STORIES FROM THE N.C. MOUNTAINS

TRUE NEED OR SCAM DIFFICULT TO JUDGE ANYMORE

2012-02-17T23:08:00.000-05:00

The skies were clearing early this morning for a very nice sunny 61 degree day.
I finished chores and took my walk earlier so I could get started on my today's things to do list.
As I walked by #2 son's house I was greeted with this questioning look from granddog Flash.

I was imagining him saying "what are you doing here? I'm taking care of things around here !"
Finished with my walk and hurrying around getting things ready to head to town to do some errands before I picked g-son up and wouldn't you know it, murphy's law struck again.
As I printed a label for an Avon package the door bell rang. As I turned the corner to see who was there through the french doors I saw a man standing there with Annie nipping at his hands as he tried to pet her.
I had not heard her bark or heard a car come into the drive so as I cracked the door to asked what he wanted I looked for a car and saw none.
He said he was on foot ! I could tell right away that he had a speech handicap and his feet were turned almost directly out to the sides. I asked him how he got to this area, but didn't get an answer, he was into his magazine subscription selling pitch. He showed me a piece of paper to justify what he was doing. I asked if I could take it inside to show to my husband and came in and scanned it on my computer. This is the paper....

When I handed the paper back to the man and told him I wasn't interested he got really huffy and stomped off. As I watched him get back on the highway I called the Sheriff's office and gave them the information off the paper to verify it.
Shortly a deputy was in the yard wanting a description. She said they did verify that this company was dropping off handicapped people in neighborhoods to solicit magazine subscriptions. The deputy didn't think this was a good idea and especially with the break ins we've had in our area she feared for this man's life. In this day and time I cannot believe any organization would be sending people door to door selling anything. There are so many warnings about scams and about giving anyone money that comes to your door that you don't know I find it hard to believe that they would have any success.
The deputy left and I don't know if she found him or not but another home just up the road from us that is used for a summer home had suspicious activity around it.
Anyway all this morning activity played havoc with my scheduled task again today.
I only got one stop made before it was time to pick g-son up and then he had to go with me to do the rest.
We got home over an hour later than expected and I had cakes to bake. While he ate his lunch I snacked while baking 16 layers and 2 pound cakes.
I hated to waste such a lovely day inside but by the time I got to sit outside for a few minutes the sun was low in the sky and the air was getting a chill. G-son stayed inside working in his activity book I had gotten him. He loves to work through mazes and match puzzles.
His dad came to get him just before chore time.
I skipped the exercises tonight and went straight to icing duties to try to get an earlier bed time.
I feel kind of washed out tonight for some reason, not as if I did a lot of physical work today but this mental stress is working on all of us right now and I know of no way to cure it except just give it time.
I trust God to take care of me and my family at times like these.
Good Night and God Bless.

MORE TAXES UHHHHH !!!!!!

2012-02-16T23:48:00.000-05:00

Today was one of those well planned days that never work !!!!
Starting off with waking up about 30 minutes later than usual. Went through the chores with nothing unusual except the misty rain that was falling. Didn't feel like walking in the rain so I thought I would get a head start with errands this morning ,not !! I had to package an Avon order to be mailed to Florida and just as I got it all taped and printed label attached the customer called and said to hold it until tomorrow because she wasn't there yet and wanted to be sure of the address. I hung up and started out the door and the phone rang again, this time another Avon customer giving an order.
By this time I looked at the clock and decided not to do the Avon deliveries I had planned for today because the school where they were would be on lunch break by the time I got there.
I did accomplish at least some of the things I had on my today's to do list before getting home to have a late lunch.
I cleaned the floors and swept off all the porches after the light rain stopped this afternoon.
With daughter's taxes finished yesterday today was #2 son's turn. I was still working on his when hubbie came home from work.
Now only mine and hubbies' is left,uhhhhh !!!! That's the one I hate because it is a more complicated than son's or daughter's. But I do have a week and a half to get them done to stay on my February tax month schedule.
Even with no quite snow days this winter I have got more project work done than usual. Now I think about all the things that need pruning and other clean up work that needs to be done outside.
With the weather looking like it does for the next week I should have plenty opportunity to get it done.

Tonight after a salad supper and exercises hubbie and I watched Swamp People on TV and then I watched part of the Duke/ NCState b-ball game which Duke won.
As the clouds cleared this evening there was a beautiful sunset over the mountains.

God wonderfully blesses us with the beauty of His creations each day .
Good Night and God Bless.

1972 BASKETBALL MEMORIES

2012-02-16T00:01:00.000-05:00

As the weather warms with each day it is beginning to feel spring like again. After chores I took my added territory walk again today and found all was well along the way.
By the time I took a couple Avon orders it was time to pick up g-son from pre-school.
We ate lunch and then we went outside to enjoy the beautiful day. My housework can wait until tomorrow afternoon when it is raining !
D-in-love came to pick him up early this afternoon. Thankfully there was no more robbery questions today so maybe he is getting past that.
Since he left early and I had some alone time I did daughter's taxes and sent them in for her. She was happy with her refunds so I guess I did a good job !!
After a salad supper I tackled weekly paperwork and then exercised while I watched Survivor on TV.
Afterwards I watched the 2nd half of the UNC/Miami b-ball game which UNC won.
The temperature got up to 62 degrees today with a full day of sunshine and tonight it is still 44 at 11:30 with rain predicted to start before morning.
To continue with my February decade photos tonight I don't have any for February 1962 but in February 1972 I had just finished my senior season of basketball and we were very good winning our conference.
This is the photo that was in the newspaper.

I am the captain on the right holding the trophy.
These are some very special memories for me. I enjoyed playing basketball very much back then.
When my painful joints keep me up at night sometimes I wonder if it was worth it and the answer is always yes. And who knows I may have had the joint pain without all the bumps and bruises from playing ball.
I am still working on my photo project but am making quick headway into it.
Thanking God tonight for the blessings of the day and asking for His grace in my struggles to be the person He wants me to be.
Good Night and God Bless.

VALENTINES DAY FUN LOST IN YESTERDAY 'S QUESTIONS

2012-02-14T23:01:00.000-05:00

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY !!!!!
Today started out sunny with a few clouds floating by as I went through chores and started on my morning walk.

My walk got longer today as now I am walking an old path across #1 son's and my oldest brother's property so I can keep an eye out for any signs of trespassers around their houses.
Another item that the thieves took from son's home yesterday was g-son's piggy bank. Luckily it had been emptied recently so the thieves probably got a surprise after lugging the heavy metal bank around.
GRRRRR!!!! I still just get so mad when I think about the robbery.
I picked g-son up at pre-school where he had had a valentine party and had all sorts of goodies in a bag. But instead of being excited about his valentine goodies when he got in the van all he said was "why did someone rob our house?" I am having a hard time praying for those thieves as I am supposed to do in my Christian faith.
G-son and I made a stop a Walmart for some things and I told him to pick himself out a valentine toy which perked him up and I didn't hear anymore about robbers today.
All afternoon I took regular walks outside to listen and look around.
I did get my laundry done along with today's quota of house cleaning so it was a good day.
I have taxes staring me in the face and have got to get busy on them tomorrow in order to keep my February schedule.
D-in-love came after g-son tonight and he was ready to go home so that was good. Oh to be as resiliant as a child !!!
As I did chores this evening I looked over our winter garden and our greens haven't taken this extended cold weather spell very well.

At least today the temperature got to 47 and tonight at 11:00 it is still 31 so maybe this Kale and Collard greens will perk back up.
I got back to my exercises tonight and then worked some on my photo project. My mind is usually to scattered to work on taxes at night.
I am blogging earlier and am going to get in bed earlier to catch up on last night's lost sleep.
I am so glad I can give my troubled heart to God. He has a grand plan and this is all part of it even though sometimes we think He leaves us that will never be the case.
Good Night and God Bless.

MAD, MAD, MAD SO MAD TONIGHT

2012-02-13T23:36:00.000-05:00

My day has been pretty normal. Started with chores, a morning walk, picking up g-son, doing some shopping, playing with g-son while hubbie made a doctor visit and then cut up some more wood from fallen trees.
I am not concentrating on my day at all tonight.
I'm mad as h*** tonight and I don't ever say cuss words , or well ,almost never. Unless something happens like did today to my #1 son.
This is the son that for the last 20 months has been in and out of hospitals with a leg injury. He and his wife have struggled to make ends meet with the help of family and church family all along.
And today SOME CRIMINAL (for lack of the word I would like to use) broke into their home while they were both at work !
The thieves popped the sliding glass door from it's track and sat it inside against the dining room table.
Luckily we think the thieves were scared off by hubbie and g-son when they went to feed hubbie's beagles. The beagle lot is on the hill above son's house and g-son who walks home that way sometimes went running down the hill toward his house and hubbie shouted loudly for him to come back.
The deputies that came to investigate the break-in thought this shouting probably scared the thieves off with very little. They only got d-in-love's jewelery box which did contain a couple things that were worth a small amount that had been given to her years ago but that so far is all that is missing.
Unfortunately and very often the case the damage to their house will cost a lot more than what was stolen.
The sliding glass door will have to be replaced and the laundry room door which was also bent up before they realized there was a cabinet in front of it will also have to be replaced.
But the worst thing is the feelings #1 son and d-in-love are going through tonight. I've been there and there is no way to explain the violated feeling that overtakes you when you know someone has searched through clothing drawers and all your house and you don't know who they are.
I remember the feeling from when my house was broken into when I was single and living alone. You just want to curl up and run home to mom and dad's safe place, but as my dad told me that night, that would declare them the winner, some stranger would have defeated you in every way if you give in to that run and hide desire. I stuck it out and slept alone in my house that same night and so will #1 son's family tonight. It takes more than a miserable thief for any of us to declare defeat.
As I brought g-son back to my house to feed him supper tonight it was hard to calmly and sensitively answer his questions about who and why someone would break into their house.
He was with his dad as they discovered the break-in when they went in the front door of their home and saw the sliding glass door sitting in the dining room. Thankfully they did not walk in on the perpetrator.
He wanted to know what criminals were and why they didn't like them. I hope he understands that this wasn't personal against them and the thief probably didn't even know them.
Hubbie helped get the door back up tonight to keep out the cold. The glass wasn't even broken in the door and it went back into the track with a couple screws holding it so it will keep out the cold.
They will get with their insurance agent tomorrow and began the process to repair their home and their spirits.
God will be with them each step of the way because He never brings us to anything that He doesn't help us through.
Asking for prayers to be lifted for them tonight as this just makes their struggle a little steeper.
God and the good will prevail !!!
Good Night and God Bless.

FRIGID SUNDAY A GOOD RESTING DAY

2012-02-12T22:54:00.000-05:00

Woke very thankful this morning to still have our electric. So many of our neighbors are in the cold darkness this morning. The thermometer read 13 degrees as we headed out to do chores today.
At church today our young associate pastor did the service as our regular pastor is on a mission trip to the middle east with 5 other members of our church.
The associate pastor did a wonderful job and we enjoyed his sermon from Luke very much.
We had a full house at lunch with daughter's b-friend also here. We had made a large crock pot full of chili, a cake of cornbread and a large greek salad. It was almost all eaten so that was good and today was a perfect day for chili with the high temperature just barely above freezing.
After everyone left Hubbie and I spent the cold afternoon quietly, I sat out in the sunroom and read and Hubbie snoozed in the recliner in front of the TV.
I had to go out a couple times to replace ice with water for the chickens.
This was a routine sight all around here this evening as they called in power crews from SC to help get power back on quickly to everyone, a lot of trees fell last night in the wind.

We all thanked God for our good fortune in keeping our power through all the wind.
We have a lot of limbs around but nothing hit a power line thankfully.
After chores tonight we continued our lazy Sunday and I truly felt like I had a day of rest tonight as I lazed on the couch with my 4-legged kids and watched the flames in the wood stove.
Just so grateful to God tonight for the warm comfort of home and of a loving family and friends.
Good Night and God Bless.

A BLAST OF WINTER WEATHER

2012-02-11T22:20:00.000-05:00

BRRRRR!!!!!!! Winter has finally made an appearance in these mountains !!!

Blowing snow was blinding at times this morning between breaks of sunshine.
Hubbie and I headed out to market with little expectation of any business but hoping the orders would at least get picked up.
After we got set up hubbie left to pick up animal feed on his way home.
When I was doing chores early this morning the temperature was 35 degrees and now at 10:00 it is 30 and dropping. With the sunny breaks between snow showers market was better than I expected and the breaks also brought relief for me as I remembered a day not too many years back that I almost didn't make it home from market during a snowstorm.
To stay busy and keep my mind off the snow I made 8 towel angels today.

I sold out of these before Christmas so I needed to get some more on display.
Daughter and b-friend came by market about 1:30 to pick up a cake for her house warming party tonight so since there were no customers in the market at that time they helped me load my van. I left to stop by the grocery store for some things I forgot for lunch tomorrow and by Walgreens to pick up some more prints I had made.
When I got home the snow started again and now I can relax and enjoy the beauty of it.

The view from here is a bit snowy this evening !!
I refilled all the bird feeders as they were very busy all evening.

It is 20 degrees at 4:00 and dropping faster now as the sun is going down. I hope they all get their bellies full before dark !!
Hubbie built a fire in the upstairs stove as well as the downstairs one tonight and we are snug and warm. I feel for the animals and birds outside and for the people that have no warm place to go tonight may the warmth of God's love keep them warm tonight.
The wind is blowing very hard and the chill factor is below zero.

I have caught up with my printing on my photo project so now I get a break until I can get more printed. We have watched a little TV tonight but there isn't really anything on that interest me.
With wind gust around 40mph it sounds like it is blowing everything away outside tonight. I just pray that we keep our electric through this cold night.
Praying for all who are cold tonight may God bless them with warmth as He has me and my family.
Good Night and God Bless.

BUDS !! ARE THEY OUT TO FAR OR NOT ????

2012-02-11T00:03:00.000-05:00

This is the kind of morning you just want to snuggle down under the covers and wait for the sun !
The air is heavy with moisture and it is eriely quite with a "snow is coming" feel to the air this morning.
I spent almost an hour getting the ice out of the chicken waterers that I forgot to empty last night.
The light bulb is keeping the setting Silkie snug in her nesting box but everyone else is going to have a chill starting today.
As I walked this morning I noticed all my fruit trees and bushes with buds turning green and starting to open. I wonder what will happen to all these.....

These are buds on my plum trees,it is no surprise that these guys get killed back in the cold as they are the earliest fruits we have. We had a bumper crop last season and the trees are full of buds again this year.

Next is the peach tree buds....

And like the plums the trees are full of buds..

Annie was helping me check out the trees.
When I passed the pear trees I was surprised at how large these buds are already as these are a late fruit...

And even the blueberry bushes are starting to open.

With temperatures dropping into the mid teens predicted for at least 3 nights and day time highs only in the 30's it will be interesting to see what happens to these fruits. And on yea !!, it's only mid February !!!!
Some of the farmers around here say things will be okay because they aren't that far along. I'm no expert and I really haven't payed much attention to how the buds look at this time in a regular year. That's why this year will be a learning one for me.
It felt good to get back inside this morning and get the ovens fired up for cake baking duty. I have several Valentine orders for tomorrow. I made 22 layers, 4 pound cakes and 2 wine cakes finishing just before lunch.
After lunch I tackled my paperwork shifting. With the year 2000 papers shredded, I put 2010 papers in that box and stored it away. Replacing 2010 papers in the file with 2011 papers, thus getting my file drawer ready for this years filing. I moved my picture files into their proper place. I'm caught up with all the prints I have,up thru October 2009. I am picking up more prints tomorrow at Walgreens.
This had been a good day to tie up a bunch of loose ends.
At chore time this evening I needed a heavy coat for the first time in a while. Everything got a little extra food this evening to help with the cold night.
It isn't that it is any colder than it should be but like the buds on these trees I think the animals have let their cold weather guards down.
Hopefully we won't get any of the snow that is predicted in the higher elevations tonight and tomorrow. I need to deliver my cake orders and daughter is having a house warming party tomorrow night at her house.
I started icing cakes early tonight and it was a good thing as I discovered I was short on powdered sugar and had to send hubbie to Ingles again tonight. I'm glad we only live about 2 miles from the store.
I finished icing caramel,coconut and chocolate cakes and got things ready for market.
Grateful to God tonight for the blessings of the day.
Good Night and God Bless.

COLD FORECAST , WARM MEMORIES , GOOD NEWS FOR SON

2012-02-10T00:14:00.000-05:00

Nice and cool this morning as I did the chores. After breakfast I decided to go on to town instead of on my morning walk.
I ran all the regular errands with a couple extra stops here and there. Picked up some 100 watt light bulbs to help give my little setting Silkie some help keeping her eggs warm this weekend.
Some of the coldest weather of the season is headed our way even with snow in the forecast for Saturday.

Now this looks like winter for the first time this year !!!! But is sure is going to hurt !!!!
Unfortunately a lot of budding and blossoming plants are going to lose their flowers and fruits this week-end.
I made it home about 1:00, unloaded and had lunch. I picked up the photos from the old camera's that I found and one of them was definitely worth having them developed. It is some pics of g-son when he was just a baby starting to eat and looking cute as a bug in a rug.
Here are some of the pics .

Daughter doing the duty !!!

His first "green" tractor !!

Cutest fireman I know !!!

Bernie keeping a close watch !!

He loved that bouncy swing !!

It seems impossible that this is now the same baby with that same dog still keeping a close watch !!

Wow where has the time gone ??
At least I've had some wonderful memories to keep me warm on this cold night.
I put the light in the Silkie house this evening after chores not thinking she would need it tonight but I just went up and turned it on as it is already 30 degrees at 11:00.
After exercising tonight I had to make a quick trip to Ingles for some more baking supplies when a late order came in during my exercise time.
I do not like driving at night especially on this little narrow road I live on. It is only 1 mile to the 4-lane highway and I hold my breath each time I meet a car. Anyway I made it there and back without any mishaps. Hubbie will usually go for me and he offered tonight but I know he had a hard day at work and had stayed up late watching the ball game last night so I didn't want him to have to get out of the recliner so it all worked out.
On the news from #1 son's disability hearing in Federal court today the news is good! The judge after only hearing about 1/2 of what he went through said he could have 9 months back pay of disability. He doesn't know exactly how much that will be just yet and he has to give the lawyer 25% of whatever it is but anything will help them out right now. We are all so thankful that God saw fit to allow this to go through.
Daughter came by tonight and she said the young couple she knows who lived in the house behind hers and got foreclosed on had been there the past 3 days with a u-haul getting all their things out of the house. She talked to him this afternoon when he came to borrow some water and he told her they have to have everything off the property tomorrow or they will lose it.
It is so sad to see the foreclosure of so many young families homes. This couple have 3 small kids and don't know what they are going to do.
Well this has been a long blog post when I really had nothing to say when I first started. That's what I love about blogging.
Thankful to God tonight for what He has blessed us with today and looking forward to serving Him tomorrow in any way that I can.
Good Night and God Bless.

1942 and 1952 FEBRUARY SNOW MEMORIES

2012-02-08T23:55:00.000-05:00

Woke to a cloudy drizzly morning today. After chores I started on my morning walk but got it cut short by a rain shower.
I took all the old cameras and even the one with film in it and stopped by Walgreens on my way to pick up g-son. The camera with the film still in it and partially used was a Cannon Sure shot and the rewind was automatic at the end of the film. I didn't want to buy a $15 battery just to unload the film so the guy there put the camera in a black bag evidently made for just such issues and retrieved the film.
It will be interesting tomorrow to see what pictures were on these things.
When I went into Walgreens it was raining and when I came out the sun was shining and I wasn't in there that long !!
After picking g-son up we headed home and had lunch. He had a "hallow leg" today as he ate mac and cheese for lunch asking for seconds and then ate different things all afternoon.
I put off my house cleaning until tomorrow because it is hard to clean all the floors with him here,especially when he constantly has food in his hands like he did today. I worked on my photo project and danced and played games with g-son until mom came after him.
The air outside has definitely changed this evening as a cold wind is escorting a cold front through.
After chores and a steamed broccoli supper we exercised and then I did our weekly paperwork and payed bills.
We watched the UNC/Duke b-ball game tonight where Duke won on a last second shot. It was a very good game and neither team should feel like losers tonight.
All my photo organization paid off this evening when I looked for decade pics for this month. They were easier to find and I found more of them. I get to start February decade pics in the 40's and 50's instead of later.
A testament to how mild this winter has been so far is these photos of February 1942.

This is the back of my mothers old house.

This is evidently the clothes line, you can also see it beside the house in the above photo.

And again in 1952 a snow in February was captured on film.

There was no notation to give me an idea where this photo was taken, it just said "snow in February".

In contrast to the past years, here is a photo I snapped this morning of Snowball and Louie down in the pasture this morning scuffling around.

No snow here this month at least so far. I heard a couple ladies talking in Walgreens this morning and what they said makes me nervous. They said that the winter of 1993 was this same way until March and then we had a historical blizzard hit our area with 6 foot snow drifts and no electric for over a week,not a good memory.
Grateful to God tonight for the blessings He handed down today.
Good Night and God Bless.

COLD FEET, WARM DAY, FULL MOON

2012-02-07T23:09:00.000-05:00

Lazy this morning as I woke up in the wee hours with cold feet and had to get up and get a heating pad on them to finally get back to sleep. Usually I can snuggle them against one of my 4-legged kids or under the extra blanket but this morning nothing worked except the heating pad.
It was another sunny morning and quite warm already as I did chores and took my morning walk.
I am hoping for mild weather now as this little lady is setting for my first hatch of the season.

She is one of the chicks that the kindergarten class at daughter's school hatched last spring and is on the small side as far as Silkie hens go so I only put 6 eggs under her, 4 large and 2 silkie last Saturday. She should be able to keep this many covered well. When the temperature gets in the low 20's I'll put a light bulb in her box to help her out. So far she has done an excellent job for her first time.
Before I picked up g-son I stopped by Walgreens to pick up an order of photo prints. The coupon this week is for a free 25 prints with 25 prints do I'll be making several trips there this week to get this deal. Tomorrow I'll be picking up more plus taking some old one use cameras I found among the old photos to hopefully get some pics off them. That should be interesting for sure !!
G-son was really ill when I picked him up and when we got home he layed on the couch and said he didn't feel good. I finally got him to eat some macaroni and a couple Special K bars and he was like a new man.

I did laundry and cleaned house this afternoon while he built a tent in the living room and played in it .
As the day got warmer 63 degrees and I finished my cleaning jobs we went outside for a while and played games.
His dad came to pick him up this evening and said he is meeting with his lawyer tomorrow to go over things for his disability hearing on Thursday. He is trying to get back pay for the year and a half that he couldn't work.
He is working at his friends apple farm and trying to get another job with benefits but anyone who knows about his leg won't hire him.
If he could just get some money to pay his doctor bills it would be a real blessing for him and his family.
As I was finishing chores tonight the coyotes started their howling early this evening and when I looked up I saw why. This beautiful moon with clear skies was a brilliant sight.

After salad supper and our exercises I worked on my photos until I needed more prints and then I relaxed for a while.
A beautiful day given to us by the Lord above to warm our spirits and please our senses. Just another way He shows His love for His children.
Good Night and God Bless.

NEW DOCTOR APPOINTMENT DAY

2012-02-07T00:12:00.000-05:00

G-son was here early today and searching for a "p" item for school. He found a "pink pig" and put it in his lunchbox and was ready to go, happy as a lark. I hope he is this happy to go to school next year when it is the real thing.
While Hubbie took him I did chores and ate breakfast and got ready to go to an appointment to meet a new doctor.
Hubbie and I decided to start going to the same doctor #1 son's family goes to as he is in Asheville where we can go to Mission hospital.
My appointment was at 11:00, I had to be there at 10:30 to fill out paperwork. They came to call me back before I had all the paperwork done as I was the only one in the office that I saw anyway.
I saw the nurse practicioner this morning and was very impressed so far at how thorough she was. I made an appointment for a full physical later this month and I go in a week earlier to have blood drawn so we can talk about my blood work during my physical, which I really like.I usually had to call my old doctors office to get the results and all they would say was that everything was within normal limits.
She flushed my ears this morning and agreed with what a doctor had told me 25 years ago that I had very small ear canals and they are tilted the wrong way so wax has a hard time working out so it hardens and I need it flushed from time to time so the doc can see my eardrums and I can hear better.
I made it home at lunch time. Hubbie and g-son stopped at Sam's Club for their lunch.
This afternoon with the weather cooler, 48, and cloudy I decided to stay inside while hubbie and g-son moved some wood into a shed.

I worked on my picture project.When I finished tonight I was all the way through 2007, yeah !!!
#1 son worked a little late and hubbie and I took turns doing chores so g-son wouldn't be back outside in the cool evening air.
After his dad picked him up hubbie and I ate a light supper and got back to our exercising routine tonight.
My cold is much better today , no runny nose and I am feeling almost normal, thankfully.
I am thanking God for the blessings of today and praying for His blessings on my family tonight.
Good Night and God Bless.

SUPER BOWL SUNDAY SPENT RELAXING AND ENJOYING FAMILY

2012-02-05T23:14:00.000-05:00

Didn't make it to church this morning, although I don't feel that bad my eyes are watery and my nose is an open faucet this morning so I'm spending the morning alone. Caught up on my blog from yesterday and relaxed.
Everyone made it for lunch plus daughter's new boyfriend. Hopefully I didn't offend him by asking some questions about being Jewish.
#2 son was the first to leave heading to the grocery store to pick up a boston butt to put in his friends smoker for their super bowl party tonight. Then daughter and boyfriend left and took Tipper her dog home who had been staying with us for the last week while she had a dog sitting job in Asheville.
#1 son ,d-in-love and g-son stayed and talked for a while before heading home. Hubbie had a Deacon meeting at church this afternoon.
I was left alone again and spent this afternoon working on my photo organization. I made it all the way up to the end of 2005, now I have to get prints of photos from the computer.
This has been a lovely day as you can see by this almanac page for today.

There was about an 1/2 inch of rain in the rain gauge this morning after some hard rain periods overnight.
The next 7 days are going to be a little cooler but still not feeling much like February should.

How about that super bowl game tonight I watched parts of it as I did my pictures and loved the fact that the Giants won just because of the way the Patriots QB Tom Brady acted during the play-offs, especially when he beat Tim Tebow's team and then the fact that Brady's wife came out asking everyone to pray for her husband as if mocking Tebow's faith.
Well I'm heading to bed tonight feeling much better thankfully than I did last night.
Grateful tonight for the blessings of this of this day and for my family.
Good night and God Bless.

SICKLY SATURDAY

2012-02-04T22:37:00.001-05:00

UHHHH!!!!! Woke this morning feeling worse than I have all week with this cold or now I'm wondering if it is more than just a cold ??
But life must go on so I drug myself through chores and then got ready for market amid sneezing fits.
#1 son went to help with the church wood ministry so he brought g-son over to go with us to market.
He doesn't act like he feels very good either so this is shaping up to be an interesting morning.
The wood ministry at church is a very helpful thing so we are glad that son is involved . Living in a rural area we still have many elderly folks in and around our church who rely on wood for heat in winter time.
The men of our church decided some years ago that they would form a group to help supply those folks who could not afford to buy the wood. Many folks also have trees fall or die on their property and need to have them removed so this ministry is double edged. The group which both my son and hubbie are members of have been trying for several Saturdays to get this done and it has rained. So even though it is a bit rainy today they went ahead with it as they have folks in desperate need and the Lord provided as He held the heavy rains off until they were finished.

Back at market we got set up and g-son was playing his favorite game on my laptop and all looked to be going well until he lost the race on the game and started to cry. Now when you cry because you lose a video game it is time to do something else for sure !! So hubbie took him home.
Even feeling yucky all morning I had a decent sales day, the best one this year. Selling pillows and several other crafts as well as cakes.
However one of my neighbors across the aisle decided today would be her cleaning day and as she dusted I began to sneeze more and finally I packed it up and left about 30 minutes early. With my nose feeling like a hot poker was stuck up in it I came straight home, unloaded and hit the couch.
G-son was still here with his blanket fort built in the living room but daddy came shortly to pick him up to go to a birthday party of one of his little friends.
I stayed on the couch all evening feeling very yucky all around. I didn't even feel like blogging last night so this is back dated from Sunday morning.
Hard rains arrived just after dark tonight and we are hoping they end before they cause a flood as our cattle are still in the bottom pasture.
After a good long hot bath I lay in bed and listened to the coyotes howl in the bottoms as I dozed off to a hopefully healing sleep.
God is good all the time and on days like today He still blesses me beyond measure and I'm very thankful.

A FRIDAY FULL OF FUN AND WORK

2012-02-03T23:24:00.000-05:00

Woke up early this morning before the alarm which is strange for me. As I headed outside to the chores on another gorgeous morning I noticed the dandelions are really starting to poke their little yellow heads up as if they think this is April instead of February.

I came inside and had a quick breakfast so I could get started with my busy morning. I baked 16 layers for cakes, I washed and dried my hair while they baked and then I went outside on my morning walk.
I've been letting my evening exercise go since this cold has me not feeling well in the evenings so I needed this walk.
I picked up g-son at pre-school and we came home to have lunch. He had spaghetti and I had a piece of chicken and some peas.
The weather is so nice today again with sun and temperatures around 57 degrees. I sat outside while g-son played until the wind got a little stronger and gave the air quite a chill.
Inside I spent the afternoon organizing photos between shredding some old papers and attending to g-son's wants. One time I stopped and we made brownies so that's why my projects go rather slowly.But that's okay by me because this little guy won't be this little long and the days are coming quickly when he will be too busy to make brownies with grandma.
In the photo organizing I made it through the summer of 2001 and I got about 1/2 of the papers shredded so it was a successful afternoon considering all the interruptions.
I even took time to set a Valentine table out in the sunroom. I looked some yesterday in town for valentine napkin holders but didn't find any and didn't feel like spending a lot of time looking. Instead I found these stickers, 4 in a pack for $1 and stuck them to my wooden rings.

The stickers all have a different saying and I think they are really pretty!
Here is the whole table.

This whole table scape cost less than $9 !! Here's the breakdown: placemats and napkin set found at a truckload sale after Christmas last year for $2, red diffuser/vase bought at Pier 1 in the after Christmas sale for $2.25, rose bunch found yesterday at Mighty Dollar for $1, the Currier and Ives salt and pepper and accessories found at Hospice store some time ago for $2.25. I already had the wooden napkin rings, the red candle and the coaster set . We don't use this table much except I eat breakfast out here every morning so I can watch the birds at the feeders so it is fun to fix it up differently each month especially on holidays.
Tonight after chores I had a small salad for supper even though I wasn't hungry. After feeling okay all day I'm losing the battle quickly tonight. But I can only rest a short while before I have to ice 6 caramel and 2 chocolate cakes.
Hopefully I'll feel better with each day, my nose isn't running as badly tonight at least.
More rain is predicted for in the morning so tomorrow will be another slow market day I suppose.
Thanking God tonight for the blessings of today and for His grace.
Good Night and God Bless.

GROUNDHOG SAYS 6 MORE WEEKS OF WINTER

2012-02-02T23:30:00.000-05:00

I'm suppose to come out and what ???????????

What's that dark thing following me around ??? I don't know what all the excitement is all about !!!!
6 more weeks of winter !!!! Now let me get back to bed !!!!!!

HAPPY GROUNDHOG DAY 2012

After a doze of Nyquil last night I slept soundly all night but it took a little while this morning to shake off the fog I woke up in. My system is so sensitive that any kind of medicine has a very intense effect on me.
As the fog lifted I did chores and had breakfast as something in my stomach would help clear my head.
Actually I don't feel that bad this morning so maybe I'm on the downhill side of this cold.
I went into town to run the weekly errands and take care of weekly business.
I made it home for lunch and the weather is so nice I had to take a break and sit outside in the warm sunshine for a while. I almost went to sleep out there it felt so good.
I needed to clean out the large brooder house as I have decided to let some Silky hens set so I will have chicks ready to sell in March. After I got that one cleaned out, I spread last years chicken compost on the garden before starting a new compost heap with what I cleaned out today.
I decided to go ahead and clean out both hen houses as well since it is so nice today. Usually I leave the houses dirty through the cold months because the chicken manure generates heat for them at night. But with no really cold weather in sight I decided to go ahead and clean them out.
I moved one of the setters into the clean brooder house and the other jumped up and ran so if she goes back on the nest I'll try moving her again tomorrow. I don't have enough eggs to put under them yet.
I came back inside and relaxed awhile this afternoon to do some bird watching. Here are some of the pics I took as my feathered friends had dinner.

Titmice are regular visitors.

Black-capped Chickadees are quick movers.

Can't wait until these Goldfinches get their bright summer color.

If you enlarge this Cardinal picture you can see his lady Cardinal keeping her eye on him.

He looks like he is posing.

These little Downy woodpeckers come to the feeders each day. I saw their bigger cousin the Hairy woodpecker the other day but didn't get a picture.

Last but not least is this Red-Bellied woodpecker beauty.
After chores tonight I hit the couch again and had no appetite for supper so I just snacked a little and rested.
The temperature today was 60 degrees but tonight is supposed to be the coldest night of the week with 29 degrees by morning.
God is always beside me in all that I do and I love the way He watches over all His children.
Good Night and God Bless.

AAAA-CHOOO, AAAA-CHOOO

2012-02-01T23:01:00.000-05:00

I have been doing a lot of this today. I was hoping those little sniffles I had last night were not the beginning of a bad head cold, but yes they were ! And today I have a full blown yucky cold !!
The skies were clouding up early today as I finished chores and breakfast and decided I didn't feel too bad to take my morning walk.
I stood by the creek watching the waters rush by going on their way in the warm 60 degree temperatures.

I keep a plastic lawn chair wedged high in the branches of a tree just for days like this one. I can get such a calm peaceful feeling here as the sound of the water is almost like a sweet lullabye.

My walking companion Annie also appears transfixed on the rippling water.

Then we were jarred back to reality by a stark reminder of why we never get in the creek bare footed as this broken bottle floats by.

Hope this wasn't used as a weapon somewhere up the creek !!!

Back at the house I had floors to clean and porches and steps to sweep before the rain gets here.
After lunch I went downstairs with the intention of sewing up some aprons I had cut out. But when I saw my new printer still sitting still in the box in my desk chair down there and the fact that I don't have any labels for my cakes I decided to hook it up to the computer down there.
Now I'm definitely not a geek when it comes to computer things but I do manage to muddle through this type thing. So after only 2 hours I had the old printer disconnected and the new one operational !!!
Sorry aprons you will have to wait for another day !!
With my nose actually dripping I don't think it was a good time to sew anyway.
I came upstairs and made a hot cup of tea and watched the gloomy sky darken and the rain begin.
As I slogged through mud again during chores I thanked God for all the rain he has provided.
I also thanked Him that we are not having a typical cold winter and all this was snow instead of rain.
This Purple Finch was taking cover and having supper at the same time.

This evening I felt pretty bad but I did paperwork along with some end of the month figures which are easy this month as things are so slow.
I also worked some on my picture project getting through my oldest son's graduation in May of 2000.
My nose is beginning to feel like a hot poker tonight and I have the bottle of Nyquil standing by. Hopefully that will help me get a good night's sleep.
Grateful to God for the blessings and love He pours out on His children each day.
Good Night and God Bless.

SUMMERLIKE LAST DAY OF JANUARY

2012-01-31T23:16:00.000-05:00

As this last day of January begins all warm and sunny I am in my regular routine of chores,breakfast,my morning walk along with hanging a couple laundry loads of blankets and covers on the clothesline for the solar dryer to work it's magic on today, all this before heading out to pick up g-son from pre-school.
After lunch it was housework and laundry until mid afternoon when we went outside to spend a couple hours enjoying this weather.

After dad picked him up hubbie and I did our exercises and settled down to watch a UNC/ WakeForest b-ball game on TV, which UNC won.

As this first month of 2012 comes to an end,I'll have to say it has been an enjoyable month although a strange one.
With no snow and very few cold temperature days it has not felt much like the recent Januaries we've had.
Our family started the month out in celebration of a late Christmas on New Years Day with all of Hubbie's family at our house.

After several years of very long hair I decided to have it cut shorter this month and I'm glad I did.

I have spent much of the month deep cleaning my house. Things I don't do but once a year like taking everything off shelves and out of cabinets. I also have been working on organizing all my photos again this year. This has been a several year project as I only have time to work on it during winter months.
I also managed to get some sewing projects cut out while the weather was warm.
There were rainy days almost each week but plenty of very nice days that g-son and I enjoyed being outside on.

As of the first week of the month I no longer worked as our church janitor, a job I had held since the new sanctuary and offices were built in 2006. The officers of the church decided they wanted to combine the 2 janitor positions into one and they wanted me to take it but it required to much time so they began a search for someone to fill the position. D-in-love decided she would try it and so far it has worked out well for her. I now pick g-son up from pre-school 3 or 4 days a week and keep him all afternoon.
As I said earlier in this post this has been a strange January and these blooming Daffodils prove that .

This sight is a rare one for the last day of January for sure.
As the sun sets on this last day of January, I wonder what February will bring?

God knows and because of that I know it will be all right with me !!
Good Night and God Bless.

BOYS AND DOGS

2012-01-30T23:27:00.000-05:00

An early morning for g-son as his dad has to be at work at 7:30 today. He was not in a good mood this morning and nothing pleased him. Hope the teachers at school fair better with him.
Hubbie stopped and got a haircut on the way home and I was just finishing the chores when he got here.
We had breakfast and I worked my morning crossword puzzle as we made a list for Sam's Club.
After we picked up g-son still in a funk we went shopping and got lunch at Sam's. Had a nice visit with the minister that married #1 son who was babysitting his granddaughter while his family shopped.
When we got home hubbie worked on the automobiles this afternoon, changing oil in one and checking all fluid levels in others. G-son was happy inside for a while so I did a couple loads of month ending laundry to get a head start on tomorrow. It was so nice today, a sunny 55 degrees, that I hung our comforter out on the line to dry. Tomorrow is supposed to be mid 60's after a chilly 30 degree night.
G-son and I went outside to play for awhile this afternoon.
Boys and dogs they just attract each other I think ......

Bernie and Dolly watch as he zips his jacket in anticipation of an outside run.

Daughter's dog Tipper who was visiting today loves to give him kisses......

His dad picked him up just before chore time.
He is really worried about the apples in the county with this warm weather they will bud too early.
No apples mean no work for him.
After chores and a salad supper hubbie and I did our exercises. I made both of us doctors appointments today with a new doctor in Asheville. We felt like we needed a doctor over there so if we need to go to the hospital it will be easier to go to Mission.
I also took our blood pressure tonight and Hubbie's is still borderline high. Mine is almost normal.

#2 son called and needed a haircut from hubbie so while they did that I went back to my photo organization. I hung with it tonight until I finished all the oldest photos. Now I'm up to the 2000's. I need to buy more file boxes for these years. At least maybe I will recognize the people in these pics unlike the older photos.
The first month of the new year is almost gone. This has been an unusual January weatherwise for sure and it looks like February is going to start out the same.

Normally at the end of January we are sighing a sigh of relief that winter is about 1/2 over but this year we are holding our breath wondering when and if we are actually going to have a winter.
I am sure God has a plan for the weather as well as everything else and it will be reveled in His own time. Trust and Obey, for there's no other way !!!
Good Night and God Bless.

ENJOYABLE SUNDAY AND A LOOK BACK IN TIME

2012-01-30T00:03:00.000-05:00

A more January feeling morning greeted me as I hurried through chores before getting ready for church today.
We had a nice service today and the church was really full.
Back home I quickly put chicken leg and thigh quarters in smoker bags and got the oven started.
We had corn, green beans, mac and cheese and hubbie made a new coleslaw recipe that #1 son brought in last week. I'm not a big coleslaw lover but this was really good. The chicken not so hot as this was my first smoker bag trial and I think I just need to buy a small smoker grill and be done with it. We love smoked meat but just don't know if we would use a smoker enough to justify the cost.
After lunch and when the kitchen was cleaned #1 son took the tractor to his house to scrape his driveway, #2 son went to the grocery store, daughter and Kate her "little sister" who ate with us today left and d-in-love, hubbie, g-son and I headed over to the estate sales 1/2 price sale to get a couple saws hubbie spotted Friday.
I also bought a box of old newspapers which have some of the earliest pictures of Hendersonville in them.
This is the earliest known photo of Main Street taken around 1890.

Here is the farmers at the depot waiting to load their produce on the train.

I remember my dad telling stories of driving a wagon to town pulled by a team of oxen. Now I know why and I wonder if one of these wagons belongs to some of my family members?

The other papers have photos of many surrounding areas around the turn of the century. I'll have to get some of them in future blogs.
I almost payed full price Friday for these which was $10 but today thankfully they were still there and for $5. I have already gotten more than my monies worth of enjoyment from them !!
Hubbie got one of the saws he was wanting plus a couple other tools and a fertilizer spreader so it was a successful trip.
I worked on my picture organization project this evening after we watched the UNC/Georgia Tech b-ball game,which UNC won.
G-son will be coming really early in the morning so I'm calling it a day.
The weather all day has been more like January is supposed to be, even though the temperature said 48 and the sun was bright the breeze made it a day you wanted to be inside.
Tonight is supposed to be a mid 20's night.
Looks like January will leave as calmly as it came in weatherwise.
Thankful tonight for a wonderful Sunday full of loving family and blessing from God.
Good Night and God Bless.

HAD ANOTHER SLOW MARKET DAY

2012-01-28T23:51:00.000-05:00

G-son slept between us last night and hardly moved. Usually he is all over the bed but at almost time to get up this morning was the first time he flopped upside down. As we got ready for market and did the morning outside chores he had 2 waffles with chocolate milk for breakfast.
He was a help carrying things into market,all the other vendors bragged on his job and he was really proud.
After we got set up he played games on my laptop and ate a cheese biscuit from Mcdonalds. #1 son got off work earlier than expected and came to pick him up before lunch. Hubbie had already left to pick up animal feed and get over to daughter's to finish work on her fence.
Market is a vacant place this morning. It is a beautiful day so the weather can't be an excuse today.

My table wasn't getting emptied to quickly today .

But I'm smiling as I am thankful for what I did sell.

I left market a little early to escape the annual meeting crowd today. I don't usually stay for these meetings and today I felt like I didn't need extra stress from some of the people's comments that are made at these meetings. I talked with the chairman of our board and he said there wasn't anything special going on and it would be a boring ,quick meeting.
The rumor of an increase in our rent fees was just a rumor and he said they would not be going up.
He told me all the figures that would be discussed and any old business that might be brought up so I feel like I'm well informed.
I stopped at Chick-fil-a to pick up a salad on the way home and checked out a parking lot sale beside it but didn't find anything I even wanted.
After unloading the van I sat down and ate my salad. Hubbie and #2 son are still fence building at daughter's house.
As soon as I finished eating my stomach didn't feel right and I made several trips to the bathroom in the next little while. It was strange because I didn't feel sick or have any pain so I have no idea what caused this sudden onset but I'm glad it didn't last long.
I worked on my photo arranging some more as I had picked up the old photo copies from Walgreens today. I really like how this arrangement for the old pics is turning out.
Hubbie and #2 son made it home finally just as I went out to do the evening chores.
The temperature says 41 but it feels much colder to me.
Hubbie ate supper alone tonight as I don't think I should put anything heavy in my stomach just yet. I had a few crackers with cheese a little later.
As hubbie and I relaxed tonight trying to find something on TV to watch we stumbled across an Alaskan winter survival show which was very interesting. We watched it for 2 hours until the news came on.
I'm blogging late tonight and keep hitting the wrong keys as I'm so tired. Hopefully I won't misspell to many words.
Thanking God for the blessing of sales today and for keeping me and my family safe today.
Good Night and God Bless.

NICE DAY FOLLOWS STROMY NIGHT

2012-01-27T23:31:00.000-05:00

A cooler dryer morning welcomed me today. The sun was winning the battle with the clouds thankfully.

I found no wind damage except for some limbs around the yard and there was only 1/2 " of rain in the gauge so that meant last night's storm blew through faster than predicted,thankfully.
After chores , breakfast and my morning walk I baked 16 cake layers and a pound cake for market. I also baked my last acorn squash from my garden for lunch, I love to halve these and fill them with butter and brown sugar,yummy !!
After lunch I found a spot out of the still windy day and got a nice warm dose of vitamin D with the temperature at 50 degrees it felt really good.
This afternoon I worked on my old photo project and got to a point where I realized I needed some prints of the old pics cousins and friends have sent me by email and I had stored on my computer. So I sent a print order off to Walgreens to be picked up tomorrow on the way home.
I also went over to my friends to pick up my Avon order and to the estate sale place I usually go to. Sis-in-law came there to meet me and also hubbie came by after he got off work. Unfortunately no one found anything this time.
Sis-in-law had gotten me a bunch of sugar and chocolate chips from our local Food Lion grocery store 50% off sale. They are going out of business and were selling out all their stock. I love for her to keep an eye out for deals I can use.
Back home after we finished chores, hubbie went to Lowes with daughter to return some things from her fence and buy the wire she wanted. Tomorrow is #2 son's last day off so he and hubbie plan to get her wire up and finish the fence tomorrow afternoon.
I iced cakes and got things ready for Market tomorrow while waiting for g-son to come over to spend the night with us. His mom and dad are both going to work very early in the morning so he's better off sleeping here tonight.
He was funny, while his dad was here he acted sad and kept saying he wanted to go home and come back in the morning,but as soon as his dad was out the door he was laughing and having a ball running from one of us to the other for a tickle game. Maybe he just wanted dad to feel guilty !!!
The sky is clear as a bell tonight and an astronomer's paradise. I'm no astronomer but I can recognize the big and little dippers and tonight it was hard to miss them as this pic of the little dipper shows.

Click on the pic for the full effect .

G-son is fast asleep and hubbie just went to join him. I'm off to take a hot bath and then I'll join them.
Grateful to God tonight for the blessings of a loving family and especially for the love of my Heavenly Father.
Good Night and God Bless.

2002 DECADE MEMORIES AND A STORMY END TO THIS DAY

2012-01-26T23:36:00.001-05:00

As I looked out the window early this morning I knew the blah rainy days were returning as the dark clouds hung low.
I had a cake delivery this morning so I ran errands and did my weekly shopping while I was in town. Most of the stores I went into had few shoppers in them so it made my trips quick and I got home before lunch.
I'll have to remember this because this is way better than spending the entire afternoon doing these errands.
After lunch I went down to my sewing shop to do some cutting. On this cloudy very warm day it is the ideal time to work out here as I don't have to bundle up.
I worked out there for almost 3 hours to the horror of my back muscles. As they screamed at me loudly I came inside and got on the heating pad as I relaxed out in the sunroom waiting for hubbie to get home from work.

Even with the muscle catches in my middle back I was pleased to have gotten all this cut out and ready to sew up. I cut out 4 adult jean aprons, 4 child's jean aprons, 3 full bibbed aprons, 7 baby bonnets, 2 medium bonnets, and 5 large bonnets.
Since I moved my machines inside at least I don't have to wait for a warm day to sew these up. I have so many projects going on right now I'm going to have to schedule some time each day for each project.

The rain started about chore time tonight and has gotten harder as the night has went on and now the wind is howling out there. The weather wizards say we are out of the severe weather area but listening to that wind I'm beginning to wonder !!!!
In the decade picture project I couldn't find any 1992 January pictures and only this Basketball picture of daughter in January 2002. Although a lot of time was spent in basketball gyms that month as daughter was in her junior year in highschool and #2 son was playing for Montreat College on a basketball scholarship.

She was #35 and was the top scorer on her team.

After exercises tonight hubbie and I watched a UNC/NC State b-ball game which UNC won.
Praying tonight that the winds and rain don't cause any damage over night for us or anyone in the way of these storms.
Thanking God for all the blessings of the day.
Good Night and God Bless.

ANOTHER BEAUTIFUL DAY

2012-01-25T23:12:00.000-05:00

As I lounged in bed listening to the news before getting up this morning I got a call from d-in-love asking if g-son could come on over instead of going to school. He wasn't feeling great and had a nasty cough and runny nose.
While I was doing the chores she brought him by and we came inside and he ate 2 waffles for breakfast then acted like he felt normal. His nose was a little runny and he looked a little pale but he settled down in front of the TV while I did my housework.
After lunch he wanted something sweet so we made brownies,which he did all the stirring and pouring and was so proud of them he stood at the oven and with the light on watched as they cooked.
With the weather so nice again today we headed outside this afternoon.
It was a freezy pop kinda day,62 degrees.

These are usually a summertime treat but this weather feels almost like summer.

We played outside until mom came to pick him up early today .
These last couple of days are what makes winter time bearable. A good dose of Vitamin D is good for the soul as well as everything else.
After he left I came inside and cleaned up the living room where he had all his toys scattered.
Today while I was playing with g-son I discovered a large hole dug right against the foundation of the house . When hubbie came home I showed it to him and he poked a stick way down in it and found it went very deep right against the blocks of the foundation. Not good if rain gets down in there and seeps into the basement. We hauled dirt and rocks and filled that one and several more holes we found in the surrounding plant beds up. Hubbie thinks it is a large rat but we are afraid to put out poison because of the dogs.
After chores we had loaded baked potatoes for supper, rested awhile and then I exercised alone as hubbie has a headache.
I did our weekly paperwork tonight before watching the Duke/Maryland b-ball game which Duke won.
This has been a bad news night. First d-in-love text me saying friends of theirs who were expecting their first baby in 2 months lost it today. So sad for this young couple as well as all the family.
Then sis-in-law called with the news about a cousin of ours that had been diagnosed with a brain tumor and the news is not good at all today.
I am praying for both these hurting families tonight. I pray that God comforts them in the way I know he can during this time and guides them through their grief.
So many sad things are happening around me right now I am forever thankful that I and my family are thriving and happy in these days. God is a wonderful loving God and I know He won't bring anyone to anything He won't help them through.
Good Night and God Bless.

DEFINITION OF THE WORD "BOY"

2012-01-24T22:46:00.000-05:00

I haven't posted pictures of g-son in a while and he has gotten so tall and slender. I love his hair all grown out, it makes him look smarter and so grown up !!!
I had to let my work go this afternoon and get out in the nice warm, 60 degrees, sunny day with him and spend some time doing whatever he wanted to do. He had a lot of ideas as you can see from the photos.
This morning as I started my day the raindrops and mud lingered around our farm.

After chores I took Bernie and Dolly with me on my walk as I had to stay up here in the driveway to avoid the mud. Dolly enjoying the sunshine.

I finished up the morning with laundry and housework until it was time to pick up g-son.
There were several things that needed doing today but they can wait as I took time to enjoy this beautiful day in the middle of a very dreary weather spell.
I cooked a crockpot full of 7-bean soup mixture plus some of my canned tomato/okra mixture with some frozen New Years Day left over ham and boy was it good this evening for supper.
#2 son who had been at daughter's all day working on her fence came by to bring hubbie's truck back and he ate supper with us. I know it was good soup because son usually doesn't like soup but he went back for a second bowl tonight.
His week off has been anything but like a vacation as he has already been to the dentist on Monday and is going back Thursday and Friday mornings to have some fillings, crowns and maybe a root canal,yuck !! To give him something else to do this week besides build his sister's fence, the emergency brake cable broke in his jeep today as he parked it in the yard to pick up the truck.
Daughter should be happy with her fence as he is almost finished with it. He is a very good brother !!
Hubbie and I exercised tonight and then relaxed for the evening.
It is going to be a cold night as it is 38 already at 10:00 and with the clear sky we'll probably drop 10 more degrees before morning.
My plans to get to bed earlier tonight are going into effect tonight as I'm done with my blogging before 11:00 and am headed to bath and bed.
Thanking God for a wonderful day and all the blessings that have filled it.
Good Night and God Bless.

RAINY REFLECTIVE DAY

2012-01-24T00:10:00.001-05:00

Yeah !!! This describes the weather here this morning. As I snoozed in the nice warm bed after #1 son called and said he wasn't working today so he would be taking g-son to school and getting him today.I could hear the rain pounding on the roof and felt like I could have just stayed in bed all day.
I dragged myself up and out in the sloggy ,muddy morning to open the chicken house doors and switch the dogs in the lot. Neither animal or fowl was to happy to be turned out this morning.
After breakfast hubbie and I talked about going to the grocery store but the rain started pouring down again and we decided we would just stay home this morning.
#1 son brought g-son by for lunch so he could go out to the local community college to check on some classes and look for job finding help.
The rainy front passed out of our area about 1:00 so #2 son and hubbie headed over to daughter's to start work on her fence.
G-son and I spent a dreary cold afternoon inside. He carried more toys from his playroom to the living room and played well.
I finished our bedroom cleaning and started in my office. I soon realized to really clean my office I needed to get the picture organization done. So I went through most of the oldest photos and clippings to separate them into years. The 40's, 50's and earlier were my main project today and to my surprise some of the photos in the old albums had dates on the back. Not names or places but at least dates.
As the evening came the sun actually peeked out and really steamed things up right at sunset after 1" of rainfall from this system.

#1 son came after g-son before chore time and hubbie came home just after dark.
We had a salad supper and then did our nightly exercise routine. I went back to my old photos but didn't get them entirely finished so tomorrow is another day. Hopefully I can get outside for a while tomorrow as it is supposed to be a warm sunny day, maybe the only one this week !!!
As I went through the old pictures today it made me more glad than ever that I decided to do this blog. When I look at the faces of the folks in the photos I wonder what they were like and what their life was like.
At least through this blog the generations to follow will know something about me and what my life was like.
Grateful to God for a nice rainy day to reflect on the early days of my family. And grateful to have the Bible of a grandfather I wasn't fortunate enough to meet but through this Bible know his love for God.
Good Night and God Bless

JANUARY 1982 A MORE SNOWY MONTH

2012-01-22T23:25:00.000-05:00

Another dreary cloudy morning as I hurried through chores and got ready for church.
I have a white Silkie hen who wants to set so badly but I'm afraid it is just to early and I know it is bound to get cold more this winter.(surely)
So she growls at me each day when I take the eggs from under her that the other hens lay in her box.
Church was nice today but uneventful. Daughter had to help her friend with the smaller children today and #1 son's family didn't make it.
We had pot roast from the crock pot, green beans,corn and mashed potatoes for lunch with apple crumb cake for dessert from the frozen apple slices I put in the freezer.
After we ate hubbie, #2 son and daughter headed to Lowes to get the supplies for her split rail fence she wants to go around her back yard. #2 son is off this week and he is going to build it for her.
#1 son's family went home to continue their house cleaning.
I piddled around the house this afternoon,not really accomplishing anything but getting ideas for this weeks deep cleaning chores.
I relaxed and watched a women's b-ball game on TV between Duke and Maryland which Duke won but it was a very close game all the way.
The clouds have hung on all day and the temperature has dropped slowly,at evening chore time it was 38 degrees and very foggy and damp. It is supposed to start raining later tonight and last until noon tomorrow. The ground is so saturated and muddy that I have to very careful where I step so I won't slide down.
To move along with more decade pictures in 1982 we had a more typical January.
Snow sledding was fun in those early days for all of us big kids. My 2 brothers and their wives joined hubbie and I for a cold afternoon ride. This is Hubbie taking his turn while we all watch from the top of the hill.

This is my oldest brother's wife being pushed by her husband with my younger brother looking on.

This is my younger brother's wife whizzing down the hill.

And this is me looking at the long walk back up the hill carrying the tube. These big truck tire innner tubes made the best sleds and were light to carry !!!!

That year Hubbie and I didn't own but one four -wheel drive and I was driving it to work. So there was so much snow we bought Hubbie an old 1969 Rambler to drive back and forth to his work place.
This is me standing in front of it at my mom's house.

The rear end is sitting low because Hubbie had it loaded down with firewood to give him more traction in the snow and ice.
Looking at this snow makes me kinda wish for a snow fall here at least a small one before winter is over !
After this week of cleaning is finished I have several task to tackle along with February tax time and one of them is continuing with my photograph organization. The ones I have done so far make it so easy to find pics from any given event or time and I need to get the remainder of them in order.
I also need to get started on my next blog book to catch me up again to where I am now. These 2 things along with sewing will make the blah days of February very busy. March is usually my sewing month due to the weather being warmer but since I moved my machines inside that isn't an issue any longer so I'm hoping to get some things made in February.
But before I make February plans I need to accomplish my January task of doing the deep cleaning of the entire house. In this last week I need to do our bedroom, my office and g-son's room.
Speaking of g-son he will be here early in the morning so it is time to sign off and get ready for bed.
Thanking God for my blessings today and for the opportunity to worship Him with my church family.
Good Night and God Bless.

RAINY SLOW MARKET SATURDAY

2012-01-21T23:22:00.000-05:00

At least the rain held off through morning chores and until we got things set up at market and then the skies opened up and it poured for a while. Hubbie waited in the market until it slacked up so he could stop by the feed store for chicken feed and bird seed.
Thankfully it only rained very hard for about 30 minutes or that would have been a sure flood.
Market was very slow as I had expected and I crocheted towel tops on 4 towels while I waited for 2:00 to get there. I'm thankful for what I did sell as a few people came in especially for caramel cakes for birthdays and a few other things.
I sat up some Valentines decoration and finally remembered to take a Christmas wall hanging down.
After market I headed straight home and hubbie helped me unload before we relaxed on a rainy afternoon.We watched a Duke/ Florida State b-ball game in which FSU won on a last second shot.
The rain stopped just before chore time and when I checked the rain gauge there was about an inch in there. The temperature has been around 50 all day but this evening it is getting cooler fast with the cold front moving through. Rain is supposed to be back tomorrow afternoon after a cold start to the day.

This is an interesting cloud formation.

Hubbie and I were invited to a church staff dinner tonight but decided not to go as I have been feeling so up and down with my stomach the past few days I really didn't feel like going out into a crowd and having a late dinner.
Daughter called and said both her youth basketball teams won their games today. She was going home to fix dinner for her b-friend.
I re-arranged some of my make-up and toiletries on my bathroom shelves tonight. I need to do something different in there but I can't decide what. I need more storage space !!
I did accomplish a lipstick organization which should help greatly. Usually I wind up wearing the same color lipstick because my collection of lipstick colors were all jumbled together and it took to long to find the color I wanted,not to mention the color name is printed so small I can't read it.With the help of a magnifying glass I separated all the colors and used index cards to group the colors. Now I just can't find a place to store them !!
This has been a nice relaxing evening .
God has been so good to me and I am prayerfully grateful each and everyday. May all the Glory be to Him.
Good Night and God Bless.

ANOTHER DEEP CLEANING DAY AND MORE RAIN

2012-01-20T23:15:00.000-05:00

Cloudy skies where here again this morning as I walked after finishing the morning chores. The temperature was still in the low 30's and with all these clouds it makes for a raw day outside.
I spent the morning re-potting some Aloe plant that got too big for the pot it was in and re-potting a Spider plant so it will hang in front of the window instead of sitting on the shelf. I also baked 3 cakes for market tomorrow. I expect it to really be a slow day as the hard rain is predicted to fall in the morning during market time.
After picking up g-son we had lunch at home and he played while I cleaned more cabinets. I finished the kitchen, the hall closet and part of the bathroom cabinets before hubbie got home from work and I headed outside to do the evening chores.
#1 son came to pick up g-son just before the rains began .
Hubbie and I had supper and then did our exercises to make up for not doing them last night. I only have a couple cakes to ice tonight so this Friday night is not a regular one.
Daughter brought her baking by tonight as she has an early b-ball game in the morning. She had a bad baking night like I had last week as one of her Apply/walnut cakes fell apart when she took it out of the pan. So we will have that for dessert for Sunday.
I'm hoping to finish my cleaning chores early next week as I am getting bored with that task and need to move on to something at least different !!!
My shoulder is not hurting at all today after sleeping on a heating pad last night so maybe it was just a catch instead of a pulled muscle.
Grateful for God for a day filled with blessings.
Good Night and God Bless.

JANUARY 1972 STARTED OUT SADLY

2012-01-19T23:40:00.001-05:00

Today has been one of those days for me that leaves me scratching my head about things.
Before the alarm sounded this morning I was up feeling like I had an upset stomach. I turned off the alarm in hopes that a little more sleep would help. When I awoke about an hour later my stomach was fine but that shoulder muscle that has been giving me trouble had decided to declare war on me. I couldn't even get a deep breath it was so painful.
I dragged myself through chores and ate breakfast before getting out the heating pad for awhile.
About 30 minutes of intense heat helped enough that I went walking on this nice sunny but cool day. The 35 degree temperature is normal for us in January.
I came back inside and cleaned a little more in the kitchen without any climbing and reaching !
After lunch I went into town to run weekly errands and make an Avon delivery to a friend of mine. We had a nice visit but my shoulder began throbbing again so I headed home and back to the heating pad.
I did chores and watched another beautiful sunset this evening.

Another front is moving through the area creating clouds and color.
To top the day off as I watched the news tonight my stomach ache flared up again out of the blue and I felt I was really going to get sick. With no supper and a couple hours flat on my back the sickness went away again. I have no idea what is going on with that ????
I've had a really layed back evening of watching b-ball games, first Duke/ Wake which Duke won handily and then UNC/ Virginia Tech which UNC won pretty handily also. At least something went right today.
My shoulder feels a little better tonight and I'm shortly going to give it a good soak in a hot tub.
But first I wanted to get some decade pictures on here.
I found nothing in January of 1962 but January of 1972 was a sad month with the death of my mom's closest Sister. My Aunt Gertie Mae had a stroke right after Christmas and died on Dec. 30 and was buried on January 1,1972.

She was a good aunt but tried to mother me some of the time with advice about boys. She always wanted a daughter of her own but had 2 boys. Our 2 families always got together at one or the other's house every Sunday afternoon so I felt like I had 2 mothers.She was a chain smoker and always had a cigarette balanced on her lower lip which I never figured out why it didn't fall out.

Back in those days everyone sent flowers.
One of my other cousins made a tribute to aunt Gertie Mae who was an avid quilter.

The little poem on this collage tells of the love she had for all.
It says ........... THOUGH IT MAY BE FADED AND WORN, TIME CANNOT DIM THE BEAUTY OF A QUILT______OR THE LOVE IN THE HEART OF THE MAKER !!
RIP Aunt Gertie and know that you were loved and I still miss you even after 40 years !

The other main thing in my life in January 1972 was basketball. This was my senior year, I was captain of the team and a fairly good player. This is a newspaper clipping of me and some of the other stand out players that season.

God is good all the time and I'm glad I can leave all my troubles with Him and go to bed and dream sweet dreams.
Good Night and God Bless.

DOLLY GETS A NEW DOO

2012-01-18T23:58:00.000-05:00

This was a much nicer sky picture this morning at chore time but it sure was colder than it has been. There was 1/2" of rain in the gauge from last night but not a cloud in the sky this morning however it is 35 and won't get much higher all day,brrr.
I took a short walk this morning but the wind started blowing and I decided to come in and warm up.
I took Dolly to the groomer on my way to pick up g-son from pre-school.

He was the last to leave and put all the toys away without being asked. His teachers were very pleased.
We came home for lunch then he played while I worked on the high shelves in my kitchen getting things all cleaned and dusted.
Years ago hubbie made me this shelf to hold my old bottle collection.

Most of these old bottles came from the basement of my mom and dad's old house. My mother kept every glass jar she ever bought anything in. When I asked her about the pile of glass jars once she said after going through the depression she couldn't bare to throw these useful jars and bottles away for fear they might be needed again. I have old glass coke bottles made in almost every coke plant in the country including the one that used to be right here in town,
I also have some newer collectibles on top of my china cabinet.

Some of these things are used and that photo is a newspaper photo about our cattle several years ago as they looked out over our frozen farm pond.
#1 son came after g-son just before the groomer called for me to pick up Dolly.
This is how she looked this morning as we were leaving.

And this is what she looks like now after the grooming, she's a new dog !!!

Bless her heart she has just slept most of the evening as if relieved to have this day over with.
Hubbie and I groom both Dolly and Bernie ourselves most of the time but from time to time I take her to get a professional job because of the course hair and some places I just can't get to. Plus we just can't afford too many $41 haircuts at our house !!!!
Hubbie and I had our weekly supper of fresh Kale greens tonight with a baked potato also stored from our garden.
After our nightly exercise I spent the evening buried in weekly paperwork and bill paying.
It is a cold night with temps expected to be low 20's with wind .
We have a fire upstairs and downstairs tonight and it is still cool in the house so the nice warm bed covers are going to feel good tonight.
I vacuumed the floors today along with another day of up and down on my ladder so my back and legs will be extra glad to snuggle down in bed for a nice winter's nap.
Grateful to God tonight for the blessings of the day and for His endless love for all.
Good Night and God Bless.

ANOTHER JANUARY THUNDER STORM

2012-01-17T23:35:00.000-05:00

Got an early wake up nudge from Dolly this morning as she needed to potty earlier than usual. I was afraid she might be sick but she has had no other signs so she just needed to go a little early I guess.
After chores and breakfast I took my morning walk in this nice warm but very cloudy morning. This was the only blue sky I could find as I walked around the drive and garden so I could head back inside if the rain started.

I spent the morning doing laundry and housework before it was time to pick up g-son from pre-school.
By now it was misting rain so we came straight home and had lunch. He had Ramen noodles today and I had vegetable soup.
I continued my house work Tuesday while he played and watched TV. I went outside to shake out rugs and couldn't believe how warm it was under the still cloudy skies.
I finished my regular cleaning and then did the deep cleaning in my sunroom. I took all the Blue Willow dishes down off the walls and dusted them. My legs are sore tonight from climbing my little ladder over and over again but everything out there is clean.

#1 son came after g-son just before the rain started this evening. I finished chores just before the skies opened up. Thunder and lightening again lit up the skies with the warm temperature.
Today's temperature is more than 10 degrees above normal.But look at that 1943 high for today,wow !

And tomorrow we are going back to winter with highs only in the low 40's.

Colder, warmer, colder, warmer that has been the seesaw effect for the month of January !!
After supper and exercise tonight hubbie and I relaxed and listened to the pouring rain outside and watched the lightening streaking across the night sky.
Not a typical way to spend a January night !!??
Thankful to God tonight for His blessings of the day.
Good Night and God Bless.

MOUNTAIN LOGGING OPERATION A SAD SIGHT

2012-01-17T00:00:00.000-05:00

G-son was here early this morning. School is closed today for Martin Luther King Day so he was happily enjoying the waffles,chocolate milk and Sesame Street show when I got back in from doing chores. It is a cold 33 degrees with all the clouds.
Hubbie and I made shopping list for Sam's and Ingles and went out for an early lunch then shopped. G-son was ill tempered from watching a movie last night and getting in bed late so we thought he might take a nap while we drove up to have a look at the logging operation on my cousin's mountain property.
This 100 acre piece of land is the last in the large tract that was my dad's family's home place. My cousin lives in Virginia and so do all her kids so she decided to have the mountain property logged and then sell it. I will hate to see it leave our family but she is quite a bit older than me and can't make the trip down here like she used to do to keep up with the property.
The land incompasses virtually the entire side and top of this mountain, there are some very steep solid rock cliffs on part of it. My dad made a logging road into it years ago before he died but it grew up when no one else had access to the land.
The logging company cut this huge road into their loading landing about 1/2 way up the side of the mountain.

The tractor trailers that carry the logs out have been passing on the road by our house and I have seen some huge logs go out of here.

This machine was working piling logs to wait for the trucks return. We couldn't see anything else working, but the dense forest of laurels and smaller trees is so thick it was impossible to see through it.

I wonder if they are only cutting the bigger trees or if they are going to clear cut the whole mountain ?
I couldn't believe it still looked like this after all the loads of logs that have passed down the road.

G-son didn't take a nap only complained all the way home because we took the long way home !!
It is still 43 degrees at 1:30 when we got home so hubbie decided to postpone his outside work and I decided to work in the kitchen instead of the unheated sunroom.
I went through all my cabinets and threw out a bunch of out dated things. I need to stay more organized so the oldest items get used first. It's all organized nicely now so we'll see how long they stay that way.
In this cabinet is our main foods, soups, veges, meats,pasta,etc.

This one holds our drinks, teas, coffees, hot cocoas, dessert mixes and fruits.

And in this one I put all our snacks, crackers and breakfast foods in.

And lastly if there is a spice ,an herb or a flavoring I don't have in this baby I don't need it !!!!

Not to mention another spice rotating rack I have beside the stove top full of spices !!
This was an afternoon's work with 2 Avon boxes of throw aways.
#1 son came after g-son a little early today as he finished work early today.
It is still a cloudy cool day at evening chore time. When I got back inside I snuggled up with my 4-legged kids and got warm while I watched the news.
Another crazy turn in our winter weather will come next week when it gets in the mid 60's for several days. Son said the apple farmers he works with are all getting concerned with all the warm temperatures and still 2 months of winter to go !!
I know the warm temperatures just make a day like today that would be a normally feeling winter day feel exceptionally cold so I'm sure the trees and plants are confused.
The air outside today felt like it was going to snow but that's not in the forecast for our area.
After a salad supper hubbie and I spent 30 minutes exercising before relaxing for the evening.

With the continued craziness of the weather it is still 41 degrees at midnight.
I'm glad God is in control and knows the whys of everything that happens. I will trust Him with it !!
Good Night and God Bless.

PEACEFUL, QUIET SUNDAY

2012-01-15T23:45:00.000-05:00

A very nice Sunday with sunny skies and mid 30's temperatures to start the day. I always chuckle at chore time on Sunday's as I'm in my PJ's,haha.. It's true in warmer weather I'm out there in all my glory in just PJ's but these days I have my insulated cover-alls over them. Either way I always hope no one happens to come visiting during this time !!
As I got ready for church I kept thinking how wonderful it is to have the opportunity to meet with my church family to worship God together.
There is still an upheaval going on within our congregation but I have pretty successfully turned it over to God and I hope everyone else will do the same.
Daughter dropped off some stew beef one of her girl friends made for her housewarming Friday night and I put it in the crockpot to warm up for lunch.
It was great to see d-in-love in church this morning. Since she took the church job she is taking Sunday off. We had an 80 year old man get Baptized today !!! Glory be to God.
So everyone made it to lunch to enjoy the stew and french bread slices to go with it.
After lunch we all sat in the living room and had a nice visit before each one went their separate ways.
I spent some time on the computer looking up my vintage crystal and had success with several things. It always amazes me at what you can find on e-bay.
The pitcher set that hubbie's mom purchased in honor of his birth in 1955 was the first I found.

This set was made by a company called Bartlett Collins and was made between 1947 and 1949. I found some of the same glasses on e-bay but could never find a pitcher like this one. The set of 4 glasses were priced at $25.

I also found the old pitcher and the 1 glass set that I got from my mom's house on e-bay.

This was Anchor Hocking Star pattern and was also believed to be made in the late 40's, early 50's. The one I found on e-bay was priced at $12.

It was fun looking through the old glass things and seeing what was worth more than others. I also found several other things I have but that would make a post toooooooo long so that will be another day or several days actually !!!
So far I've found that sentimental value is way more than monetary value but that's good as I won't be tempted to sell any of the kids inheritance,hahahaha.
After chores this evening and a salad supper hubbie and I got back to our exercise routine after taking a 2 day break. My hips and knees feel stronger already with the exercise and with my careful diet I'm hoping by the first of February I will see a difference on the scales.
It is a colder night tonight than last as it is already 27 degrees at 11:30.
Grateful to God for the wonderful family and all the blessings of the day.
Good night and God Bless.

TYPICAL JANUARY SATURDAY

2012-01-14T23:17:00.000-05:00

A cold market day this morning but it was a little busier than last Saturday.
As I covered my table before leaving I noticed how empty it was of sewn items. Note to self "you need to hurry up with the cleaning and get behind the sewing machine" !!!!
January typically is my deep cleaning month, where I move everything and clean under it, go through all cabinets ,etc. I
February is tax month !!!
March is catching up with my sewing month. But with all the empty shelves I need to speed this up a bit.
I stopped by a antique/junk shop on the way home that is having a going out of business sale. But it looked just like it did when I was in there a couple years ago. There is so much stuff you can't even move much less find anything !! I really only need a cup holder that hangs on the wall to display some old cups I have but he didn't have one. Lucky for me I came home with all my money intact !!
After unloading the van ,hubbie took it up to his shop to change the oil and put the new brake fluid cap that he finally found after searching 3 parts stores. But guess what, he found the old cap lodged in a space, maybe where he layed it last time he checked the fluid level ????????
Daughter brought grand-dog Tipper by this evening to play with Annie and also had a nice young man with her that one of her friends had introduced her to. He made a nice first impression on hubbie and I anyway.
I got some photos downloaded this afternoon and read my new O magazine.
It has been a sunny day until late this evening when the clouds rolled in. The high was 43 degrees and tonight it is supposed to be mid 20's with snow flurries.
Hubbie and I had some of the shrimp we bought at the coast in October for supper tonight,yummy.
Relaxing night watching the flames in the wood stove and being grateful .
I'll leave you with this thought and May God Bless.

FRIDAY THE 13TH HAS ONLY MINOR MISHAPS

2012-01-14T00:17:00.000-05:00

Whew !!!, What a difference this morning as it now feels like a January morning should. Luckily the hard winds of last night didn't do much damage around here. Only blew over some patio furniture and left some limbs around the yard. I am very thankful after listening to the gust hit the bedroom windows as I tried to get to sleep last night.
After chores and breakfast I baked 18 layers, a pound and a wine cake before lunch.
#1 son isn't working today so he picked up g-son from pre-school and brought him here for lunch. He wanted waffles with syrup over them. I told son that was probably more healthy than that burger and fries he had stopped and picked up for himself on the way.
After lunch son went over to a friends house to help him put some flooring down, leaving g-son to spend the afternoon with me.
While he played with his race set and operation game I did the yearly cleaning of all my old china and things I keep in this old cabinet in the sunroom.

These open mouthed lion heads on this cabinet were believed to ward off ill spirits in olden days.

To me they are a nice conversation piece.
I removed all the dishes and what-nots and cleaned them as well as the cabinet shelves and outside glass and wood. All these dishes have wonderful memories for me and I have decided I need to document the connections with these pieces and keep it with them.
This pitcher and glasses set was purchased by Hubbie's mother in 1955, the year he was born.

This next pitcher and unfortunately only one glass made it to me came from my mother's house and I remember using this every summer with tea and lemonade in it.

These next two sets are Princess House sets I purchased when the kids were small, have no idea why I only bought 2 ????

This set has papers with it that say Heritage.

This set is Fantasia patterned Princess House Chrystal.
I keep telling the kids that after I'm gone a trip to Antique Roadshow is in their future !!
I love the memories these things evoke and that to me makes them worth keeping and cleaning at least once a year.I am going to look each piece up to get a name and age, and get an idea of the current value.
As I get the info on each one I am going to put it in a post so it will be preserved on here as well as put the info with the piece.
After cleaning g-son begged to help me make some caramel icing so he could have some to eat.
So we made the icing and he only made one mistake that will make my load of cakes to market one less tomorrow.
If you look at this picture really closely you will see a small hand print in this layer. G-son was checking to make sure it was cool when he somehow stumbled and mashed his hand into it??!!!Me thinks he just wanted some cake to go with his icing !!!

But I feel blessed as this ,a pound cake that fell and a little snafoo with my van tonight were the only bad luck that I had on this Friday the 13th and the clock just ticked to 12:01 so it is now the 14th.
Daughter had a house warming party with the TV people she used to work with tonight and d-in-love attended so #1 son, #2 son and g-son all came up for supper tonight.
I made a cake delivery and the "low brake fluid" light came on in the van. When I got home hubbie checked it and found the cap to the reservoir missing. We have no idea when it was taken off unless they checked it Monday during the inspection and didn't get it back on tightly so it fell off. Anyway I now have a celephane plastic and rubber band cap until Hubbie can find a parts place that has one to buy. Hubbie said that was my bad luck for the day but I think that was my good luck because if that light hadn't come on there's no telling how long it would have been until I found the cap missing and dirt and water might have gotten into the brakes.
I have all my cakes iced and wrapped and am headed for bed after midnight.
It has been a cold day with 32 being the high of the day but the snow stayed north of us and the wind has died down. Right now it is 24 and quiet at midnight.
Glory to God , our Father who watches over us constantly.
Good Night and God Bless.

THIS DAY HAS BEAUTIFUL START BUT NASTY ENDING

2012-01-12T23:50:00.000-05:00

WOW !!!What a difference this morning !! I loved my walk today except for the fact that I still couldn't go into the very muddy wet bottom pasture as I usually do. But staying on the driveway and the grassy paths around the garden and greenhouse was a nice way to start this gorgeous ,warm morning.
I finished getting everything I needed to do in town lined up this morning and after lunch I was off to run errands and take care of some tax listings at the courthouse along with delivering a cake order.
I had time to do some shopping for new living room rugs and found what I wanted at K-mart for alot less than 1/2 the price I looked at some on line for.
By the time I got to Walmart which was my last stop the beautiful blue skies were history and the dark clouds were back again with drizzly rain. The sky was so dark it was scary after what happened yesterday so I was glad to get home safely.

The storm that hit the town just east of here yesterday afternoon was officially declared a class 2 tornado with 115 mph winds. These pictures tell what that kind of wind can do.

They are still assessing the amount of damaged homes.

We are praying for our neighbors as they pick up the pieces and start over.

This was a history making event as it was the first ever tornado in January. Rutherford county has only been hit with 6 tornadoes in it's history and they were all between May and October.

This is proof that these mountains are not free from a tornadoes major damage.
Tonight we are experiencing very high winds here and blowing snow, it is 29 degrees at 11:30 and the snow showers are supposed to continue throughout the night.
After exercising tonight I watched a Duke/ Virginia b-ball game on TV, Duke won.
Yesterday I had time to go through pictures for some January Decade pictures.

January was the month my family actually really began as on January 2nd 1952 my dad and mom said their wedding vows.

This is the wedding party from your left ,my dad's oldest brother Jay, my dad and mom, my mom's sister Hattie and her husband Anderson, (doing the pointing) . The photographer in this picture was Jay's wife Bertha and in the picture below Hattie is the photographer and the shorty is my Aunt Bertha.

Here is another photo I found marked January 1952. This is my dad on your right with his sister Hattie and her family.

That old Oldsmobile was our car until I was in my early teen years, ha ,how I wish I still had that car !
Dad worked for GM for several years in the Cadillac department and back then he said the Oldsmobile was the testing ground for the more expensive Caddy.
I remember both my Aunt Hattie's and know that both of them were beautiful,loving ladies.
I am sitting here typing hoping the wind doesn't blow down the power lines before I finish this so I'm saying a quick good bye tonight.
May God bless us all through this crazy weather.
Good Night and God Bless.

THUNDER,LIGHTENING, RAIN, HAIL AND TORNADOES, OH MY !!!!

2012-01-11T23:06:00.000-05:00

A dark dreary morning as the rain has been falling all night. I fed the chickens in their houses today and headed back for my house, glad I don't have to be out in this mess today ! As thunder and lightning flashed I thought this is really odd for January.
After breakfast I cleaned my floors and washed a load of bathroom rugs before lunch. I called Hubbie and asked him to pick up my Avon order as he was out in the mess anyway.
On the news at noon they said lightning struck a house on the other side of town and it burned down,luckily no one was home. This morning's lightning also struck a local TV stations tower and knocked them off the air. All this made me feel blessed to have had no damage.
Just after lunch I noticed the sky growing very dark and I heard thunder in the distance again. As I watched the storm get closer,the rain was coming down in buckets. I took this picture out my front bay window.

The thunder and lightning got closer and Dolly and Bernie wanted to get under something and hide until it was over. I put them under the blanket on the couch and they stayed there.
During the thunder,lightning and rain unbelievably the sun came out !!! In this picture you can see the sun sparkling through the trees.

This sent me looking for the rainbow and I found this beauty stretched across the sky in the back yard.

It was hard to see through the trees and the clouds soon covered it and the sun back over but I felt relieved from the sight of God's promise.

When hubbie came home a little later he said it hailed at his workplace in Flat Rock ,just west of our place.

This is not the kind of ice you expect in January !!!

And sadly for some folks in neighboring Rutherford county this tornado touched down causing major damage and leaving many hurting, some critically hurt.

I am saying prayers for these folks tonight and for the rescuers that are spending this evening searching through the rubble for people.
Thankfully for our place all we have is a few limbs down and a whole lot of mud !! There was only a little over 2" in our rain gauge but it came down in buckets. As I did evening chores the clouds were lifting and the setting sun was visible just as it went over the horizon.

I took this pic as I walked to the mailbox after chores.
Hubbie went over to daughter's tonight to help her put up a new light fixture in her dining room. He still is fighting a terrible head cold and I'm just hoping he doesn't share it with me !!
I did weekly paperwork and payed bills while he was gone,then bagged all my Avon orders getting one ready to ship out tomorrow.
When he got back he didn't feel like exercising so I did mine alone tonight. I can tell I'm getting more used to it now and can do each machine a little longer each night without stressing.
No relaxing couch time for me tonight as it was almost 10:00 when I finished office work.
Listening to the news tonight hearing them say now we might get snow tomorrow night !!!
Thanking the Lord tonight for sparing us during today's storms and praying for the ones who were affected.
Good Night and God Bless.

A GOOD GARDENING WINTER SO FAR

2012-01-11T00:03:00.003-05:00

Woke this morning to a quiet morning. No sound of rain drops on the roof !
After chores which are still a challenge because of all the slick mud and a quick bowl of cereal I wanted to squeeze a morning walk in because this may be the only day this week we don't have rain.
I decided to stay on the drive and up on the hill instead of going into the very wet bottom pasture. As I rounded the garden I couldn't help but chuckle at what a good gardening winter this has been so far.
The kale is still producing and we are thankful for the extra winter vitamins it gives us. We try to have it in a meal at least once a week.

We also still have a few Collards still waiting to be made into a meal.

But the strangest looking things are the herbs that are still green and growing in the month of January.
Like this bunch of Parsley.

And this Oregano bed that just keeps growing and growing .

This has been an extremely mild winter so far for us here in the southern Blue Ridge mountains. I keep nervously waiting for the winter shoe to drop. But all we've seen of a typical winter this year is a few days here and there of cold temperatures and a few snow flakes one time.
This is the almanac page on the news tonight of this day's average temps and actual temps and this has been the norm for most of this winter's days.

When it does turn winter time it is going to be really hard on us and everything else as some plants are already starting to leaf out.
We are under a flood watch for tomorrow with a system of heavy rain moving in later tonight. I was just wondering how much snow that would be if we were having a winter like we've had the past couple years.
My day was spent doing laundry and house cleaning chores between picking up g-son from pre-school and keeping him happy for the afternoon. He didn't feel good so he spent the dreary day laying in the recliner watching his favorite TV shows. D-in-love started the church cleaning job today.
His dad picked him up about 5:30 and hubbie and I headed out to do the chores before the rain gets here. The sun tried all day to break through the thick clouds but had little success.

Hubbie and I continued our exercise routine tonight even though he has come down suddenly with a terrible head cold.
We watched a UNC/ Miami b-ball game tonight which UNC won with ease.
I had to change my browser over to Mozilla Firefox tonight to get my photos to upload. Now I've lost all my bookmarks and will have to redo them,grrrrrrr !!!
I hear the rain as it starts falling outside ,I hope we don't get a flood.
As I watched g-son this afternoon I thanked God for the blessing of having him close and being able to be part of his growing up years. I feel God has blessed me beyond belief and I strive each day to glorify Him in all that I do.
Good Night and God Bless

RAINY MONDAY

2012-01-09T22:12:00.000-05:00

Yuck, another dreary foggy,rainy morning. I did the chores and the chickens weren't eager to come out of their nice warm,dry houses. I don't blame them I wasn't either !!
G-son came early this morning and hubbie took him to pre-school.
When he got back he went to work on some wood that needed stacking and I was determined to get the stuff back on all my shelves today. I always take this opportunity to wash and dust all these things before putting them back out so that is what takes so long to get it done.
I put in an Avon order this morning as well then got ready to go pick up g-son at 11:40.
They were outside which surprised us as it is misting rain again .
After we got him we stopped by Jiffy Lube to get the van inspected while there wasn't a long line of cars.
They really do a good job of looking over vehicles for inspection. This makes hubbie mad because he thinks they are just trying to find something wrong to make more money on. This is probably true but when he came up to me and said you are good it's only $30 I knew for sure there was nothing wrong with my van.
We went to Sam's for lunch and shopping, then to Walmart and Ingles plus a stop at sis-in-laws to pick up some things before heading home at almost 3:00. It was a good way to spend a yucky day, it has been 50 degrees but the rains have gotten harder as the day goes on.
D-in-love called and said she was going to work at her dad's office for a while but g-son didn't want to go so he stayed and played here until his dad got off work at 6:00.
I finished getting all the stuff cleaned and arranged on the shelves and even got some cleaning done in my office.
After slogging through chores this evening the rain starting to really come down I poured another 1/4 inch out of the rain gauge. Hubbie shut the gate on the cows just in case and they are saying we could have some flooding Wednesday with another rain system that is coming through.
Hubbie and I had a salad supper before doing our exercises tonight. I wasn't sore at all today but when I got back on the equipment tonight I noticed some sore muscles !
Relaxed the rest of the evening and prayed for all the folks who are out on the roads tonight in this pea soup thick fog.

God is good all the time, all the time God is good !!!
Good night and God Bless.

GOOD RAINY RESTFUL SUNDAY

2012-01-08T23:18:00.000-05:00

Woke to a rainy morning. After chores and breakfast I got ready for church.
We had a nice service today and when the preacher called me to the front of the church I didn't know what to expect. But he just wanted to left the congregation know about the janitor change and to commend us old janitors for a job well done for the last 7 years.
D-in-love is taking the whole church over since she can work in the mornings to get the job done and it will be the perfect job for her. She is starting Tuesday. That means I take over g-son responsibilities starting tomorrow because she already works on Mondays.
I stayed late after church going over some things with the personal team member who is training d-in-love. So when we got home at 1:00 it became a spaghetti lunch day. Everyone except d-in-love came (she is working at her parents restaurant). Daughter even went home and brought Tipper over to play with Annie while we ate. They made the best of a rainy afternoon.

These two are best friends and playmates.

But you can tell who is the older dog by the length on the tongues !!!!

Tipper had to go home and get a bath and Annie got to sleep on the porch the rest of the afternoon.

When everyone left to go take care of various task Hubbie and I spent a rainy Sunday afternoon doing what Sundays are for !

The temperature hung around 50 degrees all day and even tonight at 11:00 it is still 47, there was only about 2/10ths of an inch in the rain gauge this evening.

After a relaxing afternoon and a soggy choretime we had left over greek salad for supper.

We rested again and watched the news before going downstairs to begin our new years resolution exercise routine. Tonight to get things started we each spent about 5 minutes on each machine we have. I love the new exercise bike the kids got me for Christmas, I rode 1 mile in 5 minutes. I then spent 5 minutes on my gazzelle and then a painful 5 minutes on the stairstepper we have. The stairstepper is the hardest for me and it really got my heart rate up. We are trying to start slow enough not to be so sore tomorrow.

We watched a couple new TV shows after exercising and another goal of mine is an earlier bedtime so I can get up earlier as I'm going to have to get a new schedule going with g-son coming back everyday.

It looks like we are in for a nasty week for the most part this week. At least it's just rain and not snow like the past couple Januarys,get a load of those mild temperatures.

Grateful to God for a blessed restful Sunday and for all the answered prayers.

Good Night and God Bless.

SLOW JANUARY MARKET DAY

2012-01-07T23:14:00.000-05:00

This morning was a sloooooooooooooow market day !! Did have a couple orders and am very thankful for what I did sell. Winter is always a challenge in my baking business. If I bake too much that's not good because the restaurants I usually sell my left overs to are also slow this time of year, but if I don't bake enough then I have disappointed customers,hummpp !! Strangly this morning I did sell the remainder of some small crocheted stars Christmas ornaments, the lady that bought them said she is already buying for next Christmas. That's what I call getting a head start !! Not to mention that it made for a $21 sale for me !!
After market I went by Lowe's to pick up a door alarm to put on the french doors downstairs. I woke up again last night and thought I heard something downstairs.
I was disappointed it isn't loud enough to wake us up so I'll have to get a louder one for down there and use this one on the french doors upstairs.
It has really been a nice day mid 50's and sun but this evening the clouds showed up and the rain started about 8 tonight. We do need rain to dampen all the fire danger down.
These are some photo's I snapped this evening as I walked back to the house from taking the antibiotic pills down to #2 son's house for him to give to Flash.
These are the approaching clouds.

Before the clouds got here the moon was gorgeous. I hummed the tune "I see the moon and the moon sees me all evening" .

I love this last picture of the setting sun,looks like you could walk across the cloud mountains under the sun.

Hubbie and I had a relaxed evening tonight, he in his recliner,me with my 4-legged kids on the couch.

D-in-love called to say she got the cleaning job at church and starts Tuesday so that makes me full time babysetter again. I don't mind it because I love spending time with g-son and he is old enough now not to have to be watched every minute. Now we are just praying #1 son gets a job he has applied for so they can finally get back on a normal routine in their lives. His neck seems to be getting better and since he hasn't heard form the doctor about the bi-opsy we feel he's safe from that, thank the Lord.

Thanks again for all who offered up prayers on his behave .

Thankful tonight for today's blessings and for the rain to relieve the fire danger.

Good Night and God Bless.

SPRING LIKE JANUARY DAY

2012-01-06T23:30:00.000-05:00

Woke to another warm, sunny January morning. After chores and breakfast I got back to my morning walks.
The clear blue sky was a stark contrast to the empty brown branches of the trees.

Even with the temperatures in the 50's, the pond is still frozen over .

Snowball and Louie are enjoying the warm sunshine this morning.

As I walked I enjoyed the warmth and the quietness of the morning interupted only by the songs of the birds that spied on me from their hiding places as I walked along .

God's creations are so wonderful when I take time to notice, ahhhh, this is what these morning walks are good for, reminders of how wonderful God's love is !

I hated to stop walking today but duty called and I needed to check on Flash.

I found him acting like his old self ,wrestling with Annie and running around. I did get a quick look in his mouth and could not see anything but a small red bump under his tongue where the absess had been. So thankful he has dodged surgery at least for now. Hubbie picked up his antibiotic pills this afternoon and he will start them tomorrow.

I came home and got my baking started. I baked 18 layers, 1 pound and 1 wine cake before lunch.

I still had all the Christmas rugs on the floors so after lunch I vaccumed and put away all those. Replacing them with the old ones which hopefully I can replace soon.

I watered all the inside plants this afternoon and moved a couple things around in the living room. I still haven't gotten all the stuff back on the shelves but next week is another week !!

I checked out the estate sale I always go to but didn't find anything.

I also got my garden shed cleaned out and all Christmas is now put away.

Whew !! I got all my to do list complete for today,yea !!

Tonight I iced 6 caramel,2 coconut and 1 chocolate cake ,wrapped and labeled everything for market tomorrow.

I am wondering how market will be on this warm ,sunny Saturday.

Thankful for God's blessings today and the beautiful world He created for our enjoyment.

Good Night and God Bless.

FLASH'S TURN AT A MEDICAL EMERGENCY, POOR LITTLE GUY

2012-01-05T22:32:00.000-05:00

Life is never boring for me it seems,but I love it (most of the time) anyway.
Just as my alarm was ending this morning my cell phone rang. Anytime I see #2 son's name on my phone I get nervous,he's not one for phone calls or to ask for help. Such was the case last winter when he layed very sick for days before he broke down and called us. Anyway when his name appeared I took a deep breath. He didn't sound quite right as he calmly asked what my plans were for today. He asked if I would check on his dog Flash.

This is #2 son's baby and he is a truly pampered dog. This morning when he went to let him outside he found a lot of blood on the floor and on Flash. He said he looked everywhere trying to figure out where it was coming from and found it was coming from his mouth but he wasn't really throwing up.The blood was just streaming out in his salava. He said he was already 45 minutes late for work and for me to call him if I couldn't find what was wrong.

I hurried through chores and headed to son's house. Flash met me at the gate just like normal and didn't seem sickly but still had a thick stream of blood coming from his mouth. As I looked into his mouth the smell of the drainage almost made me sick. I saw a large swelling under one side of his tongue,so much that his tongue was pushed out the other side of his mouth.

I came back to the house and called the vet. Then loaded up Flash and headed to the their office. I really appreciate my vet because anytime you call with an emergency they say come ASAP.

They took Flash straight back and the doctor was there imediately. The diagnosis didn't take long. He has a clogged salavery gland and it has gotten infected and absessed,hence the vile smelling drainage.

The absess had burst or maybe been biten as it got between his teeth but that was a good thing because at least they didn't have to lance it surgerically. He gave Flash a shot of antibiotics and another of cortizone to improve his appetite and make him drink water,although until this swelling goes down I don't know how he will do either. If the absess doesn't go down by tomorrow afternoon they will have to operate and remove the infected gland. He had a fever of 103 so he wasn't feeling to well when we left after all the poking and prodding.

As soon as I dropped him off at home he tried to get a drink of water but couldn't lick with his tongue in the side of his mouth. He just went into his bed on his heated pad and went to sleep which is probably the best thing he could do.

I came home and ate lunch,then got ready to run some errands in town. I checked on Flash on the way out and he seemed to be feeling better already.

I ran all my errands and picked up baking supplies along with a few groceries. I got things put away at home just in time for hubbie to come home from work and say we needed to go pick up daughter's jeep at the shop because she was working late as gym supervisor tonight.

Her jeep has been leaking antifreeze and it had some small part that was loose,it only cost $25 to have it fixed.

I left hubbie there to pay and pick it up and headed home to quickly do chores before dark. It is amazing how fast the daylight length is getting longer. I was able to get everything done and the chickens all shut up before it got really dark.

Today has been a really nice sunny 50 degree day. It has felt good to be without a big bundlesom coat.

Up date on #1 son, his neck is still swollen and red but he says it is a little better today and hasn't hurt as bad and he can turn his head a little today without turning his whole body. Maybe this is the start of his healing,I pray so. Thank all of my blogger friends for the prayers. I know for sure prayer works !!

Checked on Flash and #2 son tonight and Flash was eating a can of dog food and the blood stream has stopped.When I looked at the absess it is significantly smaller so maybe he will avoid the surgery.

Tonight I am wondering what tomorrow will bring ? 2012 so far has been an interesting year for our family.

Grateful to God for the strength He gives me each day along with His gracious blessings.

Good Night and God Bless.

THE LONG AND SHORT OF IT

2012-01-04T22:15:00.000-05:00

I have been a brave lady today !! After chores and more de-decorating this morning after lunch I did it !!
I went from this.....

To this......

Yes I decided to have my hair cut !! I've been toying with the idea for awhile now and the final decision was made when the top of my head started getting really sore from having all my hair pulled up in a bun all the time. So today I went to see a friend of mine who happens to be a beautician.I had a picture from the internet of the cut I wanted, but she said your hair isn't going to look like that because you have thick hair and also I won't cut your hair that short. As she has long hair like mine (used to be)

she said I should wear this cut awhile which is still long enough to pull up if I want to but short enough to take the weight off my head. So with our compromise here is the result.

I like the cut I just don't know how much styling it will take to keep it looking good.

I worked the rest of the afternoon outside getting all the decorations down and put into the shed for the next 11 months. I have a lot of decorations and when I get them all boxed up I often wonder why I do this ?

The answer ............BECAUSE I LOVE THIS SEASON !!!!!

Tonight as I look around the living room it looks so empty and drab !

I did weekly paperwork tonight and even some end of the year work.

#1 son came by this evening and said the specialist he went to this morning thinks his swollen neck is a bacterial infection in the lympth node. He drained it and no pus was there so that is a good thing as that means it isn't in his bloodstream. He also biopsied it to check to make sure there is no cancer. This upset son as he never thought of any thing like that but the doctor said he didn't think there was anything to worry about as cancer usually doesn't swell and hurt.

I'm still asking for prayers if you don't mind just in case and prayers for healing even if it isn't cancer. Thanks to all of you advance .

May God take son in His healing hands once again.

Good Night and God Bless.

ICY COLD MORNING AND DERMATOLOGY EXAM

2012-01-03T23:01:00.000-05:00

A cold morning brought icy roads,closed schools and many unlucky early morning commuters.

I haven't heard of any injuries around here from all the wrecks but folks like this driver sure tore up a lot of automobiles last night and this morning.

Hubbie got up and made it to work only a few minutes late around 6 am with no trouble but lucky for him not many folks are on the roads at that hour.

#2 and #1 son also made it to their work places around 7 am. Since schools were closed daughter waited until about 9 before she got to work. The snow had blown off the steep hill out of her housing development. As for me I did the chores , broke ice in water buckets for the first of many times today and gave everything extra feed to fend off the cold winds that are still howling this morning.

After breakfast I started laundry and continued with putting away my Christmas things. I have them all in their plastic storage boxes except for the outside decorations which I'm waiting until the wind dies down to get down. All the boxes are stacked in the sunroom ready to be taped and carried to the storage shed.

After lunch I had my yearly skin check at the dermatologist and I knew I had another squamous cell starting on my leg.

So now I have a ring of blisters where he froze not only this one off but another small one just above it, youchy. When he found the first one in the past years he said the diagnosis was actually Bowens desease which is a surface skin cancer desease and we would have to vigilantly watch for them as they appear. So far they have only been on my lower legs. They look like pink candy stuck to my skin,they are so bright so they are easy to identify. This one came up last summer and he said today was not in cancerous stage yet.

I was very thankful he didn't find anything else today.

The high temperature today was 27 and the wind is still blowing. I have broke ice on the chickens water 3 times today hoping they would grab a drink before it froze back. We have heaters in the stock tanks for the cattle but the chickens aren't so lucky. I gave them another extra feeding this evening and they acted very appreciative.

Sadie my older tri-color Aussie spent last night inside downstairs and will be there again tonight. Annie, my red Aussie doesn't like being inside the house so we put extra bedding in her nice warm dog house and she is fine.

They both got warm suppers tonight. The wind is not as bad tonight as it was last night but the temperature is already 20 at 10:30 and is supposed to get in the mid teens tonight.

D-in-love had an interview for the cleaning job at church tonight and is hoping for the job.

#1 son came by to pick up some things this evening and his neck is no better and he said it is still hurting pretty bad. He has an appointment with a throat specialist tomorrow morning.

I am heading for the Air-Borne tonight as I have been sneezing all evening and felt like I was going to get a migraine all afternoon. Maybe it was just hating to go to the doctor because the headache never came and the feeling like it was coming left after I got home from the doc's office !

Big change coming for me tomorrow , hope I'm happy with it , details later !!

Grateful to God for the blessings of the day and praying for His guidance tomorrow.

Good Night and God bless.

FROM EARLY MORNING EMERGENCY TO SNOWY EVENING ,YEP THIS IS JANUARY !!

2012-01-02T23:43:00.000-05:00

Today started very,very early when the phone rang at 1:30 am. Now I always dread to pick it up, at this time in the morning, no news is good !!! And it wasn't as #1 son was on the other end. His neck that had been hurting earlier and what he thought was a pulled muscle was now a swollen mass, he was having trouble swallowing and in so much pain D-in-love was taking him to the emergency room. They dropped g-son off here on their way.
G-son had gotten fully awake in the blast of cold air and he just wanted it to be morning so he and pawpaw could play his new operation game !
He was also upset I think at his dad having to go to the hospital so he wanted me to put my arms around him and "protect him" so after about an hour of consoling he went back to sleep.
Just about that time the phone rang again and d-in-love said they were still in the process of running test but they thought son had a very infected lympth node in his neck.
Thankful and very tired I finally got back to sleep about 4 am.
When I got up this morning one of my 4-legged kids, Dolly was limping badly and yelping each time she went up or down a step. My guess is that sometime during the night g-son probably kicked her bad hip. She has been trembling all day in pain even with the doggy asprin I gave her but tonight as I watch her sleep in her little bed beside the computer the trembling has stopped so maybe the pain has eased off.
I spent the day taking down Christmas decorations with the help of g-son who was very sad to see Christmas season end. He wanted to leave the tree up for just one more party !
I let him take off all the ornaments from the tree and put them in their boxes which he really enjoyed.
Now the naked tree adorns my living room once again !
Hubbie went over to daughter's house to replace some insulation that was missing from around her water lines under her house because the cold weather is here.
#1 son and d-in-love came by to pick up g-son and he looked okay but his neck is still swollen from his adams apple all the way around to the back of his neck. I've never seen anyone's neck look like that and he said it wasn't near as bad as it was early this morning. I'm really glad I didn't see that!

Brrrrrr!!!! Winter has arrived in all her glory this evening as the snow is flying and the wind is puffing and at 11:00 it is 19 degrees.

After a moderate snow fall the roads are terrible and there are accidents everywhere this evening.
This is the back yard around 10:00 tonight.

Yes this is the third year in a row that my Christmas decorations have gotten snowed on !!!

About an hour later it looked like this outside,wow, wonder what we'll wake up to ????

Listening to that waind howl my heart goes out to the animals that must brave these frigid wind chills that are already in the singel digits.
I'm headed for bed early tonight to catch up from last night so hopefully this will be an uneventful night.
I pray that no one gets hurt on the slick roads as they try to get to work in the morning.
Grateful for God's will that son's ailment was not a more serious one and for the blessing of healing.
Good Night and God Bless.

FAMILY FUN ON NEW YEARS DAY

2012-01-01T23:55:00.000-05:00

On this first day of 2012 I stayed home and spent the morning cooking. I cooked our family traditional pork, collard greens and black-eyed peas lunch and had it ready when everyone got here.

Black eyed peas for luck, collard greens for wealth and pork for health or never going hungry has been a tradition in our family for as long as I can remember.

I had preparations for another meal going on as well as this one in getting food ready for the evening meal with Hubbie's family for our late Christmas celebration.

I spent most of the afternoon in the kitchen and getting presents wrapped for all the kids as well as entertaining g-son who wanted to stay with me this afternoon while everyone else had errands and things to do.

He played outside in this beautiful weather that feels like spring.

He loves to cimb in this magnolia tree,do you see him framed in the opening ?

He spent the afternoon anxicously awaiting his cousins visit.

Here he makes sure the manger scene characters were all in place for the last time.

Finally it was time and everyone arrived . There was lots and lots of food and good fellowship with family. G-son and his cousins played and played. Then they opened their presents and had some new things to play with.

Even the newest member of the family was enjoying himself with all the excitment going on.

My new little great nephew E is only 4 months old this Christmas.

Having a tea party !!!

My 14 month old great nephew came but after a short while got sleepy and missed the whole party.

We all decided we need to get together more often as the kids now have so much fun together.

After everyone left hubbie and I cleaned up the kitchen and put all the left overs away and now as I turned off the Christmas tree lights for the last time this year I feel finally that the holidays are truly over. I love this season and am always sorry when it is over and it's time to put away all the beautiful decorations. But I have to admit I am looking forward to settling back into a regular boring routine for awhile.

The weather is changing as I type this tonight as I can hear the winds howling bringing in the promised coldest weather of the season. The next several days are going to be stark reminders that it is, after all winter time as temperatures will struggle to get above freezing during the day and fall to near single digits at night. I just heard the weather wizard say the "s" word for maybe tomorrow night and Tuesday morning.

As I did chores this evening I took this photo of the first sunset of 2012.

And this is the reflection on the clouds in the eastern sky.

The first day of 2012 has been a wonderful one for me and my family and I pray that we will have many more days just as wonderful as the year progresses.

Glory be to our loving Lord in all that I do.

Good Night and God Bless.

NEW YEARS EVE REFLECTION

2011-12-31T23:16:00.000-05:00

Today is another spring like day with temperatures warming quickly this morning after a low 40's night. As I did chores today I recalled what it was like last year at this time with all the snow and cold.

After breakfast hubbie helped me put together a new corner shelf for the computer corner in the living room before he left to go finish work at daughter's. I have shopping for the 2 meals tomorrow and house cleaning to do today so they'll be on their own today.

I sorted through all the things on the old shelf and re-distributed some of them before heading to the grocery store. I got everything on my list for my New Year's Day traditional lunch and our late Christmas party with hubbie's family tomorrow night meal.

I spent the afternoon housecleaning as I haven't done much of that since before Christmas.

I had a few minutes while the floors were drying to sit on the front porch in the warm sunshine and reflect over this year. It's hard to belive that another year has passed and we are getting ready to start 2012 tomorrow.

As I thought back over the year I realized that this has been a wonderful year and many life changing moments have happened this year to each of my family members as we go through this live together.

Here is my recap of this years events.

January---Dental appointments took up a lot of time this month as I had new dentures and partials made. We had snow all through the first days of the month but on the 10th we got the big one,almost 10 inches and very cold temperatures followed .We stayed cold and snowy for almost the entire month until the last days and they were like spring.

February--- Brought more icey and snowy weather as the temperatures plunged again. #1 son had ankle surgery on the 3rd which went well. After a dusting of snow at the beginning on the month spring and summer like weather took over and the plants were bursting with spring buds and blooms. Hubbie and I worked outside and cleared the hill in front of our house so we can sit out in the patio and watch the pasture and road below.

March--- Started off with #2 son's birthday memories.G-son made his first trip to the emergency room with a cut under his eye that had to be glued shut. We had near flooding on a couple occasions. Hatched my first batch of eggs under one of my Silkie hens.On the 11th a historic tsunami hit Japan damaging several of their nuclear plants and causing major damge and loss of life.Daughter began to search for her own home during this month. We planted potatoes and more spring vegetables in almost summer like conditions for most of the month. Ended the month with daughter's birthday.

April---G-son was signed up to play baseball and his games were sometimes very trying as he didn't grasp the game plan on most days.We had some bad storms this month but had little damage at our place thankfully.Easter was on the 24th and it was a fun time.We hauled calves to market .Took our bi-annual flea market trip with daughter and g-son.

May---This month continued the summer weather we've been experiencing the last couple months.
More severe storms raged all around us. I had jury duty but was dismissed because I new the arresting officer. Blogger screwed up some of my post and lost a couple so I decided to turn all my blog post into books. Sold the first of my hatched chicks this month.Planted our garden between the storms and prayed that it be spared. Killer tornadoes became the norm this month around the country and even here we were constantly under warnings. This month ended with a heat wave.

June's view from here !!

June---Started off the month with temperatures in the 90's,whew ! Heat produces storms and hail. Started my "the view form here" project, where I take a picture the first of each month from the same spot in my outside patio to campare as the months go by. Had our spring old timey day at Curb Market and did pretty well in sales. G-son spent the weekend with us while his mom and dad went with their church group on a marriage retreat. Got his first trip of the year to play in the cool waters of the creek. #1 son repeated his knee surgery on the anniversary of the accident and this time it was very successful. Daughter made an offer on a house in fore-closure and it got accepted. Market busy season started this month along with the canning season. We made blackberry jam and started drying herbs.
This June was a historically bad weather month as floods and tornadoes killed and damaged more than ever before.

July's view from here !!

July---Another very hot month with temperatures in or near 90 each day and little rain. I canned green beans and tomatoes and made pickles with the bountiful crop we had this year.#1 son picked fresh corn from a friends field and hubbie and I froze it for the winter. There were many cooling dips in the creek with g-son and busy market days during this month. The end of the month brought a nasty head cold for me and another year older birthday.

August's view from here!

August---A month of temperature ups and downs as we start out fall like and go back to summer in a hurry.This month started out with a week of Bible School in which I helped daughter with a class of 1st and 2nd graders. I canned more tomatoes and okra as well as dried more herbs for sale at market.
The silkies are still hatching chicks and I'm selling them as they get old enough. Hurricane Irene damaged the east coast all the way from NC to NY costing billions and an earth quake struck the east and we felt it here but most of the damage was minor.G-son started pre-kindergarden and daughter had to call the congressman to get help with closing on her house. I became a great aunt again this month to another baby boy from nephew A.

September's view from here !

September---On the 1st day of this month daughter became a home owner at last. This started a month of busy work tearing out, painting, reflooring and cleaning. #2 son recieved a nasty dog bite on his mail route that sent him to the emergency room. I attended the annual Apple Festival and our church's annual Block Blast this month. The tenth anniversary of 9/11 was celebrated this month. The Curb Market held our fall Old Timey Day on the last Saturday of the month. I made a decision to stop cleaning the church amid a flurry of disrespect from the contemporary church bands that are using the sanctuary. Last but not least daughter adopts Tipper her Airdale cross puppy.

October's view form here!!

October---A vacation to Holden Beach,NC in the first week of this month turned out to be a good one. The weather was a little cool at the start of the week but warmed nicely during our stay. G-son loves the beach and has more fun than anyone I know while we are there.This is a month of birthdays as #1 son and g-son share the same birthday and one of my great nephews turned 1 on the 11th this year. We dug all our potatoes this month and got them stored away as well as got all the peppers dried and frozen before the first freeze on the 21st.The leaves were very colorful this year and hung on all month long. I had a hatch of late chicks as the hen started sitting while we were on vacation and sis-in-law was afraid to get the eggs from under her. We worked at daughter's house all month in our spare time. The month ended with Halloween trunk or treat at our church.

November's view from here!!

Daughter in her kitchen in her new house.

Welcome Louie !!!
November---The month began with beautiful leaves still clinging to the trees. Daughter made the move to her new home the second week of the month. I had my yearly mammogram and passed this year.
We had Thanksgiving meals with extended family, church and close family as well as busy market sales this month. We had some large trees cut in front of the house and some limbs taken off some that are close to the house. I bought a new washer and dryer on black Friday and get a really good deal.#1 son got a new calf and g-son named him Louie.
The month ended with Christmas activities at Market with our Old timey Christmas and at church with the hanging of the greens ceremony.

December's view from here !!!

December---Compared to the last couple of years this December's weather has been very nice with above normal temperatures almost everyday and only a few flakes of snow. This month will go down in history as the abrupt end to the Iraq war as all the soldiers were sent home before the holidays. Our family celebrates 2 anniversaries this month #1 son and-in-love's on the 10th and mine and hubbie's on the 21st. We celebrated a very good Christmas with activities at church and at home as a 5 year old sure makes things merry !! We saw our first snowflakes on the 27th but were gone quickly with the warm temperatures. Hubbie, daughter and I spent the last week of the month clearing her lot. I officially cleaned church for the last time since we built the new sanctuary yesterday evening. It felt kind of bittersweet as all the good memories have been over-shadowed by the abuse I've seen lately.
I still have this burning conviction but hopefully I can get my focus back on God and not worry about anything else.

As the sun dips below the horizon on the last evening of 2011 I thank the Lord for a year full of blessings and grace for my family. And prayfully look forward to what His plans for me are in the new year.
Good Night, God Bless and Happy New Year !

NEW 2011 CHRISTMAS ORNAMENTS

2011-12-30T23:04:00.000-05:00

Ringing telephone jarred me out of a nice deep sleep this morning saying the Direct TV man was on his way.
After dragging out of that nice warm spot and reviving my right arm which I must have been laying on because it was still fast asleep!
The man arrived and quickly found the problem outside on the dish instead of a bad reciever inside. A good surprise because if he had replaced the inside reciever I would have had to sign another 2 year contract from today.
I did morning chores and then headed over to daughter's house where hubbie was heading with the brush cutter he rented.
The cutter didn't live up to it's hipe of course, but what does ??
As long as hubbie stayed in the tall grass and weeds it worked fine but it didn't chop up the vines and brairs like we had hoped.
Daughter got out her lawn mower and mowed some of the grassy spots and after another load of briars and branches were hauled off, her place looks very good. We have one more load of cut down bushes,etc. to haul away and she'll be all set until spring.
Hubbie and I came home and I did chores while he unloaded the trailer load of brush onto our burn pile which is getting pretty big. We need a snow so we can burn it.
We ate a snack supper and went to work at church for the last time as the new janitor job kicks in the 1st of the year.
Tonight as I looked at the Christmas tree I realized I haven't posted my new, this year's ornaments.
Of course when we went to a new place on vacation I brought back an ornament for the tree.

A Holden Beach ornament will always bring the happy memories of this vacation spot back.

I picked this ornament up while we were at the beach also just because it has all the light houses of the outer banks that we have visited on it.

As long as I've sold Avon I should have bought an annual ornament each year but only have a few.

Since this was daughter's first year in her new house I bought her one of these also and made a commitment to me to get one for each year I continue to sell Avon.

If I keep collecting ornaments at this pace I'm going to have to get a bigger tree !!!

I love the memories each of the ornaments bring back as I put them on the tree and as I look at them all during the Christmas season.

I'm blogging earlier tonight and at 11:00 it is still 47 degrees outside. Today the temperatures have see-sawed all day. Starting out cold at 28, then getting into the high 40's before dropping back to 42 this afternoon and then as the sun went down and the winds started out of the southwest when we got back from church it was 50 degrees.

I made out the menu for Sunday night's family dinner and a shopping list for tomorrow as I rested on the couch tonight.

Grateful to God once again today for the strength and ability with His protective arms around us as we worked today.

Good Night and God Bless.

LAST THURSDAY MARKET DAY OF THE SEASON

2011-12-29T21:52:00.000-05:00

Very cold, frosty morning today. Ice was a new thickness on the water buckets today.
The last Thursday market day of the year and until next April was a slow one. When I got there the parking lot looked like we were closed with only a few sllers cars. I managed to sell a few things and with my orders it was worth my time to sit there for 5 hours. I read the newspaper and worked on the crossword puzzle most of the morning. When the heaters went off I started packing up because it began to get pretty cold in there with the uninsulated block walls.
I ran regular errands and picked up a corner shelf I had ordered from Walmart.
I am still cold although the temperature in the van says 53 degrees.
Hubbie was here and helped me unload the van. He had gotten all the brush off the trailer so he can pick up the brush cutter he rented for tomorrow on it.
I rested a little while before chore time.
We had the little buds of broccoli that were on our plants and some kale greens from our garden for supper. I love having fresh garden things in the winter time. Hopefully the really cold weather that is predicted for nest week won't wipe out our Kale and Collards.
Me or Hubbie didn't sleep well last night, I think we were both too tired to sleep so we are struggling to stay awake as we watch UNC beat the socks off Elon college. I'm on the couch snuggled with my 4-legged kids and he is in his recliner.
I decided to blog early as both Bernie and Dolly need baths tonight and I can get into bed early.
The Direct TV repairman is coming between 8am and noon tomorrow to work on the receiver in our bedroom so there won't be any sleeping late in the morning.
I saw this sign today and thought I'd share.

I'm already sick of the elections and we have almost a year to go,yuck !!!

Thankful for the blessings and love from my precious Savior and Lord.

Good Night and God Bless.

LOT CLEARING DAY AT DAUGHTER'S PLACE

2011-12-28T23:59:00.000-05:00

Up early getting ready for a major work day over at daughter's house. Hubbie ran to the tag office to get his truck tag this morning and picked up animal feed while I did morning chores.
When he got back we hooked up the big trailer and headed over to her house with all the brush and tree cutting tools we thought we would need.
I took lunch over from the left overs still from Christmas day and #1 son came to help eat and work.
We cut and dragged,and loaded ,and piled until we were all wore out and it was about 4:30. I should have taken a before picture but even though I had my camera in my purse I forgot.
This is the trailer we loaded to bring home to put on our burn pile.

I drove my van so I could follow closely behind him because there was water in the lights and brakes connector so we didn't even hook them up for fear of blowing fuses.

That's a lot of brush and some big logs that we cut packed on there.

We left 4 huge piles of brush and there is a steep corner of her lot we didn't get to yet. Hubbie is going tomorrow to check on renting a pushable brush cutter to get into that area with. This part of her lot has never been cleared and used to be an old orchard so it is full of multi-floral roses and bittersweet vine.

We got home and unhooked just in time for chores. Our bottom pasture where the burn pile is kept is too wet to drive the truck even in 4-wheel drive through so hubbie will hook the trailer to the tractor tomorrow and unload it down there.

After chores I snapped a photo of the almost gone sun.

Today has been a beautiful day a little cooler than it has been only getting to 43 degrees but the wind stopped blowing just after noon so the sun felt good, in fact my face is a little red from working outside all day.

Speaking of my face I am the one who usually gets banged up when we work and today was no exception. The first inury occurred before we left the yard as I walked into some boards sticking out of the back of the truck while helping hook up the trailer and got a nice knot on my forehead.

Then I almost made it through the day until right before we stopped and a brair caught my ear and sliced it all the way across. All in a days work around here and I'm thankful with all the chainsawing and brush cutting we did I am very thankful these were the only injuries suffered today.

I did paperwork after a light supper tonight and caught up on some task that I put off until after Christmas.

Then it was time to ice cakes, 6 caramel,2 chocolate and 2 coconut and I finished just before the news went off. My earlier bedtime tries haven't been successful yet, maybe things will slow down for me when everyone goes back to work next week. Hubbie put my new exercise bike together tonight, now I just need to find time to use it.

Almost midnight and it's 28 degrees,brrrr, I'm headed to get ready for bed.

Thanking God for the strength he gives me each day and for watching over us today as we worked.

Good Night and God Bless.

RAIN,SUN,WIND,SNOW ALL IN ONE DAY

2011-12-27T23:46:00.000-05:00

Woke to pouring rain this morning. I checked the rain gauge during chore time and it already had 2" in it . This was more than twice the predicted amount for our area.

This was the map they showed on the news last night and had only 1" for our area.

After soggy chore duty and breakfast hubbie and I decided we couldn't do anything else so we would go shopping. He needed a new belt and some new dress shoes. Off we went to Pennys and Belks. Got some great deals at both and he got everything he needed plus and of course I found some things I needed also. When we came out of the small mall in our area about noon we were surprised with blue skies and bright sunshine. We went to Hot Dog world for lunch but it was too crowded so we ate at Wendy's instead. I tried an apple/pecan chicken salad and I would reccomend it !

We stopped at a neighboring new thrift store but hubbie only found a 25 cent book to buy. Like all the other thrift stores in our area the prices were a bit on the high side. Even the clothes were the same price that I had just bought some things on sale at Belks for. Our last stop was Walmart for my baking supplies. By the time we came out of there we were slowly walking to the car talking with some friends that we had ran into and it was so cold and windy now that I was shivering by the time I got into the van.

Back at home hubbie went to work at his shop on some side boards for our big trailer so we can haul all the brush we are clearing at daughter's house. I worked inside doing some housework and emptying my fish tank where my Beta fish just died. I think he was just old after all I've had him for a long time.

After evening chores I enjoyed sitting in the sunroom with the electric fireplace going just relaxing and watcing the sun go down. This was the first time this year I've had this stove on and it felt good. I love to sit and watch the flames,they are almost hipnotizing.

We are in for a windy night and with all the wet ground I just pray that trees don't start falling on the power lines.

Daughter came by tonight and #2 son helped her and hubbie move her treadmill to her house as she got her work out room cleared out of all the moving boxes today.

I baked 20 layers , a pound and 2 wine cakes tonight for market on Thursday. That will be the last market day of 2011.

This crazy weather has had almost everything in one day today. Rain and warm temperatures this morning, sun and wind this afternoon and guess what tonight is bringing ???

Yes those are snow flakes,really big fluffy ones !!! Although not expected to amount to anything they sure are pretty coming down and are a nice reminder that it is winter time after all.

The remainder of 2011 looks pretty calm on the weather map.

My earlier bed time went by the wayside tonight as I sit here at 11:45 waiting for things to come out of the oven.

Grateful tonight for the love of an awesome God.

Good Night and God Bless.

AFTER CHRISTMAS SHOPPING TRIP

2011-12-26T23:23:00.000-05:00

Slept in a little this morning until daughter called to see what time I would be ready to go shopping with her.
After morning chores and breakfast she picked me up and we went to Asheville to her favorite store,Target, I helped her pick out some things and bought some wrapping paper and a few things to already start my operation Christmas child boxes collection. We went to Lowes,Pier One and Shoe Show where I bought a pair of boots.
We stopped at Arbys for lunch before making stops at Walmart and Sam's Club. We had her jeep full by the time we got home. She bought her groceries at Sam's Club and I bought some large containers to store my Christmas tree in so the mice can't get to it.
It was after 3:00 when she dropped me off and headed home. Hubbie worked in the garden today getting it cleaned off and plowing in all the leaves we covered it with.
I decided to do laundry this evening so I wouldn't have it to do tomorrow. I finished 3 loads between chores and a supper of left overs.
I got all my Christmas clothes washed and put away but won't take anything else down until after New Years.
Tonight I'm trying to get an earlier bedtime schedule started. As soon as the news goes off I'm off to get ready for bed.
The weather has been mild again today getting up to 53 under sunny skies. Clouds moved in this evening and rain is on it's way for tomorrow with cooler temperatures. It's 41 tonight at 11:00.
Thanking God tonight for the Blessing of safe travel today.
Good Night and God Bless.

MERRY CHRISTMAS !!!!!

2011-12-25T10:24:00.036-05:00

From our house to yours, may you all have a wonderfully Merry Christmas !

Hubbie and I went to church this morning,not knowing what to expect as I can't remember the last Sunday Christmas day and what church was like or if we even had church.
My faith got a big boost as we pulled into a packed parking lot and saw all our church deciding to make church a part of their Christmas Sunday morning. In fact there were almost as many people there today as there were last night at candlelight.
It was a very nice service as the pastor re-told the Christmas story from the book of Luke and we had some old Christmas songs to sing.
We had a lunch of last night's leftovers with #2 son and daughter. I got a call from d-in-love saying #1 son was still not feeling great but was better than he was last night. She also said g-son was really enjoying Christmas.She sent me a pic of him early this morning among all the toys Santa left for him.

I spent another afternoon in the kitchen cooking for our family get together tonight. I am going to try not to eat as much as I did last night because I had trouble going to sleep I was so full of the late supper. Tonight we are eating at 6:00.
This afternoon Bernie was enjoying the Christmas decorations as he waited for his friend g-son to come to play.

Today has been cool, mid 40's and coudy most of the day so it did seem more seasonal than the 60+ days we've had lately. The sunset this evening was beautiful this evening as I did chores.

As the light of day faded and the Christmas tree lights shined brightly it was time for our family Christmas.

There was one little very excited boy running around trying to hurry everyone's supper up .

He can now read letters good enough to hand out all the gifts with a little help from Pawpaw.

Now it's time to open the packages !!

The joy of Christmas !!!

Then it was time to put together some of the toys be had.

Bernie likes to help !!!

When hubbie opened this present d-in-love told him not to shoot his eye out !!!!

I got a beautiful exercise bike and a new rooster rug for my kitchen along with a firehouse to add to my Christmas village picked out by g-son.

Love this bike and can't wait to start my exercise program next week.

This week is going to be so busy I decided to wait to even try to get on a schedule exercising until then. Hubbie and daughter are off all week and we are going to work at her place clearing her lot. Tomorrow she and I are going shopping so she can get some Christmas decorations for next year. Hubbie is helping #2 son who is also off tomorrow plant more trees at his place while we're shopping.

As everyone left tonight it seemed like a big let down with all the preparation and shopping and now it is all over, just like that. But it isn't over if we can keep Christmas in our hearts for the rest of the year with our love for the Lord Jesus.

These lights will go out in about another week and will be put away for another 11 months.

But for us the light of the Lord should never go out or be put away even for a minute.

#1 son sat with a heating pad on his throat for a while tonight but felt better with the aid of a pain pill.

He is going to the doctor tomorrow if he doesn't feel better. I think he may have strep throat.

All in all this has been a wonderful Christmas day and I feel very blessed to have a wonderful family to spend it with.

As this Christmas season comes to an end I want to leave with this beautiful but so true poem.

Enlarge and read it will bless your heart.

Good Night and God Bless.

BUSY 2011 CHRISTMAS EVE

2011-12-25T00:40:00.000-05:00

Hubbie had to be at church at 8:00 this morning to help set up for communion tonight during our candlelight service.
While he was gone I did chores and ate breakfast.
It is cold this morning 32 degrees or the first time in a while but thankfully it is helping dry up all the mud.
When hubbie got home we headed out to finish our shopping. I can't believe the sales today on the things that I was thinking about getting but were too expensive. Now I can afford them, maybe I'll wait until Christmas eve to do my shopping every year !!
I found all I was needing in Mast General Store and hubbie found the racetrack he wanted for g-son on sale at K-mart.
Satisfied and finally finished we stopped by Sub-Way to pick up lunch on the way home. Town is now starting to get very crowded. I need to remember next year the deals are great on Christmas eve but I need to make an early trip.
This afternoon, hubbie and I cleaned in the kitchen and I cooked to get a head start on some of my things.
After early choretime we got ready for candlelight service tonight. This is one of my favorite times at church. Guess who else thinks this is a great time in church??

The church was really crowed tonight,may the glory be to God !!

I see alot of folks on this night that I don't see often and it is always a blessing to me.

All 4 of my kids were there tonight plus g-son .

D-in-love always helps provide the music with her violin and in the chimes esemble, she is the one on the far right behind the podium during this chimes playing.

We ended the service with the song Joy To the World as we held our candles high and pledged to be lights unto the world during the next year.

After the service I gave one of the elderly men who had recently lost a loved one a coconut cake which is one of his favorites and felt so sorry for him when he cried and said how hard this Christmas was going to be for him.

I felt very humbly thankful for a year in which our family has had no losses or serious injuries or sickness.

Back home #2 son and daughter came to have supper with hubbie and I. We had roast pork ,mac and cheese, corn and greek salad with rolls and tea.

Daughter went over to another neighbor's who lost his wife last Christmas day morning and took him a cake. She visited with him for over an hour and I know he was very glad to have company on this night.

I am thankful for the kind hearts all my children have developed and the giving spirit.

Unfortunately #1 son isn't feeling well at all tonight and as he and his family head down to d-in-loves parents to celebrate Christmas I hope he gets better.

Hubbie and I wrapped presents tonight and now our tree looks more like it should.

I always wait until Christmas eve to wrap presents because you always hear so many times that breakins occur and the thieves take all the presents from under the tree.

I took time tonight to catch up my blog from yesterday and now it is almost 12:30 am. I'm glad I don't have to get up early to see what santa brought me this year !!

Hubbie and I don't buy one another gifts, we stopped that when we had children and have never thought it necessary to start again as we still both had rather concentrate on giving to the kids and others rather than ourselves.

The birth of our Lord and Savior happened on this very night long ago and this glorious night is celebrated all around the world as we pledge our love for our new born savior and to share His love during the coming year.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL AND MAY YOUR LOVE LIGHT SHINE BRIGHTLY !!!

Good Night and God Bless.

BREVARD SHOPPING TRIP

2011-12-23T23:42:00.000-05:00

Only two days before Christmas and this is going to be a very busy time for me. I didn't even have a chance to post a blog so I did this one on Saturday night and back dated it.
Hubbie is off today thankfully so after our morning chores we went to work at church.
We finished just before lunch time so we ate and then met #2 son out town to help him pick a gift for g-son. He was going back home to plant 20 murray cypress trees hubbie had picked up for him yesterday evening. He is planting them along the road where he had some large pine trees taken down after the wind almost blew one of them on to his house. These trees only get about 30 feet so they won't reach his house.
Hubbie and I then headed to Brevard, one of our favorite Christmas shopping locals. We met daughter there as she was already on a dog sitting job in that area.
We had fun shopping in the small shops along main street. Unfortunately g-son didn't get to make the trip with us this year. D-in-loves family was having a get together this evening and it was about a 2 hour drive away.
He loved going in Opie Taylor's toy store and playing on this race track.

Hubbie and daughter tried their racing skills out in his absence.

We shopped till we dropped as the old saying goes. It was after dark when we finally made it home and got out the flashlights to do the chores once again.

A friend of mine picked up a couple cakes for her Christmas gathering and I got a call from another friend desperate for anything I might have for her party. At least I can feel accompanied in the fact that I' m not at all ready this year.

While hubbie snoozed in the recliner I made a list of all the food I was going to cook in the next 2 days and then woke him up to go drive me to the grocery store.

He also wanted to go check on daughter's house since she isn't home and the neighbor's house is getting foreclosed on next week and they were over there yesterday taking of their things away.

We got all the groceries, stopped by her house where all was quite and then hubbie decided he needed to stop by Wallyworld to pick up a race track g-son wanted. But unfortunately they didn't have it.

We are to old for this kind of night shopping trip and as we unloaded the van at midnight I could feel my age catching up with me quickly.

And the worst part is we're still not finished with our shopping !!!

I fell into bed and don't even remember closing my eyes.

Thanks be to God for the strength He gives me each day.

Good Night and God Bless.

WINTER ARRIVES AMID SPRING TEMPS AND SUMMER STORMS

2011-12-22T23:49:00.000-05:00

HURRY,HURRY, that was the game of the morning as I got ready for market today. With the phone ringing with last minute request and the rain and mud to deal with while doing morning chores before I left I wasn't in a very good mood by the time I got in the van and started to market as I was already 10 minutes late. To top matters off before I traveled a mile out the road I ran into road construction. I stopped for the man with the stop sign and as I noticed him messing with his little walkie talkie thingy I wished he would just let me go by. Just as I sighed heavily thinking of the waiting customers at market he started to speak into his walkie talkie and he had it on speaker so I could hear what he was saying along with everyone else on the job.
He said very expressively "AND HERE COMES SANTA CLAUS " as he turned his sign to slow and I laughed as I realized I had forgotten that I had on my santa hat !! As I smiled and waved at him as well as all the workers who had stopped their work to smile and wave as I passed. My mood lifted and I met the waiting customers with such a Christmas spirit attitude everyone left happy.
It's always special to me at how God puts these little things in our paths to brighten our days if only we'll take the time to notice them .
Daughter was already at market when I got there and she and I stayed busy waiting on customers all day and had a very good day. Not as good as last year but good enough. I'm always thankful when this last market day before Christmas is done because then I know I can concentrate solely on my family and friends now.
As I left market the rain began to pour down but I ran some regular errands plus made a stop at a small country market to buy some dried cranberry beans and local honey before I headed home.
The rains didn't stop all evening and at times the thunder and lightening were just like a summer storm. It is 63 degrees so I guess the storms shouldn't be a surprise. I've heard the old saying that after thunder in winter snow will follow in 7 days. Guess we'll have to wait to see on that one.
The central part of our county has flooding roads as the news is on at 11:00 tonight but here in our section of the county there is only about 1" in the rain gauge so far tonight but I can here the water in the creek smacking against the bridge so it must be full.
Hubbie and I both rested this evening away glad to be off work and able to enjoy Christmas for the next few days.
In 2001 I either didn't take many pictures or have misplaced them. All I found was a picture of our tree.

And a picture of our then little dog, our beloved Pepper who died of old age several years ago.

She was one of the sweetest, smartest dogs we've ever had.

This first day of winter 2011 has been an interesting one with summer storms and spring temperatures.The low this morning was 47 and the high today was 63, not really winter temps even for the part of the sunny south where I live. We are about 20 degrees above normal !

I am looking forward to an earlier bedtime tonight and hopefully a quiet night since most of the storms and rain have passed on to the east of us.

Feeling wonderfully blessed by a loving Heavenly Father tonight.

Good Night and God Bless.

DOWNTOWN TRIP A RAINY ONE THIS YEAR

2011-12-22T00:03:00.000-05:00

Greeted by a rainy day this morning but very warm temperatures as I did chores and watered the greenhouse plants. These plants think it is already summertime in the warmth of the cold frame green house.
I spent the morning icing caramel cakes, after icing 12 my back gave out on me and I decided to wait until tonight to ice the chocolate cakes.
After a salad for lunch daughter came over and we went to make our annual Christmas walk of mainstreet. It wasn't raining really hard at the time,just a light mist so we were hoping we could beat the hard rain. I had an Avon delivery and a cake delivery to make on the way to town and traffic was already a nightmare trying to get to town on the main road.
We finally made it to main street and even found a parking spot right on the street. We shopped up one side and down the other but the rains grew harder so we cut some of our stops short and others that we have enjoyed in the past years were out of business this year.
The city doesn't go all out with decorations like they used to and I also noticed this year they didn't have Christmas music playing as they have in the past years. Maybe the rain had something to do with that.

In the past 2 years these beds have been covered with snow but today they are filled with blooming pansies.

The weather takes the holiday feel right out of you when you are Christmas shopping without even a jacket.

Daughter or I didn't find a lot of things to buy. Mast General Store got most of our purchases. I made my yearly candy buy and got a couple of gifts for my newest great nephew.

I was disappointed at the prices in some of the smaller stores as we looked at things that were so over priced and I actually wondered who buys these things ??

Evidently someone does or they wouldn't still be in business !!!

We headed home around 5:00 so she could go home and get ready for a church social for the young people tonight.

I did chores while it wasn't raining so hard and then settled to watch a UNC b-ball game,they won easily again.

I iced my chocolate and coconut cakes tonight then remembered I forgot to do weekly paperwork and pay bills so I am closing this out about midnight.

It is 54 degrees at midnight , we got over 3/4 inch of rain today with more expected tonight and tomorrow.

Thanking God for a wonderful blessed day .

Good Night and God Bless

MARKET DAY TUESDAY

2011-12-20T23:48:00.000-05:00

Strange Tuesday today as I get ready to go to market instead of starting laundry and housework. Got most of my work here done yesterday. With market closed on Saturday this week I decided I'd come today to try to make up for a lost Saturday's sales. I have done pretty good ,especially for daughter who makes our pumpkin rolls. I sold 4 just as I got here this morning so that made her day. She is working at school today as her last day before holiday vacation begins.

I had a nice visit with a couple of neighbors who live just out the road from us that we hardly ever see because we are both so busy.
After market I picked up baking supplies and delivered an Avon order as well as buying a new printer from Staples for the computer downstairs. I planned on buying ink for it as daughter said she didn't think there was anything wrong with the old printer she had but just being out of ink. When I went in Staples to pick up ink I saw a new HP all-in-one printer on sale for $5 more than the ink for the old one so I now have a new wireless printer !!
I got everything put away and the chores finished as it started to rain lightly. It has been another warm day, 57 degrees and it has been very cloudy all evening. Tonight at almost midnight it is still 51 degrees !
Just before supper I had to make another Avon delivery over at a nearby Dollar General Store.
Hubbie and had baked potatoes for supper topped with cheese and bacon.
Daughter came in to pick up the supplies I got for her today and went home to do her baking.
I baked 32 layers plus some pound and wine cakes tonight.

The weather forecasters came out with a surprise tonight !!! Now we could get a mix bag of precip. for Christmas.

After all this nice spring like weather wouldn't some snow for Christmas be a surprise ???

I don't think it will happen but after the last couple years who knows !!

I found some really cute wreaths while looking around on the internet today and thought I would share this picture of these easy to make wreaths.

These would make very nice gifts for the card player or anyone who is difficult to buy for. Maybe next year I'll make some to sell at market.
Grateful to God for the nearing celebration of the birth of His son.
Good Night and God Bless.

CAN THIS REALLY BE DECEMBER WEATHER ????

2011-12-19T23:17:00.000-05:00

G-son got here at 7:30 this morning. His pre-school is already out for the holidays and hubbie is working today so he can be off Friday this week so it was just me and g-son today.
It was 30 degrees this morning so I fixed him waffles with syrup and chocolate milk and then went outside to feed all the animals their breakfast.
While he watched his morning TV shows I did housework and laundry. After lunch we headed outside to enjoy this beautiful weather while it lasts. I have a feeling it won't be near 60 degrees much longer.

G-son enjoyed being outside running around all afternoon.

Annie's always ready for a good belly scratch !!!

After mom came and got g-son I did some more laundry and took a couple cake orders and an Avon order.

When hubbie got home from work we did the evening chores and then made a trip to Walmart and Sam's to pick up a few things and get some baking supplies. My orders are still down but I got a couple really nice orders today so people may be waiting until the last minute.

We had a light supper when we got back home which for me was a mistake because it was 7:30 and I'm not used to eating that late so I felt miserable for a long time. I layed on the couch and watched the second half of a blow out UNC basketball victory.

I baked some cakes tonight although I'm not sure what kind of icing I will put on most of them. I'll wait and see what orders come in tomorrow.

I'm trying to get into bed a little earlier tonight after my early start this morning.

It's 11:00, the temperature is 33 and I'm off to ice coconut cakes before bedtime.

Grateful to God for a blessed day full of enjoyment and blessings.

Good Night and God Bless.

CHRISTMAS 1991 WAS A BUSY ONE

2011-12-19T00:53:00.000-05:00

On this really nice Sunday morning hubbie and I had nursery duty at church. We kept ten ,2 and under kids occupied for almost 2 hours,whew !!!! I needed a nap when I got home but of course that wasn't in my plans for today !
We had a spaghetti lunch with #2 son and daughter, as #1 son took g-son to a birthday party from 12-2 this afternoon.
After lunch #2 son and daughter left going to her house to work on some things. Hubbie finished the fence work he started yesterdayand headed over to help, and I had plans to get my old computer which is now in my work room downstairs on line with a new USB adapter I bought last week.
Being as computer literate as I am it took me all afternoon with finally a call to daughter to get it up and running.
After chores I wasn't hungry so I did some exercise downstairs and then watched the Survivor ending special .
As I exercised this evening I thought of all I need to do this week and how hectic things have been this month. But then I came upstairs and looked through some decade pictures for tonight's post and realized just how non-hectic Decembers are now for me.
You'll see what I mean as I take you through December 1991.
#1 and #2 son (seen here jumping) were both playing youth basketball that December on a team together that hubbie was helping coach. Every Saturday we were in a gym somewhere along with a couple nights a week practice.

Both boys were in Cub Scouts and Hubbie and I were both pack officials, this is the float we decorated to put in the Christmas parade that year. #1 son is off the float on the left side, #2 son is sitting in front of the fire in the black pants, hubbie is in the white cap on the right side of the float. There is a sweet manger scene on the back of the float behind the greenery.

I did a lot of volunteering at the elementary school where all the kids went and that year they ask me to paint this huge murial for the school Christmas play. I remember having these flags spread out on my dining room table for days.

Here is #2 son in the play in the green sweatshirt dancing in the center of the stage.

Then there was always the church Christmas play that all 3 kids were always in. We practiced every Sunday afternoon. The director was a close friend of mine and I always helped her with the play.

Here is #1 son doing his part in the play. That year all the kids were tourist sailing on the USS Christmas.

Here daughter bashfully does her part.

And here #2 son sings his part with a really nice in tune voice.

Finally finished with the scout activities,school and church plays we settled down for a busy Christmas.

On Christmas eve we always had Christmas with Hubbie's side of the family. His mom and dad sit in the background watching their 5 grandchildren opening presents.

Then it was time to put together and get things ready for Christmas morning. On this particular Christmas Santa was extra nice and even left a ping pong table downstairs for us to put together.

Here is our tree that year, we always took the kids to a tree farm and picked out a live tree.

A happy girl on Christmas morning.

#1 son has always been into guns of some sort.

#2 son was happy here and even happier when he saw the ping pong table downstairs.

One thing that makes this Christmas more memorable was when he went downstairs he said " I just can't believe Santa brought us all this stuff and it's all free", the innocence of a child is a priceless gift.

He loved the pingpong table.

For lunch on Christmas day we loaded up and went up on Sugarloaf Mountain to eat with hubbie's grandmother and some of his family.

On Christmas day night we headed up to my mom's for my side of the family's celebration.

These are the cousins on my side, my 3 and my oldest brothers 1 daughter.

My 76 year old mom on that Christmas night.

And here is a tired hibbie and me on that night.

When I look back and see all this and know that along with all this we were running a cow/calf operation of about 60 head of cattle along with milking cows and goats and had chickens to take care of , maybe I don't think this year's december has been too hectic after all !!!!
I have been blessed beyond measure with wonderful memories of a very full life and I thank God each day for guiding me along the way.
Good Night and God Bless.

SHAPES IN THE CLOUDS

2011-12-17T23:11:00.000-05:00

Another slow market day. It's hard to beleive Christmas is only a week away. Daughter didn't feel great today,said she thought she had the same thing I had Thursday so she left early to go take a nap.
I packed up and loaded the van then made a couple supply stops on the way home. Hubbie,#1 son and g-son were all headed to the bottom pasture to do some fence repairs. The grass in the upper pasture is all gone and to save hay we need to get the cattle down in the lower pasture.
After I got things put away and had a bowl of tomato soup with crackers and cheese I rested on the couch. Didn't turn on a TV or radio, just enjoyed the quiteness. I find I enjoy this way more and more recently.
It is getting colder this evening than it has been for a number of days. After giving the chickens and dogs a little extra feed to help knock the chill off I watched the news and a Carolina basketball game while hubbie and I had steamed broccoli and fried ,baked potatoes for supper.
Carolina won the game without much challenge ,they were playing Appalachion .

Do you ever see things in the clouds ? I love to photograph the clouds in the sky and then see what shapes I can find.
Here are some examples, see if you see what I see ??

Oops, one of Santa's reindeer must have escaped !!

Flying dragon ( enlarge to see the scales on his side )

Do you see the spoon ??

Close up of the spoon.

The sun was beautiful today but the breeze reminded me it is December.

Talked to daughter tonight and she is feeling better, she got stakes tied to all the trees she set out last week so they won't blow over. Getting out in the fresh air sometimes is the best medicine.

#1 son took g-son to Hollywild tonight to see the lights and feed the animals.

I finally did some Christmas shopping on line today while market was slow,hopefully it will get here before Christmas. After all they guarantee it will !!!

I'm not a real shopper, I usually have a list and go after only the things on my list. When it comes to having to look around and pick something out I don't do well at that. I try to wait until daughter gets off work so she can go with me and help. She has to work an extra couple days this year before Christmas so we will only have 3 days and 1 of them is a market day.

I have to decide if I'm going to market on Tuesday or not !! The way business has been I don't know if it would be worth it or not.

Good Night and God Bless.

NINE YEAR WAR IN IRAQ FINALLY OVER,THEY'RE COMING HOME !!!

2011-12-16T23:04:00.000-05:00

Doing chores in the rainy cool morning reminded me it is winter time around here. No walk this morning so I'll just ice 6 caramel cakes to get a head start on that task.
After lunch I went to clean at church and then to an estate sale.
I didn't find much, just an ajustable chair for one of my sewing machines and a canning kettle.
While I was inside the sale the rain poured down but as I left it slacked off. I stopped at a couple more places looking for a corner cabinet for a spot in my living room but had no luck.
The sun made a brief appearance on my drive home.
After chores I listened to the news. Earlier this week President Obama declared an end to the war in Iraq and is bringing all the troops home for Christmas.

He payed a visit to Fort Bragg ,NC to make the announcement.

These guys sure look happy to be packing up !!

There were celebrations everywhere !!!

Thank God this brings to an end a 9 year war with the loss of almost 4500 of our men and women in uniform during that time.

Today has been a dreary day with drizzley rain all day with temperatures in the mid 40's.

I walked by the window this morning as the birds were busily rading the feeders for breakfast and in just a short time saw several different varieties and had a chance to practice my new camera setting d-in-love showed me the other day. I love seening the rain drops falling in some of these photos.You can see what I'm talking about by clicking and enlarging the pics.

Hopefully after this next week I'll have more time to watch my feathered friends.

This has been a busy year and I'm looking forward to a much needed hibernation this winter !!!

When I told the pastor the other night I was going to coast for a while come January he laughed and said he'd believe it when he saw it !!!

Coasting for me probably has a different meaning than for some people. To me it means having time to sew my crafts that I enjoy , clean and re-arrange furniture in my house, sort through my closets, as well as other task that might seem like work to most people.

Tonight I iced 6 more caramel,1 chocolate and 3 coconut cakes to hopefully get ready for a busy market day tomorrow.

Thanking God for the blessings He has given me today as I strive to do His will in all that I do.

Good night and God Bless.

SLOW MARKET AGAIN AND 1981 CHRISTMAS MEMORIES

2011-12-16T00:03:00.000-05:00

Wow 60 degrees at 8:00 this morning, I sure hope we don't pay for this nice weather later this winter!
Market was slow again today but I did pick up a couple more orders for next week. I crocheted tops on 5 towels between customers. I thought I was going to get sick earlier in the morning, I have no idea what happened but my stomach turned all of a sudden after I ate a ham biscuit from one of my market neighbors. Thankfully the sick feeling passed and I was fine by lunch time altough I still did not want any thing to eat.
After market I ran regular errands,had to stand in line at the post office to mail an Avon order for quite a while even at the machine in the lobby. They said it wasn't near as busy today as yesterday.I'm glad I wasn't here yesterday !!
I did daughter's shopping also as I made my supply stops as she is coaching basketball and has little time to get to any store but walmart after she gets finished and heads home at night.
I ran into d-in-love in the walmart parking lot, her and g-son were going in to get in the craziness inside.
I got home at 4:30, #1 son was here to bring daughter some apples to bake with and helped me unload the van.
I did evening chores early and hit the couch for a short rest before baking time began. I baked 32 layers and 2 wine cakes tonight.

Continuing with the December decade pictures tonight in 1981 we had our first real family Christmas as we had just become new parents of a bouncing baby boy.

Looks like he's way more interested in the lights on the tree than the toys that are surrounding him !

Here is hubbie holding #1 son with our then poodle named Jaque looking on.

And here I am at my mom's house with my precious one. At least I don't look so tired in this picture as I usually was because #1 son never slept through the night and after a nightly feeding refused to go back to sleep.

His first teddy bear was bigger than he was !!

Whew, how can it have been 30 years since this picture ????

I thank the Lord each day for allowing me this journey with my 3 children and now 1 grandchild. I feel so fortunate to have been blessed over the years so awesomely.

Good Night and God Bless.

SPRING DAY IN DECEMBER

2011-12-14T23:58:00.000-05:00

Wow, out without even a jacket this morning during chores. When I got back inside the phone rang and as I strained my ears to hear the person on the other end giving me a cake order I realized my phone did not get fixed last week. I have been wondering why I have never even got a check in call from the phone company. I called them back with all the noise on the line and they said a technician was dispatched last Friday but said he couldn't (for some unknown reason) get to it. So I asked what they planned on doing about the noise because I wasn't paying anymore for a phone I couldn't hear over.
Within 30 minutes a technician was pulling into my yard !! He was very nice, said he did not know what happened last week as he never got a work order to fix my phone. Anyway he said the problem wasn't even on my property, but in the near by main wiring box just out the road. He had it fixed in under 30 minutes. The most impressive thing he did was give me his personal cell phone # and tell me if I had any problems even in the distant future to call him personally instead of going through the rigamarole at the office. Wow I hope Santa is very good to this young man !!
After he left I went on a walk, the day is too nice not to enjoy some outside time.

Annie thought it was to nice not to take a dip in the creek for a cool drink.

I had to laugh out loud as I took this next photo at the thought that came into my head.

Hillbilly Sparkling Water !!!!!!! HAHA !!

It was lunch time by the time I got back to the house. After I ate I cleaned the floors and did a load of laundry left over from yesterday. Then I was glad to get back outside to sweep the porches and just enjoy the warm 64 degree sunny day. I even hung the rugs I washed out on the line to dry.

After sitting in the outside patio for a little while I got a call from daughter that she was on her way home. I headed over to her house to try to get a better picture for a Christmas card.

Tipper her dog looks so much like the Grinch's dog she thought this antler would be a nice touch.

But Tipper did not agree !!!!

We took many pics and it was still hard to get a good pic without movement from Tipper who thought I was there to play with her.

My favorite is this one.

God provided some spectacular colored lights of His own as I drove home this evening.

Just barely got chores done before it got dark. Hubbie is still over at daughter's helping her plant the Murray Cypress trees she bought last weekend. They wanted to get them in the ground before the rain that is supposed to start tomorrow evening. They worked by flashlight to finish the job.

I did weekly paperwork and payed bills and then iced 6 caramel , 1 chocolate and 2 coconut cakes.

Thanking God for a beautiful warm day to help fend off the winter blues.

Good Night and God Bless.

GRANDSON HERE ON THIS HOUSEWORK TUESDAY

2011-12-14T00:14:00.000-05:00

My goodness I pray for eveyone driving through this pea soup fog this morning !! I'm glad I'm just walking around the farm doing the morning feeding chores.
After breakfast and crossword time I went back outside to walk. By this time the sun had burned all the fog away and the clear blue sky was beautifully clear.

Snowball and Louie watch me as I go by the barn. Snowball has a new lease on her long life since Louie came around. She has rekindled all he mothering skills with him.

D-in-love is working today so I picked g-son up from pre school. He came running across the playground when he saw my van which surprised me as he usually wants to play every minute he can with his friends. After he got in the van he was very whinny so I figured he must be tired or hungry.

Turned out to be a little bit of both I think. I had a cake delivery to make then it was lunchtime.

While he finished his lunch I started a load of laundry. He was really good and let me do my housework for the day before he started following me around wanting stuff.

I got the laundry finished and we sang Christmas songs and he told me the story of the Gingerbread man that got eaten by the fox. I was amazed at how much of it he remembered.

When hubbie got home from work they went outside to do evening chores while I did mine.

I have been playing around a bit with my camera and these are some shots I took after sunset tonight.

G-son gets the cart out for Pawpaw to get some wood.

Here we go !

Taking a break !

I missed the sun setting tonight but there was a little color left.

Love that clear blue sky.

I even got a shot of some of my ladies on their roosting pole as the man in charge looks on !

I like the nice calm feeling that comes each night with the disappearance of the sun and the bedding down of all the animals .

After #1 son picked up g-son tonight hubbie and I had a light supper and then #2 son came up for a haircut. I talked to sis-in-law about our family Christmas dinner and we have tentively picked New Years Day for the date. Everyone is so busy before Christmas we thought it would be better to wait .

I baked layers tonight for 9 cakes. I can't figure this year out as far as how much to bake because so far it has been very slow.

I'm blogging then heading for a nice relaxing hot bath before heading to bed. The temperature is still 41 degrees at midnight.

Thanking God for today's blessings and asking for His care and protection for g-son as he grows up.

Good Night and God Bless.

1951 & 1961 DECEMBER MEMORIES

2011-12-12T22:57:00.000-05:00

Woke to a cloudy cold morning,30 degrees at chore time. Hubbie had taken g-son to pre-school and went to get a haircut and get his truck inspected. I did chores,ate breakfast and worked my crossword before working on straightening up some of my outside decorations after last weeks wind.
We picked up g-son and stopped by Sam's Club for lunch. Each Monday as we leave Sam's g-son has asked for money to put in the Salvation Army kettle.

This same guy is always there and he acts so appreciative and impressed with g-son's generousity. Hopefully this help will teach him to be generous.

When we got home hubbie took an elderly neighbor a load of fire wood then worked on cutting some of the dead trees up that we had cut down a couple weeks ago.

I finished putting up my outside lights with g-son's help.

I was trying to figure the scanning process out on this new computor when d-in-love came after g-son so she showed me how to get what I needed done.

I worked on scanning in decade pics until chore time this evening. This has turned out to be a very nice day,with the high around 50 and sunny. Tomorrow is going to be even nicer.

I need to do some catching up with decade pics for this month because of course around Christmas there was always plenty of pictures.

Starting before I existed in December of 1951 I found this photo with the note on the back of "first date, Dec. 1951".

This is my mom and dad.

They got married in January 1952 so it must have been love at first sight !!

Ten years later they had their whole family around them in December 1961 here my 2 brothers and I are with my dad in front of our Christmas tree. Dad doesn't look happy to be posing for photos!

Mom must have been like me as she isn't in any pictures, so I'm assuming she was the photographer.

Here's a close up of my oldest brother and I with our Christmas presents. I still have this doll stored away downstairs, it's hard to believe she is 50 years old.

I could find no Christmas pictures for 1971 which would have been the Christmas before I graduated high school. I know our family was stuggling financially during that time so we might have forgone gifts that year.

After a little relaxing time tonight I baked a couple pound cakes for orders to be delivered tomorrow.

Thankful for all the blessings of today and for that precious baby born on a bed of hay so many years ago to save us from our sins.

Good Night and God Bless.

3rd SUNDAY OF ADVENT ,LIT THE CANDLE FOR JOY

2011-12-11T23:15:00.000-05:00

G-son arrived early this morning as his mom and dad took their anniversary trip to see the Carolina Panthers ballgame in Charlotte,NC.
Daughter had picked up hubbie earlier to help her in her Sunday School class so it was just me and g-son getting ready to go to church.
He was hungry and ate 2 waffles while I did chores and got ready. He was worried we would be late and he had to get his little bread container full of change there for the kids who don't get anything for Christmas.

We made it right on time and he went in proudly carrying his heavy little donation.

The service today was a Christmas chorus of songs put on by our choir.

When we got home we decided since #2 son was working and would be getting off shortly we would have Sub-Way for lunch so Hubbie,daughter,g-son and I made a quick supply stop at Walmart then picked up sandwiches at Sub-way.

#2 son was just getting home as we pulled into the driveway so he followed us up and we all had lunch together.

Hubbie was going to change daughter's oil while she and I went to a little Christmas get-together with some of her neighbors.

It was a nice afternoon, we met several of her neighbors that we had never seen before and had fun getting to know them while eating my caramel cake and drinking coffee and hot tea.

We went back down to her house and tryed for some Christmas card photos for her but decided we needed a better camera and better lighting.

Although I thought this was a good picture of the 2 of them.

We got home just barely before dark and I rushed though chores and them played with g-son until his dad came after him. While daughter and I were at our party he and Pawpaw created another gingerbread goodie for this year.

He had already eaten some of the candy off it before I saw it but he had enough piled on so you couldn't tell !!

Under the supervision of Dolly he was still rearranging the ornaments tonight !!

As I watched the news and weather tonight I shook my head as we are still on quite a roller coaster ride and by mid-week we will feel like it is spring again with 60 degree temps.

At least we aren't looking for a snow storm like we were the last couple years at this time.

Grateful for the joy of the season and the love of our Lord each day.

Good Night and God Bless.