STORMY LAST DAY AND A LOOK BACK AT FEBRUARY 2011

Woke to a cloudy,dreary day. After chores Hubbie left to get a haircut and I decided since February is, after all what I call my "tax month" I would spend at least the last day working on taxes.
I gathered all #2 son's and daughter's info and started figuring.
Hubbie came home and worked a little while on the hill brush clearing project before the rain started.
We are under a tornado watch for the entire afternoon.
#1 son has to go have another cast put on his foot as the old one is breaking apart so he brought g-son by to spend the afternoon.
We practiced baseball for a few minutes until he lost interest which is typical at 4 years old.
His first practice is tomorrow afternoon,can't wait to hear how it goes,and no I won't be going because I think the less distractions he has the better off he will be.


In the early afternoon the sky started to get very dark as the storm clouds boiled.



The storms were strong today,it is rare that we have lightening and thunder in February.

This was looking through the rain toward the road.

Luckily for us the worst of the storms missed us to the south and we are thankful.
By chore time this evening the rain,wind and thunder were a memory except for the muddy ground.
G-son went home and I went back to my taxes. After all the interuptions of the day I finally finished daughter's and am waiting on son to find the answer to one question and his will be done. Only ours hasn't been touched yet and since we have to pay I'm in no hurry.
It's hard for me to believe this is the last day of February 2011. As I looked back over the months photo's I understand why in years past there were no February pics because this month just kind of slips by. This year it has been a very uneventful February.

We had one dusting of snow at the beginning of the month.
Then the spring and almost summer temperatures invaded and stayed for the remainder of the month, bringing clear skies and swollen buds on all the trees and flowers.
It has been an ideal month for outside work and we have gotten everything pruned and have cleared the hill in front of the house in continuation of our front yard clearing project.
I have made numerous trips to the dentist and still have not finished with getting my new partial finished.
I still haven't finished with the OB doctor either on a hopeful surgery dodging solution.
I am hoping to finish both of these issues the first week of March as I have appointments already set up.
This month has also seen some furniture re-arranging and picture organization.
#1 son had another surgery on his ankle which seems to be helping,but it's still in a hard cast so it's a wait and see game now.
#2 son made a trip to Florida to spend a couple days with a classmate friend from high school.
Daughter is a single woman again after deciding things were not going anywhere with the b-friend of the last several months.
Hubbie had a scare with a really bad tooth and had to have it pulled,he also found out his cholesterol is fine but his blood pressure is a little high so we are checking it daily to see if it stays high and so far ,prayerfully it hasn't.
D-in-love announced this month that her father is opening a BBQ restaurant and she will be going back to work full time in April.
G-son is growing like a weed, he brought us a gift of a stomach virus home from his preschool but he got the worst case of it staying sick for almost a week. He is signed up to play on a 4-year old base ball team.
Seems to always have a smile whether riding with Pawpaw.......or
with Neena .........and especially when he sees what Aunt T got him for Valentines Day.
All in all this has been a very good month for getting alot of work done and enjoying the warm weather.
If the weathermen are right March is going to come in like a lamb tomorrow,so look out !!
Thanking God for the many blessings of the past month and praying for guidance in the coming month.
Good Night and God Bless.

SUNDAY SCENERY

Church this morning was uplifting once again, we are working through the book of Malachi.
I love the way our pastor preaches through entire books of the Bible.
After service we had everyone here for lunch except #2 son who has been in Florida since Thursday visiting a high school friend. He and another classmate left early morning Thursday and drove all day to get to West Palm Beach.
He got home tonight about 8:30 after driving all day. I have been taking care of Flash his basset hound and I have been feeling so sorry for him as he misses his master so much.
I know tonight he is happy to have him home.
This afternoon I spent enjoying this 70's weather and taking in some of God's handiwork in nature.
Hope you can relax and enjoy these as much as I did.....

























How can anyone look at scenes like these and ever doubt the love of God our Father ?

Good Night and God Bless.

2001 DECADE PICS

Slow market day again,I'm beginning to wonder what this season is going to be like.
I'm so thankful for yesterday's orders. Today even 1 of my orders did not get picked up.
Hubbie and #1 son have worked at church all day and are still there so after market I browsed a couple thrift shops but found very little.
When I got home Hubbie was just getting home also so he helped me unload and then we both took a rest.
It has been a nice sunny day about 55 degrees so it felt cooler than it has been.
After evening chores we headed up to church to clean up all the sheet rock dust from the work today.
We finished about 9:00 and came home to spend the rest of the night resting.

I looked through pictures and was reminded what we were doing in February 2001.
Both #2 son and daughter played high school basketball and were both very good players. February is always the end of the regular season and conference tournament time.
In February 2001 #2 son was finishing up a stellar high school career and was sifting through college scholarship offers.
Here he is accepting the most valuable tournament player. That year the tournament was played at Avery high school where his team won the tournament.

Daughter was a sophomore that year and was a standout on the varsity team. Here she accepts her all conference award. Her team finished 3rd in the tournament that year.

I'd like to have a dollar for every hour my "hinny" sat on a bleacher during my 3 kid's high school years of sports,I could retire and travel the world with that much money ! But those were the best years of my life and I truly enjoyed every game they played.

God has truly blessed me with a life of exciting and loving times with all 3 of my kids and I am grateful each day as it continues.
Good Night and God Bless.

WARM RAIN BRINGS EARLY SPRING GROWTH

After a good rain shower last night things are really popping this morning.
The clouds are turning over a gloriously blue sky to the bright sun.
After a warm rain the first blooms I've seen this year are appearing this morning.
The periwinkle is peeking out hoping that this warm weather continues.
Only one little bowed Jonquil blossom is braving the early spring.
Brave Butterfly bush leaves !
To begin my Friday I wrapped and boxed all my cake orders ready for delivery. The first 3 cake delivery was at 10:30.
I came back home and took some after pictures for a before and after look at our clearing job we have been working on.BEFORE ......AFTER.....BEFORE.........AFTER.......

You can see how much we got done and now it is just the job of keeping the brambles and vines from taking it back over that remains.

I made the 7 cake delivery at 12:15 and came back for lunch before taking a couple orders for tomorrow.
The wind is really whipping outside and the temperature is dropping back into the mid 50's so I decided to work on picture organizing today to stay inside.
G-son came about 3 while his dad went to work at church,they are putting up a newly designed piece over the stage to replace this "doghouse" containing squares.Daughter came in to do her baking before going to dog sit and g-son had to stay right by her side as she mixed her cakes.
D-in-love came in with news that her dad is opening a new BBQ place in Lake Lure on the 1st of April. It will give her a full time job plus what she is doing now for him in his other business. She is trying to come up with the best schedule.
Hopefully it will do good ,this is a risky time to start a new business of any kind,but he is a very good cook and BBQ is his forte'.
Hubbie and I debated after everyone left whether to go work at church or just wait until tomorrow night when all this work is finished. He called #1 son and they had worked pretty late and some of the men were still there eating supper so we decided to wait.
I finished putting in order all the 80's except before kids years which would only be 1980 and early 1981.These albums have always been on a shelf in this cabinet in the living room and they will stay there for now.
My goal is to get into the 90's and 2000's this weekend especially to see if anything was going on in February of '91 and'01 at least.
These years will be easier I think because these pictures are mostly still in packs with developing dates on them.
Winter is back tonight as it is supposed to be 28 degrees in the morning,at 11:15 tonight it is 36.
Had a restful day today to end a busy week and am very thankful to God for the blessings of the week and His helping hand in all I do.
Good Night and God Bless.

BUSY THURSDAY

Whew !!! What a busy day I've had !

Started out after morning chores with cake baking. It is a cloudy drizzly morning,but we need more of a rain than this.
Didn't finish my baking until after lunch then it was time to do the weekly paper work and pay bills,yuck!
With Hubbie only getting paid on the last day of the month sometimes the last weeks bills require some scrambling and this is one of those months.
Finally got things ironed out and am on my way to town.
I had 1 Avon order from last time to deliver and needed to pick up this campaign's order at my friends house.
She was sad today because she has to start dialysis treatments on Monday. She is the one if you follow my blog that spent about 4 months in the hospital last summer. She is a really bad diabetic and her legs are starting to stay swollen and her blood work is doing strange things again so they are going to start the dialysis before she gets really bad this time. I pray that this plan works,it will be trying for her and her husband as she gets 3 treatments a week and each is 4 hours long.
When I finished all my errands and made it home it was 4:00.
I unloaded the van and got things put away just as Hubbie got home from work.
We went out to work clearing brush again as the rain is supposed to get harder tonight and tomorrow.
We are almost done with the cutting and it looks so different I love it.It was almost dark when Hubbie cut this maple tree down and found this surprise inside.
Haven't had time to do any research on this design inside the tree trunk. If anyone has ever seen this before or knows anything about it please clue me in.
After supper of soup tonight and a short rest off my feet for the first time today except for when I was driving I started icing cakes.
I finished this task at 11:30.
Needless to say I'm ready for a hot bath and bed.
Thanking God tonight for the blessings of today.
Good Night and God Bless.

DENTIST NOW KNOWS MY STORY

Didn't sleep well last night,kept thinking about the dentist. I finally went to sleep around 3 am. When the alarm went off needless to say I did not want to get up.
But on a farm the animals do not ever sleep in and they expect to be fed at the same time each day.
GOOD MORNING !!!!

I cleaned my floors this morning while washing a couple rugs and watering all my plants.
After lunch I got ready and drove back down the mountain to the dentist. I wanted to make sure I was there early.
My name was the first on the list for after lunch. I noticed the bone head,oops I mean, receptionist was not at her desk. When a nurse came out and called the second name on the list instead of mine I could feel my heart pounding, so much so that I looked down to see if you could see it beating under my clothes and at that time another nurse called me back. I had already decided that if I could locate my partial I would pick it up and if I started the long wait process I would just leave.
When I got in the chair the nurse said we just need a quick bite mold. I said it had better be quick since I had to make this extra trip. With a blank look she asked why I said that. As I told her what happened yesterday she got a concerned look on her face and said I'll be right back.
When she left I heard one of the other girls ask for the receptionist and if she was here. I heard the answer that she was here but then the voice lowered and I couldn't hear anything else.
The dentist came into the room with the nurse and ask what happened, as I told him how I actually suggested that she ask him for sure if he didn't need anything while I was there and how she assured me that was not necessary.
Then when she called me to tell me he did need to see me again,there was no apology or explanation just her rudeness when I asked for an appointment time he could honor also.
In my mind an apology yesterday would have went a long way.
He hurriedly made the mold and assuring me that there would be no more hour waits and he would meet me on off days if I needed him to I left feeling better.
As I passed by the reception area the chair was still empty. Guess she didn't want to face me.
I made it back to town in less than an 1 1/2 hours from when I left home, that's more like it!
I got 2 large cake orders for 10 cakes to be delivered Friday so I had to do some shopping on the way home. At least I'll have one bright spot on the revenue page for this month.
When Hubbie came home we went to work a while on the clearing project.This is Hubbie breaking in a new chain saw he bought today. I broke a bolt in my shears so I was relegated to photography for the evening.Clouds that were starting to build up this evening with the prediction for rain chances for the next couple days made for some beautiful pics this evening.
This made me think of an angel gliding across the sky.



A late light supper with daughter and B-friend and then Hubbie to the recliner and I to my picture organizing.
I looked today in Wally world but couldn't find photo album pages,I wonder if these are obsolete now with all the technology?

We watched the UNC/NC State b-ball game tonight,UNC won and it was a drama filled game,not a fun game to watch though.

Feel so much better tonight,think I will be able to sleep like a baby tonight.
Thanking God for His calming hand over my mouth today so I don't have any regrets for anything I said today.
Good Night and God Bless.

GRRRRRRRR !!!! LORD GIVE ME GRACE !!!!

This morning started out great,the sky was so blue and the sun bright as could be.
After chores g-son came and he and I headed down the mountain to drop off my partial.
I must admit as pretty as this view is I'm getting pretty tired of it after almost 3 months of trips down this road.
When we got to the dentist office I asked the lady at the desk to check with the dentist to make sure he didn't need anything else while I was there. She said oh no he didn't need anything else, so we left.This young man is getting so big and independent, he had to fasten his own seat belt today.
When we got home he watched TV while I did laundry and some housecleaning.
After lunch with the house cleaning done we went outside to play in the warm sunshine, 64 degree day.
While we were outside my phone rang and unbelievably it was the dentist office ,(the same lady I talked to this morning) ,telling me I needed to come in so he could make some new molds !!
I asked her why she didn't know this when I was there today and she said he just told her.
I told her I wanted an appointment at a time that would be honored by the dentist instead of the normal 45-60 minute wait. By the time I spend 30 minutes driving each way, have to always wait at least 45 minutes before he even comes into the exam room and then the time it takes to do what ever he has to do I've spent 1/2 day down there.
This extra appointment's is because their lab really screwed up my partial. So I told her to give me an appointment when I didn't have to wait. She said to be there at 2:00 tomorrow. We'll see how this goes but if I can find my partial and it is still in one piece I will leave with it if I have to wait.
I have been boiling over all evening over this and wondering if the dentist even knows how much his office people screw up. This is the third time they have screwed me over.The first time they forgot to call me to tell me my upper plate was ready until 2 weeks passed and I called them. Then they send my partial out for what is supposed to be 3 days and I call after 2 weeks and amazingly it is back that very day. Now I go down there ,point blank asked her to ask the dentist if there is anything else he needs so I won't have to make another trip, am assured he doesn't need anything else and then get this call,grrrrrrrr.
Yeah, I'm highly aggravated and I can promise one thing after tomorrow he will know about all these screw ups if he already doesn't.
If they would have told me in early December when I started this that I still wouldn't be done by March, I would have went somewhere else for sure.

Okay on a more pleasant subject, Hubbie bought our seed potatoes today. Last year all the stores ran out and some of our friends didn't get any so he shopped early.
15 pounds of Red Pontiac will give us some early potatoes to eat all summer.25 pounds of kennebecs will be enough to store for next winter hopefully.

We are eating the last of our stored potatoes this winter now as some of them rotted. Hubbie had left them in plastic buckets to make it easier to lift out of the hole and one of the buckets got water in it and rotted the potatoes in it and of course it was the bucket that had all nice big ones in it.
We don't know if the plastic sweated or if that bucket happened to be under a drip or what. All the ground under and around it was dry as a bone along with everything else in the hole. It's definitely a mystery.
G-son went home for a couple hours this evening and I worked on the brush clearing until he came back while his mom and dad went to the hospital to see D-in-love's brother's wife. She is 24 years old and had a radical mastectomy of both breast because her mother and grandmother died with breast cancer and after being tested and finding out she had the same gene this was a way of hopefully preventing her from the same fate.

I finished the 70's picture organization tonight and got a small start on the 80's. Most of the 80's are already in albums, dated and in order so this will be fast.
The 90's and 2000's not so much !!!
No February pics in 1981 either. Guess this is a boring month.

Asking God for grace and understanding tonight for things that happen that just seem so unnecessary.
Good Night and God Bless.

MONDAY WORKDAY

Up early today ready for a day of brush clearing. After chores we armed ourselves with long sleeve shirts that were really too warm for today's 73 degree temperature.
I got the long handle clippers and Hubbie went after his tractor and all his chainsaws.
There are several white pine trees that need to come down ,they aren't too big yet so we cut them and Hubbie drug them around to the burn pile with the tractor.
Between helping him load I clipped small briars and bushes, I am scratched and stuck in many places tonight. My right hand is swollen on the back probably with a thorn that is buried in it,ouch !!
#2 son came out and helped and #1 son came by to say he would bring his machine down and help after he picked up g-son and gave him lunch.
We took a break for lunch and then all of us got back to the task. We made a huge dent in the clearing off the entire hill today,more than I ever would have imagined we would have gotten done. And we actually would have got more done except for having to get a couple leaner trees cut down that had blown over and lodged in other trees.
Hubbie and #2 son had to work very carefully to get them down without getting hurt and it took a long time. But safety is the number one concern with something like that and they were successful.
The trees lodged back in December when these fell across the driveway and we've been holding our breath as we drove under them everyday.
Now we don't have to look up each time we come down the drive.
About 3:30 we all wore out and Hubbie and I came back to take a much needed break.
It didn't take Hubbie long to start snoring but I tried not to take a nap so it wouldn't mess up my sleep tonight.
I took a shovel down and cleaned out a ditch that was stopped up when I heard the weatherman say we might get some rain tonight.
Hubbie fixed us fish and sweet potato fries with coleslaw for supper tonight.
It is 60 degrees at 10:00 tonight,it's hard to believe this is February !!
I worked some more on my pictures tonight. Only have 1979 left to do in the 70's decade.
D-in-love called and is picking up an extra day of work tomorrow and #1 son has a doctor's appointment in the morning so g-son gets to come over here and go to the dentist with me to drop my partial off to be redone.
I'm planning on an early bedtime tonight as my tired bones are talking to me tonight.
I need a long hot soak in the tub to ease my muscles for sure tonight.
Grateful to God tonight for His helping hand today preventing any injuries and giving us strength.
Good Night and God Bless.

RESTFULL SUNDAY

Wonderful Sunday morning.
Church was uplifting and visiting with my church family is always nice.
Everyone made it to Sunday lunch.
Daughter still isn't feeling great and d-in-love is feeling sickly also today so they napped most of the afternoon.
G-son played with daughter's b-friend while #1 son and Hubbie watched the Daytona 500.
#2 son headed home to do his laundry and I got into my picture organization mood.
I finished the 60's and am 1/2 through the 70's.
All the 60's fit in one album so that made it easy.
I have a lot more 70's pics,especially the later 70's as I loved taking pics even back then.
Still haven't found any pics made in February.
This evening daughter and b-friend left, #1 son and d-in-love went to their class at church and left g-son here.
He helped Hubbie do the chores this evening, one of his favorite things to do, he left the kitchen with both hands full of dog treats.
This has been a restful , blessed Sunday.
The weather was a bit cooler than it has been, only getting to mid 50's with the wind still blowing around pretty hard.
After my chores this evening I watched birds for a while until it got too dark.
We are resting up tonight for a day of clearing work tomorrow. #2 son is off and is going to help so hopefully the weather will allow us to get a lot done.
Thankful for a blessing filled day.
Good Night and God Bless.