GOOD BYE FEBRUARY 2014

Finally the last day of a cold, wintery February has arrived !  G-son wasn't feeling the spirit of going to school this morning but didn't protest too much as I guided him through our morning routine.
My dang ear is still clogged, so much so this morning I didn't here my phone ring when #1 son called to say they were on their way. Good thing I have too louder alarms that bark hysterically when a car pulls up the driveway.
After I got him to school, did the chores and had breakfast I got out the heating pad and put some heat on my ear for awhile to see if that would help melt the wax wall that is blocking my ear passage.
It helped some, so I baked cakes. I only filled a couple orders as they are still putting the "snow" word in the morning forecast so market will be a ghost town tomorrow I'm sure.
 Two chocolate and one pound cake was the total for today. I have had request for buttermilk pound cake so I found a good looking recipe and tried it out again this week so hubbie and I could sample it as the one I made last week was for an order. MAN, is that a good pound cake. It doesn't look like my regular pound cake and appears much grainier, but the taste is awesome !!
After lunch I took a nice walk although the sun looked warm it was chilly with the mid 40's and breezy. 
Then it was back to my desk and tax time again. I worked on our taxes today and made a call to the IRS tax line to ask a question. The person who answered the phone didn't know the answer and put me on hold to check with some one else. After I held the phone for almost an hour waiting for her return, I gave up. Apparently there are tax situations that even the IRS folks can't answer. Guess I will just do it my way !!  I did record her ID # in case I need to use it later !!
Daughter came by this afternoon with her baking items. She was more optimistic than me.
After chores I had supper and then did an early blog so I can do a new remedy to unclog my ear. If it works I'll tell you what I did.
This is the last day of February 2014 and this month has really slipped by me as I said in an earlier blog. Maybe it was the house-bound week in the snow or the sadness that came with the death of our old beloved milk cow Snowball,who just couldn't make it through the coldest winter we have had in several years.

This month also claimed the life of one of my little female quails. Glad I had the extra female so that I didn't have to listen to the forlorn lonely "bob whiting" of the little male. He has now outlived four female partners.
G-son had a rough month as he decided that he didn't like school anymore for some reason. We now have a calender with the days marked so he can mark off each day and tell exactly how many school days are left in this year.
#1 son put in a lot of extra work this month clearing the roads of snow and ice that have come with a couple storms that passed through our area including the 8" snow we got just before Valentines day.
#2 son is again in limbo at the Post Office after a couple of their routes were cut and now they have too many carriers. He is waiting to see what they do.
Daughter coached her last basketball games this month as her JV team finished up with a very nice season and the varsity girls lost in the second round of the playoffs just this week.
Aaron and Rebekah had a scare as Rebekah and Evy were involved in a bad traffic accident but fortunately both were okay. They had to buy another vehicle as her's was a total loss. They decided on a Ford Expedition for the hauling room and safety of a larger vehicle.
I had a slow market month, missing one Saturday because of the snow. I didn't get my usual "tax" month chores done as only #2 son's taxes actually got finished during the month. Daughter just brought over some papers I needed for hers today and I would have gotten ours finished today if I could have gotten an answer to a question I have.  So taxes will spill over into March. 
March is typically my sewing crafts catch-up month. Maybe I will have better luck with that since everything I need is here.
All in all February has been a good month for me as I have stayed healthy and have enjoyed just being Neena.

Looking forward to what God has in store for my family in the new month and feeling very blessed as this old month says good-bye.
Good Night and God Bless.

MARKET LOOSES ANOTHER MEMBER

A cold morning at 22 degrees today.  G-son had the big coat on this morning.
I am struggling with a clogged earway and can't half hear from my right ear so I had to ask him to repeat a couple things this morning and he finally said, " does everyone go deaf when they get old?"
I'm not deaf and I'm surely not old I argued and he just smiled !!!!!!!!!
As I read the morning's newspaper there was some sad news.  Another of the market's older vendor ladies died Tuesday. I just talked to her a couple weeks ago when she came to sell her famous fried apple pies at market.  She was a very sweet lady and will be greatly missed by all.

Here is a picture I found in my archives of Dot in 2012 at her market table.

Another empty spot in our market !
I went into town this morning to run my weekly errands and stopped by a friends to say how sorry I was about her mother being diagnosed with cancer.
Seems cancer is at an all time high epidemic right now.
I came home and ate a late lunch.  It is still very cold outside with the temperature barely breaking 40 and the sunshine is being out done by the brisk wind that is whipping around.
Time to get on with tax month !!!  I spent the entire afternoon and evening working on #2 son's taxes but finally they are in the book, all except the checks he must write to the governments.  His is the one I've been dreading but turns out it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be with all the home selling activity he did this year after I got the correct forms to fill out, there just was a lot of them.
My goal for tomorrow is to get ours done !!
I am going to bed early tonight with all the brain strain of today and the aggravation of my clogged ear I need some extra zzz's to face another tax day !!!
The weather forecast is for snow in our area tomorrow night and Saturday morning. But the weather wizards can't agree on how much we will get.

Talked to daughter tonight she feels strange not practicing basketball with her team. They lost last night to a very good team so their season ended on a sad note.This is a pic taken at the game, daughter is the second coach from the left looking down court.

God is good all the time, all the time God is good.  Invite Him into your heart and feel His love.
Good Night and God Bless.

WHERE HAS FEBRUARY GONE ???

As I drove g-son to school this morning we saw snow on the rooftops of many houses we passed but none on the ground, not even on the grass. The temperature was 30 degrees.
After chores and breakfast I started housecleaning and changing my monthly decor, putting away all the Valentine stuff for another year. I decided since Easter is not until April this year my March decor would be kind of random.
I found this old quilt along with a couple pillow shams at an estate sale. It is the perfect weight and size for g-son's recliner he likes to eat in !!

These pillows I got from Coldwater Creek on a clearance sale. Not sure I like the raffia fringe !!

This is totally random around the wood stove and on the mantle.

I enjoyed this afternoon just puttering around going through my decorating things.
After picking up g-son and getting him fed and settled I gathered more tax numbers. I do all our taxes on-line but crunch the numbers before hand to make sure I don't make mistakes.
#2 son came by after he got off work with the last papers I need from him.
With only two days left in "tax" month I'm sure this year's taxes will spill over into March.  What happened to February anyway ???  Man has this month just slipped through my fingers in a big way.
After chores and supper hubbie and I watched a UNC/ NC State basketball game with UNC won in overtime.
Daughter called and her basketball season is over as her team lost in the 2nd round of the state playoffs tonight at Pisgah High School.
The weather for the next several days is going to be another roller coaster ride.

God is so good to me all the time, I am prayerfully thankful that He is my Savoir and Friend.
Good Night and God Bless.

ONE OF THOSE GLORIOUS WINTER SUNSETS

32 degrees this morning as the clouds hung low and thick on my way back home from dropping g-son at school.

By the time I finished the morning feeding chores and had breakfast myself the sun had won the battle with the clouds so I decided to hang out a load of bed clothes to dry in the solar dryer today.
I spent the morning doing more laundry and housecleaning.
After lunch I took a nice walk in this nice weather. The bridge work is continuing with a bigger track hoe and more concrete.

I'm sure these workers are thankful for this nice dry weather for a change.
I looked for blooms today as I walked but these daffodils were still the only bright spots in the yard.

My tulips are just now coming up along with more daffodils in shady spots.
The air has a definite chill today in front of the cold front that is pushing through tonight dropping the temperatures into the low 30's overnight and the high 30's for the high temp tomorrow,brr.
Today's high was mid 50's so a 20 degree drop will hurt.
I came inside and worked on taxes until it was time to pick up g-son.
He had a good day at school and was hungry and happy this afternoon. 
Hubbie had extra feeding chores this evening to get all the animals ready for the colder day tomorrow.
As I sat in the living room watching the news I saw this beautiful sunset this evening. I had to get the camera and take some pics.
I watched it start out with a streak of brightly colored light.

And then blossom into a beautiful sky full of brilliant color. 

Who could watch one of these glorious sunsets and doubt the wonderful love of our creator ?
Thanking God for all the pleasures He sends into our lives and praying that I take time to enjoy each one.
Good Night and God Bless.

NEW PHONES

G-son started off the week happily this morning.
Hubbie took him to school while I did chores and had breakfast.
The sun is shining brightly again this morning and it is warm but not as warm as the past couple days,only a mid 50's high today.
It is so nice not to have to break ice on all the buckets and waterers in the morning. But I have a feeling this task is coming back soon with the current weather predictions.
Hubbie and I both needed new cell phones so today is the day we labor through this task. Last Friday a lady called from the Verizon center across town and said she would have the phones we wanted waiting for us today.
We drove across town but she didn't have either phone that we were looking for instead tried to sell us phones we knew nothing about.
We drove back to this side of town and stopped at Sam's Club because we knew they had the phone Hubbie wanted.  He is not one to text or use his phone for anything but regular phone use so he wanted the flip phone that is really tough and water proof like the military use. It was called a Convoy. He got the last one they had.
I was going to the Verizon store on this side of town for my iphone but after hearing about a buy back deal with insurance I got my i-phone 4S there also.
This is my first smart phone and I am going to have to learn alot.

I had to go to the Verizon store anyway to have my contacts and info switched from my old phone and to get a case for my new phone.
We made it home for a late lunch after spending 1/2 the day on this phone switch. Hubbie is hoping his phone will last more than 2 years so he won't have to do this again for awhile.
We should have just went to Sam's to start with and it wouldn't have taken that long.
After we ate hubbie went up to his shop to work and I gathered more tax papers together.
I picked up g-son from school and went to the post office to mail an Avon order to a friend in Florida.
G-son was hungry this afternoon and ate mac and cheese, caramel cake, more mac and cheese and cookies before mom came after him.
#1 son was working on the driveway with the tractor and scrape blade.  D-in-love helped me get my phone set up when she got here.  It isn't as hard as I thought it would be to get used to all the gadgets on this phone.
#2 son had a day off today and brought his tax papers over this evening.
After chores and supper hubbie watched TV and I worked on taxes.
Daughter called tonight and said her team won their state play-off game in Asheboro.
I saw this today on the internet and thought it fit us North Carolinians pretty well.

Thanking God for all His blessings of this day.
Good Night and God Bless.

NURSERY DUTY SUNDAY AND MORE UNKNOWN PICS

The sun was shining this morning making the low 40's temps feel warmer.  As I did chores d-in-love brought g-son some church clothes.
He wound up spending the night with us last night after his mom and dad stayed out later than they had expected after stopping by another church member friend's birthday gathering.  He had already been asking if he could stay here when they called to say they were going to be later than his bedtime so it worked out nicely. He slept very well between hubbie and I and didn't do his usual nighttime aerobics.
We got him dressed for Sunday school and he and hubbie left early.  I went in to get flowers for the communion table but someone had brought some nice roses.
Hubbie and I had nursery duty today and it was a madhouse of about 10 little ones 2 years old and under.  I felt like I needed to come home and take a nap after we were done.
We had a small lunch bunch for our spaghetti and salad meal. Only #1 son, d-in-love,g-son and daughter made it today with everyone else enjoying the nice weather doing outside task or golfing.
Hubbie and I made a trip to Lowe's to buy another microwave as our's stopped working yesterday and a microwave is like alot of other modern day conveniences we have, you don't realize how much you rely on them until they aren't working. Last night for g-son's supper I had to cook his mac and cheese on the stove and his Texas toast in the oven and he couldn't understand why it took so long to fix his supper?
And I don't eat microwave popcorn very often but for some reason since I know I can't have any I have craved some of it !!
We found one just like the one we had so we are back in the microwaving business tonight.   And suddenly my craving for microwave popcorn has vanished so I didn't have any tonight !!
Both hubbie and I sat outside for awhile as his Daytona race went under a rain delay. The sun felt so nice and just made my longing for spring time even more intense.
We had a relaxing evening and I got my garden seeds and flea meds for the dogs ordered tonight while hubbie watched the race that was re-started.
To finish out the decade pics for this month these are more of the unknowns I have.
This pic may be of my mother at a young age but I sure would like to know for sure.The picture is on what looks like a post card on the back.

Have no idea who this man is but there is some writing on the back and have no idea why who was standing beside him got torn off ??

This might be the same man.

Have no idea who this lady is either.

Mysteries from the past always intrigue me and these old pictures can sure present many mysteries.

Praising God tonight for all the wonderful blessings He sends my way.
Good Night and God Bless.

ANOTHER SLOW MARKET DAY

Had a slow market day this morning even with the nice warm 62 degree sunny day. I didn't even need a jacket this morning as I headed out which seems strange after the last several weeks we've had.
After market I headed home to take care of little Evy while Aaron fed and moved some hay rolls around.
Rebekah came home early from work so she took her home around 4:30.  I relaxed for a little while out in the sunroom watching birds feed at the feeders.
I notice the Red Winged Blackbirds are here already this year.

Or maybe it is time for them to be back and it just seems it is too early.  This has been a long winter for me this year and I'm sure there is much more winter to come.
After chores and a salad for supper G-son arrived to stay while his mom and dad went out with some friends.
He lost another tooth last night and is surely a snaggle puss now.

He played games on my laptop while hubbie and I watched the Duke/ Syracuse basketball game which Duke won in a dramatic finish with Syracuse's coach being thrown from the gym.
Grateful to God tonight for the blessing of having g-son and little Evy in my life to keep my days full of excitement and the love and adventure only a child can give. Praying for  traveling mercies for some dear ones tonight.
Good Night and God Bless.

STORMY MORNING , SUNNY AFTERNOON

As I woke up this morning I heard the rain falling hard outside. G-son had to make a dash from his dad's truck to the porch to keep from getting soaked at 7am.

During the 45 minutes we spent getting him fed and ready for school the rain passed through our area.
I came home and had a cup of coffee before Rebekah called from the Ford dealership to come pick her and Evy up because the service on their new suv was going to take at least a couple hours.
By the time we got home it was raining again.
I emptied 1" from the gauge when I did chores.
I spent the morning baking cakes, 6 caramel, 2 chocolate, 2 pound and 1 blackberry wine.
After lunch I took a walk in the 55 degree sunshine but it was cool with the wind still blowing pretty hard.
I vacuumed and mopped all my floors this afternoon. I mopped myself out the front door with a cup of hot tea to sip while I sat on the porch and watched the workers down on the new bridge.
Annie was enjoying my company and the warm afternoon.

Flash was keeping watch over the cattle as they splashed around in the water filled lower pasture .

As I sat and soaked in the warm sunshine and chilled a bit when the breeze blew I looked at the wood stock piled on the porch waiting for more promised winter weather coming later next week.

I had to chuckle thinking this wood pile didn't match what was growing along side the house. These Jonquils blooming do not look like they are expecting any more winter weather.

Other g-ma picked up g-son today from school and brought him by here to pick up a toy he had left here this morning.
Aaron and Rebekah came by to pick up the carseat still in the van to go pick up their suv. Thankfully there was nothing major wrong with it.
I did chores and iced all my cakes this evening.
Listening to the news  tonight and feeling the temperature when I let Dolly and Bernie out for their last run of the day reminded me that it is definitely still winter time. It is supposed to be around 28 tonight for a rude change for all the outside animals.
Thanking God tonight for the blessings of this day. The beauty of the world He created for our pleasure is breath taking and gloriously designed, take time to enjoy it.
Good Night and God Bless.

ANOTHER NICE DAY AND FEBRUARY 1994 PICS

G-son came in crying this morning, saying he had misplaced a magazine he needed for school and knew he wold be in trouble for not having it.
After a little consoling and him maybe thinking he had left it at school we got through another morning of not wanting to go to school.
I came home did chores and had breakfast before making my baking supply list and heading to town for the errands of the week.
I got home a little before noon and got things put away before having lunch.  I needed to finish some filing in my office and looking at the wind blowing hard outside I decided that today would be a good day to work in there.  I got all last years and this years papers in their proper places before going to pick up g-son from school. Other grandma usually gets him on Thursdays but she had business to attend to today.  I was pleasantly surprised when I went outside at how warm the wind was and a look at the thermometer told me why as it was another 70 degree afternoon even with the clouds.
We made a promised stop at Dollar General for a new toothbrush and a little prize for being such a good boy.
I also got several packets of early vegetable seeds they were just putting out.
After he had his afternoon mac and cheese and cookies his dad came after him and they went home with g-son in a good mood for the evening anyway.
After evening chores and supper I took a nice break cuddling with my 4-legged kids. 
I watched the UNC/Duke basketball game tonight, which UNC won.
Since I don't have any pics for today I will continue the decade series for February with what was going on in Feb. 1994.
Youth basketball for daughter ended that month. She was in 3rd grade.

#2 son made a presentation for President's Day that year. He was in 4th grade that year.

Love these memories from the kids early school years.
Grateful for a loving Lord and all the blessings He showers down on me each day.
Good Night and God Bless.

STORMY NIGHT AND 1984 VALENTINE PICS

G-son and I decided this morning that we are going to get a calendar so he can mark off each school day and then he can count down the remaining days of this school year.
It is still raining lightly this morning after a stormy night.  As I lay in bed last night watching lightening flash and listening to the thunder boom I thought how the weather in these mountains can change so drastically in such a short time.  This sounded like a summer storm just a week after a major snow storm.
After the rain finally stopped about mid morning there was over an inch in the gauge.
I had a wonderful morning as little Evy came to visit while her mom got her hair done. She is such a joy  and she definitely isn't camera shy. 

As I fed her lunch and listened to her giggling I thought what a difference a few months make as she had such a hard first few months with colic and reflux problems. It seems now she is overly happy as if trying to make up for lost time. I look for her to take off walking any day now.

After mom picked her up I had to get outside on this record breaking 72 degree sunny afternoon.
After my walk I noticed the buds on all three of our plum trees are starting to swell.

Unfortunately I also notice this fungus called "black knot" on some of the branches. Some of the wild cherry trees around our farm have this on them and even though these plum trees are a resistant variety to this fungus there is still some getting on them.

 I went for the shears and cut off all the limbs that had any of black knots on them, thankfully there weren't many. I put it all in a trash bag and will send it with hubbie tomorrow to be discarded in the dumpster. Years ago we didn't know what this was and let it get all over a really nice plum tree and it killed it.  Any stone fruit is susceptible to this disease.  When it is cut out of the tree the infected branches need to be burned or destroyed.
Before picking up g-son I put all Evy's toys away so he wouldn't be sad that she had been here without him here to play with.  It was a good thing I did this because on the way home he said he wished it was Sunday so she would be here to play with.
He was hungry today and didn't feel like playing outside.  His dad picked him up early so they could get ready for church tonight.
In 1984 February was fun with two little boys, #1 son was 28 months old and #2 son was 11 months old. They love their Valentine goodies.

Thanking God for a day filled with blessings and His graciousness.
Good Night and God Bless.

BEAUTIFUL DAY

G-son was asking again this morning how many days it was until he graduated ?  I said are you talking about first grade or twelfth grade ?  Apparently from his reaction he didn't realize that school lasted for twelve years, haha !!!!
After chores and breakfast I started laundry and housework.
It is a beautiful day outside so I hurried through all my work so I could spend some time out in the 61 degree sunshine.
The work on the bridge started back this week after the snow break of last week.

As I walked this afternoon I noticed the remains of Frosty scattered on the lawn.

There is still a lot of snow around in the shady spots but the next several warm days with rain forecast will probably take away any traces of last weeks snow storm.

After I picked up g-son we spent some time outside playing different ball games until he got hungry.

Some Flash kisses !!!

At chore time tonight I checked to see if Gertrude was still happily setting.  She was and "only 20 more days" to go !!!

Got my shredding finished and moved all my files around ready for tax time to commence this evening.
My legs are sore tonight from all the activity today but it is a good feeling to be able to get outside.
Rested this evening and watched part of the Duke/ Georgia Tech ball game but it was a Duke run away so I blogged early.
Grateful for this blessed day and for God's love for His children.
Good Night and God Bless.

1964 AND 1974 DECADE MEMORIES

G-son was here at 7am to begin the "getting back to normal" week. He wasn't happy about going back to school but didn't protest to much as hubbie took him this morning. I did chores and had breakfast then hubbie and I headed out to Belk's to look for him a dark suit they had advertised in their President's Day sale.  He found a perfect fitting black coat and pants, a $280 suit on sale for $100, he was happy with the deal. He found a few other things as did I, of course.
We also made a stop at Sam's Club to re-stock some supplies.
We made it home for a late lunch. I finished my shredding for the month before I had to go for my yearly skin check at my dermatologist office. He found nothing wrong today so that was a relief.
My appointment was at 2:30 so I drove hubbie's truck so he could take the van to pick up g-son.
I beat them home by a few minutes because they had went over to daughter's house to let Tipper her dog out for a run. She has her last regular season game tonight.
After getting g-son settled in with mac and cheese and bacon with chocolate milk to drink I went outside to do the evening chores.
I have my first setting Silkie moved into a brooder box. Hopefully the really cold temperatures are over but if I need to make it warmer I can put a light with her. This will give me some early chicks to sell.
#1 son picked up g-son, he tried on hubbie's new suit coat and it fit him also. At least we know what size he wears now.
Hubbie and I watched a UNC/ Florida state basketball game tonight which UNC won.
Daughter's varsity team won their game tonight placing them in sole possession of third place in their conference.  The conference tournament starts Wednesday for them.
I received my new "secret sister" name tonight and am excited to begin this next 6 months of prayers and thoughtfulness.
Since I don't have any pics for today this is a perfect day to continue the decade pics for February.
I found this old newspaper clipping from February 1964 of the Edneyville boys basketball team. Mark Maxwell named in the pic is our neighbor who has lived all his life just up the road from us.

Fast forward 10 years into February 1974 and I was employed by Ball Corporation the mason jar manufacturer.  They put out a news letter a couple times a year and in this issue was a picture of me singing with a group of other ladies at our Christmas party. We called ourselves "The Limit Samples" which was a name given a group of sample jars required by Gerber from each pallet of baby food jars we shipped to them. When glass jars came out of the furnace they might have various defects in them and each member of our little group picked a name from these defects. I was a very skinny lady at that time so my name was "Miss Under Capacity" which meant the glass was to thin on the jars.

We had a lot of fun back them. The plant operated on swing shifts and after six years of not sleeping on a regular schedule I found a daytime job with another company.
I had some good and bad memories of those swing shift nights and days.
Thanking God for looking after me during that time.
Our God is definitely an awesome God !
Good Night and God Bless.