RECOVERY SUNDAY

A cold morning,12 degrees, to get out and get the chores done on this Sunday.  Hubbie is coughing and I still have a runny nose so we opted to stay home from church today and not infect anyone else. We called off lunch for everyone and just relaxed this morning.
Hubbie got a graving late morning for some of his grandmother's quick beef noodles so he made some for our lunch and of course he made too much so when #2 son and Tif came by to work on her jeep they ate with us.
He and hubbie checked the jeep's brakes and found the problem right away as the brake pad in the passenger side front wheel had disintegrated into a lump of twisted metal causing the problem.

He and Tif left to go get parts to replace the pads, rotor and caliper in that wheel and the pad on the other side. #1 son came up and helped get the brake lines bled and get everything back together.
Tif is lucky that no more damage was done to the wheel and that it was that easy of  a fix.
Of course I'm sure if you asked #2 son he would say it was not such an easy fix after rolling around on the ground in the mid 30's temps of the day for hours was not what he would call an easy fix !!
It was chore time by the time they got finished and it was back to breaking ice on water pans again. Apparently the mid 30's sunny afternoon still was not warm enough to keep the morning water from freezing back up.
After chores we headed over to daughter's house to load another load of things for here and her house tonight and to help her clean the rugs and couch she sold that are being picked up tomorrow. Son-in-love had his turn with the stomach bug last night and today so he was laying low tonight trying to re-coup so he can go to work tomorrow.
As I packed boxes from her pantry I thought back to days when she first bought this house and the excitement that moving into her first house on her own shown in the joy on daughter's face as we filled this same pantry with some of the same things I was packing up tonight. As I looked around at the walls and floors she so laboriously chose colors for a sad feeling came over me that this chapter in her life was closing. Now she is getting ready to do it all over again and in more ways than not I am glad she is selling this house. It is in a bad location with curvy , very hilly roads getting to it and it is a bit small for raising a family. She did exactly what she sat out to do and made money on the purchase so now was the time to sell.
We loaded hubbie's truck and her SUV and stopped by her apartment and dropped off what was going there and brought the remaining stuff here.
We will need to go over each night for the rest of the week to get her house cleaned out and cleaned up for her closing Friday.
Son-in-love was feeling a bit better tonight so that was good.
Hubbie and I came home and unloaded the things that came in the house and left the rest in the truck for tomorrow.
We relaxed for the rest of the evening and got an early bedtime to hopefully help get over this crud that seems just to not let go of us.
Seems we are going to have another bout of ice and snow on Tuesday and Wednesday. It's early for any exact predictions but it looks like we will get something and the ground surely will be cold enough for whatever falls to stick around.

Thankful that we are feeling good enough to get things done and help the kids. Thankful for the blessings of the day and for the grace of a loving Savior and Lord.
God Bless and Good Night

COLD MARKET DAY AND MORE MOVING FOR DAUGHTER

Up to freezing cold temps at 22 and cold wind making it feel like below zero as I head out to get the chores done. Back to breaking ice and hoping things get a drink before the water re-freezes.
We made it to market on time today but there was no one there to notice. However I did manage to have a decent day thankfully with several folks picking up cakes for birthdays. Speaking of birthdays I made a cake delivery to Sunny Brook rest home after I left market to Doris Henderson who used to be one of my best customers before she had an accident and couldn't take care of herself anymore. Her birthday was last week and she wanted one of my granny pound cakes to take to a late celebration. It was good to see her looking so good and healthy.
I left there and stopped by daughter's new apartment. Hubbie , #1 son and g-son were helping her and son-in-love move today. She is closing on her house this coming Friday and they needed to move today because they have to go to son-in-love's uncle's funeral tomorrow and then work all week. They got all their big stuff moved today. I took care of g-daughter IR while they unloaded their last load of the day and then hubbie came home and I went to Ingles to pick up a few groceries we were out of.
I got home at 4:30 and we got unloaded and got things put away with a few minutes left to rest before chore time.
Chores were back to breaking more ice and carrying more fresh water . I cleaned out the box that I just moved the 5 pullets out of yesterday. I need it to dry out so it can be ready for use when my Silkies start to set.
Hubbie and I got back inside out of the 21 degree temps and enjoyed sitting in front of the fire tonight and watching a UNC / Notre Dame basketball game which UNC won.

We have burned fires in both woodstoves this year more than any year in recent memory. I can sit and watch the flames instead of watching the TV. They are hypnotizing to me and so relaxing.

Tif's mail jeep's brakes went out on her mail route on Sugarloaf Mountain this afternoon and she had to park it in someone's driveway. #2 son drove it here off the mountain tonight so he could work on it tomorrow. He is going to miss his carport when he has to get out in the mid 30's high predicted tomorrow and roll around on the cold ground to work on her jeep.

We have had a relaxing evening. I am thankful my earache has stopped and hubbie seems to be kicking his laryngitis. 

Thankful for the blessings of this day.

God Bless and Good Night.

RAIN , RAIN AND MORE RAIN

Up to greet the girls on another really rainy morning but it is 56 degrees at 7:30 !!
I got a good soaking while getting the morning chores done. I dumped 9/10ths inch of rain from the gauge this morning from the overnight bringing the total so far from this storm to 2.15 inches.
I did hubbie's morning outside duties also because he can't talk this morning with this crap we have been fighting all week. We are hoping he just has laringitis . My head is still stopped up and now my ears feel like they are filled with the crap that has been running down the back of my throat.
I took RL to pre-school and had to carry her in sound asleep ,and she was in one of her stupors where she just stood and looked around like she was trying to figure out where she was when the teacher put her down in the classroom.
I came home through the pouring rain and had my breakfast then fixed a crying really ill IR her breakfast. She thankfully must just have been really hungry because after she had her cereal and bottle she was fine and in a much better mood .
I did housework all morning while hubbie fixed the screen on the green house door. I need to finish cleaning it out and get the chickens moved into it today before the cold temps set in for the week.
I picked up RL at noon as her other g-ma who's Friday this is has the flu. She ate her chicken nuggets before she conked out on the ride home through still more rain.
IR was already fast asleep when we got home and hubbie carried RL in and layed her on the couch.
We had our lunch and then hubbie sat with the girls while I went up to the greenhouse to finish cleaning it out and put up some gates so the chickens wouldn't get in certain places.
I put the chickens in there and they sure acted happy to be in a bigger area. I put the 5 dominecker cross pullets in there along with the 7 roosters out of the same breed and hatch. I have  the roosters advertised for sale but so far no takers. Later next week if no one buys them we will put them in our freezer.

I came back inside to the girls just waking up about 2:30. I fed IR her bottle and got RL some snacks.

I just love to sit back some days and watch the interaction between these three grandchildren. I really hope they always remain close.

Daughter came in and fed IR then she and #1 son went out to the moving truck rental place to pick up her 16 ft. moving truck. They took it to her house and backed it up to the garage door so her and son-in-love can load some things in it tonight and be ready when #1 son gets there in the morning to help finish loading it carry everything up to their 2nd story apartment.

IR went to sleep for another nap so hubbie and I got our outside work done while she slept.

When I went out the rain was still falling but by the time I finished there was the end of a rainbow showing out from under the clouds in the eastern sky.

And the western horizon was starting to get lighter .

Daughter came back to pick IR up and had to wait for her to wake up before they headed home.

Hubbie is trying to do everything we can think of to get his voice back but nothing seems to be working. I have a really badly stopped up ear and a swollen, sore gland in that side of my throat so I may stop by the minute clinic tomorrow to get some medicine.  Grrrrr I hate being sick !!!!

I baked 2 pound cakes tonight for market tomorrow but I am expecting a very slow day with the cold and windy weather that is moving in tonight. I emptied another 1.5 inches from the rain gauge tonight to bring the total for this storm to 3.65 inches .

Thankful for the blessings of this day and for the love and care of a Faithful Savior Jesus Christ.

God Bless and Good Night.

RAINY MARKET DAY, NEW TV, REPAIRED EDENPURE HEATER

Up early to get the grandgirls settled in with their breakfast before I went outside to get the chores done in a light rain this morning. As always Thursday mornings are very hectic getting everything and everyone ready for the day.
I dropped RL off at pre-school and then IR and I met hubbie at market. She went to sleep and slept while we got unloaded and set up. I don't have much to set up these bad weather Thursdays.
IR is still not her happy self today ,hopefully it is just another tooth trying to come through.

It is warm today already in the upper 50's but it is pouring rain. 

AD came to spend the morning with us at market so she could do her virtual school work. 

We fed IR her breakfast and then Connie, son-in-love's mom picked her up for the rest of the day.

There were very few customers who braved the nasty rainy day to come out and shop but I am very thankful that I made $42 which I'm sure was more than most vendors made today.

After AD got picked up hubbie and I decided to leave early so we could get our errands done and meet at Sam's Club to pick out a new TV. It was tricky driving through all the water that is standing on the roads and I saw 2 accidents on the way out of town to Sam's which is only probably a couple miles.

Our old TV has a busted screen and all the kids chipped in with gift cards for Christmas so we could get a new one and we haven't had a chance to get one so today we did it.

We bought a Samsung 6 series 50" screen smart TV which has a wonderfully clear picture.

It took us a while to decide between about 3 different TV's , 1 vizio and 2 Samsungs but hopefully we made the best decision. 

We came home and unloaded both vehicles and got the TV set up. Proud of myself that I got everything all set up and everything working.

We also had to repair another appliance . My Eden Pure heater stopped working just before all the cold temps of last week . There is no one who works on these heaters around now as the man we had work on it several years ago is retired now. Hubbie looked up a U-tube video of how to change the 3 heating elements as we figured this was the problem because it was what we had changed before.

They are suppose last 20,000 hours but they don't last that long. We had new ones put in November 2012 so it was time to replace them once again. When he took them out we knew they were the problem.

I ordered a new set of elements for $70 and hubbie put them in this evening and the heater fired right up and started working wonderfully. I guess $70 every 5-6 years isn't bad !!!

Now we also have the back up heater I bought to use last week. It did okay but it sure doesn't put out the heat this Eden Pure does.

Hubbie has almost completely lost his voice this evening. I told him he was going to have to start writing things down I could only get about every other word or two which was aggravating for both of us.

We did chores in the pouring rain this evening and had to redo the tarp over Rocky the dogs lot as the water was ponding on it and almost tore the tarp. We tightened it all around and hopefully this will make the rain in off. We already have 1.25 inches in the gauge this evening.
Our area is under a flash flood warning now with the amount of rain predicted on the still frozen ground.

And unfortunately it looks like we are going back into the deep freeze after tomorrow.

We have spent a rainy quiet evening inside resting.

Thankful for all the blessings of this day .

God Bless and Good Night.

OUTLET SHOPPING DAY

Up to a hopefully back on regular schedule morning today. Thankfully I slept really well last night and feel better this morning.
I got the chores done and then took RL to pre-school for the first day this week but she went happily.
I came home and had breakfast then fed IR her breakfast. Hubbie got a jacket for Christmas that he had been needing to exchange at American Eagle over at the Asheville Outlets so we made a trip over there this morning.
He got his exchange and I found a couple things on clearance sales and we got some of our favorite Jerky from the Jerky Store and then headed home.
IR was a happy shopper for most of the trip but as we were walking back to the car she pulled her blanket over her face and went to sleep.

We made a stop at Ingles and bought a sub for our lunch. IR slept all the way home and even through our lunch before she woke up hungry for her lunch.
All the activity of the morning wore me totally out and I napped in my recliner while IR watched cartoons until her mom picked her up.
I got outside to get the chores done a little early and then finished the daylight of this day working in the greenhouse. I've got all the old pots out of it and made a lot of progress this evening before darkness settled in.
We came inside and watched the news. The "H" winter storm Hunter is dumping rain, snow and ice on the country as he heads our way.

We are predicted to get around 3 inches of rain starting tomorrow through Friday night.

I did December's month ending paperwork and thankfully had a good month to end the year.
I got things ready for market and then got an early bedtime to hopefully help get over what ever is trying to get hold of me.
Thankful for the blessings of safe travel today and all the other undeserved blessings that I received today.
God Bless and Good Night

BEAUTIFUL DAY FOR OUTSIDE FUN

Another ding on my phone very early let me know that school was going to be delayed 2 hours this morning because of  a sudden unpredicted temperature drop and misting fog that was creating a lot of black ice on roads and many accidents.
D-in-love had to go in to work at the regular time because some of the buses were already picking up kids by the time the delay was announced.
She brought RL here and took g-son on to school with her.
About an hour later daughter brought IR in and just as they got here the school officials extended the delayed to a 3-hour delay because the temps were not raising enough to melt the ice.
I got the chores done and then had breakfast with the girls.
It is a quiet morning waiting for the promised warmth of this day.

RL isn't acting like she feels great this morning, either that or she had the same kind of night I did last night with little sleep. My head stopped up and I couldn't breath laying on my back and my hips hurt too bad to lay on my side thus a sleepless night !!! I definitely feel like I could have joined RL in her cozy spot this morning .

At 11:30 the temperature was pushing 50 degrees and we loaded up the girls and went after chicken feed at Southern States. RL got a good nap but IR didn't hardly sleep at all. We are thinking another tooth is about to come in.
We came inside and had lunch and then had to get outside to breath in this wonderful clear air under this bright blue sky and now 62 degree temps. Wow just look at that Blue sky !!!

Everyone looks happy now !!

 This little second hand car is still going and RL is the 4th child here to ride on it down the driveway hills .

I took all the outside Christmas decorations down finally while IR took another short nap and RL lent hubbie a helping hand !!!!

I loved, loved , loved this nice afternoon to get to thaw out and make the cold temps and ice a distant memory. 

After the girls were picked up hubbie and I did chores and then worked on the cleaning out the green house project until it got too dark to see what we were picking up in there. 

Aa called as we were coming in the house from the bottom pasture and said someone had set out a big black tame rabbit at our pasture gate. We took a net down there but in the dark and with the flashlights shining on him we couldn't catch him. Hopefully he or she will hunker down and stay safe through the night and maybe we can catch him tomorrow. Hopefully the coyotes won't smell him out tonight. That is a cruel thing to do to a tame rabbit that has never been out in the open and had to search for food and defend themselves from predators.

Hubbie and I both seem to be coming down with something. We're not sure what but hopefully it isn't the flu or something even worse.

We rested tonight and watched the UNC / Boston College basketball game which UNC ran away with.

Thankful for the nice warm weather today and for all the blessings with these 2 little girls.

Praying for God to guide both #2 son and Tif and daughter and son-in-love in the next step in their lives as they search for new homes.

God Bless and Good Night

SCHOOLS CLOSED MONDAY WAITING FOR THE ICE STORM

When my phone dinged early this morning with a notice that schools were closed today I was expecting to see snow or ice when it got daylight but saw nothing on the ground and only a cloudy day. At least it was already above freezing at 36 degrees when I went out to do the chores.
Of course all the water was still frozen but I have hopes that what I gave them this morning won't refreeze  today.
Back inside I had breakfast and then I got weekly laundry started. Hubbie went out to work in his wood pile and I finished doing some winter decorating around the house. I meant to gather some of my Magnolia tree leaves in for Christmas decorations but never got around to it so I thought I would use these for at least January décor.

D-in-love brought the kids up and had lunch of yesterday's left-overs and then daughter and IR came in also. We had a nice visit until RL needed to go home for her afternoon nap.
IR just wanted to bounce and watch cartoons and didn't like being interrupted for a picture !!!

After they left hubbie had to make a run to Home Depot for a commode part that broke on one of our toilets this morning and I finished the laundry while he was gone. We got some more little jobs done around the house this afternoon.

At chore time a fine mist of rain had started for the first falling weather of the day but thankfully the temperature was 45 degrees.

All the chicken water wasn't frozen but several of them were empty as if the chickens made up for not getting enough to drink the last week of below freezing temps.

I had an idea while I was doing the chores that I can clean out my old green house and turn it into a winter time chicken coup. It would get too hot in the summer but it would make a nice warm place for my younger pullets this winter. That is on my to do list for hopefully tomorrow !!

I came inside to relax for the evening to get ready to get back on schedule tomorrow.

Lots of folks were giving the school officials heck for calling off school today but I'm thankful they chose to err on the side of caution as in some places traveling on ice covered roads created night mares. Our air was just so dry none of the moisture reached the ground here.

Thankful for the blessings of today and for the wonderful love and grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

God Bless and Good Night