All kinds of good things are happening, due to the man working hard.  :o)  I support him and hold the light (literally) so he can do what he needs to do.

He is staining the deck and is about half done.  The stain is a nice light color that blends well with the surroundings and it goes on easily.  Gonna take two coats, though.  But the man is supremely patient.

And you can see the bougainvillea that is now planted.  We hope it likes it there.  We will see.  It will have the winter season to get its roots down and begin to feel at home.  We hope it will start to really grow in the spring.  We realized that we have an azalea in the front that is all overgrown but it has been doing well so maybe we can plant a row of azaleas along the front windows.  They would be really pretty in the spring and lots of green the rest of the year.  Haven't touched the front yet.  Still getting the back arranged.

And the mantel is almost done.  He hung it and painted it and this morning we stained it and wiped it so that it's drying and getting ready for the final spray of polyurethane.  Then it'll be ready for Christmas stockings and the nativity picture!!

In other news, we finally got a call from the temple and met with the president yesterday morning.  What a great interview!  We learned things about temple worship we hadn't known before.  When we attended the session after our interview it was so much more meaningful.  He called us to be temple workers and set us apart.  What a sweet experience.  He will be released in a month or so, but it was such a joy to get to meet with him and experience his counsel.  He said they really need both men and women on Wednesday afternoons.  They can use both men and women on Thursday but really need just men on Friday.  Because of our present commitments with ESL on Wednesday afternoons and the cannery shifts on Thursdays and Tuesdays, we will have to split our temple service for a while.  Jer will serve on Fridays and I will serve on Thursdays.  We told the library we will teach for another 9 months which makes a year, and then I would like to stop the ESL and do literacy which means I would have one student to help learn to read.  That will be a lot less stressful and we can arrange to meet when it's convenient for the two of us.  Then maybe we can serve in the temple on Wednesday afternoons together if they still need that.

Yesterday I got to do something that was fun.  One of the students from Ecuador I had earlier asked me if I would come to her house and show her how to make an apple pie.  I took one to class for Labor Day to show them what it was and they really liked it.  So I went yesterday and did that.  It was fun to see her again and introduce her to the fine art of apple pie making.  I left when it went in the oven, but she sent me a picture of it and it looked great.  I hope it tasted as good as it looked.  I mean to take a pumpkin pie next week so they can enjoy October properly.  Have to make a separate one for Iggy who is vegan.  He assures me there are fake eggs so I will see if I can find some.

Speaking of October, I get to make some Halloween costumes!! A lady in the ward wants to be Joy, one of the characters in Inside Out, and asked me if I can make the dress for her since she will be the disc jockey for the Special Needs Carnival in a couple weeks.   I thought it would be fun.  And then Mary wants to dress as Link for the Zelda concert we will be attending this month and needs a tunic.  She brought me a picture and it's elegant!  Should be fun to make too.

Lara has a damaged leg now that we are all hoping gets better soon.  The senior Barneys will be arriving next week for Sam's ordination to Priest and she would love to be mobile by then.  She has been so active with her workout classes maybe she will be able to recover quickly.