GOOD BYE APRIL 2017

Surprised by the welcoming sunshine this morning as I did chores and got ready for church.
We started cooking the fresh potatoes hubbie brought yesterday and then headed to church.
Pastor Craig preached from Mathew 5 today on the big D I V O R C E subject. It left the song by Tammy Wyanette  running through my head all afternoon, thanks Craig !!!
We came home for lunch with #1 son's family and Re and the kids. Re cooked a turkey and I made dressing, potatoes, fresh green beans , corn on the cob and biscuits which everyone enjoyed very much. Aa is working today trying to get more sod grass planted before the rain moves back in tonight. Daughter and Josh have a childbirth class all afternoon today and #2 son and is golfing and Tif is working.
The kids had fun playing outside in the nice weather and eating freeze pops to begin the summer routine !!!

It must be nice to always have big brother to come to the rescue.

After all the kids left hubbie and I did some yard work, well I don't really consider it work because I so enjoy my plants and flowers.
I bought a trellis a couple weeks ago to put on this wall so I could move the red climbing rose that we moved from our first home to this one and then the Azalea bushes took over the front of it and totally shaded it  in that location.  It has a couple rose buds on it but with quite a tramatic move, because  some of the branches had grown under the siding on the house and some of the roots had grown into the foundation so that they all had to be cut off, I'm not sure it will continue to bloom this year .
In fact I'm not sure it will continue to live with the shortened root system so we put it in this pot so we can give it some extra care.

I noticed this smaller rose is starting to bloom.

And the Iris, oh my , the Iris are so pretty this year. A new color started to bloom today as these yellow ones opened up over night.

This is a huge purple bloom that is the biggest Iris bloom I have ever seen .

More of both these beauties are also blooming brightly.

I moved some other plants around ,watered all the under the porches plants and pulled the chickens some weeds which they loved before taking a cup of hot tea out in the covered patio to relax awhile before chore time.
We had a restful evening to get ready for a busy week.
As this month of April 2017 comes to an end with a beautiful sunny warm day we can look back over a very soggy month as we manages to wipe out our sever drought standing . We also continued our streak of above average temperature months as we were above average this month on twice as many days as we were below average and ended being 3.2 degrees above the average and having 2 new record breaking hot days.

This has been a busy month with soccer season beginning for g-son, Easter , a Pickens flea market trip, and a couple baby showers to attend for the upcoming birth of g-daughter #2.
I also bought a new oven and a new dishwasher this month which is making my baking chores go much easier and quicker as market slowly picks up.
I have 3 sets of chicks that have hatched this month giving me plenty of sweet , soft little chicks to admire.
We got our spring garden as well as our summer garden started this month with the hopes of no more cold weather.
We have had several loud thunder and lightening storms this month which have caused several sleepless nights.
All this rain has surely made for lots of beautiful blooming flowers this month as the yard and surrounding woods have lit up with color.
#1 son has been working all month on finishing the upstairs in his house so g-son can have a place of his own.
#2 son has been working and the wedding planning is continuing.
Daughter is getting ready for g-daughter #2 to make her arrival as she goes into the last part of her pregnancy.
Re is still awaiting the judges decision about whether or not she will get custody of her two nieces and has made several trips back and forth to Ohio this month as Aa stays here and works in his busiest time of the year planting sod grass and soy beans for the farm he works for.
April 2017 has been a busy but good month for the family and I pray that May will come in with many new adventures and that God's will be done and His love be shown in all that we do .
God Bless and Good Night

ANOTHER BABY SHOWER

 Woke to an already almost hot morning, the temps today are predicted to reach the mid 80's for the warmest of the year so far and it feels like it will certainly make it .
I noticed mY little red Silkie setting hen was off the nest this morning checking out her new surroundings so we'll see what she decides to do. If she decides she wants to continue setting or has given up the idea she will be be put back out into the lot and I will leave some eggs in a nest to try and intice a new setter.
We made it to market a little early today and got set up before any customers came in. Surprisingly with the beautiful day market was still very slow. I am thankful for the one order I had for the 3 cakes.
Hubbie went by a farm outlet and picked up some fresh beans,corn and potatoes for tomorrow's lunch.
Re is cooking a turkey so we will have "Thanksgiving" in April.
I can't believe there is only one more day left in April, where does the time go ????
I waited for the lady to pick up her cake order then headed out early to get home , get unloaded and get to the baby shower that Josh's family is giving them for the baby.
It was at the Cane Creek community center and most of Josh's family attended.

The guess her belly size game !!!

They asked for little books with written messages in the them instead of cards and this is the Peter Rabbit pop up book by Beatrice Potter that I gave them. I love these books !!

They got  a lot of nice gifts today.

And Josh even got a gift all for himself of this mask and some nose plugs among other  fun stuff for the new daddy !!

It was a fun time had by all.
I left there and came home hoping the cloudy sky wouldn't bring any rain this evening so we could get some planting done in the garden.
We planted green beans , squash and cucumbers today. Thankfully we didn't get rain but the dark clouds sure looked like they could drop rain any minute.
G-daughter enjoyed this 84 degree day with her water play table !!!

After chores we cleaned the kitchen counters off and put out some ant prevent since we saw some tiny ants this morning paying us their spring visit.
Thankful for a blessed day and looking forward to worshiping Him tomorrow.
God Bless and Good Night.

BLOOMING FLOWERS AND LATE SNOWSTORM

Most folks relish Fridays but for me Friday is the middle of my "kick butt" days of the week. As I did chores this morning in the cool cloudy morning I wondered if the weather folks had missed the forecast for a sunny warm day today ??
By the time I had breakfast and headed out on my morning walk the sun was starting to break through the clouds.
These are my flower buys from yesterday ....  These Marigolds will be in a planter on the front porch since they smell so good !!!

I will need to re-pot all these pretty Petunias in pots that will retain water.

There is plenty of beauty all around the yard this time of year as this Weiglia bush is in full bloom.

More Iris are blooming seems the different colors come out together.

Spotted my first Rose bloom today.

These Columbine flowers are really pretty.

And my Salvia survived another winter and is starting to bloom.

And this is a new plant for me as this "Wishbone" flower caught my attention with its small petunia looking blossoms.

And last but surely not least are these blooms. They are pretty but often bring with them a threat to all gardeners and farmers of  our last cold snap of the season as these Blackberries Blooms mean Blackberry winter is coming.

 And it seems as if right on cue the "U" winter storm was named today as Ursa slams the mid western states with heavy snow. Don't know yet what this will mean for us. So far all that is predicted is some highs in the upper 50's and low 60's and lows around 40 for the end of the week. Hopefully this will be all it means for us !!!

After I walked I moved all my plants that have over wintered in the basement outside and gave them a good drink. These plants have done better this year than previous years. I have 2 Boston ferns that I have had for several years and they are not even shedding a lot of leaves this year. I also have 2 citronella plants,1 Lemon Oregano, 1 purple Wandering Jude and a large Crown of Thorns plant. I also have 4 Aloe plants , 3 of them I left in the downstairs window, I just have to remember to continue watering them !!
I was sweating from the quickly heating up day when I got this job finished.
I called Direct TV to try to straighten out my new contract with them and finally got to talk to someone who could help me. She apologized for what the salesgirl had told me and then didn't do and did what she could to make it right. I escalated my complaint to her superiors and they are going to listen to the phone conversation I had with the salesgirl and all her empty promises and send me a transcript of it. Hopefully they will do something about all the lies she told me to get me to re-sign with Direct TV but I'm not expecting them to do a lot either. If a company has to have a panel of employees hired only to sit and listen to complaint calls all day there is something wrong !!!!
I'll just be glad to get a transcript of the call to use in the future if my problems continue.
This took up almost the entire morning so I was behind to get my day started now.
I baked 6 caramel, 1 chocolate, 4 pound, 1 pan of brownies then had a late lunch since I had calmed down enough to eat.
I got the last cakes from the ovens at almost 3:30 !!  I felt mentally exhausted so a much needed vitamin D break helped to relax me even if it was hot !
I was sweeping off the front porch when hubbie came in from work and he helped me move some of the heavy chairs around to clean all the leaves from under them.
We went up to his shop to finish the new brooder, totally made from old scraps we had laying around it isn't very pretty but it is very functional.

We worked on it and got it in place just before 8:00 so I waited until after dark to move her in there. Tomorrow will tell if she will settle on the nest I put in there or not.
I took the plastic window shields off all the hen houses to let the fresh air move through.
I came inside and had a late supper to go with the late lunch I had then I iced my cakes and got things ready for market.
I am a tired lady tonight and didn't even turn the computer on so this is being written between customers on Saturday morning and back dated.
Thankful to God for the blessing of health and the beautiful world He created for our enjoyment.
God Bless and Good Night

RAINY MARKET DAY

Wellllll !!!!!  All good things must come to an end and our sunny beautiful mornings have ended with a very cloudy sky today.
I did chores and got ready for market getting there right on time to a waiting egg customer.
I had a slow day but am thankful for all the things I did sell.
Hubbie got off work early today and brought me lunch then I left early and went with him to his SS appointment. He is officially old now as he applied for his SSI today. He won't get a check until September so now he just has to decide exactly when he will leave work. He is also eligible for retirement from his work so he will be making about the same thing he is working.
We split up when we left there and he went by the PO for me and then up to make an appointment with the lady that handles the retirement at his work place. I went to the bank and then to Ace hardware to get some hanging baskets and bedding plants they have for sale.
It was raining when I got there and I got pretty wet getting all the flowers in the Honda . I made a stop at Aldi for baking supplies and then headed home.
The rain started about 11:00 this morning and has been steady all day.
Hubbie helped me get unloaded and then we relaxed for a while before sloshing through chores. There was 4/10ths inch of rain in the gauge at chore time tonight and hopefully the clouds are lifting this evening.

The flowers were sure drinking up all this rain fall as another pretty Iris is blooming this evening.

At least all this rain lately has relieved the drought in our area as we go into the planting and growing season. We have went from the severe drought category to the abnormally dry category in just a weeks time.

We had visits from #2 son, Aa's family and #1 son tonight .
It has been a nice lazy evening but is pretty cool with the dampness.
Thankful for the love and blessings of my precious Savior Jesus Christ.
God Bless and Good Night.

GARDENING AND 2007 MEMORIES

Up and out on a beautiful morning. After chores and breakfast I took a nice walk and noticed more bloomers making their Spring debut. The rain and now this very warm sunshine seems to be just what Mother Nature ordered !!  This Snap Dragon has escaped the pot it was planted in last year.

 Chive vinegar time !!!

 My little carnation Azaleas.

Back inside I had devotions and then baked cakes. With the weather prediction for tomorrow I didn't bake much, only 2 pound cakes and a carrot cake for an order.
One of my cousins, Vendetta Thomas stopped by with daughter's baby gift and we had a nice visit.
I spent the rest of the afternoon in house cleaning mode. I have been neglecting housework lately with other Wednesday activities and today was a must !!!
I also changed out all the Easter décor for the new month. I was getting ready to mop the floors when hubbie got in from work. He quickly changed his boots and  got out of my way heading up to his work shop to work on another chick brooder house for me.
I finished mopping and then hubbie and I went to the garden to get all the pepper and tomato plants that we bought last week set out. This is a bit early but the weather shows no signs of turning cold again as for as the extended forecast. I want to try to get my canning vegetables in early so I can do most of my canning in July this year before school starts back for teachers in August.
As usual I didn't realize we had so many plants !!!

We finished chores and got inside just in time to watch Survivor at 8:00.
After the show I did weekly paperwork and paid bills then iced the carrot cake and got things ready for market.
To finish up the April decade pictures back in April 2007 we had a bouncing baby boy that was starting to really have a personality and be so much fun as g-son was 6 months old.
He loved Pawpaw's big green tractor !!!

And of course there was lots of fun with Aunt T on the beautiful sunny days of April that year.

Thankful for the memories and for the blessings through the years and today that make this journey through this life so much fun.
God Bless and Good Night.

MORE CHICKS AND A DRY DAY

7am arrival of g-daughter got my day started. I got her breakfast set up and then got ready to take her to play school for the morning. She was all smiles on the way in and her usual happy self but once I got her jacket off and started to leave she lost her happy face and cried . Getting back into the normal routine after a week off is always harder for the younger ones. I got her playing with some toys and then got out the door while one of the teachers had her distracted.
I always feel sad to leave her like that but I know it is better for her to get used to being with other kids.
Back home I did the chores finding more chicks this morning with this Black mama hen. She has these 4 chicks and 2 more eggs that were still warm so maybe she will go back and sit on these while they hatch.

I got a surprise when I looked in on the 2 white setting Silkies in the big divided box and saw this mama with these 2 early hatched chicks and off her nest with the other 4 eggs cold and 1 of them with a large hole in it and a cold chick inside . Why she totally left the nest so soon is a mystery as most of the time even when some chicks hatch the hen will still manage to keep the remaining eggs warm while getting up to feed the others on and off.

I placed the remaining eggs under the other white Silkie in this box just in case they might not have gotten too cold.
I have decided I am changing my setting nest to all round buckets as the hen that sat on the eggs in the bucket turned on its side hatched everyone of her eggs. I think the eggs under these small hens are getting too spread out to keep warm in the boxes I have been using.
I had breakfast and then headed out on a nice morning walk. Even though I have rain boots on the sun is a beautiful sight this morning.

I opened the lower pasture gate to the delight of Cayenne and the cattle over here.
I came back inside and had devotions then it was time to pick up g-daughter. She still wasn't happy even when I arrived back to get her as one of the teachers was holding her and she looked really pale and tired.
She went right to sleep when we got in the Honda and took a long nap.
I had my lunch and then did some ironing while she slept.
She didn't want any lunch when she woke up and just wanted to go outside. She is "little miss independent " these days and made a game of going up these stairs across the porch and off and up the stairs again.

She also spent some time swinging until she finally got hungry enough for an apple snack.

No smiles today even in the swing !!!!
After d-in-love picked her up and hubbie came in from work we did chores and then I watched the sun set tonight from the outside patio.
This is a map of the total rainfall around the area. I have circled our area and that is what my rain gauge said also including the over 1/10th inch last night rain total.

The middle and eastern parts of the state are having some bad flooding today as the same amount of rain has fallen there.
One thing about living here in the mountains at least the rain runs off and only the low areas flood instead of the entire towns that are totally flat in the more eastern parts of the state.
Thankful for the wonderful blessings that this day held and for the love of a gracious Savior.
God Bless and Good Night