Rattlesnake Scare

On Wednesday night, we had an indexing class for the Young Men/Young Women.  As I knew they would, they loved it and took right to it.  Our branch goal for the youth was 150 and the three of them have already surpassed that goal.  Then we got home about 9:00, we had a voice message from our neighbor, Miss Ruby.  She said “ I don’t mean to scare you, but a man came to my front door about 7:30 and said...tell the people next door they had a very large rattle snake crawling up their front porch.  I know you don’t have a gun, so PLEASE be careful.  Drive over here and get a shovel so you can kill it if you see it!”   Well she didn’t mean to scare us, but it sure scared me.  Three times before I went to bed, I turned on the porch light to be sure it wasn’t on the porch. 

As we talked with people the next morning, we learned that rattle snakes often have a “path” that they follow. Then Nancy, a neighbor two houses up the street said, “ I killed a rattle snake in front of your drive way this summer.  I backed over it several times with my car.”  The neighbor across the street said “she thought she could smell a snake”    I didn’t know they had a smell, but folks here say “Oh, yes they have a smell!”    Miss Ruby said they don’t like moth balls, so I went to Fred’s to get some.  The Black man who helped me said with big eyes, “Put them everywhere, even some in your house in case they get inside.”  Needless to say that I have been very very careful where I walk and when; and I keep my eyes looking out about 3 feet in front of me, searching, searching. 

Another first in my our life.  We were over at Edward Smith’s, our trapper, gardener friend,  he had “pulled up some green plants and to my surprise, there were peanuts growing among the roots.  Lots of peanuts on each root.  I picked off a few, cracked them open and ate one.  They taste sort of like a peanut, but the nuts are soft and chewy.  Edward brought us over a big sack of peanuts he had taken off the roots.  First I filled the sink with water and rinsed them off good.  Lots of muddy sand in the sink.  Then I wasn’t sure what to do with them, so checked Google and then called Theresa Runnels, a member and close friend.  She said to put them in the crock pot, cover them with water and cook them over night.  It was morning, so I cooked them all day. Since I like Salted peanuts I put salt in the water.   Then I took them out of the water and “roasted” them in the oven.   They taste pretty good, but still need to “dry” more.  It is a lot of work.  I will never look at a bag of peanuts in the store again, without thinking of my experience with peanuts.   You may get a little sample in your Christmas box...if they turn out. 

Wasn’t our General Conference wonderful?  So much good that can help us in our day to day lives.  WE love y’all and are so grateful for your loving support.  Keep the pictures and texts coming.  Love, Grandma and Grandpa