THE FAIR IS IN TOWN AND WE DID IT ALL

Woke to bad news, a friend has suddenly died,she works at my first Avon stop,so I had to skip that stop this morning.Instead I went to another stop of a good friend of hers to ask what happened.
I was told she had colon cancer and didn't know it until she started hurting really bad last Wednesday and went to the emergency room,they tried to do surgery Thursday,she died Friday.
She was only 51 years old and the picture of health,her and a friend ran 4 miles everyday and she walked on her lunch break.God has a plan for her I know because she was a very devoted Christain lady and had a deep love for our Heavenly Father and it showed in everything she did,
Heaven is a better place with her presence.
I ran all my other stops and finally went over to see the girls that worked with my friend,it was a sad scene,her sweater and all her things were still on her machine and no one could bear to move them,I felt so sad for all of them.
I got home about 1:00 and hubbie and g-son were eating lunch.Hubbie finished and went outside to figure how many blocks to build our pump house.I ate and started getting g-son ready to go to the fair,he is so excited but he is needing a nap so we left a little early so he could get a good nap before the rides open at 4:00.We put him in the stroller when we got there and he slept while we looked at all the exhibits and did some shopping,I'm a sucker for unusual Christmas decorations.
We ran into 2 other sets of grandparents from our church with their grand kids,we got them all together on one ride but couldn't get them all looking one way.......
G-son had a ball it was pay one price ride all day and he was pointing to another ride before he finished the one he was on.Hubbie and I enjoyed the fair to,it brought back memories of when our kids were small and we used to take them,remembering the excitement on their little faces.We spent 4 1/2 hours just enjoying and watching g-son enjoy every aspect of the country fair,the rides.....I think we figured he rode about 25 times,almost 3 times on each ride.Yes he loves rides and wanted to go on the big rides like this one,he kept pointing at it and saying that one next,now to me that just does not look like fun at all!!!!We pretty much did it all from the animals,except I wanted to bring them all home,I actually did want to put a bid on some baby ducks and chicks but hubbie said no,but as soon as we get around to building a fence I am getting some of these goats.And of course we had our share of fair food ,corn dogs, butterfly fries and cotton candy,with real lemonade to drink,good thing it's only once a year,and I'm not going near my scales for a while.It has been a wonderful evening and I know this is a lot of pics but these 2 last ones I've just got to add on here............................................ As fate would have it what goes up must come down and after a precious wonderful afternoon, when I got home my bubble was busted by news of the break-up of daughter and b-friend,don't get me wrong I have no special wish for this certain guy to be around,I just don't like seeing my daughter cry and hurt over any boy.Unfortunately I have seen this coming now for about a month,but it's hard to know what to say in this situation before it actually happens.Lord please give her comfort and strength and the vision to see past this to wait for the one You have chosen for her.It is getting late 12:15 and I am worn out,looking forward to a day of house cleaning tomorrow,on yeaaa!!!!! God be with me and guide me I love you. Good Night.

ANOTHER BLESSED RESTFUL SUNDAY

Woke up extra early this morning,I guess because I went to bed extra early last night,but instead of getting up I just stayed in bed and dozed.Hubbie always gets up early even when he doesn't need to,he says his back starts hurting and he has to get up to make it quit.I finally rolled out and ate cereal for breakfast and got ready for church.It is another beautiful day,bright sunshine and moderate temps.At church hubbie had to help an elderly gentleman who fell off the steps,but our wonderful loving Heavenly Father kept him from getting really hurt,as he fell from about 3 steps up onto the concrete face first,God put his Bible between his face and the concrete and he only skinned his knuckles and forearm,tell me that isn't amazing love!!! We have a lady who is a nurse and she cleaned and bandaged his wounds.I asked his son after the service how he was and he said he was just fine.
Our Sunday lunch bunch was #1 son,d-in-love,g-son,daughter,father-in-law, hubbie and I,we had roast,green beans,corn on cob,pasta salad,mashed potatoes,a vegetable and dip tray,sweet tea with strawberry shortcake for dessert.We are trying to make the best of our garden fresh produce,knowing the season is quickly coming to an end. After lunch we sat outside while #1 son and hubbie landscaped the front yard where we dug the waterline.Daughter's b-friend came in from his weekend camping trip at a music festival.
Hubbie went to take his dad home,daughter and b-friend left going to Staples for some things she needed,so I decided to blog some now while I'm alone.
When hubbie got back I took some things over to d-in-love's house and looked at how big her hens have gotten,they will soon be laying eggs.
Daughter came back from Staples,b-friend went home to re-coup from his weekend and hubbie and daughter took off to Lowes to look for her some live plants for her office at work.
I took a long walk while hubbie sowed the freshly raked yard with grass seed.The waterhole in the creek was completely filled in so it took both of us shoveling and raking to get fresh water running through it again.All the heifers came for a drink as soon as we started,funny how they knew we were getting them some fresh water.We are trying to come up with another watering option but we're going to have to wait until this winter and maybe try to clean out our pasture pond and get some water in it some how,right now we have it fenced off because no fresh water is coming in it,not enough anyway and we don't want the cattle drinking stagnant water.
We will need to replenish our maintenance funds before we do anything else now after this well and plumbing adventure.I'm hoping for good business through the fall as I never make much after the Holidays.
We came back up to the house and had a snack for supper, I went to organize my Avon stops for tomorrow.Then I gave one of my first cousins in Michigan a call to tell her I was sorry about the passing of her father,she had sent me a copy of the obit and her card with her numbers on it if I wanted to call her.We talked about 30 minutes catching up on each others family news,we should talk more often,she is my mother's sister's daughter.That sister always lived in Michigan,but visited often when we were growing up and hubbie and I made a trip up to visit them when our kids were small.It was kind of a funny thing after my mom's sister died and my mom died,my uncle started coming to visit almost every year.We actually had more to do with him than we ever did my aunt.He went to Florida every winter and always stopped by in the spring on his way back to Michigan.My cousin said the way he died was a blessing, he was 88,just had been diagnosed with colon cancer,but died of conjestive heart failure,he never had to suffer with the cancer,Thank You Lord.
This has been a very nice Sunday,very restful,full of family love and God's grace,a good rejuvenating day to get ready for the coming week. It is 10:00,time for doggy bath time and then early bedtime.Striving to walk the Christian walk to glorify Him.Good Night.

BLOCK BLAST SATURDAY

Is it morning already?????? Got ready for market,even cut basil before I left and made it on time.
This was another surprisingly very busy day, no evidence of Apple Festival hangover to be found in today's crowd.The damage the hail storm caused was still on everyone's mind,most agreed that it was the worst they had ever seen.There was good food to be had today,I had a ham biscuit from a neighbor for breakfast and a hot dog from the BBQ folks on the outside for lunch,mmmmm!
When I left I mailed a package at the P.O. ,then stopped at Aldi for some supplies.Walmart stop will have to wait because I am meeting d-in-love at 3:30 to go to the church event.Unloaded and let the dogs out before she got here.G-son feels better and looks like he is ready for the fun...
We arrived in style being shuttled in from the parking lot in "security man" pawpaw's gator.He had been hard at it since 12:00 and most of the parking lots were full.G-son couldn't decide what to do first as mom left to practice her music and g-son grabbed my hand and off we went first to the big slide of course,he couldn't believe he could slide as much as he wanted and didn't waste any time coming up with different sliding positions... He hasn't figured out the meaning of taking turns quite yet but the bigger kids were laughing at his antics so hard they didn't seem to mind him cutting in line,however that will break bad on him when he gets a little older and is not so cute. Then he spotted the pony rides and we were off in that direction,he held on and looked like he had ridden all his life,at one point he pointed down at the pony's head and said "nena, I NEED one of these" ,I said maybe later and that satisfied him. Although he does look like a natural cowboy ready to hit the trail.
There was a big sand mountain in front of the stage and that's where we headed next,he met up with a friend from church and they got enough sand on them to last a long while,but it was all in fun.
Then his mom's group took the stage to play and daughter and her little sister came in ,so we sat down on the ground with our BBQ plates to listen,they sounded wonderful and I guess g-son thought it was a lullaby because he fell fast asleep on his aunt's legs.After a birthday party this morning,no nap and all this excitement he was pooped.
D-in-love can really play that violin and those songs they played were some of my favorites.The food was good and everyone seemed to be having a blast.
G-son woke up after just a short nap and ate some chicken and a roll,then he and his mom had to leave as she had a photo shoot of a bride to be. After another cake walk in which "little sister" won her choice of a cake or a book with a CD,she took the book,her and daughter left.Hubbie and I stayed and helped clean up,there were so many people helping it didn't take long,we walked through the sanctuary and checked for any messes inside and we came home about 8:15.
It's been a long but very rewarding day and I am tired but feel fulfilled and amazed at how our Heavenly Father oversees our attempts at Glorifying His name and as a Jesus lover I could just feel His love and graciousness in the cool,fresh,outside air this evening.Here's hoping and praying that today's events made a difference in just one person's life,to God be the Glory.Good Night.

MAMA SAID THERE'D BE DAYS LIKE THIS!!!!!!!!!!

Well this has been an interesting day to say the least.Started with an unexpected call from the plumbers saying they were coming to put our new faucets in our tub and shower.Now everything I had planned to do this morning requires water,and now I am frantically taking all the towels and stuff out of the towel cabinets again and waiting for the water to be turned off.Plumbers arrived,said this should only take about 2 hours,okay that won't be so bad.I started bagging my Avon order and discovered that the machine that packaged my order must have had a hang-over that day,I say this because every time I call with a complaint about my order,they always say all the packaging is done by machine,soooooo! they need to keep their machines sober or greased or something!!!!
Anyway there were missing items I had been charged for,double items I was charged double for and Items I didn't even order in there,so my 1 hour job turned into a 2 1/2 hour job.In the mean time the 2 hour plumbing job had turned into a 4 hour job,because they said" things weren't done right when the house was built",well all I know is they have lasted 26 years.They had all those plumbing terms,but all I really care about is that when I'm dog tired tonight and get in the tub and turn those silver handles water better come out and fill the tub!!!!!!!!
At least the sun is shining today so when they finally left about 1:00,g-son helped me hang out bedspreads and rugs,(he loves handing me the clothes pins as he gets to pick out which colors we use).#2 son came up to get the lawn mower and g-son wanted to go with him,but not on the mower.We stayed outside about 30 minutes to get our daily dose of vitamin D before we needed to come inside so I could do my mornings baking while g-son helped hand me stuff,some useful,some not so much,but he loves to help.I baked 12 caramel, 2 chocolate,1 chocolate pound cake and 2 pear/pecan breads (with bruised pears that had been changed into 3 different baskets before he found the one he wanted to use).
About 3:30 g-son was feeling tired and a little warm to touch so we sat in the recliner and watched Scooby Doo until hubbie got home and we gave him some tylenol .I bagged some desserts for our church carnival tomorrow,we left and I went by a lady's house to deliver her Avon order as she is leaving Sunday,then went on to take desserts and drinks hubbie bought today by there.G-son was asleep before we went a mile down the road so we checked the church to make sure there was no messes before tomorrow.Hubbie has to work security and is there from 12:00 to 7:00 ,d-in-love is playing her violin ,and is there from4:00 on.My job will be g-son,I just hope he feels better so he can play on the games and rides.
When we got home hubbie carried g-son in and layed him on the couch and let him sleep while we fed,I walked and we both did some gardening while listening to the monitor to make sure he slept.We still have cucumbers,squash,bell peppers and tomatoes.
Daughter brought her "little sister" over for supper and then they went downstairs to work on something together. #1 son came and got g-son ,he woke up really cranky.
Now hubbie and I have the task of putting away everything I had to jerk out of the towel cabinets this morning so the plumbers could get to the water lines,I put it all on our bed so if we are going to sleep there tonight it needs to be put away.Hubbie put the shelves back and I got everything else put back in it's place maybe for a long while now that the plumbing is officially DONE!!!
I iced the 12 caramels,2 chocolate and 2 coconut cakes,wrapped all I could,d-in-love brought her cookies and cakes up here and we got those wrapped,I like her labels. Hubbie has already gone to bed,I watched the news and am getting ready to see if there is water in those new faucets.On days like today it seems more important than ever to have God in my life as I need his guidance and comfort to help me deal with all the bumps and curves in this road of life we're on.Thank you Lord and Good Night.

STOCKING UP ON ECHINACEA ,READY FOR FLU SEASON

Started out early this morning,another cloudy ,dreary ,cool day,changed my mind about the top I was going to wear today and I was glad I put something with sleeves on.Got everything loaded and got to market at 9:30,set up and looked for some of my apple growing neighbors ,but none of them were there.The family in the next booth who live just up the road from us didn't come and I really hope they didn't loose all their vegetables that were just starting to come in,plus their apples.
Had a surprisingly good day,more people came in than I expected,especially with the dreary weather.Tried to help a friend set her up a blog between customers,hope we did it right,I'm definitely not the expert.
Hubbie came by and helped me load up and ran 1 errand for me,thanks hun. I ran regular errands and had to pick up my Avon as it came a day late due to Labor day.Made it home at 4:15,found the cake boxes I ordered on #2 son's porch,glad they came before Saturday.Daughter came in from work and helped me unload,hubbie was taking a guy he works with that lives up the road home so he was a little late.We fixed an early supper as we were both hungry ( I forgot to eat lunch again!).Looks like I would be skinny but unfortunately I could forget to eat several meals before you could tell it.We watched the news and both of us almost went to sleep so we went outside and did our evening chores.The rain yesterday filled the waterhole for the cattle in so hubbie spent time in the creek and I gathered cucumbers and checked out the other garden stuff for damage,it looks like we may not loose a lot,our last main crop is under ground anyway,
the potatoes.A neighbor brought her son by with his fund raiser candy and we bought 5 bars,
g-son will be on a sugar high for days,ha ha!!
We went to clean church and got back about 10:30 ,we are having a carnival at our church Saturday and I have a list of things I need to do for it tomorrow.I have a long honey-do list also.
I talked to sister-in-law,she found me some eggs on sale and I need to get them in the morning,I really appreciate her and she loves to hunt bargains,so it works for us both.As soon as my business slows enough I like to go with her,she has an eye for a deal.
Today's plant is ECHINACEA or PURPLE CONE FLOWER,it is a familiar herb at the supplement counter.Indians used it to treat many ailments and in the late 1800's a doctor rediscovered it as a cure for rattlesnake bites and to prove this he allowed himself to be bitten by several rattlesnakes and lived to tell about it because of the echinacea.Today it is recognized by the food and drug administration as an immunity booster.If you take it at the first sign of a cold or sore throat,etc. you can shorten and lessen the severity of the sickness,but there is warnings that you should not take it longer than a week at a time or it will loose its affect.I think I will definitely buy some and have it on hand this winter for the flu season.I actually planted these in my garden years ago and they have continued to come back every year,however they are found as wildflowers in many places in our area.
I am listening to the news,to a sad report of a man we know that crashed his plane and was killed today,God bless his family with your comfort during this time.
Headed for bed soon as the news is off,get ready for a fun day with g-son tomorrow.
Thank you Lord for all my blessings today and everyday,help me to Glorify your name in all that I do. Good Night.

DAMAGING HAIL LEAVES HOLY MARK

Woke to a cloudy,dreary day,did a load of laundry and hung it out in hopes this would make the sun shine.G-son arrived and after he ate his elephant shaped waffle we played in his playroom.
After lunch he wanted to watch Scooby on TV and,alas the hung out laundry produced rain instead of sunshine,so I went running to gather it and put it in the dryer,thankfully it was almost dry and only got sprinkled on.
I sat with g-son to watch his show and soon a massive storm hit us with rain,hail,wind,thunder and lightening,it got dark as night and the temperature dropped 30 degrees,it was cold.I knew in my heart that our friends apple crops were getting beat to death,this happened last year only 3 weeks later,so this is going to be devastating to many of them.Thank you Lord that we here were only on the edge and got some dime size hail mixed with the rain.Our tarp slid in the open ditch and hubbie came home and got it out so it wouldn't fill the ditch up with water.It did fill it but on top of the tarp so we can pump it out.#1 son hopefully will get here tonight to fill it in.
This storm all happened between 2 and 3 o-clock,it is 4:30 now and it is still 60 degrees and sprinkling rain,gonna need a jacket tonight,Brrrrrr!! #1 son called from work and said reports were already coming in on damaged apples,God bless those farmers,apple farming is the largest agriculture business left in our county and I sure would hate to see it go.But I know those people have got to be scratching their heads about now.
Hubbbie and #1 son came in about the same time,we still have some leftovers and made a couple extra dishes ,called #2 son and we all ate supper ,d-in-love came late and ate.
#1 son brought his trackhoe down and covered our muddy ditch now we just have mud!!!!!!!!And muddy dogs ,at least the driveway is complete and open again .We will have to let it dry up before we can do some landscaping.Sadie and Annie aren't fighting,they are just doing their normal wrestling routine.
I went up to the garden to cut some oregano and basil for market tomorrow and survey the hail damage,this is a cotton wood tree looking up through the leaves and yes that's holes in them.Our late vegetables also took a beating,can't tell yet how much will come back or how much is gone,picked some tomatoes and they don't look to bad,just a couple broke open,which we promptly ate,sure didn't hurt the taste.The basil leaves have a few holes in them but the oregano happen to be close to the cottonwood tree and one of the big leaves land on it and protected it,how about that.Walked a short walk with the dogs to make sure they stay in the back yard,white dogs and red mud,not a good match!!! Put outside dogs up and came in to clean kitchen and get ready to ice cakes.Oops I forgot to pay bills today so I will have to do that after icing cakes,I iced 12 caramels,4 chocolates,I forgot to buy coconut so I won't have any tomorrow.
I wrapped the caramels and listened to the news while I worked,they talked about the hail damage. Hopefully tomorrow will be a brighter day but we always have to remember that this is part of God's plan and accept it and move on.
Today's wildflower is called FALSE DANDELION or CAT'S EAR,
this is one you need to remember if you're ever in the wild and get hungry.All parts are edible.the leaves make a great addition to salad or can be added to stir fry,roots can be ground for a caffeine free coffee substitute,flowers can be fermented to make wine.Wow God puts necessary things at our fingertips all the time,we just have to discover them.
This is one night,I am very glad I wrote this as the day progressed so I don't have it all to write now or it would be very short.It is almost midnight and I need to pay my bills so I can mail them tomorrow,maybe I don't have many!!!!
God is in control and when he shuts a door He always opens a window, we must trust HIM!!!!!!!
Good Night.

AFTER 3 WEEKS WE HAVE OUR NEW WELL UP AND RUNNING

Got up early this morning to be ready for the plumbers,they were late so after breakfast I started a load of laundry.They came at 9:15 and started working on the wiring so I did another load of laundry and cleaned the bathrooms.Thank goodness a lady called with an Avon order,I had completely forgotten that I had to send it off this morning,there's that angel on my shoulder again.I changed bed sheets and furniture covers and did some vacuuming, no use cleaning floors as they are tracking red mud everywhere.They have the wrong pressure tank and have to get another one so I did another load of laundry.It doesn't look like rain today so I hung towels out to dry.I actually got all my August paperwork done this morning,my yearly average keeps going down,$800 in just the month of August,but thank you Lord for what I am making.I got an order this morning for a wedding rehearsal dinner in 2 weeks so that will help the month of September.All the kids have picked up other odd jobs to try to make ends meet,I keep thinking of what I read in my Bible,"if you are stranded in the middle of a large lake, prayers are good but it is also wise to start paddling toward shore",God is not going to let you sink if you are trusting in Him and trying your best.
After lunch I heard all kinds of sirens going down the road and later found out from hubbie that out at the school,we only live about a mile from a middle and a high school,a young man had driven his car into the large rock sign at the middle school trying to kill himself.Hubbie was working there and was the first to get to him as he staggered out of his car holding a bunch of red roses,crying, and started toward the high school door, a deputy came and stopped him and he found out he did all this because his girlfriend broke up with him.Luckily God has a plan for this young man and he only had a broken foot,which according to hubbie was a miracle from looking at his car.How sad it is to think that someone could feel so helpless and alone enough to want to take their life over the break-up with a girl friend.I hope he realizes that God brought him through this accident to be with him so he doesn't ever have to feel alone again.
HURRAY!! HURRAY!!!!!!! Wiring is done,new well water is on,but it has a high concentration of chlorine in it so we can't use it to drink yet.Plumbers left about 4:00 ,they will have to come back and put my new shower and bathtub works in,but that can wait.Hubbie came home and we covered everything back up with tarp because it started raining again,I have a big white monster in my yard......At least this way there won't be a muddy mess when #1 son comes to fill in the ditch and fix the yard hopefully tomorrow evening. Then we have to build a pump house and a fence. I had to get my towels in and put them in the dryer to finish drying.
Hubbie and I had leftovers for supper and he went out to feed,it is still raining a little so no walking for me today.We watched the news and another gardening show on TV. It is getting dark outside noticeably sooner so I will have to start my walks earlier and that gives me an early start to my baking.Tonight I had my first run of cakes in the ovens before 9:00,I made 36 layers tonight.Daughter came in from coaching her volleyball games,they lost after playing the maximum number of sets in each game,she has another game tomorrow.
Today's plant is another one of those that we call noxious weeds,but in other parts of the world it is food and medicine.It is called SPINY AMARANTH or SPINY PIGWEED. In Africa and parts of central Asia it is used as a medicine to treat everything from stomach ache, skin disorders,colic to snake bites. And the leaves and stems (with the spines removed) are eaten as a salad green that is very high in vitamins and minerals.Red dye is made from the stems and roots.Species of this plant grow abundantly all over the world.I know I hate to have to pull it as those spines are long and they really hurt.
It is midnight,I'm off to bath and bed. Lord please watch over me and bless my friends and family with your gracious presence. Good Night.