EARLY THANKSGIVING MEAL

Even though it felt like a spring morning this morning I knew better than to go without taking a coat to market today.
It is in the 50's at 9:30 but the air already has a nip that you can feel. The cold front is coming through later today.
Market was pretty good today and I took a couple more orders for Tuesday. Hubbie is taking Tuesday off work to help me with all the orders I have.
Hubbie left market to go by Sam's Club to pick up some things for us and then come home and get the 20 pound turkey in the oven. Tonight is his side of the family's Thanksgiving dinner get together.
Sis-in-law is cooking a ham so I am doing the turkey. All the younger ladies did alot of the other things so it wasn't so much on her and I.
I stopped by Sav-Mor and Aldi on the way home for baking supplies for Tuesday and was thankful I had brought my coat with me.
I made a 7-layer salad and some deviled eggs to go with the turkey when I got home. Aaron came by with a big box of Pink Lady apples, guess I will be making applesauce soon.
The sunset this evening as the front blows through was really amazing.

After chores hubbie and I headed over to the "Mustang" restaurant where we meet for our dinner each year. Sis-in-law's niece runs the restaurant that serves breakfast and lunch everyday so it's nice to be able to use it for our dinner since this side of the family has gotten so big.
I left my camera in the van so there aren't any pics this year,darn it !!!
There was a lot of fellowship and good food,everyone made it but #2 son who was working and I made him a plate. The Post Office has their busiest time this time of the year.
Hubbie and I stopped by Walmart on our way home to pick up some things for tomorrow's lunch.
The weather had definitely changed from the nice warm morning, tonight it is already in the mid 30's at 9:00 and the wind is whipping around at 25mph and higher dropping the chill factor into the single digits.
Today was a cold day for the annual Henderson County toy run. A large group of motorcyclist all with toys on their cycles braved the cold temps and wind to drive  from Fletcher Park to the Court House in downtown to drop the toys off. These will be given out at Christmas time to the needy children of the county who would not otherwise get anything under the tree on Christmas morning.

Tonight I am very grateful for the generousity of folks like these who make a difference in so many lives.
Good Night and God Bless.

50th ANNIVERSARY OF A VERY SAD DAY

GOOD  MORNING !!!!

It is a foggy morning after a misty rain yesterday and over night left about 3/10ths inch of rain in the gauge.
This is the mountains on my way home from dropping g-son at school.

After chores and breakfast I took a nice walk. I hope my forsythia saves enough blooms to have some for the spring color show.

In this unseasonably warm spell we are having even one of my plum trees has these two little blooms hanging on to naked branches.

It doesn't take many days of warm temps after a really cold spell to fool things into thinking it is spring !!
I spent the morning making some business calls, reporting static on my home phone line again and checking to see if my glasses were ready yet.
I didn't get started with my baking until after lunch. I baked 12 caramel, 4 chocolate, 2 black walnut pound and 2 blackberry wine cakes. I don't have many orders for tomorrow but I do expect some folks to be shopping for their Thanksgiving desserts early.
My glasses were ready about 3:00 and just as I left to go pick them up the phone repairman called to say he was turning over my problem to the cable construction unit. He said all the lines on my circuit were bad because of a naked cable.
My glasses will need an adjustment but I can wear them. I picked up drinks and water for the fifth quarter celebration at church tonight for the youth that daughter helps with on the way home.
I stayed busy this afternoon doing odd jobs and icing cakes.
Today is a significant day in the history of our country as this is the 50th anniversary of the assasination of our 35th president John F. Kennedy.
That was a very sad day for our country and I remember when the news got out we were sent home from school early and everyone was crying. I was 9 years old in the 4th grade and somehow even as young as I was I knew somehow our country would never be the same.

As President Kennedy and his wife Jackie rode in this convertible through the streets of Dallas, Texas shots rang out to put an end to this happy occasion.

Lee Harvey Oswell was in a building along the route on an upper floor and shot the president.

Then Oswell was shot and killed while in custody by a man named Jack Ruby who had connections with the moffia.
Still today there are many questions around this killing and almost as many theories as to who else was involved as there are questions.

Leaving us all to wonder how the history of our country might have been changed if this great man would have been able to fulfill his term as President.

Thankful tonight for the difference this man made in the short time he lived and grateful that ultimately God is in control.
Good Night and God Bless.

KUMQUATS

Another late market morning,uhhh !!!
Thankfully there was no one there waiting or for that matter to even notice what time I arrived.
I had a couple very nice orders so I had a good day  even though the nasty rainy cool weather kept most of the customer away.
I have a new neighbor across the aisle,her name is Cathy and she takes as many bird photos as I do. She turns hers into cards, mats them and frames some for sale. She does a great job. Hoping she does a successful business.
I got a nice surprise at market today as a friend brought me a box of kumquats fresh from Florida. I have never eaten these and she brought some recipes for them but I like to just eat them. I like sour things and these aren't as sour as the lemons I eat. I will spread them out and hopefully they will ripen slowly so I can enjoy them for awhile.

Thanks Susan !!!

After market I ran errands and picked up baking supplies and groceries for some of my Thanksgiving cooking. 
Daughter has negotiated a large bakery deal with a local business for cakes for Christmas so I need to start collecting supplies for that now.
At home around 5:00 hubbie was waiting to help unload and get things put away before we did chores. We made it inside just after dark.
It has rained all day but I forgot to check out the gauge this evening.
G-son came to stay with us while d-in-love attended a meeting at church and son worked.
He is already so excited for Christmas he wanted to start decorating tonight. I like Thanksgiving and told him we could start the day after that.
The weather is going to feel like Thanksgiving with a cold front that is coming through this weekend.

I am tired tonight and hoping for a good night's sleep. Last night I couldn't get to sleep because hubbie was snoring loudly. I almost went to the couch. He doesn't usually snore that loudly but we think the drier air our wood stove creates makes us both snore when normally we don't.
He put a breathing strip across his nose tonight to see if that would quieten him down a bit.
Thankful tonight for generous friends and loving family.
Good Night and God bless.

EMPTY NESTS ???

This is the first morning this week I'm not in a hurry to get things done after I get back home from dropping g-son. I don't have to be any where today so I can have that extra cup of tea and get a good start in the New Testament as I just finished the Old last week.
I also got to take a nice long walk on this nice sunny, mid 40's morning. The moon was still plainly visible in the western sky this morning.

 I am always surprised when all the leaves fall off the trees at all the nest that are up in the trees.

It's fun to think about all those little eyes that watched me this past season from these nest.

This one is at eye level in one of my pear trees.

I baked cakes all morning ,12 caramel, 2 chocolate, 3 pound cakes and 1 wine cake. I have taken several orders for Tuesday so it is shaping up to be a busier day than I had expected.
After lunch I swept off all the patios and porches. All the Bittersweet berries left over from our wreath making of a couple weeks ago will be swept out to grow into new vines for next season's wreath making.
As I look down over the road I wander what this view will look like in just a little while as a news report in the paper yesterday said the new bridge contractors could begin work as early as this coming Monday.

After I picked g-son up from school I stopped at Dollar General for a gallon of milk and with g-son along that milk cost me $16 instead of $4, haha !!!
When I got him settled in with something to eat I worked on some paperwork and weekly bill paying.
When hubbie got home g-son went with him to feed the cow and work on something in his workshop.
That boy sure loves his Pawpaw !!
I iced all my cakes and got things ready for market by 11:00.
I still have to put a hot pack on my arm to get to sleep at night but is getting better each day thankfully.
Thankful tonight for God's unconditional love for His children.
Good Night and God Bless.

DOLLY'S TURN AT THE VET

It was Dolly's turn at the vet this morning so after getting g-son to school,chores and breakfast we headed out for her 9:15 appointment.  I want to have her eyes examined as I'm pretty sure she has a catarac started on one of them.
Sure enough she does have a catarac and he said she probably already couldn't see very well at all out of it. She also had conjuntivitis in the other eye,which he gave me some antibiotic ointment to put in it.
I asked him about some medicine I saw on the internet called "Can-C" to use to keep cataracs from getting worse and he hadn't heard of it. Guess it will be up to me to do the research. Anyone out there ever hear of it ?
We made it back home by 10:30 which was pretty good with all the animals they had at the office.
Dolly was definitely glad to be home and safely in her little space. You can see the catarac in this pic.

I tackled my weekly laundry and housework chores for the rest of the morning and into the afternoon.
It is chilly outside with a temperature of 52 degrees with partly cloudy skies so it is just as well I don't have time for any outside activities today.
After I picked up g-son I put away the last load of laundry for the week.
I need to do some sewing but just can't get in the mood.  Instead I sat out in the sunroom and drank a cup of hot tea while g-son serrenaded me with his little keyboard.
This colorful sunset got prettier as the sun went down tonight and I was almost to late to get a picture.

While I had my camera I snapped a picture of all my ladies enjoying their new bigger house.

It's funny how that back roosting pole in front of the window always gets filled up first,evidently window seats are popular everywhere !!!
After g-son left and the chores were done I watched the news from the couch with a hot pack on my right arm. Seems all this housework stuff irritates my pulled muscles !!
Talked to daughter tonight after their first game and they won very decisively so she was happy.
Her busy season begins as she said they have three games most weeks,whew !!
Thankful tonight for the love of animals that God put in my heart as I get so much joy out of being around and watching these amazing creations.
Good Night and God Bless.

LOVIN' LIFE AND MY LITTLES

G-son arrived before 7 this morning to get this day started for hubbie and me. As hubbie took him to school I did the chores and had breakfast before little Evy gets here. Her mom worked last night and she is going to have to start getting some sleep in the morning when she gets home so she won't get sick.  When she brought Evy in she put her straight back to bed for her morning nap. After giving me her schedule she went home for some much needed rest.
While Evy napped I left hubbie with her and took my broken glasses to the place I bought them. They ordered another nose bridge for about $50 so that wasn't so bad. They had a one year warranty and it expired this past July. The only concern is getting the new bridge in the exact location as the old one. It will take a couple days to get them fixed, lucky I have my old glasses !
When I got home Evy was still sleeping so I caught up some paperwork. About 11:30 she finally woke up !  That was an extra long morning nap but I don't think she slept well last night so she was probably catching up.
She was in a wonderful mood when she woke, so after she had her bottle we went outside on this beautiful sunny 65 degree day. She loves to walk around and look at the cows and chickens. I hate to wish her life away but I will be glad when she can actually "walk" around herself.
We came back inside and she played while hubbie and I had lunch, then I fed her lunch pumpkin/bananas, which she loved. It is so good that she eats as well as she does.
She played for  a little while and then got sleepy again so I put her back to bed.
While she slept this time I tackled a picture project of putting some photos in albums.
Hubbie's brother came at 2:00 to pick him up for the funeral of their aunt. All that activity woke little Evy but she again woke up smiling.
When her mom came after her she was all smiles and giggles.
They left in time for me to go pick up g-son. He was disappointed that Evy wasn't still here when he got here.
After getting him settled with something to eat I went back to work on the pictures. Once I get this started and get them all spread out I hate not to get it finished.
After #1 son came after g-son I did chores,then finally got all the prints I have in the album,whew !!!
Hubbie said the funeral today was nice and he got to chat with another aunt that lives in Florida.

 This fits Christine perfectly !!

As I came inside tonight I poured 1/2" of rain from the gauge from yesterday's rain.
The temps are suppose to get near freezing tonight and only in the mid 50's tomorrow behind the cold front that is blowing through tonight.
Yesterday the midwest got hit by a tornado outbreak that left six folks dead and many homes totally destroyed.

This aerial photo shows the path of one of the strongest with estimated winds of over 190 MPH.

To add to the strange mid November weather, there is the 13th named storm out in the Atlantic ocean right now.  Melissa is no threat to land but is causing some rough surf along the the islands and east coast.

Okay !! Mother Nature you know Thanksgiving is next week !!!   Time for all these big winds to subside until next spring !

My heart is full tonight after being surrounded with my favorite two little people all day today. I think that being a grandmother is what I have always been cut out to do, I just love it !!
Thankful tonight for the unconditional love that children give and the innocence that they view the world with. Wish I could be more like them !!
Good Night and God Bless.

WONDERFUL SUNDAY

Before church this morning I cut up carrots for a glazed carrot recipe I am trying for lunch.
Church was good today. We have so much "new" life in our church as I look around it's so great to see all the little ones.
This is little Evy ( the only little girl), and one of the little boys that were born in the series of about 6 babies last spring and summer. I think she will be able to take care of herself among all those boys !!!

We had roast beef, baked potatoes,corn,glazed carrots and Rebekah brought a delicious broccoli salad that got all gone in a hurry. The glazed carrots were very good also and had no left overs.
I love the laughter and conversation that fills the house on these Sunday afternoons. Makes me so happy that everyone enjoys each other so much.
#2 son was playing golf early today to hopefully get ahead of the rain that  started just after lunch.
After everyone left hubbie and I went to meet up with him to look at a house for sale up the road from us.  He made an offer on it but there is quite a bit of work that needs to done to the house.
He talked to the owner who lives in Florida and said he didn't think his offer was good enough but that he wouldn't be willing to go any higher because of the amount of work that will need to be done to the house. It is in a beautiful location but has been sitting and neglected for quite  awhile.
We put it in God's hands, if it is meant for him to get it or if there is something better that God has for him,now we wait. This is the house. Some of the windows had been left open upstairs letting rain blow in and soak into the downstairs ceiling causing a large sag.

It rained all afternoon ,pretty hard at times. I didn't look at the rain gauge as it was getting dark quickly when we got home from looking at the house so I will have a total tomorrow because it is supposed to rain all night anyway.
#2 son and hubbie watched the finish of the last Nascar race of the season when we got home .
Son took a plate of left-overs home with him when he left.
Still praying tonight for the family of Aunt Christine who died yesterday. This is the obit that was in today's paper.

She was a special lady and will be greatly missed.

Thankful today for wonderful Sunday worship services and for the freedom to worship as I please without fear.
Good Night and God Bless.