Hearts and Hands Follow-up Information

Patsy Bowman and Jeannie Griffin organized Hearts and Hands this year. Following is a list of
the amazing results of their efforts and the efforts of all the good hearts and hands of the ladies
and families in the Billings area. A BIG thank you to all who made this such a success.

TOTALS:

Children's hygiene kits: 124 Clothing protectors: 135
Women's hygine kits: 215 Baby layettes: 229
Men's hygiene kits: 246 Friendship bags: 234 (food items and a toy)
School kits: 145
Tied quilts: 300 Teen bags: 81
Fleece blankets: 200 Hats, knitted 150 (some for cancer patients)
Hooded towels: 165

Hearts and Hands 2009

Patsy Bowman and Donna Ives taking stock of finished items.
The Griffin Family - willing helpers!
Show me how, Please!
Crocheted and knitted Hats
Some, not all (!) of baby quilts. Wow.....

Two unique baby hats and two wonderful sisters.


Friendship sacks packed with food and a toy.

Sister Savage busy with the quilting.
The Organizers. Amazing Team Effort.
Marlene at United Blood Services Registration



Just beginning tying this quilt--soon to be done!
Kim Lyon -always busy-always happy.
Sister Chris Jones(Stake RS President) and Bonnie Hendricks
who chaired the Blood Drive for Hearts and Hands
Lots of Work --- Lots of Fun.
One of the Welcome Teams.

Everyone put their talents to work. (Roxy Hokanson)
Blood Drive Registration

Consignment Sale

A few years ago I went to the KIDS STUFF CONSIGNMENT SALE and bought a nice baby crib for a nice price. I think it's worth making a trip to the Shrine Auditorium this weekend if you are looking for nice used baby and kid items. They have toys, games, baby furniture, spring/summer clothes and maternity clothes. It's great for grandmothers to pick up extra toys or furniture. If you are looking for furniture go early the first day. Those items seem to sell first.

SHRINE AUDITORIUM

1125 BROADWATER, MAIN LEVEL

THURSDAY, 4/30 FROM 4-7 FRIDAY, 5/1 FROM 10-7

SATURDAY, 5/2 FROM 10-5,

Hearts and Hands

Thank you to all who participated in Hearts and Hands this year, either through donations and/or your help on Saturday. An especially big thank you to Jeannie Griffin and Patsy Bowman and their committee for putting things together and helping everything run smoothly and cheerfully!

Take a look at the Billings Gazette article, which appears in the 4/26/09 issue:

http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2009/04/26/news/local/25-volunteers.txt

Writing a Journal

Someone sent me this really interesting website for creating a journal. Be aware it is not a "church sponsored" site, but it caters to members and many of the services offered there are free!

http://www.ldsjournal.com/

You can even add some pictures to your journal without added cost.

How To Test Your Soil

"...most plants grow best when the pH is a slightly acidic between 6.5.

"...here are two simple tests that will indicate if your soil is too acidic or alkaline:
Add a few drops of vinegar to a tablespoon of dry garden soil. If it fizzes, your soil's pH is greater than 7.5.
Add a pinch of baking soda to a tablespoon of moist soil. If it fizzes, your soil's pH is less than 5.0." The whole article can be seen here: http://www.garden.org/calculators/?q=form&type=sulfur

The article goes on to explain that you can adjust the pH of your soil by adding sulfur.

Waste Not Want Not & allrecipes.com

This is another great idea from Jodi Gorham of the Shepherd ward.

Part of provident living is making good use of what you have and not letting things go to waste. But sometimes you have a whole lot of something (like when the garden’s in full swing) and you don’t know what to do with it all, or you’re tired of fixing it the same old way. One resource on the internet that is just perfect for giving you a lot of options is:

http://allrecipes.com

Here’s what’s really great about this particular site:

You can search for a recipe, or you can search for an ingredient – like “zucchini” (allrecipes.com has 787 recipes with zucchini as an ingredient). This might help you come up with new ways to use a bumper crop.

The recipes on this site are rated and reviewed by those who try them. When you find a group of recipes that you like, say for “zucchini bread”, you can sort them by rating and see that the recipe “Mom’s Zucchini Bread” pops to the top and is rated as 5 stars with 1,250 reviews. With a rating like that, you know it’s likely to be a great recipe.

You can create your own file and save the recipes on the site that you’d like to try, avoiding the hassle of having to search for a recipe again later.

You can also post your own recipes and get feedback from others.
So here’s hoping our gardens are bountiful, our waste is minimal, and our end results are tasty!

Shelf Life of Food

The link in this post was provided by a sister in our stake.

Do you wonder how long you can eat stored canned goods? Here is some interesting information:

http://grandpappy.info/hshelff.htm

Personally, I'd have to be pretty desperate to eat 100 year old food, but it's good to know I could, just in case I ever get around to cleaning the food storage room! Be sure, no matter what their age, your food cans are not bulging, rusty, or damaged, and work to rotate your food for maximum freshness, taste, nutrition and appearance.

Happy Birthday, Relief Society!

Today's post comes to us from Skyview Ward.

Laurie Jarvis, Trudy Carey, Patsy Garrett

Sisters visiting with each other

Terrianne Webster and Lindsey Meecham
Mandy Call with her baby girl.

Elizabeth Burke, Aprell Nottingham, Carol Angel, Chelsie Gertsch, Ashley Russell

Kim LeFever and Siri Smith.

Our activity was a lot of visiting and getting to know each other. We had lasagna, salad, garlic bread and cake. Jana Smith shared a message about how life is a series of tests and passing involves, learning, growing, and loving along the way. We had an excellent turn out. I believe Skyview ward to have some of the most unique and talented not to mention the most beautiful sisters to be found in any one spot churchwide. What a blessing to be a ward. Brenda Snizek

Thank you Skyview, for sharing your enrichment activity with us! It looks like you had a lot of fun.

Provident Living

website has a new section on gardening:

http://www.providentliving.org/channel/0,11677,6637-1,00.html

"Planting a garden, even a small one, allows for a greater degree of self-reliance. With the right information and a little practice, individuals and entire families can enjoy the many benefits of planting and tending a garden." -Provident Living Website

Check it out!

The Many Natural Uses of Lemons

Diane Jones of the Alkali Creek Ward has been using lemons for more than lemonade. Here are some of her ideas.

THIS is what I have tried and now do.

I learned in my early 20's that I was allergic to deodorants and had to find an alternative. The best one so far has been 5 to 7 drops of lemongrass oil to olive oil. I put it in a small traveler's container and have my natural deodorant. I have also added lavender oil once in awhile for a change.

I love blueberries and they seem to stain under my fingernails if they are juicy. I put some fresh squeezed lemon juice in a bowl and dip my fingernails in it...they come out looking white and clean.

If you have a garbage disposal, put in a half of a lemon while it is running and it will keep your disposal smelling clean and fresh.

Rub lemon onto the stains on your cutting boards and let it sit. It will bleach the board and disinfect it at the same time.

When I washed my whites last I added 1/2 Cup of fresh lemon juice and I liked how they turned out. I would probably do that again. This was mentioned in the magazine REAL SIMPLE.

I take a tablespoon of fresh lemon juice with water in the morning before eating anything. It is to jump start my liver to get it ready to digest the food I will eat.

I liked this idea in the magazine REAL SIMPLE that suggested that you put your favorite fragrant oil on the inside of the toilet-paper tube. "Everytime the paper is used, the scent will be released." Karyn Siegel-Maier

Happy Birthday, Relief Society!

Our Colstrip Ward Relief Society birthday dinner was held on March 19. We had a wonderful turnout! The menu consisted of parmesan chicken, rice pilaf, a spinach pear gorgonzolla cheese salad, a chocolate and fruit trifle. We welcomed several new sisters into the ward! We used a cute poem that asked the new sisters several questions about themselves. They were able to bring in items to share sort of like show and tell! We learned so much about each other! (poem to follow) We also introduced our Back to Basics enrichment activities which include gardening, canning, bread making, and sewing. We had a wonderful time and look forward to this coming year!

Sisterhood in a Bag
There just isn't anyone like you.
That likes to do the things you do.
But you never know, you just can't tell,
If you just don't know the sisters that well.
Tell us what ou do for fun...
Do you paint, ski, sew, or run?
Where do you owrk, have you got any pets?
Do you like reading books or surfing the net?
So, fill this bag with things about you.
Come share yourself for a minute or two.
And maybe before the evening ends.
Not only sisters we'll be but better friends.

Please bring up to three items to share.
Items don't have to fit in this bag.

Best Wishes,
Colstrip Relief Society

It's wonderful to see Colsrtip Ward adding new members! Thanks for sharing your Birthday Celebration with us!

Bread in an Hour

Recently, Marjie Stott posted a recipe entitled "Bread in an Hour". I tried it today and it is delicious! It really took me just a little longer than an hour to produce two yummy loaves, mostly because I had to pull out and dust off my wheat grinder:

It smelled so good, we couldn't let it cool before slicing into it:

The bread is moist, very, very tasty, and super quick and simple to make.

You can buy gluten in many sizes, including No. 10 cans, and after a little research on the Internet, I discovered that rapid or quick rise yeast, available at the grocery store, is the same as the instant yeast called for in the recipe. -Chris Jones

Come to the Temple

Sister Deim is busy planting pansies at the temple. She would love more help! There are many, many flowers left to plant and only a few sisters have come to plant. The planting is going on every day this week from

10 am to noon and 12:30 to 3 pm through Saturday or until done.

Sister Deim hopes to be done this week, but needs more workers!