SURPRISE FLEA MARKET TRIP

 Weeeellllll !!!!  Today is a totally unexpected venture for me. I had jury duty plans for today but when I called the number on the card late last night I was told my services were not needed. After some joyous shouting I told hubbie we should do something since I already had all my baking done. He suggested we go to the flea market in Pickens,SC. We typically don't go down there in hot weather but we decided to get up at 6;00 and head out.
Even with our best intentions we didn't get on the road until 7:30. The flea market was not  crowded at all and for the first time ever we parked in the front parking lot midway between all the sheds.

There were lots of empty tables as I guess the heat just is too much this time of year and I can attest to that as I had so much sweat dripping in my eyes by 10am it was crazy .
Hubbie and I had taken a couple bottles of water each with us and had to buy more to try to stay hydrated with all the sweating.
Most of the vendors were packing up before 11am and the vendors under the sheds weren't far behind. We made our way completely around to all the vendors and were finishing up and the last thing we bought on the way out was this coconut that they chopped open so we could drink the water from it. It was really good so we bought 2 more to bring home to see if we could chop them open since they were $4 each or 3 for $10. After we drank the water it could be opened up and the coconut meat inside was delicious.

First time I have ever seen these at the flea market here !!!
This is our load and even in the heat and low vendor count we did okay !!!

This is a reminder why we don't regularly shop in summer down here. 94 degrees is really hot !!!

We stopped at the Arbys we always eat lunch at and then headed up the mountain.  It was a beautiful drive up the mountain under this Carolina blue sky.

We always pass this huge building in Pumpkintown and always wonder what goes on in it on weekends. There is a sign that says Pumkintown Opera.

We decided to take a little off the beaten path road home that we used to use sometime when we pulled the boat down here because it wasn't as steep as pulling the mountain up highway 25. This road runs along a river and through some really pretty country .

We noticed a major change as a large lake that was so pretty and always had boats and skiers on it was all dried up and overgrown.
We got home around 2:00 and got unloaded.
We both crashed for naps after the early morning and heat of the day.
Both our knees are sore and we can definitely feel our age this evening as we go through regular chores.
I did the weekly paperwork and paid bills before icing all the cakes I baked yesterday.
I only have a couple orders for tomorrow and only 1 so far for Saturday telling me that regular folks are going to be dodging the busy streets of town this weekend of the Apple festival.
This is the 70th year of the annual festival and all the farmers are looking forward to all the extra folks who come to town.

 Hopefully the newly named tropical storm, Hermine, won't cause too much trouble with the new predicted path that brings him much closer to our area.

Rain and wind are not a good mix with all the tents and displays on the street during the festival.

Today is an end to a really up and down month for me. It started on a high of a great vacation with all the kids with a wonderful trip to Holden Beach, NC. However this trip ended very badly for me as I caught Hand, Foot and Mouth virus from g-daughter who had it at the beginning of the week. Luckily I got sick on Friday night after all our packing was done but it was a rough ride home Saturday.
I fought this sickness for over 2 weeks with a busy schedule mixed in as d-in-love went back to work full time, leaving g-daughter to be cared for 1/2 week by me and 1/2 week by other g-ma. I also came home to a garden brimming with ripe produce that needed to be canned. I have done dilly beans, salsa, pasta sauce and canned tomatoes along with the busy baking that always comes this time of year. I also attended a couple of daughter's volleyball games as her teams are doing very good this year so far and are both undefeated.
G-son started his 4th grade year at school and seems to be happy with his teacher so far.
#1 son's family are settling into a new schedule with the return to work of d-in-love and back to school of g-son.
#2 son and Tif  have had a vehicle changing month. First she traded her mustang in and leased a new Toyota Four Runner and then son sold his big Ford truck and bought an old 1994 4-wheel drive beater to get back and forth to work in. Tif picked out her wedding dress on the last weekend of the month to get the wedding plans kicked off.
Daughter and Josh have settled into married life easily and are both busy with the start of the new school year. Her as a High School teacher and he at the Boys and Girls Club.
The weather has been typical of late summer with lots of rain this month and one terrible lightening storm with temps staying in the mid 80's to 90.
We are all very thankful for the blessings of the Lord this past month and are looking forward to what He has in store for us in the coming months.
I'm writing this Thursday and backdating it as it was almost midnight when I got finished with everything last night.
Thankful to God for safe travel today and for His blessings.
God Bless and Good Night.

TUESDAY BAKING AND VOLLEYBALL

G-daughter arrived at 7am. I took her back to bed hoping she could get some extra sleep. But it took 45 minutes to get her to sleep 10 minutes,  so not worth the effort !!!!!
She sat in her high chair and ate cheerios while I went outside and did chores for the morning. Sadly one of the black Silkie hen's little chicks had one of its legs caught under the feed pan this morning and died. It was really a pretty brown color.
Back inside g-daughter had waffles and I had oatmeal for breakfast to begin our busy day.
We took a walk this morning in the nice cooler sunny weather. Signs of Fall are starting to show up everywhere as we walk. The walnuts and persimmons are falling in the driveway and there is a good amount of leaves already on the lawn from the early shedding trees.

 The Redbud trees are loaded with seed pods ready to fly off in a strong wind .

Our grapes are ripening slowly this year and they are really small. Grapes like dry weather better than all the rain we have had this year.

I discovered our driveway ditch filled and block in a couple spots from the recent hard rains and got a shovel and dug it back open under the watchful eye of all my walking companions !!!

EL started pre-school this morning. She is going 2 days a week to help prepare her for real school.

Back inside I baked cakes today to get a jump on the holiday baking orders. This little girl brought back so many memories of her brother to me while she rolled around in the kitchen while I baked and tugged on my shorts for attention.

I, or we, baked 12 caramel, 2 chocolate and 4 pound cakes then had a late lunch. G-daughter ate very good and then took about a 30 minute nap.
I got out my apple decor and changed the furniture covers and put away some of the summer decor.
G-daughter didn't take another nap all afternoon but played good in her playpen as long as I was in the same room as her she was okay but when I left to go to the bathroom or anywhere else the meltdown commenced.
After d-in-love picked her up I went out to the high school to watch daughter's JV volleyball team play Asheville high.

This is the victory circle after they defeated Asheville in 2 quick sets.

I talked to daughter then left as she said the varsity would be a real blowout and she called later and said I surely didn't miss anything in that one as North defeated Asheville in 3 sets by scores of 25-6,25-2, 25-5.  I'm glad I came home and had supper.
After getting the chores done I relaxed out in the covered patio and watched hubbie mow the lawn until almost dark.
To end the decade pics for this month I have one left. In August of 2006 I had a dear friend at market named Linda Justice. She was always buying me something and that year she brought me several plants back from one of her trips to a flea market. This is a picture of the large Angel Trumpet blooms on one of the plants she brought me.

I'm thankful for pics like this one that seem really unimportant but have such wonderful memories attached to them. Linda has since passed away after a courageous battle with cancer so it is a really nice remembrance of such a special lady.
Remember a day hemmed in prayer is less likely to unravel !!!
God Bless and Good Night.

FIRST DAY OF 4th GRADE FOR G-SON

First day of school today !!!  G-son is starting his 4th grade !!! Where has my baby boy gone ????

G-daughter looked sad to see him go off to school and leave her !

She wasn't sad long as her playmates BB and EL came to spend the morning while mom slept after working all night.

EL was also sad that g-son wasn't here to play with her  and looked everywhere for another playmate ????  And as I look at this picture I wonder where my little baby girl went ?????

She decided to play with the 2 littles and they were tickled to have her hide under the bouncy seat and scare them !!!

Didn't take BB long to figure out what was going on !!!

These two are going to be very special friends growing up.

After lunch we went outside to enjoy the nice day.

After Re picked up BB and EL g-daughter took a much needed 30 minute nap. The nap was way to short for as tired as she was and there was no one to play with now so she had a hard rest of the day.

The new bigger play area did help !!!

D-in-love picked her up about  4:20 and then EL and BB came back while mom went to a staff meeting.  Aa made it home from work to pick them up about 5:30.
After chores I tackled the 2 baskets of tomatoes from yesterday and ended up with 17 pints of canned tomatoes. There is still too much water in the tomatoes and they float in the jars.

I can see the end of my canning season coming into view as the garden produce is really slowing down now. I am very thankful for the abundance of produce that God has blessed us with this year.
I am ending the evening with blogging and then bath and bed.
Thankful for the blessings of this day and the fact that I am feeling stronger each day now as I think I have finally turned the corner from all the sickness. My hands, knees and feet have finally stopped pealing and are beginning to look normal again. All in God's good time !!!!
God Bless and Good Night

BACK TO SCHOOL SUNDAY AND 1996 FOOTBALL

Sunday morning today came waaayyy to early since I was up and down what seemed like all night last night with Dolly, one of the 4-legged kids who had a stomach ache and kept needing to go outside. Finally after a huge drink of cold water about 3:30 she settled down and it took me until 4:30 to settle down and get to sleep.
Hubbie and I fixed potatoes in the pressure pot and corn on the stove to get some things done early for lunch today.
Church was good today from Mathew 5 verse 13 about being the "salt" of the earth. Dr. David does a wonderful job of bringing a message. Today was "back to school" Sunday and we offered up prayers for all the students and school personel in our congregation. Hubbie is on the left in the red shirt and g-son is standing in front of him in the blue shirt.

After church we had lunch of fried country steak, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn and green beans. Aa's family and #2 son were our guest today. #1 son's family went to a meeting and first soccer practice for g-son right after church.
Aa's family went home and hubbie and #2 son worked on his truck for a while then took the big ladder and went up to his house to nail a loose log back on the high side of his house. While they had the ladder out we mounted my birthday present over the sunroom doors.Thanks EL and BB !!!

I enjoyed a nice vitamin D break out in the sunshine of the afternoon.
Hubbie finished out the afternoon watching a Nascar race on TV.
Before we went out to do the chores tonight we gave Dolly a haircut and bath. Her hair is pretty long and maybe that is making her too hot at night and adding to her restlessness.
After we finished her we did chores then gleaned the garden .  More tomato canning in my near future.

And I went ahead and gathered these winter squash in and put them in the basement where they will probably be safer from bugs and worms that are invading our late garden vegetables.

D-in-love sent me this pic of g-daughter as she was so excited to have some ice cream at the Sweet Frog in town.

As we watched the news tonight things are really heating up in the tropics and could make the upcoming week very interesting !!!
Gaston is the only named hurricane and it looks like he will turn out to sea but the "invest " off the east coast and the tropical depression in the gulf  could spell trouble depending on their strength and track over the next week .

To continue the August decade pictures back in 1996  #1 son was beginning his freshman year of football at North Henderson high school. He was #72 all through high school.

I remember those "football frenzy" nights like they were yesterday. This team went undefeated this year as they were a very good group of  football players. Son started on both defense and offense. He played defensive end and on offense he was a guard. It is fun to look back and in this football lineup it is fun to see that the man who owns the business son works for now is also a member of this team.Bringing to mind for sure that we never know what the future holds for us or who is in our future.
Grateful to God for all the wonderful memories and for all the blessings of this day.
God Bless and Good Night.