QUIET COOL AFTER STORM DAY AND 1997 EVENTS

Thankfully woke to a calm morning today. As I did chores I looked around for wind damage but found only a few limbs blown down. There was only 6/10ths inch of rain in the gauge so most of what I heard last night must have been wind !!
Folks to the south of us had golf ball size hail and trees were blown down all around the area.
Thankful to be some of the lucky ones !!
After chores I walked and then had devotions and started my housecleaning day.
I spent the day until 3:00 in this mode except for a lunch break.
After hubbie got home from work we watched the news then did chores. The air is certainly cooler today than yesterday with a high of only 58 degrees and expecting 32 degrees tonight.
Daughter sent me this pic of little g-daughter #2 as she passes her 28th week of pregnancy.

I did weekly paperwork and paid bills tonight and got things ready for market tomorrow.
Hubbie and I both watched Survivor tonight between yawns. We are both tired from the storm keeping us awake last night so we are headed to early bedtimes tonight.
I want to get the 1997 March decade pics on here since I have only the one pic for this post.
#2 son turned 14 years old on the 1st day and daughter and a friend and his cousins Susie and Mark were there to help him eat his cake !!

I have no idea what we did for daughter's 12 th birthday that was on the 26th day of that month but I couldn't find any pics of it.
My niece Holly got married that year to her high school sweetheart Brent.

This is hubbies mom and dad and his brother with him at the wedding.

I am thankful that tonight is a calm quiet night and  thankful to God for answering prayers of protection last night.
Thankful for the blessings of this day also.
God Bless and Good Night.

HOT DAY MEANS STORMY EVENING

G-daughter was here at 7am to get this day off to an early start.While she had her breakfast I turned the animals out of their overnight houses. As I looked at the nice warm sunshine I wanted to kick the weathermen after they said today was going to be stormy and I didn't load my rugs and covers in the Honda last night so I could stop at the laundry on my home from dropping g-daughter this morning.
After I took g-daughter to play school I came home and finished the chores and then had my breakfast.  I had my devotions and then went on a walk in the short shirt sleeve already temps. Some color made it through the cold temps of last week and is still pretty this morning. My favorite daffodils are still hanging on.

These violets are springing up all over the lawn.

And this creeping Charlie is starting to finally bloom.

These are the first of these Woods Hyacinths I have seen this year maybe they were smart not to bloom out until now.

The same could be said for this Sweet Almond bush that has waited until now to out out these sweet little blooms.

Unfortunately the Forsythia has had it for this season.

And these pear blooms,although still hanging on to the tree branches have no sign of a fruit in their blackened, frozen centers.

The jury is still out on the blueberries as they hadn't burst into bloom yet and the buds are still hanging on.
I'm sure a lot of the area apple growers are waiting to see how much damage to the apples also.
By the time I finished my walk and got back inside it was time to pick g-daughter up. Today was a very nice day to stroll the street to and from the church where her school is. She waves and says hey to everyone we meet on our way back to our car.
After lunch she watched Sesame Street from her favorite chair while I changed the curtains in the living room.

When I sat down after I finished I thought she might take a nap but no dice today !!!!

As soon as Sesame street ended she saw the open door and demanded we go outside to play.
She loves to swing .....

And to play in this playhouse sis-in-law Sandy gave her.

Funny how some things change yet stay the same !!!!
G-daughter today ........

G-son back in spring of 2009

G-daughter today .......

El back in June of 2014 ......

She likes to relax in the lawn chairs.

The 80 degree sun was hot and her cheeks got rosy in it so we headed inside to rest.
She finally gave up and went to sleep about 15 minutes before d-in-love got here to pick her up. She was sleeping so soundly we didn't want to wake her so d-in-love took g-son to town to get him some soccer cleats and left her here .
She slept about an hour and then cried to go outside again. Hubbie was here by then and we took her out and she got to swing until her mom came to pick her up.
Hubbie and I did chores a little early this evening after watching the sky fill with dark threatening storm clouds.

An 80 degree sunny day in March almost always spells trouble in the evening. And the storms started lining up this evening. That is why I am late publishing this post as I had to turn off the desktop and write this on my laptop last night because of the intense lightening and thunder.
D-in-love took g-daughter to g-son's soccer practice this evening and she got to swing some more.
It is crazy how much she has grown up and changed in the last 6 months as the pic on the right was taken last September and the one on the left was today at the same park.

The storms are really bad tonight and I pray for my families safety and the safety of all who are the paths of these as this cold front meets this unusually warm air.
Praying for God's protective arms around us all  tonight .
God Bless and Good Night

WELCOME SPRING

Up to begin this first day of spring 2017 . A beautiful sunny day greeted spring today after a cold 27 degree morning.
G-daughter is feeling fussy today and her nose is really snotty.
After chores and breakfast I got weekly laundry started.
Re brought the kids over for a visit and g-daughter and BB had fun getting re-aquainted.

EL enjoyed swinging until the wind got up a bit and ran us all inside.

The kids stayed here to play while Re ran to the grocery store.

BB is about to out grow his favorite riding toy around here !!!

After they all left g-daughter was really tired and took about an hour nap. While she slept hubbie and I had lunch and I worked on more laundry.
Hubbie and I switched off taking care of g-daughter and getting our work done all afternoon.
After d-in-love picked her up we both took a short nap while we were trying to watch the news. I feel as if I could just go to bed right now and sleep for days. My muscles seem to be more sore and stiff tonight than usual I really hope I'm not coming down with something.
After chores I didn't feel like any supper so I tried to download my blog book for the last 3 months of last year but it kept timing out. Guess I'll try during the day when the internet is not so busy tomorrow.
The sunset on this first day of spring was pretty tonight.

I am glad to see the beginning of warm weather months in our area and look forward to spring . This first day started out cold but warmed up nicely this afternoon.

 Thanking God tonight for the blessings of this day and praying that He continue to guide me in my walk with Him.
God Bless and Good Night

GOOD BYE WINTER

A beautiful Sunday morning greeted us today. After chores we did some pre cooking for lunch then headed to church.
Pastor Craig preached from Mathew 5, 13-16 today and it was a good sermon about keeping the flavor in our salt as we Christians are the salt and light of the earth.
We had roast beef, baked potatoes, green beans,corn and biscuits for lunch and were joined by #1 son's family and daughter and Josh.
After lunch Daughter and Josh took g-son to a birthday party of one of his cousin in laws at the trampoline place in Arden. He had a great time after he got over the fear of the trampolines from remembering his dad's accident several years ago.
Hubbie and I settled in to watch some March madness games.
It is cool this afternoon but the sky is clear as a bell.

We did all the chores this evening. We have been taking care of Aa's farm while he has been in Ohio this past week for the guardianship trial for Re's 2 nieces . They had court 4 days last week but the judge postponed his decision between Re and one of the aunts from the husbands side of the family at the urging of the guardian-ad-litem for the girls asking the judge to talk to the oldest girl first . So that is scheduled for next Friday, prolonging everyone's agony for another week.
Aa's family are all on their way home here tonight to wait out the decision whenever it comes down.
Hubbie and I  have had a full day of basketball today as we finished the evening watching UNC beat Arkansas to reach the sweet 16 and then watched 7th seeded South Carolina defeat #2 Duke to move to their first sweet 16 ever in the history of their program.
Josh is at the games in Greenville,SC tonight with one of his cousins and sent these pics from his seat.

I need to get more decade pics on here so tonight I share March 1987.
On the first day #2 son turned 4 years old with a party with all his cousins.

Then there was a "Big Foot" truck show at the WNC Ag Center that the boys loved !!!

On the 26th of the month daughter turned 2 years old and that year we had a double party for her and one of her cousin's, Amber, who turned 3 close to the same day.

All the kids enjoyed helping daughter open her presents .

Our three great loves in that stage of their lives.

March holds many many fond memories for my family with two birthdays and the beginning of spring each year.
With today being the last day of winter this year as I look back over this winter season it has been difficult on most days to recognize winter as the days have been so warm and spring and even summer like. There were 2 snows with one of those coming the first of January and the 2nd just a week ago with warmth in between.
The main weather story is still about the drought for our area as we ended 2016 in a severe drought and in the much above average temperature range for the year along with the entire country.

It has not gotten  better as January ended with only normal precipitation and above normal temperature.

February came along and only made things worse with more very high temps and no snow and not much rainfall.

We will bid winter 2016-2017 good bye at midnight tonight and welcome the 2017 spring season with hopes anew of more normal weather  and God's continued blessings!!
My prayers are for thankfulness for the blessings of the past season and the future blessings in the seasons to come. May God continue to walk with me and guide me in all that I do and may I be the person who has eyes to see the best in people, a heart that forgives the worst , a mind that forgets the bad and a soul that never loses faith in God !!!!
God Bless and Good Night