HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME AND 1ST DAY OF VBS

Woke this morning feeling a whole lot better after a really good night of sleep. I didn't cough or sneeze at all last night to disturb my snoozing.
A cloudy morning greeted me at chore time and cooler temperatures,if you can call 76 cooler??
Church was good today, after the service daughter and I went to check on our Bible School decorations. She did a wonderful job getting our room all decorated and ready for tonight.

We came home and had our Low Country Boil for the first time. It was good but I didn't get quite enough Old Bay spice in it. Learn as you go and I'm sure we'll be having it again and again as it was a good one pot lunch.
I also made my famous old cast iron pan peach cobbler for dessert,yum yum !!Don't know what it is about an old cast iron frying pan that just makes things taste better but it does.

After lunch the clouds got thicker and the thunder started but the rain went around us.
Hubbie and daughter went back to church to help with the main VBS decorations and finish our room while I stayed here with g-son.

Today is a significant day for me, July 31,1954 was the day I came into this world.
The first born to older parents ,weighing just a shade over 6 lbs. These pictures were taken when I was about a month old. I haven't been able to find any newer pics so far.
Born to a 53 year old father who was so expecting a boy he turned me into a true tom boy and even nick named me Pete.
My 37 year old mom holds her first born.
Here I am being held by my favorite Aunt, even though she died when I was 5 years old I can still remember the love she had for me and her death took a special person out of my young life.
SO HAPPY 57TH BIRTHDAY TO ME !!!! The kids got me a really nice family tree photo frame,I'll show you when I get all the pictures in it.

In other news of the day, Bible School started tonight. I am helping daughter with a 1st grade class.
Tonight we had 8 in our class until 1 little brother decided to go to his own age class then we had 7. It is a refreshing change for me from the 20 member 4-5 year old class that I have helped with in the past.This was daughter reading today's lesson to the kids. These girls are on the ball and answered all the questions while the boys played around quite a bit as boys will do !I did manage to sneak a peak or two at g-son with his class which again is the biggest there with 21 kids tonight. He looked like he was having a good time.
It was a good start up night.
We even got some rain tonight,don't think it was much but at least it was something.
All in all this has been a wonderful birthday Sunday.
Thanking God for blessing me with 57 wonderful years of His grace.
Good Night and God Bless.

ANOTHER HOT BUSY MARKET DAY

Well another interesting morning as I got ready for market today. Combine another night of restless sleep for me, a coughing Hubbie who is probably coming down with my cold that I graciously gave him,a 79 degree morning by 9am ,one little Bernie who picked this morning to go on one of his rambles and refused to answer our calls along with a whole lot of cakes to load and it's like 2 sore tailed cats around the house this morning.But like all other days we made it and found customers lined up waiting when we got there . Hubbie helped until it slowed a bit then went to pick up animal feed and then go to church to help daughter decorate for VBS.
I had a very busy day,as I write this at 1:00 I have 1 caramel cake,1 blueberry bread, and 2 zucchini breads left.
It is extremely hot in here today and I think now everyone is in the cool somewhere else. We had one casualty of the heat earlier when one of our neighbors ,an elderly man went white as a sheet and had to be helped to his table and I called his wife and his daugher in law just happened to be in town and came and got him. Another nieghbor sat with him until she got here and he told her this was the same way he felt when he had his stroke several years ago. I pray that he isn't getting ready to have another one.

I am very thankful that I feel much better today of my cold, I coughed quite a bit last night and have a sore stomach from it this morning but today haven't coughed much at all so maybe that too is passing.
I was glad to see 2:00 come today for sure,as I loaded my van and got in to head home I just wilted into the seat.
When I got home Hubbie and daughter helped unload while I called #1 son to come get a coconut cake I had made and take it to a family friends house who lost her sister yesterday.
I was just to pooped to go along and he was glad to to it while g-son stayed with us.
While he was gone the rest of us made a trip to Sam's Club and g-son had to have a piece of their greasy pizza for his supper.
Back home we all had supper of fresh salad and a baked pizza. #1 son said the family who lost the sister was doing pretty good even though it was a shock that she died so suddenly.
After supper I called the wife of the man that had the problem today at market and she said he was better this evening. Maybe he just got over heated,which inside market this morning could have been very possible. Temperatures neared 100 again in town today without so much as a stir to the air.
It was definitely this kind of day !!!!
And it is 81 degrees at 10:45 tonight,that's not our good ole mountain cool evenings !

God bless this family in the pain of their loss and also the family of a young man who was killed in an automobile accident early this morning just out the road.
Good Night and God Bless

FEELING BETTER AND NOSTALGIC

Feeling better this morning after a good night's sleep. My system is very sensitive to any kind of medicine so after the dose of Niquel last night I just barely remember getting into bed and I was zonked. But I needed that !!
After chores I refilled all the bird feeders and then I actually could taste a little of my breakfast so I knew I was getting better.
Hubbie and I headed up to church to work for the morning. The heating and air people were there changing all the filters but we worked around them.My jobs went a little slower because I still had to stop and blow my nose quite often but not as often as yesterday.
We finished by lunchtime and headed home. I had to bake pound cakes,wine cakes and 8 layers for chocolate and coconut cakes that I didn't do last night.
While I was in the kitchen #1 son and g-son came in with their lunch. After they ate #1 son went up to his shop to work on some more stuff to sell at market as his inventory is getting low.
Daughter was here and she filled the little swimming pool up for g-son to cool off in this afternoon.
After they played in the pool daughter was tired so they came inside and when she dozed off on the couch g-son entertained himself decorating her with all his super hero figures and anything else he could find it looks like.She must have been really tired !
D-in-love came in and got this picture before she woke up. She titled it "what happens when you go to sleep with G-son in the house" !!

We gathered more cucumber and tomatoes from the garden this afternoon and I cut 5 more bunches of money plant. I was soaking wet in sweat by the time I got back in the house but I felt better than I have in several days.

This should have been a memory post from July 2001 but I could find no pictures from that month.
So instead I thought I would do this post to recognize the beauty of this time of year.
Even with the stress of the heat and drought nature is handling it well.
Apple trees heavy with ripening fruit stand strong with the assurance that God will soon send rain to quench their parched roots.



Sunflowers bow their heads in thankfulness as they soak in the evening's last sun rays.



Corn stalks curl their leaves in the heat of the July sun.



Cattle graze on quickly browning pastures.



Evening haze covers the mountain tops giving them their Blue Ridge namesake color .

And when I thought about it even with all the hype the news people have given this hot dry spell. With daily temps in the 90's over half the month this really isn't much different than any July in the past. And if it was way back in my child hood days before air conditioning we probably wouldn't complain as much because our bodies would have been more like those things in nature and would have adjusted to the heat. I remember when I was growing up in these mountains,in the hottest part of the day we played in the shade of the big oak trees in our yard and never noticed the heat much.
The cool waters of the creek that still runs by our pastures was always an option for cooling off back then.
I don't know if young folks of today are lucky to have all the conveniences or not. Sometimes I think they are missing out on some of the best things of life by staying cool inside in front of the air conditioner.
But no I'm not ready to turn mine off,I'm spoiled just like everyone else and will continue to cool off inside in front of the air conditioner at least until the night time temperature drops to good sleeping temps. Hubbie laughed at me yesterday when I was sick I would go outside to warm up in the evening air.

I only had 4 cakes to ice tonight and I'm done very early and ready to head to bath and bed early for another hopefully good night's sleep without the Niquel.
Thankful to God tonight for the glorious world He created for us to live in.
Good Night and God Bless.

NASTY HEAD COLD GETS ME DOWN

I am writing this tonight laying on the couch.
I had a completely sleepless night last night,my sinus's and throat ached all night stopping any chance of sleep. Finally early this morning as Hubbie left for work at 5:30 I got settled in the recliner in the living room with an ice pack held to my face and finally dozed for maybe an hour before it was time to get ready for market.
The thought of staying home today would have been a real posibility if I had not have had a large 10 cake order from the camp that regularly buys caramel cakes for their session ending banquet.
A little slower than usual but I made it and the heat at market soon made me feel even worse. Sneezing,coughing ,nose dripping,not a good day at all. Sales were pretty slow maybe that's part of the reason!
Finally 2:00 rolled around and I got in my air conditioned van out of the 95 degree heat. I managed to get all my errands ran and got hold of daughter to meet me here to help me unload the van.
I went to sleep sitting in the van waiting for her to get here,that's what kind of day it's been.
This is the worst head cold I've had in a long time and in this extreme heat it is really kicking my butt.
I've been on the couch napping off and on all evening only getting up to eat a little supper which had no taste at all and to do my chicken chores.
No baking tonight,postponed that until tomorrow hoping for a better day. Planning on a big dose of Niquel tonight to help me sleep and that should make things better,hopefully.
Grateful to the Lord for the strength He gave me today and His continuing love.
Good Night and God Bless.

SUMMER HEAD COLDS ARE THE PITS !!!

Very seldom do I ever see the sunrise, I am not an early morning person. But this morning was an exception. Woke at 5:30 with a screaming burning throat and stuffy nose this picture was definitely me today.
I got up gargled with warm salt water, sprayed my throat , ran steaming hot water and held my face over it, you name it I tried it this morning just wanting some relief to get back to sleep. Finally after 2 heatings of a microwave hot pack I drifted off to sleep.
Woke up a couple hours later and gave sleeping up for the day as I felt a lot better standing up than laying down.
I did the morning chores and had breakfast and all though I have a head cold with all the symptoms I didn't really feel all that bad. A couple people called on the phone and didn't recognize my froggy voice but at least my throat doesn't hurt any more.
I iced 12 caramel cakes this morning before lunch. Then I had a decision to make.Deal with this basket of tomatoes or clean the floors? Although I had planned to do both I really didn't feel up to both with the aggravation of this cold.
The tomatoes won !!!!7 more quarts to add to the winter pantry.

As I looked at my dining room table this evening you can surely tell what season it is here.We are so grateful to God for the bountiful harvest we have had so far this summer.
Peaches,tomatoes,cucumbers, yellow and zucchini squash have done well in this hot dry weather.

Between weekly paperwork and paying this weeks bills I talked to daughter as she came through going to a pet sitting job. She is suppose to close on her house Wednesday at 3:00. Prayfully all will go as planned for her.
I iced more caramel, chocolate and coconut cakes tonight. Hoping for a good long nights sleep tonight I am signing off here at 11:15 and heading for the bath and bed.
God is love !!
Good Night and God Bless.

DOG DAY WEDNESDAY

We are definitely in the middle of the dog days of summer !!!
Trying to stay cool anyway we can around here.
After chores this morning I spent the morning juggling laundry and cake icings. By lunch I had the laundry and 12 caramel cakes done.
Time to do a little house cleaning. On days like this I don't mind working inside.
We didn't get anymore rain last night and it doesn't look promising for rain in the near future.Spent some time this afternoon relaxing and recouperating from my sinus pain from breathing in the dust from cleaning out the chicken boxes yesterday. Next time I will have sense enough to wear a mask when I do that chore.
I had to go to Ingles and get some throat spray to stop the burning in one side of my throat. I've been sneezing tonight so maybe I am getting all the dust cleared out.
Daughter did some baking tonight and delivered a cup cake order.
I baked the remaining 18 layers and 3 pound and 2 wine cakes tonight. I'm finished at 11:30 tonight.
This alternating morning/evening schedule is working better for me.

A relaxed Bernie enjoying the evening in the coolness of the house.

Thanking God for the blessings of the day.
Good Night and God Bless.

FINALLY A BIT OF RAIN RELIEF AND JULY 1991

The morning started out hot again,this is becoming the norm around here. Better get out and get things done by around 10 am or the heat gets to be too much.
After chores and breakfast I had an Avon order to finish and get sent off.
Today is a rare Monday as I don't have anything on my to do list for today.
After lunch the clouds moved in and dropped the temperature enough to for me to head outside to get some chick boxes cleaned out and some chicks moved around. The May hatched Silkies that I kept were moved out into the lot which will be their permanent home. It is a bit crowded now as I still have the 6 laying hens there that are still too small to be moved in with the big rooster.
I moved the mama White Silkie and her 6 chicks into the biggest brooder box.
I now have 2 empty chick boxes and only 1 red Silkie hen still setting. She is due to hatch her chicks this weekend.
I carried hot soapy water up there and washed all the waterers very good. In this hot weather they are quick to get slimy algae in them.
After I finished this the skies were very dark and I could hear distant thunder so I decided before the storms got here I had better pick the tomatoes and cucumber in case there was some hail.There was almost a bushel of tomatoes and a gallon basket of cucumbers. It amazes me that the plants are still producing with very little water. Hubbie has exhausted our gutter caught water supply so we're hoping we get enough rain to fill up at least one of our tanks. That kind of watering doesn't do much good but at least it keeps them alive until the needed rain comes.
As I came inside it started to sprinkle rain lightly and this continued into the evening giving us at least 2/10ths of an inch in the rain gauge. We'll take any amount we can get at this point.
I worked on my blog book while it rained and hubbie took a nap,exhausted from working out in the heat all day.
Daughter is trying desperately to get all her loan things lined up to close Friday but it looks like she is going to need more time. After Monday it will cost her $75 a day until closing.
I baked 54 cake layers tonight before I ran out of energy and decided to call it a day.

In my decade photos for July of 1991 we took a trip to Dollywood.
Must not have been as hot as it has been this year. Hubbie and I don't look too sweaty in this picture.


My nephew always went with us on these trips and he is standing between #1 and #2 son in this pic.


Daughter is ready for all those water rides.


Can't go to Pigeon Forge without go cart rides. Her are the kids all lined up in chronological age order from oldest to youngest. Nephew is 10, #1 son is 9, #2 son is 8, and bringing up the rear is daughter,age 6. Those were sure fun times at those ages.
I'm enjoying these decade post so much because of the wonderful memories they bring up.
Listening to our President and house speaker bicker on TV tonight makes me sick to my stomach. Our country has reached our dept ceiling as of next Tuesday. So they are bickering about a budget plan between Republicans in Congress and the Democratic silver tongued President. Taking this argument to national TV makes it seem even more ridiculous to me. Who will give in?? Who knows !
After the showers this evening there was a beautiful sunset.And the rain drops still glistened on my first Moon Flower blossom.

Happier than ever tonight to know that it is God who is ultimately in control.
Good Night and God Bless.

CORN PUTTIN' UP SUNDAY

At church this morning some of the children of the church put on a little play to kick things off for Bible School which starts next Sunday night. Pray for me ,I am helping daughter with a first grade class. They promised we can have no more than 20 in one class!After church we fixed a lunch of roast beef,fresh corn,green beans,fried squash, potatoes and sliced tomatoes and cucumbers from our garden. I love this time of year,everything taste so good.
We all went over to the 1/2 price day of the estate sale place and everyone bought something. I bought a couple necklaces for $2 each ,a vase and a painted saw blade.
#2 son bought the most, a couple sets of matching shelves and a large picture for his wall. D-in-love bought an old church pew for her dad's restaurant and daughter bought a couple platters and a mirror.

When we got home it was ox in the ditch Sunday time for us and all that corn that was sitting in the kitchen. If we left it in the bags longer it might sour because even in the air-conditioned house it was sweating from the heat it was picked in.
Sooo!!!!!
Hubbie put together our new burner and we got the water started boiling.
We set it up out in the covered patio in the shade. As the water heated, the corn shucking began.
Hubbie and I shucked all 3 bags by the time the water was ready for blanching.


This is really nice big ears of corn and we ate some for lunch and it is delicious.
Hubbie and I have developed a corn puttin' up system that works well for us.
I take care of the blanching and cooling .....

and Hubbie cuts it off the cobs with his trusty corn cutter.
He has this thing set just right for him so I don't touch it.
We both bag the cut off corn and I carry it to the freezer and arrange it.
We worked for almost 3 hours this evening,finishing just before dark. We put up 28 quart bags of golden nuggets for the cold days of winter.
I will clean things up tomorrow as darkness over took those efforts tonight.

I hate doing things like this on Sundays but sometimes we just run out of regular time to fit things in. I have a 10 caramel cake order for this Thursday again at the camp that is ending another session so tomorrow evening I will have to start baking cakes.

The rest of the evening was definitely spent relaxing tonight as we are to tired to do anything else.
Asking for forgiveness for the work we did today and praying for God's work to be done in the upcoming VBS week.
Good Night and God Bless.

WHEW !! MARKET DAY HOT AND BUSY

HOT! HOT! HOT!
And that's not even close to describing being inside market today !! Although we had another very busy day, people were getting in and getting out. I saw a couple ladies who had sweated their shirts wet but were still shopping.
We have a small fan at our booth and that helped some. Daughter stayed and helped all day while Hubbie came home after helping me get set up to finish his bush hogging before it got blazing hot.
I had to make a couple supply stops on the way home and found a yard sale still open to check out. I found a couple things and daughter came by and found a few things. I got a call from a customer who had just missed me at market and I met her at Lowes to pick up 2 cakes.As I waited for her I took this picture out the windshield of the van. No rain in sight today.
#1 son and g-son were here when I got here, they had been to a friends corn patch and picked 3 bags of corn for me to put up. That would have been a sight to watch them, as #1 son pulled the corn, g-son carried his crutches along with him.
I'm too wiped out this evening to put up corn so that will be a tomorrow project.
Daughter found g-son's old pool and filled it with water to cool him off and wash the itchy weeds off.
I paid $10 for this little pool 3 years ago and it is still holding water and air.
What an imagination !!!



Crepe Myrtle and big Sunflowers make for a beautiful color contrast in the yard.


Sunflowers are one of my favorite flowers.


They just make me smile with their brightness.

This next picture just makes me smile also !!
Daughter had gotten an eggplant from a neighbor at market and made eggplant parmesian for supper along with fresh corn and fried potatoes.
#1 son made it back for supper.
A man came and bought some Silkies I had advertised and also talked me into selling him one of my white silkie hens.
Hubbie,daughter and I decided to go to Lowes tonight because since she is closing on her house this coming Friday she wanted to go look around a bit.
She didn't buy anything but Hubbie and I bought this propane cooker so I can do some canning outside and also it will come in handy for cooking messy things outside also.
It came with the large frying pan on the bottom rack and is big enough for a large canning pot on top.
We will break it in with blanching the corn tomorrow.
We checked out several things for daughter and checked out just as the store closed at 10:00.
Grateful to God tonight for all the blessings of today and praying for His guidance for daughter in this big step in her life.
Good Night and God Bless.

YOU KNOW IT'S HOT WHEN PIGS HAVE FANS !

Out to do the chores this morning to get another hot day started.
After breakfast Hubbie and I headed up to church to get the work done before the temperature got to high.
I saw this cartoon and didn't think much about it until....
I saw this real life picture at a county fair....

This fellow looks like he is enjoying his fan .

I made a trip to Sam's Club in Asheville to pick up commercial coffee filters to use as cake pan layers and some French Vanilla creamers that we use at church. Our local Sam's stopped carrying both these items so I drove over to Asheville and stocked up on both in case they decide to stop carrying them. It was coming a bad storm just as we made it back to the van.

Hubbie was with me and we made a stop at the WNC farmers market on the way home to pick up peaches and a watermelon. We drove through several rain showers on the way but we were still very dry when we got here.

After a short rest we headed over to the estate sale that we go to each month when she has it. Daughter had already been there and bought a chest of drawers for us to pick up. I didn't find much this time but g-son was with us and of course he found a box full of super heros that he had to have. Hubbie found a tackle box full of fishing things and I found a box of buttons and a woven small chest. She has extended her hours to include Sunday as the 1/2 price day so we will probably go back then.

Back home it was surely miserable outside when I did the chores. We found a hole the dogs had dug against the house the water could pond in and seep into the basement so we hauled dirt from the garden and blocks to fill in a deter any more digging.

Daughter baked after we ate our snack supper and then it was my turn to finish my baking and icing. It was almost midnight when I finished and with my back aching I headed straight for bath and bed so I'm late finishing and publishing this blog.

God is good forever.

100 DEGREE DAY, 1981 JULY MEMORIES

Off to market early as the day already is heating up. Market was surprisingly busy for such a hot day. Usually people don't come to a place without air conditioning to shop when it's this hot ,but today I'm glad they did.
When I got the van loaded and left I noticed the reading on my thermometer.
At first I thought it was just because my van had been sitting in the sun but then I passed one of those big temperature signs on the side of the road and it said the same thing.
I hurried through my errands to get out of town into the country where the temperature was only 93, haha !!!!
Daughter was over at her house with the water tester and she said it came a good rain over there this afternoon but we were not so lucky here.
It is hazy and humid this evening.
#1 son and g-son came by this evening for a while. They left early as g-son is starting a new bedtime routine so that he will be ready when his pre-kindergarten begins.
I baked 36 layers tonight for caramel,chocolate and coconut cakes. It is too late to bake the pound and wine cakes that will have to be done tomorrow.

July 1981 was definitely a topsy turvy month. I was 6 months pregnant with #1 son and my dad had in the months before had a major surgery which he could not recover from at his age of 81. Even though I knew his death was inevitable I still was not prepared as I wanted him to see his first grandchild that he was so looking forward to.
So when he passed away on July 8 of that year I thought I was going to lose my baby in spite of all the doctors could do,they could not take the heartache away. I was always a daddy's girl and didn't know what I would do without him. But God was there for me and I didn't lose the baby and He gave me the comfort and strength I needed to deal with this loss.So in just a couple short weeks we went from funeral flowers to wedding flowers.As my youngest brother went ahead with his wedding even under objections from my mother. Who selfishly didn't want her baby boy to leave her house.Here are both my brothers and my Hubbie on the right.Here I am in a dress I made especially for the wedding. I didn't have a part in the ceremony because of my fragile health at the time. I'm standing on the front porch of Hubbies and my home at the time.
I guess if I had to choose a least favorite month July would be a top choice because of losing my father and also it is the month I get a year older every year. Although I still miss my dad very much the pain is replaced with memories of him that will live forever in my heart.JUNE 26,1901 ---JULY 8, 1981 Hard working father.

Good Night and God Bless.