SURPRISING GOOD MARKET DAY

Off to market this morning on a still pretty chilly morning as evidenced by the thick layer of frost on my windshield and the thick layer of ice on the waterers .
As the temperature warmed so did business in market and I ended up having a very nice day as several orders got picked up and it was very close to a sell out day.
Susan came by with her little boy and kept me company.  After market we went to an estate sale at the place that we usually go but neither of us found anything we "needed" !!
She went home and I stopped by Ingles to pick up some things for tomorrow's lunch than came home.
Hubbie helped me unload then we were having a cup of coffee when Aa,Re and the kids came through the yard to walk over to their property and stake out a house site.
I walked with them for some nice exercise for today.
We came back and EL wanted to swing for a few minutes. She is so independent and wants to do things all by herself now. She insisted she didn't need PaPa to hold her hands on the swing chains.

She did okay but looked like she might have regretted that decision.
Hubbie and I got the chores done and then had supper before settling down to watch TV. We watched the UNC / Duke ballgame which Duke won in another close game.
I deviled some eggs for tomorrow's lunch and got some things ready to go in the crock pots and pressure cooker tomorrow.
Thankful for the business of today and for the blessing of health and happiness as I strive to honor His name in all that I do each day.
Good Night and God Bless.

BAKING DAY

A cold, 20 degree, morning to remind me that winter is still with us as I headed out to do the morning chores.
After breakfast I decided to take a morning walk even though it was still cold outside the sun was shining brightly making it very inviting. I need to get back in this habit as this made me feel more energetic to begin my day. No pics today even though I carried my camera along, the dreary winter scenery hasn't changed much.
I baked 6 caramel, 3 chocolate, 4 pound and 1 blackberry wine cake this morning. While the last cakes were in the oven I made a batch of peanut butter fudge that a customer ordered, mmmm, I just had to sample this and it was delicious !!
After a late lunch I tackled my photo project. I got all the prints sorted and dated ready to go in the album and then ordered the last 2 months of 2014 prints from Walgreens.
I am working hard to get everything caught up from last year.  I still haven't even began my latest blog book from the last six months of last year, sigh !!!
The high temperature today stayed in the upper 40's so it was a good day to work inside.
As I went through the sunroom this afternoon I spotted my first Red Winged Blackbird at the feeder. This is a sure sign of spring getting closer around here when these migrating beauties return to our area. I love to hear these birds talk back and forth to each other in the trees around the yard.

Hopefully the weather gurus are correct in their prediction for the month of March and this warmer weather materializes.

This is the first time in a long time that another winter storm isn't forming and heading across the country. Could it be that we only make it thru  the "T's" this winter ????
After evening chores I iced my cakes and then headed to an early bedtime. Not looking forward to this time change coming this week end.
Thanking God for the blessings of this day and asking for guidance each day to be a better person in glorifying  His name.
Good Night and God Bless.

WINTER IS BACK !!

This is exactly how I felt as I went outside this morning in a cold windy rain to do the morning feeding chores.
After yesterday's sunny warmth this is brutal today.
The temp as I headed into town this morning about the same time it was 63 yesterday was almost 30 degrees colder today.

I ran all my weekly errands and stopped at Aldi and Walmart for groceries and baking supplies before heading home for a late lunch.
Winter's drabiness was magnified by the cold rain with snow flakes mixed in at times.

I needed a day like this to catch up on some inside things and I got them almost all caught up this afternoon as I watched the temperature drop steadily all day.
I got February business figures in the books, caught up on my blog book reading and got out all the March decade pics.
The earliest decade happening I found was in March of 1945 when my uncle Cecil , my dad's brother, died.

Thankfully there were some happy things that happened in March also.
On March 7 of 1945 my oldest first cousin on my mother's side was born to my mom's oldest sister Carol and her husband Bob Warner. I love this little birth announcement card I found in one of my Aunt Hattie's old scrap books.

This is my Aunt Carol  with Veronica.

This was a good way to spent this cold nasty afternoon, reviving memories !!
The temperature is supposed to keep dropping, reaching 20 degrees by morning then not getting out of the low 40's tomorrow.

These are the record lows that are forecast for tomorrow morning.

Yes , this is March, but the national snow cover area is the largest it's been all winter so far  !

To show the seriousness of the cold in February on Grandfather Mountain there were 5 new record lows recorded. On February 14 negative 10.8 degrees, Feb. 15 negative 11.1, Feb. 18 negative 15.4, Feb. 19 negative 16.4, and on Feb. 20 negative 10.7  all set new records for this almost 6,000 feet high mountain top .

This is the weather station in the living room tonight verses last night except the time which is an hour earlier than last night. There is a 33 degree drop in temperature from last night !!!

God is in control and I rest in the comfort of the knowledge that He knows best and His timing is perfect.
Good Night and God Bless.

FIRST LINE DRYING DAY OF THE SEASON

G-son arrived at 7am today, getting my day off to an earlier than usual start.  I got him breakfast and then did the outside chores before we left for school.  Hubbie had helped me load all the rugs and big quilts in my van last night so I could go to the laundry early this morning. I picked up all the dog beds and added them to my load on our way out.
After dropping g-son at school I arrived at the laundry just a few minutes after 8:00 and all the biggest machines were available thankfully.
I loaded all my things in the washers and started them before having my coffee and protein bar for an "on the go" breakfast this morning.
By the time my loads finished there were folks lining up behind me waiting for these bigger machines.  I was glad I arrived when I did and was first to use them.
I don't dry any of the rubber backed rugs so I loaded them in the van while the other things were drying. All in all it takes me about 2 hours from the time I leave the house until I get back home and I only do it 3 or 4 times a year so it is well worth the time to get all these big things done at one time and keep all the grit out of my machine.
When I got home I hung all the rugs on the clothes line to to dry. With the sunny , warm and windy day it is a perfect drying day.  This was the temperature in the van at about 9:45 when I headed home from the laundry.

I forgot to take pictures of the first "hanging out laundry" day of this year but found this pic on the web that shows what kind of windy day it was .

Re called as I was getting done with this and we went to look at double wides on a lot in Fletcher.
I enjoy looking at these homes and they had some nice ones. Little EL loves to look around inside each one also and she and I randomly appeared in a couple pics that Re took to show Aa.

We made it home for a late lunch and then I spent some time outside just soaking up some warm sunshine on this glorious day.  I can't believe by this time tomorrow the temps will be 40 degrees lower, that is going to hurt after today !!!
When the clouds started rolling in in front of the winter storm that is pushing this mess our way I came inside and vacuumed and mopped all the floors before I put the nice clean rugs back down.
After chores and supper hubbie and I rested and watched Survivor on TV.
As I look at the weather station in the living room it is hard to believe that the weather folks are saying the word snow in the forecast. 63 degrees at 11:00 is a summer temperature !!

Thanking God for the blessings of this day and asking for guidance for Aa and Re as they make major decisions.
Good Night and God Bless.

THINK SPRING !!

Well the yucky weather is back but at least it isn't cold, just drizzly and damp.
As I re-kindled the fire in the downstairs wood stove to combat the damp coolness of the morning I wondered how many more days this would be part of my morning routine.
After chores and breakfast I started changing the bed clothes and furniture covers as well as putting away all the Valentine and winter decorations, replacing them with spring decor.
March can be a snowy month for us too but it always also has some spring days to enjoy.
I need to get back in the habit of my morning walks.
I did extra loads of laundry and enjoyed going through all my shelf sitters to pick our different things to look at for the next month.I love this set of collectable plates called "wildflowers of the south" and thought they fit in perfectly for the warm weather anticipation. At least it is spring on the inside !!!

Re had a dr's appointment this afternoon then a meeting about a home loan so little EL got to spend the afternoon with Mimi.
I can't think of any more enjoyable way to spend the time than snuggling with this little angel.

She took a nice long nap as soon as she arrived and I quietly worked on getting my prints into albums while she slept. As soon as she woke up she asked to go outside as I had promised her we would do if she took a good nap and a more than 2 hour nap is a good nap !!
It was cool outside but she wanted to ride her little car down the hill until her little hands felt like ice cubes. Then I bribed her with a cookie to come inside and all was well !!
We spent the rest of the evening playing with all her toys inside.

Hubbie and I took turns doing our outside work so we didn't have to get her back outside as the rain started coming down pretty hard .
Her mom and dad came after her and said their meeting went well and now they just have to make some decisions and choices.
The weather today was cloudy and very damp with temps around 50 degrees, tonight it is 47 at 10:00 with rain falling outside.
By tomorrow night we will get a visit from the winter storm named Thor after a really nice warm day.

Hubbie and I watched a UNC / Georgia Tech ballgame tonight and UNC ran away with it.
Grateful for all my blessings of this day and thankful as always for the love of a wonderful Savior.
Good Night and God Bless.

OUTSIDE WORK DAY

Okay, finally a spring like morning with ice still melting in the animal waters and almost all the ice and snow a distant memory after the first above freezing overnight in a long long time.
After chores and breakfast I started the weekly laundry and then hubbie and I went outside to spend this first warmer day catching up on our pruning.
We worked in sweatshirts although at times a cool breeze would blow through almost making you want to run for a jacket but the warm sunshine always made us resist that urge.
We worked all morning on the plum trees, cutting out all the "black knot" disease that is attacking these resistant trees as they age. We burned all the limbs with the disease on them, although with the Wild Cherry trees all around the yard covered with this stuff it probably doesn't do any good to destroy only these infested branches.
We came in for lunch and I changed out the laundry for the second load of the day.
After lunch we tackled the area around the well house. Some of the Butterfly Bushes in this area were killed in last winter's extreme cold temps and we just didn't get a chance to prune them out last year as I wanted to see if they would eventually come back.
They hadn't and we had huge piles of these to carry off.

The area looks very different when we finished this job.

As I went around the yard pruning all the bushes I discovered we had not did any pruning last year .

I pruned and hubbie followed with the pitch fork picking up all the unwanted branches.
We finished up in the Blackberry patch where the dead canes from last year needed to be removed so the new ones could have more room.
Whew !!!  I can already tell I probably will be very sore tomorrow after all the stooping and bending.
The DOT workers repaired the guard rail that was damaged by a car during the snow last week.

Re brought little EL over to play some this afternoon. She loves sliding on this big blue slide.

She heard her daddy over at their house on a tractor and so we had to go over so she could get a ride in that tractor as he scraped their driveway. EL takes the wheel  !!

 She is definitely a daddy's girl these days.

I remember how my kids used to take up with different family members at different times in their young lives.
Baby BB slept through all the fun this afternoon riding on mom's chest in his carrier.
I came home and had a nice rest on the front porch with a cup of hot tea for the first time in a long long time. It felt very nice feeling the warm sun on my face.
As chore time came around and I had to leave my relaxing position on the porch I snapped these wintry views around the place and wondered how long it will be before the greens and purples will start to show up in advance of spring.

As I read back in the years past in my blog books by this time in most years there is already some blooms around my yard but not this year as our cold winter weather continues to keep things in dormant mode. The seesaw temperatures of this week aren't going to help either.

The setting sun photo my friend Susan sent to me this evening was a beauty as this busy day comes to an end.

I have a very nice accomplished feeling tonight along with the sore muscles as a testament to all the hard work we did today.
Thanking God tonight for the strength He gives me each day and for the beauty He created for our viewing.
Good Night and God Bless.

HAPPY #32 TO MY #2 SON !!!

Thankfully the icy rain was all melted off by the time we got up on this lazy Sunday morning.
It is still cloudy but the upper 30's temps feel pretty good compared to the recent temperatures as I get the chores done and get ready for church.
Church was good this morning as our associate pastor Craig delivered the message while the senior pastor is on a mission trip to the middle east.
This is a picture of our church taken by my photography friend Chuck in the snow last Thursday.

After church everyone made it to a lunch of country style ribs, mashed potatoes, green beans, corn and rolls, yum yum.
I think everyone acted tired today and headed out to do their own Sunday afternoon things pretty quickly leaving hubbie and I to relax for a cloudy Sunday afternoon which we napped away .
Today is a special day in our family as on this day 32 years ago my #2 son was born around 6pm this evening after a long day of laborous waiting.
He was an especially happy baby and young man and is a special adult. HAPPY  #32 TO YOU SON!

He is a special uncle also !!!

 Wow !!!  It is hard to believe it has been 32 years !!!!

March has come in like a lamb as this day was cloudy and quiet all day and the temperature got up to 49 this evening making it feel nice outside.

This is a picture of the Edneyville community taken from Sugarloaf Mountain this afternoon.

Hopefully with the month of March usually signalling the end of the cold winter this month will be warmer and I can get outside more to walk and get some yard work done.
The jet stream looks like it is rising so that is a good thing.

But the string of winter storms are still marching across the country and as Sparta, the storm that is effecting us today exits off to the northeast another storm name Thor has already began it's march across the country from the southwestern states.

We will have to wait to see what Thor brings to our area later in the week.

I enjoyed just walking around outside this evening watching the sunset on this first day of March, 2015.

As I looked at #2 son today at lunch and then looked at my aging face in the mirror I thought about how much happiness God has given me in my lifetime and also thought about all the things I have been blessed with and also I've learned that I am thankful God didn't give me everything I asked for.
As I look around at my now growing family and how happy they are I am so thankful to be right where I am at this time and place in my life.
Good Night and God Bless.