OUTSIDE SPRING CLEANING DAY

I emptied 1/2" of rain from the gauge this morning after last nights storms. Seemed like it was much more rain than that but it fell fast and hard so it must have just seemed like a lot.
After chores, breakfast and morning devotions I took a long walk on this beautiful day. I can't believe I am comfortable in a tank top this time of year.
I moved  some chicks around this morning. After turning the black silkie hen back out into the big lot I put the Tractor Supply chicks in with her chicks who now act lost without their mother hen watching over them. Neither group of chicks wanted anything to do with the other. Luckily this box is large enough for them to stay in separate ends until they get used to each other's company.
Louie the holstein calf is no longer a calf and is getting a bit over zealous when I walk in the pasture where he is. Those little horn spikes hurt when he rubs them against my legs.

He's looking pretty silly with his ears cocked in this pic.

My old milk cow Snowball will be 19 years old this May.

We all thought she would not make it through the winter after she had some problems last fall. But with the addition of Louie and the mild winter here she is looking as good as an old lady cow can as her 19th birthday gets closer.
After lunch I cleaned all the floors and porches before I took a vitamin D break in the sunshine. There was quite a few clouds in the sky but they were floating by at a good speed.
I have been putting off cleaning up around the apartment door  where daughter used to live so that was today's job. It is to nice to stay inside today. I cleaned up the herb bed under the window and pulled all the weeds and grass from the cement block patio. I filled all the cracks with weed prevent.
Hubbie came home just as I finished the job. He planted onions this afternoon.
I cleaned all the herbs from the greenhouse this evening and re-potted a beautiful dianthus that is already starting to bloom in the heat of the greenhouse.

 These blooms smell soooooooo  good !!!!!

Hopefully I won't have to bring them back inside. I only put my Tarragon and a few tender varigated mints with the dianthus in there last fall and thought I would wait until the weather really got cold to move more things inside the greenhouse but the colder weather never came.
Hubbie and I watched Survivor on TV tonight and then I had weekly paperwork and bill paying to get done.
I am tired tonight after my day of outside spring cleaning.
Grateful to God for the strength He gives me each day and for the comfort of knowing He is always with me.
Good Night and God Bless.

FIRST DAY OF SPRING BRINGS ALL KINDS OF WEATHER

First day of spring 2012 was greeted with upper 70's temperatures and sunshine  this morning but ended on a very different note.
After chores and a routine housework and laundry Tuesday morning I picked up g-son at pre-school.
I had checked on daughter earlier and she was home from work today but feeling some better.
She came by for a while and entertained g-son while I worked. She had a doctor's appointment at 3:30 to check for strep throat.
G-son tagged along on a cake delivery this afternoon and got rewarded for good behavior with a small slinky to play with as we shopped after the delivery.
Daughter called and said she has viral pharengitis (whatever the heck that is ?) .
When g-son and I got home from the delivery he headed home by walking across the hill which he loves to do all by himself.
After he left I finished up laundry and noticed the sky was getting pretty dark.

Hubbie got home from work and quickly hopped on the tractor to plow and disk our garden to get ready for our early plantings before the soil got to wet to plow again.

He barely got the disk unhooked and the tractor in the shed when the skies opened up and the huge raindrops pelted down.
Thunder and lightening and wind accompanied the hard rain but as we watched the clouds roll by we realized we were fortunate as we were on the edge of this storm as it moved slightly north of us.
As the storm subsided after about an hour the color of the sky was beautiful.

On the news tonight the northern part of our county received flooding rains and marble size hail.
We knew it had probably hailed somewhere by the redness of the sky that lingered long after sunset.

I feel so sorry for a couple of my 4-legged kids as Sadie, the tri-colored Aussie is terribly afraid and runs continually from front porch to back steps getting soaked  and Bernie the little Havanese that stays inside just wants to hide his head and be held while he shakes violently with each clap of thunder.
Then there is Annie, the red merle Aussie and Dolly the poodle who totally ignore the whole thing.
I've always wondered why some dogs have such a fear and others have no fear of the storm.
I had a salad supper before my exercise time tonight.
Earthquake in Mexico, gale force winds in New Zealand, tornadoes in Texas, 2 feet of snow in Arizona,wondering what the rest of this spring has in store for us.
Remembering God's promise makes it all less frightening.

Good Night and God Bless.

LAST DAY OF "NON EXISTENT" WINTER

No g-son early this morning was strange. His mom is quitting her Monday restaurant job so she took him to school today.
Hubbie was already gone anyway when I got up to get a haircut. I did the morning chores and had a waffle for breakfast with some tea as my stomach is a little queezy again today.
After his haircut he came by and picked up a coupon and went over to GB Shoes to get a new pair of tennis shoes to wear to work. His heel has been hurting for a while now and is starting to get a little better so he wanted new more supportive shoes.
I got all my morning routine done before he got back and then we headed out to pick g-son up from pre-school.
We stopped at Ingles and picked up a few things before we headed home for lunch.
G-son was excited today because he gets his first karate lesson this afternoon. A friend at church wanted to take the lessons and he wanted g-son to go with him.

He tells Pawpaw all about it as we sat outside on this summer like 78 degree afternoon.

It was hard to find things to do to make the time pass until lesson time !!

The garden soil is a little wet today to plow but we did get our potatoes cut so they could heal a couple days before planting. Here are some of the red potatoes we will plant. We also plant kennebecs left over from last year's potato harvest.

Today's hot sunshine will heal them in no time !!
D-in-love came early to take g-son to karate and he was sure ready to go.
Talked to her after the lesson and she said he had a good time and enjoyed the activities.
Hubbie went to help #1 son move some furniture around and I went on a long walk this evening. There is so much pretty color already and spring is only beginning tomorrow.

                                                                    Almond Bush

                                                The Redbuds are putting on a show already.

                                                    Pear trees are  blooming early.

  My Money plant is starting to bloom in a very strange way as it is only about 6" tall and I even noticed this white bloom among all the purple ones.

The Forsythia is so pretty around my sewing shop below the house.

This weather is so nice and as of midnight tonight our "non existent" winter is history as spring 2012 begins.  It has been a strange year so far with some good things and some not so good things. I wish we would have had some snow, I love snowfall, it's as if God throws a huge white blanket over everything and there is an awesome peaceful quiet that takes over. I wish we would have had some cold temperatures, enough to hamper the insect population. I would have liked not to have had to worry about the severe thunder and lightening storms or tornadoes for a while yet.  On the flip side .
I love the warm temperatures and being able to sit outside in the warm sunshine earlier than usual. I love the grass getting green and growing earlier to be able to stop feeding hay to the cattle earlier. I always love all the spring flowers no matter what time of year they show up. Putting away the heavy coats and snow boots early is definitely on my plus list as I have never liked to bundle up in extra clothing.
Tonight hubbie and I had a relaxing restful evening after exercising . Daughter called and said she isn't feeling well at all tonight, she thinks she might have strep throat as she has a low grade fever,a sore throat and is achy all over.
#2 son stayed home from work today to get back on a regular diet and get his strength back before he goes back to work tomorrow.
God is in control and I'm thankful to rest in His reassurance as I go through my days.
Good Night and God Bless.

WONDERFUL SUNDAY AND 1992 DECADE BIRTHDAY PICS

I got a surprise when I woke up this morning and heard rain falling outside. There was about 1/3rd inch of rain in the gauge before it stopped. Guess the weather folks missed one !!
Hubbie and I took our turn in the nursery at church this morning. It was easy today with only 4 little ones and no crying and all well behaved.
After church we had a deep fried turkey breast and fixins for lunch. Everyone came except #2 son who still isn't feeling very well.
After we ate #1 son and d-in-love went to pick up some new furniture and g-son stayed with us. Daughter and her b-friend got some more supplies for some more yard work at her place. Hubbie and I fixed the old rabbit hutch up for another nesting box and I put the little red silkie in it with a dozen of silkie eggs under her. She acted like she was happy to be in a house of her own as the other chickens had been pulling some of her feathers from her back while she sat on the eggs in the big house.
I have all my brooder and nesting boxes filled now with setting hens and hatched chicks so anyone else who decides to set is out of luck for a while.
G-son helped feed the hens grass and weeds he pulled up around the garden.
When we were all finished hubbie went over to #1 son's house to help carry in the new furniture and carry out the old and g-son wanted to swing while I pushed him.
He has loads of fun on that swing and I wore my arm out before his dad came to pick him up.
Hubbie and I watched the UNC/Creighton tournament game , UNC won but it was an ugly game, with some very poor sportsmanship shown by the losing team.
Hubbie took #2 son a plate of food down to his house tonight and said he was still pretty sickly and isn't going to work tomorrow either.
Here is a look at this weeks' weather, looks like it is going to be a good week to get some early stuff planted in the garden.

Since #2 son and daughter were born March has been a very busy month for us as both of them have March birthday's.  
2 decades ago in March 1992 here is the birthday boy and girl !!

 #2 son turned 9 on the first day of March 1992. Love that basketball cake !!

He celebrated with his brother and sister and a couple of his first cousins.

Daughter blows out 7 candles on the March 26, 1992 as her friend Michele looks on.

She had asked for a real live kitty cat that year and I adopted this Seal Point Himalayan who quickly became the love of her life.

Remember at the beginning of the month when I showed this purple cat quilt that was covering the couch and said I had made it for daughter? Well now I know how old this quilt really is !  Can you tell what her favorite animal was at that time in her life ???

This has been a wonderful Sunday with family and a perfect weather day for outside fun and relaxation.
I am so thankful for the blessings of a day like this and for the life that I have been blessed with.
Good Night and God Bless.

ST. PATRICK'S DAY CELEBRATION

A warm beginning to this St. Patrick's Day 2012 as I went through chores before market this morning .
Everyone was all decked out in their greenery today. I don't think I have ever seen that many shades of green.
We had a treasure hunt at market by hiding gold coins around the market and awarding donated prizes to those customers who found them. We also served free cookies and green punch.

I decorated my table and also had my green on today.

I actually bought one of these green hair peices like my neighbor had on but used it instead as a base for my blarney stone cookies.

These little green leprechauns kept popping up everywhere !!!

Daughter and b-friend came by market,she had bought some lattice to go around her front porch and had it tied on to her roof rack.

She was dog sitting these three cuties.

This was a yard work day at her house so they left to get started on it.
I finished up a slow market day before heading home. On the way out of town I got a call from #2 son asking if I would pick him up some chicken noodle soup and fruit on the way home because he had an upset stomach.
I noticed this morning he was home from work but thought maybe he had finally gotten a day off.
He thought he had eaten something bad last night at Fatz where he ate supper with some friends.
After dropping off his things I came home and unloaded the van and got things put away. Hubbie had taken the riding mower he had fixed up over to daughter's.
I sat out in the sun for awhile and relaxed until the clouds rolled in.
Hubbie came home and got on our lawn mower to mow our lawn. I don't remember in any recent years having to mow the lawn in the middle of March.
I sat in the sunroom with Bernie and Dolly and watched a storm pass by again today with only a couple loud cracks of thunder which scared Bernie badly.
The storm passed to the east and then the air seemed to cool and the evening was quiet.
I fixed some couscous for supper and it definitely hit the spot since I hadn't eaten any lunch today.
After evening chores hubbie and I watched some March madness ballgames on TV.
I finished reviewing my blog book and sent it to the publisher tonight. At least I don't have to fear something happening and erasing all my work anymore.
I am writing this blog post on my laptop while the upload is going on on my desktop.
I talked to #2 son tonight and he has finally got something to stay in his stomach tonight and is feeling better.
This has been a good St. Patrick's Day and I wish everyone could find that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow tonight whatever it might be !!
These photo's are from the March of the leprechauns up town in Hendersonville today.

 This seemed to be a much scaled down version than they have had in previous years,I have no idea what happened.

Thankful for my blessings today and that son is feeling better tonight.
Good Night and God Bless.

WOW !! WHAT A CREATOR !!!

The rain gauge only had about 1/10th inch of rain from the passing storms last night.
I didn't feel great this morning, something I ate yesterday did not digest and is still bothering me today.
I took a long leisurely walk hoping that would help . As I walked and enjoyed the spring wild flower colors I snapped these photos and as I look at the beautiful detail in each of these blossoms I wonder how in the world anyone can look at these artistic wonders and ever doubt that their is a God and an awesome creator who has each petal numbered.

 Note the little bug getting a breakfast of nector in this violet.
My walk and talk with our loving Savior made me feel much better and revived my spirit to begin a busy Friday.
I picked up g-son from pre-school and we came home for lunch. The sun is in and out today but the temperature is in the 70's already in the early afternoon.
I baked 20 layers for cakes along with a pound and wine cake. Then I tried some special St. Patricks day recipes that I looked up.  I made some Irish Soda bread that looks really good.

When hubbie came home he wanted me to make us one to eat as he had never had Irish Soda bread.
I also made some Blarney Stone cookies , these get their color from pistachio pudding mix and are delicious.

They also have butterscotch chips and walnuts along with vanilla and almond flavoring, yummy !!
After my baking was finished g-son and I went outside to play and tell made up stories until the thunder got to close for comfort and we had to come in.
I needed to work on a sewing machine that I had brought home from market so g-son went downstairs to exercise on the equipment while I replaced the broken needle holder. He was enjoying himself so much that I also got some sewing in while we were down there. I made these 2 medium sized bonnets.

I had a very successful day after a shaky start this morning.
I have thought about where I can work some sewing time into each day and originally thought the morning would be a good time but my mornings are pretty tied up with chores,breakfast,daily Bible reading and walks before picking up g-son at 11:40.  I couldn't find any extra time without getting up earlier,which didn't sound good !!  So the late afternoon around 4:00 will be my sewing time for  awhile.  The waiting for a rainy day wasn't getting anything done so with a time slot in my daily "to  dos" hopefully I'll get some things made.
This evening was another stormy one and today's storms got closer and stronger than yesterday's. By chore time there was already 3/10ths inch in the rain gauge and still sprinkling. As we ate supper  we watched the lightening flash continually across the sky but the thunder became more and more distant.
I iced 6 caramel,3 chocolate,1 coconut cake tonight then made 2 more Irish Soda breads.
While I sewed this afternoon I watched UNC win their NCAA round 1 tournament game and while I iced cakes tonight I watched Duke lose their round 1 game. Duke does not play as a team this year like the teams in the past did so I wasn't surprised they didn't go far in the tournament but I didn't expect them to loose their first game !
It is almost midnight so I'm outta here !!!!
Giving God all the glory for my day and all that I got done. He is an awesome creator and Lord.
Good Night and God Bless.

SPRING STORMS FIRE UP ALL AROUND

Woke early to the ringing phone. A small dog had ran out of #1 son's driveway in front of one of my brother's wives and she was worried it belonged to g-son. He doesn't have a dog like she described so I dozed back off. Ringing again interupted my snooze, this time an Avon customer asking about an order. Oh well might as well get going this morning.
After chores and breakfast I headed out to town to run weekly errands, deliver Avon and pick up baking supplies.
The day so far is really nice, sunny and warm but the clouds around the edges keep getting taller.
I came home at lunch time ,unloaded and made some calls to deliver other Avon orders but got no answers.
By this time the clouds had covered the sun .

I worked in my office for awhile and then went over to sis-in-law's house to pick up some eggs she had picked up for me on sale last night. My little great nephew was there and he is getting so big. We had a nice visit and as the lightening started streaking across the sky I headed home.
Hubbie was here when I got home and we did chores early to avoid the storm that was brewing.
As we listened to the thunder and watched the lightening light up the horizon we relaxed as this storm passed north of us.
We didn't realize how lucky we were until I saw these photo's on the news tonight.

No this is not a late snow storm, this is hail. Some areas got up to six inches of the white stuff .

This was around Marshall,NC going up I-26 .
In our area we only got a light shower of rain so far but tonight isn't over yet and there is some significant rainfall in Tenn. headed east over night.

This map was at 10:19 this evening.
Daughter came by this evening and hubbie helped her load up some timbers she needed to make some raised beds at her house in his truck. They worked in a light drizzle but got them over to her house and set up with the help of her b-friend. Now she needs dirt in them !!  Sounds like another job for dad !
It was dark when he got home and we relaxed for the evening.
God id so good and I am very thankful for the blessings He sends my way.
Good Night and God Bless.