SWIMMING SUNDAY

Church was good this morning as we commissioned the members of the church that are headed to Pennsylvania this Friday for a week long mission trip.  It used to be called the youth mission trip and the youth of our church made up the bulk of the travelers but it has grown to 140 people from 5 different churches this year,wow.  To God be all the glory that comes from this trip.
After church we had everyone for lunch. We polished off all the left overs from our fourth BBQ and added some fresh green beans and potatoes.  While things were cooking the girls all went to an estate sale just out the road and they all found something. Hubbie and I kept the kids here and the guys came in to help.
Everyone went home for a while then we all got back together and headed down to the pool for an evening swim.
The kids enjoyed it very much even though the water was a bit cooler than it has been with our 50 degree nights of the last several days.

There were wild blackberries all around the pool and hubbie,Evy and I sampled some of them. Evy decided blackberries were not a favorite of hers but they were pretty good if you found the really ripe ones.

This is a beautiful very well kept little park around the pool.
We came home around 6:00 and had a snack supper before chores.  Then we ended a perfect Sunday with a nice relaxing rest out in the patio watching traffic on the road below for what may be the last evening for a while as they have the road blocks ready to close down the road while they finish the new bridge and connect the roads. The road will be closed for the next 30 days probably barring any delays. Getting in and out of our driveway may get pretty interesting.
God is so good all the time, all the time God is good !!
Good Night and God Bless.

GOOD AFTER FOURTH MARKET DAY

Up early and off to market this morning. G-son spent the night with daughter last night and they are already there with her blackberries and baked goods. G-son called to asked hubbie to stop by Chick-fi-la to pick up some breakfast for him.
It was another good selling day as daughter and I both almost sold out of baked goods and berries.
G-son spent the day with his "curb market crew" and they all were very well behaved.

G-son went home with his aunt T after market and I picked up baking supplies at Aldi on my way home.
While his aunt T mowed her lawn g-son and Kermit relaxed on the steps with popsicle and drink to watch.

After I got the van unloaded I relaxed also trying to wind down after my busy week.
Hubbie and I cleaned up and put away all the tables and extra things from last night.
He worked in the garden while I did the chores.
After supper we sat outside but the air is still a bit cool to be out there late in the evening.
I am catching up my blogging tonight as throughout this week I haven't posted on a regular daily bases because of one problem or another with the internet connection or my phone having trouble sending the pics to my e-mail, etc. ,etc.  but all the problems finally got worked out tonight so I was able to catch up.
Grateful for the many undeserved blessings of the day.
Good Night and God Bless.

HAPPY 238th BIRTHDAY AMERICA

AND   HAPPY  JULY 4TH   !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This morning feels more like a fall day than July 4th but we' ll surely take the nice break from the heat of summer.
Unfortunately for our coastal residents this July 4th is not enjoyable as hurricane Arthur hit the coast with category 2 strength in the early morning hours leaving many thousands without electricity and lots of major flooding.
This is downtown Manteo.

This pic shows the waves battering the Oak Island pier where we spent our vacation last summer.

Luckily there were no fatalities as most folks took the evacuation orders seriously.
This is the earliest hurricane to ever hit North Carolina so the name Arthur will be taken out of circulation and retired into history.

I spent the morning baking cakes as I baked 18 caramel, 3 chocolates, 1 coconut, 6 pound and 2 wine cakes.
Hubbie spent the day watching the smoker filled with ribs and chicken.
After lunch I iced some of the caramel cakes then hubbie and I started setting up for our BBQ tonight.
The kids have all been at the pool today.

Although the temperature is around 80 the sun is shining brightly.
Our ribs and chicken turned out very good and we made slaw and iced tea to go with all the sides the girls brought.  Daughter brought jeolapeno pepper poppers and fruit pizza. D-in-love brought twice baked potatoes, Rebekah brought baked beans and grilled corn on the cob, Katelyn (daughter's  x-little sister) and her grandmother brought drinks and I also made peach ice cream.  We had fourteen folks here and the meal was delicious.  Along with our regular family and Katelyn and her g-ma, one of d-in-love's friends from Charlotte and her husband came to eat with us. I haven't seen Carla since d-in-love's wedding. We set up tables out in the outside patio since the weather was so nice and there was more room outside than inside.

After we ate the kids played in the yard while we adults visited .

I got some playing in also as these two need someone to pull the wagon so they could ride together.

As it got darker the sparklers came out and the kids as well as the adults enjoyed the evening's fireworks.

Daughter brought some glow stick flags.

The darker it got the prettier the fireworks got and these didn't make the big booms that all the neighbors were making.

A wonderfully happy , safe July 4th for our family and friends, hope yours was the same !
I feel really blessed tonight, thanks to a loving Lord.
Good Night and God Bless

ARTHUR CLOSES IN ON COAST

G-son was here early this morning excited about going to market with me. I did chores and got the van loaded while he ate breakfast and decided what he wanted to take with him.
He actually helped a lot as we unloaded when we got there he stacked all the empty trays and even put some things out for display on the table.
He then joined some friends at their mom's table to draw some pictures.

I had a very busy day as I expected thanks to God .
The day heated up after lunch and customers became scarcer.
We ran the regular errands and picked up supplies and groceries at Aldi, Sav Mor and Walmart.
Walmart was very crowded and I was glad to be headed out in the country out of the heavy traffic and crowded stores.
We stopped at the farm outlet to pick up some peaches for ice cream tomorrow and g-son showed off his "stretchie" .

We got home and unloaded before his dad picked him up.  Hubbie who had gotten off work a little early and I took a break and watched the news.
The weather news is all about hurricane Arthur who has become a much stronger hurricane than anyone thought it would as it makes land fall on the coast of NC along the outer banks it is a category 2 hurricane.

A huge storm at 400 miles wide we are  getting wind from the outer bands in our area tonight.

 After we did chores and had supper hubbie and I made a trip to Sam's Club and Ingles to get supplies for tomorrow's BBQ.
Daughter was here when we got back and left her rental car here while she took Tipper and her jeep home.  She looked tired from a long day of driving.  Thankful to have her safely home.
Of course Tipper knows she gets a bath after each visit of playing with our outside dogs and she is not looking to happy about it.

As hubbie and I ended the day relaxing out in the patio it felt more like fall than the hot month of July as the hurricane's winds are really cooling the temps down.
I am very tired tonight and am looking forward to a good night's sleep after the restless one of last night. We are turning the air conditioning off and opening the windows tonight for a very nice cool break to start off this month of July.
Thanking God tonight for His watchful ,loving care of daughter as she traveled and grateful for all the wonderful blessings that He sent my way today.
Good Night and God Bless.

GREEN BEAN CANNING

Another  beautiful summer morning as g-son and I headed out to feed the animals and took a morning walk . It is already getting hot outside and the humidity is rising quickly.
When we came back inside he went to work with a construction set that I found for him and I started baking my cakes. I baked 18 caramel, 1 coconut, 2 chocolate, 3 pound  cakes and 2 blackberry wine cakes. I finished in time for a late lunch.
G-son and I went outside to play but the heat was too much, making the air conditioned house feel to inviting.
I decided to get a canner of green beans started and after 3 false starts with a leaking seal I finally got this canning season started.
Rebekah and Evy came over bringing her canner and broke beans so we alternated canners and were able to can twice as many jars of green beans as with only one canner.  Rebekah brought over supper and Aaron came in so the four of us had delicious chicken breast and some sauteed yellow squash for a nice energy lift to get the last load of beans done.  We had a total of 28 quarts and almost a bowl full to add a jar or two of canned squash to to make a full canner load for tomorrow.

They turned out really pretty in the jars and will taste really good when the snow flies this winter !!
This is the easiest canning I have ever done it does make it easier to have someone doing it with you.
After all our canning apparatuses were washed and put away Rebekah left and I went to my office to sit down to give my legs and feet a brief rest and do the weekly paperwork and pay bills.
I spent the rest of the evening icing all my cakes and getting things ready for market tomorrow. The day before the Fourth will be a busy day.
Daughter has had a good day touring Washington DC with her friend Megan. This is daughter in front of the US Capital building.

 She said it was 99 degrees as they walked around up there and she said she felt her feet were steaming when she got into this fountain. It was 90 degrees here but I didn't have a water fountain to cool off in .

 The White House was well guarded but she managed to sneak this pic without anyone in the pic.

At the end of a long hot day she said she felt like she had walked 10 miles in the dessert. She is heading home in the morning so she was headed to bed to get a good night's sleep.

May God bless her with traveling mercies as she makes the eight hour trip home alone tomorrow.
Good Night and God Bless.

ARTHUR USHERS IN JULY AND I AM IN THE BEANS

First day of July brings the first named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season.
Early this morning Arthur was named and looks to spoil a lot of fourth of July beach celebrations all along the east coast.

He is not expected to cause any problems in our area so we are still expecting a dry holiday.
This morning after a quick early trip to Walmart to pick up some canning jar lids I got the chores done, had breakfast then went back out in the tropical feeling early morning to walk.
The high for today was 88 and early this morning it was really hot.  I pulled weeds for the chickens as I was ending my walk and felt like I sweated a gallon just doing that at 10am.
Our garden is doing great so far.  The rains of  late really gave it a boost and we are now getting, squash, cucumbers,peppers and the green beans need to be picked.

I spent the morning inside cleaning house.  After lunch and a brief break for my aching back after all the vacuuming and mopping I headed back up to the garden to pick some of the bush beans so I could make some Dilly Beans.  I haven't made these in years because we always just grow half runner beans and they don't make good Dilly Beans because of the large seeds in them . I found some old bush bean seed this year and hubbie planted them early not expecting them to come up but they did and have supplied us with some earlier than usual fresh green beans. I don't even remember what the name of the beans are but they are ideal for Dilly Bean making.  I broke the ends off and washed them.

I washed and heated 9 pint jars, boiled water, vinegar and salt while I filled the jars with the beans and added garlic, cayenne pepper and dill seed to each jar before pouring the boiling liquid over them.  I water bathed them for 10 minutes and they all sealed and look lovely.

While I was slaving away at this task daughter sent me these pics of her and her friend Megan as they did some sight seeing up in Maryland where Megan lives.
They were crossing the Bay Bridge which is the longest bridge on the East coast on their was to Chessapeak Bay.

They jet skied in the Bay on a hot 90+ day up there.

Daughter is on the right, looks like they had a great time.
As for me it was back to the garden for more bean picking when Rebekah came up. Hubbie took care of Evy while we picked about a bushel and a half of Half Runner Beans.
I see a lot of bean breaking in our future !!!!
Aaron came over and helped her carry them home, I kept the 1/2 bushel as that is all hubbie and I will get broke tonight anyway.
After chores and supper I baked 4 pound cakes and he started breaking the beans. When I went in to help he said he thought he had "bean" elbow from all the breaking.  We decided we were very appreciative to have help from Rebekah with all this gardening this year.  She is feeling much better today thankfully.
As I sat out in the sunroom this afternoon I marveled at the blooms on this Peace Lily out there.

They do look like flags of surrender.
Thankful to God for the blessings of this first day of July, may He be glorified in all that I do.
Good Night and God Bless.