PETUNIAS AND WILDFIRE

Slow,slow market day,read the newspaper and then worked a crossword puzzle.Bought some herb plants from one of my neighbors,but decided to wait before planting them.I'll keep them in the sunroom in the pots they are in for a while longer yet. The temperature is suppose to get in the upper 30's tonight and lower tomorrow night. The wind is blowing tonight so I didn't cover anything up,it is still 57 degrees at 11:00.
I took a long walk this afternoon with all my 4-legged kids and then helped hubbie spread the remainder of the gravel we had.
My back patio and yard is slowly coming together!This is one of my potted petunias I bought a couple weeks ago.I love petunias ,they are so pretty, come in a variety of colors, and smell so good. Although I have noticed the purple ones have the stronger fragrance. Strange thing about petunias,they belong to the nightshade family,which consist of tomatoes,potatoes, and peppers, go figure!!!
I have this yellow one ,a dark purple and a purple/pink mixed wave petunia,like I said I love petunias!!
Heard a lot of sirens this afternoon and found out that one of the mountain tops near us is on fire. The terrain is so steep they are fighting it from the air and using bulldozers to carve fire lines to protect about 3 houses that are in the area.Someone burning brush started the fire,with the wind blowing like it has today,I can't imagine what anyone could think when they would start a fire on a day like today.God bless all the fireman that are risking their lives to fight this fire.
It has been a nice relaxing,quite evening,I needed it!
God is so good,I'm glad He's my friend!
Good Night and God Bless.

JUST WONDERING ??!!!!

Normal day here,baked cakes in the early am, picked g-son up from pre-school,worked on my patio this evening,finished cleaning church,iced cakes tonight.
I was just wondering..... Our President Mr. Obama will be making a vacation stop in Asheville next weekend.Here he is on the campaign trail in Asheville,NC in October 2008,have no idea what's in the bag!There was a tax protest in Asheville,NC today, and here are some of the more tame signs.
Leads me to wonder what next weekend will be like for the President and First Lady?????
Leaving on a sad note,I've never understood why this time of year has always been when teenage drivers have the most fatal crashes,or maybe it just seems that way to me.
But in a neighboring SC county this morning 2 young lives were lost, a 16 yr old and a 14 year old on their way to school at a high rate of speed,they ran off the road and hit a tree.
A 13 yr old boy in the back seat survived but no word on his condition yet,he has been in surgery all day.
I pray tonight for the families of these kids,I pray they know Jesus and can turn to Him for understanding and comfort.
Good Night and God Bless.

CHANGING WEATHER

Yuck,this pollen is litterly making me nauseous,as I woke up with just a yucky feeling this morning. After some crackers and hot tea I finally got going and was only 5 minutes late to market.
If I had of known how slow market would have been,I could have stayed home. I did get 16 boo boo bunnies made along with tagging 24 quilt angels and getting all of it displayed so the day wasn't a total loss and I did sell a few things,hopefully Saturday will be better.
I ran errands on my way home as I watched this big dark cloud out my way. Sure enough as I got closer to home it was raining. I thought how funny it was to be so glad to see the rain after hating to see it come only a month or so ago. But lately we do need rain as this unseasonal warm weather sure dries things out quickly. We got a pretty good shower today,I need to get a rain gauge back up.
After I got unloaded I crashed on the couch for a rest as I still don't feel great and I keep chilling as if I have a fever.
Speaking of changing weather this is a picture of an apple tree in February during the ice storm we had.And this is a picture of the apple trees now,they are blooming about a week ahead of schedule do to the extra warm weather.After watching Survivor on TV hubbie and I headed to church to work, as I vacuumed I started sweating like crazy and after I finished working and cooled down I feel better than I have all day.
I read that during this pollen season,which some say is the worst ever,that if you ate a couple crackers or a piece of toast before bed it would help the upset stomach,so I'm trying that tonight.
Thankful for being able to keep going today with the help of the Lord.
Good Night and God Bless.

BLOOMS AND BIRDS

Went outside to do morning chores and there was a wonderful smell in the air,it took me a minute to figure out what it was. My Lilac bush seemed to have burst into bloom overnight.
It makes the entire yard smell so sweet.
I also noticed how quickly this azalea has burst into full bloom,it is the only one out of all my many azaleas that is now in bloom,the rest have buds that are ready to pop anytime.I have a lot of native grown azaleas,they do so much better than the ones you buy at Lowe's or other stores. You can see by the window how big this one is and some are even larger.
Right after we built our house we bought this one and 5 others from a man on the other side of town that had propagated them on his farm.The whole upper side of our house is now covered with these plants.In later years the local community college propagated azaleas and sold them and I have many of theirs that have also done very well.
These pots are filled with the plants I bought yesterday for them, I had to have some daisies since that is April's flower so I thought these were different and very pretty.
This morning I had to make an Avon stop near the concrete mold place,so I stopped by and bought a large pot and found some very interesting stepping stones,pics later.
I was lifting different pots to make sure they weren't too heavy and wound up with a very sore back.
I picked up g-son and we came home for lunch and got the van unloaded. I realized I had to have more of the stones so we went back to the concrete place to get a few more. He went to sleep on the way back and took a good long nap.
While he napped I took a cup of coffee and my camera outside and caught a few new guest at my feeders.This is the first sighting of the Indigo Bunting that visit every summer.I wish I could have gotten a picture of him in the sunlight,he is absolutely beautiful.It is hard to imagine a bird this color.
This little White Breasted Nuthatch has visited before but I've never been camera ready when he came until today. He always flies into the top of the tree and walks head first down the trunk. This little guy is a regular visitor but is sporting a bright new look. The Goldfinches seem to be golder this year,maybe it's because the weather warmed so fast.
When hubbie got home we ate an early supper of homemade soup and then worked in the yard until dark,we are getting close to getting the back yard done,yea!!!
Daughter baked while I paid bills and did weekly paperwork then I iced my caramel cakes.
Another major earthquake yesterday,this time in China, almost 600 dead and more buried.
I am very thankful today that my God loves me and holds my future!
Good Night and God Bless.

HOW BIG IS A CUBIC FOOT????

Ohhhh!!!! It can't be housework Tuesday again already!!!!!!!
Ahhh,but it is, so up and at it because I have plans for the afternoon. All the new furniture is still in the back of the truck,at least I can put off moving things around until later.
I finished cleaning and laundry about 3 and headed out to make a couple Avon stops then off to Lowe's to shop for more plants and look at new front load washers,yea, I've wanted one of these for a long time and with the rebates coming next week,I've decided now is the time! After looking them over and talking to a salesman,all I need to do is decide the size I want 4.0 cubic ft. or 4.5 cubic ft.????? Decisions,decisions, any suggestions?????
Made my way home with my new plants,learned something today, when daughter and I were plant shopping a week or so ago we saw several plants that I went looking for today and was told they were sold out and they would not get any more,lesson, when you see something you want buy it then!
I worked all evening planting the plants, it got to dark before I got it all done to make pictures so that will come tomorrow. I need a large cement or faux cement pot,but I refuse to pay $50 for a flower pot so I am going to a local place where they make cement pots and lawn ornaments of all kinds to see what they have,hopefully tomorrow.
I took this pic earlier today,my forsythias are really showing themselves this year.Here is a super cute picture from a homeowner in Asheville today of what she saw on her patio.Very rarely do mama bears ever take their cubs anywhere close to humans,wonder what she's thinking?
Although a very cute picture,I think this sight on my patio would make me very nervous!
I baked cakes tonight ,after helping hubbie and #2 son get the new bed into place.
Thanking God for all the blessings of today.
Good Night and God Bless.

2 WONDERFUL DAYS IN 1 POST

Missed blogging yesterday,but for a very good reason.
A gift from our children, we were taken to a concert in Greenville,SC featuring my 2 favorite country singers, Alan Jackson and Josh Turner, wow I couldn't believe they were on the same tour. The concert was held in the Bi-Lo Center in downtown. We were surprised at how little traffic there was getting there. Start time was 7:00,we left our house at 5:30,made a gas stop and arrived there at 6:30 with no problems. None of us had ever been to this center before so when ordering tickets,daughter didn't know what the seating arrangements were. Our seats were very high,which took me a while to get used to as I am afraid of heights,but by the time the music started I was okay.
I tried once to go up in the Currituck Lighthouse and after just a little ways up,I became very sick and felt like I was seasick,I started this feeling last night,but by sitting very still and not looking down it passed,thank you Lord!
There was another young singer who opened called Chris Young,
I thought he sounded pretty good. But I was there to see Josh and Alan. Josh Turner sang for about an hour,finally getting around to my favorite, "Long Black Train",he was younger than I thought.
Then the nights main attraction took the stage and I was very impressed with the show he put on. I enjoyed hearing him talk about writing certain songs and he sang little bits of many of his older songs. He sang and performed until after 11:00,wow, how can anybody's voice hold up to that!
There was one thing I hated and kicked myself all night for it. When I read the ticket info,it said no professional type cameras allowed, so I left my new Cannon at home and took my little point and shoot that I always carry in my rather large purse wrapped in a bubble wrap bag. As we entered I had to open my purse for a man to check it,all he did was glance inside and say okay. The point and shoot was in the bubble wrap and he didn't even ask what it was. So it would have been easy to have carried the other camera with the 300mm lens in and really gotten good close up pics. At least they had the huge screens with close-ups of their faces.Although there was a lot of people,there was also a lot of empty seats.Another sign of the economy I guess,I would venture a guess of less than 50% full even with these 2 big name stars.
We made it home a little after midnight and went straight to bed.

Today was another good day,starting with Avon deliveries in hubbie's car while he took a tire off my van that had a nail in it to be fixed. The first casualty of our "used gravel".
I came home at lunch and hubbie,g-son,who hubbie had picked up at pre-school,and I went to look at a bicycle that was advertised in the paper.
The folks who had it wound up being some customers of mine at market and we wound up buying a grill and a bedroom set for g-son from them in addition to the bike.
We had to wait for #1 son and d-in-love to get home and then we all went to pick them up in 2 trucks. I will put 1 of the twin beds here in his room and the other bed, night stand,dresser and mirror will go home to his room.
#1 son starts a new job tomorrow, his grading, septic business is not good enough for them to live on right now so a friend of his got him a job in a local plant. He has never done plant work before and never worked rotating shifts,but the rotating shifts will give him some time off to do some grading jobs to see if his business will pick up.
It's always nerve-racking to start a new job. I pray it works out for him.
We finally got things settled down around 9 this evening. The furniture is still in the back of the truck waiting until tomorrow. We got the grill set up and gave #2 son our old grill.
Days filled with activity are becoming the new normal around here. I love it!!!!!
God blesses us endlessly everyday and all he expects from us is love.
Good Night and God Bless.

REDBUDS AND BOXELDERS

Slow market day, we fixed a table of various sellers items for an advertising photo. It will give folks an idea what a wide variety of items we have. I crochet towel tops all day between customers and conversation with neighbors. I think I actually sold more Thursday than I did today.
Luckily the temperature didn't drop below freezing last night,it was 34 at our house this morning.It has been a nice normal temperature day at 63 with all sunshine.Tonight is suppose to back down in the 30's again,so my ghostly figures will return to the yard.

I went downtown to look for a footstool after market,didn't find anything but did come up with an idea! More later on that.
This is the old courthouse,now called the Historic Courthouse and houses a museum of county memorabilia.
The new courthouse is on the other side of town.
More signs of spring rebirth,as this mama grazes while her new foal poses for the camera.
Redbud trees are one of my favorite early bloomers,I love the way the branches get all covered with blossoms before any sign of green leaves. The leaves are heart shaped and turn yellow in the fall. Sometimes called the Judas tree because it dates back to Biblical Times.This one is on the side of my driveway,we have recently planted several more,can't wait till they all get this size.As I continued on my walk these Boxelder Maple trees caught my attention.They look like trees full of hula skirts
some are more colorful than others. These trees grow around our farm pond and on the creek bank. Several of them blew over during high winds,so they must not have a very deep root system. They sure are pretty this time of year.
Had a nice relaxing Saturday evening,sat out on the sunporch which felt good with the cool outside temps and then cuddled with my 4-legged kids.
Looking forward to praising the Lord with my church family tomorrow morning.
Good Night and God Bless.