IT'S A GIRL !!!!!!!!

Up a little earlier this morning to give me more time to give Sadie some extra time before I leave for market. She is substantially better this morning and doesn't act near as sore around her mouth and nose as yesterday. She is trying to eat dog food from her dish now and did drink a lot of water on her walk this morning. It is still 29 degrees so we put her back in her crate in the warm basement until the temperature at least gets above freezing. She lost so much blood I don't want her to get chilled.
I made it to market about 10 minutes late but no one was there to notice, not even many sellers came out today.
Surprisingly I had a decent selling day and probably could have sold a couple more pound cakes if I had made them. I still have a couple layer cakes left over but not much.
The manager asked if anyone wanted to stay open an extra day during the week this winter. The market used to stay open on Tuesdays and Saturdays during the slow winter months. A few years ago we decided to only stay open on Saturdays because traffic was so slow during the week. Some of the new members who weren't here then have proposed the idea to open an extra day this year. I don't know what the final decision was but we have advertised for several years and this year already that only Saturdays would be open so I don't think it is a god idea to change course on the last day of the year. I will be deciding what I will do as orders come in and with looking at the Thursday weather forecast each week . Sitting here looking around today on what is even a holiday Saturday and there are so very few customers I can't imagine there will be any traffic at all coming through on weekdays but only time will tell.
After market I headed straight home to get the chores done early and head over to daughter's house for her "gender reveal" party. They went to a place in Asheville that has super sensitive ultrasound equipment and found out what the baby is yesterday so she is revealing it tonight which will be fun. Everyone is bringing some finger food and we will have the reveal cake for dessert.
I am taking the sausage balls I made last night and am making some cocktail crockpot wieners to take also.
Hubbie and #1 son had already fed all the cattle hay before I got home so all we had to do was the dogs and chickens. I took Sadie on a long walk and left her in Annie's lot for about an hour in the warmest part of the afternoon.
I made her some dog food with some left over Turkey stock to juice it up and she has eaten two bowls of it this evening plus is drinking lots of water.
Poor thing she is still really shakey and slow moving .
We put her back in the crate in the warm basement before  we left for daughter and Josh's house.
When our two families get together we always enjoy each other so much.

 G-daughter had a good time re-arranging aunt T's decorations !!!

There was an abundance of food and everyone enjoyed it very much.

The Culinary teacher that teaches next door to daughter at the high school made the cake. It was beautiful and tasted very good also.

Josh's mom Connie and I, the grandmothers , cut into the cake together aaaaannnnndddd !!!   IT'S   A   GIRL  !!!!!!

Both daughter and Josh have said all along they felt it was a girl and they were right.
Even g-son said he thought it was a girl before the cake was cut tonight.
We had a nice visit and hubbie and I made it home about 9:30 . This is the latest we have been out on a New Year's Eve in many many years !!!!
We relaxed until bed time called us long before the midnight celebration !!!
So grateful tonight for the happiness God shows us as we celebrate another life together with family and get ready to begin another year filled with the joy, hope, love and peace only God can give.
God Bless, Good Night and Happy New Year.

TOP TEN COUNTY NEWS STORIES FOR 2016

Up to check on Sadie first thing this morning. Found her fast asleep in the crate so we decided we wouldn't disturb her.
Hubbie is off work today and helped with the morning chores. We had breakfast and as we sat at the table we heard Sadie bark letting us know she was awake and wanted out of the crate..
She was acting better and even drank some water, I put a leash on her to make sure she didn't take off like she did last night. She walked around the yard for a few minutes and then we put her in Annie's lot as the sun was shining in there and I knew it would warm Sadie up quickly with her black fur.
She layed around in there all morning and soaked up the sunshine.
Today is cold in the upper 30's for high temps but the warm sunshine makes it feel good . Last night just before midnight we had snow flurries for the first flakes of the season .

Hubbie went to cut some firewood from a fallen Oak tree and I baked cakes . I baked 3 caramel, 2 chocolate, 1 coconut, 2 pound cakes and finishing before lunch time.
Hubbie picked up d-in-love's left over Pedialyte from last week when g-daughter was sick and I squirted some from a syringe into Sadie's mouth a couple times this afternoon to help give her some energy and hydration.
She urinated so I know she is drinking water thankfully. Most of the damage we can see is to her mouth and nose so if she can hold on until the swelling goes down enough to breath through her nose and eat I think she will make it. Hubbie says if she makes it through another near death experience she will surely be a miracle dog.A couple years ago she got poisoned and didn't eat for days but slowly recovered from that.
After lunch I did some more un-decorating and hubbie helped me get the filled tubs back into the shed. Slowly Christmas is leaving with the month of December.
As this month and year comes to an end the top stories of our sleepy little town are as follows.
At #10- Plans for a new law enforcement training center on 300 acres on Pinnacle mountain was shot down by commissioners in May but re-visited and approved in October.

#9-Mark Meadows was re-elected to Congress amid ethics complaints.

#8- Grocery store chain Publix was still fighting for floodplain permits for the new building that was supposed to be already started on property they bought south of town.

#7- A new modern Health Science building was constructed at Blue Ridge Community College.

#6-Wildfires and a 75 day drought with the Party Rock fire crossing into Henderson county as well as Rutherford and Buncombe counties burned 7200 acres before it was contained at the beginning of Dec.

#5- Tom Apodaca retired from 14 years of Senate service.

#4- Plans to turn the old Grey Hoisery Mill into a city Hotel ends a years long battle over what to do with this old mill on Grove street.

#3- A proposed $12 entrance fee to Dupont State Forest was shot down and grants were obtained for improvements to the trails.

#2- A property tax increased of 5 cents per $100 of evaluation was imposed to cover the cost of replacing aging school buildings and the new law enforcement training center.

#1 - The fight over how and what to do about Hendersonville High Schoo took the number one spot this year as alumni of the oldest school building in the county presented a plan to renovate the old school instead of building the new school the school board payed $300,000 to a architect to design.
After months of back and forth and no resolution the county commissioners employed a strong arm method of holding a new Edneyville elementary school building replacing a very unsafe and old elementary school building hostage. The commissioners threatened to table both school plans if the school board did not proceed with the new school building plans for the high school. They also said the high school must be built before the elementary school can be built ?????
Even as the year ends this is not completely settled.

Another pretty calm news year for our county and I am very glad that we have stories like these for top stories.
After chores this evening I walked Sadie around once again to help keep up her muscle strength while she recovers. In the crate tonight she is a little more agitated than last night but has eaten a little of the food I put in there for her which is a very good sign.  She hasn't barked any tonight like she does if she has to go to the bathroom or anything so hopefully when we settle down and the lights are off she will sleep the night through.
I have been craving sausage balls since Christmas so I made some tonight and that is what I had for supper.
I iced cakes and got things ready for market. It is going to be another cold low 20's night and morning so market will be cold tomorrow. Probably temperature and customer wise !!!!
Thankful for the blessing of this day and praying for Sadie that God's will will be done for her as she struggles in her old age to recover.
God Bless, Good Night and Happy New Year

LAST THURSDAY MARKET DAY FOR 3 MONTHS

The last Thursday market day started out nice and sunny after an overnight rain left 3/10ths inch in the gauge.
I did chores and got ready to go at the regular time. Daughter brought some breads she baked over on her way to the gym this morning. They are hosting a Christmas tournament this week. She is having a laugh in this pic as she sits on the varsity girls bench.

 It is in the mid 50's already as I leave for market at 9:15 but with the wind picking up the temperature is supposed to drop throughout the day.
Market was as expected very slow today but I had  the order get picked up and did manage to sell a few things that I am very thankful for.
I noticed before I left this morning that the workers who are putting a couple dormers on the back of #1 son's house were already hard at work with a huge hole in the roof and making lots of noise hammering and sawing.

About mid morning d-in-love called to see if g-son could stay with me at market while she went to Asheville with g-daughter to visit some friends. Hoping g-daughter would sleep on the way because she couldn't sleep at home with all the noise.
G-son played games on his I-pod while I worked on a yearly re-cap post for my blog on my laptop.
We left market a little early as there were no customers in sight.
We ran the regular bank and post office errands then stopped at Aldi to get some baking supplies for tomorrow and some groceries. We also made a stop at Ingles to get more frozen coconut for another order and some fresh collards for Sunday's New Years lunch.  G-son tried out the self serve milkshake machine and this chocolate shake was pretty good for coming out of this machine !!!
A cold drink on a cold afternoon !!!!!

After our shopping we headed home and unfortunately as we came up the driveway slowly trying to avoid Annie and Sadie my welcoming committee of Aussies I heard a thud and when I looked in the rear view mirror I saw Sadie laying in the drive with Annie standing over her.
I stopped the car and when I got to her she was bleeding from her nose and mouth but was alertly looking around. G-son got upset as he thought she was dying but then she got up and walked around and the bleeding stopped.
I told him her mouth looked like his did when he fell on the cement at daughter's wedding last summer. He was still concerned for Sadie but felt better because she was walking around. I was puzzled at how she could have gotten hit and why there was no external injury signs at all and why all of a sudden the profuse bleeding just stopped ?????
We came to the house and unloaded and put things away. He ate his salad he made at Ingles deli bar and finished off his milkshake before his mom came after him.
G-daughter is getting more and more hair.

When hubbie got home we did the chores and #1 son came up and helped us put out a roll of hay across the road since we were running a little late.
G-son is surely excited about the prospects of having his own space upstairs when all this is finished.

Back home we put Sadie in her crate inside and she didn't look to good. She is a 17 year old dog and we have our doubts that she will be able to recover from this injury but only God knows the plan.
She was too jumpy to really check out to see what is wrong but blood is still seeping from her mouth even as she ran around this evening.

 We are under a wind advisory tonight and it surely is howling out there blowing things out from under the outside patio and front porch with 50 mph gusts.
Lots of WNC counties just to the north of our area are reporting snow tonight but so far none for us.
Thankful for the blessings of the day and praying that God not have poor Sadie suffer if she can't recover from the accident.
God Bless, Good Night and Happy New Year

BACK TO THE ROUTINE

Up and out early this morning after a better night of sleep . I am still really stuffy but my coughing fits are slowing down thankfully.
After chores I sat out in the sunroom on this spring like morning with temps already reaching into the mid 50's and enjoyed a relaxing breakfast.
I want to enjoy this nice weather because the predictions for cold rain and even snow are in the forecast for later in the week.
I got out my laptop and called AT&T to get them to help me reset my IP address so I could get on the internet. Seems this is an ongoing problem with Windows 10 and all internet services. My desk top had this problem a couple weeks  ago but I couldn't remember how they told me to reset it.
The man I talked to was very nice and after 2 tries  we got it all cleared up and back on the internet.
I will need to use it at market as I know it will be very slow business and at least I can get some things done on the internet while I wait on customers.
I baked 3 caramel, 1 coconut and 1 pound cake for tomorrow which is probably too much but you never know about late Christmas celebrations and New Years get together that need cakes. I only have an order for one cake tomorrow but have 3 cakes already ordered for Saturday.
I called my friend / beautician and she said come on over anytime for a haircut. I like the way she styles my hair.

I came back home after a nice visit and decided to do some un-decorating. I got all my village put away, all the ornaments off the kitchen tree and most of the other decorations in there put away. I filled 2 of the plastic containers to wait for hubbie to help carry them to the shed.
These are my new ornaments for this year. We didn't go anywhere new and I didn't get any handmade ones but bought two of these and the tree with the verse on the card was given to me at the Deacon's dinner a couple weeks ago.
The little heart quilt replica that I bought to support the Hospice foundation reminded me of my home sewing days when the kids were young. I can't tell you how many of these little quilts I made with the 36 little hearts in the squares that looked exactly like this ornament.

This other ornament I also bought in a fundraiser to support our Heritage Museum in the county that houses all the historic papers and books for our area. This is a replica of our old county court house which is a museum of county history and artifacts now.

I did chores and then had to get back into a regular Wednesday night paperwork and bill paying plus cake icing routine for the last time this year.
I am very thankful for the blessings of this day and for the grace the Lord gives me each day.
God Bless, Good Night and Happy New Year.

2016 THE YEAR OF THE FLOOD !!!!

Up with the alarm this morning after another pretty restless night of sleep due to a stuffy nose and coughing.
The dogs hear the alarm and there's no sleeping after that without hubbie here to get up with them so no extra zzz's today for me since hubbie went back to work today.
These rain droplets still clinging to the fence are evidence of the scant  1/10th inch of rain we got overnight.

I did chores and had breakfast then ran out to Walmart to pick up some baking supplies for tomorrow's baking list. I dread this time of year trying to figure out just how much to bake ???
I stopped in the Minic Clinic to let her listen to my congested chest but there was a really lot of folks already there that looked much sicker than me so I came home to try and just rest and see if that will help me get over this crap.
I put things away and rested until daughter finished her basketball practice then I met her at the mall to look over the after Christmas sales there. We only found things in Bath and Body in their semi annual sale. I always stock up for the year at this time from there. Usually I order online to keep from getting  a headache from all the smells but today the aromas were not strong and we got to finish our shopping.
I also snagged another photo frame stocking holder at 1/2 price for daughter's little babe that will be here for next Christmas.
The check out lines were long in all the stores so maybe the sales will be good this year.
I came home in time to get the chores done here just as hubbie came home from work and then we put out a roll of hay across the road.
It is nice to feed on these beautiful shirt sleeve, 65 degree days. But the seesaw temps are starting up again later in the week with even a little snow predicted.

We came back inside,had supper and it was back to the couch for me to rest again. Seems whatever this is I have really tires me out quickly when I start moving around.
This evening has brought a little of all kinds of weather with a sprinkle of rain and some sunshine.

 And a pretty sunset behind the storm clouds.

 As 2016 is quickly coming to an end I saw in one news post that it is being called the "year of the floods". It seems strange to us here in WNC that this is true because we have been in and are still in an extreme drought but maybe after looking at these floods it is better to be dry !!!!
Of course the #1  flood was the eastern North Carolina flooding in October caused by hurricane Matthew as he skirted up the east coast. More than 15 inches of rain fell on already saturated ground causing one of the worst floods on record and costing 28 lives in eastern NC.

#2 flood was in August when 30 inches of rain fell in Louisiana causing major flooding.

The #3 top weather extreme for 2016 was the drought in the eastern Tenn. and western NC mountains where wildfires burned  119,000 acres and many homes and businesses along with 14  lost lives.
In our area we went 75 days without a drop of rain causing things to dry out completely at the worst possible time of year when the dead leaves were falling from the trees in November.

#4 was early in the year in January when a blizzard hit the east coast and dropped 18-36 inches of snow with whipping winds and cold temps from Virginia to New England.

#5 occurred in June when 10 inches of rain fell in 12 hours in the mountains of West Virginia causing major evacuations and flooding.

#6 was again in Louisiana in March with 15-20 inches of rain causing major flooding.

#7 Was another historic flood in Houston Tx.with rains causing flood waters to quickly rise to 20 feet in places prompting many people as well as animal rescues.

#8 Was when a 11 year hurricane drought was broken for Florida with Hurricane Hermine.

#9 happened in Ellicot City Md. when 6 inches of rain in 2 hours sent a torrent of flood waters through the city with such force it stacked automobiles .

Last but not least at #10 was a hail storm in Texas pouring softball size hailstones down in April breaking out windows and causing serious injuries.

There sure has been a lot of moisture falling from the sky this year and it seems the weather is getting filled with more extreme events which is scary.
Christ maybe coming back sooner than later with all these changes going on and I feel ready for His coming do you ???
God Bless, Good Night and Happy New Year.

2006 DECEMBER

Have you ever been both surprised and thankful that you were waking up and it was already morning??
That's how I felt this morning as I realized I had slept all night after going to bed last night with a very queasy stomach and expecting to be bitten by the stomach bug the grands have had during the night.
After I got the chores done and had my oatmeal breakfast I felt a little better and hubbie and I decided to make an after Christmas shopping trip. He needs some clothes deals as he is already thinking ahead to his retirement days later this year and since he has always wore work uniforms he doesn't have many everyday work clothes.  After the first stop and the prices being still the same as before Christmas and I started feeling really crappy again we came home.
I took a break on the couch with a heating pad on my achy hips and back for a little while. Hubbie went up to his shed to work on some firewood and then help #1 son work on his vehicle.
I decided I wasn't sick enough to spend the entire day on the couch so I gathered the weekly laundry and got that done between taking rest breaks.
I was chilling so I built a fire in the downstairs wood stove and kept it going all day. That tells you how I was feeling as it is in the mid 50's outside but it has misted rain all day for a very dreary day but not a very cold day!!!

Even Pumpkin (aka Tom Tom) didn't get out of his chair all day into the nastiness.

No wonder I can't seem to get over my sickness with all this unseasonably warm weather just harboring all the germs.

I did manage a trip outside to get the evening chores done this evening in a heavier rainy mist.
I need to get the last of the decade pics on here for December 2006. We had a little baby boy that year who was having his first sweet Christmas.
It had been many years of boring adult Christmases until g-son came along and livened things up.

He wasn't into much this year at a little over 2 months old !!

The rocking horse from hubbie and I that he would later really love.

Our tree with a "Santa" Bernie  .....

Daughter, hubbie and #2 son opening gifts.

Father and son ......

Hard to believe 10 years have already passed since these pics.
Thankful for the blessing of God on this day and praying for a peaceful resolutions for Aa and Re.
God Bless and Good Night

WONDERFUL CHRISTMAS DAY 2016

 MERRY   CHRISTMAS !!!!!!!!!!

Well for some reason I woke earlier today than usual but with such a beautiful day it was good to get an early start.
After chores and breakfast hubbie and I had a leisurely Christmas morning and got ready to go to church. My last Christmas outfit of the year !!!!

I like when Christmas day falls on Sunday and going to church for a short service, it is always very special.
We stopped back by #1 son's house to check out the "Santa loot" and an excited g-son had to show us every little thing, he was really excited for a 10 year old. D-in-love sent these pics from  earlier.

G-daughter isn't feeling well again today and had a rough night last night with little sleep but she was still smiling today.

 Hubbie and I came home for a lunch of leftovers and then put the house back in order before relaxing for the afternoon. I'm sure the weather has set a new record with 2 consecutive 60+ Christmas days at least according to the 65 degrees on our thermometer.
I love, love , love my gifts from the kids last night. They are all so thoughtful and "me" !!!!

I spent some time this afternoon finding prominent places for all these beautiful things. This "Farmers Prayer" I have always cherished and for years had a paper copy stuck to my desk. Now I have it on the wall in my sunroom !

This snowman bird feeder already has a special place on the front porch so I can watch the birds at it.

These rooster and chickens spatulas are too pretty to use but will be a part of my usual decor in the kitchen when Christmas is put away and the napkin holder will be used on the sunroom table and for our outside parties with the nice weight it has to keep the napkins from blowing away.

A wedding day memory book is awesome and will always be a cherished memory .

This information book is one of the most  interesting books I have ever seen and I already found some canning recipes that I am anxious to try this next summer season.

This family tree book I can get filled out to leave for a nice history for future generations.

And last but not least is this gift card that probably will help me get some after Christmas shopping deals tomorrow !!!

Hubbie and I did chores and fed the cattle across the road a roll of hay. I had to laugh at hubbie's new idea when it didn't work. We have been having a hard time rolling the hay rolls out so hubbie found a little battery operated saw and thought he could saw down into the hayroll and peel off sections. Which sounded okay to me but when he turned it on and it wouldn't even cut the strings off the outside of the roll he gave up that idea !!!
It feels strange to be outside on Christmas day in our shirt sleeves without even a jacket. But with a temperature of 65 and full sunshine its feels more like early summer than winter !!!
After we got back inside I spent the rest of the evening in the warm afterglow of this Christmas season. I took these pics of some of my decorations all lit up last night.

 I can't believe these little battery operated Dollar Store trees in the sunroom windows still work fine after a year of storage.

I am always sad to see Christmas over and all the beautiful decorations being taken down and put away for another year. I am going to enjoy mine another week anyway as this week should be a lot less hectic and I should get to have some quiet down time with my lighted decorations.
I spent this evening basking in the warm afterglow of this Christmas day and wishing for all my family and friends the same wonderful memories that this wonderful time of year always brings me.
Thankful for a blessed Christmas day and for the greatest Gift ever given !!

God Bless, Good Night and Merry Christmas