FOGGY SATURDAY MARKET DAY

A very very foggy morning greeted us today.

I just thought it was foggy on the farm !  It was even worse when I got closer to town as I could not even see the red lights until I got really close to them.

Market was hidden in the fog !!

I had a decent sales day today with all the orders I had and I got to catch up with a couple friends who stopped by. When I came out of market this afternoon the parking lot was so wet from the morning's fog that it looked like it had rained.
After market I made supply stops at Aldi and Ingles for nest week's baking and tomorrow night's extended family Christmas gathering.
Made it home at 4:00 and met g-son getting a driving lesson on his dad's lap coming down the driveway. He looked happy !!!
Hubbie helped me get unloaded and get things put away just as #2 son drove up in a new truck he had bought. With his herniated disc in his neck the doctor told him he should get rid of his straight drive jeep wrangler and get something bigger and more comfortable to drive. This Ford F-150 crew cab fits the bill.

After her left hubbie and I did chores and hubbie showed me some bad news as a hawk had gotten one of the roosters I have turned loose in the garden. There wasn't much left but a lot of red feathers when he found him inside the fenced in garden this afternoon.

One less fryer for the freezer !!!
Daughter sent this picture of her basketball girls gathered at Ingles to ring the Salvation Army bells today.

After hubbie and I watched the news we cleaned house some. He helped vacuumed while I mopped all the floors.
Whew !! what a week !!!  This picture hit the nail on the head for me this week !!!

Thankful Thankful Thankful  to a wonderful merciful Savior and thankful that He sent His son to be my Savior as well as yours.
God Bless, Good Night and Merry Christmas

OUTSIDE DECORATIONS DONE !!

Got to sleep in a little this morning. D-in-love's dad was rushed to the hospital last night with his diabetic problems and she took today off to go to the hospital . G-son didn't feel great and with a stomach virus going around school she was afraid he might be getting sick so he stayed home also and they all slept in this morning.
After chores, breakfast and devotions I took a nice walk outside in the unbelievably warm morning temps of already mid 50's.  The trees look ghostly with their bare branches standing strong against the pretty clear blue sky.

This Bluebird watched me intently each time I walked by him.

My brother's wood pile reminded me that it is December !!!

Back inside I baked 18 caramel, 2 coconut, 3 chocolate and 4 pound cakes before having a late lunch.
G-son came to spend the afternoon with me while his mom went to the hospital.
After he had some lunch we went outside to finish the outside decorations. He was a very good carrying helper as I tried to save my right arm all I could. What he couldn't carry we managed to drag.  He picked out some favorite decorations that he wanted to find special places for.

He helped get Joseph's head back in place.

He was funny at one point as I stumbled while getting the angel for the manger scene out of the shed and hit the angel against a barrel in the shed. He said " oh no, Neena , I'm glad angels don't die cause you would have just killed that one" !!!!!

We worked hard all afternoon but we got it all done and when we plugged the cords in all the lights came on, yes !!!!

Unbelievable playing outside in a T-shirt in mid December !!!!

Tired but happy decorators !!!!

He is getting so big and that really comes in handy as I could really use a good helper lots of times.
Hubbie had stopped on his way home and brought him some supper so he ate while we did evening chores.
After his dad picked him up I started icing cakes.
Daughter's JV team won tonight but the varsity lost to cross town rival West Henderson. She is the second coach from the left watching her varsity players in this pic.

I finally had everything done and all packed up for market by midnight,whew !!!! HO !  HO !  HO !!!
I am very thankful for my health these days and the ability to get all the things done I need to do in this busy season. I never go to sleep at night without a prayerful thank you to my Heavenly Father for the grace and mercies He extends to me each and every day.  Special prayers tonight for d-in-love's dad.
Thankful for the Reason for the Season
God Bless and Good Night

HAPPY 10th ANNIVERSARY #1 SON

HAPPY 10th  ANNIVERSARY  #1 son and d-in-love.This picture was taken in August of this year before g-daughter arrived about a month later.

As I got ready for market today in a denim dress that I haven't worn in several years because of the cold weather in December I was thankful that our weather is so warm this year.
It is abnormally warm all over the country right now and everyone is just holding our breath to see when that "winter" shoe will drop and if we will pay dearly for these warm sunny days.

I had a decent market sales day with a couple orders that I had.  After market I did supply shopping and some Christmas shopping for my great nephews.
As I shopped I enjoyed the 70 degree afternoon without a jacket .

I finally made it home at 5:15 with g-son, who was here, a kid's meal for his supper. While he ate hubbie and I unloaded the Pilot and put things away before he left taking g-son to his first basketball practice. G-son was so excited about going to practice.
This is a picture of him in the green vest on offense.

Hubbie said he did as good or better than most of the 10 players on his team with it being his first night. His team had it's first practice on Monday night while g-son was at the Flat Rock Playhouse in his skit.
After getting all the chores done by flashlight and having a light supper I made a trip to Ingles to pick up some forgotten items from this afternoon.
When I got back hubbie had dropped g-son off and was here getting his late supper.
I worked on some Christmas gifts again tonight and then blogged.
Where does the time go in these days ?????
Thankful tonight for the gift of everlasting life and praying that this Christmas season bring endless joy for all my family and friends.
God Bless and Good Night.

BUSY WEDNESDAY and DECEMBER UNDATED PICS

G-daughter was here just ahead of daughter , who was bringing her baked goods by before going to work this morning. G-daughter was already back fast asleep in her swing by the time we go things inside.
I laid back down but I had gotten too wide awake for any more zzzz's today.
I did chores and had breakfast then started my baking for the day. It is a beautiful day again today and I thought about putting g-daughter in a stroller and walking for a while but I hated to wake her she looked so peaceful in her slumber.
I baked 12 caramel, 2 coconut, 1 chocolate, 2 pound and 3 blackberry wine cakes. G-daughter finally woke for her first bottle around 11am after I had all the cakes in the ovens which was perfect timing.
I think she is not going to be a morning person !!!!
She was very happy after she was fed and changed and was content to sit and watch me as I had lunch and then worked around the kitchen.
After she went down for her afternoon nap I worked on some Christmas gifts.
I need to catch up so many things but I am determined this year not to get overwhelmed !!!!
After d-in-love picked g-daughter up I finished one gift and then did chores. Hubbie was late getting home as he had to go to a CPR refresher course this afternoon that ran over allotted time.
It seems funny to be outside this time of year without coats, hats and gloves but it is really nice.
With clouds moving back in this evening the overnight temps are predicted to stay in the upper 30's.
After supper I headed to my office to do the weekly paperwork and pay bills. I also caught up the November month ending figures tonight and they were pretty good for such a rainy November as we had. At least I can mark one thing off my "catch up" list .
I spent the rest of the evening icing cakes and getting things ready for market.
Since there are no pics today I am going to reverse my usual order of decade pics by posting the undated for this month tonight.  These first two pictures are of my Uncle Anderson Holmes. I remember hearing stories of him and his pet squirrel.

 In this picture his missing arm is very evident. He lost it in World War II and received an honorable discharge.

This is his and my Aunt Hattie's milk cow and her twin bull calves.

This is my mother, Goldie on the left with her youngest sister, Mary on the right at some church with very long stairs.

 Humbly grateful for the gift of God's precious Son sent to save a sinful world.  The real Reason for the Season.
God Bless and Good Night.

GROOMING DAY FOR DOLLY

An alone quiet morning was nice today. There was a thin layer of ice on all the water pans even as all the forecasters called for above freezing temps last night. They are really missing the temps this season at least around my place seems they are always saying it is going to be warmer than it actually is. On the early morning news they talked about a small earthquake that happened north of our area very early today.

These earthquake trembles always bring back memories for me of once when I was a youngster and my mom grabbed me and my brother and ran outside to middle of our yard, out from under any trees. I can actually remember sitting down because the earth was shaking so. When I researched when there was an earthquake around here that strong I found that in July 0f 1957 there was an earthquake that cracked chimneys, walls and plaster all around our area. Can't believe I have that vivid of  memory from when I was 3 years old !!
I had a quick breakfast before taking this little shaggy sheep to the groomer.

Dolly hates going to the groomer but acts like she has a new lease on life when she gets home all pretty and fluffy.

I will definitely have to get out the doggy sweaters if the weather gets cold anytime soon !!!
She didn't seem nervous at all when I picked her up today. I like taking her to the Petco just out the road. They only keep her about 2 hours and I think that is much easier on her than staying all day like she used to at the previous groomer.
After I had lunch I cleaned house all afternoon and still arranged a few Christmas items that were left over.
Sis in-law Sandy and I planned out Christmas family get together today.
I re-hurt my right arm muscle sweeping and vacuuming today so I have spent some time on the heating pad tonight after chores and supper.
We had another above normal temp day at 58 degrees and all sunshine.
I am very thankful for the all the blessings of this day and humbly grateful for the birth of a perfect Savior sent to save mankind from our sins.
God Bless and Good Night.

G-SON ON STAGE AT THE FLAT ROCK PLAYHOUSE

Up at 7am to put g-daughter back to sleep in her swing. I got dressed just in time for Re to bring EL and BB over after working all night. It is a very foggy morning when I did chores a little earlier than usual.

These two were in great moods this morning even with both having runny noses and coughs.

After breakfast EL found all the Christmas toys and played with them sending me in search of batteries.

G-daughter must sense that this is going to be a BFF for her when she gets a little older because she can't take her eyes of EL when they both are here.

BB slept a good nap this morning while these girls had some girl time together !!

After lunch  EL wanted to decorate a Christmas tree so I got this one from downstairs and got out a box of styrofoam ornaments that hubbie's mom made and she did a great job.

All the time singing "gonna be a happy Christmas day" !!  She was very proud of her master piece !!

BB was more interested in the ornaments on my big tree than what his sister was doing.

Woohoo !!!  they all three took a long nap this afternoon at the same time !!!  Hubbie went to run some errands and I did the weekly laundry while keeping an eye on the monitors.
When they all woke up it was time for mom's to come pick them up.
Hubbie and I did chores early so we could get over to the Flat Rock Playhouse to see g-son's first acting debut !!!
The playhouse offered a program in the elementary schools to let kids get their feet wet on stage.

G-son and a friend signed up. He has been staying after school every Monday for the last 6 weeks to practice a short skit to be preformed on the playhouse stage. His group consisted of 3rd thru 5th graders at the elementary school he goes to.

 When we arrived the parking lot was overfilling fast and we were stack parked nose to tail with other cars attending the same time frame skits as we were. Lucky for us we were on the end on the line and next to the road.
G-son did so well I was really surprised. He was really into his roll in the skit and never missed a word. He had a smile on his face the entire time even when he was waiting to come out on stage.

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I was very proud of all these kids and in awe of what they had accomplished in only a few short weeks.
After these first groups preformed the announcer actually asked all us to leave so the next groups family could have parking and seats. This was the first year the playhouse offered these programs but I'm positive it won't be the last !!
As we left and drove home I thought back a few years to when g-son was younger and how much he has changed in what seems to be such a short time. Maybe he will be on a big stage one day and I will be blessed enough to see him.
This day has been more like spring than December but we will take all the warm sunny days we can get. The jet stream is stuck up north for a while allowing the entire country to have much above normal temps for December days. Gonna be hard to look at Christmas decorations this week-end !

Thanking God for a wonderful day filled with the joys that only children can bring !!! Remembering tonight all those brave soldiers that lost their lives 74 years ago when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. Never forget !!!

God Bless and Good Night