HAPPY LABOR DAY 2015

Hit that snooze button  a couple times this morning,just because I could !!!
After getting chores done a bit late to the dismay of the animals who like to keep their strict schedules I had breakfast and got laundry started while hubbie gave Dolly and Bernie their weekly  bath.
I did three loads of laundry this morning while going through my closet and getting rid of some of the things I no longer wear. Hubbie went through some books he had stacked on the headboard and cleaned out some of the storage drawers under our bed and refilled them with different things.
Now I probably won't be able to find anything !!!
After lunch we went to Ingles to pick up some supplies for a cook out this evening at Aa and Re's house.
We took some things over there for the cook out then came home to do more small chores for the afternoon.
Sitting in the living room looking at this apple decor on the wood stove made me think what a perfect weekend this has been for the annual apple festival.

 There have been record crowds this year and today it ends with the apple parade which was on a perfect weather day also as the clouds kept the temps down around 80 degrees for the afternoon as folks lined the streets to watch the parade.

Pat McCroy our NC govenor made it to the parade to show his support for our farmers.

This years apple ambassador was the daughter of our friends who run Grand Dad's apples just out the road.

We did the evening chores early and headed over to help get the cook out set up at Aa's .
A couple friends from church and hubbie and I were the only ones who made it to eat but we had a great time.

We made "hobo samdwiches" and had campfire baked beans with slaw and chips with smores for dessert, yummy .

Just as we got ready to eat this rainbow showed up over the house in this cloud. It was beautiful !!!

These three had a great time and ate until they were ready to pop !!!!!!!

And this one enjoyed the pizza pockets her mom made for her and the smores better than anyone as evidenced by her face !!!!

Baby BB slept through the entire affair and woke up just as everyone was cleaning up and heading home.
We had to leave early to pick this little guy up to spend the night with us as his mom has to be at the hospital at 5:30am to have her labor induced.

It didn't take him long to crawl into bed with Pawpaw and after a quiet conversation they were both snoring. He is going to go to school tomorrow as we don't know at this point how long it will take for her to have the baby or if maybe they may not even totally induce her. It all depends on her far along she is and how she progresses. The doctor wasn't planning on inducing her until maybe Friday but there wasn't any induction spots on Friday or Thursday or Wednesday so she took tomorrow and the doctor said he would just see how she progressed as to what he decided to do.  So there is a chance she won't have the baby tomorrow, we will just have to wait and see.
I'm sure whatever happens tomorrow is going to be an interesting day and probably a looong one !!!!
Praying for God's will to be done with d-in-love and the baby and for His loving, caring arms to hold d-in-love and #1 son as they go through the day.
Good Night and God Bless

QUIET SUNDAY AND 1965 SCHOOL PICS

Up to another pretty sunshine filled day and a warm one as we got back into the mid 80's today.
Church was good today.  Our lunch bunch was #1 son's family and Aa's family. We had a delicious beef fillet with corn, green beans, roasted potatoes, roasted cabbage slices and peach cobbler,yum yum.
Aa and Re took the kids home for naps after we ate and #1 son and d-in-love went to Lowes to get a new storm door. G-son stayed with me as hubbie went to a Deacon's meeting this afternoon.
We just hung out and enjoyed the afternoon. He is excited about his little sister getting here this week.
D-in-loves blood pressure is holding steady a little higher than normal but she has no head ache or any other signs of toxemia.
After g-son left I sat outside and enjoyed the warmth of one of the last days of summer. With the warm temps it doesn't seem like Fall is any where near but the signs are all around and I know it won't be long until I will be relaxing inside out of the cool temps.
Hubbie stopped and helped #1 son finish installing the new door and then we did chores for the evening.
We tried sitting back outside in the covered patio as we usually do but tonight the mosquitoes found us and we retreated inside.
Daughter and Josh went hiking today up to Black Balsam on the Blue Ridge parkway and she sent me these beautiful pics from up there.

 Wow !!!  This would be a great spot to visit when the Fall color comes out.

Today in the local newspaper there was a really nice story about #2 son's best friend. Son and Trey have been best friends since high school.

I worked most of the evening on my decade pics for September. I didn't know there would be so many in some of the years. Seems September was an exciting month in many years.
In 1965 school pictures were made. I was in the 6th grade that year and my oldest brother was in the 4th grade.

I don't remember anything about this year in school. I can't even remember who my teacher was that year for sure. I think it was a lady named Mrs. Turner but not sure.
It is after midnight as I write this tonight . Don't know how I got so late with things tonight.
I slept later than usual this morning so probably couldn't go to sleep anyway.
Thanking God tonight for awesome memories and asking for His guidance for d-in-love as she gets ready to bring a new life into this world.
Good Night and God Bless.

APPLE FESTIVAL FUN

Up at 7am to get an early start to this Apple Festival Saturday.
There wasn't any problem finding a parking spot at 8am this morning as we are well ahead of the festival goers who begin arriving around 9am.
Hubbie and I got things set up and I started selling well as folks wanted to get the goods and get out of the crowded streets as quick as they could.
I stayed steadily busy all morning  as hubbie stayed to help. Daughter and g-son came in around 10:00. D-in-love has a baby shower for a friend of hers to attend this morning so daughter picked up g-son for the morning.
They headed up on the streets early to beat the crowds. He had  fun in the game lands.

He also was good at this game and won a giant purple alien.

He called it "his bad dream eater"  and said he was putting it in his bedroom so that it would eat all his bad scary dreams.
Purple alien to watch over you and a big chunk of double chocolate fudge, doesn't get any better !!!!!!

Thank goodness for aunt T !!!!!

Love this little guy, who is not so little any more !!!!

D-in-love came by to pick him up to go to a friends birthday party at Fun Depot in Asheville. He had a very fun day all day today !!!
Daughter met Josh back up on the street with some of his family who had came to town for the festival.
The streets got very crowded as the day was perfect , cloudy and upper 70's temperatures with no rain.

Daughter and Josh came by market and helped me load the Honda. We sold very well today, thankfully.
As I left town the streets were very crowded and even 3 blocks from Main street there was lots of foot traffic.

I made one stop at Aldi  and was glad to get out of town and into the quietness of the country. This is one day out of the year that I love the country !!!
This is a great festival but the streets of our town can't handle this much traffic without major problems.
I don't go up to the festival any more because there are so many people you can't get to the booths to see what the vendors have on Saturday afternoon.  If I could go on Friday that would be the best time but that doesn't happen for me.
It felt good to get unloaded and just spend the afternoon relaxing in the cool sunroom with Bernie on guard.

After chores hubbie and I took hot drinks out to the covered patio and watched the sunset on another apple festival Saturday evening.  AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH !!!!!!

As I watched the news tonight another storm has formed in the Atlantic. This one named Grace. She is not expected to overcome the dry air she has to travel through to move west so we will see.

I am tired tonight and ready for bed.  D-in-love is having some blood pressure problems tonight so maybe the magic hour is getting closer !!!!
Grateful for the love and blessings of the Lord on this day and each day to come.
Good Night and God Bless.

69th APPLE FESTIVAL BEGINS

Uhhhhh !!!!  Apple Festival Friday morning  means the beginning of a very busy day.
After chores and breakfast I ran to Ingles for some salsa seasoning for all the tomatoes and peppers I gathered last night.
Back home I started on a walk but had it cut short by the heat of day already building and knee pain. Not wanting to push my luck with my knee I came inside to cool off and get my baking started.
I baked 6 caramel, 3 chocolate, 1 coconut, 2 pound and 2 blackberry wine cakes and a new easy apple spice cake that I made a muffin from also to sample it and it was delicious.
As I baked I listened to the scanner running in the kitchen about all the heat victims up on the street at the apple festival.
With the 88 degree high here at the farm I'm sure it was pushing 100 up on the paved streets of town.
There were lots of folks who braved the heat on the first day of the festival this year.

They were rewarded with lots of fresh mountain apples.

I had a late lunch then vacuumed and mopped my floors which I have been neglecting for a couple weeks. I mopped myself out the back door and sat in the hot sunshine for a little while getting my daily dose of vitamin D and sweating out all the impurities in my entire body in only a few minutes !
Back inside as soon as the floors dried I started on my salsa making endeaver.
Hubbie stopped by daughters house and brought her baked goods in. She is working the football game concession stand with her volleyball team tonight so she will be extra late getting home.
Thankfully he got here just in time to cut up the jalopeno peppers to go in the salsa. He asked for this salsa to have a little more heat so we put in more hot peppers.
While I cooked the salsa a friend stopped by for a couple cakes they ordered and visited for a few minutes.
After she left I put the salsa in jars and put them into the freezer (can't believe I forgot to get a picture), I made 9 pints for the freezer and 1 quart for the refrigerator to enjoy now.  It does have more heat then the previous batches as evidenced by the sweat beads on hubbie's face while he finished off the little bit left in the pot.
After chores I took a break off my feet for the first time today and watched a beautiful sunset as a front moves into the area supposedly bringing a rainy Saturday.

I finished the evening icing and wrapping all the cakes and getting them ready for market. I'll need to get an extra early start tomorrow to beat the festival traffic.
God is so good all the time and I am forever grateful for His generous blessings.
Good Night and God Bless

THURSDAY BEFORE APPLE FESTIVAL A HOT ONE

A rude awakening at 7am as I tried to figure out what the dogs were barking at and why my phone was ringing ????
Of course I didn't get woke up in time to answer the phone but it did dawn on me that the dogs were barking at daughter who was dropping off her baked goods.
After letting her in and letting the dogs out I couldn't go back to sleep so I got an early start to my day.
I made it to market in plenty of time and got set up before any customers came in.
Today was an okay day for the Thursday before Apple Festival and I took several orders for Saturday so that day is looking good.
I always wear my apple vest during this week.

After lunch I got really hot in market and wondered if it was my lack of sleep or if the temperature was higher. I got my answer when I finished loading and got in the Honda.

Wow !!!  96 degrees is hot for a September day !!!!
After running regular errands and making supply stops at Aldi, Tractor Supply and Walmart I headed home to take a break in the cool house.
Hubbie got in just behind me and helped unload my filled to the brim suv.
We watched the news and rested until supper time.
After evening chores I had a hot cup of tea out on the front porch and talked with daughter. Her teams both lost their games tonight against volleyball power house West Henderson.
She was headed home to bake for Saturday tonight as she and her volleyball team have to work the football concession stand tomorrow night.
Josh is at the UNC / USC football game tonight in Charlotte. He went with his brothers to the game.
They are all UNC fans.
Talked to d-in-love also and after her doctor's appointment this morning they set her up to be induced Tuesday if this baby doesn't want to come see us before then. She has dilated a little bit more so maybe this little lady will pick her own time. D-in-love is ready to meet her for sure !!! Her co-workers gave her a mini shower after school on Monday.

I gleaned some in the garden tonight as the forecast is for rain to come in tomorrow and last for a couple days. I didn't want the winter squash to get worms in them so I gathered the spaghetti, butternut and acorn squash and put them in the cool basement.
I also gleaned the Roma tomatoes again with the peppers for more salsa. I want to freeze some more salsa this year as that I got out of the freezer this week was so delicious and tasted more like fresh salsa than the canned that I have.
I will take time tomorrow or Saturday to make the salsa.

If we get rain some of our garden vegetables will still put on more vegetables.
I am very thankful for all the produce I have gotten in this very dry season of gardening.
I finished the evening blogging and working on my next blog book.
An early bed time tonight to get ready for a busy Friday.
Thankful for all the blessings of this day and the love of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Good Night and God Bless

BAKING WEDNESDAY

Whew , today is a hot sunny definitely summer like day. I was sweating before chores were done.
After breakfast I took a short walk with nothing to catch my attention long enough for a photograph today.
Back inside I got the day's baking started. I baked 6 caramel cakes, 2 chocolate, 1 coconut, 8 pound , 2 blackberry wine and 1 apple wine cake today.
This week end is the apple festival and I never know how that will affect my business.
I took a nice break outside under a now cloudy sky. I could hear thunder in the distance but we didn't get a drop of rain here.
After hubbie came in from work we watched the news and rested until chore time.
I did weekly paperwork and payed bills before icing and wrapping cakes to finish out the evening.
Today was a really boring day in my world. These days don't come around much and I am kind of glad they don't but every once in a while a boring break is nice !!!
I saw this posted on a friends site and thought how true this is right now with all the crazy things going on in our country right now !!!

Thanking God for another blessed day and striving to glorify His name in all I do.
Good Night and God Bless.

WONDERS OF NATURE BRING IN SEPTEMBER

As the sun peaked through my bedroom window this morning I thought how fast this year has gone by. Here it is September 1,which signals the end of summer and the getting ready for those cooler days and it seems it was only yesterday that I was wanting to snuggle back under the covers on the cold days of last winter.
No worries about cooler weather today as the temperature was already well into the 70's as I did morning chores.
After breakfast I decided to take a long walk this morning down into the lower pasture to check out what this dry summer has done for our farm pond. It is completely dried up.

 Little tracks all around in the mud were left by maybe a racoon searching for something to eat buried in the drying mud.

 Our pond hasn't been this dry in many years. Aa is having to haul water to his cattle each day.
The creek isn't looking much better as the water level in it is as low as I have ever seen it also.

 Annie had a hard time getting anything wet but her legs.

The wild flowers are ablaze even in the drought and there were many beautiful colors this morning.
Red Cardinal flower....

Purple Chickory.....

Yellow Ragwort....

White Caynnan's Lace...

Orange Jewel Weed with it's name sake dew drops still glistening like jewels on it's leaves.

Not a flower but very colorful.....

As I passed by the garden I made the September garden pano photo.

This is the part that contains our Fall garden.

It looks like with a little luck we may have some decent sized watermelons this year.

I also made "the view from here" photo for September as things are suffering from the drought there is a lot of yellows.

I reluctantly came back inside to get started on my housework Tuesday duties.
First of the month changes brought out the apple decor for September.

I washed last months furniture covers and hung them on the line in hopes that would bring us a rain shower , but no luck !!!

I finished the re-decorating and housework then took a nice break out in the cloudy afternoon. As I sat in the fire pit patio this little mouse eater was searching for his meal all around this old tub.

As I watched him search then slither away, luckily for him he slithered away from the house. He was a pretty big snake to be hanging out this close to the house with the kids playing around  but we will give him this one chance.
While I was heading back inside to watch the news a yellow jacket flew into my back and went down the top of my shirt stinging me just under my right shoulder blade as I mashed him to get him out. Yeow !!!  that hurts !!!!
Since it was on my back I  couldn't get any paste to stick on it to take the sting out of it.
Hubbie came in and we watched the news while I held an ice pack on the sting.
After a salad supper and evening chores we relaxed outside in the covered patio.
I'm pretty sure these three are not old enough to be out of their nest.

They were desperately looking for their parents who never showed up. We wondered what might have happened to dislodge them from the nest so young. They finally got quiet and settled down after making their way down into the bushes on the hill in front of the patio so maybe they found a parent bird.
They were funny to watch as they stuck so closely together as if knowing there might be safety in numbers.
The forecast for more chances of rain for this weekend is good and bad since this is the apple festival weekend but we so desperately need rain. Maybe it will rain out here in the country and not in town where the festival will be !!!

Well this has been a really nice first day of September for me. I love the wonders of nature and God provided me with some of them today.
Thanking Him for His many blessings and feeling comfort in the knowledge that Heaven is for real.
Good Night and God Bless.