2012 A GOOD YEAR !!!

Saying good bye to 2012 with all it's memories both good and bad. This has been a hard year for so many,with droughts that parched the food producing states and still persist going into 2013.

The year contained many bad storms with damaging floods and tornadoes throughout the country. A historic late season Atlantic hurricane named Sandy that ravaged the entire east coast. Flooding NYC subways and forever changing the face of some coastlines.
In November this country re-elected a president that has failed to do his job in his first four years and now threatens to send all of us into a tailspin with his foot stomping demands to get his way on every issue or make the American people suffer. Only God can help us  for the next four years.

As for us here in our little corner of the world we have been blessed this year as always with so many undeserved blessings.

January 2012 was a strange but welcome winter month. After the past several cold snowy years this January was more summer like than winter. The downside was all the summer storms which dropped hail as well as thunder and lightening and tornadoes close by.

February 2012 continued the warm weather causing buds on trees to burst open way too early. This was not a good month for my #1 son as his house was broken into and they were robbed of some precious memories while they were away at work.

March 2012  Flowers burst open in the warm weather and we were holding our breath waiting for the "winter shoe to drop" and it did make an unwelcome appearance with freezing temperatures for a night or so to damage many early bloomers.  #2 son and daughter turn a year older this month , son turns 29, daughter 27. Daughter had her housewarming party with many family and friends in awe over the transition she had made in the foreclosed home she bought.

April 2012 A  great sigh of relief in this month as #1 son who had not been able to find a job since his accident almost 2 years ago got a job working with the NC DOT,we all prayed thankful prayers.
Easter was a grand time for g-son and we had a wonderful Easter church service. It's d-in-love's turn to add another year this month as she turns the big 30 !!
The weather brought more hail storms to all but wipe out the apple crops in the area and what was left got caught in more freezing temperatures. We almost all our fruit in this freeze.

May 2012   One of  Hubbie's 1st cousin's son who has always been a good friend to #1 son got married the first of the month. And unfortunately Connie who was hubbie's 1st cousin and the mother of the groom passed away at the end of the month from a cancerous brain tumor they had found in December.
The weather brought flooding rains to our area and was a record breaking warm month in our area as well as most of the country.

June 2012  was a super busy month around here. #2 son who had been looking for a new house found renters for his house here and moved in with daughter until he finds a house, they also wanted to rent our lower pasture. They had a couple horses so we built a small horse barn in the lower pasture because we still had Snowball in the upper pasture where the big barn is.  June was a good month for d-in-love as she found a really good job, the only downside was it is in Asheville and she has to be at work at 7:30 every morning. she took the job with the commitment from me that I would get g-son to school every morning. I started a 12 week class at church that a nutritionist was giving to hopefully loose some weight,daughter took the every Monday night class with me. The new renters cut all the lower pasture for hay getting about 60 rolls. All this in record breaking June heat for our area. And last but not least hubbie had his 57th birthday on the 15th of this month.

July 2012  was daughter's turn for a new, more money job as she switched to another school in our county where there was a 12 month position in the same job she was doing at the old school in a 10 month position. A classmate, fellow worker at church and dear friend Rhonda passed away this month just as Vacation Bible School started.  For the first year in as long as I can remember I didn't volunteer to teach a class. Daughter and d-in-love taught and I roamed around making pictures and helping where I was needed. G-son loves VBS as all the other kids do also, it was a great way to end another hot summer month. As this month ends I add my 58th birthday on the 31st.

August 2012  was an adventuresome month as at the beginning hubbie,daughter,g-son and I made a 3 day trip to Beaufort,SC to one of daughter's friend's new house. We had a wonderful time exploring the beaches at a nearby state park and the old downtown area as well as the waterfront while we were there.
Most of the month was spent with routine market trips and canning and preserving garden vegetables.
G-son started kindergarten on the 28th of the month and a whole new world opened up for him. He was excited to make this step in his life.
With all the job changes this year there is no vacation time for a week at the beach so we decided to take a long weekend over the Labor day weekend and go to Holden Beach,NC. We left on Friday the 31st, hubbie and I in our van, #1 son and g-son came a short time later and after they both got off work daughter and d-in-love drove down so be midnight on the 31st we were all there and ready for a weekend of relaxation.

September 2012  started out very well ,being at the beach for the first several days was a blessing. Unfortunately #2 didn't get to come as he couldn't get off work around a holiday. We crammed all the fun we could into the 3 days we had there.
When we got home we embarked on another very busy month. The nutrition class came to an end with very positive results for both daughter and me as I had lost about 12 pounds over the 12 weeks which was the best in the class.
I got a surprise visit from a cousin I had never met who found me through this blog when searching for her relatives on my dad's side. One of my dad's brothers was her grandfather. Her and her husband made a stop here on their way to Hilton Head Island in SC. We enjoyed having them very much.
#2 son found a house he likes and started negotiations with the bank that had it in foreclosure.
Our church hosted our annual Block Blast which we are all involved in the work that it takes to put on a community wide event.
The fall Old Timey Day at markt was the last Saturday in the month and I had a very successful sales day while hubbie and daughter worked to help cook the biscuits on the old wood stoves for breakfast and chop and serve the BBQ for lunch.
Whew this along with some more canning and getting into the routine of getting g-son to and from school each day made for a tiring month.

October 2012  another busy but fun month. And another sad death of one of my schoolmates and friends who suffered asphyxiation while working in his automobile dealership. He had helped 2 of my kids obtain their first cars.
Hubbie and I made a trip to the Pickens flea market where we bought a couple female quails to go with the male we had.
We finished off our gardening for the year by digging a bountiful crop of potatoes this year.
A historic super storm named Sandy ravaged the entire east coast ,starting in Florida,skirting the coast all the way up to New Jersey before she made a devastating landfall. She filled all the subways in New York with water and washed away many coastal areas forever. Leaving millions without power and with flooded homes for days and weeks.
G-son choose to celebrate his sixth birthday at Chuckie Cheese in Asheville where we all had a wonderful evening for fun and laughter. #1 son also celebrated his 31st birthday on the 16th with g-son.
A late frost year left the neighbor's berry vines loaded with berries and I picked several gallons of raspberries and black berries,wishing I had had time pick more after tasting them.
I worked on g-son a clown outfit with some material his mom found and it turned out really cute.
 Our church had a trunk or treat on Halloween and hubbie and I made my van into the whale that swallowed Jonah for the night. D-in-love and daughter had a pirate theme for her car.

November 2012  brought another funeral to attend as one of my first cousin's wife had a stroke and died after years of struggle from a previous stroke.
On a happy note #2 son closed on his house after hacking out a very good deal and we helped him move in during the first week of the month. Then we took him to Ikea in Charlotte to get some furniture to replace the things he sold from the old house.
The country re-elected our president on the 11th,much to my dissapointment. I didn't really like the other guy either but feel we definitely need a change from the last four years but all I could do was vote.
Thanksgiving business at the Curb Market was really good this year making for a very busy before Thanksgiving week.
Thanksgiving at our house was very nice as all the kids were here this year. D-in-love's dad smoked us a turkey which was delicious and I made all the sides which made for a very good time.
To end the month we had our Old Timey Christmas celebration at market on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. I had very good sales that day also as daughter and I stayed busy all day.

December 2012 was a strange month weatherwise as it felt spring like most days until winter actually arrived on the 21st then as if notified the cold weather moved in.
Our family celebrates two wedding anniversaries in December, #1 son and d-in-love's on the 10th and hubbie and mine's on the 21st. This year it was a 7th and a 33rd !!
On Friday the 21st there was a horrific school shooting as a deranged young man first shot his mother in their home in Newtown, Conn. then went to a local elementary school,broke in and shot and killed 20 first grade children and 6 adult staff members. This was the worst school shooting in history and made Christmas a sad one for many families all across the country who grieved along with the people of Newtown.  Deputies were placed at all the elementary schools in our county for the remaining school days before Christmas vacation to ease anxiety.
On Sunday the 23rd we had hubbie's side of the family over for our annual Christmas gathering.
After candlelight service at church on Christmas eve our family had our gather with #2 son not being able to make it this year after having to work until 10:00 we decided to save some gifts and continue the celebration on Christmas day at lunch time when we all were present.
Later that evening I fixed another meal for any friends the kids wanted to invite. Some of their friends are away from their families and it was nice to provide a Christmas celebration for them.
On December 26 we had a near flood from an overnight rain storm that dropped almost 3" in a short time.
On Thursday daughter and I went uptown to do some after Christmas sale shopping. We found a few things but mostly just wanted to get out of the wind and cold.
One last market day on the 29th was a fair day with several New Year's eve orders although it was windy with temperatures in the 30's.
On the last Sunday of the year hubbie and I had nursery duty. Whew !! What a wonderful month, what a wonderful year !!!!
Our family has truly felt the blessings of our Lord in this past year. I prayerfully thank Him each night before I close my eyes for His never ending love and care for each of us.
My wish for all of you tonight is that the new year will bring you closer to God and allow you to bask in His everlasting love and care.
HAPPY  NEW  YEAR !!!!

LAST DAY OF 2012

It's a very nice last day of 2012 with morning sunshine and temperatures getting up around 50 this afternoon.
After chores and breakfast I got back into my exercise routine and then took a walk around the farm to make some pics of the last day of the year.
There is still ice in the lower pastures.

Hay roll marks form patterns in the pasture.

The driveway and small barn.

Road to the big barn.

Snowball has made another year, in 5 months she will be 20 years old !

Our winter garden full of Kale greens for us and the chickens to eat .

All the pastures look bare and gray this time of year.

The house with decorations still up.

And the sun that keeps battling the clouds but would shortly loose that battle.

This last day of 2012  was a pretty routine day around here. Hubbie spent the afternoon and part of the evening over at #1 son's house helping him put laminate flooring down in their bedroom.
I took a mountain of rugs and all the dog beds to the local laundry right after lunch. I don't like to wash the rugs in my washer because of all the grit that I can't shake out of them. This laundry has some huge commercial machines and they really get them super clean. I was surprised at how many people were doing laundry today.
I don't  dry the rugs because most of them have rubber backs, so now I have rugs hanging all over my laundry room downstairs to dry in front of the wood stove.
G-son walked over and played with his new legos for a while before he decided that his dad and pawpaw might need his help with the flooring and walked back home.
I changed all the calenders and took down and put away some of the outside decorations and all the extension cords so they won't get wet in the predicted rain tonight.
Today's weather has been typical of most of this years with above normal temperatures and rain on the way.

To keep today's post from being extremely long I recapped 2012 in a seperate post and published it just after this one.
Tonight  our elected leaders in Washington are continuing their bickering on some very important issues and if they don't come to an agreement by midnight the middle class people in this country will suffer yet another blow from this president and his staff. I fear for the future of our country under this leadership.
I'm glad I can put my faith in my Lord Jesus Christ and know that it is He who is ultimately in control.

Good Night, Happy New Year and God Bless.

NURSERY DUTY SUNDAY AND SPECIAL LUNCH GUEST

Brrrr, A very cold morning in the low 20's.
I hurried through chores and got ready for church. Hubbie and I have our quarterly nursery duty day today. When I got there the kids were all well behaved and there was less of them than usual as some families are traveling over the holidays still.
We had an extra helper when one of the grandmothers who brought her granddaughter in begged her to stay with her.
We had an uneventful morning.
When we got home daughter informed us that her "little sister" who is in college in Greensboro now and her boyfriend who is home on leave from the army were coming to have lunch with us.
Luckily we were having spaghetti and there was plenty. We enjoyed talking with Ben who has just finished boot camp training. He and Kate make a really nice couple. This young lady is so precious  and works so hard to escape the life she has been brought up in. I'm so proud of her. She announced today that she made the Chancellor's list in her first semester of college.
When daughter first was assigned as Kate's "big sister" she and her mother were living at the Mainstay shelter here in town and she was a freshmen in high school. Over her high school years she moved from place to place with her mother until finally she left her mother and moved in with her grandmother to stay while she finished her senior year and got into college. She choose the University of Greensboro and seems to be very happy there. God has blessed her !
After everyone left this evening hubbie and I spent a relaxing Sunday just resting.
While G-son was here he turned the Christmas tree light s on. After it got dark I tried to take a glowing tree photo but it still didn't come out well.

The last tree photo of the year !!
I haven't shared the photo cards of family that I always love this year so tonight is a good time to do that. This is #1 son's family's card.

And this is my newest nephew's family's card.

I have spent time this evening working on a year ending recoup blog post which will be an extra post tomorrow. I have tried to do monthly recoups but somehow never seem to have time. I have been working on this one for several days and one of my resolutions for 2013 is to do a monthly recoup for each month.
The last Sunday in 2012 has been a very good one with the love of God in my heart and the warmth of  a special family to surround me life is definitely good !!
Good Night and God Bless.

COLD SLOW MARKET DAY

As the alarm sounded early this morning,I almost rolled over and cut it off as I have been able to do the past several days but thankfully I remembered this was market day.
There is some icy slush on the cars but nothing on the grass but water and the sun is already shining brightly this morning as if defying the weather forecast.
On the way to market the roads were empty of cars and market was pretty much the same way. We had a few customers and the orders got picked up so it was a fair day.
Daughter came in after her ball practice and then walked up the street to a resale shop to keep from getting bored.
After market I picked up New Years day dinner supplies and headed home. The wind is picking up and making the mid 30's temps feel like mid 20's. I just had to stop by Bath and Body Works to pick up a few body lotions while they are having their bi-annual sale. I like their lotions ,the nice scents stay longer and the lotion is a great moisturizer. I have to get in and out of the store quickly because all those mingled scents tend to trigger my migraine headaches. While I was in the mall I walked through Belks again to take a second look at a couple sweaters I saw Thursday and was surprised to see the price reduced even more today. I bought 3 regularly $40 sweaters for $9.99 each !
At home hubbie helped me unload and then he went back to his wood cutting while I had my mid afternoon meal and started chores.
It is still in the 30's and the wind is really starting to blow harder this evening making it very cold outside.
This is the winter weather map for tonight, like I have said before I hope mother nature knows where those county lines are.

Word on the news is it is already snowing in parts of Henderson county,but we don't have any in our yard yet ! Although the 29 degree temp at 11:00 is perfect snowfall temperature.
Tonight was a good snuggle night with my 4-legged kids.
Only two more days in this year, it has been a good year for all my family. As I shopped for my pork,collard greens and blackeyed peas to make up my traditional New Years day dinner I thanked the Lord for all the blessings He has bestowed on each of us this year.

Good Night and God Bless.

BACK TO MY BAKING/ICING ROUTINE

Another cloudy cold morning with almost an inch of ice on the water buckets today. Hopefully the temperature will get warmer than it dad yesterday so the chickens,cows and dogs can thaw out  before the next storm hits tonight.
I baked cakes this morning in spite of the iffy weather forecast for tomorrow. I baked 6 caramel,2 chocolate,2 coconut, 2 pound and 1 wine cake with the hopes that we will get only rain in the morning.
Hubbie went over to #1 son's house to help him put down some new laminate flooring in g-son's bedroom. They are slowly replacing all the carpet in their house with laminate.
Hubbie helped him until after lunch then he came home to go with me to the Asheville farmer's market. We have eaten the entire box of poucan citrus we bought earlier and  needed another box.
We also bought more apples, some Lees fruit and sweet potatoes while we were there as this will probably be our last trip for awhile.
We also stopped at a discount shoe place just up the road and I found a really nice pair of dansko boots that were on sale.

I love Dansko shoes , I have very high arches and these shoes are made with high arched insoles so they feel really good on my feet. Most of the time I can't justify the cost of these shoes but these were on sale from $140 to $79 so I got a good deal and they last forever.
We made it home just before chore time and all the animals were glad to get extra feed tonight to help keep them warm on this nasty night.
Now the forecast is 30 degrees for us and either sleet or freezing rain, either one will make a nasty mess !
There is a winter weather alert extended down into our area.

That blob of grey among all that green is right over our area,what we will get ?? who knows ??

This is the second storm since Christmas that has crossed the country from west to east leaving much of the country with snow cover.

Hopefully my baking was not in vain today and market will be open tomorrow. Traffic will be light I'm sure but at least I can get there with the orders I have.
I iced my cakes tonight and wrapped and labeled everything getting ready to go in the morning.
I'm tired tonight and am headed for an early bedtime for a change.
Thankful for a safe trip today and praying for all who must travel tomorrow if the weather gets bad.
Good Night and God Bless.

AFTER CHRISTMAS SHOPPING TRIP

This was a cold morning. The  hens acted insulted when I opened the henhouse door and threw scratch feed on the frozen ground.
After breakfast hubbie took my van to a near by inspection station so I can renew my tag over the internet.
Daughter called and wanted me to wait until she finished ball practice to go into town so she could go with me.
She came by and had lunch with us then she and I headed out to do a little after Christmas shopping along with the regular weekly errands.
We walked back up town to a couple shops we were in before Christmas to see what sales they were having. I bought a couple things at very deep discounts and she also found some gifts and decorations for next year specials. It was even colder walking down the streets today than it was last week as this is the coldest day of season so far with highs only around 38 degrees.
We picked up baking supplies along with our bargains and headed home.
We made it home just in time for evening chores. Daughter went home to see if her power was back on yet as it was off when she left early this morning.
Hubbie and I had a light supper and relaxed for the evening.
This is a picture d-in-love shared with me of g-son on Christmas morning.

He has his dad's reindeer hat on.
Every time we have seen him since Christmas day he has been playing games on his new leap frog that Santa brought him.
The weather is winter like again tonight with lows expected to get into the mid 20's but at least there is no wind.
With market on Saturday I need to decide what to bake but the forecast being different with each weatherman I have no idea how much to bake.
Some say rain beginning Saturday evening,some say a wintry mix starting Saturday morning  !!??

or

A couple degrees in temperature can make the difference between rain or snow !
This time of year my baking schedule becomes a gamble, if I bake a lot and the weather turns bad even if market is open no customers come out, if I don't bake then customers come after things I don't have . What to do,what to do ???
Maybe by morning the weather guessers will be more agreeable.
This was a beautiful evening ,I was late doing chores so I just caught the last of a beautiful sunset in the western sky.

But a gorgeous full moon was rising in the eastern sky.

Later there was a clear ring around the moon which means we are in for more rain or maybe our first snow within 2 days.

Wonder what we'll get ???
Thanking the Lord tonight for a wonderful blessed day and asking for His guidance in all that I do.
Good Night and God Bless.

NEAR FLOODING AND 2002 MEMORIES

Spent a restless night listening to the pouring rain and wondering how high the creek was getting in the lower pasture where the renter's cattle are.
This morning I was relieved to see the creek licking the bank top but still in it's banks,thankfully.
There was a lot of water standing in the pasture and the farm pond is overfull.

The light rain continued all day and hubbie and I hibernated resting all day inside and doing absolutely nothing but chores when we needed to. For me a much needed day of peaceful rest,snuggling with my 4-legged kids and dozing.
This evening the clouds finally broke up and the rain stopped after dropping 2.5 inches.

I love the sunbeam on my nativity figures this  evening.

This is a good day to finish up the December decade pictures. In 2002 daughter competed in a Junior Miss pageant in Atlanta,Ga. It was a great experience for her.

Here she is receiving her crown.

And here is the beautiful contestant after the pageant was over.

With all the kids almost grown Christmas took on a more relaxed atmosphere. We still met on Christmas eve with hubbie's family but now at my house instead of his parents.

With all adults the excitement of Christmas was minimal.
This was our tree that year.

No one was up at the crack of dawn to see what presents were under the tree for them.

Gifts were still appreciated by all the kids and hubbie and I.

With hubbie's grandmother and my mother passed away we rotated hosting  my side of the families get together on Christmas day evening,this year it was my turn.

All the cousins from my side of the family.

Alot has changed over the last 10 years on this side of the family and we no longer spend any time together at Christmas. These cousin's are mostly all grown up and some of them I haven't seen in quite awhile.
The weather has turned nasty again this evening with the temperature dropping quickly and the winds are really whipping out there.
It is supposed to snow just to the north of us overnight,guess we'll see if mother nature knows where the county lines are ???
The smoke from the chimney looks inviting and we have been enjoying the warm fire this evening as the chill factor drops with the colder temps and the high winds.

I spent some time tonight on weekly paperwork and bill paying getting back into my regular routine. With market now closed on Thursdays it makes it much easier on Wednesday night.
Grateful to God tonight for keeping the flooding to a minimum and for His glorious protective arms.
Good Night and God Bless.