MORNING SUNSHINE, AFTERNOON SNOW, YEAH ITS JANUARY !!!

G-son got here earlier than usual this morning as mom and dad both had early work schedules today.
He had extra time to catch up on his lego structures.
After getting him to school I had breakfast and then did the chores in the cold morning. It started out at 25 but with the nice sunshine it warmed up quickly reaching the mid 40's by lunch time.
I took a walk as I figure this will be the last day this week for outside walking.  As I walked I heard loud splashing noises coming from the farm pond.  This was the culprit as he was showing his male powers to the few remaining roots of this dead tree near some of the flood waters.

Aaron brought his bull in from Georgia Sunday and he has been marking his territory ever since. He is the same bull from last year only about twice the size.

I did laundry and house cleaning all morning. The refrigerator was the target of my deep cleaning today along with my baking shelves and my movable island.
About 2:00 I looked out the window and the snow flakes were pouring down.

The nearby mountains were hidden by the snow blizzard.

But the thermometer still said 38 degrees here.  As I noticed the flakes slow and finally stop a patch of blue sky came over and the sun got in a few last rays before it was engulfed in clouds and snow showers for the rest of the afternoon and evening.
When I went after g-son the wind was really whipping around the few flakes that were falling at that time.
After getting him settled in I finished my cleaning in the kitchen.
At chore time it was getting really cold out in the windy snow shower. The animals all were glad to get in their warm houses for the evening. Sadie and Flash wanted an early entrance into their crates in the basement. I tried to get Annie to go in there in her crate but she had other ideas. She ran back into the outside lot and hunkered down in her dog house. She does not like being confined in that small crate and would rather deal with the cold.

 The snow didn't stick much around our place only a faint dusting on the grass but in other places just north of us the roads are a mess.
Daughter's school and cross county rival West Henderson was the only basketball game in the area tonight and they got worried during the girls game and talked about calling off the boys game if the snow didn't stop. But it did !
Both daughter's teams won their games by large margins so she had a good night.
Here is her team during the singing of the Star Spangled Banner before they played tonight. Daughter is the second coach from left with black sweater.

This is a map of the weather warnings around our area.

We are under a wind chill earning as temperatures by morning will feel like -5 degrees.
This is a double wood stove night and it feels good in here even now with temps still hovering around 20 degrees at 10:00.   Predictions of   8  to  10  degrees for in the morning with 30mph winds is going to make for a very raw morning.
I have been working on getting some recipes together for a cook book that our church is going to publish.
Thanking God for the blessings of the day and for the strength He gives me each day. And especially prayerfully thankful that I didn't get a phone call today about my mammogram of  yesterday. Prayerfully hopeful that breast cancer is not in God's plan for me in 2014.
Good Night and God Bless.

MY HOUSE IS HAUNTED !!!

Whew !!! Up early even if there is no school today (Martin Luther King day).  Since the weather forecast is that today is going to be a perfect laundry line drying day before the next winter storm gets to our area made it my rugs to the laundra mat day.  So after chores and breakfast with hubbie helping me off we went to the laundramat.  I was about an hour later than I usually get there so all the biggest machines were taken but I was there so I used some of the smaller machines and although it cost more at least it is done.
While I stayed at the laundry hubbie took my van to get it inspected so I can get my new tag.
Here in North Carolina we must pay $30 to have a state certified mechanic look over our vehicles before we can get our new tags each year. They have also recently added in the county vehicle taxes to the registration so they are making sure they get their money or you don't get your new tag.
I was almost finished with drying a couple large comforters when he came to pick me up.
We came home and hung all the rubber backed rugs out on the clothes line to dry on this beautiful mid 50's sunny day.
We finished just in time to head to Asheville for my yearly mammogram. I love the Asheville Breast Center. I actually arrived 20 minutes before my scheduled appointment and was finished and back in the van by the time my actual appointment time was !!   Now I am just praying the phone doesn't ring tomorrow morning and I can wait for the "all's well" letter that arrives in about a week !!
Hubbie went with me because there was a thrift shop we wanted to visit near the Breast Center.
We weren't impressed with the thrift shop and I only found a couple plant holders and two quilted pillow shams.
We stopped at another always very busy Goodwill in Fletcher but didn't buy a thing there.
After a late lunch at Subway and an animal feed store stop we came home to enjoy the warm afternoon before the cold weather hits.
I walked while hubbie hauled in fire wood to get us stocked up to burn both our woodstoves for the next few days.
I got my rugs off the line and put away before evening chore time. Daughter came by to pick up Tipper her dog that had spent the weekend with us while daughter was with her church youth group at Great Wolf Lodge for their winter outing.  She looked tired after spending two nights in the room with 6 young girls. She was hoping to have tomorrow to re-cup but it is a make up school day for the day they missed when the last cold wave came through and the schools lost power.
Hopefully there won't be any power outages with "Janus" the next winter storm that is going to drop out temperatures for the rest of the week and bring lots of snow to the northeast. We may get some nasty icing from it and maybe tomorrow night some snow.

 There will be more snow piling up in some areas than they have seen in 3 years.

It is 34 degrees tonight at 10:00 so we are headed down in a hurry !!
I am blogging earlier tonight as g-son will be here at 6:30 in the morning as both mom and dad have to go to work earlier than usual.
Hubbie and I watched part of the UNC/Virginia basketball game tonight which Virginia won.
I saw this on a friends facebook page and thought it was really funny but sadly true !!!!

Praying tonight that it is God's will that my test today will all be clear and thanking Him for the traveling mercies He showed daughter and the youth group this weekend.
Good Night and God Bless

BLESSED SUNDAY

After chores and breakfast I was off to church. Hubbie had already left to to teach the Sunday school class he assist daughter with.
I go in about 15 minutes early to set up flowers on the communion table each Sunday. And I get to visit with church family for a while before the sermon starts.
Aaron has been gone to Georgia since Friday afternoon, he hauled a heifer down there and is bring his Angus bull back this afternoon so Rebekah and Evy sat with us today. Evy is a talker and a happy little girl who had everyone around us in a smiling mood by the time the service was over. A lady even told me how much she loved having her around, that even all the men sitting around her had smiles on their faces with Evy waving and smiling at them.
After lunch Aaron made it in with the bull and Rebekah went down to help him unload leaving Evy with us and G-son was here while his dad worked on his truck.
Hubbie and I can hardly believe how blessed we are to have these two around to love on.

I told g-son I would be mad if he taught Evy his eye movements !!!!
She is looking more and more like a little girl and loosing that baby look. She has 6 teeth already.

Love the dimply chin !!!  Is she really sticking her tongue out at the photographer ???
If it's not the eyes it's the mouth !!!   Oh well ,fun, fun !!

After all the excitement died down, Evy went home, g-son played quietly with his building blocks,hubbie loaded some boards for #2 son to put around the bottom of the sheet rock in his garage then helped #1 son with his truck and Aaron with putting up some electric fence while I helped g-son and  did some paperwork for my mammogram appointment tomorrow.
The temperature has been in the mid 40's with sunshine today but is dropping like a rock tonight headed for the low 20's.
No school tomorrow and everyone is off for a change so I'm glad it is going to be the only nice day of the week with highs predicted to hit the upper 50's before we plunge into the deep freeze for the rest of the week.
The jet stream path is allowing the artic air to reach really far south for the week.

Grateful tonight for the amazing blessings God gives me each day ,I pray that He is glorified in me.
Good Night and God Bless.

COLD SLOW MARKET DAY AND 1994 SNOW

19 degrees again this morning as I did chores. The animals will have to drink fast today because the temps aren't going to warm up that much.
By the time I got ready for market and went out to get in the van the wind had started blowing and it was colder than earlier.
Market was dead today with the cold temps. I am thankful for the couple orders I had and the few things I did sell.
It is 1:00 now and I am sitting here typing this with very cold hands with my coat spread across my legs for warmth even with the two layers of pants and three layers of tops I have on today.  The gas heaters in here are all up against the ceiling and that's where most of the heat stays.
I will be glad to get home today and in our house in front of the wood burning stove.
Early this morning there was a couple homeless men in here wandering around. I'm sure they were just looking for a place to get warm in and I could have pitied them a little more if they hadn't reeked of alcohol ! As they left the building we watched them roam the parking lot looking into the parked cars,hopefully they were all locked. A little later one of the customers that had walked up town came back through and said the police were out with the same two men so they have a warm place to spend tonight for sure !!!
Came straight home from market today, to cold to do any shopping and there is nothing I need. Hubbie stopped at Walmart for dog food on his way home this morning so we are good.
After unloading the van and having a snack I snuggled with my 4-legged kids on the couch for a much needed rest.
Hubbie was putting a new bar on his chainsaw up at his shop, when he came in around 4:00 he said it felt like the temperature had suddenly dropped 10 degrees out there.
We watched part of the Wake Forest/Clemson basketball game before it was time to wrap up and head back outside for evening feeding time. I broke ice again and put out more water that I'm sure will be frozen in just a few minutes in the 30 degree temps.
Below freezing temperatures create much more work on a farm with animals.
Back inside I watched the news and listened to the predictions of snow later tonight and early tomorrow. Seems they have been predicting snow almost everyday and so far it has missed us, guess we'll see what morning brings this time.
In this 7-day forecast it definitely looks and is going to feel like winter !!!

Guess we had better enjoy tomorrow and Monday !!
Speaking of winter these are pictures from January 1994 and it looks like we definitely had some winter weather that year.
Our winter stock of hay rolls took up alot of our yard.

It was a big job to keep all our cattle fed back then.

My 1991 Aerostar van.

Snow covered trees.

Hubbie and I spent the evening relaxing and enjoying Saturday night music shows on TV.
The clouds have rolled in holding the temperature up to 28 at 10:30 tonight with no snow yet but it feels snowy out there.
Grateful for the blessings of today and looking forward to worshiping with my church family tomorrow.
Good Night and God Bless.

COLD AND WINDY DAY

A cold 19 degree morning started this TGIF !!!
After getting g-son to school I had breakfast and then did chores. With the cold morning temps the animals don't seem to mind staying in the their warm houses a little longer and it makes it much easier to give them water when the temp gets closer to the 32 degree mark.
A limb fell into the Silkie lot over night and I spent some time this morning getting the netting stretched back out over their lot. I haven't seen any hawks around this winter but it's not worth taking a chance of loosing another little Silkie.
Back inside I baked cakes the rest of the morning. I baked 5 pound cakes, 2 chocolate layer cakes and 1 blackberry wine cake.
Rebekah and Aaron loaded a heifer after lunch and Evy stayed with me. She was very interested in the birds at the feeders on the front porch and had a squealing fit when a squirrel climbed up on the chair in front of the window !!  She was so funny !!
Poor mama cow, it didn't take her long to figure out her baby was gone and she has been bawling all evening.
When hubbie and I used to wean calves I would feel so sorry for the cows as I knew how I would feel if someone took my baby !!   But these aren't really babies as they are already half grown cows and need to be weaned.
I spent the afternoon moving furniture around in the living room but wound up with everything back where it was, oh well !!!
I vacuumed and mopped the entire house.
Since I have been eating my raisins soaked in gin I've noticed that my muscles and joints don't hurt like they used to when I did all this floor cleaning.
After chores I iced my cakes and wrapped things to get ready for market. 
I found a big nest of eggs out in one of the hen lots under a rock. I had to crawl under there to get the 13 eggs that were hidden under there. None of them were busted so I am assuming they have been laid since the 0 degrees weather so I will use them to bake with next week.  I won't take a chance on selling them. I can't believe I haven't noticed that nest before now !!??
Temperatures today rose to the lower 40's but as the wind picked up after lunch it was downright cold out there. I tried to get my walk in this afternoon but couldn't take the hard wind blowing in my face and taking my breath away.
The workers down on the road even left when the wind got harder.
I finally got September and October photos in my album this evening. I need to finish this project then move on to another 6 month blog book of the last 6 months of 2013.
We are in for another cold blast tonight and tomorrow as after a 15 degree night tomorrow's high will be around 35.  Those old cement block walls of market will be cold in the morning.

God is good all the time, all the time God is good !  Invite Him into your heart !!
Good Night and God Bless.

SAD FUNERAL DAY

After getting g-son to school I hurried through the chores on this 20 degree morning. After breakfast I headed out to town to get all the errands done and re-stock groceries.
I made it home about 1:00 just as hubbie was getting here from leaving work early. He had already eaten lunch so I ate left over chicken and rice.
He went outside to work in his wood pile until it was time to get ready for the funeral. I cleaned off the refrigerator. With all my cake pan spraying I have to scrub the tops of all the things in the kitchen to get the dust off.
At 2:00 hubbie came inside and we both got ready to go to the funeral of his late cousin's husband.
It was a nice short service and they gave military rights at the graveside as he was a Vietnam Veteran.
They did a very touching job and the sound of the gunshots and Taps played on a bugle echoed off the surrounding mountains was awesome.

#1 son was one of the pallbearers.  This is the third family member this family has lost in the last two years,2 in just the last two months. They are spent and it showed in all their faces as they bravely faced another funeral.
After we left hubbie and I drove around the mountain to see his grandmother's house.  It has over grown so much along the road it was hard to get a good picture. Especially with the now owner walking around in the yard.

This is the old barn where we kept our cattle when granny was alive. At least they have preserved the house and barn.

There are alot of apple orchards on this mountain and it was sad to see all the apples left on the ground under the trees to rot.

The price dropped so much near the end of the season that they weren't worth paying to have them picked.

We came home by way of daughter's house to let Tipper go outside for a little while. Daughter is at the minute clinic to get medicine for a fever blister and then has basketball practice.
This is a picture posted on the newspapers website of daughter watching her girls fight for the ball last night in a loss to Polk County.

Aaron and Rebekah worked on fence tonight so I got to spend some time with little Evy. She cut another tooth last night.  She is crawling and grabbing everything in sight now, fun, fun !!
It is 29 degrees tonight at 11:00 headed for the low 20's.   More snow predictions for tomorrow but it is supposed to get into the lower 40's again but without today's nice warm sunshine.
Praying tonight for the family of Wesley Medlin as they grieve the loss of their father, brother and grandfather.

Good Night and God Bless.

JANUARY 1984 SNOW FUN

G-son was feeling better this morning so off to school we went. He is getting almost too smart as on the way out the door I ask him if he felt okay, to which he replied," what if I'm not?"  Hmmmm, I said then I probably should call the doctor. He suddenly was really okay !!!
After chores I bagged my Avon orders and boxed one up for shipping. If you haven't checked out USPS.com you should before you ship anything else. They give discounts for printing labels on line and then track it and let you know when it is delivered for free !
After lunch I did more house cleaning. After my regular dusting I deep cleaned more in the kitchen and did some re-arranging.
I also washed all the pictures in the living room and hallway.
I am not setting any certain duties for certain days and it seems to be working out better this way and I am getting things done that I didn't last year.
I want to move my living room furniture around but can't figure out how just yet !!
The snow flurries flew for awhile this afternoon and many counties around us let school out early. #1 son had to work over this evening putting salt on roads in the northern part of the county where the most snow fell. Here at our farm it stayed to warm in the mid 30's until the snow passed through.
We get another chance Friday.

We are in a below normal ride for the next several days.

When I picked up g-son today he sounded all stuffed up but acted like he felt okay. Hopefully he will be able to fight off this cold.
After chilly choretime I spent time in my office on weekly paperwork , bill paying and quarterly taxes. January is always a juggling month for me with market money dropping to almost zero and Christmas bills to pay.
To continue with my decade memories I found quite a few pictures from January 1984 of playing in the snow with our two little boys.
#1 son was 27 months old and enjoying the sledding.

#2 son was only 10 months old and not sure about this whole snow sledding thing even with mom and dad.

They both always loved playing in the snow together.

This was the road that goes by our place.

Oh how that snow looks like fun, wonder if we will get to have any of that fun this January 2014 ??
I guess I had better be careful what I wish for with these same two boys now having jobs where they both have to go to work and work out in the snow instead of playing.
Giving all my cares to God tonight as I get ready for bed and am so glad I have Him to keep me safe all through the night.
Good Night and God Bless.