AUGUST ENDS WITH ANOTHER SUGERY FOR SON

Tuesday housework and laundry day will be challenging today . #1 son is having out patient surgery today to de-bree his open wound that has stopped healing. Praying that they don't have to go very deep to get all the slough out. D-in-love will be with him all day so g-son is staying here.
I got an early start on a few things I knew would be the hardest to have a little helper in.
He helped me with the laundry every load,he loves to help put clothes into the washer,but he doesn't want to touch them when they go into the dryer because they "feel slick" !!!!
We had extra loads of laundry as this is the last day of the month. I slowly got all my cleaning done between the request for food and drink and the "I just want to talk to you" times as well as a few hugs and games mixed in.
Son's surgery was scheduled for 1:00 and he went in right on time. The doctor came out and said he didn't have to go deep to get the slough out and the wound looked very good. They are going to put a wound vac on it tomorrow and he said it should heal quickly.
But this is the doctor that his own PA said painted a pretty picture that wasn't always as it seemed, so we'll wait and see.
After surgery they were getting ready to leave and son started itching all over. They gave him something for that and he got really sick at his stomach, so he had to stay until 6:00 this evening . Hubbie and I went over to help him get in the house and he looks very pale and he had a terrible headache.
Talked to d-in-love later and she said he was running a slight fever,but he had eaten and felt some better.
Lord, Lord will this ever end ??????

My evening was busy,hubbie mowed grass until after dark and I baked more layers for cakes and iced 6 caramel cakes for people who want to pick up their orders early.
Daughter was doing her baking tonight also and we bumped into each other more than once. She usually bakes on Wednesday,hopefully we can get back on separate schedules .
Things will slow down after this holiday weekend.
I am very tired tonight, my knee was getting better and most of the swelling had gone down,that is until today and back to climbing up and down those stairs to do laundry. I kept a brace on it all day and that helped some,tonight it isn't as big as it was last week. There was more pain today than last week. I can tell by how it feels when I come up the stairs that's whats doing the damage.

While going through old pictures I ran across these dated August 31,1954. This is me as a 1 month old. I am being held by my mom in our yard and in the one with my dad it looks like they took me to the field where he was working. He was a produce grower and it looks like he is standing in a field of something. Sorry you can't see his face I tried several ways to bring it out but even in the original it is all shaded.
Being a late life baby, especially for my dad,he was 53 when I was born,I'm sure this was a prideful time in their lives. There were several more pictures on this same day with me being held by various aunts and uncles.The house I grew up in is in the background of this picture before dad added on to it. In this picture it had an outhouse. In fact I remember going to the bathroom in that outhouse. That is our old early 50's oldsmobile parked in front of the house. I remember we kept that car until I was a teenager, then they bought a 1967 used chevelle.
When my mom and dad got married he had to teach my mom how to drive,she had never driven a car and she was in her mid 30's.
The last day of August has been a typical summer day,temperature of 87 and plenty of sunshine. A lower humidity makes it feel better and helped dry clothes hanging out on the line really fast today. This month has flown by for me, I forgot a vet appointment that I had marked on the calender yesterday because I thought it was next week. This time of year is typically the busiest for me ,I'm glad my life isn't always this hectic and busy, I'm afraid I wouldn't last long at this pace !!!
I am saying a prayer for the coastal residents of NC tonight as some of them are being evacuated because of a possible hit by hurricane Earl. My life seems docile compared to what they are going through right now,bless them Lord.There is another named system behind this one,Fiona ,I hope it stays out to sea.
I am finished baking and am watching the late news,it is 11:30 and it's nice to have a little earlier bedtime.
Thankful for God's hand on son today and His blessings on me.
Good Night and God Bless.

AUGUST 2010 PART 2 DECADE PICTURES

Today started off slowly, when I got ready to go on my Avon route and realized I didn't stamp my books. By the time I got that done it was almost an hour later than I had planned.
No one home at my first stop set me hoping today wasn't going to be a total waste of time.
Luckily that was the only delivery I couldn't make and I made it home around 1:00.
Hubbie is now back to Mondays off so he was here when g-son got out of pre-school and they were playing with his new happy meal toy when I got here.
After some lunch I got a jump on my first of the month laundry by washing all the dog beds and rugs.
After #1 son picked up g-son this afternoon,hubbie went to bush-hog in the front pasture while I watered my potted plants and trimmed a potato vine from a pole on my front porch. It's pretty until it starts dropping little potatoes that look exactly like blood filled ticks all over the front porch.
I'm taking a short break before starting my baking for tonight and decided to start on my blog.
Decade pics for this August show what a busy month this has been.
The month started off with a week of Bible School. I was a teacher in the 4-5 year old class which was g-son's class. This is mine and g-son's 3rd year ,I always helped in Bible School but after my kids grew up I worked on the kitchen staff for years before going back to teaching when g-son got old enough to attend.
This year we had a huge class, between 18-20 kids every night with 2 teachers and 3 helpers.
G-son's favorite part is music,he is not shy about dancing in front of everyone.
This years theme was a western cowboy theme and the week ended with a BBQ and wagon ride for the kids,they loved it.
August is usually my busiest food preserving month and this year I made bkackberry and blueberry jam along with salsa and refrigerator pickles. The dry weather this summer has slowed our garden down quite a bit.
Besides gathering produce from our garden this month we planted fall crops of Kale and Collard Greens and sat out 18 broccolli plants.
We have ate the early potatoes we planted and that space was used for the fall veggies. Hubbie and I both love gardening,we love having our own fresh vegetables and have always preserved all that we could for winter. Our whole place is decorated with fruit trees, berry vines and raised beds of tomatoes and herbs.
Hubbie spends a lot of time on the tractor and mowers this time of year.
He works 4 10 hour days at the school system so he has to keep up the farm on his day off .
I watch g-son 1-2 days a week and he is a joy at the age he is now ,almost 4 his imagination is something to behold. He loves to pretend he is a super hero and he protects me from all the monsters !! Being an only child so far he has learned to entertain himself with imaginary playmates. In combination with his other grandmother,we have shared babysitting time and saved #1 son a bunch of babysitting money.
He goes to playschool now,Mon.,Wed.,and Fri. for 1/2 day and he truly loves it. When he was born we were all deciding what he should call each of us,since he has 2 grandmothers and 2 grandfathers. I choose Nana and other g-ma choose grandma. Well when he got old enough he choose our names so we shouldn't have worried about it to start with. I became Nena, other g-ma became Memaw , hubbie became Pawpaw, and other g-pa became Papa T .

Besides watching him a couple days a week I go to a local market called the Curb Market on Thursdays and Saturdays to sell my cakes and crafts. Daughter has just recently gotten interested in baking so she helps me a lot of the days, especially Saturdays. This month has been a busy one for us.

In my relaxing time I love watching the birds that come to my bird feeders and last fall I started to have a white squirrel who visits often. He invades my bird feeders and spills the seeds, but he is so cute and looks so frightened when the gray squirrels chase him away I can't stay mad at him. After all the squirrels are God's creatures also and they need to eat too.

I think of myself as a positive ,happy person ,I thank God everyday for the life I have and for a wonderful family.

August 2010 has been a very hot month ,many days reaching above 90 degrees. We had some rain toward the middle of the month but are drying up again at the end of the month. Just one more day and this month will be a part of my history.
I am very thankful to God for all the progress #1 son has made this month with his leg injury and asking for God to watch over the out-patient surgery he is having tomorrow.
Good Night and God Bless.

REFRESHING SUNDAY SERVICE AND 2010 UPDATES

Sunday service at church took an unexpected turn this morning,I think God himself led this service. One by one church members stood and witnessed for our Lord and church family.
The special one for me was #1 son, although he had a tough time speaking through his tears his thankful message came across and there was not a dry eye in the house. Our minister has known my kids since they were very small and they grew up with his own children so he has a special relationship with them.He said this morning the image of #1 son in his mind was one of him carefree on the back of a trailer with the other cub scouts in a parade.
To top the morning off hubbie was elected as an active Deacon again. Our deacon serve 3 year terms and then they rotate off for 1 year. Hubbie hasn't been active in several years,some of those he turned it down because we just had so much on our plates.

Tonight will be a long post because this will start my 2010 August decade picture posts and I feel I need to post some updates.
Hang on here we go...... Starting with #1 son update....
In December 2005 he married this little red-headed violinist. We gave them a piece of property and they made their home. A little over 10 months later they blessed us with g-son.This is their house complete with playground set.They have spent this August dealing with recovery of son's accident in June that is the reason for the crutches and bandages in the above photo,you can find details in June's blog post.Son has his own grading business and before the accident it had gotten so slow he had taken a job at a local plant to tide them through these tough times,but was let go from that after the accident and now is uncertain what his future holds. Daughter in law works 2 part time jobs at this time. Son will soon be 29 years old.

Update on #2 son.....He works for the Postal Service as a letter carrier in town and has concerns of his own over his job as the turmoil in the Post Office system continues. He is still single and just recently bought Flash his basset hound pup. They appear to be made for each other.Here he and his dad and Flash spend some relaxing time on a summer evening.
We also gave him a piece of land and this is where he makes his home. He is 27, there is 16 months between him and #1 son.

Daughter update......She works for a nearby elementary school,actually the same one she attended when she was growing up. She worked in the TV business with her Mass Communications Degree from college for several years before realizing that wasn't for her. Now she loves her job and as the computer expert at the school as well as coaching Volleyball at the local high school. She also works part time on weekends and summers at Fats restaurant and has a pet sitting business of her own. Besides being a very busy young lady she takes time to teach a K-1st grade Sunday School class and helped out in my Bible School class this month.She is a natural with kids and they love her!
This is her apartment also on our property.She is 25 years old.

And now a short update on hubbie and me.......This is our house ,built in the early 80's, just last winter we added this front porch and this large sunroom now covers what was a back deck. We wish we had done this years ago as we have really enjoyed this sunroom.
Hubbie works for the local school system in the construction dept.
We still farm some beef cattle but now on a much smaller scale than we used to. When all the kids moved out and got jobs we found we just couldn't handle all the jobs that went with a big farm by ourselves at our age.
I go to the Curb Market now 2 days a week and sell baked goods and crafts that I sew.
I also sell Avon as I have for about 15 years now. I usually take my family on a weeks vacation every year with the money I've made from Avon that year, but in this economy slow down I have just this month got last years vacation payed for.
I love having chickens around for fresh eggs and plan to add a few more in the spring or as I find what I want.
We just sold all the calves we bought for resale this year and only have Snowball, our old retired milk cow, now in the pasture. We will also be adding new calves as soon as the price gets right for us.
Since the kids are gone hubbie and I now share our home with what I call our 4-legged kids, Dolly ,a toy poodle ,and Bernie, a Havanese. We have 2 Australian shepherds who patrol the farm for us ,keeping predators such as coyotes and foxes at bay.

I have thought about all the vehicles I have had over the years and wished I had pictures of them all to remember them by so this last up date is primarily for me to look back on and probably for future generations to look back and get a good laugh at the type cars and trucks we drove in this day and time. I primarily drive this 2005 Pontiac Montana van. It's the 2nd one I've owned and I love them for their cargo space which I have to have hauling my things to market. Unfortunately Pontiac doesn't make these any longer,mine is one of the last ones made. I just hope it last for a while.
Hubbie's primary ride is this little green 1999 Honda Accord.
We bought it from one of my Avon customers when her husband died suddenly,it was his car and she didn't want to look at it . Hubbie needed it to drive back and forth to work instead of his 3/4 ton farm truck to save gas money.
And here is the 2005 Chevy truck and our cattle trailer,we don't use it often but have to have it when we need to haul or pull anything around here.
Okay this post has gotten waaaay long and now that the updates are finished tomorrow will be the "what went on in August 2010 pics" so stayed tuned !!!

Thanking God for a wonderful Sunday.
Good Night and God Bless.

SILVER LININGS

Market was busy today, and I got a lot of orders for next Thursday. Then it occurred to me that next weekend is Labor Day and around here Apple Festival so that's why all the orders. This will be my busiest weekend until mid October.
Labor Day weekend signals the end of summer and it is bittersweet for me. I am glad for a slow down in my hectic schedule of baking and sewing ,but that means a drop in the money I make and a tightening of the belt must occur !

The realtor who listed our old house came by to buy a cake and said we had a showing of the house yesterday. It sure would be nice to sell before cold weather.

While I was at market #1 son came over and used his machines to clean out our barn. He was bored at home and itching to do something. He did a great job some of that dirt hadn't seen the light of day in many years. We now have a huge pile of compost out in the pasture. We'll cover it with black plastic to make it work faster and discourage weed growth.

I left market,ran my errands and got home around 4:30. Hubbie and daughter helped me unload. I got to finally put my feet up for a while this evening while watching the weather. Hurricane season is getting interesting. We just had one named Danielle pass way off the east coast, but the next one named Earl is not looking good for our coast.
With our coastal vacation getting closer we are watching all this activity with a weary eye.
My knee is still swelled today but seems to be getting better or maybe I'm just getting used to favoring it,who knows, anyway it is easier to get up off the commode today,hahahaha!!!!
Daughter got a nice surprise,thanks to some persistant exploring by hubbie.
Her SUV died this evening, she got in it and started over to a friends house,she remembered something she needed to take and shut her jeep off to go back inside. When she returned and tried to start it ,no dice, it was deader 'n a doorknob and flashing lights.
She left with her b-friend and was planning on having it toed to the shop on Monday.
After she left hubbie was checking it out and discovered her battery was dead and probably had a fried cell in it causing all the crazy lights. Thank goodness for daddy's !!!!

#2 son came up and we grilled hotdogs for supper along with corn on the cob and potatoes. It has been a very nice day with the temperature still staying in the mid 80's.

After a quite evening I'll give Dolly and Bernie a bath and get an early bedtime myself.Remember every cloud has a silver lining, God will always help us find it !!!
Good Night and God Bless.

WHAT HAPPENS TO THE BEST LAYED PLANS

Well after I finally got my knee settled into a raised position that I thought would melt the swelling away overnight I had a good night's sleep. There is still no pain even though the swelling is still with me this morning ,thank you Lord.
My plan was to do what little baking and icing I needed to do for today and then spend the rest of the day elevating and icing my knee.My self-diagnosis with the help of a nursing friend is Bursitis and as long as it doesn't get inflamed the swelling should go down with rest and ice. And no the red mark on my good knee is not a surgery scar it is a dog scratch !!!

Well about my knee resting plans for today, you know what they say about the best layed plans!!!
When I poured my soy milk over my cereal for breakfast I noticed it wasn't cold.
When I checked the frig I discovered nothing was very cold in the frig part but the freezer part which was running constantly was okay. SOOOOOO!!!!!!!!
My frig is probably 12 years old , I've already had it worked on once a couple years ago and I know it recently started leaking defrost water.
I decided it was time for a new one, so instead of putting my feet up, my feet took me to Lowe's , then to Home Depot, then back to Lowes, I found the frig I wanted in Lowes and they matched Home Depot's discount on energy star appliances. But they could not deliver it until late tomorrow evening.
Luckily I drove hubbie's truck and he met me there so they got the frig loaded in the truck,3 guys and hubbie lifted it up and sat it in the truck, hubbie tied it down and away I went. At home it was to high to get into the car port and the clouds were looking like rain so I put a tarp on it until everyone gets home from work.
I did get to put my feet up for about an hour before it was time to start cleaning out the old frig. I had to get coolers with ice packs to put the stuff out of the frig part in. Since the freezer is still working I left all that alone.
After hubbie,#2 son and daughter got here we began to try to get it out of the truck, that sucker weighed over 300 lbs.
#1 son came by to pick up some stuff to make fishing lures with and helped us figure out a way to get it in the house.
You aren't supposed to lay a refrigerator on its side because oil will run out of the compressor into the lines and clog them. Soooooo !!! we finally got it in the house,whew!!
OUT WITH THE OLD !!
IN WITH THE NEW !!!
I didn't realize it until I put it in the house but it is the same brand that I had before. Just a few more bells and whistles.
Once we got it set up daughter's b-friend was here so we took the old one outside,if anyone drives up in my yard tomorrow before hubbie get's help to load it in the truck,I don't know what they'll think.
Daughter did her baking while hubbie and I finished work at church and them I finished icing my chocolate cakes.
We didn't get any rain today but the temperatures are slowly creeping back to the middle 80's with low 60's at night. It is supposed to really warm up the first of the week,we'll probably have to turn the air back on but it's been nice while it lasted.
Thanking God for kids who don't mind helping whenever we ask.
Good Night and God Bless.

SERIOUS CUP COLLECTING

One of my knees does not look like it belongs to me this morning.
It doesn't hurt unless I try to sit or get up from sitting but it is really swelled.
I got out a heavier brace and put on it and that seemed to sturdy it up a bit.
Picked up my Avon order on the way to market this morning so I could bag it between customers. And like I expected market was slow today.
I had to take the brace off my knee shortly after I got there as my toes were starting to go numb. After lunch I used the ice pack out of my lunch cooler to hold on my knee and it seemed to help the swelling some and after I got it moving it felt okay.
I ran my errands and even shopped a bit in the end of summer sale at Walmart. When I went into Walmart the sun was shining and when I came out it was thundering,lightening and starting to rain. I hurried home to close my windows as I turned off the air conditioner yesterday and opened all the windows. By the time I got here it was pouring rain but no wind was blowing so no rain was blowing in any windows. I left the unloading until hubbie got here as I'm still moving slower than usual.
The rain stopped and it got steamy outside.
A neighbor had given me some okra at market and while I iced my knee hubbie fried it up and we had fried okra and fresh tomatoes for supper, yumm!
Hubbie and I went to work at church tonight, taking longer than usual because I'm moving slower.
Sometimes I wish I could just sit and do nothing for a while but I know me and I know I would surely not be happy doing nothing for long. So I'll keep trudging along until God gives me a new direction.
I collect cups or mugs ,anytime the kids or us go anywhere , it is a requirement to bring me back a coffee cup for my collection. Here is some of my collection in these nest 2 photos.

The reason this came to mind for me was this next picture I saw of the front gate to a place called "The Mug House".Now this is some serious mug collecting !!!
I wonder where this is and why they don't have to worry about someone breaking these?
Thanking God for my blessings today.
Good night and God Bless.

SIGNS OF FALL ARE EVERYWHERE

Vote ,Vote ,Vote !!!!
This photo was sent to the Iwanna Paper for a contest to win $1000 by my daughter-in-law. The voting started today so if you would please go to the website and vote,they sure could use that $1000 right now !!!
My day started out busy and got busier !!
I did get some sewing in this morning, it was so cool and felt good to be outside in my shop.These 3 aprons and 3 bonnets were left from what I cut out several weeks ago and have been laying on my inside sewing machine waiting. I can sew so much faster on the commercial machine in my shop that I got them all made and got about 16 baby eyelet pillows cut out before lunch time.
After a quick tomato sandwich I iced 6 caramel cakes then got ready to go with #2 son to take Flash his basset hound to the vet for his last 7-way shot.
Flash has almost doubled his weight since he was there a month ago.
While there I made appointments for 3 of my dogs for various things , I had to make 2 different appointments as I can't handle all 3 at the same time. Flash also has to go back in a couple weeks for his first rabies shot.
Got a call from #1 son on the way home. He was not happy , the infectious disease doctor has to have the orthopedic surgeon open up the incision that isn't healing to see how deep the slough is and take cultures from inside his leg. It is out-patient surgery and he will have it on Tuesday. The doctor didn't give him any antibiotics because he doesn't know wat he is treating yet and he even said it really didn't look infected to him,it's just not healing.
After dropping #2 son and Flash off at their house I met #1 son here to help him get bandages back on the holes in his leg. That infected side looks terrible !!
He went home and I went walking.. I tried to sneak up on the Green Heron today and caught him fishing to get some better pictures,but still could not get any closer.Here he is poised and ready for a meal. These birds actually use feathers and small insects to bait little fish to the top of the water.His action was so quick I didn't realize I had this picture until I downloaded them on my computer.And now for dessert !!!!!

As I walked I noticed some sure signs that fall is just around the corner.This one bunch of Ironweed grows all alone in an old ditch in one of our pastures. It doesn't seem to spread much from year to year, but no matter how many times it gets flooded over it still comes up every fall.The Indian Paintbrush is vivid this year. The legend of this plant is that long ago an Indian Brave wanted to paint the sunset but became frustrated because he couldn't match the vivid colors. He asked the Great Spirit to grant his wish and the Spirit gave him paintbrushes filled with the brilliant colors he needed. These flowers are said to grow from where the brave dropped these paint brushes all around the fields.The persimmons are starting to turn orange and the walnuts are starting to fall off the trees also a definite sign.
Ahhhhh!!!! Fall must be in the air, I can't remember when I have looked forward to fall more than I am this year. I'm ready for cool weather but I'm also ready for a slow down!
I did paperwork and payed bills tonight while daughter did her baking. I iced 6 more caramel cakes, 4 chocolate and 2 coconut, wrapped and labeled everything.
It is just after midnight and I'm headed for bath and bed. My knee is still giving me a fit, so bad I'm even considering calling a doctor if it doesn't get better over the weekend.
Thanking God for the blessings of today and asking Him to be with #1 son as he is facing yet another surgery.
Good Night and God bless.