought at Whole Foods, or Vitamin Cottage or Natural Grocers or what ever name you know them by up on 29th.

See.  Gluten Free, Natural Foods right there on the front of the package.  Boulder Canyon Natural Foods.  Cost me 99 cents.  But look down here in the corner.

See that little sign in the lower right hand corner?  That says "NON GMO Project Verified.  These are damn good chips, but the packaging is to die for.  They had me on the front of the package, but when I turned it over, it was love at first sight!  I don't have to dig out my list and see if this stuff has been violated by the same people who make agent orange. and expect me to eat corn that makes a worm hemmorage and die.

Starting on the top left and reading to the right are all these bits of info that I need to make an informed decision about what I am putting in my mouth.  All Natural, Non GMO Project Verified, No Trans Fat, No Cholesterol, No MSG, Certified Gluten Free, Kosher, Vegan, We Use Green Energy.  Of course the list of ingredients lists everything inside the bag.  What more could we ask for?

Now I realize we can get another ballot initiative on in a year or so, but that would just entail millions of dollars in advertising and there are people who vote the best ads and we know it.  So wouldn't it be nice if the products that were NOT Genetically Modified or  GMO as we know them would clearly label them as such?  There are lists of companies which use GMO's readilly available on the Internet, but those need to be carried with you.  It would be so much easier if the companies voluntarily did this.  Oh, I am hoping, because I am a lazy girl and this makes my lot in life much easier.  

So instead of haranging my congressman who really does not give a shit about what I want, I think I will start putting kind words in the big companies ears.  I know the grocery stores are beginning to pay attention to us and are stocking thier shelves with non-GMO products.  I shop that way.

Remember, it is your body and your children depend on you to keep them safe, so lets take back our world, but for now I am sleepy so I am off to bed.

Peace and Happiness!

DiSanti Farm is one busy little place his fall.

They are just like little ants up there getting the harvest in and furnishing us with what we need to make our lives full and our tables heavily laden.  I ran up to the store the other day and happened to notice that DiSanti had trucks in the field loading the pumpkins.  Do you know what that means/  That means I have to get busy and get my peppers in the freezer or I will be making Green Chile with that crap from Hatch, New Mexico.  So I turned the little gray Ford and headed east up South Road.  Ah Hah!

Been doing this for years so I know how it is done!  First I have to circle around in the store, much like a Vulture looking for something the other birds missed.  After picking up a few things to satisfy my vegetarian side, I see my peppers are ready.

Oh, let me just read this menu.  I may come back a little later and pick up something to eat that I do not have to actually cook.

But since it was early and the kitchen was not open, I was out of luck for this morning.  So, being the good little girl I am, I took my purchases home and began the task of rinsing, deseeding and bagging the jewels of Pueblo Mesa farmers.

Now I need to tell you that several people have told me the best way to do these is to simply put small bags of them up with out removing the seeds or the skins.  Then when you take them out to use, you defrost them, rinse the skins off, grab the stem and pull out all the seeds and membranes.  They swear that this retains the smokey roast flavor.  Am I missing something here?  I began to eyeball the peppers and wondered.  Perhaps there was something to that.  I reached down in the bag and pinched off a piece of a pepper and wiped the skin off and popped it in my mouth.

Holy Shinola!  My head made three complete rotations, much like that gal in the Exorcist!  I have yet to find my right eyeball.  My throat is completely gone and my left leg is still twitching.  To say it was very hot would be an understatement.  If it  had a distinct smokey flavor I missed that.  I have had less pain in childbirth.  When I finally quit crying and sobbing, I finished my job, secure in the knowledge that this years chile is going to be wonderful!

So, you do need to remember to wear your rubber gloves.  I keep these around by the case and once when my friend and I were cooking he asked if I had any rubber gloves and I directed him to the drawer.  When he saw my stash he looked at me and said, "Are you a Proctologist?"  Poor fellow has no idea, does he?

To view my youtube trip to DiSanti Farms click here

DiSanti Farms is located at 29114.  The phone number is 719-948-2526 and be sure and tell them Lou Mercer sent you.  They will go nuts trying to figure out who I am!

Enjoy the fruits of Pueblo County while they are fresh!

And stop and see me cause you just drove past my house!

Mother's Day Out PreSchool Program at First Congregational United Church of Christ.

Start you off with a rousing little tour there.  Love to make those things.  Sure hope they are free!

Last Thursday was open house at our church to promote the PreSchool that we sponsor.  All the teachers were there.  Somebody made cookies and something purple to drink.   I kind of shy away from that stuff cause I am trying to watch my waistline and it is ever changing.  Ooops!  back to business.

Enter Tracy Lyn.  Lot better.

Oh, that looks like fun!

Oh, oh!  Going to do lessons.  Alphabet, add and subtract, sing songs, salute the flag, little bit of bible stories, learn to love one another...  I wish I could go to school.   I just love school.  I especially like a new notebook, a spiral, a sharp pencil.  A blank sheet of paper is my fondest possession's and I really love this word program because I have a limitless supply of blank pages.

I did not get a picture of the playground, but the kids just love it.  And Pastor Steve comes with his guitar and teaches them songs.  Pastor Jeanine pops in for Chapel.  Worry about sending the wee ones out into the cold cruel world of school without a firm foundation?  Then Mother's Day Out is here to the rescue.  Kids need to learn kindness and empathy while they are young and the public school system would be much better served with kids that know how to bring out the best in other kids.

Check this out.  See if it will work for your little treasures.  It is very reasonably priced and teaches values the kids will carry with them into adulthood.  Trust me on this.

ColorSplash Paintball 2403 Santa Fe Drive,is way more than that!

I have a step daughter named Jackie Chacanaca who calls me 5 mornings a week to check on me.  I am fine the other 2, apparently.  Any way, after the call she is off to work at her business in Blende, out here on the Mesa.  I am sure you have driven past it on your way into town. You probably never stopped because you are not into Paintball, but the bottom two lines should have got your attention if you have wee ones in school and they need a uniform.  That is what makes the machines rattle!  And I sometimes get to go in early and help her.  That is what happened yesterday.

She called at 6:00 AM and she was already at the shop so I grabbed coffee and headed her way.

Ah, shit!  There is stuff piled every where!

All 6 machines are hammering away embroidering more jackets for me to trim and snip the threads. 

Lord help me! 

The front of the shop is very neat and orderly and pretty well stocked.  She does uniforms for lots of the schools and has a very quick turn around and is priced reasonably.  She not only does school uniforms, but also for the different sports teams.  She is working on carrying scrubs as well.  Needless to say, she is also looking at expansion so we don't have to work back there in the tiny sweat shop area.

This is the painball area which draws the kids, both big and little and those that wish they were in.  She has a field out by the airport which is open on most weekends.  Be sure and call first to be sure.

Oh, Irene is here to help me!  I will be out of here and back home by 8:30.  Hooray!

Floor is cleared!

Boxes are packed.

And I am out of here, but leaving you with  (click on the underlined part)  a link to the sweatshop

Peace to you all, I am sleeping in tomorrow!!

Peppers Plus, 2115 Santa Fe Drive out here in Blende on the Mesa.

Right here in the heart of all the action, yet out on the Mesa, is a mecca of fresh vegetables, yard art,  heavenly smelling flowers, a couple cats, and a dog to keep them in line.  When I first moved out here in 1983, Kenny took me out on the highway to Prutch's farms.  That is where I bought all my peppers, tomatoes, onions, fresh corn and what ever else we required to make the shelves of the food storage area full.  The trip out was always worth it, but then they moved into the heart of the Blende area.  I do not remember what year that was, but here they are.  It had to be more than 15 years ago.

The little pond in the corner of the yard has gone from just a little pond to thisaA place to relax and enjoy a little bit of piece and quiet along the Highway 50 bypass through Blende.  I think I heard a frog chirp.  Might have been my imagination though.  

This is absolutely the best use I have found for a 3 tiered fountain and it requires a lot less water and smells so good!

All kinds of veggies inside and how I got out without a picture of the corn is beyond me!

I bought 2 eggplants, 3 peaches, 3 pablo (?) chiles to stuff and something else.  My purchase was sanctioned by the cat,

and the dog

and my friend, Cheri, who is the head honcho.

And I headed on into town to do a few errands.  You can see all the goodies at the store on my youtube link click here

I may need to turn the music down a little on this one, but later on that.  Got to show you the heart of Mesa Gardens.  It is this!

The mighty Chile Pepper rules our world out here.  Every fall it is required that everyone freeze at least one bushel of chile.  Right now the roasters set idle.

Don't they look harmless there?  Soon they will be spinning bushels of the chile peppers over the propane torch and the aroma will fill the air.  Peppers, garlic, smoke....makes my mouth water to think and talk about it.  Chile roasting time in Pueblo, Colorado is an expeience that can not be explained, but rather has to be lived.  Peppers Plus is open every day until 6:00.  They are located at 2115 Snta Fe Drive, Pueblo, Colorado.  The phone # is 719-546-3137.  Give them a call and they can tell you when the peppers are ready.

Prutch Farms has been out here in business since Pueblo came to be.  They are a very respected business, honest, caring and always happy to see a new face.  They will make you feel right at home.  And as always, tell them Lou Mercer sent you.  (Has not got anyone hung yet!)

                                           

Denny's Resturant, Pueblo, Colorado

Well, here we are at Denny's 3600 North Freeway in lovely Pueblo, Colorado.  It is 8:00 AM and the hot rod club that meets there regularly has not yet arrived so we have the place to ourselves, pretty much.  Probably a good thing because there is only one waitress, or at least that is all I see.  She is quick to tell me that she does not need to see my AARP card which lets me know that she pegged me as old when she first looked at me.  She could have humored me, but not thinking there is much humorous in this place.

So the table is clean, advertising is in place and menu's await our purusal.  

My friend opted for the senior veggie omlette with hash browns and an english muffin.  Looks good and arrived quickly.

                                     
I went with the egg white veggie omlette with an english muffin and fresh fruit, not because I eat healthy, but because I did not want to be a copy cat!  It was amazingly good and the fruit actually tasted like fruit!  Usually the fruit was picked 11 days early, but that was not the case here.  And I do love english muffins..

My friend had salsa for her potatoes and since she had shared them with me she also shared her salsa.  That was really good also.  I am pretty sure it was not made on site, but at least who ever bought it had the good sense to buy good salsa.  We all know how important salsa is at breakfast time for the hash browns. 

See!  Doesn't that fruit look good?  Happy to report that even the grapes were sweet. 

They did have a bit of a problem deciding what size to feed me, but it really made no difference because I made short work of those little fellows.

And here is the ticket.  Not bad for 2 breakfasts.  Of course this was one of those mornings when we both drank water.  Had we had coffee you could add another $4.00 to that.  We just weren't in the coffee mood this morning. 

So, for my trip to Denny's, I have to say it was niether a flag waver nor a disappointment.  Just another chain resturant trying to feed people and make a living.  Know what I mean?  Sometimes you go in a place and when you leave you have the warm fuzzies or a feeling of disappointment?  One of those things that you did and now you are on to other places and things.  Like that.

How to succeed in business, by really trying.

 The first thing I want to tell you is that I am not going to tell you anything useful.  I am not going to tell you the name nor the location of where this is located.  Just that it is legal.  How do you get in this business?
The very first thing you have to do is get your license to do this and permission from the county and state and I think maybe even God.
Then you have to hire workers because you are going to need to build a building.  Not just any building, but one that is designed for keeping temperature, humidity and light at just the right levels. Then you have to start some plants.  Several ways to do that.  Seeds is one way.  Now I could not get my seeds to sprout.  Well, first I lost them several times and then when I found them, I stuck them in dirt and nothing happened.  I finally bit the bullet and got three plants from a source who shall remain nameless.  But this is how the big boys do it.  The place the deflated containes where they want them which is a lot smarter than having to move a bunch of heavy containers around.

Then they are filled with dirt and left to set until the plants are ready to be put in there.  There are more ways then one to get these plants started.  Besides the sprouting of the seeds there is also a process called cloning.  Now I call that process "taking a cutting and rooting it."  That works for house plants and apparently for this exotic weed.

So pretty quick the room begins to look like perhaps there is a business going on.  Now what happened to my crop out back, is a damn grasshopper decided to nibble around on my pretty little leaves.  I must interject here for those who do not know my habits, that my crop is not going to be smoked.  I planted them so I could harvest the leaves, press them and make them into a work of art with clever use of waxed paper, kleenex, Elmer's glue and lots of glitter.   

See, that is what they have and this is what I can do to it!  I am very proud of my renderings, but there is where it ends.  I am not sure I can even sell it since I am not a dealer.  Sure can't list it on ebay and if I could sell it, I can not send it in the mail.  So maybe I will just paper my house with leaves.

But this is where I went visiting yesterday.  I was introduced to many different plants and the set up was explained.  Seems each little plant is registered and has it's own little microchip.  The drug enforcement can drive slowly past the building and click the reader and know exactly how many plants are on the premises and what kind they are and probably be able to count the buds.   See, I now know that you are actually supposed to grind up the buds and smoke that.  I always thought you just rolled up a leaf.  I am learning much about this stuff.  Still have not smoked it.  Still don't want to, but I am an inquisitive little fellow and shall bring you in depth reporting on this when I actually remember to take my camera when I do and do not have to rely on a cell phone.

Until that time, I would like to leave you with a panorama of the latest place I have been into and nosed around.  I did find something there I would like to have.  Tiny bugs like to get high also, so there are stickly strips hanging every where with bug bodies stuck to them.  I could eliminate a few flies around here if I had some of those thing.

Until next time!

Farewell to the motor home that made a home in my back yard or who is the queen of ebay?

For the whole winter this 40' Fleetwood motor home sat in my backyard.  I had listed it on eBay early in the fall, but then one of the big boys with his own financing wanted the listing, so I gave it to him.  I just wanted the folks who owned it to be able to make a clean and easy sale.  And it sure looked like that was the way to go.  For the first few weeks I kept track of it, but then it got harder to find and I became less interested.  I was sure it was a go.
Alas, the best laid plans, or so they say.  Then the owner called a few weeks ago and asked if I would re list it so he at least would know where it was.  And so I did.  There was a flurry of interest and then the auction ended.  No sale.  So I dropped the price a silly $1,000.  That woke them up and I was busy fielding questions.  Of course no one was interested in paying the asking price and there were some offers that were downright insulting.  But we persevered until finally a guy named 4x4dude out of Oklahoma emailed with a list of questions that he needed answered.  I knew by the questions that he was a serious buyer.
Had it been smoked in?  Pets? Warranty?  Where was it located?   Maintenance records and things like that.  Then nothing.  So off I went to church that Sunday morning and when I got home I had a short nap.  Then I decided to check my ebay for sales.  My item sold!  My Fleetwood sold to a guy in Oklahoma for $100K.  My heart damn near stopped!  You need to remember I am in the bird cage cover /seed catcher business and my high dollar item is $25.00!
Phone numbers and addresses were exchanged and the date was made for 4x4 to come the following week to meet with the owner.   He would bring a check.  So early in May, Karl and his wife along with brother Larry and his wife arrived at my house.  The owner was already here and after a day of new batteries, mechanic checking things out, tweeking here and tweeking there and a couple nights in the motel, it was a go.
While we were standing around visiting Karl mentioned that he lived in Mustang, Oklahoma.  Bingo!  Do you know my niece, Cindy who lives there also.  Why yes I do!  Small world, huh?  Karl contacted Cindy and he was instructed to give me a big hug, and you people know how I like to get those.  And it was decided they would spend one more night and then get an early start.  And that is how that went down.

Mirrors are adjusted, black smoke bellowed out the back, dust kicked up on the road, and the motorhome with it's new owner at the wheel disappeared down my driveway.

And that, my friends is how I became the queen of eBay!

  

The High Tea at First Congregational United Church of Christ is now in the record books.

Don't these look like happy people?  They were.  Please meet Nancy Martin, her son Ross Barnhart, her daughter in law Terri Barnhart, and  Gail Barnhart.   They arrived in all thier finery at exactly 2:00 PM because that is what time the High Tea always starts.  Teresa and her friend Patty had arrived the day before and Mayflower Hall was festooned and beautiful.  Course my camera was at home through the whole thing, thus forcing me to go on facebook and steal pictures.

The tea was hot and the food at least looked good.  

This is a scone with lemon curd and yes, I made that from scratch.  Same with the dollop of clotted cream  getting ready to end up on that strawberry.

This was my first attempt at something this fancy, but I have been told that it was great.  Of course, I did not do this alone.  Jill arranged the tables.  Teresa and Patty decorated.  And when the High Tea was in full swing Pastor Jeannine was slinging tea like a trooper.  And plates were flying out of the kitchen thanks to the three of them along with my daughter, Sue. Amy manned the ticket table and sold tickets for the raffle.  Any great event is the result of a lot of hard work by a lot of people.  This one was our first, but it is not going to be our last by a long shot.  We will just be more organized next time.  

First Congregational United Church of Christ is going to be a force to be reckoned with in the very near future and  we would love to see you pop in our door next Sunday morning at 9:30 AM.    228 West Evans.