HAPPY VALENTINES DAY 2018

HAPPY  VALENTINES  DAY !!!!

Mine started off with the arrival of my 2 little sweet hearts as RL and IR were all ready for their day to get started.

I did chores and then took RL to pre school. I wasn't sure how her day would go because she wanted one of the Valentine snacks that her mom had fixed for all her classmates and couldn't understand why she had to give them all away ??

I left her and her teacher having a discussion about taking her coat off !!

I came home to find IR fast asleep so I had my breakfast and then did some ironing before she woke up for her breakfast.

I locked myself to the computer to see how much tax work I could get done today since IR was being a really good girl and other g-ma was picking up RL.

I only stopped for a short lunch and by 2:30 mine and hubbie's tax forms were finished and I breathed a big sigh of relief because with hubbie's retirement in the middle of this past year I wasn't sure how our taxes would go this year, but we didn't owe anything so we are very thankful that things worked out.

Daughter came to pick up IR and then hubbie and I went  out to get the chores done. This is all of the sun that we saw today as the clouds hung low all day in the 60 degree temps.

After chores I had some baking to do. I baked 1 pound cake and a pan of brownies since the day after Valentines is always a very slow day for sweet stuff sales.

I did weekly paperwork and paid bills before watching parts of a couple basketball games of ACC teams that we don't pull for but enjoy watching.

Guess who got Valentine flowers from her dad and was soooo thrilled !!!!!

She is growing up way too fast !!!!

As this day comes to an end when love is on everyone's mind I am very thankful for the folks in my life that I love and that love me but most of all I am thankful that I have a Heavenly Father who loves me unconditionally and will always be my side in all that I do.

God Bless, Good Night and Happy Valentines Day

TAX PREPARATION STARTS AND 1988 FEBRUARY MEMORIES

Thankful to a better night of sleep I felt better this morning when the girls arrived.
Another 2/10ths inch of rain fell over night to add to the totals of the last few days of this system that hopefully will exit the area today.
After chores I took RL to pre-school and then came home to get IR her breakfast and then have mine.
The heartburn from yesterday was so bad I feel really tender today in my upper stomach and chest.
After getting IR settled down with hubbie I started tax work for the month. Since this is my tax month and it is close to half over I decided I had better get started. #2 son had given me all his papers so I worked on his today. His will take longer this year with the sale of some land he had plus his home.
I worked all morning until it was time to pick up RL. Hubbie and IR rode with me and RL is always so glad to see them along for the ride.
Both girls were fast asleep when we got home so hubbie carried them inside and we had a quiet lunch again today.
IR was the first to wake up for her lunch .
I worked more on son's taxes until RL woke up .
The girls played together really nicely today.

RL loves IR so much and she was so excited that she can stand up with some help now , she said now I can hug her standing up !!!!

After their mom's picked them up hubbie and I did chores then watched the news. We surely have some up and down temps this week hopefully everyone won't get sick again from this !!! Our high temp today was 46 degrees !

Tonight I got another job done for this month that I am late getting started on. The decade pics for February xxx8's are few but I did find some in a couple years.

In 1988 our family attended Fellowship Baptist church where my sis-in-law Gloria's father was pastor and we had our church directory pics made in February.

Thankful for the blessings of this day.
God Bless and Good Night.

EARLY BLOOMERS

This Monday morning had an unexpected earlier beginning when I woke to hubbie's voice telling me to get up and help him get a calf back in the pasture.
I pulled my coveralls over my PJ's and thanked the Lord as I went out the door that it wasn't pouring raining this morning at least.
Hubbie was trying to sneak above the calf and open the gate while the calf watched me at the bottom of the driveway but unfortunately the calf turned and saw him and just jumped back through the fence stretching the wires.
We came back inside and I went back to bed but couldn't ever get back to sleep so I just got up.
I had a bout of heart burn last night and so I didn't get much sleep at all.
After both girls arrived I went out to do the chores and emptied 1/2 " of rain from the gauge from the evening and overnight rains. This brings the total from this system to well over 3 " for our area.
I took RL to school then stopped back by the vet's office to pay the remaining script fees that we didn't owe Saturday and make sure the order would be processed today.
I fixed IR her breakfast before I had my oatmeal, keeping it really bland this morning as the heart burn is still there.
Hubbie went out to fix the fence where the calf jumped back through it and I saw the stretched wires where he had gotten out further down the driveway so he had to fix that spot also.
I gathered the weekly laundry and got that started.
IR was watching her favorite Daniel Tiger cartoon and happily bouncing in her little seat. We were hoping she would take a nap but she never did.
I Went to pick up RL and took her lunch so she could eat before we left the church so she would take a good long nap.
Hubbie layed her on the couch and IR was finally taking a nap so we got to have lunch in a quiet house for a change since we turned off all the TV's.
I did more laundry and hubbie sat with the girls hoping he could grab which ever one woke up first and keep them from waking the other one.
It worked ,IR woke up first in a good mood so he just played with her letting RL get a good long nap today.
When she finally woke up she was not happy and just layed a round until her mom and brother came to pick her up.
G-son loves his little cousin IR and I'm sure the feeling will be mutual when she gets a little older by the way she looks up to him even now.

She has got the "wave" and greeting of "hey there" down perfect right now.

After they all left hubbie and I headed out to the chores early as we had to put a roll of hay into the pasture for the cattle today. 

As I walked around the house I saw the first bloomers of the year, as usual these Daffodils on the southern sunny side of the house have burst into bloom with all the warm rain.

We finished all the chores just before darkness fell and then watched the late news before turning to the UNC/ Notre Dame basketball game which UNC won.

I am blogging and then heading for bed to catch up from last night.

Thankful for the blessings of this day.

God Bless and Good Night

THIS SUNDAY BEGINS WITH FLOODING

After laying in bed last night and listening to pouring rain until I fell asleep I wasn't surprised to see all this water in the bottom pastures this morning.

By the looks of the high water marks the flood was a lot worse earlier.

I made a fashion statement this morning going to church with my rain boots on. 

But they did match my fancy dress perfectly !!!

The rain slacked while we were inside church thankfully.

We had #1 son's family, #2 son and Tif , daughter and IR, and Re and her 4 kids here for a lunch of roast beef, mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, green beans, corn and biscuits.

The kids all got along well today.

 Even big brother was good to the little ones today and let his sister help in his large lego construction projects.

After everyone left hubbie went to his monthly deacon's meeting and I started going through my closet while here alone.

The clouds really got dark later this afternoon and we did chores early trying to beat the rain.

The rain had just started back lightly as we came inside. I emptied 2" rain from the gauge tonight.

And the fog was moving into the bottoms quickly this evening.

Hubbie and I relaxed for the evening and watched a couple shows on TV. The rain is still light as we get ready for bed tonight so maybe there won't be anymore flooding worries around our area.

Thankful for a restful Sunday to get ready for another busy week.

God Bless and Good Night

RAINY MARKET DAY

Ahhhh !!!! An extra hour of sleep on a rainy morning felt so good today. Hubbie and I got the chores done in a light rain and headed out to market on time.
Business was better than I expected on a rainy Saturday but thankfully the heavy rain held off until after market.
The man ,Roy, who had been the market janitor for several years turned his keys in and quit yesterday so a couple of the male board members, Ralph and Bobby , are going to do the job until we can hire someone else.
We also had a couple new vendors set up today, one is selling really pretty jewelry and one is selling hand woven purses and market bags.
Hubbie left market to stop at Ingles and the Animals-R-US  vet's office to pay the script fee for Bernie's meds. The girl at the desk had no idea what she was doing and hubbie didn't press the issue but she told him he only had to pay $7 even after he questioned her about it being 4 prescriptions so needless to say I have to go by and pay for the other 3 prescriptions on Monday morning before she will release them to Valley Vet to have them filled, grrrrrr !!!!
I left market on time and made a stop at Staples to ask about exchanging the ink that won't work in my printer and was told they would exchange the entire set of ink so that is a good thing. Hopefully it is just a bad ink cartridge and that will solve the problem.
I came home and hubbie helped me unload and get things put away so we could both watch the end of the UNC / NC State basketball game which UNC won in a close game.
The rain outside really picked up this afternoon and it was a good time to sit inside and drink hot green tea !!
It was still pouring rain at chore time so I got soaked getting the feeding chores done. I had to fix the roof on one of my smaller pens as the rain was leaking through it. It doesn't have any chickens in it right now but I still don't want it filled with rain water.
There was 7/10 inch of rain in the gauge at chore but the rain picked up while I was outside.
We are now under a flood advisory.

I am really looking forward to these temperatures in this coming week !!!

That's what I love about February,these breaks from the cold dreary winter days make winter more tolerable here in the mountains. I'm sure we will have more cold temps and probably even more snow and ice but at least for now we have a nice break.

Thankful for the blessings of this day.

God Bless and Good Night

OUTSIDE PLAYTIME

Up to greet the girls early today and get started on this Friday.
Took a pic of the sunrise this morning because it sounds like from the weather gurus that we won't be seeing any sunise or pretty blue skies for quite a few days after today.

I got the chores done and took RL to school in a happy mood this morning.
Back home after mine and IR's breakfast hubbie and I  cleaned house until it was time to go pick up RL. She was on the playground playing with her friends but unlike how her brother used to be not wanting to leave his friends RL comes running from whatever she is doing and leaps into my arms with a huge smile on her face.
Then she does the same thing if hubbie is with me when she sees him get out of the Honda then she has to give IR a hello kiss. Today she was proud to show off her penquin picture.

IR got to try out her new walker today and was so excited because she could reach things as she moved it around. It didn't take her long to figure out how to move around in it.

After IR, Hubbie and I had our lunch while RL napped we finished the cleaning so when RL woke up we could spend some time out in the nice high 50's sunny afternoon.
We all had a quick snack first to get ready for outside play.

RL loves the outside and just enjoys running around the farm and exploring .

She right away noticed that hubbie had cut the plum tree down that was here and she said he left her a perfect stool to sit on.

The first slides of season !!!!

When her mom came she didn't want to end her outside fun but finally came inside to have another snack and then go home.
Each day that I watch these girls grow up I happily think of the coming years when they are going to be playing and interacting together.
Hubbie and I did the chores under now cloudy skies and a cooler breeze has begun to blow as the sun went down.
Aa came by with more hay rolls for the cattle over here and he and hubbie rigged up a way to keep the hay underneath the shed part of the barn so it won't get ruined in all the rain we are expecting.
After we got inside for the evening we watched the news and then I started baking. I baked 6 caramel, 2 chocolate, 1 pound and 1 blackberry wine cake plus a pan of brownies.
I watched a game show on TV while I waited for the layers to cool and then spent the rest of the evening icing cakes. I didn't get into bed until almost 1am so I need to rethink my baking time when I have this amount of cakes to get done next time.
A new winter storm that is bringing all our rain this weekend is named Mateo and it is a mean one covering a lot of states with lots of  flooding rain, snow and ice as it moves eastward. Our area is under a flood watch with the possibility of 4 inches of rain starting tonight and ending Sunday with lingering showers through most of the week.

Thankful for the blessings of this day and for the opportunity to be with my grandkids as they grow up.
God Bless and Good Night.

SWITCH-ER-ROO SALE !!

Another hectic Thursday morning and RL surely didn't make it any easier today as she was very argumentive at every little thing.
I got chores done and we made it to her pre-school only about 5 minutes later than usual.
IR and I met hubbie at market and got unloaded and set up. Just as we were getting ready to feed IR her breakfast Connie (her other g-ma) came after her earlier than usual.
AD isn't coming today so hubbie and I were looking at one another early as if we were missing someone !!!
He took the opportunity to repair a spot on the market wall behind one of the vendor's tables that the paint was peeling off.
I had a pretty good day with all I sold plus already having an order for 3 cakes and I took an order for Saturday for 1 cake. Usually I get several Valentine orders but with Valentines day falling on Wednesday this year and the heavy rains predicted for Saturday that isn't happening this year.
Pat the Board treasurer for market and I went up to the bank to have my name put on the market checking account and get the online access turned over to me.
Hubbie left when I got back to go get our Sam's Club shopping done and I left market at the regular time.
I made stops at the bank and Aldi for baking supplies, groceries and Valentines gifts for all the kids so I can give them out Sunday.
I came home unloaded and did the chores early so I would be ready to go with daughter and Re to Greenville, SC to the Switch-er-roo children's sale that we could get in early today to shop in because Re was a consigner.
We left at about 4:30 and made it safely through heavy traffic to the TD Center.
We shopped finding several good deals on things for the summer and daughter and I both made purchases from the Lularoe dealer that was at the show.
All three of us did our share of supporting this sale and IR was a really good baby all evening.

We made it home at about 9:00 for a successful shopping trip. I was just in time to watch the last 10 minutes of the UNC/ Duke basketball game which UNC won in a very good game.

I was so tired I unloaded the Honda and then took a hot bath and went straight to bed leaving this post to be written on Friday .

Thankful to a loving Lord tonight for the blessings of the day and for traveling mercies for us this evening.

God Bless and Good Night.