CCCCOLD !! AND AN OVERNIGHT GUEST

Up early to get this busy day started. A couple years ago I decided I would get up each day with a purpose in mind for that day.  I stuck with this plan for a while then kind of let it go. I think it was a very good idea so I am getting back to that idea starting today.
After chores and ice-breaking chores as we have already passed our high temperature for today early this morning and now the temperature is dropping throughout the day.
I carried everything fresh water this morning and hope they get a drink before it refreezes.
Back inside I kept 2 fires going all day in both wood stoves, upstairs and downstairs.
This is the first time this year our upstairs stove has been fired up but it feels really good today.
After breakfast I baked 6 caramel cakes for an order to be delivered tomorrow then had lunch.
My purpose for this day was to go through my closets. I still have clothes in there that don't fit anymore since I lost my weight and I needed to get all those out and in bags to be donated.
I had to try on several things to decide which I could wear and what I couldn't wear anymore and what I just didn't want anymore.
I have a huge box and a big garbage bag full of donations and that job is done !
I also had time to get the December figures all tallied up and the end of the year figures done. I had a better year than I thought with a very good December.
I humbly thanked God for the good fortune He allowed me last year and asked for His blessing on this year.
#2 son came by to bring some tools back and get some firewood for his fireplace in case the power goes off in this cold weather we are having.  He showed me some pictures he took of his rock work after he got finished and it looks really good I need to go see it when I get out tomorrow.
After chores and supper we watched the news. The weather is the big story with temperatures overnight close to 0 and high winds dropping chill factors to well below 0 , schools are on delay in the morning and we are all hoping the power stays on. These are the temperature maps at 10:45 tonight.

 Since g-son's school was on a 2-hour delay tomorrow and his mom has to go in on regular time g-son came to spend the night with us tonight so he can sleep in tomorrow morning.
He is so sweet, we played math card baseball tonight.

Even with the excitement of spending the night he still crawled into bed early with his pawpaw, leaving me my blogging time.
The snow flakes were flying this evening giving everything a hazy look as the sun set in another blaze of color.

Feeling very blessed tonight to have a warm house and a loving family.
Praying for all who are out in this cold windy night.
Good Night and God Bless.

GETTING READY FOR THE COLD

Up to a regular morning of chores, breakfast , walking video, Bible reading and then housework today. It is 42 degrees at noon today for the warmest temperature for several days if the weather folks are right.
Re had a doctor's appointment at noon today so little EL had lunch with me and then we played until mom got back. No new news about baby ,still just a waiting game.
I did more house cleaning after they left to go take naps and then I treated myself to my yearly trip to Bath and Body Works semi annual sale. I tried to hurry as fast as I could in there. I love their lotions and room fragrances but all the inter-mingled scents give me migraine headaches quickly.
I left there and checked in JC Pennys and TJ Maxx for a dark brown dress jacket or sweater but didn't find one. I didn't feel like walking all the way to Belk's while I was fighting a migraine so I came home and laid down on the couch awhile and closed my eyes hoping the fragrance free air at home would keep me from getting a full blown migraine and it worked thankfully.
They gave me a coupon to go online and get some things at a still more 20% discount with free shipping so that is what I did tonight to finish my shopping from there.
After chores this evening I gleaned some in the garden to get a jump on the cold weather that is coming.  Even the Kale and Turnips can't take the single digit temps that are coming tomorrow.

I am going to freeze the Kale and put the Turnips in the basement to keep where it is cooler. I will gather another basket of Kale tomorrow during the day before it gets to the killing cold point.
The chickens enjoyed the turnip tops this evening for a delicious extra snack before their roosting time.
I ate supper and then crashed back on the couch as I still don't feel up to par so I am going to relax for the evening and watch TV.
Thankful that I didn't get a full blown headache today.
Grateful for all the blessings of this day and praying for all the people and animals that have to be out in the cold for the next couple days and nights.
Good Night and God Bless.

BERNIE TO THE VET

After chores I called the vet's office while hubbie and I ate breakfast. Bernie coughed alot again last night and he is sounding very congested in his lungs.
They gave me a 11:30 appointment so we had time to run some errands before we went.
We went to Southern States to pick up chicken feed and then to Belks to check out their sales. Hubbie found a couple new dress shirts and I found a pair of boots like I have been wanting but the sales were still not the low prices they usually have so I am waiting for the 85% off racks !!
We came home with just enough time to put things away and get Bernie.
Poor Bernie hates the vet's office and shook violently the whole time we were there.

Good news I guess from the vet. After an x-ray of his windpipe and heart they saw nothing wrong, but we still have a coughing dog so he prescribed him some people medicine. Lomotil which for us is an anti-diarrea drug but he said in dogs it seems to quiet a cough very well.  It is the first in a long line of meds he said we could try.
The drugist looked surprised when we told her it was for a dog !! ??
We got home at 12:30 so that wasn't bad at all. I hate going to the vet because it seems every time I go there is an animal there that is hurt or really sick and it makes me so sad to see that. Today was no different as we sat in the waiting room a man came in the door carrying a beagle completely covered except for blood streaked feet and legs and said it was attacked in his yard by a Pit Bull. There was a deputy sheriff following him back to the operating room.
Fortunately this man came out when we were waiting to pay and I asked how the dog was and he said they thought she was going to be okay after sewing up 20+ puncture wounds all over her body. I was glad we saw him before we left and got the news.
While we ate lunch #2 son , who is off this week on a week of his vacation for this year , came by to borrow some yard work tools and a wheel barrow. He is going to work on re-landscaping his yard.
I followed him back home to bring some of the flowers and plants home he was digging up. I brought them home and we planted them in the garden until warmer weather. I don't know what some of them are.
Hubbie spent the afternoon changing the transmission filter and fluid in daughter' s jeep, she is still trying to decide on selling it or not.
I did three loads of laundry , glad to be in the warm house. The temperature outside is 42 but with the wind it feels much colder.
This winter storm that is bringing us our coldest weather of the season and more than a foot of snow in the nothern states has a name today, Gorgon .

When Wednesday rolls around for us the jet steam will be all the way south into northern Florida and in the early morning Thursday they are predicting -20 degree chill factors here with around 5 degrees and  high winds.
There was another beautiful sunset today.

Almost waited to late to get a pic tonight.
Hubbie and I watched a UNC/ Notre Dame game tonight which ND won by one point,boo !!
Grateful to God tonight for the love He shows all His children.
Good Night and God Bless.

BLESSED SUNDAY

Annie's face sums up this nasty morning well. She looks rained on and miserable like everything else outside this morning. As I opened the hen house doors they looked at me as if to ask if I really expected them to come out ??
The creek was running almost bank full from the additional 1 3/4 inches of rain we received overnight.

It was misting rain as we went into church but had stopped when we came out. We celebrated the Lord's Supper today during our service.
We had a big spaghetti lunch and everyone made it today.  After we ate everyone had a nice visit before going off on their own Sunday afternoon ventures.
Re looks pretty miserable , I think the baby is about ready to make his entrance !!
Talked to a friend, Georgia , this afternoon about her fainting episode that left her with a fractured sinus cavity, a broken tooth and a badly cut lip that required plastic surgery.  She thinks her low blood pressure made her faint so she has to be more careful, especially early in the mornings.
I took some time to relax and watch the birds in my back yard this afternoon.

After chores this evening I relaxed with my 4-legged kids awhile.
There was a beautiful sunset this evening as the clouds blew away in the breezy wind that is blowing in some winter weather for us. Today's temperatures have us spoiled as they were in the upper 50's.
Tonight's predicted 29 degrees is going to be a severe shock for everything outside in the still damp foggy conditions.

As I looked to the eastern sky I saw this almost full golden moon making it's way up into the night sky.

By the time I came inside and got my big camera some of the clouds had lifted and the moon was higher in the sky.

I was trying different settings on my camera to get the best effect.
Grateful to God tonight for another blessed Sunday and praying that I glorify His name in all that I do.
Good Night and God Bless.

FIRST MARKET DAY OF 2015 A RAINY ONE

Another of many rainy mornings it seems has spilled over into our new year. I slipped and sloshed through chores and got the van loaded for market.
Market was slow as expected but I am thankful for the things I did sell.  My closest neighbor Steve Presley called and asked for prayers for his family as his wife, Lynn's father has been admitted to Hospice with only days to live.
Only a few sellers braved the nasty weather today and very few customers. I was glad to see 2:00 come around so I could get loaded , make one stop at Aldi and get home to a dry warm house.
The rain has continued pretty much all day with temps in the mid to upper 40's but the air had a definite chilly feel this evening.
After hubbie helped me unload we had a late lunch and then I got my laptop back out and fixed it with the help of my desktop.
On the last market day before Christmas when I tried to use the laptop at market I couldn't get any browser to work and it kept trying to tell me that my internet explorer browser was out of date. I had never heard of this so I just shut the laptop off meaning to talk to daughter about it over the holidays but forgot.  So today at market when I turned the laptop on I had a new home page which said TROVI , it had a search bar and looked alot like  google  or yahoo.  When I tried to search it wouldn't go to any of the webpages I typed in but had a mind of its own going to advertising sites.
Also the internet explorer icon was gone from my task bar completely and when I tried to use my google chrome browser the Trovi page would come back up. I also got a notification that my Norton anti virus was turned off.   I shut the laptop off and brought it home.
I turned the laptop and my desktop on and looked up trovi on the desktop. Turns out is is a bad thing, a malware virus that hitch hikes on your browsers.  
I looked up the directions to get it off the laptop and they worked although under my programs list I had to guess by the date when installed what program it might be as it was not listed under the trovi name.  I just went through and uninstalled all programs that had been installed on that day before Christmas when I started having problems.   Yea !!!   for me I fixed the problem and also found out how to turn my Norton back on, still have no idea how it got switched off  or if it was really off ???
Daughter called and I told her what happened, she had never heard of trovi and said she couldn't believe a virus could actually turn the Norton off so I have no idea what went on.
At evening chore time I emptied 3/4 inch of rain from the gauge with the heaviest rain yet to come in the early hours of tomorrow morning.
After this rain passes by winter weather is going to make a very chilling appearance about mid week with single digit overnight temps for at least one night and below freezing during the day.

Well I guess after all it is January !!!!
Hubbie and I watched some of the NFL playoff game between Carolina Panthers and the Arizona Cardinals that d-in-love and her dad are at today.  I thought I saw her in the crowd but when I asked her what color her jacket was I knew it wasn't her.   Carolina won the game so she and her dad were happy.
After that game and a little country music show time we watched the UNC/ Clemson basketball game which UNC won so we were happy !!!!   A good day for the Carolina teams !!
It is 10:30 and as I sit here and yawn I am reminded of my inability to go to sleep quickly last night  with my stuffy nose.  My nose feels better tonight so I am headed to bed for a catch up night of peaceful sleep.
I was reminded tonight as I listened to the news of the power of our Heavenly Father as they told the story of a plane crash in Kentucky that claimed the lives of a mother, father, daughter and cousin when the plane, having engine trouble crashed into a remote wooded area. Miraculously there was one lone survivor of the horrendous crash,  the 7 year old daughter of the deceased couple,who walked at least a 1/4 mile in the dark, barefooted, through the dense woods to the only house that was within miles of the crash site.  After opening the door to a bloody, crying little 7 year old girl who immediately told the couple that lived there that her mom and dad were dead in the plane crash , this couple was completely astonished and said it was nothing short of a miracle that  this little girl walked that far under those conditions and how in the world did she happen to go in the direction of their house ??.
  I know how she did it and God must have a special plan for this little girl is all I have to say !!!.

Tonight I am thankful for the reminder of the power and love of our Heavenly Father and of the blessings of this day.
Good Night and God Bless.

MID-WIFERY AND 1955 DECADE PICS

A cold 30 degree morning with cloudy skies greeted us this morning as g-son arrived at 8:00 to stay while his mom went to the doctor.
He brought his mom's I-pad so we hardly knew he was here except for the 2 waffles he had for breakfast.
After chores and breakfast hubbie took my van to have it inspected so I can get my new tag.
G-son and I hung out here until his mom got home around 10:00.
I baked a coconut cake  and a chocolate pound cake to fill orders tomorrow. I suspect market will be a ghost town with the forecasted cold rain.
I am going to have an across the board price raise on all my baked goods. This is the first price raise I have had in years but with the cost of all my ingredients going up more and more and now an egg shortage predicted I had to raise the prices.
I ran across a note to myself that ask for information for a local historian book author about the mid-wifery practice of my great grandmother in this county.  Terry Ruscin has already written a couple books about the history of Henderson county and he is working on another one. I spent some time going through all my old pics and info and found some interesting facts about Susan Pryor's mid wife practices. She was a very sought after mid-wife in a three county area. She never lost a mother or a baby in her entire years of practice. She even delivered a set of triplets, although she sent quickly for a doctor when she realized there were three babies , the doctor didn't get there until she had all the babies delivered and doing well. A man from Buncombe county came all the way to get her to be with his wife and offered to pay her twice what her normal fee of $2 was to go with him. He also insisted she raise her fees for everyone to $4.

Maybe Terry can look farther into her life and find some more info, I'm sure he has more ways to get info than I do.
Anyway while I was searching for that info I went through all my pics for my January 2015 decade photos.  January was a calm month usually and not many years had pics dated January.
In 1955 , however my favorite aunt got a new puppy named Duke for Christmas of that year so there was something else to photograph as well as me ! This is my favorite Aunt Hattie Holmes (my mom's sister) with Duke.

This is another sister, my aunt Mary Ruff with Duke.

This is my Aunt Hattie and Uncle Anderson Holmes

And of course when the camera came out there was always pictures of me as the only niece.

I spent the entire afternoon in reminiscing mode and it was nice.  I wonder what life was like back even in the mid 50's as I grew up and especially in the late 1800's and early 1900's when my great grandmother was walking or horseback riding around the counties delivering babies. This also brought to my attention the fact that my dad was 20 years old when my great grandmother died so he must have known all about her and I never ask him anything about her . Then on the other hand I don't remember my dad ever even taking about his mother.  He talked a lot about his dad and brothers and sisters.
Each time I dig into family history I usually have more new questions than I find answers.
It's made for a good rainy day activity anyway.
Hubbie got the new grill put together that we bought on black Friday and then he helped Aa put up some gate post across the road.
He doesn't mind the nasty cool weather and if he stays inside he just sleeps in the recliner. I can always find something inside that needs doing.
After chores tonight #2 son came by to help eat up yesterday's left overs.
I iced the coconut cake and got things ready for market. The first market day for me in 2015 will be a cold rainy one it looks like.  I did get an order for 6 caramel cakes to be delivered next Thursday afternoon to a customer from Greenville, SC so that will make a good payday for next week.
Getting to bed earlier tonight for an earlier wake up time.
Grateful to God for all the times He blesses me without me deserving that blessing.   Thankful to have a wonderful understanding Heavenly Father.
Good Night and God Bless.

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2015 !!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR !!!

Our new year started out cold with 25 degrees as I broke thick ice on all the animal water dishes.
After breakfast hubbie and I started cooking our traditional New year's lunch of ham, black-eyed peas, collard greens and corn bread.

We also fixed some creamed corn and mashed potatoes for the folks who don't like peas or collards And I fixed some Apple Crumble for dessert and daughter brought vanilla ice cream to go with it to make it even more delicious. This was my first recipe try from our new church cook book and it was a good one.
Our lunch bunch consisted of   #2 son, daughter, her boyfriend, Josh, Aa, Re and little EL. We all ate till we were over stuffed with the food for a successful, healthy,lucky and wealthy new year.
After everyone left hubbie and I cleaned up the kitchen and sat around all afternoon fighting sleep. Neither of us got much sleep last night as Bernie had a coughing fit that lasted into the wee hours of the morning. We can not figure out why he is having these at night. He doesn't cough during the day hardly at all but when we go to bed some nights he acts like he gets something in his throat.
If he keeps having these I am going to record him one night and then take him and the recording to the vet to see what they think is causing it.
After chores El came to stay while her mom went to the grocery store for supplies in case the baby makes his appearance sooner than expected.
It is a cold cloudy evening after a nice 50 degree sunny day.  Rain is moving in tonight and lasting several days so I will be back in the slippery mud.
2015 is coming in pretty calmly with a wet January beginning but with mild temperatures for our area.

 I am blogging earlier tonight so we can get into bed earlier and see if that makes a difference in Bernie.
I hope all my friends in blogger land had a wonderful first day of 2015 and I hope the new year brings happiness and all your wishes come true.
Grateful to God for a great first day of the new year surrounded by friends and family with good food on our plates and a love for our Savior.
Good Night , God Bless and Happy New Year.