HISTORIC NOVEMBER ENDS

This last day of November 2016 started out warm, cloudy and with rain expectations. I did chores and had breakfast while deciding what the day would hold for me. This is a hard baking time at market as with any holiday the week after is typically very slow but early Christmas gatherings sometimes cause this not to be the rule for this week. I decided to bake 6 caramel and 2 pound cakes and even if tomorrow is very slow it will give me a jump on Saturday which I already have several orders for.
I had an early lunch then turned the Christmas music on and began my decorating for my favorite holiday of the year. I love getting in the Christmas spirit zone !!
I finished the big living room tree and it is very pretty with the addition of these little red and white checkered bows this year.

Another change I made I really like is these Boxwood trimmings from my yard on the mantel this year.

I had some other ideas in mind for this area but with all the stockings we are blessed to hang this is what I wound up with and I like it.

As I decorated I watched the radar bring these storms closer to our area. Usually a line of storms like these will break up when they hit these protective mountains but these defied that rule prompting warnings for our area.

We only received another 8/10ths inch of rain but the high winds blowing the rain sideways was a scary sight.

Thankfully the storms were moving quickly and were moving out as hubbie came in from work and we went out to do the chores without getting completely soaked.
I buried myself in the pile of paperwork on my desk when we got back inside. It is always amazing to me how missing only one week of this seems to multiply this task a million times !!!!
I took a break to watch Survivor on TV then finished and started icing the caramel cakes.
We watched parts of the UNC / Indiana basketball game which gave UNC its first loss of the season.
As I thought back over this month and all the history that was made it is good to see this one in the books.
The month started out with summer like temps and mostly stayed above average all month. This warm sunshine fueled the continuing drought and wildfires began breaking out all over the western part of the state with one very close to us as Chimney Rock was evacuated. The normally cool fresh Fall air was continually filled with smoke each day.As the month ends some of the fires are mostly contained but only after scorching a record total of over 60,000  acres of our beautiful WNC mountain forest.
The worst fire of the season came this last Sunday night as a fire in eastern Tennessee burned over 700  businesses and homes around Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge areas and 10 people lost their lives as 70 mph winds sent people actually running for their lives.
Another historic item was the 2016 presidential election which Donald Trump a multi-millionaire businessman with no political experience won in a close vote. This sparked riots and discontent all around the country.
Daylight savings time began on the first Sunday giving us an extra hour of sleep each night.
With all the smoke I developed a very bad head cold and it hung on for a couple weeks and has still left me with a cough that keeps me awake at night.
With the unseasonable weather and a very late light frost we enjoyed fresh garden tomatoes longer than usual and made our annual track to glean in the commercial tomato field but with no water the tomatoes are rotting quickly and not keeping as they usually do.
I sold most all of my older hens and really lessoned my feed bill there.
The annual draw down fundraiser at the high school was fun for the family and we also enjoyed each other at a couple Thanksgiving family gatherings and all ate too much delicious food.
I have been very thankful for the busy market I have had this month as Thanksgiving orders were up this year and the nice weather kept folks out all month buying. We ended the month with our Christmas open house celebration which packed the aisle one last time for the month.
Well as the month came in like a lamb with summer like weather it ended like a lion today with the rain and wind storms that are wreaking havoc across the area even tonight.
My prayers go out to the folks in the wake of the tornadoes and rain tonight and for the folks in Tennessee as fires still spark burning more houses and causing more evacuations while thousands of evacuees are left to wonder what next as they have lost everything they own to this fire and have no where to go.
This Christmas season is one to get back to the real meaning of the season and pray thanks to our Gracious Loving Savior for sending His son to save all of us. Praying that many hearts will open to God in the wake of all the disaster that is seemingly besieging this country right now.
God Bless and Good Night

RAINY DAY NEWS

Ahhhhh !!!! As you can see from the light reflections in the streets of downtown Hendersonville , it is a rainy morning. The first we have had in 51  days !!!

With the soothing sound of the rain hitting the metal roof g-daughter and I went back to bed after she got here and she slept until 8:30 even with the alarm clocks all going off at 8:00.
We got up and she had breakfast and then I got her ready to go to pre-school. We made it there a little after 9:00. It doesn't matter what times she comes and goes out there as they have no structured activities. She went in and started playing with another little girl there.
Back home I did late chores but the animals didn't mind on this rainy morning anyway. I then had a late breakfast before starting my house cleaning.
The news this morning is very disturbing as last night a wild fire in eastern Tennessee got out of hand when winds gusted up to 70mph and the fire raced through the town of Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge burning over 150 homes and businesses .

 The carnage this morning is unbelievable and looks more like bombs have been dropped than fires.

This is one of the prettiest areas of the mountains and my family has spent many days in this area as recent as last weekend when d-in-love and a couple friends spent Saturday night up there. I pray for all the victims of the fires as 3 lives have been lost so far. The fire raced so quickly that it will be days before they can be sure there weren't more victims.
What a difference a few hours make as when I went back to pick g-daughter up the skies were clear and the sun was shining.
She acted like she could just stay outside on this upper 60's afternoon.

I had to bribe her into coming inside to have lunch with promises of yummy dessert.
This little fabric Christmas tree and button on ornaments was one of the best garage sale finds I have ever made . I think I paid $2 for this tree and it has been played with by a different youngster every Christmas since.

After we ate lunch I thought she would like to help put some ornaments on the big tree.

Ha Ha !! She liked taking them off a lot more than she liked hanging them on !!!! That's just her nature !!!!
All that watching Neena decorate sure wears a girl out.

She wouldn't sleep this afternoon ,it was as if she was afraid she would miss something if she shut her eyes. Each time she got still and close to sleep she would jump out of my lap and start playing. Then in a couple minutes she would be reaching up to me to pick her up and we would do the whole thing over again.
Thankfully aunt T (daughter) came by after work and we all went outside to play in the now fresh air for the first time in a while.

Swinging and riding in the wagon was right up her alley today.

D-in-love came and g-son joined g-daughter in the wagon and it was a hard pull for mom !!!

After they all left I started chores just as hubbie came in from work.  We finished the chores and I did a little more decorating getting my Christmas village set up.

I've almost got the big tree finished using all non breakable ornaments just in case !!!
The next round of rain clouds was visible along the horizon this evening.

We are very thankful for the 1 inch of rain we received last night and are hoping for another inch or so tonight to help dampen all the fires. The Party Rock fire which is in Lake Lure and Chimney Rock, closest to us is now 100% contained and the firefighters are leaving it in the hands of the NC forest service and heading for Tennessee to help with that fire. They are hoping the rain reaches there tonight before the high winds that are again predicted.

When Josh and daughter got married last summer they made no secret of the fact that they wanted children right away.  Thankfully God has saw fit to bless them with their first little bundle of joy due to arrive about mid June !  They are beyond happy and we are all happy for them and hubbie and I are tickled to death to be welcoming our third grandchild . Back on Nov. 2 daughter had an ultrasound and this is the first picture of our  little peanut !!!

Feeling very blessed tonight as this season gets underway and I feel my blessing just keep heaping up. I am humbled and very very grateful for my Heavenly Father's love and grace.
God Bless and Good Night

WAITING FOR THE RAIN

The Monday morning after any holiday is blahhhhh !!!  G-daughter arrived at 7am but thankfully hubbie who is an early riser anyway got up to get her breakfast so I could sleep a little longer. My night time coughing spells are still going and after I tried drinking some warm honey before I went to bed last night the cough woke me up at about 2am and I had to get out the Vicks for my feet again. It worked and that is the last time I woke up until this morning thankfully.
After I did chores and had my breakfast we put g-daughter in my Pilot and we followed hubbie on the tractor across the road to give the cattle a roll of hay before the rains start this afternoon.

The cattle were glad to see us and we fed them up on high ground just in case we do get a flood. The forecast has changed for our area but you never know what will happen.

We came back home and had lunch of leftovers from yesterday, G-daughter loves my mac and cheese.
After lunch I tackled the weekly three loads of laundry while g-daughter and hubbie played then she took a short nap. She looks all snuggled in.

Hubbie went outside to get some things in out of the rains as it has been so long since we have had to worry about this he said he had better look around to see what needed to be put up.
After a short nap g-daughter who is excited about the lights on the Christmas tree went with us to bring all my plastic bins of decorations up from the storage building.

I am giving myself this week for the inside decorating. If I don't get it done this week its not happening. Since the rains are coming I will do the outside next week. I love the years that Thanksgiving comes early !!!
The only decorating I got done today was changing the curtain valences in the living room.
I am planning on letting g-daughter help put ornaments of the tree tomorrow, I'll bet that will be interesting !!!
D-in-love picked her up about 4:30 today and then hubbie and I did chores. The sky is socked in with clouds but no rain has reached us yet.

I rested and watched the news then enjoyed some Christmas music from the CMA country Christmas program.
I am getting in the spirit early this year and I am glad as some years I wonder if the Christmas spirit is ever going to come.
Also did a little cyber Monday shopping tonight for the kids !!!!
Loving that we can celebrate the birth of our precious Savior's birth this season.
God Bless and Good Night

HOPE

A coughing night once again had to be quelled with some Vicks on the bottoms of my feet. But I notice as the nights go on each time I use this treatment it seems to get less effective.
The weather forecasters sure missed the low temperature for this morning as they all called for 28 or 29 and it is a cold 20 degrees when I went out to break the thick ice covers on all the water bowls for the animals.
Hubbie picked ice covered Kale greens this morning to have for lunch, that should make them taste even better !!!
I put all the Thanksgiving left overs , the turkey , green beans,corn, mashed potatoes,gravy and a can of veg-all into a big bowl and mixed them all up with some extra turkey broth and put the bowl in the frig. This mixture will go into pie crust wen we get back from church for turkey pot pie.
Loving my new boots !!!

 We made it to church a little early and had time to visit a little before the service started.
The Advent season started today and the first Advent candle of Hope was lit today by our music minister's family.

 The message was from Mathew about the faith of Joseph and his obedience to God over and over again.
We came home to have lunch with #1 son and the kids. D-in-love is on a girl's weekend and g-daughter has not been happy about that. She seemed to be craving some female companionship today.

 The Turkey pot pie was very good , I think the best I have ever made and it was enjoyed. After they left hubbie went outside to tackle the leaves before the promised rainfall gets here. The amount of rain they are saying we could get could certainly cause problems if it comes down heavily as the ground is so hard and dry it will run off. The weather forecasters have put out landslide and flash flood watches for all areas especially where the fires have burned the vegetation off the mountain sides.
Hubbie and I did chores a little early so we could get up to our church's Hanging of the Greens service tonight. G-daughter was bored with the whole thing and found other things to do to entertain herself.

 

 G-son was very good during the service and helped with g-daughter's antics.

Time to hang the ornaments on the trees.

G-daughter watches as her dad hangs hers really high on the tree.

 The sanctuary is always so beautiful after this service with all the decorations in place. That's d-in-love providing violin music for the service.

We came home around 7)00 and the temperature is already in the 30's headed they predict once again only into the upper 20's ??? The air does feel differently than it has in many days as moisture heads our way. They are however reducing the amount of rain that actually reaches our area so I guess we will wait and see what comes our way.

The second winter storm was named today and is set to drop more snow across the upper mid west. They haven't said where Blanch will go later this week.

Thankful tonight to be celebrating another Advent season . The Hope of the world lies in our Savior Jesus Christ back in the days of His birth as well as today.
God Bless and Good Night.

OLD TIMEY CHRISTMAS OPEN HOUSE

Got up an hour earlier today to get to market early for the Old Timey Christmas celebration we are having.
As I pulled into the parking lot I was glad we did come early as there were lots of customers already there at 8:30.
I had a really good selling day, selling lots of crafts as well as baked goods today. This is me in my Christmas attire for the day.

I finished my Christmas decorations on my table except I forgot to bring some lights to string up. I can still do that next week.

We all baked cookies to add to the cheese and crackers and hot apple cider that was served for free refreshments and lots of folks came out to enjoy the festivities.

Even Santa made an appearance for a little while to the joy of the many children that were there.

The county Heritage Museum set up on the tables beside me and sold collectable ornaments , the county monopoly game and mugs. I bought one of the ornaments for my tree this year.

Everyone enjoyed the day and sales for most vendors were good.
After market I met daughter at Belks to check out the sales they are having this weekend.
She and I both found several things and both got a pair of new boots at their special $19 prices. This is where most of my boots come from.
We shopped until we were both tired and I had to get home to get chores done before dark.
Hubbie helped me unload and then we did chores and ate supper while watching the news. The weather forecasters are all sure there is rain coming our way next week. I just hope they are correct.

Our area could get 4inches or more over a three day period which would be great. I know all the firefighters that are battle weary from fighting over 65,000 acres of fires for the last month all have their fingers crossed that these predictions are correct. These are the fires that are still burning in the area.

I neglected to post about the Thanksgiving feast volunteers and our local boy scout troop 605 prepared for the firemen that are away from their families on this Thanksgiving day. The firemen were very surprised and thankful for the great food that was served at Bat Cave fire dept.

Today the Christmas Toys for Tots annual tractor run came into town and ended at Jackson Park.
Thanks to the many folks who joined this great effort for the children of our county.

Ho Ho Ho  !!!!!  Let the Christmas joy fill your heart during this wonderful season of Peace, Hope, Love and Joy.
I am grateful today for the Reason for this season, Jesus Christ our Savior.
God Bless and Good Night.