JANUARY SAYS GOOD-BYE BEAUTIFULLY

This last day of January started out feeling like an early spring day with sun and temps in the low 40's by chore time.
I cooked a pan of mac and cheese in the oven and a pressure pot full of hot chicken wings before I left for church this morning.
Church was good from Romans today.
For lunch we had the hot wings which were very good and not too hot, mac and cheese, green beans and biscuits with #1 son's family as our only guest on this beautiful Sunday.
Daughter left after church to go hiking with Josh. They sent pics from a mountain top in Dupont forest. There was also a lot of snow still up there.

#1 son's family left as soon as we finished eating lunch to take g-son to the cub scouts bowling party.
He bowled for the first time and liked it.

I spent the afternoon working in the closet in my office . If there is a Beanie baby that daughter doesn't have stored in here they didn't make it !!!! When she was in her early teens she collected lots and lots of these little guys.

They have been stored in this closet which used to be her bedroom closet since then in these see through plastic containers.

Today I wanted to get as many of them as I could out of these containers to make more room on this shelf. After working for a couple hours I cleared just a bit of extra space by doing this but at least they won't fade in the see through containers any more.
I also went through some hanging things in there. I found out I can still wear the dress I got married in , it is just a little tight at the top !!!
Hubbie helped me put the new rolling shelf together to use in there so I can more easily access this entire closet. I am considering more moving around to free up some hanging space in here for some of my clothes.
It was chore time before I got around to these changes so they can wait for another day.
Just as I was finishing the chores #2 son came by for a visit and brought his tax papers so I can get started on "tax month".
The good news from him is that his neck is completely back to normal and he has no arm or neck pain any more even after shoveling a lot of snow last week.
As this month comes to an end it is hard to believe that 2016 is already 1/12th over. This month has seen pretty normal temperatures for January with a few very cold nights and then ended with above normal temps close to 60 during the day. We had our first flakes of snow on the 4th of the month but they were fleeting with no accumulation. Another light snow on the 17th  gave us a dusting on the grass and bushes but the roads were clear. Then on the 20th we had a surprise ground covering snow that passed quickly but caused schools to be released early before moving through the area. Unfortunately the roads got really slick quickly and caused several school bus accidents around the area, none of which injured anyone. Then on the 22nd we got the big snow as winter storm Jonas dropped almost 12 inches in our yard over Friday and Saturday. On Saturday the winds whipped the snow into almost blizzard like conditions but by Sunday things had cleared out and we had fun sledding in the deep snow. The schools were closed for 4 days, Friday thru Thursday because the roads were so bad.
Also this month brought g-son's first experience in a basketball game and he scored points and loves the game. Daughter's JV team has had a good season so far with a record of 11-5 but the varsity team has struggled.
A stomach virus struck g-son , d-in-love, Re, Aa and both their kids for several days  of down time in both families. Hubbie and I and #1 son were very fortunate not to catch the virus, thankfully.
This month began a 5 days a week babysitting duty time for me with little g-daughter when d-in-love's dad had to have his leg amputated and her mother has had to stay with him at the hospital.
Curb Market has been slow this month as usual with a couple okay Saturdays and one missed snowy Saturday.
Looks like February is coming in a little wet but with rain not snow and continues the roller coaster temperature ride that January started.

All in all this first month of 2016 has been a good month for the family as we take each day into stride and march on through the path that Jesus Christ is leading us down.
I am very very thankful for each and every day that God allows me to wake up in and strive in all that I do to glorify Him.
God Bless and Good Night.

ANNUAL STOCKHOLDER MEETING

A cold morning started this market day. I should have known better than to think it was going to be really warm today !!!  With no long handle underwear or warm boots I headed off to market.
There is still a lot of dirty snow piles lining the city streets.

The market day was pretty slow although I am very thankful for what I did sell. My original plans were to sneak out of market early and attend g-son's basketball game at noon, but you know what always happens to the best layed plans !!!
The customer who ordered the coconut and caramel cake didn't come until after 1:00 so no ballgame for me !! So with numb cold feet and shivering cold legs my day wouldn't be coming to an early end after all. Just as well as hubbie went to the ballgame and said they really had a bad game and lost 27-7. Today was the first game g-son didn't score but hubbie said he didn't seem upset.
Today was our annual Curb Market stock holders meeting at 2:00. We elected a board of control for the next year , they are Ralph King, Shannon Ball, Pat Walker, Bobby Cox, David Taylor.
The only new business was that we are going to pay off the loan for the new roof with a couple CD's that are not drawing much interest and we will probably only have one old timey day this year in the spring. The very good news of the year was that market finished the year in the black with almost $1000 to spare in the bank.  The meeting lasted about 45 minutes.
After I left market I stopped by Aldi to pick up some chicken wings to have for lunch tomorrow.
I unloaded and had a snack then headed outside on this sunny low 50's afternoon to clean out all my chicken houses.
I worked on this project while hubbie worked splitting and gathering more firewood for the week.
I just finished my cleaning in time to feed the chickens and dogs before it got dark tonight.
After the snow and several days of all the chickens spending the entire day inside their houses the houses were very dirty so we have a lot of fertilizer for the garden.
I fixed a chicken stir fry for supper tonight and then rested on a heating pad to sooth my already sore back muscles from all the shoveling this afternoon.  But it felt good to have that nasty job done for awhile !!
As we get ready to wrap up this first month of the new year I look back over a very blessed month and say a prayerful  thanks for all the love that our Lord sends my way each day. I look forward to ending the month with my church family worshiping Him tomorrow.
God Bless and Good Night.

BACK TO BAKING FRIDAY AND UNDATED PICS FOR JANUARY

Up to meet g-daughter on this cold Friday morning. As I got her settled and snuggled back down on the couch to wait for daylight and hopefully a little warmer temps I gazed out the window and prayerfully thanked my Heavenly Father for the life He has allowed me. I looked at g-daughter sleeping soundly as her swing slowly swayed from side to side and thought "there's no one on this earth more fortunate than I am right now" !!
I hurried through chores this morning as a brisk cutting cold wind made spending time outside pretty chilly today.
After breakfast I baked 3 caramel, 1 chocolate and 1 coconut cake for market tomorrow. It seems it has been a long time since I baked anything after taking last week off in the snow storm.
G-daughter calmly watched my activity from her perch in her little seat on the table.
After lunch we headed out to explore the estate sale that we used to go to regularly. I didn't find much ,only a set of salad bowls and a little nic nac holder to match all the blue willow in the sunroom.
We came home to another bottle then went to pick up g-son from school as his mom had a meeting this afternoon.
He was really hungry so we came home by way of Sonic and he had grilled cheese, fries, mozzerella sticks and slushy for his after school snack !!!
Mom came after the kids just as hubbie came in from work.
She bought g-daughter a new kind of teething ring and she loves chewing on it !!!

Hubbie and I did the chores then had supper.  I iced cakes tonight for a different kind of evening than I have had in a couple weeks.
Another winter storm was named today as Kayla gets wound up dropping snow in the western states before heading across the country. She is supposed to bring rain to our area only about mid week .

Since tomorrow is the last day of this month I need to get one more decade picture post on here of the undated old photographs I have.
These first two are of my mom's sister Hattie Holmes. Although she passed away when I was only 5 years old I still have such fond memories of her that I classify her as my favorite aunt.

 In this one Aunt Hattie is flanked by two uncles,Dill Laughter on the left and Larkin Ruff on right with his wife Lonnie Ruff standing.

 Larkin and Lonnie Ruff .

Love these old photos and am so thankful that aunt Hattie was a photo bug and made a lot of pictures back then.
Thankful for the blessings of today and striving to glorify God's name in all that I do.
God Bless and Good Night.

SHOPPING DAY

7am phone call saying g-daughter was on her way up the drive !!!  Uhhhh, some mornings are a lot harder than others. This morning is hard because I was still awake until almost 3am with a stuffed up nose and who knows what else was going on, I was too tired to figure it out !!
Thankfully g-daughter fussed herself back to sleep and we slept until 8:30 , giving me a few extra zzz's.
I fed her and she was much happier today than yesterday so she sat in her swing and entertained herself while I went out to do the morning chores.
There is a super heavy frost this morning which I later found out was actually "frozen fog" . At 27 degrees the heavy misty fog froze creating some tricky driving in some places, lucky that school was already on a delay !!
After breakfast I did weekly paperwork and payed some bills. We had lunch then got ready to do the weekly errands and some shopping.
G-daughter was ready for the trip !!!

She was a good shopping partner and loved sitting in the buggy seat so she could look all around and of course flash that unresistable  grin she flashes at everyone.( except me when I aim a camera at her)

There is still a lot of snow piled around the streets and business in town.

G-daughter and I got home just ahead of her mom and they were off to do some errands of their own this afternoon.
The statistics are out on last weeks snow storm, placing it 8th in the most snowfall for our area.

It is so funny to keep up with some of this winter's weather predictions. Just a couple days ago I posted a predictive map that said we were going to be warmer than average in February but after today's updated prediction that has changed to this !!!

Oh well, only time will tell !!!!
After hubbie and I did the chores this evening and had supper we rested.  I am tired as I always am after g-daughter's and I's Thursday shopping trips but daughter sent me this news story that made my evening !!!!

Thankful tonight for the opportunity to be active in my grandkids lives and watch them grow up. As always I am grateful for all the undeserved blessing s of everyday.
God Bless and Good Night

ANOTHER OUT OF SCHOOL SNOWDAY

Another out of school snow day. Although the snow is melting fast the DOT still has not scraped a lot of county roads and the school officials have said until all the roads are scraped they cannot have school safely. DOT's excuse is that they have had a lot of equipment problems during this big snow.
D-in-love went into work late this morning and left these 2 to spend the day with me.

G-son was helpful today with his little sister who didn't have a very good day after being with mom for the last 5 days.  She only slept about 30 minutes this entire day so that made for a very unhappy little girl by the time mom came to pick her up.
I spent the day between taking care of them doing some dusting and decor changing and  I got all the clean rugs put away.
I played some games with g-son on his I-Pod, he always wins but that is how he likes it !!!
There was a beautiful sunset this evening after a mid 40's day with some clouds and sunshine mixed in.

This snow just refuses to leave in many places. As I did chores this evening I was slipping and sliding all around in the slick white stuff that remains in our yard.  Guess it is hanging around waiting on another one !!!   But by the looks of this forecast it will have to wait a while !!!

Hubbie and I spent a restful evening tonight and I am getting an earlier bedtime tonight to get back on my regular early morning schedule as school is back in session tomorrow. It is on a two-hour delay but d-in-love has to go in at the regular time.
Thankful for my undeserved blessings of the day and looking forward to what God has in His plans for tomorrow.
God Bless and Good Night

PILES OF SNOW AND SOME 2006 PICS

An extra snooze this morning as with schools closed d-in-love is taking both kids to see her dad at the hospital today.
After chores and breakfast out in the sunroom enjoying my bird friends I started housework for the day.
After a quick lunch I gathered all the rugs and big comforters and furniture covers and headed out to the Lost Sock laundry out the road.
I had to put the Pilot in 4X4 to manuver out of our driveway with all the slick melting snow. The temp this morning was 38 and the high today was 47 degrees so there is a lot of melting going on.
Lucky for me all the bigger machines were open in the pretty crowded laundramat.
I got all my things washed and dried what I could in about an hour and 15 minutes.
From there I had some farm tax business to do at the courthouse before the end of the month so I went there next. Our town looks like a northern town today with all the piles of snow !!!
Traffic was very heavy for the middle of the day. 

I stopped by Ingles on the way home to get some Boarshead sandwich meat and some fresh collard greens to curb my collard green craving !!!
All the main roads were in good shape but had a lot of water on them.
Schools are closed again tomorrow because most of the secondary roads are still not scraped !!
There is rain coming in this evening and then depending on the temps maybe freezing rain !!

I spent the afternoon hanging all the rubber backed rugs downstairs in the room with the wood stove. I don't have to worry about too much dampness in the house with the stove going down there. By the time I got them hung up and all the other things put away I was pooped but I still had to vacuum the furniture before putting the clean covers on it.
After hubbie came in from work and helped get the fresh clean bed clothes on and the rugs back down we both took a break and watched the news. I had to fight to stay awake with the heating pad on my back relaxing me it was very soothing.
After chores I put the collard greens in the pressure cooker and grilled us a couple small steaks I bought on the inside grill for a very tasty supper.
Hopefully the temperature will stay above freezing until the rain gets past us. It is still 40 degrees at 11:00 here.
For all of the folks tired of this snow and cold looks like there might be relief in the forecast !!

To continue the decade photographs here are some random pics from January 2006.
#1 son in his dump truck still continues work on their new house site.

Our farm pond.....

January decor ..........

I am very grateful for all the blessings of this day and I thank God so much for the strength and health He gives me each day.
God Bless and Good Night

MORE SLEDDING FUN AND 1996 DECADE PICS

Another cold, 22 degrees , morning kept things interesting around here. The snow is frozen now and the melting yesterday is solid slippery ice this morning . Carefully navigating my previous tracks in the snow was the only way I didn't slip down this morning !!!
The road is still a mess for the morning commuters, be careful out there !!!

Re had to go to a class this morning at the hospital so EL and BB came to spend the morning with hubbie and I.
D-in-love also came up so g-son could sled with EL while BB took his morning nap. They had more fun on the slick snow in the driveway.
G-son gets airborne over the hump in the road !!!!

 He liked this sled as he learned fast how to turn it and go farther down the driveway.

 Looks like a sled race !!!!!!!

Love these smiling faces !!!!!!!

 Back inside to warm up and have lunch BB enjoys g-son's attention !!

 And g-daughter got her share of attention  from the two bigs also !!!!

Another fun filled snow day.
Not so much fun for other members of the family as both sons had to work today along with Aa and Josh got a ride into his job.
The temperature got up to 47 this afternoon and the melting continued and the DOT finally got around to scraping our road which was good and bad. Good because they got all the icy slush off it and bad because it piled up in all the driveways blocking folks out with a pile of stiff icy snow. Hubbie shoveled for a couple hours unblocking our drive and mailboxes.
I spent the afternoon after all the kidos left doing 3 loads of weekly laundry and some housework.
School is closed again tomorrow because DOT just hasn't had time to get to all the roads yet and with more winter weather predicted for Wednesday who knows when schools will get open again.
After chores tonight hubbie and I watched a Duke / Miami b-ball game which Miami won.
In January 1996 daughter had gotten a camera for Christmas and was snapping away catching #2 son and I with not so becoming expressions but they are funny !!!

A snowy scene from one of our cattle pastures that year with Bearwallow Mt in the background.

Daughter's pet gerbils ..........

Daughter with Pepper .....

And another of our dogs that year was Sweetie a miniture Sheltie.

Another thankful day comes to an end with all my family safe from the ice and cold. I am thankful for all the blessings of this day and for the love of a gracious Savior.
God Bless and Good Night.