THEY ALL GET ALONG WHEN IT'S THIS COLD

Another even colder morning 10 degrees with high winds still howling.At least the sun is shining this morning give the outside animals at least a warming sunbeam if they can find a place out of the wind. Everything seems to be coping very well,mother nature has her furry and feathery children well prepared I think.
It's amazing to me how all the birds seem to get along so much better during this extreme weather.
Everyone was sharing feeders this morning.
As I snapped pictures of my feeders I saw this flock of Red Breasted Robins,they never come to the feeders.
Today this Blue Jay even patiently waited his turn at the feeders.
Love this picture catching this Goldfinch in mid air !!
One of my favorite birds the Morning Dove.
I baked cakes this morning while doing laundry between ovens full.
When I finished after lunch I did a little housecleaning while daughter, who's school she works at didn't have any power this morning so they closed, came home to do her baking.
I made a trip back down to the dentist for a mold fitting this afternoon,Hubbie went along and took his partial to get it relined.
We got back just in time to do evening chores before it got dark.
The wind has died down some and that makes it a lot easier to work outside.
Daughter was still baking and my kitchen looks like a bomb went off in there. I just went into my office to catch up on paperwork until she gets finished and cleans up.
The month of November is finally officially in the books tonight. Baked good sales were fairly good but craft sales were way down.
#2 son came up tonight to borrow a hair dryer to thaw one of his water lines out again.
When the wind blows and it is very cold he has lines to one bathroom sink that freeze because when the heating people put his heat pump in they pulled all the insulation out from around these pipes to get duct work in there and now these lines have frozen once last year and now once so far this year even after he tried to poke all the insulation back into place.
Hubbie went down to hold the light for him while he crawled up under his house.
They got it thawed after a little hot air from the blow dryer.
Daughter is gone and the dust has settled in the kitchen so I iced 6 caramel cakes.
With the weather forecast it doesn't look like there will be market on Thursday now and questionable on Saturday.
I have kept fires going in both stoves all day with the temperature only getting to 22 today and it's now 15 at 11:00 at least that's warmer than last night's 12 at about this time.
I am so thankful tonight that we kept our power all through this wind storm as many just down the road weren't so lucky.
The only thing we lost was internet service for awhile this afternoon and I wouldn't even have known that if daughter hadn't been trying to advertise on Craigslist.
Hopefully tomorrow it will be warm enough for me to get out and collect all my blown away decorations,hopefully I can find them all.
I didn't turn any Christmas lights on tonight because I think that would be rude to the people who still don't have power.
I had to be very careful outside this evening because the sunshine we had today made the icy snow very slick. I have to zigzag down the little hill between the house and chicken houses.
These temperatures we are having now are about 25-30 degrees below what is the normal for this time of year.
Thankful to God tonight for the graciousness and the blessings he heaps on me everyday.
Good Night and God Bless.

COLD!! COLD!! AND COLDER !!!!

Up early to check out the road conditions as Hubbie and I both have dental appointments in the next county south of here. Hubbie went down to get the paper and said our road was dry. We figured if our road was okay surely all the others we needed to travel would be fine also. So after chores in the frigid weather we headed south.
By the time we got to Columbus which is in Polk county there was no snow at all.
We spent about 2 hours in the office,Hubbie's work took the longest. I had a mold made of my upper denture and have to go back tomorrow afternoon to make sure it is going to fit properly, Hubbie is going along also to take his partial in to get it relined.
After we left the office we visited a couple of thrift shops in the area and had lunch at Wendy's.
It was sooooooo cooooolllldddd all day today it was almost impossible to spend any time outside. I took water to the chickens and dogs a couple times and gave them extra food.I had to refill all my bird feeders again today as they are very busy during this cold snap.
We decided we had better fire up our upstairs wood stove for tonight and when Hubbie started cleaning it out he found a hole in the stove pipe so he needed to make a trip to Lowes.
I had just taken an order for 14 caramel cakes for Saturday and I needed to go to Walmart to get extra ingredients for baking.
Hubbie dropped me off at Walmart and went on to Lowes, timing was perfect as he called to say he was back just as I finished checking out.
We hurried back home to get the stove back together only to find our way blocked by fallen trees that had blown down while we were gone.
Thank you Lord these fell after we drove under them on the way to town !!!!
As Hubbie got out of the car to walk up to the house after his chainsaw I looked over at the pond in the pasture and thought what a common sight this is becoming in the winter time around here. Last year this pond stayed frozen over almost all winter with snow on it most of the time starting a week later than it has this year.
As I waited I saw this patch of Bittersweet growing on the bank beside the driveway and thought about how mother nature's own decorations are so festive.
Not only does this decorate the landscape but these berries are an emergency food source especially for the Eastern Bluebirds that make our pastures their home.Hubbie made it back and made short work of all the trees that had crashed down across the driveway.
These are black pines and they are very top heavy so we are glad they fell without hurting anyone. There is still several up above the drive that need to be cut, but definitely not today !!!
Back at the house we finished the stove pipe and got a fire going,man it feels good in here with the fire.
I hurried through the chores this evening with the temperature at 17 and the wind worse now than it has been all day.
The chickens were all happy to be shut in their warm houses a little early with extra corn. And Sadie and Annie got a bowl full of warm food with meat scraps mixed in to warm their tummies through the night. The plastic I put up last night really is keeping the wind off them and they act like they are warm and happy to be in their night time place also.
It is already 13 degrees at 9:00 tonight so I can't imagine what it will be by early morning but I can tell you I'm very thankful for a nice warm place to sleep tonight.Hubbie wasn't the only one wielding a chainsaw this evening as trees are falling everywhere.Remember when white Christmas trees were popular??? Mother nature likes white trees.

Tonight the main purpose seems to be staying warm !!!
Thankful to God for safe travel today and for a warm house and praying for warmth for all the animals outside that are braving these frigid temps.
Good Night and God Bless.

DECEMBER DEJA VU

Well what a surprise this morning. I went to bed last night worried that we might have ice this morning,imagine my surprise when I woke to a white wonderland.
So much better than ice !!!
This measurement was taken at 9:30 after the temperatures warmed a bit so I think we probably had closer to 4". That's pretty significant ,especially when our weather guys said we would get less than 2" here and that wouldn't happen until tonight and tomorrow!!! Their explanation this morning was a 2 degree temperature drop they didn't expect.
This is the second year in a row we have had snow on my Christmas decorations.My g-son wanted to know where Santa was today, he's been watching all the Christmas stories and they always have Santa in the snow so in his mind there was snow so "where was Santa"??????
These Silkie's weren't sure what to think about this white stuff and would not come out until I cleaned off their foot board and then they got a drink of water and headed right back inside. Can't say I blamed them, running around in the snow with bare feet would be tough.
The DOT never got around to scraping our road but by noon the temperatures had warmed into the high 30's and most of the road melted clear.
After we had lunch Hubbie, G-son and I decided to make a trip to Sam's Club. We needed a few things including a smoked turkey for next weekends family dinner and I needed to talk to the Verizon people about my phone. I have a LG phone and it has taken on a mind of it's own,powering down at unknown times without my knowledge. With my business that is not a good thing. Three days last week I found my phone off when I took it out to make a call and had no idea how long it had been off and apparently during these power downs it will not take messages, which on one day caused my family members great worry.
Anyway neither of the main reason's to go to Sam's was successful ,they were sold out of smoked turkeys and the guys at the verizon stand said I would have to go to the verizon store and they would probably give me a new phone.
Back home g-son and Hubbie played with the Lincoln logs and I watched birds.
As you can see most of the snow had melted away by this time but the temperatures were plummeting and what was left and the water from the melted snow turned quickly to solid ice. The birds flocked to the feeders to get a meal to help them get through the cold windy night that is coming.
At one time I counted 12 Cardinals around the feeders among the Sparrows,Titmice,
Chickadees, Downy Woodpeckers,Nuthatches, Blue Jays and I'm sure I've left out some.
I hope they got all their tummies full and found a warm place to spend the night.By the time I finished with evening chores all the drips were frozen and it was very hard to keep from slipping down when I walked. I put plastic around the dog lot to keep the wind out and put all the chickens in their houses. Tonight isn't going to be the coldest night but the wind is blowing very hard and the chill factor is already near zero.
#2 son had to work today picking up mail from the blue post office boxes. #1 son and d-in-love went Christmas and grocery shopping. We fixed a big pan of lasagna and they all came for supper after their busy day. Daughter is dog sitting and it is far enough away that she didn't want to try to drive back on the slick roads tonight so we haven't seen her today. Schools are closed tomorrow so she can go in late.
After everyone left tonight I sat and watched the flames in the heater for a while and thanked God for the blessings of a wonderful family and for His care and graciousness in watching over each of us.
This doesn't seem like a Sunday without going to church. Several times tonight I've had to stop and think what day it was.
It is 19 degrees tonight at midnight,but I hear the wind howling out there,hope the power stays on !!
Thanking God for a wonderful day.
Good Night and God Bless.

MEMORIES OF CHRISTMAS 1970

Made it to market on time today with the help of Hubbie who is my carrier on Saturdays.
We were busy all day ,daughter came in about an hour after we got there and it was a good thing she was there after Hubbie left.She found some dried gourds that I had raised years ago in that old shed we tore down several weeks ago. She drilled holes in them and put in some decorations,I think they are pretty. If they don't sell for decorations she can sell them as bird houses.
Hubbie had some errands to run to get all the animal food stocked up, then he wanted to start working on our huge log pile.
This is one of two piles of logs from the triple oak tree we had taken down in October. This picture was taken in October,today was not t-shirt weather although the temperature got up to a balmy 48 under the clouds.
#2 son helped him saw and split a load of wood this afternoon.
After market daughter did some shopping and came home to wrap packages. Good for her I do not have not one package wrapped yet!!
I stopped at 2 thrift shops looking for plates to make bird feeders from. I sold 4 feeders today and only have 1 left to sell.
I stopped at Aldi and Walmart and made it home around 4:00. Daughter helped me unload as Hubbie was still working on his wood pile.
I cleaned my smaller chicks pen partially because I left the manure in the part they sleep in as chicken manure creates heat and I think they are going to need some heat this next week.
This is what our next week looks like according to our local weather man,brrrrrrr!!!!!!
After a hot dog supper Hubbie and I watched UNC Tarheels b-ball game ,they won but it was a close game.

My decade pictures for 1970 in December were few,actually I only found these 2 .I remember this Christmas well ! Just before the holiday break from school we had a basketball game at one of the Asheville High Schools. I went up for a shot and caught an elbow from an opposing player just above my right eye. The whistle blew and a foul was called,I walked to the foul line and looked around at the surprised faces of the other players. I wiped what I thought was sweat running down my face into my eye only to discover it was blood. The referee came running with a towel and escorted me off the court. My parents were there and they took me straight to the hospital for stitches. I don't remember how many I got but I still have a nasty scar just barely hidden by my eyebrow.
By the way check out those red shoes !!! I don't remember if I ever tried clicking those heels together or not ?????I have to chuckle at those "Charlie Brown" Christmas trees, but when I grew up buying a tree was unheard of . We always scouted our property for weeks ahead of time to find the perfect tree. I remember some years those misshapen trees had to be turned and turned to find the best side !!
It mostly didn't matter as long as we had a tree because there was no extra family that came for the holidays. As long as we liked the trees that's all that mattered and we never knew any different way of having a tree while we grew up.
I never really thought about the fact that we must have had 2 trees in our house back then. The house had 2 living rooms because of additions my dad did to the house and we had a tree in each part.
That knotty pine paneling on the walls came from the trees on the property. That old phone table in the background of the second picture now sits in my living room.
I wonder if there were Christmas morning pictures?? If there were I've never seen them,I guess my mother wasn't much of a picture taker.
Thankful for memories and for the chance to make memories for my kids and grandkids.
Thankful for the season of our dear Savior's birth.
Good Night and God Bless.

ENJOYING A 46 DEGREE HEAT WAVE

A little warmer this morning,I actually put water in the chickens regular waterers.
The birds were swooping around to let me know they were out of seed. They are so funny when they do this,when I walked into the sunroom to get the seed one few against the screen on one of the windows as if to say "hey you can't just go inside,we need food".
After filling all the feeders I watched the birds come from almost every direction. I know they must sit in the trees and bushes just waiting for the feeders to be refilled.
I baked cakes for a couple orders I have and then placed my Avon order online while they were in the ovens.
After lunch I headed to church to work a little early because g-son is coming to spend the evening with us while #1 son and d-in-love celebrate their 5th anniversary.
5 years ago tonight this was where we were. Our family grew by 1 that night and by another 1 less than a year later.

I met #1 son and got g-son then we went back to church to play for a little while on the play ground as this is going to be the warmest afternoon, 46 degrees, for as far as the forecast can be seen.
We played until his hands got cold from touching the metal bars and we came home to warm up.
#2 son came up and brought Flash his basset hound to give him his monthly heart worm pill and he played with g-son while Flash played with Annie and Sadie.
Hubbie and I took turns doing our chores so g-son didn't have to be out in the cold and he wasn't complaining about staying in the warm house.
We had supper and relaxed to enjoy g-son for the evening.
Daughter did her baking and then left for a dog sitting job.
Son came after g-son and said they were going with some friends to Dollywood tomorrow.
G-son will love that,especially going with one of his little friends to ride the rides with.
After they left I iced caramel and coconut cakes and got everything wrapped for tomorrow,maybe we can be on time tomorrow.
All the weather prognosticators have varying opinions on ho much snow we are going to get starting maybe tomorrow night or Sunday but they all agree on one thing ,it is going to get even colder than we have been, single digits at night and this is after the snow falls.
Could get very interesting around here! Can't help but think about last year!On Dec. 18th last year we got more snow than I had seen in years,the weather turned cold and we had snow for Christmas.
Are we in for a repeat ?????? Only time will tell.

God has everything under control and He will give us what we need no matter what the weather .
Good Night and God Bless.

YEARLY SKIN CHECK SHOWS NO PROBLEMS

Chores before market took longer than normal with all the water carrying so I was late getting to market but since no customers braved the early morning cold no one noticed.
It was a slow day and I was thankful for the orders I had and I took 3 more orders for next week.
I fear the weather is going to play havoc with my Christmas business again this year as it did last year.
After market I ran regular errands and headed to my yearly skin check at my dermatologist office.
Good news except for this little spot on my cheek right in front of my ear he didn't find anything.
This spot was a small lump under the skin and he was concerned it might be a Basil Cell Cancer, which is the only type of skin cancer I haven't had. He wanted to numb it and cut it out,I said just cut it without numbing it. That numbing medicine gives me the heebie jeebies and I can feel it all the way from head to toe. So he said if I thought I could stand it he was sure he could!! It wasn't that bad,it only took 3 zaps to open it up and when he mashed it a small cyst with a long name came out and he said it wasn't dangerous.
He looked at a pink spot on my leg,the same leg the Bowens Disease was on last year, and a black spot on my toe nail and said to watch them.
I got home with just enough daylight to unload and do the chores.
We had a heat wave today with temperatures in the low 40's.
Tonight at 11:30 the temperature is 26 degrees so we are getting a little break before the next weather system that hits Sunday.
I relaxed tonight for a while then wrote up Avon orders. Avon always gets in an extra order before Christmas so we have crazy order times.
It's been a very quite evening around the old homeplace tonight and I am grateful for the peaceful times of reflection.
Grateful to God tonight for a good doctors visit and all the other blessings He gave me today.
Good Night and God Bless.

WOULD YOU LIKE THE HALELUJAH CHORUS WITH YOUR BURGER????

Got a lead to this from another blogger friend and just had to share. I only wish I could have been there and joined in !!! What a glorious way to honor the birth of Jesus.



The temperature was 16 this morning again as I tried to get water to all the animals.
I iced caramel cakes this morning,then dusted and cleaned the floors.
After lunch I delivered the 12 cake order and did a little shopping. A good place to meet out of town customers is Bloomfield's Dish Barn, it is a popular place and right beside the interstate.
Today after my customer got her cakes I decided along with her to go inside.
They started out just selling dishes and had an outside lot full of gardening clay pots of all sizes.
Now you can't move in the place, they have expanded their product line to every thing you can imagine,2 floors of jammed,crammed everything you could ever want except clothing. 2 people cannot pass in the narrow isles. I fought my way around and of course found a couple things I could not live without,you know me and a bargain !!!
When I got home the temperature had finally climbed above freezing,if you can call 33 above freezing,at least there was no wind for the first time in several days.
I bundled up and headed out to re-water and gather eggs before they froze and determined to get all my outside lights powered up.
After a couple hours of crawling,untangling,checking lights,plugging in,unplugging,more checking lights, finally they are all up and, VOILA!!!!!!!!
My favorite,this old nativity scene sprung to life once again,usually I put it on the ground but the ground is so frozen I decided to hang it on the back of this tool shed so it could be seen from the highway.
I usually have more outside decorations but this year I'm slacking so this is going to be it.
Same story in the front of the house. A friend of mine in high school was outside putting up her lights last weekend and fell,not only did she break her leg she went into cardiac arrest while they were fixing her leg.
That news took a lot of the desire to climb around and put up lights right out of me this year.
Tonight while daughter did her baking I did paperwork and payed bills. I discovered that November's month end work is not done yet,someone has been slacking !!!!! I won't mention any names !!!!!
It didn't get done tonight either as I got a late cake order and had to go back to the ovens.
I have coconut cakes to ice tonight as well.
It is 25 degrees at 11:30 tonight,maybe that's good news for tomorrow.
Thanking God for blessings tonight and for sending us His son.
Good Night and God Bless.