BACK TO THE FRIDAY ROUTINE

Ahhhhh At least one morning of this holiday period to get to sleep in a little. I needed it this morning as I had a coughing fit last night and didn't get back to sleep until I got up and took one of hubbie's cough gels and rubbed Vicks vaper rub on the bottoms of my feet. Don't know which stopped the cough but I'm grateful to finally have had some restful sleep.
I did chores and had breakfast while planning the day. G-daughter was coming this morning but there was a change of plans so hubbie headed outside to tackle the leaves once again .
He had to wear his mask for all the dust he was making.

I stayed inside and baked cakes all morning. I baked 12 caramel and 2 pound cakes. I have no idea what market will be like tomorrow at out Old Timey Christmas celebration.
I trimmed some Boxwood bushes I have in the yard and put the stems in a vase of water to hopefully soak up some water before I decorate with them.

Looks like old times around here this evening with hubbie in the pasture with the cattle and horse putting out a roll of hay.

Daughter and Josh along with a couple of Josh's brothers and their families went to the UNC / NC State football game today.

The "Ram" mascot left sad today as UNC lost 28-21 to State.

This day has been another warm, dry, sunny day around here to extend our no measurable rainfall days to 48 here on our farm.  There were a few clouds banking around this evening just enough to make for a pretty sunset.

I made a cake delivery this evening to a friend who wanted to get a jump on the weekend traffic and head back to Florida early tomorrow.
I spent the rest of the evening icing cakes and getting things ready for the first Christmas season selling day at market.
Thankful for all the blessings God showers down on me each day and thankful for His protective arms around the family.
God Bless and Good Night.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING 2016

Up early on this beautiful Thanksgiving day to deliver the 14 cakes Cordes Simpson always orders for Thanksgiving giving ! We meet at a local gas station and always laugh at the possibility of getting the law called on us for making a drug deal ??
I came back home and did chores and had breakfast. Hubbie said yesterday that he would help me deep clean the kitchen this morning before we started cooking. We are having dinner or supper as I call it this year as that is easier on all the kids and even on hubbie and me as we don't have to rush into cooking.
We cleaned until lunch time and then hubbie  moved all the furniture back into the kitchen from the sunroom and we cleaned out there.
About 2:30 I put the 12 pound turkey in the oven with the sweet potatoes for the casserole. We did chores in shifts since someone has to watch the ovens to turn them back on if they shut themselves off. Thankfully today they did not have a problem. That is what is so crazy about them as some days they work perfectly and some days they shut off several times.
We  had sweet potato casserole like my mom always made, green beans, creamed corn, mashed potatoes and gravy, dressing, cranberry sauce and biscuits for our thankful Thanksgiving feast .

While the food cooked hubbie and I put up our Christmas tree to fill the big hole we created when we moved the furniture around.

All six of the kids made it to dinner thankfully after all of them made road trips at lunch. #1 son drove his family to Oneida, Tenn. to have lunch with d-in-love's grandmother, #2 son and Tiffany drove to Rosman to have breakfast with Tif's dad and then to Brevard to have lunch with her mom, Josh and daughter drove to Green Creek to have lunch with his mom and dad. I am very thankful for safe travel for all of them.   I remember those traveling holidays when my kids were young !!!
Everyone seemed to enjoy the meal and had a fun time visiting tonight.

Even the littlest guest of all seemed to enjoy the special dinner !!

I am very thankful to God for allowing me another wonderful Thanksgiving spent with all my family.
I hope everyone had a safe Happy Thanksgiving. I am so so so THANKFUL  this year !!!

God Bless and Good Night.

THANKFUL THANKSGIVING EVE

An early wake up call this morning from Dolly who barked wanting to go outside. I got up and put both her and Bernie out for a potty break. Since it was 7am and on this morning I had nothing getting me up with an early alarm we all went back to bed. I went back to sleep only to be awakened once again in about 30 minutes by Dolly. This time by her yelp as she hit the floor from falling off our high bed. She is blind but she usually is very careful about searching out the edge of the bed. I got up to check on her and met her walking around the bed toward the bedroom door. I went back to bed once again thinking she was probably going for a drink of water in the kitchen. This time I didn't go back to sleep before I heard her again, this time floundering on the slick flooring of the bedroom. By the sound of it I knew she was having a seizure. Dolly fell down the front porch steps when she was just a puppy and hit her head on a concrete slab at the bottom causing her to have her first seizure. Since then she has had several. some from falling off things , some from getting overheated chasing balls on hot days and some from the flea drops we used to put on her.
This morning the seizure was a really bad one and lasted longer than most . I always pick her up and cuddle her reassuring her to calm down. After she finally stopped jerking today she shivered and whined for a little while before recovering.
I put her in her outside pen while I took care of the rest of the animals this morning and by the time we came back inside she was ready for her breakfast with Bernie.
I had my breakfast while I planned my day. I am all turned around  time wise today as a usual Wednesday would include some baking time.
Housework instead is on today's agenda. I cleaned both bathrooms before lunch. I have been tossing around ideas for my Christmas tree this year in the living room. With g-daughter in her most curious stage right now I have toyed with several ideas of moving furniture to re-locate the big tree,
I gave the living room a good cleaning then moved the couch caty-cornered in front of a bookcase , took out the lamp table next to the computer and decided the tree would be perfect where that table was because it will be easy to gate it off. On g-son's first Christmas he loved to move the lower ornaments around, I remember watching him gently take ornaments off branches and move them to other branches. However there is nothing gentle about how g-daughter does things so I will put all unbreakable ornaments on the tree and see what she does but I will be able to gate it off if needed.
I spent the rest of the afternoon putting away all my Fall decorations inside and outside.  Since tomorrow is Thanksgiving and I don't like to put up Christmas until  after that my shelves look kind of bare .
Daughter got a taste of reality today and couldn't believe someone actually took advantage of her like that.
Yesterday she went to Verizon to upgrade her phone. She got the phone and was assured by the girl that was helping her that her only increase in payment would be $7 more for her phone payment bringing it to $31 , she left the office.
Later last night I got a message from Verizon since I am the administrator on the account that our bill was increasing by almost $50 due to a $45 equipment  protection plan that was added to the plan.
Today when daughter went back to the Verizon office the girl that she talked to couldn't be found so another man helped her. He said he would take the charge off and had no idea why it was added.
I have been through this a couple times before with unwarranted charges so it didn't surprise me but my kids are all great people and want to think these things don't happen that other people wouldn't do these things to them because they wouldn't do these things to other people.
Hubbie who went back to work today got a nice Thanksgiving surprise and got off at 1:00 this afternoon. After work he went by daughter's to help her with all her recyclables and took them to the recycle place for her on his way home.
He helped get some things moved around in the house and cleaned some in the kitchen while I finished up the living room.
We did chores on the 63 degree day and thankfully the view was a lot less smoky today.

And the sunset was 'wow' this evening !!!

In fact according to another early riser friend of mine the day started out as beautiful as it ended !!

More beauty to behold as this blooming Geranium from the summer is still holding on too this one blossom all through the last few cold nights.

And my Thanksgiving Cactus, wow again as it is really showing itself this year.

And even some man made beauty tonight as daughter sent me this pic of her and Josh's tree.

Thankful today that we have a God who provides a world full of beauty for our enjoyment and for the blessing of being able to take in all God's creations.
God Bless and Good Night

BEFORE THANKSGIVING MARKET DAY

G-daughter arrived at 7am and it was nice to have hubbie here to help today with all the cake orders for today. He still doesn't feel like going back to work.
We took turns trying to get a fussy g-daughter to eat something for breakfast but she wasn't having anything we offered.
I got the morning chores done and we headed out to drop g-daughter at her morning pre-school before going to market. Thankfully the church where she goes is just up the street from market. Hubbie had to drive his truck and help haul all the orders today.
G-daughter was still fussing when we left her.
Market was slow but all the orders got picked up except one . Hubbie walked up town and did some shopping at Mast General Store then stopped by Hot Dog World for our lunch.
He walked up to the church and carried a sleeping g-daughter back to market. She loved the hot dot and fries he brought her for lunch.

 She had to get re-acquainted with everything and everyone at market.

We left market and she was asleep before we got out of the parking lot. Hubbie followed my to Aldi and sat with her in my car while I did the shopping. I got a call from the customer who forgot her order and she said she would come to Aldi to pick the cakes up but after I waited 30 minutes I left and came home. She called later and said she would pick her cakes up Saturday.
The smoke has definitely moved back in with a vengeance this afternoon. Out came my mask once  again with my already sneezing and coughing this is not a good thing for me to breathe.

Seems this is the worst it has been since the very first days of the fires. There are an historic over 53,000 acres of forest fires burning now.
The sun was encompassed in a smokey haze cloud.

G-daughter slept until I got home and hubbie helped me unload and get things put away. G-daughter had a snack and played until d-in-love came after her about 4:45.
I did chores then we got inside out of the smoke for the evening.
There is a very late season Thanksgiving hurricane set to make landfall in central America . This is the "O" storm of a very merciful hurricane season.  Otto will not effect the north America at all.

I rested this evening trying to recoup from yesterday. I am hoping the tiredness I am feeling is just that and not an onset of more sickness.
Thankful tonight for the wonderful glory of being an active grandparent and being involved with these kids to be able to watch them grow up and develop their own little personalities.
God Bless and Good Night.

BUSY BAKING DAY

G-daughter arrived a little after 7am to get this crazy busy day off to an early start. About 45 minutes later Aa arrived with EL and BB to stay while their mom went to a class at the hospital.
The kids had a good time playing with each other.

G-daughter got inventive when she got in one of my bakery crates and went sliding across the floor !

And these two are the perfect example of "monkey see monkey do" !!!!

Re picked EL and BB up about 10 then hubbie, g-daughter and I had to make a chicken feed trip to Southern states before my baking started. She would make a cute little model if you could get her still enough for a photo.

Back home we ate an early lunch then the kitchen was off limits the rest  of the day except for me,haha !
I baked 6 more caramel,2 coconut, 3 chocolate and 6 pound cakes with 3 loads of weekly laundry mixed in. I iced 6 of the caramels I baked last night before a lady came by to pick up her order of 3 caramels. Candy always gives cakes as presents to her kids teachers.
Outside this evening I couldn't help but marvel at the wonderful blue sky. There is certainly still a lot of leaves hanging on to the trees.

I know we should enjoy this clear sky today because the prediction of a wind shift will bring the smoke back as early as tomorrow.
 After chores I did gave myself a break while I watched the evening news.
With the high temps today struggling to reach 50 degrees and the forecast lows of low 20's again tonight prompted hubbie to build our first wood stove fire of the season tonight.

We have an electric heat pump but there is just nothing that warms like a wood stove fire !!1
  I spent the rest of the evening icing 23 cakes to end this very busy day after midnight. I am very thankful for the orders this year but it does make me wonder how many more years I will be able to work at this pace even for a couple days ??
This is a perfect day to be thankful for the strength God blesses me with everyday  and my health that keeps me going.
God Bless and Good night

COLD WINDY SUNDAY

BRRRRR !!!! Ice on the water buckets for the first time this season sent shivers through the animals when they met the cold winds in the upper 20's temps this morning.
Church was good today as we had the Lord's Supper to remind us of the thankfulness we need to feel this Thanksgiving season.
After church we had a big pot of chili and a cake of fresh cornbread waiting . #1 son's family, #2 son and Aa's family all made to it to have lunch with us.
The chili hit the spot on a cold windy day.
After everyone left hubbie watched a nascar race on TV and I put away some laundry then rested.
We did chores a little early as hubbie is going back to church to help with the community Thanksgiving service that is happening tonight at the Bible College across the street from our church.Since our interim pastor is the president of the Bible College we try to help out over there anytime we can.
While hubbie was gone I gathered all my baking supplies to do what I always have to ask forgiveness for each year and that is bake cakes on this Sunday night. With all the orders for Tuesday at market I need to get a head start on tomorrow .
I baked 18 caramel cakes tonight and iced the 6 caramels left over from Friday's baking. Whew not my regular way of spending Sunday evening !!!
At least by getting started early I was finished with all this before 9:30.
Hubbie decided with the wind still howling outside this wouldn't be a good night for our first wood stove fire. We'll just let the heat pump run tonight $$$$$$$ !!
Finishing up the November decade photos tonight with November 2006.  I had a new photograph subject that month !!!! 
G-son was one month old on the 16th.

Daddy was proud to have a son !!!

Three generations !!!!

Mommy was proud of her son !!!

Aunt T gave g-son his first Thanksgiving meal !!!!

Thankful that the news on the fire tonight is good especially with these terrible winds. The fire has not grown any in the last 24 hours and is now 45 % contained. These firefighters are doing a great job.

Tonight I am very grateful for folks who take their jobs seriously and go beyond the call of duty with humility and concern for their fellow man. Some of the stories that are coming out of this fire season and the fire fighters actions are very touching. One of them was when one of the evacuees got back home yesterday and found that a caring firefighter had taken down their American flag and rolled it up placing it behind their storm door for protection from the fire.
God Bless and Good Night.