61st NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER

The National Day of Prayer has great significance for us as a nation. It enables us to recall and to teach the way in which our founding fathers sought the wisdom of God when faced with critical decisions. It stands as a call to us to humbly come before God, seeking His guidance for our leaders and His grace upon us as a people. The unanimous passage of the bill establishing the National Day of prayer as an annual event, signifies that prayer is as important to our nation today as it was in the beginning.
In 1775, when the Continental Congress asked the colonies to pray for wisdom in forming a nation,the call to prayer has continued through history,including President Lincoln's proclamation of a day of "humiliation,fasting, and prayer" in 1863. In 1952, a joint resolution by Congress, signed by President Truman, declared an annual, national day of prayer. In 1988, the law was amended and signed by President Reagan, permanently setting the day as the first Thursday of every May.  Each year, the president signs a proclamation, encouraging all Americans to pray on this day. Last year,all 50 state governors plus the governors of several US territories signed similar proclamations.

Market day for me on this Thursday was a fairly busy one. After market I ran my regular errands and did some grocery and baking supply shopping on the way home.
I had an Avon monthly meeting this evening but decided I wouldn't go. No real reason other than laziness!

On this day of prayer I feel like I need a lot of prayer after looking at the local news paper's website this morning between market customers and finding a picture of the man who caused me so much grief and ultimately caused me to stop my work caring for our church.
His "Hollier than thou" attitude along with his attitude that what he was doing had to be so much more important than the damage he was doing to the church and the disrespectful "all about me and the band he was setting up for", attitude sickened me. After confering with the Pastor(who offered no resolution) and wrestling for months with the burning burden that something was not right I choose to step away from my job in order to avoid anymore conflicts. My sleepless nights fretting over this were fewer,even though every once and a while the same old sickening feeling would grip me as this ordeal went through my mind once again. 
In fact just last night the uneasy gnawing feeling came back as I finally drifted off to sleep.
When I saw the headlines that a local man had been charged with 2 counts of statutory rape I thought "oh no who now?"   As I clicked on the story and the man's photo came up, at first I didn't recognize him. But when I looked at the name ,I caught my breath !!!!
I felt like dropping to my knees right there and then and begging God's forgiveness for failing Him.
He put this burden on me  and I knew that something wasn't right with these goings on and I choose the easy way out.  I stepped away from it ,thinking if I only go to church on Sunday and don't look around at the holes in the walls and floors and don't take notice of the disrespect shown to our congregation then I could sleep soundly at night and free my mind of this burden.
I even wondered if maybe the devil was sneaking these evil thoughts into my mind encouraging me to stir up trouble to divide our church.
After reading what he had done I really did feel sick, to think of an innocent young girl who was raped by this awful man not once but twice is unbelievable.  I can shut my eyes and hear this man professing his undying love for God in making excuses for his activities. All I can do is wonder what other victims there may be.
As I wrestled again with what I could have done I haven't came up with a sufficient answer. With our Pastor and several of the Deacons in support of these people,  I'm not sure that there would have been anything I could have done to change their minds. My only hope, and it still by no means makes the crime any less, is that the victim was a consenting partner.
I have a feeling more sleepless nights are coming my way over this.
 Please pray for the victim of this horrid crime  as well as all involved.
And pray for my church.

Good Night and God Bless.

HOT WEDNESDAY , LITTLE ROBINS

Wow!! Another hot morning !! After chores on my walk I had a sweat shower in the morning heat and humidity.
The last couple mornings as I checked out the Robin's nest under the shed I was worried because there was no one there. But on my first pass this morning  this is what I saw.

This could mean only one thing, BABIES !!
On the next pass I focused my camera and tapped on the wall beside me and this little mouth opened wide ready for another of those juicy red worms.

I saw at least 2 babies in there as I watched mama and daddy Robin busily feeding and guarding the nest.

By the time I got back inside my clothes were damp with sweat and I don't walk that hard believe me!
I left a few minutes early to pick up g-son to go by a local strawberry field to pick up some berries.
I was kind of disappointed in them as the hail storm I drove through last week hit his fields and bruised the berries pretty badly but they still tasted good they just have to be eaten quickly.

After lunch I baked cakes while g-son played . His mom picked him up to go to his first swimming lesson at the YMCA today at 3:00.
The sun is hot today and I got 2 loads of laundry hung in the solar dryer.
There is passing clouds but they don't look as threatening as they did yesterday and we got no rain today.
My  Rhododendrum  is finally blooming but won't last long in this heat !!

These giant leaf hosta's are really doing good so far this year.

That is a regular size varigated hosta behind the giant leaves. I have had these many years and have looked for some more of them but haven't been able to find any like them.

With the 6 caramel,2 chocolate, 2 pound and 1 wine finished baking I dusted the house and cleaned off the porches.
Whew 86 degrees this afternoon, feels like July instead of May. I wonder if this is a sign of things to come this year with the unseasonally warm winter and spring ????
I iced cakes this evening before chores so I could get them wrapped early. I need the kitchen to cool down before bedtime !!
 I simply refuse to turn the air conditioner on in May !!!
After weekly paperwork was done and the bills were payed I took a blogging break.
Thankful for the blessings God gave me today and praying for His presence as I go through tomorrow.
Good Night and God Bless.

HEAT BRINGS ANOTHER HAIL STORM

The first Tuesday of the month is always a busy one for me. Along with all my regular laundry and cleaning chores of the day comes monthly decorating changes. I do enjoy this chore as I search for matching furniture covers, placemats and different color flowers to fill some old and even some new vases around the house.
I was hoping to get the sheets hung out on the clothes line before I had to go to town for g-son but the washer didn't co-operate. The load got unbalanced and as it tried to re-balance it took longer.
I made a stop at Aldi to pick up baking supplies on the way to pre-school.
As soon as we got home and he had some mac and cheese in front of him I hung the sheets and a couple afghans on the line. I new by the feel of the air and the approaching clouds that they only had a small window of drying time.
After my lunch I continued laundry and re-decorating while watching the radar on the kitchen TV.
I climbed into the attic for my monthly search of different decorations and getting Easter and early spring decorations put away for another year.
G-son was busily playing with his action figures after he had gotten frustrated with the lincoln log construction of the day,kicking it all over the living room and having to spend some time in "time out" thinking about how he was going to clean up the mess.
Suddenly without any thunder or wind I heard raindrops on the roof and had to run to the clothesline.
Everything was dry and thankfully I made it in time to keep them from getting re-wet.
The rain came down hard at times, I watched the storm turn red on the radar indicating hail but thankfully we were just on the edge once again with only a few marbles mixed with the rain. I heard only distant thunder. When it was over we had about 3/10ths in the gauge. I thought it was more than that  by the sound of the huge drops.
Sadly for our neighbors just up the road any apples that escaped the freeze from a couple weeks ago didn't escape today.

This hail was in Edneyville, daughter said it hailed so hard at the school where she works it looked like a solid white curtain you couldn't see through.

I guess it just wasn't meant for there to be any fruit around here this year!
I prayerfully thank God that He spared our farm and garden for at least another day.
#1 son came after g-son this evening and said there was hail piled on the sides of the interstate in the northern part of the county also.

After everyone left I did the evening chores. The chicks all are adjusting nicely to their new surroundings. Our freshly planted garden looked good tonight after the drink it had this afternoon.

Daughter's b-friend is a little better from his food poisoning today thankfully,she was going to check on him again tonight.
My Avon district has changed so I got an order ready tonight to post in the morning. I like this better now but if my baking picks up and tonight becomes a baking night I might not feel the same.
More storms are predicted for tomorrow along with record breaking high temperatures for the next few days. Hopefully if May comes in like a lion it will go out like a lamb !!!

I rest in the comfort that God is in control and He has a reason for everything !
Good Night and God Bless.

GARDEN PLANTING, and 2002 DECADE MEMORIES

I can't believe today is the last day of April !!!  Where did this month go , I will admit though that this month didn't seem to disappear as quickly as last month did.
As I did chores and ate breakfast  the sun got hotter quickly and at 10am when hubbie and I left to run errands in town before picking up g-son it was 75 degrees,whew, it's still April .
We voted today and then made a feed store stop and a grocery store stop on the way to get g-son.
After lunch we headed up to the garden. We wanted to get our first summer planting started.
We sat out all our plants and planted the first  succession planting of beans, yellow squash and cucumbers as well as some acorn squash and other squash I had gotten which I don't remember what they look like.
G-son had the watering job.

He thought Pawpaw's job looked a lot more exciting than his ,but quickly changed his mind about that.

He went back to making mud pies after only a few steps !!!
We all got a little sunburned today in the hot  sunshine but we got the job done.
I moved chickens around today.
These are the first hatch of the season plus the Americana's and Rhode island red pullets I bought.
Today was their first day out in the big lot but they hung close together in this one corner most of the day.

After cleaning and re-bedding the large box they were in, I moved these Production Reds that I bought for the white Silkies who didn't have any of their eggs hatch.

G-son left to go to his karate class and I went back to cleaning chicken houses while Hubbie did fence mending.
I de-winterized all the houses and cleaned them all out and put new shavings inside. I moved another setting Silkie into a house of her own.
By the time I finished all this my back was screaming. I came inside and had a salad for supper with some fresh radishs and onions for the first garden produce of the year.
After delivering a caramel cake I went over to daughter's to feed her dog and let it out as she had to go to Asheville and take her b-friend to the emergency room to see if he is infected with the salmonella virus that is being found there now. He has been sick since eating a fish taco Saturday night.
I made it home just in time to round up all the newly released chicks and get them into their new night house with the Silkies.
As I drove home from daughter's I stopped and took these sunset pics as the clouds start to boil this evening.

 There was some storms and hail in some surrounding counties but we were fortunate to stay calm this evening.
Since this is the last day of April I need to finish up the decade pictures. In 2002 we were busy with daughter's activities. She had been recruited to join a local championship AAU basketball team. They won the state tournament so they earned a trip to the national AAU championships in Dallas,Texas.
This is the team with members from several different counties here in WNC, daughter is #10.

 The state tournament was on the same weekend as daughter's junior/senior prom. So she played in Friday night's game and Saturday morning's game,then we drove the 3 hour drive from Thomasville,NC home so she could go to the prom with her then boyfriend who was a senior.

A beautician friend of mine met us when we got home and put her hair up for her.

The prom was held at Highland Lake Inn and this is the Highland Lake waterfall. It was a perfect back drop for their pictures.
We drove back to Thomasville early Sunday morning and she didn't miss a game.Whew, all the traveling we used to do taking the kids to ball tournaments. I'm thankful that gas wasn't at the price it is now or it would have been a huge hardship.

I am looking forward to a hot bath and a good night's sleep after this day of hard work.
On this last day of April I accomplished the remainder of my April goals.
My May goals are:  Get a physical from my OB,  see the eye doctor for new glasses, get more sewing done, get the #2 planting in the garden done, loose weight .
I have had a very productive spring , getting most of my spring jobs done early with the summer like weather we have had.
Thanking God for my blessings of the past month and looking forward to what He has for me in May.
Good Night and God Bless.

WONDERFUL AFTERNOON WITH LITTLE VISITORS

Church was nice today saw some old friends back from their Florida hibernation.
We had a small lunch bunch today in more ways than one. #1 son and d-in-love where the only adults who made it today but d-in-love brought a couple on her friends children over to play with g-son because her friend and her husband are not feeling well today. So we had 3 little ones running around the house instead of 1 . #2 son was golfing in SC and daughter was at the wedding shower of one of her friends.
After we ate they all wanted to check out the outside toys.

Girls first !!!!
She loved the slide but  after just a couple slides the boys were off to more interesting things.
Like climbing this tree that g-son calls his"jungle tree".

As she continued to love sliding on the slide......

The boys plotted their next adventure..... everyone knows it's not cool to look at the person with the camera !!!

They had a fun afternoon together. These guys will both go to the same kindergarten in August.They have been friends since before they were able to walk.

After they left hubbie and I took a walk in the bottom pasture discussing the pros and cons of leasing this part of the farm.
It's hard to imagine all this nice green grass being killed with soybeans drilled into rows in it.

Although as pretty as this is it can also be just as ugly when floods come and tear fences down and trap cattle on small islands waiting to be rescued. What to do, what to do ???
This is old Snowball enjoying the shade of the creek bank trees.

 I spotted this Pileated Woodpecker searching for insects in this old dead tree stump.

No decisions were reached on our walk !!! We will bathe that decision in prayer tonight.

The sky clouded up this evening after a very nice , warm 81 degree  day.
We spent the evening in our rocking chairs on the front porch ending a wonderful Sunday the way a Sunday should end !!
Giving all my burdens to God tonight as His shoulders are much wider than mine.
Good Night and God Bless.

BUSY DAY AND 1992 DECADE PICS

Market day started off busy even before I got to the market. Today is called "operation in as much" in the life of NC baptist churches. It is a day set aside for helping the community specifically this year with handicap ramp construction among other special projects that request came to the church for help with. Hubbie and #1 son are involved with this and as soon as my van was loaded hubbie took off to join son who was waiting at church. They were going with the sod farmer neighbor to do a job at the local elementary school which required a skid steer operator(#1 son) .
Daughter met me at market to help unload and get set up then she went to pick up g-son while d-in-love had a wedding to photograph today,whew!!!  We are a busy family!!!
G-son and daughter stopped at Yogurt World and brought me my yogurt lunch,yummy .
Market was fairly busy until lunch time and then it was like a ghost town. We had a fair day and I'm thankful for that.
Daughter and g-son walked down the street to a produce stand and got us some fresh corn and green beans for lunch tomorrow.
After we loaded they left for her house so g-son could play with her dog Tipper and I came home.
After unloading I had a snack and then rested until hubbie got home.
We have a decision to make now with our bottom pasture, as the sod farmer neighbor wants to rent it to plant soybeans in. It would mean keeping the cattle in the upper pastures where we would have to water them. It will be a decision that will require much thought !
#1 son and g-son came for supper tonight as we grilled our last fresh frozen shrimp from our last fall beach trip to go with some baked potatoes.
It has been a nice warm sunny day. This evening is a typical summer like evening with all the frogs chirping and unfortunately the mesquitos are hungry after a long winter's nap !!
In April of 1992 we were busy as well. Even though Easter was in April that year I found no Easter pictures. I think the kids all thought they were too old for egg hunting.
Instead there was fishing with Papa JB ( hubbie's father).
This is #1 son proudly showing off the fish he caught.

We had a lot of cattle in those years and some of the cutest calves were white faces.

This is our barn in that year. We have since added another shed on the near side.

When I look at these old pictures I am amazed at how the landscape around our farm has changed .
The 2 small trees behind #1 son and papa are now huge.
I found a new toy on the internet tonight, picmonkey.com , a free photo editing site. I have tried some others but this one I like best.
This is some pics of my Iris blooms that I took this week before the hail.
This is the original photo.

This is my picmonkey version.

Here are a couple more I "fixed" on picmonkey, I replaced the original ones before I thought about keeping them to compare.

I love playing around with my pics for special effects !
I love God for giving me such beautiful subjects for my photos and am very thankful tonight for a wonderful day filled with heavenly blessings.
Good Night and God Bless.

SURVEYING THE HAIL DAMAGE

Clouds were still hanging around this morning as I finished chores and took my camera on a walk to survey the hail damage. I feel we were very fortunate compared to some of the surrounding areas as our damage was minimal.
Plums on the ground and I'm sure the fruits that are still on the trees have damage .

The back lawn is a sea of purple Cottonwood blossoms.

And this Snowball bush is no longer loaded with blossoms.

This patch of Lambs Ear was totally flat last night but has purked back up with just some small tears in some leaves.

Our early garden is struggling along with only a few holes in leaves after the cold snap earlier in the week.

Some of the areas close to us got much bigger hail stones and have serious damage so I'll take our damage anyday !
I picked up g-son and came home for lunch. He started a new Lincoln Log construction project while I baked 6 caramel,4 coconut ,2 pound and 1 wine cake.
While the cakes were still in the ovens I had to admire the construction and he was proud to show it off.

His pre-school took a trip to the aquarium to see all the different fish today and he was excited to name all the different fish on the chart they gave him. He is getting so smart and all grown up !
I cleaned house this afternoon after his mom came after him. I realized this new arrangement for cleaning house won't work. This is too much to do all in one day so next week it's a different schedule.
Hubbie came home and I helped him unstop one of our gutters that ran over yesterday. I guess some birds had tried to build a nest in it.
After chores I rested a little while before I started icing cakes.
Grateful to God for the blessings I received today and for His graciousness everyday.
Good Night and God Bless.