STREP THROAT SNEAKS IN AND MAY RECAP

G-son was here at 7 to start the day off. Hubbie took today off as he has some time off to use up before the end of June or he will loose it. For the weeks in June he is only going to work 3 days each week. He took g-son to school while I did chores. We had breakfast then he headed outside for some weed cutting  duty and I also took advantage of the cool beautiful morning to work on some planting chores. I found pots for the herbs I bought at Garden Jubilee and also put a couple plants into larger pots.
It was almost 11:00 when I finally came inside to do Friday's housecleaning and bake cakes. I baked 6 caramel,3 chocolate, 2 coconut, 2 pound and 2 blackberry wine cakes.
After giving the kitchen a good cleaning I went outside to sit in the sun for a few minutes. G-son's other g-ma called and said she had just picked him up from school and he looked sick and just wanted to come here.
As soon as I saw him get out of her car with those big dark circles around his eyes I knew he had something wrong going on. He didn't really act sick and said his teacher took his temperature and he didn't have one, he just said he didn't feel so good all over. I got him a cold water and asked him if anything hurt. As he made an extra effort to swallow the water he said his throat hurt when he swallowed. When I looked down his throat it really looked bad,really red with pus pimples.
While he went to work on his Ironman legos I called his mom and told her about his throat. She made him a doctor appointment and #1 son came by to take him when he got off work.
He has a bad case of Strep Throat,yuck !!!
Little Evy came again tonight while mom went to work. She is in a better mood tonight and we had a nice time waiting on dad to get done planting soy beans for the day.
After she went home I iced my cakes and hubbie and I went ahead and loaded everything except the coconut cakes in the van so we can get an early start tomorrow for old timey day.
I can't believe May is already over !! When June comes I always think summer is here even though officially it's not.
Over the past month there have been some first and some good news for members of my family.
We finally closed Hubbie's parents estate as the old house sale became final. It is good to have that finished completely.
#1 son and d-in-love had a pretty routine month with g-son recovering from his dis-located elbow in time to return to get to play one soccer game.
#2 son got some good news at his PO job as he finally was put on a regular route routine. In bad news for him, his 2007 jeep rubicon started using an exceptional amount of oil. When he looked it up on the internet he discovered this was very common with the motor his jeep had so he decided to trade it for a new Toyota Tacoma truck.
Daughter had a busy month, studying for and passing a business pracus test to apply for a teaching job at the high school where she is already a basketball coach. She passed the test and had an interview for the job.
I had a wonderful Mother's Day with my family as well made a trip to Garden Jubilee with daughter and our friend Rebecca. Market was a little busier this month as more of our "snowbirds" return from Florida. Rebecca is the mother of a beautiful little baby girl and had to go back to work this month. She works two twelve hour days each week. From the time she goes to work, about 6pm until her husband Aaron gets home from his farming job I keep little Evy. Bless her heart she is having some stomach problems but is such  a sweet baby I just have to keep inventing new ways to keep her from crying from her stomach pains.
The weather has been kind of crazy with most of the first part of the month cooler than normal and very wet. We had a flood the first part of the month. At the end of the month we really need some rain on our newly planted garden.
This is our garden at the end of May, with the cooler weather it is behind this year.

Feeling philosophical tonight I will leave this month with this thought.

Good Night and God Bless.

MARKET DAY THURSDAY

G-son arrived at 7am to get my day started. He was hungry this morning and ate all his breakfast plus 3 cookies. These last days of school are so exciting and filled with fun activities.
I hurried through morning chores and even stopped by the post office on the way and made it to market with a few minutes to spare.
Market was slow again today,but I am very thankful for what I did sell.
We are having our spring Old Timey Day Saturday so I expect to have a very good day then. Caught up with a couple old friends today between customers.

My table had plenty variety today.

Have I mentioned how much I like my new shorter haircut. It requires so little styling it suits me fine.

After market I headed out to do my regular stops. At the second store I got a call from g-son's other g-ma who usually picks him up from school on Thursdays. She was hung up at her restaurant and couldn't get him today. I checked out and went to get him then we came back into town to finish my errands. G-son is ready to go shopping anytime especially with the stop at Walmart waiting at the end of the line.  Neena is always a  sucker for a new toy.  Today he found a new legos set . We got him some supper at Mcdonalds and got home just after 5:00. He ate his supper then dad came and took him home.
Hubbie and I made some vegetable kabobs and grilled them for our supper tonight from some fresh squash and peppers I found today and used some of the Vadalia Onions a friend of hubbies brought him back from Georgia. Yum it was delicious !
We ended the day sipping hot coffee and tea out in the covered patio while this little guy watched.

This is another one of those little creatures that are so perfectly designed and beautiful. For several years I didn't see any chipmunks around here but this year we are inundated with the little guys. I don't mind them so much but I do mind the holes the dogs dig in the flower beds trying to dig them out.
Daughter had an interview for a teaching job today at the local highschool. She had to take and pass the business praxus which she did and now she is hoping to get the job. The principle said he would let her know tomorrow if she got the job. Praying for her tonight as I think she has finally found her heart with these high school kids.
Grateful to God for all the glorious wonders He puts in our lives each day and thankful to Him for the grace He shows me each day.
Good Night and God Bless.

GRADUATION 2003

New life on the farm !!!

#1 son took today off to go on a field trip with g-son so they went to school together this morning giving me a few extra minutes of snoozing today.
After my regular morning duties I took my daily walk and discovered this little guy had just been born. It's been several years since we have had calves born in our pastures. It's good to see the new spring life !!
I wanted to call Rebecca but thought she might be sleeping after last night's work. She called me a bit later and asked if I saw the calf nursing. She and Aaron had checked early in the morning and it hadn't been born yet so evidently it came sometime between 8:00 and 10:00.
I did see it get up and nurse it's mother so all is well. Little Evy is still giving mom and dad crying fits all night and this morning. Hopefully her colic will ease up in the coming weeks.
I baked 6 caramel,3 chocolate and 4 pound cakes this morning then cleaned the sunroom and kitchen. With the afternoon free I did some small tasks that I had been putting off, like changing my things into a summer purse and doing some extra laundry and hanging it on the line in the nice sunny 82 degree day.
After hubbie grilled us a couple of chuck steaks from the trip to the meat market on Monday I did chores, finished weekly paperwork and iced my cakes before falling into my comfortable bed for the night.
Finishing up the May decade pictures tonight with May 2003. My youngest child graduated that year.
Daughter was in the top 8 of her class and was headed to college in the fall.

Each graduating class always gave the principle some small token when he handed them their diploma. A classmate of daughter's was from Louisiana and had many of the mardi gras bead necklaces. If you look closely in this photo you can see the necklaces each graduate put around the principle's neck.

Let the celebration begin !!

We were thankful for the nice clear evening of graduation.
I remember feeling relief that this was the last tearful graduation I would need to attend.
Each May a new group of young people start their adult lives after highschool is finished.
Praying this year for the class of 2013.
Grateful to God that my kids are all successful adults.
Good Night and God Bless.

1993 MAY MEMORIES

Back to the regular schedule this morning with g-son here at 7am.  After dropping him at school I stopped by the Dollar General store on the way home to pick up a couple towels for an order of towel aprons and a couple new planting pots for my new herbs.
After chores and breakfast I took a walk down in the lower pasture. This morning was not a good photo morning for me for some reason all the pics are blurry. Must be because the battery is low.
This is one that looks okay, it is of my wild yellow flag iris that brighten the green landscape around them each year when they bloom.

This is typically a swamp plant that florishes on top of our hill !!
I spent the day doing laundry and housework,plus some end of the month changes of the decorations.
After I picked g-son up from school he didn't feel good but I think he was just hungry as he had a pretty good appetite. His dad picked him up early to go to soccer practice. He is so excited to be going on a field trip tomorrow to the Nature Center in Asheville. His dad took the day off work to go with him.
Little Evy came this evening while her mom went to work. Her dad was cutting a field of hay up the road so we got to spend some extra time with her. She is so funny and is so temperamental,crying one moment and smiling that sweet smile at you the next moment.
Hubbie and I took turns doing chores and taking care of her until her dad got here around 8:00.
I have neglected my decade pictures this month so I need to catch up quickly.
In May of 1993 #1 son was finishing 5th grade, #2 was finishing 4th grade and daughter was finishing 2nd grade. To celebrate Memorial day they had a joint program at school.
This is #1 son's class, he is 3rd from right.

In this photo #2 son is in the red sweatshirt with design on the front and puffy hair 2nd from left and daughter in her sailer set is 4th from left in front.

This was #1 son's last year at Edneyville Elementary school as 6th graders went to the new Apple Valley middle school.

After school was out baseball games took over our lives as #2 son always spent the summer traveling in little league all stars. By that time #1 son had decided he liked football better than baseball.
This is him in his regular uniform.He looks ready to play !!!

That year daughter was asked to be the teams "bat girl" and she gladly accepted because she got a uniform just like her brothers.

I remember at one of the games late in the regular season she was standing in the dug out holding the wire when her brother accidentally let go of the bat and it hit her fingers. She was okay with only brusing but it got her the job of all star team bat girl that year also. Why I don't have pictures of that I can't figure out.
I am so thankful for these memories of the wonderful full life with our three kids during their early years we enjoyed. Each time I see pictures of their smiling faces I know all the time and effort was worth it.
Grateful to God  tonight for the blessings He sent my way today and for the love He gives each day.
Good Night and God Bless.

MEMORIAL DAY 2013

This is a day especially to give our thanks to all those fallen soldiers who have fought so hard so that we have the freedoms we have today. The word "thanks" falls way short of any way to describe what they did for us.
My Memorial day started with getting to sleep a little later than normal as schools are closed today.
Hubbie and I got the morning chores done and then went to pick up animal feed and stopped by the fresh meat market to stock our freezer for a few more months.
#1 son has the day off and after he and g-son spent a leisurely morning together he fished the afternoon away.
D-in-love worked at her parents restaurant this morning and her and g-son went to Linconton,NC to visit her grandmother this afternoon.
#2 son was also off today and slept in after a hard day of golfing yesterday then spent the afternoon mowing grass and doing yardwork before coming here for a nice visit and a late supper of left-overs.
Daughter was the only one who worked today. For the school system it was an optional workday and she had some work that was better done while she had no interuptions.
Hubbie and I worked in the yard after lunch,him mowing and me pulling weeds and watering potted plants.
Then we worked in our garden for  awhile,tilling  and putting up the orange fabric for the green beans to climb.

Flash took advantage of the cool freshly tilled soil with the temperature around 80 degrees.

Then he joined Annie and Sadie in the shade to watch as we worked.

They are a lot like kids when you try to get all of them looking at the camera at the same time !!!
My favorite old Rose is really showing itself this year with more blooms than it has had in a long time.

This is the same rose I have talked about before that I planted when I was single and moved into a single wide mobile home in 1974. When hubbie and I moved up the hill into our house we moved the rose  with us and it still blooms every year and the blossom smell soooo sweet.

I spent a lazy evening watching darkness fall.
Tonight when I checked my e-mail I was reminded about the free service info available this weekend on ancester.com. I spent some time looking up family members and saving draft info I found. I found some of my dad's brothers but didn't find anything for him.
Sadly the old WWWI cards couldn't be read.My printer went on the blink so I just had to save the cards to my computer for printing later.
I prayerfully and humbly thank the fallen soldiers tonight and also for those who are in harms way now.

 Grateful for a blessed day and for the good news of  Jesus Christ  our Savior.
Good Night and God Bless

RESTFUL MEMORIAL SUNDAY

A surprise rain shower woke us up this morning. It didn't leave much in the gauge,just about 1/10th inch but was enough to make some muddy spots around the chicken pens.
I went to church early to get up some special flowers for Memorial Sunday and was nicely surprised by a beautiful bouquet of Peonies already on the communion table. Thanks to who ever donated these.
Hubbie and I had nursery duty today. We took care of 6 little ones ,mostly 2 year olds.  I was surprised this morning with this beautiful Calla Lilly plant from my secret sister.

We had lunch with #1 son,g-son and daughter as #2 son is at Mt. Mitchel golfing and d-in-love is working at her parent's restaurant.
After lunch I spent some time playing outside with g-son with our sticky ball paddles.  After everyone left hubbie and I spent a restful Sunday just moving from one place to another as the heat of the day turned into a cool evening.
Even this well constructed Robin's nest couldn't escape the high winds we had  earlier in the week with the passing storms as it blew it and it's contents of blue robin eggs out of one of our pear trees,so sad for the mama bird !

Our weather today was really nice as the 72 degree sunshine felt so good with the winds died down.
The rest of the week looks pretty good with slight chances of rain each day.

Our area is almost 12 inches of rain above normal so far this year as is a large area of the eastern part of the country.

No school tomorrow and everyone off work will make a day of catch-up work outside with the nice weather predictions.
Praying everyone has a safe Memorial Day.
Good Night and God Bless.

GARDEN JUBILEE SATURDAY

Market should be pretty good today with the Garden Jubilee in downtown on main street. I got there a little early and surprisingly the parking lot was full but no customers were in market. Evidently everyone had parked in the market parking lot and headed uptown.
I had a pretty good day, not a sell out day like some other before Memorial Day Saturdays but I am thankful for all I did sell.
Daughter came out just after lunch after mowing her lawn this morning and doing some weed eating.
After market Rebecca and Evy met us and we all walked up town to the Garden Jubilee.

The streets were pretty crowded but I have seen them more crowded. The cooler temps forecast for today didn't hold true as it was really hot up there on that black asphalt street. The sun was blazing down and we all got a little sunburned. Little Evy was a trooper and we made it all the way from one end of the street to the other. Thankful that Evy let us borrow her carriage to haul all our purchases on while she rode in her carrier on mommy's tummy.
It was a fun time and we found some good buys on herb plants and some other things as we went.
This is a rooster wind chime I just had to have. I love the old bells at the bottoms of the chains.

And I bought this plant hanger with a project in mind !!

After about 3 hours we had had all the fun we could stand for one day and tonight my legs and feet are aching and sore. That's what old legs and feet do !!
I can walk for miles on the dirt and never have a pain but put me on asphalt and get the ben gay ready!
I stopped by Aldi on the way home for some baking supplies and by the strawberry farm for some more fresh berries.
These are my two King Kong leaved Coleus after I got them set out, I love the huge colorful leaves.

Hubbie and I both spent the evening relaxing,first out in the covered patio then when the cool air lost it's sun warm we moved into the sunroom to watch darkness fall.
I can't believe I didn't get a picture of the trip to the jubilee of all of us girls but my camera in my purse never crossed my mind.
The temperature last night only go to 43 and today's high was 77 but up town it felt like 97 !!
Grateful for the day's blessings and for the strength that the Lord gives me each day to carry out His glory.
Good night and God Bless.

WINDY COOL FRIDAY

Brrrr!!!!  I had to rethink my clothes this cool windy morning as g-son and I headed out the door to school. He had on his long pants and a jacket also. The high for today is suppose to be in the mid 60's and tonight we might see record low temps if the wind dies down.
This is not the moving water in the creek but rather the wind blown waters of the farm pond.

The pastures look good after the buttercup trimming !!

I saw this pretty pink wild rose.

And back at the house my pretty pink rose was also in bloom and smelled soooo good !

In the energizing cooler temperatures my walk was extra long and enjoyable this morning.
I need to get some chive blossom vinegar made from these beauties.

Reluctantly I came back inside to get my morning work started. I cleaned the sunroom then baked 12 caramel,2 chocolate,2 pound and 1 coconut cakes before giving the kitchen it's weekly cleaning.
This afternoon was a good time to sit outside without getting too hot or cold with the sun and the wind. I could have spent hours out here but was afraid I would get wind and sun burned. It did give me a nice relaxing break on a busy Friday.
Little Evy came at 6:00 so mom could get to work. She was really calm today,sitting and rocking in the little vibrating chair that I saved from when g-son was a baby. When her daddy came in from work we had a nice visit before they headed home.
I did feeding chores and then iced cakes and cleaned my eggs up to sell at market tomorrow. Got to bed a little late but after all this is a Friday night !
Thanking a wonderful Heavenly Father for all the blessings of this day and asking for guidance for tomorrow.
Good Night and God Bless.

YUCKY START TO A PRETTY GOOD DAY

Feeling yucky this morning I managed to get g-son to school before I had to lay down for a few minutes to see if the sick feeling in my stomach would go away. This happens from time to time with me.I still can't figure out how I can wake up sick after sleeping well all night. Today was a little different because I didn't wake up sick I actually was fine until I drank my morning cup of coffee. After laying there for a few minutes thinking about the cake orders I have for today I got up and ate a couple crackers and pushed through the morning chores and headed out to market. I felt better as I sipped on a cup of hot green tea and ate more crackers.
I was glad I did as I had a pretty good day today.
After market I made all my regular errand stops plus a strawberry farm stop for some fresh local berries. It was after 5:00 when I finally got home. I haven't eaten anything much all day and I think I was moving much slower than normal !
Hubbie came in shortly after I did from a stop on his way home at Home Depot to pick up mulch they had on sale.
We watched the early news show then did chores and relaxed for a while out in the outside patio. The air is definitely changing with the passing of a cold front that is supposed to drop temperatures to new record lows tomorrow night. I poured another 1/2 inch of rain from the over night storms we had from the gauge tonight. No rain today and the clouds all had "silver linings" tonight.

Aaron the renter bush-hogged the lower pastures tonight cutting down all the buttercups that were covering up the grass.
Hubbie got a ladder and we got into our baby supply attic tonight to get some things down for me to use with baby Evy when she comes to stay. I was afraid the heat up there had damaged some of the things but hubbie said nothing was damaged and he didn't think it had gotten that hot up there. I forgot to put the thermometer up there that I bought so I guess I'll continue to wonder.
Off to bed early tonight to make up for the lost sleep during  last night's storms.
Grateful to God for the wonderful blessings of this day.
Good Night and God Bless.

SEVERE STORMS FIRE UP AROUND US

Feels like we are going to have a hot one today as g-son and I headed out to school. After chores and breakfast I headed down into the lower pasture.
As I walked the humidity felt like mid summer , I started to sweat climbing the hill back to the house.
Just because I thought this was a pretty contrast with the blooming wild rose and buttercups.

I baked 6 caramel, 2 chocolate and 2 pound cakes this morning and then cleaned house until the storms began just after noon today.
As the dark clouds boiled up over the barn I knew the neighbors to the north east of us must be getting slammed.

Suddenly the winds blew as if in a hurricane and the huge raindrops were coming down sideways. I ran to close all the windows and doors,even the living room door that is under the front porch as rain was blowing all the way against it.
Thankfully this passed quickly and in about 15 minutes we got 3/10ths inch of rain in the gauge,probably got more than that as I don't see how any of those drops got in the gauge.
As the clouds and sun battled the rest of the afternoon the air got heavier and heavier with rising humidity and I knew this was a recipe for severe storms. Thankfully I got g-son home from school and hubbie got home from work before the storms fired up. Thunder and lightening along with high winds and rain prevailed for the remainder of the evening. Bernie and Dolly had a rough time with the prolonged rumbling thunder as they stayed plastered to my side or under my feet.
We turned out to be some of the luckier ones around as some places had massive amounts of rain,such as 5 inches in an hour and hailstones the size of golfballs.
This is a collage of some of the damage in nearby counties this evening from the local news website.

I did weekly paperwork and iced cakes to complete my workday.
Daughter came by after church tonight and she said she had a really bad storm at her house this afternoon with lots of lightening.
As I lay in bed with 2 shivering little dogs clued to each side of me under the covers I said a prayer for the folks who were under all the thunder and lightening that was passing closely by us.
Thank you Lord for sparing our area today and praying for those who were affected by the storms.
Good Night and God Bless.

EVY TIME

A foggy drive to school this morning.
After chores and breakfast the fog had all burned off and I took a walk down in the pastures. When it flooded several weeks ago this mound of loose hay washed into our pond. These ducks were taking advantage of the sunny,safe platform this morning.

As I walked around the pond I kept hearing a growling sound,like a stomach growl. I knew it wasn't mine and I looked around for Annie and Flash but neither dog was close enough for me to hear their stomach growl.As I followed the noise I looked up at this guy sitting on this limb and realized it was this Green Heron that was making the noise.

It was a strange noise for a bird but it moved with him as he flew to another tree.

I came back up to the house and of course this time of year I have to post more beautiful blooms around my yard.
This Rhodie is really pretty even with not as many blooms as normal.

And this giant Iris finally opened one of it's blooms. This is twice the size of my normal Iris blooms.

I spent the morning buried in laundry and housework. I had a haircut appointment at 1:30 and am very happy with the way she cut and styled my hair this time. I had let my hair get too long and heavy and my head feels so much lighter tonight with the shorter do.
I picked g-son up from school and came home to get him settled with his mac and cheese just before little Evy came to stay awhile.
Her mom had a class to attend this evening. She was so good the whole time I had her.
She is a little beauty and g-son was happy to help entertain her until it was time or him to leave for soccer practice.
She likes to stretch out in the floor and loved watching my ceiling fans.

She was born March 31 and is a really big girl for her age.
This felt so good she even took a little catnap.

Love the way she stretches out and gets comfortable !
She broke me back in right with 3 poopy diapers while she was here. She is a sweet little doll baby. As I held her and kissed her sweet little head it brought back many memories recent and past of all my babies.
After her mom picked her up I did the evening feeding chores and sat outside to watch the clouds roll by as they covered the sun this evening. We didn't have any storms but some neighboring towns got hit hard with hail and heavy rains again this evening.
The folks in Oklahoma are still digging through rubble in hopes of finding more survivors as time runs out for family members and pets who were buried alive.

Prayers tonight for these people and praising the rescue efforts as they work through a second night without giving up.
Grateful to God tonight for the blessing of another wonderful day filled with blessings from above.
Good Night and God Bless.