SICK G-SON

My phone went off with a text just as the alarm sounded at 7am this morning.  D-in-love was texting me telling me that g-son was sick and she would call later when he woke up.
I heard the rain pouring down outside so I dozed back off hoping it would stop before chore time.
I got up at 8am and the rain had stopped and by 9 when g-son got here the sun was shining.
He had a cold and when he gets a stuffed up nose he feels as if he can't breath and gets panicked. He was feeling better and was asking for breakfast as mom left going to work.
I watched these guys on and off all day.

One of the guys talked to #1 son when he came home this evening and said they were having trouble digging without hitting water.  I could have told them that they were actually in a swamp if they had of thought to ask before they made their plans out.
I spent the day between getting g-son food and drink and listening to him read a book he brought and looking at his lego structures doing laundry and housework.
I got all my cup collection washed and the things on top of the china cabinet also washed before my legs got sore from climbing up and down the ladder.
My cup collection is from all the places I have been plus the places the kids have visited.

This is just some random things on top of the china cabinet along with an old washboard.

Only like a couple more high places to clean off in the kitchen.
I instructed g-son today on dialing 911 if I happened to fall but he said he would just run over the hill and get Rebekah.
After his dad picked him up I did the evening chores. It is getting cold fast this evening. As the high 40's temperature of the day have  quickly turned to low 30's tonight.  Some of the mountains are expecting a bit of snow tomorrow but none for us.

It is 31 degrees tonight at 11:00 so anything that falls will be frozen.
I spent some time this evening sorting pictures and putting them in Albums.
Thanking God tonight for the strength He gives me each day and for the blessing of health.
Good Night and God Bless.

MEMORIES ON THE WALL

Hubbie got up with g-son when he arrived at about 7:20 this morning.D-in-love brought him today as son got called into work because of some ice patches on some roads.
I got to snuggled under the warm covers a little longer while hubbie took g-son to school.
After chores and breakfast we went on our third mattress buying trip. I was determined to pick one today !   We did, it was a hybrid variety with inner springs underneath memory foam. The Serta Trump series is what we settled on, it was cheaper than the I-comfort and we have 120 days to upgrade if we don't like this one. It will be here next Thursday.
We came back home and hubbie left to go do his "daddy dos" over at daughter's house. She recycles and her garage was getting overrun so he took them to the recycle center and cut up a large limb that had fallen off an old apple tree in her yard plus he re-staked some of her Murray Cypress trees that keep blowing over.
While he was gone I worked on some more deep cleaning in the kitchen. I took all my bottle and jar collection down off its shelf and washed them. They were dusty and it is amazing how they sparkle after being washed.
I took a break from climbing up and down the small ladder I have and took a nice walk out in the 51 degree temperature of the cloudy afternoon.
They have been doing more clearing down on the road for the new bridge.

It sure looks different down there just after a few days of work.
After picking up g-son from school and getting him settled with his mac and cheese I went back to my cleaning. I took all the pictures off the dining room wall and washed them as well as cleaning the wall behind them.

As I washed the two old flying duck pictures I thought of how many years these two pics hung in my mom's kitchen over her old refrigerator. They are signed by Paul Wood.He was an artist who lived from 1897-1964. This "arriving and departing" pair of paintings are believed to have been done around 1930. They aren't worth much but are a treasure of memories for me.

This apple sculpture was done by a passing acquaintance of mine when we sold at the same craft fair years ago. Her mane was Maria, she was a Mennonite lady and this art of scissor cutting is called "scherenschnitte".

This last picture has a special place in my heart as it was a Christmas gift from my young children many years ago.

Sorry about the flash spot !

After #1 son came after g-son I went out to do the evening chores. Annie is always my constant companion. She patiently waits outside the chicken lot gate for me.

Luckily she isn't a chicken chaser and when I forget to shut the gate she just walks around among the hens sniffing to see what they are eating.
The air feels colder than the upper 40's temperature and it has that silent, heavy feeling as if snow is coming. They are predicting rain with with a 36 degree low tonight,hmmmm ????
I am going for an early bedtime tonight for some reason I am sleepier than usual tonight.
Grateful for God' s love and striving to glorify Him in all that I do.
Good Night and God Bless.

WINTER GARDEN GONE AND 1944 JANUARY

A nice warm un-January feeling morning today. Now the weather has took a swing for the above normal as most of the eastern U.S. , including us is about 12-15 degrees above normal !
We will definitely take the nice break from below normal !!
Church was nice today as we started a new chapter of study, the book of Jude.  Jude was the younger half brother of Jesus and was a great messenger for God's work.
Everyone made it for a lunch of chicken and rice with green beans, corn and biscuits.
Evy refused to take her nap today here so she played until Aaron and Rebekah took her home so she could sleep.
I took a walk around the farm this afternoon dodging the mud puddles that are still everywhere.
Sadly our winter garden was done in by last weeks sub-zero temps.
The Kale is flat and  a sad shade of light brown.

So are the collards.

I don't know if covering them would have helped or not but they haven't done very well this year anyway with the up and down weather so I will start pulling them up and at least the chickens can get some good from them before they totally loose all their green goodness.

After chores I went through my photos in search of January decade pics. 
This is my mother's war ration stamp book. This was the fourth book issued at the end of 1943. They printed book five but never issued them.  Looks like my mom had plenty stamps left over.

I have a couple of my aunts and an uncles books all having stamps left over in them.
Wonder what our world would be like today if we were issued stamps to buy certain foods with ??
Tonight was a relaxing evening for Hubbie and I with the temperature steadily dropping to 33 at 10:30.
We didn't build a fire in the downstairs wood stove last night but tonight it will be fired up again.
Hubbie's brother had a chimney fire last week that put a scare into all of us. Marty's stove is in the middle of his basement and has a cement bloc chimney running up through the middle of his house. It was a really scary situation because the creosote that had collected in an elbow was burning and the fireman couldn't get to it to put it out. Thankfully they got to it from the attic and didn't have to chop a huge hole in his roof.
At least our chimney is on the outside of our house.
Tonight I am thankful that Marty didn't loose his house and I am still praying for the family of Wesley Medlin who passed away yesterday.
Grateful for the undeserved blessings God sends my way each and every day.
Good Night and God Bless.

RAINY MARKET DAY

Rain, rain, rain all night and still raining as I slosh through the chores early trying to beat the really heavy rain that is coming.
As I drove to market I noticed the sky was scarily dark all around. I made it into the market parking lot before the bottom dropped out. It was raining sideways in waves and lightening so I just sat in the van hoping it would pass quickly because I would get soaked trying to get things in in this downpour.
After about  5 minutes the rains slacked enough for hubbie and I to get things inside.
I had a slow day but am thankful for everything I did sell today. I got a couple orders for next week for daughter also.
Hubbie had to leave and take Tipper her dog by the vet's office for a heartworm test since she has ball practice this morning.
We have been under the gun all morning with rain pouring at times. I saw some lightening but haven't heard any thunder to go with it. I wonder if the old saying about thunder in winter will bring snow in 7 days goes for lightening without the thunder ???

My neighbor on one side was ask if she would take the manager job at market but she turned them down siting her tutoring job at the elementary school she retired from.
The neighbor on the other side wants the job but they haven't ask him. More Curb market drama on the horizon, me thinks !!!
Ahhh thankfully the rain passed through our area before it was time to load up and head home. I don't need to stop anywhere today so I headed straight home.
As I crossed Mud Creek you can see that we had a lot of rain today.

I took a chance today and went my old backway home. I have stopped going this way because of all the road construction. They are widening Howard Gap road and it is a mess. I figured with this being Saturday and with the rain they wouldn't be working. I was right they weren't working but the barrels were striking reminders that the work will continue.

As i got to our driveway and looked at this huge machine and the clearing they did last week I wondered if our road will soon be lined with orange barrels ???

Our creek was full and rushing backward into our bottom, quickly filling it with flood waters.

You can see what's left of the ice that covered our pond clinging to the bushes where the pond actually is.
Water, water everywhere but thankfully it never got into the road.

After getting unloaded and getting the chores done I emptied 2" of rain from the gauge for a total of almost 3" since yesterday.
When chores were done I vacuumed and mopped all the floors with hubbie's help.
D-in-love called and asked if g-son could visit us for awhile. They were meeting Aaron and Rebekah in Asheville for some shopping and he didn't want to go.  My floors dried just in time for his visit.
He played quietly while hubbie snoozed in the recliner and worked on getting some photos in albums.
He is so good and can play so well by himself.
They picked him up about 9:00 and he was ready to go home to bed as he had a big day at a friend's birthday party.
On a sad note tonight one of hubbie's cousin's husband died today.  This man was married to Connie the cousin and friend that died from a brain tumor in May 2012 and the son-in-law of hubbie's aunt Christine that passed away November 16,2013.  He is the father of Bob the young man who recently was Baptized at church and a daughter named Melanie and a step son named Scot. This family has been through so much over the last couple years my prayers go out to them tonight as they deal with yet another death.
Connie and Wes in April of 2010.

Praying for God's comfort and love for them during this time.
Good Night and God Bless.

RAINY BAKING AND CLEANING FRIDAY

Thankfully when #1 son called and said he was on his way with g-son I could get out of bed without any pain in my back !!
I stayed on my heating pad as much as I could last night until I got so hot I had to have a break then of course I fell asleep with it turned off.
After getting g-son to school I had breakfast before getting out in the rain and doing the morning chores. Yuck the light rain on the frozen ground is making some very slick mud !!!
My purpose for today is getting my cakes baked for tomorrow and getting the last few Christmas rugs and decorations put away and the sunroom deep cleaned.
I had all the cakes baked by lunchtime, 6 caramel, 2 chocolate, 2 blackberry wine and 1 pound cake.
Tomorrow is going to be a nasty rainy day so I probably baked too much.
I worked in the sunroom the rest of the day, getting distracted with the plants downstairs which needed watering. I sat the ferns outside ,stripped off all the dead leaves and let the rain water them. I had to vacuum all the fallen leaves in the basement. I haven't been able to get to these enough to keep them properly watered but hopefully they will thrive with today's nice drink.
It is nice to be able to move around freely downstairs after #2 son got all his things out last weekend.
Back to the sunroom and getting it finally finished with a few things in new places by the time hubbie came in from work.
I am feeling a little puny today so I started my "Air Borne" this evening to hopefully ward off the cold hubbie is trying to share with me.
There was almost 3/4" of rain in the gauge this evening from today's rain.
After evening chores I iced my cakes and washed the eggs to get everything ready for market.
I meant to take some pics today of things that I need to blog about but didn't get around to doing the pics so that will be another post.
So that I will have something on here except writing here is the next 7-days forecast. Looks like we are in for another roller coaster ride weather week !!!

I will end this day with this prayer !

Good night and God Bless.

BRIDGE CLEARING BEGINS

After getting g-son to school I worked my morning crossword and had breakfast waiting for the 18 degree temps to rise with the sunshine.
After chores I took a walk. I need to get back to my morning walks both for my physical and mental health. My day seems to go better when I start it off with a brisk walk out in the fresh air even it is  a bit cool.
They are starting the clearing for the new bridge this morning.

These guys seemed to be surprised when they got to this small pond.

Years ago when my dad owned this land this little pond was known as the spray pond because all the area farmers filled their crop sprayers up with water here. It was close to the road and never seemed to go dry. In the last years of floods and drought the pond has gone dry on several occasions but it has plenty of water today.
After my walk I got ready to go over to Fletcher to check out a mattress sale. I had plans to go on the Asheville but after laying on some very cold beds to see how different the firmness was and hurting my back I decided not to do anymore mattress shopping today !
I did stop at Walmart , Aldi and Ingles along with the bank and P.O. before heading home to hit the heating pad !!
Darn it !!! I have been feeling so good lately with no sore hurt muscles but tonight my back is really hurting. The last time I went mattress shopping my back hurt for a little while and stopped so I am hoping by in the morning it will be better this time.
Of course my little 4-legged kids thought it was Heavenly tonight that mama just laid on the couch with them all evening.
A mid 40's high temperature today felt cold with the thick clouds that formed this evening. There is still a lot of ice around and also a lot of problems with pipes that are still bursting when they thaw.
There is beauty in the ice as evidenced by this picture of this water wheel that was posted on the local TV website.

Rain is moving in overnight and will hopefully put an end to all the ice.
Thankful tonight for the blessings of the day.
Good Night and God Bless.

OUT OF THE DEEP FREEZE !!!

Another cold morning as the thermometer reads 8 degrees as g-son and I leave for school. Many of the counties around delayed school today but we went on time.
I had breakfast before going outside to do the chores so that a little warming could make the water not freeze back so fast.
After chores I started laundry and then put an Avon order on-line. The temperature is warming fast in the bright sunshine today.
My purpose for today is to get all the outside decorations down and stored away while they are dry.
I had this done by lunch time and was ready to move back inside to continue work in the dining room deep cleaning.
I did 2 more loads of laundry while getting all containers that I had stored the regular shelf sitters in except the one that holds the things from the sunroom.
My hands felt like they were getting really chapped from all the washing of all the decorations before I put them back out.
I picked up g-son and today was a startling difference when we got home from yesterday as he didn't want to come inside in the nice 45 degree temps.

I finally enticed him inside with a big bowl of mac and cheese.
His dad picked him up early to go get ready for church tonight.
#2 son came in to meet hubbie when he got home from work so they could take the lawn mower daughter bought from her aunt to her house and pick up #2 son's lawn mower and tools he was letting daughter use last summer.  It was after dark when they got back from unloading everything in it's proper places.
I did chores and watched the news as they are predicting a much needed warm up for the weekend but it comes with the price of some heavy rain.
Hopefully the ground will thaw before the rains come or we will have a flood.
After a bowl of cream of chicken soup for supper I tackled the weekly paperwork and bills. I also got the December month end figures done and the year end figures look pretty good after a busier than normal December.
I am ending the night watching a UNC/Miami basketball game which is very close just after half time but I will probably not watch the entire game as it will be past my bedtime.
Grateful to God tonight for today's blessings and the love that He gives me each day.
Good Night and God Bless.