MARCH ENDS WITH RAIN BUT HAS SUNNY RE-CAP

Yuck , again, rain again, this morning slogging through morning chores.
And the temperature is 37,brrrrrr !!
After breakfast I took the little Beagle dog d-in-love picked up out of the road to a near by no-kill shelter to scan hoping for an ID chip.
No luck,no chip but they did want him, since he has already been neutered ,was very well behaved and friendly they were confident they could adopt him out to a good home.
He was a very nice little dog but we already have 6 dogs so we felt like we are full.

I finished weekly paperwork and headed off to town for an all afternoon errand trip.
Had 4 Avon deliveries to make and dry cleaning to drop off and a trip to the local fresh meat market to stock back up along with all regular errands.
This is my last free Thursday, next week I will be at market on Thursdays as well as Saturdays. I can't say I'm looking forward to that as slow as it's been on Saturdays, I know Thursdays are gonna be a bust !!
I finally made it back home around 5:00,Hubbie was already here from work and helped me unload.
It is now genuinely raining for the first time today. Until now there has been a fine cold mist falling. The temperature hasn't gotten above 45 all day,so it feels pretty raw out here.
Glad to get home and have a few minutes down time before chore time and cake baking time.

The recap of this month is full of first......
First emergency room trip !!
First color of the season ....
First hatch of the season......

The weather has been from one end of the spectrum to the other with daily high's from the mid 80's to the low 40's. We have slept with the windows open and with them closed and woodstove fires burning all night.
We have had a couple near floods....
To several red flag fire danger days from being so dry and windy.

We found a dry enough/wet enough time to plant our early crops this month.
We also took time out from all the spring chores to love ,laugh and enjoy life !!!
Now I look forward to what God has in store for me and my family in the month of April.

Good Night and God Bless.

EARLY MORNING STORMS , DREARY DAY

Suddenly awakened at 4 am today with a thunderous roar that was shaking the house and it seemed to go on forever. I jumped up to unplug our TV and computer,living at the top of a hill on the end of a power line does have it's disadvantages as lightening has struck our house and ruined many electronics in the past.
Blinded by another flash of lightening I hurried back to hide under the covers until the storm passed.
Unbelievably Hubbie was still snoring !!
My 4-legged kids,especially Bernie was afraid of all the lights and noise and joined me under the covers.
Thankfully the storm passed quickly and judging by the time distance between lightening flash and sound of thunder it stayed several miles to the west of us but we got really hard rain for a while .
The scanner was alive with fire calls to a house that had been struck and was on fire just on the other side of the interstate from us.
It didn't take me long to get back to sleep after all the noise subsided and the rains let up.
This morning they said our county got between 1/2" to 1" of rain out of that one storm.

Thick fog greeted me at chore time with misting rain. I guess this is going to be the norm for at least today.
I watered things in the greenhouse, I think if the 10 day extended forecast looks okay I'll take them out of their warm winter home this weekend.
The rose that I put in there is almost touching the ceiling and is ready to bloom.
All the herbs growing make it smell so good in there.

Back in the house I cleaned floors and sat a few plants outside to catch some rain showers before I bring them back in tonight as the nights are still getting into the 30's.

I bought these 2 ferns last spring and they have loved being in the sunroom all winter.This one was on the end of the room that is about 4 feet up in the air and obviously was colder than the other end that is on the ground. Although living it didn't do as well.


This Citronella plant also has thrived very well inside all winter,it smells just like citronella and works well to keep the mesquitoes at bay.
Several other plants have wintered in the sunroom,I'll show later how well they did.

G-son came after pre-school to spend another dreary afternoon with me.
We've put puzzles together and played with foam blocks to ward off the boredom.
Then we made a tent from blankets and pretended to hide from monsters,love his imagination.
After Hubbie came home from work g-son took him to play with him in his playroom for a while and I relaxed and enjoyed bird watching .Mr. and Mrs. Brown Headed Cowbird have dinner together this evening.Taking Aim !!! Mr. Red Bellied Woodpecker enjoying a suet dinner.Thankful for Mr. Eastern Towhee and all the Sparrows that glean all the dropped seed off the ground under the feeders.
All the birds seemed to be really hungry this evening,you think they may have heard the weather wizards say the "snow" word for tomorrow night?????? Yeah, 30 degrees and sssssnow?????? Well you know what they say about March,if it comes in like a lamb,(which it did) then it will go out like a lion !!!!

Spent the evening playing imagination games with g-son. He got play with his aunt T also this evening as daddy worked late.
#1 son came to pick him up and watched Survivor with us before they left for home.

God is good all the time,all the time God is good.
Good Night and God Bless.

WASH DAY TUESDAY

Another dreary morning,no rain just cool temperatures,35, and plenty of clouds.
As I fed my chickens this morning I thought how they must long for some warm sunshine.

Back inside and after breakfast I started the laundry and house cleaning for this Tuesday.

I can't believe March is almost over and spring has to be right around the corner. Overall we have had a milder winter than last with all our snow this year coming in December and January.

G-son came right before lunch to spend the afternoon here while daddy helps his in-laws with their restaurant renovations. They are scheduled to open Friday for a busy weekend of trout fishermen as that is also opening day of trout season and they are located on the Rocky Broad river, a popular fishing spot.

G-son is in a construction mood today also and has been building towers with his foam ABC blocks between running up and down the stairs helping me with laundry.

I am fussing at my washing machine today as it is taking forever to get water into it. When Hubbie gets home we will check the screens in the hoses,I'll bet they are stopped up. At least I hope its that simple of a fix !!

D-in-love came in tonight with a new friend. She is an animal lover like the rest of us and can't stand to see a dog in the road that might get run over.
About 2 miles before home on the road we live on there was a young male beagle in the road,she stopped and the dog ran to her .
When she got here Hubbie went with her and they went back and knocked on some doors but no one knew the dog. At the local fire station the guys said the dog had been running up and down the road for about 30 minutes. Sounds like some one might have set the poor dog out. My cousin who lives near there said she saw the dog but didn't know it either. Poor little fellow was very scared at all the riding around so Hubbie put it the lot with his 2 beagle girls when they got back . Both Hubbie's girls are fixed and the new friend is also neutered so no worry of puppies. We will have to have it checked for an ownership chip tomorrow.
Many of the dogs we have had over the years have been strays. Sometime when you show them love that they have never had it makes them amazingly loyal to you.Our beloved Bernie came to us after daughter found him running in the road on her way home from work one day.

Sad news from Japan keeps coming each day as the death tole rises. Typically they cremate all dead but that cannot be done quickly enough now so temporary mass graves are being dug to bury the 1000's of casualties with the agreement that these lost loved ones will be dug up ,cremated and placed with family within 2 years.

Everyone is wearing mask to keep out the offensive smells and I'm sure the radiation which is still leaking.
That radiation has made it all the way here since it began leaking. The detectors at several sights around the WNC mountains and upstate SC have detected elevated levels of Iodine in the atmosphere but they are not any where close to being harmful.
I just pray that get those leaks stopped soon.

I'm longing for some warm sunshiny weather for a change. I think I got spoiled with all the nice weather over the last several weeks and now when the temperature is normal and below it hurts worse. I have just shivered at times today in the cool dampness , although it did get to 50 degrees today the sun never made it through the clouds.
It is supposed to start raining tonight and continue for the next couple days,yuck.

Thanking God for day filled with undeserved blessings.
Good Night and God Bless.

OUTSIDE WORK DAY

No rain this morning but cold temperatures and an eerie dripping sound all around as if ice is melting off things.
There was no ice on the water buckets so I'll assume the temps stayed above freezing for the night.Folks near the Tennessee / NC line weren't so lucky.

After chores Hubbie and I talked about what we could do today since the weather wasn't as nasty as predicted. He didn't want to waste his day off doing nothing, sooooooo.......This is a large Japanese Maple tree that has beautifully graced the front yard for years. When I planted it ,it was about one foot tall, now it is nearly 10 feet.
With the renovations we are doing to our yard it had to be moved soooooo......After about 3 hours of careful digging ,trying to trace roots to get them as long as we could we wound up with this gigantic hole.
After pulling it up the hill to it's new location we had to take a lunch break to recoup some energy for digging another huge hole to put it in.
The planting hole was easier digging as it was in an old chicken lot and the ground was still soft and rich from the manure.
The tree is replanted and prayerfully watered hoping it will continue to grace us with it's pretty red leaves.
You can see it in it's new location behind the back post on the right in this photo of how we spent the remainder of the day. Working until almost 6:00 tonight we removed the roofing from this carport.
This photo was made last November and you can also see the Japanese Maple on the right to show you how big the tree actually was.
Next step is the removal of the old workshop and woodshed.

Daughter fixed supper for us tonight which was a welcome relief and then Hubbie and I both spent the night resting from the active day.
The temperature stayed in the upper 40's all day with clouds and tonight it is supposed to get near freezing again.

Thankful tonight for the health and strength to work like we did today and for a generous supply of hot water for soaking tonight .
Good Night and God Bless.

NURSERY DUTY SUNDAY

Nursery duty at church this morning. Whew!! always glad to see service over on these days and it really was an easy day today with 5 small ones.
We had a spaghetti lunch for everyone.
G-son stayed the afternoon as Mom has some work to do and then they are going back to church for their last TAG class.

The weather is gloomy out today. It rained last night with temperatures in the mid 30's.
The rain has held off today except for some light drizzle and the temperatures have stayed in the 40's all day. Tonight we are under another freeze warning with the possibility of snow.

Between watching ballgames today,UNC lost to Kentucky, I have worked on my picture organization project.
I now have all of the 90's in albums.
I found that walmart has photo albums that hold more than 600 photos each so that helps the job.
With the rainy day predictions for this last week in March coming up I might just get this March project completed after all !

Dangerous radiation continues to escape from the damaged reactors in Japan after the earth quake.
It is so sad for the people in that country and so scary for the rest of the world.
Now their nuclear officials have finally admitted after making many obvious mistakes that the radiations levels are much higher than they have previously said and that they really don't know how bad these reactors are damaged or how long before they can stop the leakage of radioactivity or even if they can.
And you can bet the outside world isn't being told any where near what the real story is over there.

I take comfort in the knowledge that God is in control .
Good Night and God Bless.

HAPPY 26TH TO MY DAUGHTER

Me on this day in 1985,hoping for a baby girl !!!


Prayers answered, a beautiful baby girl !!!!With 2 older brothers waiting to help spoil and protect her !!!
And that they have and still do !!!!

HAPPY 26TH BIRTHDAY DAUGHTER !!!!!!

Rain,rain,rain, makes morning chores and loading for market messy.
Market was slow,slow,slow, as expected in this kind of weather.
Came straight home and unloaded and had a snack since I didn't have any lunch.
I hit the couch to snuggle with my 4-legged kids as I have been cold all day and am looking forward o getting warm.
Hubbie was in his recliner and that's where we spent the afternoon while the rain continued not really hard but steady.
After evening chores g-son came to stay with us while his mom and dad went to have dinner with daughter for her birthday celebration with a group of her friends.
It came a thunder, lightening storm once tonight with blinking power but thankfully it came back on and the storm passed quickly.
We are getting our share of rain in the next few days. Maybe March showers will bring April flowers !!!
God knows we need the rain and I am thankful for it and also thankful for my daughter today on her 26th birthday.
Good Night and God Bless.

FROSTY MORNING 2001 MARCH MADNESS

A frosty morning greeted me today. The thermometer said 32 on one side of the house and 30 on the other so I'm thinking there was little or no damage to my fruit trees and flowers,whew !!!
I am in a fog myself this morning as I didn't sleep well at all last night,probably only 2-3 hours. I have been fighting a stuffy nose all week,in fact since I had a cold a couple weeks ago I've never got over the junk in my nose and head.
Every time I laid my head down last night my nose ceased completely up and I had to breath through my mouth. I could sit up and it would unstop. In an effort to try not to wake Hubbie I was trying to raise my head enough to unstop my nose and still get comfortable enough to sleep and it was an all night battle.
To top it off I have a busy day planned today.
After chores and breakfast I headed to church to work early so I could pick g-son up from pre-school at 11:30.
On the way home I dropped off an Avon order to a customer who is leaving on vacation tomorrow and had ordered a dress to take with her.
Back home we had lunch and then with the cooler weather we decided to stay inside for a while.
I iced my cakes while he built his blanket tent back in the living room.
The sun came out and the temperature got to 60 but there was still a breeze that made it feel cooler.
We walked around outside and checked on the baby chicks,who are growing like little weeds.
Mama is still very protective of all 5 babies. Little chicks are so cute and so fun to watch as they explore ,chase and peck at any thing that moves .
We came back inside and relaxed for the rest of the afternoon,I feel crappy from no sleep and he seems tired.
After mama picked him up ,Hubbie and I went to church to finish work before the UNC/Marquette game tonight.
Hubbie had brought us the special $5 sub of the month from Sub-way home for supper so this was an easy evening.
As I finished the chores the first rain drops started falling. It is suppose to rain all week end and maybe flood again.
Yea !! UNC won the b-ball game to advance to the elite eight.

Back in March of 2001 we had our own March madness going on as #2 son was ending a great high school season of b-ball.Here Hubbie and I escort him onto the floor on Senior night when he played his last home ball game.
As his teams playoff run came to an early unexpected end he was chosen as one of the best area players and got to play in the Blue/White all star game which is made up of the best seniors from all over western North Carolina to show case their talent in front of college recruiters.He is #33 in his blue all star uniform.
He had already chosen a Basketball scholarship from a small college close to home called Montreat . We visited many colleges that were recruiting him from mid NC to Eastern Tenn but he wanted to be close to home.

March madness is fun whether it was back then or even now when I don't even know any of the kids playing. I love watching basketball and I always pull for UNC mostly because their coach is from this area and came from a humble background in these mountains.

Grateful for the blessing of a sweet g-son and a blessed family tonight
Good Night and God Bless.

COOLER THURSDAY WITH FREEZE WARNING TONIGHT

Well we knew it couldn't be completely spring yet ! A freeze warning for tonight with temperatures predicted to be in the upper 20's has neighbor orchard growers nervous,especially the ones with peach trees.

Today has been pretty cool around 54 degrees for a high which is normal but feels cold compared to the above normal temperatures we've had for the last couple weeks.

G-son came this morning to spend the day. While he watched TV I did weekly paperwork and payed bills.
After lunch we headed to town to run errands and deliver 1 Avon order. We stopped by a truck load sales place and G-son got to experience Christmas decorations all over again,his favorite was this huge Minnie Mouse.
We finished all our errands and made it home about 5:00.
It is a cool evening to be sure and the wind isn't helping either.
#1 son came by and picked up g-son after finishing his day of work at his in-laws restaurant as they are trying to get ready to open the 1st of April.
His foot was really hurting tonight after being on his feet for the last 3 days. I hope he doesn't over do and mess this last surgery up.

I baked cakes tonight, 3 caramels,2 coconut,2 granny pounds. I looked back at last years numbers for this week and they were about 4 times as many as this year. And that's about how sales so far this year have been going.

Staying up to watch the Duke/Arizona sweet 16 game tonight and right now at 11:45 with just over 3 minutes to go in the game Arizona is ahead by 16 points so I think Duke's season is coming to an earlier end than they expected.

Grateful tonight for blessings of plenty on this day.
Good Night and God Bless.

MORE SPRING COLOR AND NASTY WEATHER

Sunny ,warm, above normal, weather again this morning. After chores and breakfast of wheat pancakes with maple syrup which I hardly ever make but I'm out of cereal this morning so I treated myself, I got started cleaning floors.
The vacuuming and sweeping I got done before lunch but decided to wait till after lunch to mop so I could just mop myself right out into the nice weather to sit and enjoy the sun while the floors dried.
Looking around the yard I noticed more blooms today,it seems that each day now brings more color to the yard.This Redbud tree along with a couple others seemed to have popped out over night.And this little beauty is suppose to be a peach tree that we bought at the flea market last spring,mmmmmm, I'm not sure about it being a peach but at least it is pretty.A couple of my pear trees are blooming with one still in bud.

After the floors dried and I put things back in place I took a walk around the lower pasture.The pond that needs to be cleaned out is now full to overflow by all the recent rains. Guess cleaning it out will have to wait.It is so nice to see all the green grass !!The evidence of the recent high waters can be seen on the creek banks but the water sure is calm this afternoon with the sun glinting off it.Sadie was my faithful companion today.

I ran across a patch of these lovely violets.Looking up uses for wild Violets I found an interesting violet vinegar that looks simple to make,but you have to have a quart jar full of violet blossoms. I think I will just enjoy the beauty of these little spring flowers.Our area is expecting some nasty weather tonight. We have been under a Tornado watch all afternoon, although it is hard to take seriously because of the sunshine. This evening it is easier to get serious because the wind has really picked up and the rain is here.
It is blowing rain all the way across the covered porch. The storms are moving fast and should be past us by midnight hopefully.
Today the temperatures again got into the upper 70's but tomorrow we'll have a reality check with below normal temps which are suppose to be 20 degrees lower than today's and tomorrow night it is suppose to be 32, whew.
Watched Survivor on TV tonight and then blogged, as I sit here typing the wind and rain are howling outside at 10:00.
As I looked at the calendar tonight I can't believe we have made it almost through the month of March which usually contains the last of our winter weather.
I looked around at all the plants that have spent the winter in my sunroom this morning and wondered when it would be safe to put them outside to enjoy the sunshine and rain.
Grateful to God tonight for the beautiful spring day filled with His creations coming to life after winter's hibernation.
Good Night and God Bless.

DAY AFTER SICKNESS ALWAYS FEELS EXTRA GOOD

G-son arrived at 7 am this morning and we went back to bed for a while.
He had a hard time adjusting to where he was when he woke up,asking where his daddy was several times. Since his dad came home from the hospital last July they have been really close so it is going to be an adjustment when daddy goes back to work.
It is really warm again today 77 degrees but there are some clouds passing over the sun today to cool it down some.
I did laundry and house cleaning this morning while g-son entertained himself by using blankets to make a tent in the living room in front of the TV.
At lunch he made himself what he called a "he man spider sandwich".....
He stuck pretzel sticks all around his cheese sandwich, but he ate most of it including the pretzels so what ever makes him happy works for me.

He wanted to help with the laundry but usually after he put about 2 pieces in the washer he was off doing something else.

After his mom picked him up I spent some time outside and I noticed some new bloomers in the yard.
There is quite a few of these particular tulips blooming around a bed in the front yard that I remember planting a variety of tulips in. Maybe the pack wasn't such a big variety or maybe they mixed and these were the dominate ones, either way I still think they are very pretty.


These are my favorite daffodil ,love this color combination.



This is the Almond bush that was only budding just a couple days ago.

Thankfully I feel normal this afternoon.
I watered the plants in the green house, I debated all evening about taking them out, but the temperature is supposed to go down next week so I'll wait as they are really getting a lot of tender growth on them.

Spent a quite evening just enjoying feeling well after yesterday's evening it felt good just to do nothing but sit.
Daughter has been house hunting for the last 2 evenings but is still looking for that just right deal.
#2 son came up to exchange haircuts with Hubbie tonight and told her he would sell her his house.
I am tired tonight after last night and my early morning visitor so I'm off to soak in a hot tub for a while and then I've a feeling I'll sleep like a baby tonight.
G-son is going to the zoo tomorrow so I get a day of house cleaning before he comes back Thursday and Friday.
Thanking God for a blessing filled day.
Good Night and God Bless.

SPRING PLANTING DONE SEVERE HEADACHE

This is Monday March 21 delayed post because of headache last night.
Another beautiful morning,already in the mid 60's with bright sunshine by the time chores were finished.
I came inside ate breakfast and put my Avon order online before heading back outside to help Hubbie in the garden.
We planted 1 1/2 rows of red potatoes, 2 1/2 rows of kennebecs plus radishes, kohlrabi,
lettuce and onions. We thought we had some Kale seed but Hubbie will have to pick up some tomorrow.
After #1 son picked up g-son from preschool they came by and g-son pretended to plant his part of the garden with his tractor. Notice #1 son's big boot on his foot that he still has to wear until mid April only, hopefully.
He will be helping work on his f-in-law's new restaurant the rest of the week so I'm full time g-son keeper for the week except for Wednesday when d-in-love and a couple friends are venturing off to the Columbia zoo with all their kids.
We weren't the only ones in the dirt this morning, these silkies were have a time taking dirt baths in the warm sunshine.This is a lovely white silkie after her dirt bath,yuck, I can't see how that would feel good.

We finished our planting just before lunch and after we ate we went back outside so g-son could play in a different kind of dirt,his sandbox.He is getting to big for this turtle box and is going to have to have a bigger sand box this year.

After #1 son and g-son left Hubbie and I went up to the barn and moved the cattle trailer out with the other trailers so Hubbie can park his truck in the barn. We covered the cattle trailer with a huge tarp which was an adventure getting it up there with the wind blowing but we did it.

My head started hurting right after we did evening chores and even after Tylenol and a hot pack and trying a cold pack it would not stop throbbing. It was hurting so bad it almost made me sick to my stomach. Finally about 11:00 Hubbie helped me from the couch to the bed so he could sleep anyway.
I finally got tired enough and got enough relief to fall asleep.
This post was written on the next morning and back dated because of the headache.
I think I probably got to hot and sunburned yesterday and that is what caused the headache. I have to remember not to do that again because that definitely was not fun!

I am grateful to God for the energy to get all that we got done yesterday.