BUSY LAST DAY OF OCTOBER !!!

Welllllll!!!!! This last day of October has been just like the rest of the month for me ,reeeaalllyyy busy !!!
After I got g-son to school I hurried through chores and breakfast and headed back over to school to the Fall Carnival they are having this morning.
There is snow on the mountain tops this morning.

 All 4 of the kindergarden classrooms had games and activities set up in them with plenty of treats to go around. The classes rotated between the 4 rooms and had a ball.
Love the look on g-son's face when I first walked down the hall and he saw me, he's in the red shirt.

He gave it 100% in all the games they played.

And greatly enjoyed all the treats !!

I left that,headed home to ice 6 caramel cakes and have lunch before heading over to the neighbor's berry patch. They rented all their land out to one of the top berry producers and the season is over for them but there is still plenty of ripe berries.

I picked for almost 2 hours before it was time to pick g-son up from school.
I came home with 2 gallons of raspberries and 4 gallons of blackberries.
They are all so sweet and we are enjoying them immensely,thanks for inviting me to share in the harvest. I hope the freezing temps hold off until I can get back over and pick more.
When g-son and I got home we started getting things ready for trunk or treat at our church.
The van is the fish that ate Jonah and I am just a bystander.

Daughter and d-in-love decorated d-in-love's jeep with a pirate theme. They were the most fun trunk there !!!

This is the pumpkin from my front porch that son is making into a pumpkin pirate !!

We had 11 trunks that braved the cold temps and wind for the evening and there was a surprising number of trick or treaters that braved the weather.

When you got too cold there was more fun inside as well as a table filled with food !!!

This is my special little trick or treater in his clown outfit.

His best friend was a monster faced superman !!

Whew at 7:30 it was time to pack up and head home to thaw out.
Now it is cake icing time again. By the time I got the chocolate and coconut cakes iced and everything wrapped there was no ime to get on the computer so I am blogging as usual on Thursday morning at market between customers.
It's hard to believe that October is over. The busy times of this month always makes it fly by and this year surely has been no exception.
The weather has been fabulous for most of the month,not to cool but just fall feeling. At the end of the month we had a week of warmer than normal days that preceeded an Alantic hurricane named Sandy that proved to be a record breaking sized and damaging storm to the east coast starting in Florida and coming ashore in the New Jersey/New York areas where it did billions of dollars in damage and changed the landscape of some areas forever.
Here we were fortunate not to have anything but some high winds from the storm.
#2 son made a deal on the house he wanted and will close on Nov. 1st if all goes as it should.
G-son has done well in school this month going everyday and we made several stops at corn mazes and apple houses for the regular October activities.
Hubbie and I put our garden to bed for the winter this month digging potatoes and cleaning it off except for the kale greens that will feed us and the hens this winter.
We also made our fall trip to the Pickens Flea Market.
We celebrated 2 birthday's this month ,#1 son and g-son who share the same day for their birthdays. G-son celebrated his with his first trip to Chuckie Cheese in Asheville and had a great time.
On a sad note our community lost a real hero as Chat Jones one of my high school friends lost his life from accidental carbon monoxide poisoning in an auto dealership he owned.
As I transition into November still in a busy buzz, I'm looking forward to some down time this month as the weather cools and I get that calm break before gearing up for the holidays.
I am looking forward to all the blessings the Lord has in store for me as I go through the month.
Good Night and God Bless.

MONSTER STORM SANDY AFTERMATH

As I took g-son to school a fine mist was falling in the 34 degree morning so we didn't (at least not yet) get the promised snow in our area.

However in the higher elevations they were not as fortunate or unfortunate, depending on how you like snow !!
Some areas had 9 inches this morning and it was still coming down, check these photos from the local TV station out.

 I was hoping my rose blossoms didn't look like this today.

I love this new Halloween yard decoration.

Any leaves that are left on the trees sure stand out against the white snow background.

We have a yard full of leaves to begin raking as soon as the weather breaks and we can comfortably get outside.
After chores I started laundry and house cleaning chores for today. Then I did a weight lifting video and some exercise all before lunch time. This new cleaning schedule is working out really good so far.
After lunch I started getting some things together for decorating the van and ourselves at our church trunk or treat tomorrow night. I also found an old pattern to make g-son some clown pants from a piece of material d-in-love bought.
The wind has slacked quite a bit today only gusting in the mid 20's but with the 40 degree temperature it is a very raw day out there.
After I picked g-son up we came home and got started on those clown pants. They turned out pretty good.

He has an orange shirt and rainbow wig and out of the material that I had left I'm going to make a big collar to match his pants. Making these brought back memories of many Halloweens when my kids were small that I would be at the sewing machine trying to create outfits for costumes they had dreamed up.
After his dad came to pick him up I worked on my van some. My van is going to be the whale that swallowed Jonah,who will be portrayed by my hubbie. Since the Bible makes no mention of a wife for Jonah I will just be a Biblical lady.
I hope the temperature rises so we won't all freeze our booties off out there !!!

Hurricane Sandy left billions of dollars in damage when it came ashore near New York city last night.
Some of these pictures remind me of what Japan looked like after the tsunami hit them a couple years ago.

Along with the historic 13 foot storm surge that produced massive flooding and the 90 mph winds there were fires.Hundreds of homes in one area alone burned to the ground as fire fighters could not get through the flood waters to put the fire out.
So many pictures of flooded automobiles.

And I hope no one needs a yellow cab for awhile !!

 So many homes destroyed and at least 48 deaths in this monster historical storm.

 And just like Miami saw after Sandy left there here is the rainbow over Queens,NY today.

Praying for all the loss of lives and homes in the path of Sandy who is still causing plenty of trouble tonight. In this photo you can see the circular bands still swirling wind, snow and cold temperatures all over the eastern US.

And this map shows how much below normal our temperature is.

Here at 11:00 it is already 38 degrees with a predicted 29 for our first really below freezing temperature of the season.
I am just taking my last cakes out of the ovens after baking 12 caramel, 2 coconut, 1 chocolate, 3 pound and 2 wine cakes tonight.
I am listening to the news as they talk about the snow that is still coming to the higher elevations overnight. Some areas already have 2 feet of snow and more coming !!!  It's only October !!!
May God bless and comfort all the storm victims and give them the strength to rebuild their lives.
Good Night and God Bless.

VOTED TODAY IN SPITE OF THE HIGH WINDS

After listening to the howling wind all night waking off and on I finally got up just after 6am to check the temperature. Fortunately it was still around the mid 30's because the power had been off for a short time and my heater in the sunroom was off. I fired it back up and had just layed down when the phone rang, #1 son was bringing g-son over on his way to work. The wind blows so hard at their house d-in-love couldn't carry a sleeping g-son and keep the door from getting caught in the wind.
Hubbie put g-son in our bed and he went back to sleep for over an hour.
I kind of dreaded getting up and out this morning. It is freezing cold and the wind takes your breath away. I manged to get through morning chores and get back inside without getting hit by any flying debris. I had to move some small limbs to get to the hen house doors and the poor hens didn't know what to think when the wind hit them as they came out of their nice warm houses.
Hubbie, g-son and I hunkered down all morning and watched the trees sway back and forth with unbelievable flexibility. We know so far that we have 2 trees down on our farm. The old maple tree that was almost dead at the pond blew over and disintegrated when it hit the ground.

I'll miss this old tree in my pictures of this pasture. There is also one of the Jack Pines in front of the house blown over.
We finally ventured out to see if we could find a place to cast our votes today. After by passing the place we usually vote because there was a long line of people standing outside we headed over to Flat Rock and got inside at least, to wait for them to open at 11am. We did our patriotic duty. I don't get into political arguments but this cartoon shows my view on the president we have had for the last 4 years.

I really don't think the man that is running against him is going to be good for our country either, so my vote was what I think is the lesser of the 2 evils !!                    

And that's all I'll say about that !!!
We came home and g-son and I spent the afternoon inside listening to the still howling wind while hubbie changed the oil in the van and then  picked up daughter and they went to the dentist for their check-ups.
While he was gone I worked on getting my last photos in albums and that reminded me of the decade pics for October 2002 that I haven't posted yet.
In October 2002 we only had daughter still in high school, #2 son was at Montreat college and #1 son was working construction.
Daughter was selected for the homecoming court her senior year and the boy,Travis, she asked to escort her was chosen homecoming king that year.

The king was crowned at an assembly in the gym on Friday.
And here is the same couple on that Friday night on the football field.

One of daughter's best friends,Amber was crowned queen.
I know daughter was disappointed but I was so proud of how happy she was for Amber.

That October also brought to an end daughter's steller highschool volleyball season.
Her dad and I with her on senior night.

And yes there were lots of tears for these 3 senior volleyball players who had played with each other for 6 years,since 7th grade.

#1 son called to say he had to work until 6pm tonight to hook up all the snowplow equipment to get ready for tomorrow. He has to be at work at 6am just in case the predictions are right.

He said the predictions for Henderson County are from one to five inches and the winds are gusting up to 65 mph !!!  That's blizzard conditions for anyone out there trying to drive or work so I'm praying that won't happen. At the higher elevations already today they had snow falling.

I am also praying for the folks in the storms direct path in the New Jersey,New York areas that are flooding already. The storm is making landfall with winds at 90mph with at least a 12 foot storm surge. The timing is as wrong as it can be also, being at high tide on the full moon which is even higher.
Before the storm hit there was already massive flooding and it was hard to tell where the ocean began.

At about 7pm tonight this was the location of Sandy.

As I sit here inside our warm home and listen to the wind and feel the cold air that comes through the window beside the computer it is hard to imagine being in a flooded area with worse winds.
I pray for folks around here and anywhere that this storm leaves her mark, may we all stay safe and may tomorrow be a better day.  I know God loves us all and extends His protective arms around His children.
Good Night and God Bless.

SUNDAY BEFORE THE STORM

As I walked into church this morning I paused and snapped this photo and silently thanked God for the sunshine and blue, calm sky we are blessed with today unlike many along the coast .
After church everyone made it to a lunch of roast beef, green beans, mashed potatoes,corn and pasta salad.
After lunch daughter went to Asheville with #2 son to pick out a TV and some small things for his house.
#1 son's family went Halloween costume shopping for g-son.
Hubbie and I had some "getting ready for the cold weather" chores to do.  We moved all the plants inside and I found permanent winter spots for most of them. I might move some of the perennials inside later but it isn't going to get much below freezing this week and they need some cold weather to make them dormant.
Hubbie cleaned out the chimney for the wood stove downstairs to get ready for our first fire of the season tonight.
The weather gurus are scarily calling this a "once in a lifetime" storm with the size, strength and track that it has. They are saying it has the potential to reshape the entire east coast line and after looking at these pictures of the Florida coast after it passed there miles off shore they maybe right.

This is a couple folks looking at the damage in St. Augustine, Florida above and below this is what's left of Vero Beach.

The fragile Outer Banks coastline of North Carolina is taking a hit today with already flooding on NC 12 the only road that runs up to Hatteras.

 Sea foam covers the pier at Nags Head,NC.

And waves touch the bottom of the Surf City,NC pier.

 Our weather has gotten worse as the day has gone on. It is really cold and windy and the rains from the outer bands of hurricane Sandy have been on and off all afternoon making for a raw evening.
Hubbie and I and daughter went to the quarterly fellowship dinner at church tonight. We talked with an employee of our local power company and asked him if he was going up north to help and he said no because they expected they would be needed here as we are now in the snow and high wind forecast ranges.

Really makes me wonder what tomorrow will bring. The wind is really whipping outside tonight making the chill factor with the low 40's temperature at 9:00 feel like the low 20's already.
When we came home tonight I moved the teenage chicks into the big house with the rest of the flock thinking it would be warmer in there for them with all the bigger chickens. Flash the basset gets to spend the night in the basement with his extra short hair he was shivering already at feeding time this evening. With the way the wind sounds out there I'll be surprised if we don't loose our electric before long.
I pray tonight for the folks in the main path of this storm,may they be safe. The old saying must certainly be true that says "RED SKY IN MORNING, SAILORS TAKE WARNING" as this is a pic of the sky in New Hampshire this morning at sunrise.

And on the flip side of this storm this is the calm after it passed by Miami,Fl yesterday.

I am thankful that I can go to bed tonight and feel safe in the loving arms of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Good Night and God Bless.