APRIL ENDS WITH A CALM SUNNY NORMAL DAY

April comes to a close with almost normal temperatures for a change. I actually put on capri pants this morning with a t-shirt.
G-son came in carrying his cast this morning so he could show his friends what was inside it. He isn't moving his arm around much and says it feels stuck in the same position the cast held it in for the last 2 weeks.
 The morning temperature on the way to school was 49 and the high for the afternoon was 69 which are both right at normal for this day.
I had a routine early morning getting laundry and housework started after chores ,breakfast and devotions. About 10:15 the appraisor for #1 son's house called and said she would be there about 11:00. They are re-financing their double wide to lower their payment. After staying with her until noon I came home for lunch and then continued with my Tuesday workday.
After picking up g-son and getting him fed I changed the furniture covers and put away the spring decorations. I didn't have time to put out new decor yet but hopefully will have time tomorrow.
April  has been a cool month except for about a week of above normal temperatures. There has been no shortage of rain this month giving us a surplus of over seven inches for our area for the year so far.
Thursday market days started for me this month but have been slow along with even the Saturdays.
Hubbie,daughter,g-son and I made our spring flea market trip to Pickens during the spring break week.
We got our early garden finally planted this month but with the cool temps it has been slow to come up.
G-son had an accidental fall and dislocated his left elbow putting him in a full arm cast for two weeks and ending his first soccer season.
We had one birthday this month in the family as d-in-love turned 31 years old on the 24th.
Our country suffered a terrorist attack when 2 young muslim brothers set off bombs at the Boston marrathon. One was killed in a gunfight with police and the other who was wounded was captured the next day,they are from Russia.
Looking forward at May's weather predictions it looks like we will have a pretty normal month.

Guess we'll see if these predictions come true about 31 days from now !
My little quail that is injured seems to be doing fine and is enjoying the freedom of being in a cage without worrying about being pecked in the head each time she comes out to eat or drink.
I sent in an Avon order tonight for the first time in about a month. Avon is evidently going through some serious downsizing of it's own as they have shut their Atlanta facility, where my orders always came from, and now are shipping everything from their Ohio plant. I wonder what it will do to the timing of receiving my order.
Grateful for today's many blessings as I praise my Heavenly Father and bask in His never ending love.
Good Night and God Bless.

SPRINGTIME OUTSIDE WORK DAY

Another 2/10ths inch of rain overnight added to the 3 3/4 inches we already had left the bottom pasture filled with water.

The sun was shining this morning making it feel like spring has finally arrived with the temperature near 70 degrees it was an outside day.
After hubbie took g-son to school and the chores and the regular morning was done hubbie went to unload the borrowed grill from his truck. I moved some chicks around since I have been promising this little black silkie for days each time I robbed the eggs from under her and she looked at me with big sad eyes,that I would let her set. She now is sitting on 8 eggs in one of the chick condos.
I moved the first hatched chicks and their mom from there to a bigger box.
I decided that it was time to get all the plants out of the basement and house into their summer places.I think this is the latest I have ever done this!
I re-potted these four ferns, 2 of which are 2 years old and the other 2 are at least 3 years old.

This Citronella plant smells so good and I put it here to keep the mosquitoes away while we enjoy sitting on the porch.

Another very fragrant plant is this lemon oregano plant.

I stayed outside all afternoon with clouds passing over and at times looking like it would surely rain but only a light mist late in the evening slowed my spring yard cleaning and hubbie's lawn mowing duties.
As I did evening chores I noticed one of the quails had an injury to the side and top of her head and was bleeding. She was staying inside a small bird house in their cage so I couldn't get a good look but I knew it was pretty badly skinned up and by the way she was hiding from the other two quails I figured they had pecked her.
I went to the barn and found an old rabbit cage. Hubbie helped me turn it into a nice enclosure for her so she could have a chance to heal.
I moved stuff around inside my feed shed and put her in front of the window so I could keep the door shut. It will get to hot in there if the temperatures go up but looking into the next couple weeks that should not be a problem.
I hope she makes it as when hubbie and I went to get her she was laying down in the cage and the other quails had pecked more and had the blood running into her eye. If she makes it I have already told hubbie he would be building another quail cage and I will have to get her a boyfriend of her own!
I can't figure out why this happened as I have kept 2 females and 1 male together before with no problem but maybe this lady was really jealous.
D-in-love picked g-son up early from school today and took him to have his cast removed. He didn't have to put anything back on it as they said he needs to move it. He has to go back to the doctor next week for another look.
I ended a busy day sipping tea sitting on the front porch enjoying the aroma of the citronella plant and listening to the birds call to one another.
Glory to God for all the glorious creations He made for us to enjoy.
Good Night and God Bless.

RAIN, RAIN AND MORE RAIN

This has pretty much been the story of our weather all day. Hard rain started early,I sloshed through mud to get the chores done then splashed through rain puddles on the way into church and out !
Today's service was a testimony from each of the ten folks that went on the mission trip last month in Turkey.  It was a touching service with the music adding very much to the praising of our Lord.
We had everyone at lunch of one of the frozen butts we smoked back in March with fresh green beans and corn from the farm outlet and mashed potatoes and slaw,yummy!!
After lunch we visited and then scattered for our own activities.
The rain has continues without stopping,I now see the rushing waters of the creek licking the tops of the creek banks and getting close to the bottom of the bridge from the front porch.

Our entire area is under flash flood warnings now.

Hubbie and I spent the afternoon relaxing and listening to the pouring rain.
To brighten a dreary afternoon I took these photos of the blooms in the yard last week.
More Azaleas are showing their colors around the yard.

This salmon colored azalea gets hidden by the bigger pink blooms.

These are one of my favorite blooms.

Just outside my back door these Lilac blossoms smell heavenly.

This Japanese Maple tree needs no blooms to be eye catching.

Some of the Blueberry plants hubbie moved to hopefully a better location are blooming already.

The wild plants are putting on a spring color show also. As Dogwood trees dot the woods around our farm.

The Fleabane daisys are putting out their dainty blossoms.

And this tough little Shamrock blooms and blooms no matter how much of it I pull up out of my walkways.

Green can be a beautiful color also as I love how this ground cover has escaped the container and is spreading throughout this bed.

Hosta are attractive plants long before they put out their small blossoms.

And the green pastures are amazing to look out over this time of year after the drabness of winter.

Spring time in these NC mountains is awesome and is truly an example of God's love for us.
After chores this evening I emptied another 2 3/4 inches of rain from the gauge bringing the total since it started raining yesterday just before noon to 3 3/4 inches and it is still coming down but not as hard tonight.
Aaron brought the cattle up to the upper pasture just before dark,not taking a chance on leaving them in the flood prone lower pastures.
We are definitely getting the ground water levels up for the summer dry season this year.
I am thankful tonight for my wonderful church family and for the amazing graciousness of our Heavenly Father.
Good Night and God Bless.

RAINY DAY AND 2003 DECADE PICS

Woke up happy to see no rain falling as predicted. Although the clouds hung low and it looked like rain would start any minute we got the van loaded and made it to market without a drop on us. Hubbie has the large grill he borrowed from his workplace to cook the burgers and hotdogs on last night in the back of his truck so he had to leave it in the dry barn today. He decided since the day was going to be a wash out eventually he would just go with me and loaf around town while I was at market.
I had a decent day considering the nasty day after the rain began pouring down just before noon.
After market hubbie and I stopped by Subway for a late lunch. This Subway borders one of our county parks and while we ate we watched the geese and ducks enjoying the rainy afternoon.
I snapped these pics out the window.

We made one stop at Aldi and then came home soaked and cold to unload and get warm.
I made a hot cup of tea and snuggled with my 4-legged kids for a while. It felt good on a day like this with the temperature at 51 for the high.
After a quite afternoon and getting soaked again doing the evening feeding chores I was very glad to be inside for the evening. Daughter called to see if I wanted to go out to the high school to watch their Wizard of Oz play but I just couldn't drag myself back out. With this 7-day forecast it looks like I might be spending a lot of time inside.

I emptied an inch of rain from the gauge at chore time.
To finish out my April decade pictures I found some scenes from our farm in April 2003.
This first one is of our old faithful dog Willie who passed away just a couple years ago.

These are some of our animals that year.

Daughter called to say how good the play was tonight and now I wish I had gotten out and went with her, but oh well !!
The rains have stopped pouring outside for a brief break so maybe the creek won't flood tonight.
I can't believe there is only 3 more days in April,where did this month go ??
I am trying to slow down and take more time to "smell the roses" in hopes that the passing of time wll slow a bit, but so far I don't think it is working !!
My new housework schedule is working out much better and giving me more time each day to enjoy the things I love to do like bird watching and just enjoying being outside in nature.
In the past I have tried to get the housecleaned and the laundry done all in one day and then it would take me 2 days to get over my sore muscles. I now work in certain rooms on 3 different days and I know I do a much better job because the task doesn't seem so daunting. I hate to admit sometimes that I can't do what I used to do but I am finding out that I'm much better off usually when I do admit it !!!
I am blessed with the love of Jesus Christ and try to do my best each day to let Him lead me through the day in His will.
Good Night and God Bless.

LAST FIFTH QUARTER OF THE YEAR

No frost this morning and a 36 degree temperature meant no damage to the fruits and blooms,thankfully.
I could definitely tell today was Friday with g-son acting like he took a grouch pill this morning.
After chores and breakfast I took a nice walk in the sunshine enjoying it while I can since the forecast for the next week doesn't have much sunshine in it.
I captured  this Green Heron having a bullfrog tadpole for his breakfast.

I was being observed from above by this Red Winged Blackbird.....

And from the side of the farm pond by this female Goldfinch as I walked around the lower pasture.

When my walk was over I baked 6 caramel, 3 chocolate, 2 pound and 1 wine cake before lunchtime.
I cleaned the kitchen and sunroom today while I waited for the last cakes to come out of the ovens.
I walked up to the barn to take in a dose of nice vitamin D and noticed this new nest on the rafters of the barn roof.

I didn't have to wait long for the builder to show up.

I wonder if this is the same Robin pair that nested under the nearby pole shed last year?
I had time for a short rest before doing the evening chores early so hubbie and I could go up to the church to grill hamburgers and hotdogs for daughter's youths fifth quarter.
Hubbie ran the grill while I worked in the kitchen getting the "fixins" ready.

A couple from church brought a fryer and made deep fried oreos and they were delicious !!

Here is daughter and a friend Missy.

There were lots of teenagers and they all looked like they were having a great time inside and outside at the corn hole boards.

They had lit a huge bonfire and sat up a smores making station  as hubbie and I loaded up the grill and came home around 9:00.
This has turned out to be a wonderful ministry for some safe fun on several Friday nights for all the local teenagers. Some of the adults tonight were wishing they had had something like this when they were growing up. Daughter goes to all the ballgames at the local highschool and has formed relationships with many of these youngsters. I think she has found where her heart is with these highschool age kids. At the end of the night they had  over 60 teenagers there tonight for the highest number of any 5th quarter this season.
I came home tonight and iced my cakes and washed eggs to get ready for market tomorrow.
Thanking God each day for the wonderful blessings and praising Him for all His mercies.
Good Night and God Bless.

FREEZE WARNING ISSUED

Another cool morning at 38 degrees today. Got g-son to school and made it to market on time. I stayed busy for awhile husking the last three bunches of money plant that I had hung in my sewing shop. This is from year before last as there was no money plant last year because of the early heat,then freezing temps of last spring. Hopefully this year I will be able to re-stock.

While I waited on the few customers that came through I got all three bunches ready for sale. Even almost two years old the "money" is still really shiny white and pretty.
I had a decent day after all and took a couple orders for Saturday.
After market I made my regular errand stops and picked up baking supplies. When I got home #1 son and g-son were here bringing their trailer back.  After a short visit they headed home and hubbie and I unloaded my van and then watched the news. Both of us struggled to stay awake and  I finally got up and went outside to do the evening chores. When I came back inside I made a quick turn in the kitchen putting away some things and got really dizzy. Thankfully it passed and I hope that it was only from the lack of sleep I got last night. My nose was already stuffy when I went to bed and as soon as my head hit the pillow it felt like something sat down on my nose and face so I probably only got about 4 hours  sleep. I'll be so glad when all this pollen dies down a bit.
I felt fine the rest of the evening after I ate supper.
Tonight we have a freeze warning in our area. The apple growers are nervous as the apple trees are in full bloom right now. We have some ghostly figures around our yard as hubbie covered the new tender grape and blueberry plants he sat out earlier this month.

Hopefully they will be spared and won't have the same devastating loss like they did last April. With only 5 more days left in April I know every grower and gardener will sigh a sigh of relief when next Tuesday comes. Although the blackberries haven't bloomed yet and that always brings a cold spell even if it's in May.
God is good all the time and don't forget He loves you !!
Good Night and God Bless.

SIGNS OF SPRING and HAPPY 31 TO D-IN-LOVE

My morning got a really good laughing start today as after g-son had eaten his breakfast he asked if he could go outside and walk his dog before he went to school. I said sure and watched as he led his wooden toy dog around the drive way,talking to it all along. Yea that was a fun and cute and a good way to start a day !
This is a pic of the toy dog and Flash as he played with them both yesterday afternoon.

I think Flash is jealous !!
I did chores and then headed out for a walk before the clouds completely take over and the promised rain begins. I walked in the bottom pasture along the creek and noticed how finally everything is turning the spring bright green color it should be.

As I passed by the farm pond seeing these tadpoles brought back memories of my childhood.

Each spring I would always scoop up a bucket of tadpoles,sometimes even getting lucky enough to find a huge bullfrog tadpole, I would bring them up to the house and make my own little pool to keep them in so I could see what they turned into.   I watched and waited day by day as they grew their tiny legs and began to look more and more like the toads they would soon turn into. I thought the transformation was amazing. Now I think back and feel fortunate to have lived in a place to have been able to witness such amazing wonders of nature. My dad would always tell me to take them back to the pond before they all hopped out of my small pools and died without enough water. Each night when I lay in bed listening to the singing toads and frogs I think back to the carefree days of watching tadpoles turn into toads and frogs. Maybe that's why I love for the windows to be open for that comfortable warm feeling that I get from nature's lullabye.
This is the start of our spring garden with peas,radishes,onions and some lettuce coming up and  joining the cabbage plants hubbie sat out.

We are way behind most years and even last year we were already harvesting some fresh things from the garden at this time. The colder temps that keep hanging on has everything behind this year. Today the temperature was 63 but under the clouds and with the brisk wind that blew all day it was uncomfortable outside.
I did housework and looked for photos to fill a photo holder I found at Goodwill last week. After lunch I didn't feel up to par to I took it slow for awhile changing some decorations and tying up some loose ends on little jobs that get put off.
As soon as g-son got home this afternoon he took his dog for another walk while I fixed him something to eat. His dad picked him up early for church tonight.
After they left I was feeling better so I needed to get some things done. I closed these 10 cushion covers that I stuffed yesterday.

I have an order for 6 of them to be picked up Saturday. If I had some stools I would definitely have these in my kitchen. They are a bit small for my dining room chairs.
Tonight darkness found me not relaxing in the sunroom but at my desk in my office doing weekly paperwork and juggling bills. This is April and we are still coming up short at the end of the month. Hubbie gets payed once a month on the last day and it is challenging to stretch that money in the months that market is slow for me. Sometimes I have to push bills into the next month and I hate to do that because I feel like I start the month already playing catch up !! Sometimes when I look at our bills like our Direct TV bill which seems to go up every month without notification of any kind I just want to go back to the old way of watching TV with only the local channels. For me that would be fine but hubbie likes some of the shows on the history and other nature channels so I guess as long as all our bills balance out sooner or later we'll leave things alone. I laugh at times when I think of what my daddy would say about paying almost $80 a month to watch TV or buying bottled water or many of the other conveniences that we pay for and  take for granted each day.
Hopefully my business will pick up soon and these worries will go away for awhile.
Today is a special day for my daughter in law as she turns 31 years old today. Happy Birthday and I hope this day and all days are special for you. She celebrated early last weekend with a trip to Beaufort,SC with daughter and good friend Claudia for a girls only relaxing time. She is on the far left.

I am so very thankful for the blessings I get each day and so grateful for a merciful Lord and Savior.
Good Night and God Bless.

NEW BIRD VISITOR AND 1983 APRIL MEMORIES

Frost greeted g-son and I as we headed for school this morning. The frost warnings were only for the Tennessee river valley counties but I guess Jack Frost isn't good at obeying the weather wizards predictions.
Lucky for me and my plants they are still in the basement,I haven't gotten brave enough to put them outside yet.
After chores I spent the cool morning inside doing laundry and housework until lunchtime.
After lunch it was warmed up and the sunshine felt really good at 69 degrees so I washed outside windows and worked in the yard awhile.
I took a rest and did some bird watching. And boy am I glad I did !!
I had this fellow, a Brown Headed Cowbird fixed in my lens waiting for him to get in the sunlight so the drastic brown/black color contrast could be seen.

A movement in the same tree on a different branch caught my eye and when I turned the camera lens I was very surprised to see this Rose-Breasted Grosbeak checking me out.

It was a beautiful bird and I think we are a bit out of his range but I'm glad he stopped by to surprise me and have a snack.

This little White-Throated Sparrow has become a regular.

I have all kinds of sparrows in my yard and it is always fun to identify all the different ones. Below  is the  White Crowned Sparrow, you can definitely see where it gets it's name !!

And of course my yard is always colorful with a bunch or bright red Cardinals flitting around.

I reluctantly put away my camera and went to pick up g-son this afternoon.
After he had his mac and cheese we headed outside to play. I got his jeep and wagon out of the shed and while he rode around the driveway up to the barn and down I got my stuffing from the sewing shop and sat out in the shade and stuffed 10 apple cushions for Saturday. G-son wanted to try stuffing one and he did a pretty good job with his one hand while I held the pillow open.
His dad came and hubbie got home from work about the same time. We all came inside and watched the early news cast.
As I did chores I could feel the temperature dropping steadily headed only for the mid 40's tonight hopefully.
Hubbie sat out the cabbage plants we bought yesterday while I cut my oregano  for the first time this year and put it out to dry downstairs. I jarred the rest of the dried oregano from last fall to replenish my supply at market. The basement smelled so good with all the fresh oregano sitting around to dry.
I need to catch up my decade photos for this month and tonight I have some April 1983 pics to share.
The Easter bunny payed a visit to our house on April 3rd that year.

#1 son was 17 months old and full of wonderment about everything at that age. Love these facial expressions.

And he goes for the tractor of course !!

Later his grandmother gave him this Easter bunny.

This is our family that year with #2 son only 1 month old at that time.

Later in the month big brother takes little brother for a stroll !

As I post these pictures of #1 son I think of how he looked this afternoon when he came to get his son who is now much older than he was in these pics and my mind reels with the quickness of the passage of time. My oh my how things have changed around here,not only on our farm but in our town and community.
I am even more glad that I started this blog and hope to keep blogging as time passes to attest to the changes that will come in the future.
Tonight I watched darkness fall sitting out in the sunroom watching the bird feeders but didn't get another glimpse of the Rose-Breasted Grosbeak.
Hubbie's traps came up empty from last night so he re-baited and added more tonight.
Now he thinks we have an opossum making rounds under our porch so a live trap is set up for him.
He is blaming all the spilled birdseed for bringing the foragers close to the house but I'm not going to take my feeders down !!
Grateful to my Heavenly Father for all the blessings of today and for His guidance each day.
Good Night and God Bless