GOOD BYE NOVEMBER

 Up to get chores done and get IR to pre-school. CA stayed home with hubbie and EA on her day out of school as she only goes Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.  I dropped IR off and went by Walmart to pick up my grocery order. Funny thing they had everything I needed except dark brown sugar and candy canes. Candy Canes ????   How can Walmart be out of candy canes this close to Christmas ????    I got home and hubbie and CA helped get things carried in and put away then I had breakfast with CA having her second breakfast.  After we ate CA and I did some decorating. We emptied out the 2 containers that were in the sunroom. Hubbie carried them back down to the storage shed and brought up 2 new full ones. We didn't have time to open them as I had to go pick up IR . IR always has a good day at school on Tuesdays and Thursdays as there are only 4 kids who go full time in her class. So they get to help the teacher do special things. Today they made Christmas garland out of Fruit Loops cereal.   We came home and had lunch with CA and EA and hubbie.  After we ate CA and EA took naps and IR and I went outside to get more decorating done. She found these old bows in the storage shed and wanted to put them somewhere. I used to put them on the fence post coming up the driveway so that is what we did with them today.

After we finished that and put up a couple wreaths around the outside we took a popsicle break on the front porch and watched this little red hen and Roho the rooster search around for insects in the front yard.

After daughter picked them up hubbie and I went up to the garden and took the plastic off the row of broccoli and cabbage and watered it good before covering it back up. The plastic sweats alot on warmer days but it is so dry I wanted to make sure the plants have enough water. The broccoli is really putting out heads now. 

The raised bed has lettuce, radishes , carrots , chard and spinach in it and while it was uncovered I gathered enough for a fresh salad for my lunch tomorrow and I cut these 2 large heads of broccoli for a broccoli salad.  This is what makes all the work of opening the plastic tunnels each morning and closing them back each evening worth it when we can eat a fresh salad grown in our garden in winter.

RL came up to help with chores and she helped hubbie stack some firewood he had split. She loved riding in the wood hauler on the back of the tractor.

We all came inside and she watched TV while hubbie and I ate supper before she went home.

I iced the 6 caramel cakes tonight and then worked on Christmas gifts.

Thankful for the blessings of this day and for the Reason for this season, Jesus Christ.

God Bless and Good Night.

HARD RETURN MONDAY

 It was hard to roll out of bed this morning when that 7am alarm went off after five days of lounging in bed until after 8am.  I got chores done and then came inside where hubbie was getting breakfast for IR and CA while EA was fussing about being awake this early.   I took IR and CA to pre-school and they went right back in to normal and I made a stop at Ace Hardware on the way home to pick up a couple small gifts.  When I got here hubbie was getting EA a bottle and I got laundry started before we both had some breakfast. I spent the morning doing laundry and putting away all the "fall" decorations.  I had a couple stops to make while picking the girls up from pre-school so hubbie and EA went along with me. After we picked up IR and CA  we stopped by our insurance office to pay our home owners policy and I needed gas in the Honda so hubbie pumped it for me. 

It is another beautiful day but cold in the low 40's and windy.  We came home and all had lunch even EA had a bottle.  I got more laundry done and played with the kids. I don't really feel like doing anything this afternoon as the morning of going up and down the stairs with the fall decorations to get them stored away made my knee hurt. Add to that a very fussy refusing to eat much from a bottle EA and this afternoon called for a lot of sitting in the rocking chair.

After daughter picked up her girls we went out to get chores done. RL came up to stay awhile and help with chores.

I baked 6 caramel cakes tonight and worked on some Christmas gifts.

Thankful for the blessings of this day and for the Reason for this season, Jesus Christ

God Bless and Good Night

CHRISTMAS TREE DECORATED

 Up to get a very nice but cold Sunday started. I got chores done then had a breakfast bar and coffee since we are having lunch I didn't want to fill up on a big breakfast. We cleaned house this morning and took the big rug our of the living room and got the Christmas tree up and ready for the kids to decorate after lunch. We fixed a simple lunch of spaghetti with salad and Texas toast .  We all ate and then we brought in the all the ornaments and the kids made short work of decorating the tree.

I love the memories this will create for the these kids and for me as I watch them grow up. They all will soon be like grandson who put the topper angel and a couple ornaments on before saying he was going to let the little kids finish !!

After everyone left hubbie and I relaxed for a few minutes before chore time. It has been sunny today but the temperature staying in the upper 40's and it was breezy.

I cleaned out my last chicken house that I missed yesterday with the kids here and the decorating going on.  Now all the hens are ready for winter and are all snug and warm with fresh shavings and lots of straw in the nesting boxes.

We came inside and relaxed for the evening, knowing tomorrow will be a hard day with everyone getting back on schedule after a 5 day break.

Thankful for all the blessings of this day and thankful for the Reason for this season, Jesus Christ.

God Bless and Good Night.

CHRISTMAS DECORATING BEGINS

 UP earlier this morning to get chores done and then take a caramel cake to meet a customer. Hubbie rode with me to stop by Home Depot on the way home to pick up some rat poison.  We try to keep poison out around our chicken houses since they are against the woods and always draw rodents from the woods.  We came back home and I cleaned up all the pumpkins off the porches and fed them to the chickens. Then we started getting out the outside Christmas decorations. We got most all of it up with the good help of these two who came to help us and they kept saying it was going to be beautiful when the lights all come on !!

By the time we got lights on all the trees and got the other things set up the girls got hungry so we came inside to have a snack before we did chores. The cords and plug ins will have to be a project for another day and the girls were disappointed that they wouldn't see the lights tonight.  We got evening chores done about the time daughter and EA came in.  After the girls ate some more mac and cheese left overs they all left.  Hubbie and I rested this evening after a busy day.  I always wonder each year I go all out with putting up these decorations if it is worth the back and leg pain but then I look at the sparkle in these kids eyes (just like today) and know it is very well worth it for sure. I have got a good head start on the decorations this year !!

Thankful for the blessings of this day and for the Reason for this Season, Jesus Christ.

God Bless and Good Night

LATE ERRAND DAY AND DISNEY ON ICE FOR THE KIDS

 Got to sleep in on this cold windy morning and it felt great. I got chores done while hubbie went over to daughter's to pick up her trash. When he came back we headed to the dump / recycle center and then to the PO to mail bills for the week.  With nothing else going on today we decided to visit a new thrift store and found some nice books and Christmas table cloths and cookie cutters at sale prices. We also stopped by the Amazon return place and picked up d-in-love-A a pet carrier that she needed. We didn't find anything else there so we headed home for lunch. After we had a left over lunch hubbie went out to work in his wood pile and I stayed inside to work on some Christmas gifts.  I went outside to clean out the Silkie house and then get chores done. The temperature today stayed in the low 40's and the wind chill made it feel like January out there. We got back inside and warmed up by the wood stove and then I worked more on Christmas gifts.

All the kids got to go see Disney on Ice in Greenville today and they look like they definitely had fun and enjoyed the trip together by the looks of all the big smiles. They all decked out in Disney costumes to attend the event.

And they all left with Disney souvenirs !!!

And this little sweetie turned 3 months old today.

Happy 3 months to NP.

Thankful today for the blessings of this day and for all these littles that continuously light up my life !

God Bless and Good Night

HAPPY THANKSGIVING 2021

 Up to get chores done and have a leisurely breakfast with hubbie.  We spent the morning cleaning house and then after a minimal lunch break we went outside to clean off the garden where the chicken tractor has been. The hens seem to be doing really fine in their new lot and are getting along with the older hens okay after a little bit of dominance arguing went on early this morning.  I came back inside at 2:00 and put the turkey in the oven along with some sweet potatoes. One of the family favorites is my sweet potato casserole and everyone looks forward to it each year.  This is a tried and true recipe that my mom co-authored in the first cook book the Curb Market published.

Hubbie came inside and we started getting the other things ready for our family Thanksgiving supper. Everyone is bringing something so we made the turkey, sweet potato casserole, deviled eggs, mashed potatoes and dressing with sweet tea to drink.  Daughter is bringing broccoli salad and pumpkin pie, D-in-love-A is bringing corn casserole, d-in-love-T is bring mac and cheese and apple pie, Re is bringing green bean casserole , cranberry sauce and cookies for the kids.   We will definitely have a feast.  We got chores done early and then finished the cooking just as everyone started arriving.  The food was all delicious and everyone had a very nice visit and the kids had bunches of fun playing and coloring together.

It was after 10 pm when everyone left so hubbie and I did a quick clean up and headed to bed tired and very thankful on this Thanksgiving night.

I hope everyone out in blogger land had a wonderful, safe and happy Thanksgiving day.

Feeling  very  thankful and blessed with such wonderful family and with the bounty of food we always have, I am truly grateful to our wonderful Savior Jesus Christ for all the blessings He bestows on our family today and everyday.

God Bless, Good Night and Happy Thanksgiving

LAST OF THE DELIVERIES AND A BEAUTIFUL EVENING PLAYTIME

 Up to get this Thanksgiving eve started. Another cold 20 degree morning had me breaking thick ice again on the water pans.  I finished chores and came inside to have a warm bowl of oatmeal for breakfast.  We loaded up eggs and cakes and headed out to make our delivery rounds for the last time before Thanksgiving day. IR decided to stay with us when her mom came by to drop off a cake for delivery earlier this morning. We stopped at Sav Mor to pick up a few things we needed for tomorrow and then made the egg delivery , stopped by the library to let hubbie return a book and then met 3 customers for our last cake deliveries.  Daughter also met us at the delivery spot and picked up IR to take all the girls to see an early movie. I dropped hubbie off at home so he could get started mowing and mulching the lawn once more this season and I headed over to Advent hospital to have my blood drawn for my annual physical. I usually have this done before I see the doctor but since I switched doctors I am going back next week to another appointment with him to discuss the results of the blood work.   It took about an hour to work through the process for lab work at the hospital and then I headed home.   I had lunch then when hubbie finished mowing we went up and moved the "Bonesteel" chicken tractor out of the garden and into the bigger hen lot . I didn't want to just move the hens because it will crowd the house that is in the lot and also these hens are my youngest hens which are laying well still and I didn't want to disturb that. So hopefully having their usual house in the lot will help to keep them on schedule. We left the hens in the lot to be caught later this evening and put in the house to roost tonight. I cleaned this house out and also cleaned the bigger house in the lot out , getting them ready for winter.   Daughter dropped IR and CA off to stay while she went to look at some new furniture. We played in the beautiful golden light of another lovely sunset.

Every time I look at "Black Jack" this little tossed out, unwanted kitten I think about how lucky he was to find his way to our front door. The girls all love him and he seems to return their affection.

After playtime we got evening chores done with the girls helping and then caught the nine hens and put them inside their old house in their new lot . Also took the one last youngest pullet out of the smallest tractor and out her in the big hen house.

We came inside and the girls were hungry so we fixed them something to eat and I put a package of fresh pork sausage links in the pressure pot to go with the baked potatoes we already had in the oven for our supper.  Daughter came after the girls just as they finished eating.  It is nice to have an evening without working on cakes for a change. 

I am looking forward to spending a wonderful Thanksgiving day with my family and I pray you all have a wonderful safe fun Thanksgiving also.

Thankful for the blessings of this day.

God Bless and Good Night and Happy Thanksgiving.

ANOTHER DAY OF CAKE WORK AND DELIVERIES

 Up this morning to the coldest temperature of the season so far at 20 degrees and very hard ice on the water pans as I took extra time doing chores. I took IR to pre-school and picked up the stockings I had one of the teacher's sister embroider for me with all the kids names.  They look so good !!!   I came home and grabbed some breakfast before heading out to make the first cake delivery of the day.  I came back and helped with CA and EA.  We all loaded up along with 5 caramel cakes to go pick up IR. Two customers met us at the church where pre-school is at and the I made a delivery in the area to a friend who recently had 2 heart attacks and then fell last weekend on tp of that. She was slowly getting over the fall and was looing forward to her family coming in for Thanksgiving.  We came home from there with all the girls sleeping. IR always wakes up when we get her out of the carseat so she had lunch with hubbie and I while CA and EA continued their naps.  I had another delivery at 1:30 so I got that done and then hubbie and I played with the girls all afternoon. Daughter came in from school and quickly fed EA before heading out to make a couple deliveries. I went to make a delivery also but the customer was working late and had to come by the house later and pick his cake up.   After daughter got back and took the girls home hubbie and I  got chores done.  It was nice to get inside tonight to a nice warm fire and relax to watch the news. My knee has been bothering me a lot today so I wrapped a heating pad around it and finally got it to stop hurting. I think it is a combination of all the cake work I have been doing over the last week and the extra cold temps today that is making the pain flare up.  After I rested for  an hour I got up and iced the 6 caramel cakes I made last night to fill the remaining orders before Thanksgiving. I will certainly be glad for a break in the cake work over the next few days.

Thankful for the blessings of this day.

God Bless and Good Night and Happy Thanksgiving

NOVEMBER 19 thru NOVEMBER 22

 With the busy holiday approaching I haven't had time to keep up with my blog over the last few days. With the kids here during the day and baking and icing all the cakes for orders this Thanksgiving in the evenings  I am just going to post a snippet with photos from each day to catch up. 

These are from Friday November 19. CA had her Thanksgiving  "feast" today and she was an Indian.

CA is on the right side second from the back looking up.

IR gave her recipe for cooking her turkey and also made a pilgrim's hat in her class today.

Friday ended with the full Beaver moon and a lunar eclipse in the wee hours of Saturday morning.

On Saturday d-in-love-T, daughter and I with IR and CA went to the holiday market at the Depot and to the produce stand holiday open house where daughter sells her cakes. Hubbie and son-in-love stayed home and kept EA and NP  home out of the cold morning. The girls were impressed with this little bird that belonged to the pretty fiddler in the background.

Saturday evening all the adult kids went to different events and these three girls got to stay with us for the evening.

We had a different Sunday also as we didn't have our regular family lunch here. Several of the kids have different things to attend today and we had several things that we needed to catch up on so we took advantage of a beautiful Sunday to get outside and get some things done.  It is about to get pretty cold according to the forecast for next week.

We will be quiet a bit below normal highs and lows for our area.

As Monday rolled around I started making deliveries of cakes to go along with still baking and icing cakes.  It was a normal Monday laundry day and getting both IR and CA to pre-school and home.  The day ended with a very beautifully colored sunset.

                                       

One more day of baking and icing cakes should fill all my orders and deliveries will fill the next tow days along with normal things . Tomorrow is the last day of pre-school and regular school so things should slow down for me so I can enjoy Thanksgiving with my family and get back to the regular daily blog post.

Thankful for the orders this season and for the health to keep up with them along with all the other daily blessings I am so very fortunate to receive .

God Bless and Good Night