GREAT SUNDAY FILLED WITH SMILES

The cold isn't letting up as a 5 degree morning greeted us today !!
I got up early on this Sunday to get the chicken and rice started in the crockpots. I had cooked the chicken beast overnight so I just added the soup and rice and more broth this morning and they should be ready for lunch.
We got to church a little late but so it seemed were everyone else so nothing had started yet.
Today was our senior Pastor's 37th birthday and the kids class that his youngest son was in brought out a cake and balloons and led us in singing happy birthday.

His sermon was good today and we had a very touching testimony by a lady who has been facing total deafness and God has miraculously healed her ears and rid her of even hearing aids. To God be all the Glory for this miracle.
We came home to a full house with everyone here for lunch of the chicken and rice, green beans, corn, fried okra and biscuits with Tif's still warm yummy blackberry cobbler for dessert.
The kids enjoyed all the attention with everyone here.

Everyone had a nice visit then they all went on to their Sunday afternoon activities. Hubbie and I cleaned the kitchen and then he went to his monthly Deacon's meeting.
While he was gone I did my ironing for the week and did some little jobs around the house that always get put off.
It was chore time when hubbie got home and more ice breaking and water carrying for us even with the temperature getting up to a balmy 35 degrees today !!!
After we got inside hubbie had to build fires in both wood stoves once again even with only the low 20's predicted because it is so damp and really feels like it's going to snow to me. The weather folks are all guessing at what the morning will bring right now but we are under an ice storm warning until 1:00 tomorrow.

This is a picture a friend on mine took yesterday as they visited Looking Glass Falls in Pisgah forest.
It is almost completely frozen and folks were walking right up to the bottom of the falls.

And once again for the first time in many many years the French Broad River is frozen almost completely over.
This is an aerial view in Madison county.

This is the French Broad as it runs through Asheville into Henderson County.

And here is the usually furiously rushing Rocky Broad river that runs from Henderson through Rutherford county.

It will take several days of the predicted warmer temps to thaw all the ice and to bring the ground temperature back up above freezing.

This first week of January has really been a cold start to the new year at almost 19 degrees below normal.

I just hope the water pans for the chickens will stop freezing up at least during the day.

Thankful for the wonderful love of a gracious Savior and the comfort that He blesses me each day with.

God Bless and Good Night

DECENT MARKET DAY AND MORE MOVING FOR DAUGHTER

Up and out to break ice and feed animals and chickens early this cold 12 degree morning. Boy am I ever tired of cold temps already and it is only the first week of January !!!
I got ready for market and made it only about 5 minutes late today.
I had a decent day with the pick up of the 4 caramel cakes on order. I am thankful for the orders I had this week which made for a good first week of 2018 sales at market with totals of over $90 each day.
I left market a little early after being cold all day in there as they couldn't get one of the heaters even started and most of the heat stayed in the high ceiling . So even with 3 layers of clothes on and feeling like a mummy I was still chilly.
I made a stop at Ingles to pick up supplies for tomorrow's lunch and then came home to unload. Hubbie and I went over to daughter's to load up another load of things to come here for storage.
#2 son, son-in-love's brother Ben had already made a trip with daughter and son-in-love to son  -in-love's sister , Carey's house with 2 truck and a trailer load of furniture and boxes to store at her house.
Whew , it's been a busy moving day all day.  Even g-daughter IR was lending a helping hand.

#2 son and Tif were still at their house when we got there and Tif was enjoying spending time with IR while everyone else loaded son's and hubbie's truck.

IR was modeling daughter's old cowgirl hat.

We left there and got home just in time to get the chores done with more water carrying and ice breaking since today's high temp was only 26 degrees.
It felt really good to get inside and in front of the wood stove tonight and I finally got my feet warm!
Hopefully this cold weather is going to break the first of the week and we will have some gloriously warm highs in the 50's for the coming week after and interesting Monday .

Thankful for the blessing of safe travel for the movers today and for all my undeserved blessings. God Bless and Good Night

COLD INSIDE PLAY DAY

Another single digit with chill factor at minus 10 degrees this morning for the coldest morning so far of this cold snap.
School was on a 2 hour delay so the girls didn't get here until 8:00 this morning.
After they were dropped off  I went out to do the chores . D-in-love sent this picture that I can sure relate to every time I get out in the cold to carry water and get feed to the chickens it describes how I feel like I look !!!

I had breakfast and then fed IR her breakfast and bottle while RL ate everything that wasn't nailed down in the kitchen this morning.
Since RL's pre-school is also on a 2 hour delay and by the time I drive her there and drive to pick her up it's only about an hour we decided just to keep her here today out of the cold.
Hubbie and I both took turns with the girls this morning they were fine. RL even let IR get a short nap while she rested in Hubbie's lap.

After lunch they both took long naps that gave me time to bake cakes. I baked 6 caramel, 2 chocolate and a pan of brownies.
IR woke up first and was quiet enough to let RL get almost a 2 hour nap in.
It was fun to watch them after their naps and how they played.
RL loves to sit on this seat and play as she watches the birds out the window.

Hubbie had two cheer leaders each time he opened the stove to add wood.

These two are already so fond of each other it is so sweet to watch them interact.

And guess who has her first tooth !!!!  IR has been fussy this week and had a really red butt today but these were the only minor symptoms and the reason daughter discovered tonight was a first tooth.

After they all left today hubbie and I did chores and then came inside to have a quick supper before hubbie headed over to daughters to help get some furniture loaded for storage at son-in-love's sisters house. She has an unfinished upstairs and said they could put some things up there to save them the cost of a storage unit. Hubbie , #2 son and Tif  all went over tonight to load a trailer to haul down there tomorrow. He got home around 9:30.

While he was gone I got all the cakes iced and got things ready for market tomorrow.

Thankful for kids who help each other and for all the blessings of this day.

God Bless and Good Night.

FRIGID COLD MARKET DAY

Up early to greet both g-daughters in the 11 degree windy morning. No going back to bed today and not even time to do my stretching exercises for my siatic nerve which I will probably regret later but all the extra things to do on this cold morning leaves no time for anything extra. I did the chores while hubbie got RL her breakfast. My face hurt from being outside for the 30 minutes it took to get all the animals feed and water for them to try and get a drink before the water froze quickly back into solid ice.
Back inside I got ready for market and we took turns watching the girls and loading the car and getting everything together that we needed to take with us.
I took RL by her pre-school with the snacks for her class today. We were 15 minutes late today and the door was already locked but her teacher saw us through the window and came to let us in.
If it hadn't been for her snack day and me having 3 cakes ordered by customers at market I would surely have been tempted to just hunker down in front of the fire today.
But with 3 layers of clothes on and feeling like a mummy but stating pretty warm I made it to market with IR.
Hubbie was already there and helped get everything inside and set up before we got IR her breakfast and bottle. She is getting more and more independent.

She was a little ill this morning and acted like she didn't feel well, hopefully she just needed a nap.
Connie picked her up about 10:00 and took her home were hopefully she could sleep quietly.
Hubbie left shortly to make his dump run and stop by Sam's Club for groceries.
I had a decent day with the orders being picked up and the egg sales I had.
About noon the timer at market cut the heaters off and it got cold quickly in market so I packed up my things and left with no customers in sight now.
I made stops at the bank, PO, Sav Mor, Aldi, Walmart and the gas station on my way home. We haven't shopped for groceries since before Christmas so we needed to get stocked back up on things for us and the kids to eat.
Hubbie helped me unload and get things put away then daughter came by to pick up her dogs that had stayed here all day while some inspections were done at her house for the buyers.
We rested and watched the early news when she left and then braved the cold again to get the chores done and get everything another drink before they settled down for the night.
When I came inside for the night I felt totally drained like I have done some strenuous work all day today.
I wrapped up in a warm blanket and watched the news and rested for awhile tonight. I looked up at the temperature at 6:30 and it was 14 degrees and I can here things banging around on the porch in the 20mph wind for another frigid night .

Once again I am so thankful for the warmth of a house to spend these nights in.
The school officials have already announced a 2 hour delay for schools tomorrow so we will have a little extra sleep in the morning.
Praying for everyone and everything that is out in this cold night.
Thankful for the blessings of this day and for the love of Jesus Christ.
God Bless and Good Night

COLD CLEANING DAY

Up to a 16 degree morning after a little warm up overnight when some unexpected cloud cover rolled in .
I got the chores done before taking g-daughter RL to her preschool. She was her happy self this morning, singing all the way there with made up songs !!
The doorman at the church calls her little Miss Sunshine because she is usually so happy and smiley.
I came home and had my breakfast then fed g-daughter IR her breakfast and bottle.
She took a short nap and hubbie went down to check on #1 son's frozen water lines. This is the second day in a row that g-son's new upstairs bathroom water has been frozen. It thawed yesterday without a problem but today it took a lot longer to thaw but finally did without breaking any water lines. Hubbie crawled under the house and found that the hot water line was touching the underpinning blocks all along the outside wall.
While he was gone and IR napped I started cleaning house. The house hasn't had a good cleaning in a couple weeks so today I took one room at a time and cleaned and made sure I took all the Christmas décor down and put it away.
I stopped for playtimes with this sweet little girl and for lunch and her lunch and finally called it a day about 3:15 with only the sunroom left to deep clean.

Daughter came after g-daughter IR and then hubbie and I watched the early news of more even colder temps coming our way and of the snowfall along the coast that is causing all kinds of traffic problems.

Winter storm Grayson is hitting the coastal areas that very seldom see snow really hard with 5-10 inches of snow on the roads where there is no snow removing equipment.

Snow on the beach looks so odd but beautiful.

Our temperatures are getting farther below normal for the next several days and we are under a wind advisory for tomorrow with wind from 15-25 mph which will make it a very frigid day.

I have a couple orders for 3 caramel cakes tomorrow or I probably wouldn't even venture out to market.         

We are routinely building fires in both woodstoves these nights and we are very thankful for such a warm comfortable house to stay warm in. 

Praying tonight for all the people and animals that have to be outside while this cold weather is hanging around.

Thankful for the blessings of this day and the strength that God gives me each day.

God Bless and Good Night

FIRST DAY BACK TO SCHOOL

BRRRRR !!!!!   6 degrees this morning as we greet both g-daughters at 8am. School is on a 2-hour delay because of the cold and icy roads.
I went out to get the chores done while hubbie got RL her breakfast. When I got back inside I grabbed a bowl of oatmeal before taking RL to her pre-school. They are also on a delay and aren't opening until 10:00.
It will be good to get the first day back under her belt . I came home to do more un-decorating. I got everything down and in the bins , now we just have to get all of them taped closed and hauled to the storage shed.
We dropped 4 of them off on our way to pick up RL. She was in a good mood when I picked her up.
Funny thing , she doesn't want me to hold her hand all the way to the car. So I told her as long as she walks inside the white striped lines I let her walk. So she watches and makes sure she walks right on the outside line !!!!  That's her trying attitude right now.

We rode up on Davis Mountain to look at a house #2 son is considering to buy and both girls got a good nap while we were riding but woke up as soon as we got home.
We all had lunch then spent the afternoon playing. These two love one another and seemed to have picked up today right where they left off even after a 2 week break from one another.
IR is growing so fast and changing so much each day it is sometimes mind blowing !!!  And it is hard to believe that she is already 28 weeks old.

Seeing IR sitting up alone today RL immediately wanted to know if she could stand up and play with her !!

And these drums are a major hit with both girls !!

After the girls were picked up it was chore time and more water carrying time. (is it spring yet?)
We hauled the rest of the Christmas storage bins to the shed and got back inside just as darkness fell and it is really cccccold again tonight.
The "G" winter strom, Grayson is going to pay a snowy visit to areas that normally don't see much if any snow as it starts in Florida and moves along the coast all the way to New England.

Our deep freeze temps are going to continue for several more days unfortunately as well as in most of the country right now.

I am really tired tonight as it is hard to get back on our school schedule and I am headed to bed at 10:00 tonight instead of the 11:00 or later bedtime of the last couple weeks !!!

I am thankful for the blessings I received today and for the love of these little ones that are growing up way to fast. 

God Bless and Good Night

WELCOME 2018

A new dawn ,a new day, a new month, a new year !!!!   Happy New Years Day 2018 !!!

A cold cold 12 degree morning to welcome in the new year made chore time interesting once again. At least the sun is shining today but the ice of last night is still evident all around.

We came inside and started our New year's Day traditional lunch of ham hock, collard greens and blackeyed peas with cornbread on the side.
I started weekly laundry and then took some Christmas decorations down.
#2 son and Tif and #1 son's family were our only guest at lunch as daughter and son-in-love had more ice and snow than we did here and their roads were still too slick to venture out on.
The lunch turned out really good and everyone ate their fill before heading off to their own task for the day.

Hubbie and I got all my plastic containers out of the storage shed to put the Christmas decorations in and then he went to help #2 son get his new washer and dryer up to his apartment.  Lowes was supposed to have delivered them last Saturday and then again today but when he called they said it would be Jan 7th before they could get them delivered so he went and got them. I wonder what happened to Lowes delivery promise ????

While hubbie was gone I finished the 3rd load of laundry and took more decorations down. The wind is starting to blow outside and it is really getting extremely cold. I got all the animals some fresh water and more food to give them a little boost for the frigid night ahead. 

I saw the supper moon starting to rise through the trees on my way back inside this evening.

2018 contains two "supermoons" and they are both in January. This first one is called the "Wolf Moon" .

Praying for all the animals and people that are outside tonight as the wind gust making the 11 degrees at 10:30 feel like well below 0 chill factor out there.

Thankful for the opportunity to see a year end and another one begin. I know that God will have His will in all things this year and I am looking forward to seeing what He has in store for me and my family.

God Bless, Happy New Year and Good Night.