COLD SLOW MARKET DAY

A cold 19 degrees greeted g-son and I this morning on the way to school. He is thinking Christmas is really close with all this cold weather !!
Market was expectedly slow today. I don't blame folks for not coming out on such a cold morning.
I am thankful for what I did sell and there will be better days coming.
After market I ran the errands and picked up baking supplies. I keep expecting more Thanksgiving orders to come in and want to get stocked up.
Ran into d-in-love and g-son in Walmart,they had just left their regular teacher's conference and g-son got a good review so he was happily searching for things to ask Santa for !!
Sis-in-law called and we tentatively picked a date for our family Thanksgiving dinner.
I slowly unloaded the van when I got home trying to not overwork my still healing right arm muscle.
Hubbie went after a roll of hay from a friend of his for old Snowball after work so he was late getting home.
It has warmed up nicely today into the upper 50's and it feels nice not to be all bundled up while doing chores this evening.
Tonight we are suppose to stay in the upper 20's but it is already 30 degrees at 10:30 so I think it will go much lower unless the clouds get here quickly !
There is a fire in the Linville Gourge area of Western North Carolina that is burning over 1800 acres. It is a scary looking fire after dark as evidenced by these photographs sent in to the local TV station.

 It is burning in what is called the Table Rock wilderness area and you can see the "table" in the next couple pics.

Thankful tonight for firefighters who put their lives on the line each day to fight these fires and praying for all the wildlife and people who are in the path of this furiously spreading wildfire.
Good Night and God Bless.

BAD DAY FOR THE BIG RIGS

22 degrees this morning but thankfully the wind has died down some so it doesn't feel as cold as it did last night.
After dropping g-son at school I had breakfast before doing the chores to let the temperature rise a little at least so the waterers won't freeze before the animals can get a drink.
Snowball the cow was standing over a solidly frozen cattle water tank so I broke the ice off her's first.
I sat all the chicken waterers in the sunshine in hopes that would keep them from re-freezing. I always empty them when the temperature overnight is going to be below freezing.
I did take a walk since the sun is shining and the wind has stopped making the 34 degree temps around 10:30 barable.
I baked 6 caramel,3 chocolate and 2 pound cakes this morning. I think tomorrow will be a "no show" day for market customers  with 22 degrees predicted again for in the morning.
After lunch I rested my right arm with a heating pad for a little while then did some house cleaning.
After I picked up g-son I did paperwork, payed bills and iced cakes for the remainder of the evening.
Today was not a good day to be on the interstate highways around this area. Three loaded big rigs turned over in three different areas.
This one was loaded with canned kidney beans that created a dangerous situation when they fell onto the highway below.

Sadly a cattle hauler turned over at the top of the Saluda Grade with 77 cows inside. Six cows were killed in the wreck and eight more had to be put down from severe injuries.
This is one of the lucky ones peeping out of a hole in the trailer.

The driver of this truck hauling hay choked on a drink of coffee and lost control spilling his load of hay on the highway.

The drivers of all three trucks are being charged with the accidents. Thankfully no other vehicles were involved in any of the wrecks.
The weather is going to moderate for a few days after tonight to give things a chance to thaw out before we go back in the freezing temps next week.

Thankful tonight to my Lord for the opportunity He has given me to be able to stay home and help with the kids around here and enjoy watching them grow up.
Good Night and God Bless.

HAPPY SEQUENTIAL DAY 11-12-13

Today's date 11-12-13 is the next to last sequential date series in the 21st century. The last one will be next December , 12/13/14 , Sequential dates are rare and there won't be another in the entire century.

A cold morning greeted g-son and I as we headed out to school. Unfortunately these morning temps are going to be the highs for today !!
After chores and breakfast I took a walk before the cold air really gets set in. This burning bush isn't as bright as it usually is and I'm sure the leaves will blow off before they get any redder.

Up in the garden the piles of leaves hubbie swept up yesterday are ready to be turned under for compost.

The power company is back down on the road and they are already putting up wires so now I am wandering if and when they will shut the power off to hook them up.
I did 3 loads of laundry and finished cleaning in the sunroom before lunch.
I did housework in the afternoon and caught up some business phone calls and got the October paperwork done finally.
As I sat in the car rider line at school waiting to pick up g-son this is the temp on the thermometer.

Is this still November ????
After he ate we took Bernie our 4-legged kid to the vet to get his Rabies shot. The temperature was 34 when we got back home at 4:30 and the wind was whipping making it unbarable to be outside for long.
As we did the evening chores the threatening skies made for a beautiful sunset and sky coloring.

And even the eastern sky was lit up and purple .

Even with all these threatening clouds we got no snow but up in Madison county they got a pretty white covering by noon today.

Tonight at 9:00 it is 27 degrees and the wind is still whipping out there. I hope all the little animals find a nice warm place to sleep on this raw night.
We built our first  fire of the season in the wood stove downstairs tonight to help heat our house with that nice wood heat warmth.
Thankful tonight for the blessing of a warm house and a full belly.
Good Night and God Bless.

THANK YOU TO ALL VETERANS

 I want to express a huge THANK  YOU  to all the veterans who have and are now serving in the armed forces to preserve our freedom.
This is a service at the cemetery where my father-in-law is buried,he served in the Navy in WWll.

Today has been a busy day. There was no school today so g-son spent the night with his aunt T and is spending the day with her. After chores and breakfast hubbie went to the feed store while I started on my sunroom window cleaning project. Each fall I take all the screens off the 10 large 6' X 3' windows and vacuum and wash them so that on all the cold snowy winter days I can sit and watch my birds more clearly. It is always amazing how dirty these windows get in a years time.  But it is funny that you don't even notice how dirty they are until you wash a couple of them and compare them to the rest.
Hubbie got back just before lunch and I was finishing the insides of all the windows. We had lunch and then he helped with the outside screens and higher windows that required a ladder climb.
My right arm muscle is sore so I am slower trying to use my left arm for things that normally I would do with my right.
We finished the job around 2:30. While I cleaned both the French door sets and vacuumed around the inside walls while I had everything moved away from the walls Hubbie got out the leaf sweeper and attached it to the mower. He is riding around the yard sweeping up leaves and they are continuing to fall from the trees right behind him,haha !
Rebekah brought little Evy over to put another coat of spray on our wreaths. Evy couldn't take her eyes off hubbie on the mower. She is definitely going to be a little farm girl as she loves tractors and machines.  They went home to work on making some more apple butter.
I got all the outside walls vacuumed before daughter brought g-son by on her way to her basketball practice. After I got him some food fixed it was chore time and the temperature was dropping quickly. After a sunny day in the mid 50's it is now 39 at 9:45.
I need to do more work out in the sunroom before I call that job finished so hopefully tomorrow I can finish.
As I washed windows today I thought back 30 years and remembered how excited I was to moving into our new home. With two small sons it had been challenging to get things ready for the move but in November of 1983 we made the move. These are some pics of the house then.

 Hubbie holding both sleeping boys !!

Custom made pine cabinets by James Bracket, a local cabinet maker.

 I am amazed when I look at these pics and see some things that are still with us after 30 years.

Our house before any outside paint. I wanted a natural clear stain but hubbie wanted gray.

 So we compromised with a sheer gray stain.

 It looked good.

Hard to believe it has stood through 30 years.  After borrowing $10,000 to hire it dried in hubbie and I did all the inside and siding work ourselves. Those were some very busy years but it made this house more special. Here is three pics in the same locations as the ones above that I took today.

My oh my how time has flown !!!!
Thankful tonight for our many brave Veterans as they have fought and continue to fight for our freedom and also for precious memories.
Good Night and God Bless.

GETTING READY FOR WINTER

Church this morning was good as we honored our Veterans. It always amazes me how many of our church members are Veterans.
In last Sunday's post I talked about a happy young couple who had found the Lord and joined our church for Baptism. Today that same young couple are sitting in a hospital room with their 14 month old daughter who has been in the hospital since last Monday. She has a really high fever and high white cell count but all the virus test they have done are negative. She hasn't eaten in 5 days and continually pulls her feeding tube out.  Please pray for this sweet little angel,her name is Maci .
Everyone made it to lunch except #2 son who is in South Carolina helping a friend do some work on his house and Aaron who is in the soy bean field.
We had baked ham, corn, mashed potatoes,green beans, candied sweet potatoes.
After everyone left hubbie and I did some winterizing chores to get ready for the "arctic blast" that is coming our way this week.

There was some snow in the forecast for our area but the weather wizards have changed their minds about that now, saying we will just be very cold, with lows around 20 and highs in the middle of the week struggling to make 40 degrees.
Hubbie cleaned out our chimneys today and all the stove pipes. He found no bird nest and  not too much creosote so that means we are doing good keeping our fires at the right temperatures.
I washed the two lawn chairs that I use alot to soak up my vitamin D in and hung them in the shed to stay dry during the winter.
We also gave the dogs their last drops of Frontline, hopefully the cold weather will help to chase all the fleas away. Funny how that stuff is supposed to work for 30 days but in the last week of that 30 day period I always see my dogs scratching !!!
G-son is getting to spend the night with his aunt T tonight and spend a fun day tomorrow with her since she doesn't have to work. I bet he is one excited little boy tonight !!!!
A much needed relaxing Sunday night for Hubbie and me will hopefully help heal some of our sore muscles.
Still praying for the people of the Philippines as the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan has left thousands dead with corpses hanging in trees and laying on sidewalks as well as buried in collapsed buildings.

They are still gathering information to tell is this was indeed the worst storm ever in any part of the world to make landfall.
The aide of food, water and supplies is having trouble getting into the affected areas due to the airport being blown away and all roads blocked with debris.
Thankful tonight for the many relief agencies like the Red Cross who are ready to step in anywhere in the world to aide the suffering and homeless.
Good Night and God Bless.

WORLD'S MOST DEADLY STROM HITS

Brrr!!! a cold market day morning.  I was slow getting ready and got to market almost 10 minutes later than usual but no one was there to notice !!
It was an okay day,much better than Thursday so I am very thankful. I also sold several craft items and folks are already buying Christmas gifts.
After market I stopped by Aldi and picked up some baking supplies for next week. When I got home hubbie was collecting the firewood that was cut down on the road last week.
I unloaded the van and took a snack break before heading outside to help. Thankfully he was hauling his last load when I caught up with him so I watched one of Rebekah's friends take some photo's of little Evy before doing the evening chores.
I came inside and took a nice break snuggled with my 4-legged kids on the couch.
D-in-love's mom called and asked if I would run an errand for her since she was stuck at her restaurant. I went to Sam's Club and picked up some things she needed for tomorrow. While I was there I looked at the camera I forgot to check at the last time I was there. They are having some early black Friday specials and this camera was $80 off. My little point and shoot has just about had it as I have carried it on the sandy beaches, carried it in my pocket and sweated the shutters stuck on it a couple times and also dropped it numerous times. This is a Samsung and that is what I had before I got the Olympus.

Hubbie went with me and we picked up a few groceries also to save a later trip.
My Thanksgiving Cactus is in full bloom since I brought it inside. This sure doesn't match my fall decor,haha !!

Also in the news of the day a deadly super typhoon named Haiyan hit the Philippines and caused massive damage and loss of lives. There are already 1200 confirmed dead and that is only in a couple small areas. The death tole could reach 10,000. This could be the most powerful storm to ever hit land after all the measurements get tallied up. Sustained winds of 195MPH bore down on these islands and there is not much left in the path of this huge storm.

Back out over water and headed for Vietnam it is still a very dangerous storm.

These folks need our prayers right now to overcome this devastation.

I found this interesting map of what the country might look like if all the ice caps melted.

Looks like we wouldn't have a very long drive to the coast !!  Lets pray that this never happens. Can you imagine how crowed our country would be if all the people in these areas moved inland ?
Thankful tonight for the belief in our Lord and Savoir and the peacefulness I have knowing all that happens on land and sea is under His careful loving control.
Good Night and God Bless

POWER CREW MOVES IN

They're back !!!!  When I came home from taking g-son to school this morning I saw the utility construction signs being put up along our road and by the time I finished chores they were working.

This is the power company and they seem really nice so far and are putting up new poles on our side of the road. It is a cold windy morning to be up in that bucket !!

It was 31 degrees this morning and windy so I'm sure the chill factor was on down there.
After breakfast and devotions I walked around the drive up on the hill.
I spent the rest of the morning baking cakes. I baked 6 caramel, 2 chocolate, 1 coconut, and 2 pound cakes as orders came in.
I had cakes in the ovens until almost 1:30. #2 son called and sent me on a search for some papers he needs. The house he wants to look at that is for sale by owner has a requirement of a loan approval paper before the owner will even let you come look at it !!??
I went through my pictures looking for November decade pics while waiting for little Evy to wake up from her afternoon nap so her mom and I could work on some bittersweet wreaths.
We have a patch of this vine growing on #1 son's property. Rebekah did all the climbing around in the bushes to cut the vines down while I mostly played with Evy and pulled the vines when she needed to see what else to cut to cut them free.
These wreaths are priced pretty high when you see them for sale and we found we can respect those prices after we spent three hours gathering and making three wreaths.
We aren't finished as darkness caught up with us before we got the finishing touches on them or got them sprayed so the berries won't shed anymore.
They did turn out pretty though.

I iced my cakes tonight while listening to the UNC Tarheels first basketball game of the season, they won easily 84 to 61.
In decade pics I found a couple from 1953 dated November for the oldest ones for this month.
This is my dad with his dog Jack. Jack was a German Shepherd/Collie mix and he was super smart.

This is my aunt Mary, mom's youngest sister with Jack

These are some of the first colored photos that are in the old albums.
I remember my dad talking about this dog for years after he was killed by a pack of wild dogs that he tried to fight away from our place.
Thanking God tonight for the wonderful memories of a hard working, honest father who shaped my life.
Good Night and God Bless.