STAY AT HOME PALM SUNDAY

A lazy Sunday morning once again as churches are all still closed and having on-line services. This is Palm Sunday so it feels even stranger not to be in church to begin Holy Week.

We got chores done along with an added chore for me right now and that is to water all my raised beds that have vegetables growing in them.

I had breakfast then we started preparing lunch. We are having smoked pork chops on the grill along with corn and green beans, I also cut up the last Delicata squash I had and put it in the oven with brown sugar , honey and cinnamon on it. I also made biscuits and an apple crisp  to use up all the older apples I had.

#1 son's family, #2 son and Tif and daughter and her family came to eat with us. We all had a nice visit.

After everyone left I put away clothes from last week and got out some more warm weather clothes for the early part of this week. Right now it is hard to decide what to wear because the temperature is so up and down right now.

We saw #1 son and RL going across the bottom pasture to fish in the creek and decided to walk down and see if they caught anything. Son would catch the little fish, what we have always called "horny heads" that inhabit our creek and he would let RL reel them in to her enjoyment. They caught 3 while we watched. I hope she enjoys fishing as much as I used to when I went with my dad.

I took this picture of my "drought rock" while we were there and as you can see it has plenty of crystal clear water running over it right now.

Hubbie and I came back to the house to feed the animals and on our way back up the drive I checked some vines where I saw the guineas come out of today and luckily I found a nest with 2 guinea eggs in it. I took those eggs and placed a silkie egg in the nest to hopefully keep the guineas laying in there so I can hatch some eggs under a new setting Silkie hen that I put in a brooder house tonight.

Now I have 4 of my 7 brooder houses filled.

No pic of this new one tonight as I waited until dark to move her in there but she settled down on the nest very nicely.

Crossing my fingers that at least these 2 guinea eggs will supplement my flock.

We came inside and had supper from the lunch left overs and some boiled eggs.

We spent the evening relaxing. 

IR loves blowing the spent dandelions !!!

There was a beautiful almost full moon this evening.

Sadly there was a one of the local rest homes that had 23 positive Covid-19 test come back to their residents and workers to double our county's total to 50 cases overnight. Cherry Spring retirement center is the center that is affected.

Thankful for a beautiful,restful, family filled Sunday and praying for all the victims of the covid-19 virus as well as praying that it is God's will that the virus doesn't effect our family.

God Bless and Good Night as we prayerfully enter Holy Week

SPRING COLORS AND CHICKEN UPDATE

This Saturday morning sunrise is spectacular .

Not long after this pic the clouds moved in and dampened the color with a light misty rain shower.
I got chores done and then watered my raised beds before I came inside for breakfast.
I had a bowl of oatmeal and coffee and watched as the sun finally won the battle with the clouds and warmed the day up nicely.
I went outside to walk around and take in all the beauty on this morning.
There are Violets all over the yard this yard and the colors are brilliant.

My money plant is blooming early also.

This early Azalea is in full bloom and is being joined around the yard with a another of my favorites.

These colorful Hostas I bought last year are all making a comeback which is nice to see.

Several of my herbs are really putting on a show early this years after our mild winter.

The chives are always out early....

This pot with Sage and Mountain Mint is looking good....

And several specialty mints are coming back from last year. These special mints almost never come back but I'm happy to see several varieties.

the Blueberry bushes are covered in fruit buds this year.

The Blackberry patch looks so much better after I got it cleaned out and the vines look happy to have more room to spread out.

The Pear trees are loaded with beautiful blooms.

The peas and onions we planted in the garden a couple weeks ago are all up and waiting on a nice rainy day.

I sat for a while in the round swing and admired the nice Spring day.

After lunch I got out some herb seeds and got them started in egg carton planters. ( and yes I know Thyme is spelled wrong)

We had a pretty productive day getting a lot of small outdoors task taken care of.

To do a chicken up date the first hen I sat has 5 chicks out of a total of 7 eggs which was a good percentage hatch and they are growing like little weeds.

The second hen I sat has just started hatching and now has 2 little black Silkie chicks and is waiting on 2 bigger hen eggs to hatch hopefully .

And I sat another while Silkie today with 2 Silkie eggs and 5 big hen eggs under her.

I noticed today another Silkie hen that may be going broody, she is also a white hen, looks like the white hens are winning the broody game so far this year !!!

Another quarantine day comes to a close as we pray that God intervene in the spread of the Covid -19 virus and cover us with his gracious protective arms.

So very thankful for the blessings of this day and for His beautiful creations as the colorful spring season bids good-bye to the dull greys and browns of winter.

God Bless and Good Night

LATE BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION FOR EL

Friday doesn't mean much in these days as it is just like any other day. We got chores done and then took the covers off all the raised beds. The forecast for mid 30's overnight didn't make it as it didn't get below 40 degrees so everything made it through this little cold snap in good shape.
We had breakfast then hubbie and I spent the morning cleaning house.
Daughter came over at lunch time with IR and CA to have lunch with us. After we ate we spent some time out in the beautiful sunshine. The wind is pretty strong and the temps are still in the upper 60's so it felt a little cool but if you could get out of the wind it felt really good.
As I sat on the round black swing and looked up there was a lot of difference from just a week ago when we first put the swing up.
This was today.....

and this was March 28 a week ago.....

Daughter had a statewide teachers meeting so hubbie and I entertained the girls while she did that on her computer.

Then she left with them to get them to take naps.

Hubbie and I finished the house cleaning and I changed out all the March décor and brought out all the Easter décor with the purple furniture covers.

Hubbie and I took EL's birthday gifts over to her house this evening as Re decided not to get everyone together for a party right now.

EL loved the gifts and this light-up little tent I found for her was her favorite.

Happy 7th birthday to little EL, hope the year normalizes soon for her and all of us.

Hubbie and I came home to finish chores and d-in-love and RL walked up for a visit to get out of their house.

Sis-in-law Sandy stopped by to pick up some eggs and Bro-in-law Marty came with her so we had a nice visit with them keeping our distance in recognition of the 6 foot space and we were outside.

These are some crazy times when you have to think about how close you are getting to anyone you talk to and my hands latterly ache from being so dried out from all the hand washing I have been doing.

The virus is still climbing today in our state and our county lost it's first victim this morning. Fortunately we are still holding at 22 cases county wide. Hopefully the stay at home order is helping keep the virus from spreading out of control.

Thankful for the blessings of this day and continuing prayers for the covid -19 victims and for all of us who are doing our best not to get exposed.

God Bless and Good Night

BEAUTIFUL DAY and MORE CLOSINGS

Not sure what the early morning temp was this morning but it sure was a beautiful day when I did get out to get chores done.

After we grabbed a quick breakfast we dropped a couple dozen eggs in our mailbox for an elderly egg customer to pick up this morning on our way to daughter's house.

We picked up her garbage and recyclables and went to the dump / recycle center.  I called the nursery where we get our vegetable plants and they said they had out some tomato and pepper plants today.

We headed up there and got all the bell peppers we needed and a couple variety of tomatoes but they didn't have some of the things we needed and she said it would probably be another 2 weeks before those things were ready.

We were thankful for the things we did get and we headed home.

Hubbie and both wore our face mask in the greenhouses although we were the only customers there at that time.

Back at home we had lunch then I got some tables set up out in the sunroom with our plants on them for the next few weeks.

Daughter brought the girls over so she and son-in-love could get some raised beds built on a bank behind their house.

RL came up to play and her and IR had a blast today playing together. They colored pictures and compared their work and then they took turns somersaulting on the playroom bed and just enjoying each other.

The giggling and laughing sounded so good in this time or uncertainty right now.

Daughter came after them after their beds were built and dropped RL off at her house on her way home.

I put some pinto beans in the pressure pot for our supper and hubbie made a cake of cornbread to go with them.

While that all cooked we went out and put the covers on all the raised beds once again as the predicted temperature tonight is in the mid 30's once again.

We did chores and then came inside to have supper.

After we ate we went back up to the garden where a big limb had blown down and hung on a branch over the back of the garden. Hubbie tried to throw a rope around it to pull it away from the power lines as it fell but got hit robe caught on another limb. #1 son came up to help and he also got a rope caught on a different branch that he was trying to throw with a rock tied on the end of it. While they were trying to dislodge the rock they knocked the big limb loose and it fell away from the power lines and didn't even tear down the garden fencing.

So we don't have to worry about the big limb falling on us anymore as we work in the garden but now there is still that rock lodged in a branch that might fall on us so we marked where it might fall and will just stay out from under it.

Well that is the events of another pretty boring day around here. 

As the virus continues to spread the news of closings keep coming in .

I'm just so glad we have our own property to walk around on and get plenty of exercise when we want it.

Thankful for the blessings of this day and praying for God's protection from this virus .

God Bless and Good Night

APRIL COMES IN QUIETLY AT LEAST WEATHER WISE AND LATEST COVID -19 STATS

Up to greet a chilly morning to start April. A lot of places a little higher up than us are truly feeling April fools this morning as they woke to several inches of snow.
For us we have no snow but still clouds with 37 degree temps.
Hubbie and I got chores done and grabbed a quick breakfast before heading out on our errands today.
We both wore face mask this morning anytime we were out of the car.
We met an egg customer at the Curb Market and then took care of some market business as we met with the market manager.
We have decided to keep market closed until the stay at home order is lifted.
We went through the bank drive thru to take care of some business. All banks have only the drive thru open right now with limited staff working.
We left there and dropped the bills in the mail box at the PO and then did a drive thru pick up of some produce at Johnson's produce.
We went by the elementary school on the way home and picked up lunches for all the kids. We dropped of EL and BB's and then RL and g-son's on our way home.
Daughter brought the girls over to have theirs while she worked on school work on the computer.
After we ate d-in-love brought RL and g-son up so she could get some work done also.
After they all left hubbie and I got out old blankets to add an extra layer of protection to our raised beds tonight as the temps are predicted to get even colder than last night.

We got chores done then came inside and built another fire to knock down the chill of the evening.

Once again we are thankful to be beginning another month. In this time we really do have a different kind of thankful for each and every day that we are healthy and able to spend time with our family.

As we begin this month under totally abnormal circumstances we pray that things improve quickly.

From totally empty grocery store shelves.....

To many business closing or going to all phone or internet orders....

To hospital workers looking more like space walkers....

To getting used to seeing more and more people wearing mask out in public.

This is the recent stats for Henderson county where we live and out state.

This is now the national totals.

Thankful for a loving caring Savior that holds each of our futures in His hands.

God Bless and Good Night