DRAW DOWN SATURDAY

A rainy morning greeted us as we got ready to head out to market today. Today makes a full week of clouds most all days for our area. Here we did see the sun a couple hours on a couple days but no full days of sunshine for us in a week.

Market was pretty slow with the light rain that continued all day. I am very thankful for what I did sell today.
Daughter came in to help me load back up then we went to the first holiday fair in the area today. It was at St. James Episcopal church and it benefited the charity called Ten Thousand Villages. They had lots of neat things that were handmade in other countries and the prices were pretty good. Both daughter and I filled some of our Christmas list while we were there. We were both impressed with this sale.

I stopped by Aldi to pick up baking supplies after we left the sale and daughter went home.
Hubbie helped me unload in a still light rain fall. We didn't have long to rest as the high school's drawdown fund raiser is tonight. We fed early and headed out to the school to meet daughter and Josh at 5:30.

#1 son's family joined us and we all ate our steak dinners together. They had lots of donated items from area businesses to bid on and had 32 tickets to draw cards on to complete the sale. #1 son got in on the drawing and for $10 got an extra ticket for the $5000 drawing.
They sold all 299 of the 300 tickets they have and held one to auction off close to the end of the drawings.
We are all holding our tickets and hoping to be the lucky ones.

Daughter is always the ticket drawer in these drawdowns.

The kids both did really well tonight as we sat in the school auditorium from about 7:00 until 9:00 watching the auction and all the drawings.

  #1 son got the fartherest along before his number was called out , he got well into the 200's while hubbie and our ticket was called at 251. We got a North Henderson cup and a $20 sheet of coupons.  #2 son and daughter's tickets were called before ours and they got cups with various items in them. 
Oh well !!! there is always next year !!!!
And oh yea, that 300th ticket they auctioned off to be added into the final 10 tickets brought a record bid tonight of  $2,250 !!  yes thats two thousand two hundred and fifty dollars !!!   Unfortunately for the man who bought it ,that ticket was the second one called out when the drawing continued.
We got home a little after 9:00 and relaxed for the rest of the night, hubbie in front of the TV and me blogging.
Thankful tonight for the wonderful community that I live in as I always marvel at the number of folks who come out on this night to support the athletic program and the local high school.
Good Night and God Bless.

SUMMER DAY IN NOVEMBER !!!

Up early to get g-daughter today. She slept for over 3 hours this morning while I got the  chores done, had breakfast and my devotions before she stirred for another feeding.I emptied another 1/10th inch of rain from the overnight drizzle but the sun is shining nicely today.
She loves to lay on the couch and watch me during my walking video but her rolling back and forth this morning made me a little nervous even though it is not time for her to roll over yet she still got "jailed" with a dining room chair after the memories of #1 son when he was a tiny baby who couldn't roll over rolled off our bed with me sitting on the bed with him !!!!

While she went back to sleep for another morning nap I baked cakes. I baked 6 caramel, 2 pound and 1 pumpkin spice cake before lunch.
G-daughter was a really good baby today and stayed awake most of the afternoon in a great mood. She finally went down for another nap and she looked so peaceful I had to find something to do so I wasn't tempted to nap myself.

I searched out all my November decade photographs while she napped peacefully.
After her mom picked her up I headed over to my friend/beautician, Markeeta for  a shampoo and haircut.
When I got home I did the chores then put away all the Halloween decorations as it is supposed to rain again tonight and tomorrow and they did dry out in today's near record breaking 80 degree sunshine !
I also put on a hat and tried to get as many of the fallen leaves off the mesh covering on the Silkie lot before they get wet.
It was dark before I got in the house . Hubbie had picked some mustard greens from the garden and had them boiling for supper.
I iced my cakes this evening and got things ready for market. I got a late order for 3 caramel cakes so I hope I have enough .
Thankful for this little beauty as she grows up way too fast !!!!!!

God is good all the time and I know He watches over me everyday. Praying for His traveling mercies for some of the family tomorrow.

Good Night and God Bless

SLOW MARKET DAY

Hubbie took today off to see if he could shake his scratchy throat . It was nice to have the help getting to market.
I had a pretty slow day but am thankful for what I did sell.  The isles were pretty empty all day and there were very few sellers today.
I had time to work on my blog book and had a very nice visit from a couple friends.
After market I ran regular errands and did baking supply and grocery shopping on the way home.
While I was in Walmart it started raining.  I don't know what happened to our nice sunny day we were forecast to have ????
Hubbie and I unloaded and I put a couple smoked turkey wings in the oven with fresh asparagus I had just bought for our supper.
We did chores early because all the dark clouds make darkness come even faster. There was already 1/10th inch of rain in the gauge.
After we ate supper we rested, hubbie in the recliner and me and my 4-legged kids snuggled on the couch.
Had a visit from #1 son's family tonight to work out some cliches in our schedules.
A photo #2 son sent me earlier this evening of his "new pet" haha !!!  They are having fun visiting an aquarium in Tampa Fl.

Hubbie and I are both tired tonight as he worked on cutting up a large Oak tree that fell in the pasture today and I am still struggling with this time change and not sleeping well so it's early to bed tonight for both of us as we can't hold our eyes open anyway.
This has been a beautiful Fall season this year!!!

Thankful tonight for the strength God gives me each day and for the family that He choose to surround me.
Good Night and God Bless

BRRRRR !!!! SNOWY WINTER OUTLOOK

Up early to greet g-daughter at 7am. She of course went right back to sleep and slept through all the chores and my breakfast before she woke for her morning feeding. Our schedules are starting to jive !
She watched me do my walking video in front of her before she was asleep again.
I got out my baking supplies and baked 3 chocolate cakes and 1 blackberry wine cake today for the beginning of the slow season which I predict will start tomorrow.
This little girl is growing up fast. She is already 2 months old yesterday !!

After lunch she went into a deep restful sleep in her swing and must be just growing because she didn't wake up until 3:00 !!

This picture brought back memories of her brother in his swing also.

After d-in-love came after her I worked on my blog book for awhile until hubbie came home then it was chore time.
Today has been another very cloudy day but no rain fell. Sunshine is predicted for tomorrow and it will definitely be a welcome sight.
A local man who is a weatherman down in S.C. put out his winter weather predictions today and they don't look good !!!  A strong El Nino is shoving lots of moisture our way and our temperatures are predicted to be colder than normal this winter, so look out !!!!

The best news of the day came at 10:00 this morning when the Duke Energy officials announced that they were scrapping the high voltage power line project that could have ran through our property.

Instead of a line with these huge towers running for 48 miles they are going to build a couple of gas fired power plants on the same site of the old coal fired plant that is being shut down. Whew !!!! everyone in this county as well as several others heaved a major relief sigh this morning !!!
I did the weekly paperwork, payed bills and iced cakes tonight before blogging. It seems kind of strange to actually have time to write my daily post on the night before market day but I have a feeling I will be getting used to this !!
The view out of #2 son's hotel suite this evening. Treasure Island Florida is a pretty place !!

God is always so good and only wants our love in return for all the blessings He sends each day.
Good Night and God Bless

OBAMACARE ROBBING THE MIDDLECLASS !!!!!

Ahhhhh !!!!   a relaxed morning on this Tuesday.  No reason to jump out of bed early and due to a restless night I am glad for the extra sleep this morning.
I have a full day planned today so I didn't laze around too long before getting out in the foggy, humid morning to get the animals their breakfast. I emptied almost another 2/10ths inch from the gauge from a misty rain that fell overnight. The clouds are still here today but the rain has stopped.
I had put some "pumpkin pie overnight oatmeal" in the fridge for my breakfast this morning and it was very good. You are supposed to use plain greek yogurt instead of milk in this recipe but I was out of yogurt so I used unsweetened coconut milk.
Just before I went to bed last night I mixed 1/2 cup coconut milk, 1/4 cup steel cut oats, 1/2 cup pumpkin puree, 1/4 teasp.,1 cinnamon, 1 TBSP truvia  together in a pint mason jar , mixed it up well and sat in in the fridge. This morning I heated it for 1 minute in the micro and added a little honey for extra sweetness, it was delicious.  I am definitely going to try this again using the greek yogurt for the extra protein.
After I ate my cousin Kathleen called from Texas and we caught up with each other. She usually visits in the fall of each year but didn't get to come this year so we had a lot to talk about.
I spent the rest of the morning taking down all the inside Halloween decor and replacing it with Thanksgiving things. The outside stuff needs to dry out more and it looks like today is not going to be a good drying day.
I did a load of laundry and then had lunch.
Hubbie met with the insurance rep for school employees today to add me to his policy. I received a letter last week saying my BSBC insurance policy was going up again this year and would be $597 starting January. That's over a  $150 increase. It increased by almost that much last year. I can't afford these continued increases, thanks alot Mr. Obama !!!!
Hubbie added me to his policy which will still be a significant increase to $543 but it should not go up again.   GRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!
This Obamacare is a train wreck looking for a place to happen and no telling what will happen when that wreck comes !!!!!!!!   But they are quickly allowing insurance companies to price the middle class workers out of the insurance market. If I wasn't the age I am you can dang well bet I wouldn't have insurance.
I cleaned house all afternoon, mopping myself out the front door to take a walk to enjoy the late Fall afternoon. The "view from here' is getting quite bare and wintry looking even with the warmer weather we are having.

The cool season Fescue grass is a pretty shade of green against the bare vines and trees.

These brown and black mushrooms are coming up all over the lawn in all this wet weather.

The garden is still producing greens and turnips for us and the quail and chickens. We are behind in getting all our trellises and stakes out . I put 3 large roosters in the fence surrounding the garden to scratch out a lot of the grubs and help mulch the paper we put down between the rows and they have done a great job.

My Burning Bushes have not been pretty at all this season but the Kousa Dogwood has really showed off.

After the floors dried I worked on my blog book out in the sunroom and had a cup of hot tea to cap off a busy day.
As soon as hubbie comes in from work now it is chore time. The clouds looked pretty threatening this evening but they didn't produce any rain,at least not yet !!  They are keeping the temperature up in the upper 60's and even tonight at 9:00 it is still 60 degrees.
No clouds for #2 son as the temps in Florida are reaching record highs for this week !!!

Thankful for a day of blessings and strength the Lord gives me each hour. Tonight I am thankful for the beautiful world the Lord created for our pleasure.
Good Night and God Bless.

FIRST THREE KID MONDAY

Up at 7am to get g-daughter in out of the rain !! It has rained all night and is still raining pretty steady this morning.
Shortly after we got g-daughter settled in her swing and back to sleep Re brought EL and BB over for the day as she worked last night and needed to sleep today.
G-daughter wasn't having a good day as she was not sleeping and acted out of sorts for some reason, probably the long trip yesterday to Tennessee.
I had a good little helper who loves babies.

They all three kept hubbie and I busy hugging, feeding, changing diapers and playing all day.

Hubbie did most of the holding today as I was busy fixing bottles and food along with doing three loads of laundry while they napped.
#1 son got off work early in the rain and came in after lunch. He stayed until d-in-love got home then he took g-daughter home and Re came after EL and BB about the same time.
It was chore time by the time they left and then we had snacks for supper. I checked the rain gauge this evening at and it had  2 & 1/2 inches of rain in it. We watched the creek rise all day out our front window but thankfully the rain tapered off this evening with no flooding.
It has definitely been an inside kind of day !!!!
Got a call from daughter tonight and she said they had 25 girls come out for basketball today at the first practice. Much better than last year when they struggled to have enough for a JV team.
She is still both the JV coach and the varsity assistant as the young man who came in to help can't commit time wise to head coach the JV team.
#2 son arrived at the hotel in Treasure Island around 4:00 this evening and he said it was really nice a great location this is the view out their window.

They look happy.

Thanking God tonight for the blessings of this day and for the love of these little ones.
Good Night and God Bless.

NOVEMBER COMES RAINY AND COOL

As I woke up and looked at the clock this morning I puzzled for a few minutes why there was so much daylight at this time of morning until I remembered this was the first morning off day light savings time.
I got up and did chores in a misty rain , slipping and sliding around on the muddy ground.
While I was out #2 son called and asked me to help him again with his vacation rental searching  so he came over after I had some breakfast.
We worked while hubbie went to help daughter teach their Sunday school class. We finally found an ocean front suite in a nice Marriott hotel on Treasure Island  around 11am . This is a really nice beach,we stayed there once when our kids were small and it was beautiful. Hubbie came in from church, he decided not to stay for preaching as he is feeling like he is catching a cold. So only Aa's family was at church today as #1 son's family was at d-in-love's grandfathers funeral in Tennessee and daughter left right after SS to go to Black Mountain to help set up one of her college friends baby shower.
We had lunch with #2 son and g-friend Tiffany and Aa, Re and the kids. We had pork roast, baked potatoes, corn on the cob and boiled cabbage with apple pie for dessert.
After lunch everyone left, #2 son and Tiffany decided to drive half the way this afternoon and get a hotel room along the way tonight, Aa and Re took the kids home for naps, hubbie and I looked for rainy day activities. He watched a race on TV and I worked on my blog book.
Hubbie had a Deacon's meeting at 3:30 so he left for that. We are not participating in our church's trunk or treat tonight as the indoor trunks gave us both head aches last year and I'm just kind of  over Halloween now !!!!  Sorry kids maybe next year will be better !!
Re and Aa took the kids up there early for a few minutes and then they stopped by here to show off their costumes .

This evening darkness seemed to come even sooner than the hour we "fell back " with all the clouds.
It will take a while to get used to the new time, although I really like this time better.
At 6:01 yesterday this is the weather cam for the local TV station.

And this was tonight at 6:03...............

I forgot to check the rain gauge this evening for the amount of rain today, the news said we had gotten about  2/10ths in our area. I will check in the morning. The predictions are for some heavier rain tonight. Looks like November this year is coming in like a wet lion !!

D-in-love sent this pic of g-daughter on her first long car ride as they drove to Tennessee and she said she did great. Thankful for traveling mercies for all the family today. It is over 4 hours each way to her grandparents house.

#2 son called tonight and said they stopped and found a hotel just across the Florida line to spend the night. He said they had to drive through a lot of rain all day and he was tired.Thankful for traveling mercies for them.
Grateful for the blessings of today and asking for forgiveness in all our shortcomings . On this first day of November I am very thankful for a loving Heavenly Father.
Good Night and God Bless.