GOOD BYE JANUARY

This last day of January 2018 started early with the arrival of both g-daughters. After we got them settled in I went outside to get the chores done. An 18 degree temp meant more ice breaking and longer chore time.
I took RL to her preschool and was surprised at how many icy spots were still on many of the roads I traveled.
After I dropped her off I stopped in the co-op to check to see if they had gotten their Elderberry extract in yet. The girl working there took my name and number and promised a call when it came in but for some reason she didn't sound very sincere.
Thankfully I stopped because they had a shelf nicely restocked of it and I bought 2 bottles, enough to get me through this winter and to have a spare in case I need more at a different time.
I only take about a tablespoon a day but this stuff seems to boost my immunity .
I got home just in time to feed IR as she isn't feeling well at all this morning with a nasty cough and no appetite.

I took her temp under her arm and it was 99.8 so I gave daughter a call. She called the doctor and they made an appointment for 1:40 to give her a flu test to make sure if she does have the flu they can treat it early.
I changed out all the furniture covers and vacuumed this morning. I also did another load of end of the month laundry.
Daughter came after IR and then hubbie and I collected all the trash and recyclables to do the dump run today since we needed to go to Walmart anyway.
Daughter met us at Walmart and we picked up a vaporizer for IR who thankfully doesn't have the flu but probably just a cold virus and has two more teeth popping through.
We also picked up some shelves for Re that were too big for her SUV and delivered them to her house on the way home.
We rested for about an hour before chore time when we got home and got things put away.
After chore time we loaded up all Re's hens that have stayed with us the past year and took them back to her along with an extra rooster I had.
When we got home we set out the live trap in the big hen lot because we think we have another egg thief in there and set up the game camera in the back yard because the security camera caught an intruder last night that we can't figure out what is since the picture isn't  very clear.
The temperature got up to 49 degrees today but we are expecting another mid 20's night to end this month.
The first month of 2018 has been a definite wintry one this year with very cold temps beginning the month. We started this year as always with the family here for our traditional ham hock, black eyed peas, collard greens and corn bread lunch for health , wealth and luck in this new year.
We had to help daughter and son-in-love move out of their house before their closing date of the 19th of the month.
We had extra kids many days as schools were closed several times with icy roads and a snow that stayed for almost a week with extremely cold temps.
We also had a near flooding rain and high winds that knocked out power to many in the county but fortunately we kept ours.
All three grand kids have fought sickness most of the month along with most of us adults as we seemingly keep passing things around.
#2 son and Tif have tentatively found a new house that is just being built up on Davis Mountain on the other side of town but are waiting for it to be finished to make a final decision.
Daughter and son-in-love have got settled into the 1 bedroom apartment they rented and are still looking at modular home prices.
I got elected to the 5 member board of control at the Curb Market and was elected secretary by my four fellow board members.
We ended the month being treated by daughter and son-in-love to a trip to Clemson to watch UNC play Clemson in basketball.
The month also ended with a huge triple event moon.

Thankful that God blessed our family with another month of grace and love and we look forward to what He has in store for us in February and beyond.
God Bless and Good Night

SNOW DAY and UNC / CLEMSON BASKETBALL GAME TRIP

Another morning of early morning phone pings announcing school delays. Hubbie got up and let Bernie out then just layed down on the couch to wait for d-in-love who usually goes in on time on delay days. A little later another ping said that schools were canceled for the entire day. I saw the snow flakes start to fall just before I went to bed last night and the ground was quickly getting a frosty white covering.
As the sun rose the white covering was really pretty early but melted away quickly as the clouds broke up and the sunshine warmed the ground.

This morning the frosty white covering was still on the grass and roofs and obviously on roads in some parts of the county but the road by our house looks snow free.

With schools closed we had both these kidos all day.

This little girl got to go into work with her mom on this teacher work day.

I did some décor changes today for the new month of February but decided to wait on the furniture cover changes since g-son and RL pretty much snacked all day !!

We did chores really early today like 2:30 so we could get ready to go to Clemson to watch the UNC / Clemson basketball game . Daughter and son-in-love found some tickets to the sold-out game and are taking us for their appreciation of us helping them move.

We watched the sun set on the way down and stopped and had a quick supper at Panera Bread in Easley SC on the way.

We got to the overfilling parking lots just in time to get a decently close spot. We saw the large Blue / Blood moon rising above the university on the walk up to the gym.

We got up to get in the long line waiting to get inside just as the doors opened and got inside to find our seats .

This is our first time in Clemson's gym since they remodeled and enlarged it. 

Our seats were pretty good and we were photo bombed by a worried Clemson fan !!!!

Warming up ......

Getting ready to play.....

One of UNC's main players, Theo Pinson is pushed down and injured in the first minute of the game and never returned.

Exciting game..... Loud fans......

Roy Williams coaching......

Close game in closing minutes.

Unfortunately UNC ended up losing 82-78 for the first time to Clemson in many many games.

This little sweet heart stayed with #1 son and d-in-love while we were gone and she looked like she fit right in with #1 son.

We took off just before the final whistle to get ahead of the crowd leaving and it worked and we didn't get caught in any traffic and made it home at 10:30.

It was a very very nice evening and hubbie and I both enjoyed it very much with thanks to son-in-love and daughter's thoughtfulness.

Thankful for the blessing of traveling mercies this evening and for all the blessings of this day with the grands and kids.

God Bless and Good Night.

TEA PARTY TIME

Monday mornings seem to come around quicker with every passing week these days.
Up to greet both g-daughters to get this week started. RL was in a really good mood for a change and made the morning much easier with her co-operation.

I did chores then took her to pre-school. We sang all the way there today and she hopped out of the Honda and skipped to her class room.
I stopped by the Co-op for some more elderberry extract but they were out. She took my name and number to call when the order came in.
I came home and had breakfast and fed IR before getting  the weekly laundry started.  In the winter time my laundry loads are larger than in warmer weather  and it takes the machine longer so I was still downstairs working on getting out clean covers for the furniture and bed when hubbie came down the stairs before the first load of laundry stopped and said are you watching the clock ?
To my surprise it was already time to go pick up RL. I took her a couple chicken nuggets which she inhaled before we started home and she went to sleep.
Hubbie carried her inside and she slept a good 2-hour nap on the couch. We took IR in the kitchen with us and hoped RL didn't hear her jabbering and squealing at the cartoons on TV.
We had lunch then fed IR her afternoon bottle so she could take a nap before I headed back downstairs to get more laundry going and bring up the new bed clothes .
I can't change the furniture covers with RL sleeping so that will be tomorrow's job.
I came upstairs when RL woke up and fixed her something to eat.
After she ate she wanted to have a tea party so we played for a while.

IR wanted to join in the tea party fun also but couldn't grasp the idea of pretend eating out of the little plates and cups.

We played until both their mom's came in.

G-son was hungry so he fixed himself some mozzarella sticks which he shared with his little sister.

After they all went home hubbie and I got the chores done on this cool windy afternoon. The wind is blowing in the leading edge of the latest winter storm named Kalani.

I hope the weather folks are correct this time with their snow fall predictions and we are left out of this one.

With the high temperature tomorrow being only 35 degrees what falls tonight will certainly stick around for at least tomorrow.

I could sure feel the difference in the air tonight as the warm rain laden air was replaced with cold snowfall feeing air.

Thankful for the blessings of this day and for the love of a Heavenly Father.

God Bless and Good Night

QUIET RAINY SUNDAY

A rainy Sunday morning made me want to snuggle down under the warm covers for as long as I dared today.
The chickens looked like they would have liked to stay in their warm houses also so they weren't too upset with my lateness.
Back inside we got ready for church.
It was good to catch up with church family and the sermon was good on who we tried to please more man of God ??
We came home to a lunch of smoked butt from the freezer from our last smoking with green beans, baked beans, corn, mashed potatoes, slaw and toasted cheese bread.
Everyone made it to lunch today and we all had a great visit except d-in-love who had to leave early and take a sleeping RL home for a nap.
After everyone left hubbie and I vegged out for a rainy Sunday afternoon. I know I will probably regret that 30 minute nap but it felt so good to snuggle down under a heavy warm blanket on the couch and snooze listening to the rain on the roof.
Chores were done in a steady downpour of rain and there was an additional almost 9/10ths inch of rain in the gauge from this cold front passing through.
After we came inside we snacked for supper then watched the news and a Clemson /Georgia Tech basketball game which Clemson won by 2 points.
This has been a really quiet Sunday evening and I am grateful for the blessings of the day.
God Bless and Good Night.

MARKET'S ANNUAL STOCK HOLDER'S MEETING

An hour extra sleep this morning felt good especially with all the coughing hubbie was doing last night.
We got up and got the chores done and got to market on time today.
Daughter and IR came in right behind us with a couple carrot cakes one of her customers ordered for today.
Customers were pretty scarce on this rainy ,cool day but I am thankful for what we did sell on another $60 sales day.
We made some advertising pics today for our Valentine's ads of some of the items that we have available here at market for sale by our talented vendors.

Daughter left to get home right after lunch to watch the basketball games on TV this afternoon. Hubbie left to do our shopping at Sam's Club since he didn't go last Thursday.
Funny I almost nodded off at one point during the afternoon as it was very warm in market today and no activity making it pretty boring.
Today was our annual market stock holder's meeting. Sadly some of the folks who have market tables only show up on this one day per year and their tables sit empty all thru the year. There was quite a crowd of stockholders today.

It was a pretty active, argumentive meeting thanks to a couple vendors who had differing opinions on everything that was discussed.
We elected 2018 board members and I was elected to serve this year as the market secretary. Hopefully I won't disappoint any of those who voted for me.
The new board had our first meeting right after the stockholders meeting was finished.
This will add some extra duties to my already busy lifestyle but it will be nice to have a say in what goes on with the market business and I can hopefully add some good energy to this years market plans.
I left market and made a stop at Aldi on the way home. I made it home with just enough time to unload and get things put away before it was chore time.
It has rained lightly all day and there was a total of 3/10ths inch in the gauge this evening but the heavy rains are predicted to come in overnight and tomorrow. At least the temperature is hanging around in the mid to upper 40's so everything will be liquid this time around.

Hubbie and I had a relaxing Saturday night and are looking forward to worshipping with our church family tomorrow morning.

Thankful for the blessings of this day and for a Wonderful Loving Savior.

God Bless and Good Night

T. G. I. F. AND 1988 JANUARY

Up at 7am to greet the grand girls one more day this week.
RL was showing the effects of what has seemed to be a long week with having to get back into our regular routine. She didn't eat anything for breakfast but a few blueberries while I did the chores.
She didn't go to sleep on the way to school but was whiny when we got there. She went in and started playing though so I'm sure she will be fine.
I came home and spent the morning cleaning house. Hubbie is coughing worse and doesn't feel good today with a constant headache.
He and IR rode with me back to pick up RL and then we stopped at an Amazon return sales place to pick up daughter a bed rail. I also got a little push toy to help IR walk when she gets a little older.
We made it home for a late lunch and both girls woke up as soon as we got them inside. RL once again refused anything to eat and cried the entire time we ate our lunch with IR having her bottle then watching RL cry.
RL finally settled down and sat in my lap after lunch for a while as if she doesn't feel well.
This is a typical afternoon for us especially Fridays.

Holding a conversation with this one can sometimes be very entertaining !!!!

D-in-love picked up RL who was ready to get home today  and daughter came in and fed and took care of IR while hubbie and I got all our chores done and then she left to go have a date night dinner with son-in-love leaving IR with us for the evening.

I baked cakes while hubbie played with her. She knew things were different this evening and kept looking around as if she knew this wasn't were she normally is this time of day.

I baked 3 caramel, 1 chocolate, 2 pound cakes tonight.

After they picked her up I went back to the kitchen to ice the cakes and then got things ready for market.

Whew this has been a week and I wondered aloud to hubbie earlier this evening why I felt so exhausted and then we remembered that last week we didn't have kids all week and this week we have had kids everyday , even on Thursday so I guess we are feeling the effects also of getting back  into our regular routine.

To finish up the January decade series this is January 1988. We had a huge snow that month .

My uncle and aunt Bob and Carol Warner were visiting from Michigan during the storm. This is uncle Bob's truck and he and hubbie out in the snow with Sugar our St Bernard .

This is my mom and her younger sister Carol.

This is our truck at that time and we are stopped at our rental trailer talking to our renter at that time Rhonda Patterson.

We escaped the cold and snow and spent some time at the resort we had a travel trailer parked in on lake Hartwell near Clemson, SC where there was an inside pool.

One more pic of #1 son missing his 2 front teeth.

Thankful for the blessings of this day and also for the blessing of wonderful memories.

God Bless and Good Night