MODERN DAY MOONSHINERS BUSTED

Off to market early this morning alone. Daughter is meeting with the bank's appraiser to look at her house at 9:00.
When I pulled into the parking lot at market it looked like a January day instead of the Thursday before the 4th of July. Where is everyone??
It was slow all day. Daughter brought us sub-way when she got there at about 11:00.
The appraiser only had a question about the distance between the well and septic which we had letters from the county already addressing this. He looked over everything and found no broken water lines or anything that wouldn't work except the hot water heater.
I'll be curious to see what value he puts on this house.
I made 8 towel angels while daughter watched for customers after lunch.
We had to make a stop at the bank together to sign some papers before she headed home and I ran my regular weekly errands.
I made it home by 3:30 but it took me an hour to unload and get everything put away.
Daughter was asleep,she is still very sore and feels bad from her teeth pulling .
Hubbie came in from work and the 3 of us rested while we watched the news.
We ate a light supper then headed over to her house to make sure everything is locked back up.
Are moonshiners making a come back in the Carolina's????????Just across the N.C./S.C. border today deputies busted up a modern day moonshine still.They found 2,000 gallons of moonshine on the property,wow that's a lot of fire water !!!
Apparently this farmer was selling the shine out of his peach stand. It must have been good stuff because the sheriff said after just 2 glasses of it any man would be rolling around on the ground.
I've been told that my dad was a moonshine runner in his early days but that was way before my time.

I baked cakes tonight for another late nighter,it is 12:20 am and I'm still waiting on the last ones to came out of the ovens. I'm very tired tonight but tomorrow I will be glad I stuck it out and finished tonight.
I just realized I'm in the month of July already for the last 20 minutes. My how time flies when you're having fun and I am having fun. I love life,I love my Lord,I love my family. I'd just like to hold on to each day a little longer to squeeze every bit of the sweetness from it. As June passes into July I'm excited to see what my Lord has in His plans for me this month.
A short recap of this month:
The weather has been historically bad this June as many places have seen flooding and tornadoes like never before. We've been very fortunate here to just had have had thunderstorms and just a little hail. But the temperatures have been very hot,leaving us to look for ways to cool down.#1 son had his knee rebroke and straightened for the 2nd June in a row he spent time in the hospital.All things considered June 2011 has been a fairly calm,month with the rains bringing out all the beautiful color in the flower blooms and our garden is starting to produce fresh summer vegetables that I wait all winter for.
Grateful for life this evening !!
Good Night and God Bless.

2001 MEMORIES

Early start this morning, got a new clock now and all is back on schedule !
Daughter is getting slowly back to normal today and has errands to run and papers to sign.
After morning chores I gleaned over the garden for fresh squash and cucumbers.
I will pick a mess of green beans later to cook for an early supper tonight.
I came in and ate my bowl of cereal breakfast while watching a hungry daughter fix scrambled eggs and sausage with toast for herself before she headed out.
I cleaned all the floors ,porches and patio as well as put several things away that I had sat down waiting a time to get them where they were supposed to be.
My early start payed off as I'm done with all the housework at 1:00.
It's 85 degrees with plenty of sunshine outside today so I think I will soak up some of it for a while this afternoon.
Whew !!! it is hot outside,it didn't take me long to get a red face while picking beans.
When Hubbie came in from work we had an all fresh from the garden veggie supper.
Daughter got her baking done this evening and I iced caramel and chocolate cakes.
We have quite a few orders for the holiday weekend already.

As I looked through old photos of 2001 I realized this was one of the times when I took very few pictures. It's funny how when your kids grow up you take less photos.
The only thing I could find was pics of a trip to Dollywood in June of 2001.
Here is daughter in the back and one of her friends riding the bumper cars.


From left to right, #2 son,#1 son, friend , daughter getting ready to swing fast and high.
I don't know when our annual trips to Dollywood stopped but every time I see pictures of them I want to go again.
Wow, I can't believe tomorrow is the last day of June,this year is officially 1/2 over.
Thanking God for all His blessings today.
Good Night and God Bless.

LAVENDER SCENTS AND COLORS

Got up late this morning due to a malfunctioning alarm clock. Oh well there's nothing pressing on today's agenda except a cake delivery this morning so I'll be alright.
Daughter seems to be a little better this morning,she is still very sleepy but is eating some.
I got laundry started and made my delivery then did housework the rest of the morning.
It is sunny outside this morning with mid 80's temperatures. The weather wizards are calling for strong storms later today.
I hung towels out in hopes the sun would stay out long enough to dry them but it didn't and I had to put them in the dryer to finish drying.
After lunch I did more housework,seems this is a never ending thing around here.
I made a couple phone calls for daughter setting up an appointment for water testing at her house because her jaws are sore and she doesn't feel like doing a lot of talking.
The skies got very dark about 3:30 and I was expecting really bad storm as I could hear the thunder getting closer. We squeezed in between 2 bad storms and only got some rain,thank you Lord.

Last week I bought a large plastic Hawk to hang under my covered patio in hopes that it would keep the Pileated Woodpeckers form destroying the timbers looking for carpenter bees.
So far it is working as I watched 3 of these beauties fly from tree to tree today around the yard ignoring the patio.
As I walked out the back door this morning I got a whiff of a lovely fragrance,not the mimosa, but something else just as sweet.
Just outside the door is a pot of Lavender and it is beginning to bloom it's dainty little sweet smelling blossoms.
Speaking of lavender, (the color) that is I've noticed some of my Hosta's have these lovely deep lavender blooms this year.
I've never notice the color being this deep on these blooms, this picture really doesn't do them justice as they are a much deeper lavender color than they show up.
Maybe it's just the right amount of rain,or the timing of the rain. What ever it is I'm sure enjoying all the wonderful rich colors this year.
This evening Hubbie ,daughter and I went over to her house to make sure the power was on. I talked to one of the neighbors and they really seemed like nice folks.
Back home #1 son was loading his skid steer on a buyers trailer. I know he is sad to see it go but this part of his journey is over and another part is getting ready to begin as soon as his leg heals. He is closer to God now and I've got a feeling this next part will be better than any he's traveled before.
I baked cakes tonight and am getting ready to head for bed as it is almost midnight.
Thankful to God tonight for His everlasting love.
Good Night and God Bless.

BLACKBERRY JAM MAKING AND WISDOM TEETH REMOVAL

As I was just finishing the morning chores daughter caught up with me to say she is lining things up for Thursday and Friday of this week to have the power turned on in her house for the appraiser and inspectors. Also where's the jars for the blackberry jam she was going to make today? ,etc.,etc. !!!
Whoa!! There's no way I can run on this girl's schedule,not anymore. But she does remind me of a younger me that's for sure.
Anyway back in the house while I ate breakfast we made some phone calls and got things lined up. I'm just waiting for a friend of mine who is the well inspector to call me back.
Daughter is off to her friends farm to pick more blackberries.
It is already 80 degrees before 11 am so it's gonna be another hot one but clouds are already building.
Sent an Avon order off and moved some chickens around to larger cages before lunch time.
They will be much cooler as well as having lots more room. I cleaned out the brooder box she left so it will be ready for the next broody girl.
Daughter came back with 3 gallons of berries ,1 to eat and 2 to make into jam.
She went to work on the jam between phone calls from the bank, the realtor ,inspector,appraisor,water inspectors and Duke Power.
I think we have everything lined up now, whew!!
Power on tomorrow, de-winterizing Wednesday, appraisal Thursday, inspection Friday,power off Saturday.

14 jars of blackberry jam.14 jars of not so jelled jam that can be used for pancake and ice cream syrup.
Yum Yum !!!

Okay it was time to head on down to the dentist for her wisdom teeth removal.
She had "happy" pills to take before she got there so she would be calm.
We picked up Hubbie from work on the way just in case. But things went remarkably well, the dentist had all 4 out in less than 30 minutes and said they were all easy pulls and not even any stitches. She was still really dopey on the trip back up the mountain. We stopped and got her pain meds before we came home plus some ice cream and baby food for her to eat until the swelling goes down.
We drove through rain on the way down and on the way back up the mountain but we got no rain here so I did some watering this evening.
The Mimosa trees in the yard are full of fragrant blooms this year.These are such fragile pretty blooms.And ohhhh they smell so goooood !!!!!

I came inside to help daughter remove the gauze pads and get her something to drink to take a pain pill and she wound up passed out in the kitchen floor. She started down and I caught her so she didn't hit her head and just layed her down on her back and got a cold rag for her head. Hubbie was spraying weed killer on the bank in front of the house so I called #2 son to come help me get her up and onto the couch.
She recovered quickly and ate some baby food and ice cream after she took her pill.
She will be sleeping in the recliner tonight so we can hear her if she gets up.
Fainting is common in our family so we usually expect it in these situations.

Thanking God tonight for giving daughter a very easy time at the dentist,praying now for a quick recovery.
Good Night and God Bless.

NURSERY DUTY-- BABY SHOWER SUNDAY

Nursery duty at church today,oh boy !! Had 6 toddlers , 2 boys and 4 girls, everyone was well behaved and only had 1 crier just for a minute so it was a pretty easy time. Hubbie and I also had daughter and another younger mother to help,so 4 on 6 was a good ratio.

Had lunch with everyone here then daughter and I went to my niece's baby shower.


She is due to have a little boy on August 23rd.

She and my nephew were married in Jamaica last June.

She got a lot of very nice things. This 3-wheeler made from diapers was the hit of the shower, so cute !!!!

After the shower we made a stop in Ingles and another delivery daughter needed to make then came home.
It has been a mid 80's temperature day with mostly cloudy skies and on and off light showers.
A lady from market came after one of my free roosters this afternoon. That leaves 3 to give away.
I worked in my flowers for a while this evening between showers.This is my favorite Geranium blossom.This Ice Plant is really enjoying all the rain we've had lately.

So is this pot of Impatients.

And I'm just the kind of person to have a Pumpkin growing in my landscape just outside my back door.Some times we are so anxious to get the vegetables from these plants that we overlook the beauty of the blossoms they produce.
I sat last years Halloween jack-o-lantern in this flower bed so the birds and squirrels could feast on the pumpkin seeds and I am rewarded with this vine full of large pretty blossoms.
Not looking forward to tomorrow as I am taking daughter to have her 4 wisdom teeth all pulled at one time.

This day has been a good one with the blessings from God that I'm truly grateful for.
Good Night and God Bless.

HOT DAY AND 1991 MEMORIES

Woke up an hour early this morning and as I lay there waiting for the alarm to go off I heard on the scanner that an accident just up the road had clipped a power pole.
I got up and hurriedly got anything done that would require electricity in case they turned the power off to fix the pole.
We made it to market on time and after getting set up Hubbie and Daughter walked down the street to a produce market to get some corn for Sunday dinner.
I'll be glad when someone has corn in here.
The day was slower than Thursday but still okay.
It was a hot ,sunny day and a lot of people were just looking today.
As we got ready to leave a neighbor gave us his left over sun flowers.
There was enough for a nice big bouquet for church tomorrow and a nice bouquet for my table.
Daughter went and picked up #1 son and g-son to take g-son swimming over at Sis-in-laws pool, Hubbie was mowing grass and I pulled the grass and weeds out of my patios and mulch beds.
Whew it's hot today,90 degrees at 5:00 this evening.
We fixed supper for everyone and then daughter went to babysit for a friend and the rest of us spent the evening relaxing and enjoying the cooling air of the evening.

Bringing back memories of June in 1991 I remember the hectic activity of that month when both boys made their age groups Little League Baseball All- Star teams and would be traveling to different places to play their games.
#1 son was 9 and would be traveling to North Buncombe county for his games.
He was an outfielder on this team.
I don't remember how far they went in the tournament but I know they didn't win it.Son was #12.



#2 son made the 8 year old All-Star team and played at Hominy Valley in Buncombe county.#2 son was a pitcher/catcher on his team.
They would win the tournament and be crowned District champs. Son is the one with the coaches hands on his shoulders.
Unknown to all of us at this age this group of boys would continually come together every year as they got older and became a very good team and traveled each year to play district and regional tournaments.

As I looked at these pictures and then looked at #1 son as he sat here this evening,it is hard to believe that this much time has passed and I am this much older !!!!
I must be extra tired tonight from my early morning and the heat of the day because I am dizzy headed tonight and feel like I could sleep for days.
Thank you Lord for the life that I have had and all the enjoyment and blessings you extended my way as the kids grew up.
Good Night and God Bless.

ESTATE SALES AND BLACKBERRY PICKING

Another busy Friday on tap today. Started with chores and cleaning the chicken lot of all the greens stems that we have been pulling out of the garden and feeding them.
Hubbie and I went to work at church and finished about lunch time.
Daughter and her "little sister" K had been sale shopping all morning and called to say she had placed a bid on a refrigerator at the estate sale place I went to a couple weeks ago.

After lunch Hubbie and I headed to the sale to see what they had this time,stopping at another estate sale on the way. I found a chair for the sunroom to replace one that daughter is going to take with her and Hubbie bought a chop saw.

This chair fits in so much better out in the "outdoor room" as g-son calls it.

Daughter won her bid on the frig so we came home,got the truck and went to pick it up. She bought several other things at 1/2 price while we were there.

It looked like the storms were going to start as we headed home with the frig but we safely got it in the barn without a drop of rain.
Daughter and K had been picking blackberries at a friend's farm who got hit by the hail last week and had their entire crop declared a total loss. They have to cut their vines back within a week so all the neighbors are picking berries this week.
They are very large delicious berries. What a shame they can't sell them.Good news for us as we now have a bunch of blackberries in the freezer for jam and bread making later.

Since we still had time we went back out to the Verizon office to check on Hubbie a new phone since the face of his has been broken for a while. When I was there with daughter Monday they said he was up for a new phone but when they checked today he wasn't until January.

We stopped by sam's club for a couple things and brought a pizza home for supper. #1 son and g-son came up for supper. Son's color is so much better today and he says he feels a lot better. He thinks he was taking to much blood thinner,which he is now off of.
They stayed and visited most of the evening.
The rains never came and the clouds passed over without incidence thankfully. It hasn't been all that hot today ,with the cloud cover a nice 80 degree day.

I iced 13 caramel,6 chocolate and 3 coconut cakes tonight before bedtime.
My back is hurting pretty bad so I'm off to take a hot bath and get some rest as it is after midnight already.
Thankful for all the blessings of the day and for son's healing.
Good Night and God Bless.

BUSY MARKET DAY MEANS LATE NIGHT

Rainy morning to start the day made for a hurried getting ready for market time.
Glad daughter was here to help and after we got there and got set up we had a great sales day.
Here we are ready for customers.



This is the 10 cake order waiting for the camp to pick it up. It just shows how human nature is as these cakes sitting in boxes on the back of a neighbor who wasn't there's table got more attention than the ones I had out front and labeled on my table. I even had one lady ask specifically for one of those cakes in the boxes ??????

Daughter left at noon to go help run the b-ball camp and I stayed steadily busy all afternoon.
I sold 21 caramel cakes today plus everything else ,thank you Lord. I sold some bonnets and had a couple people ask for aprons, I am going to have to find some time to do some sewing in the near future.
After market I ran my weekly errands and went by the vet's office to pick up a refill on Dolly's eye drops. Hubbie was here to help me unload by the time I arrived.
Daughter came home and we grabbed a quick supper and headed over to her (maybe) house to meet with an electrician friend of hers to check out some naked wires in the carport that might trip up the appraiser.
He thought everything was fine and thought she was getting a heck of a deal.
We came back home and I got a few minutes to rest before chore time began.
After a rainy start the day has stayed mostly cloudy and cool and it feels pretty muggy out there tonight.
I baked more cake layers tonight, somehow I got my count off so I have more cakes than I intended but that's okay.
That's what tiredness will do for you !!!
It is almost 12:30 am and I'm taking the last cakes out of the ovens,whew !!!!

Thankful to God for all His blessing today.
Good Night and God Bless.

DUST AND COBWEBS CAN WAIT

Uggggg!!!!! some mornings I just don't want to get up !
After chores and breakfast I waited as daughter ran to Ingles to get a gallon of milk so I could start my caramel icings.
G-son arrived as his dad and mom were on their way to see dad's doctor this morning.
Daughter took her notebook computer out in the sunroom to work and I sat my laptop up out there for g-son to watch his morning cartoons on. He thought he was big stuff working with aunt T.
I iced 12 caramel cakes before my back started hurting so I took a break and ate lunch.
After lunch I decided that the housework could wait as there were more important things to do.
Like.......


SWINGING.......


CLIMBING TREES.......
DISCOVERING THINGS WE'VE NOT SEEN BEFORE......

Click on the poem by Ruth Hamilton below and read about one of life's lessons that even in my hectic busy lifestyle I always try to remember and practice.

So far today the storms have held off here.
D-in-love called and said son almost passed out in the waiting room at the doc's office so they were going to the lab to have blood drawn.
He has been looking quite pale ever since he came home.
They picked up g-son and went home to get ready to go to their Bible study class tonight.
I did chores,helped Hubbie get a dead limb off the phone line and then came inside to do paperwork.
The sky is dark and the rain is beginning to fall but we've had no thunder,lightening or hail ,just a little wind.
I finished icing caramel,chocolate and coconut cakes just before midnight.
Grateful to God tonight for a blessing filled day.
Good Night and God Bless.

HOT, HUMID AND STORMY FIRST DAY OF SUMMER

The last thing I did last night was post an add on craigslist for some Silkie chicks for sale and the first thing I heard this morning was the ringing telephone and a man on his way to get all of them.
I finished chores and ate breakfast before he got here, he said he got caught in some heavy traffic on the interstate.
After we crated up the chicks he saw our garden and we talked about gardening and he said he raised pigeons to show at the fair as well as dahlias. As we talked the temperature seemed to climb quickly as he and I both were dripping sweat. At least he put the chicks in his air conditioned SUV for the long trip home.
With this kind of humidity it is bound to storm this afternoon and clouds have already started to build.
Had another call on the Silkies and I decided to sell more of the chicks.
When all was said and done I sold 11 chicks today ,leaving me only 6 out of May's hatch.

I spent the morning doing laundry and housework, I hung towels out early in hopes they would dry before the storms and they did.
After lunch I went up and moved some chicks around so I would have them all together. I cleaned out one house completely to wait for the white Silkie with the 3 babies when they get a little bigger.
I moved the other sitting white Silkie into a brooder box so she can be alone to sit on her eggs.
The chickens were all suffering in the 90+ heat today with their little beaks open.
Before long the thunder could be heard and the skies darkened.
I came inside and prayed that we didn't get hail or lightening too close.
I heard the ping ping of hail hitting the metal covering on the dog lot and saw marble size hail balls bouncing everywhere.
Thankfully it was a short hail storm overcome with pouring rain.
The thunder and lightening got very close and I heard fire trucks going out the road just across from us to a house that had gotten struck.
Usually you can see #2 son's roof and the road from here but not this afternoon !!!
Thankfully all we got was a lot of rain.
The storms passed about the time Hubbie got in from work so he went to work fixing the tractor manifold.
Daughter came in and did some baking for an order and sat us up a face book page for our baking business. The Curb Market now has a face book page and this is the photo they took of daughter and I for the page so we used it on our page. I will link to it as soon as we get it all figured out. We called our business M and T BAKED GOODS.

I got started baking about 9:30 and just put my last cakes the oven at 11:45. I have several orders already this week.

Well this is the first day of summer and it sure felt like the summer today,hot and humid. Just had a thought, since most of our spring was more like summer, ya think that at least some of our summer could be more like spring ?????

So thankful to God tonight for His protective hand during the storms and for the blessings of the day.
Also praying for a good report for #1 son tomorrow as he goes back to his doctor for the first time since surgery.

Good Night and God Bless.

NEW USES FOR OLD THINGS

Cloudy morning but the temperature is starting to get hot earlier.
After chores and breakfast daughter came by and we went to run some errands this morning before the basketball camp she is helping with.
We picked up copies of the well and septic permits for the house she's buying and put her cell phone on our family plan to save her $50 month.
Made it home just in time for lunch and then she was off to her camp.
I did some investigative work on how to get the power turned on at the house before going outside and moving some chicks around so I can advertise them for sale.
As I came inside to cool off from the 86 degree sunny weather today I noticed some old things with new uses around my house.
This old egg basket is now a magazine holder.


This old wooden Pepsi crate is now a knick knack shelf.


This old chamber pot holds bath supplies beside the bathtub.

I have many more old things with new uses but that will be fodder for another post .

Daughter came by to pick me up tonight for a VBS meeting for teachers at church tonight. It lasted about an hour and then I baked cake layers tonight to get a jump on the large order I have for Thursday.
Hubbie mowed #1 son's lawn this evening and said son came out and talked to him and seemed to be getting along fine. We are so thankful for his uneventful recovery so far.

Grateful to God tonight for the blessings of today.
Good Night and God Bless.