CALM SUNDAY AND 1988 MEMORIES

A cloudy Sunday morning to get up to. I got chores done and had breakfast before getting ready for church.
Our associate pastor William gave the sermon today as senior pastor Craig is out of town on vacation with his family.
We came in for a crock pot full of chili and some cornbread for lunch with Aa's family. Everyone else has other plans today to end the holiday weekend.
We had a nice visit with them until it was nap time for the kids and they headed home.
After we cleaned the kitchen hubbie went outside and I put away some clothes and got this weeks clothes laid out. Some mornings I have to look up at my closet door to check what is hanging there to determine what day it is, haha.
Daughter and IR came over to look through her stored things to see if her Christmas decorations were here but they must be at her sis-in-laws in Polk county.
They left and we did chores then came inside for a light supper.
I remembered that I needed to get out my decade pics for November since I haven't done that the entire month and now there is only one week left.
November isn't a big photography month and I only found a couple years with some pics in them. The first one was in 1988 when my niece was born. Susan was the first child of my oldest brother Robert and his wife Lauren. This is a pic of my mother holding her. She was born on the 18th of the month.

Susan's three older cousins couldn't wait to spoil their new cousin and we lived next door to each other so they would get plenty of time with her.

We also had church directory pictures made that month.

Thankful for the memories these old photos bring back.

Thankful for the blessings of this day and for the love of Jesus Christ.

God Bless and Good Night.

ICY MORNING and CHRISTMAS OPEN HOUSE

Amen.....
Cold rain still falling this morning but thankfully we don't have any ice as some of the areas of the county are really coated and over 4,000 folks are without power this morning from fallen trees on lines.
This is a picture of our friends blackberry patch up on Sugarloaf mountain this morning covered with a thick coating of ice.

We got up 30 minutes early to get things done and get to market a little early to get set up. Traffic was very light on the roads this morning as we took the main roads to make sure we avoided any fallen trees or limbs from the ice.
Our market table was all decorated for the season and ready for the days customers.

We had 2 tables of goodies to share in appreciation to our customers manned by a couple of our members.

IR was all decked out in a Christmas outfit for the event.

 Santa made an appearance but IR didn't know what to think about this man in the red suit but she was glad to take a piece of candy from him.

Hubbie , daughter and IR all left about noon to make a trip to Sam's Club and then home. I had no trouble keeping up with customers after they left. It was an okay day but the icy weather certainly kept many customers at home today.
I stopped at Ingles on the way home to pick up some supplies for tomorrow's lunch and then came home to get unloaded and get things put away.
IR was here with hubbie while daughter and son-in-love went to a movie.
Today a long line of tractors came to town carrying toys for the needy kids in the area as the tractors for tots toy run rolled though town to Jackson Park.

Daughter and son-in-love came back after finding no seats in any of the movies they liked and watched a football game with hubbie while IR slept on the couch.
Hubbie and I got chores done and then had some turkey salad for supper from the last of our left overs.
We had a restful evening to end another week. I saw this today and even though it's a little late for Thanksgiving I wanted to share it as this is how I feel each day.

Thankful for the blessings of this day.
God Bless and Good Night

FRIDAY !!!!!

Amen.....
AHHHH!!!!  A very lazy slow morning was enjoyed this morning. It is very cloudy and humid this morning but the rain is supposed to hold off until after dark tonight.
After chores I had breakfast of sweet potato casserole and coffee.  I got my baking started and baked 6 caramel, 2 chocolate,4 pound cakes. I put 2 pound cakes in the top oven that kept shutting down the first of the week and turned it on just bake instead of convection bake and it worked fine only I will need to adjust the temp and baking time for regular bake setting.
I also made 5 dozen cookies for the Curb Market old time Christmas celebration tomorrow. With the weather prediction for an icy morning I have no idea what we will have or even if we have anything at all.
Hubbie has worked all day out in the mid 30's temps blowing leaves from the gutters and trying to get all the dry leaves out of the yard before more rain wets them all down again. He also got his wood splitter working and was very happy with it.
He came in to warm up and we had a late lunch of left overs and then he went back out to finish his work.
I did some ironing and then rested my feet and legs.
D-in-love brought the kids up for a late lunch. She stayed until #1 son came in from hunting and then she went to the grocery store and brought back the milk and butter I needed to finish my icing.
Hubbie and I did chores and then I iced my cakes and got things ready for market.
I have no idea how the celebration will go tomorrow since the weather predictions of a winter weather advisory are being issued this evening.

It has been raining here all evening and the temperature is 33 degrees as we go to bed.

Thankful for the blessings of this day.

God Bless and Good Night.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING DAY 2018

I am so very very thankful  this year for all the undeserved blessing God has given me and my family.

Hubbie and I got to sleep as late as we dared this morning with all the animals waiting for their breakfast. The sun was shining and the morning was already warming up when we got out to do the chores.

I decided this morning to turn all the guineas out of their pen. I have been alternating keeping a couple up during the day to keep the others close so we will see if the schedule they have been on for months changes when they are all out roaming free around the farm.

I came inside and had breakfast then made a list of things I needed for today's Thanksgiving meal and hubbie and I went to the grocery store.

We came home and I got the 7-layer salad made and put downstairs in the frig then we had some of the left over collard greens and sweet potatoes for lunch. Hubbie went outside to work some more on getting the leaves blown out of the yard since the rain is supposed to move back in tomorrow night.

I rested and kept my sore foot up for a while then it was time to put the turkey in the oven and get the sweet potatoes baking  and the eggs boiling.

I cleaned the kitchen and changed to the Thanksgiving placemats on both tables.

I made a sweet potato casserole and deviled eggs then went out to get the chores done. Then we made green beans, mashed potatoes , dressing and gravy with iced sweet tea to drink. I put an apple pie in the oven to bake while we ate the main course.

Daughter's family came in first and then #1 son's family came . D-in-love brought her delicious corn pudding in to add to the menu.

We had so much food and I was so hungry since I haven't eaten since before noon today.

#2 son and Tif made it a little late and Tif brought in 2 delicious pies to add to the desserts, a pecan/coconut and an apple pie were so good !!!

We all ate waaaay too much and I felt like a stuffed turkey all evening as we visited and watched a UNC / Texas basketball game on TV which UNC lost for their first loss of the season.

The kids all had fun playing in the play room and even g-son played just like he used to with some of his old toys.

It was a great way to end a very thankful Thanksgiving day.
My "Thanksgiving" cactus doesn't have as many blooms this years as usual.

I am so thankful for all the blessings of this day and I pray that God is glorified in every way on this day and every day.

God Bless and Good Night.

FLEA MARKET TRIP AND A BIG ANNOUNCEMENT

Amen....
Set an extra early alarm today even with a day off from the regular kids coming routine. We got up at 6:45 today so by the time we were dressed it would be daylight and we could get chores done early and then head down the mountain to the Pickens Flea Market.
This is the first non rainy or non busy Wednesday we have had since the weather has cooled down. This morning it is really cool in fact it is downright cold at 29 degrees and actually colder with heavier frost in Pickens, SC than back at home.
We are bundled up in layers so we are good to go.

We arrived earlier than we usually to get here and it was different when people were still setting up to sell as we walked around. There was a lot of empty tables but there were lots of shoppers on a cold day.

A couple of our favorite vendors weren't there this morning which was a disappointment but we did find several things that we were looking for as well as some surprise finds. We didn't buy any big items so it looks like we are traveling home with a lot less load than usual.

We had bought a bag of kettle corn so neither of us was hungry enough to stop for lunch so we just took our time and enjoyed the ride back home. We took a long back roads route home since I talked to daughter who traveled today to the Asheville outlets shopping and said I-26 was a parking lot in both directions already in the late morning.
We got home about 2:30 and stopped at d-in-love's to meet her mom there to pick up some things she wanted me to take to a teacher at RL's school whose sister does monograming. RL was happily dressed in her panties and showing off her sticker chart of how many times she used the potty.

D-in-love has set these out of school days to get her potty trained.

Earlier this morning g-son had a dentist appointment and RL got to dress like the dental hygienist and watch as bother got his teeth cleaned and checked.

Hubbie and I came home and got things unloaded and put away. He went outside to blow leaves away from the house since this is the driest the leaves have been in a while.
I put my sore throbbing foot up. I knew it would hurt to do all that walking but actually it wasn't as bad as I had expected but it was nice to sit and elevate it for a little while before chore time.
Before I started feeding this evening I helped hubbie drag a huge bag of mostly pine needles up past my Guinea house so I could use it in their lot when it gets muddy in the rain and snow this winter.
The moon was really big and pretty tonight against a pink glowing sky.

After we finished chores we came inside and fixed a big pot of collard greens and baked some sweet potatoes both we bought today at the market. We had a very good supper and then we relaxed and watched Survivor on TV to end a very nice Thanksgiving eve.
I missed the beginning of the first winter storm of the season but since it is still going on in the northeast here it is. Avery was it's name and it is still causing trouble in the northeast.

The big announcement today that our family is growing by another one came from daughter's family.
We have known since early October but they wanted to be sure everything was okay before making the announcement.

 IR looks excited to be a big sister.

Congrats to daughter and son-in-love !!!!!!

Thankful for the blessings of this day and for the new little life that will soon join our family.
God Bless and Good Night

BUSY MARKET, FIRST WRESTLING MATCH AND BASKETBALL GAME

Man I am sore all over this morning as I drag myself out of bed to greet a Tuesday market day. All the kids had breakfast then I got chores done while hubbie got some last minute things loaded and got the girls both ready for their day.
I took RL to pre-school and met hubbie and IR at market. IR had some breakfast in her high chair while hubbie carried everything inside and I got set up before we were bombarded with customers picking up orders and picking things from the counter.
The morning was very busy and I had trouble keeping up with all the customers we had which is a wonderful problem, I just hope no one got tired of waiting to be waited on and left.
Hubbie was dealing with IR so he couldn't help.
I took IR with me to pick up RL from her pre-school and left hubbie to tend the table and he stayed busy while we were gone.
RL and IR had to have a snack of one of daughter's pumpkin lava cakes before hubbie brought them both home for the afternoon.

He thought they would go to sleep on the way home but neither of them did but he said after they had lunch they both played well together all afternoon.

I changed out my Fall décor for my Christmas décor before I left market since I was having to wait on a late customer to pick up her cake order. I'll have to take pics Saturday when I get it totally finished. I didn't leave market until 2:45 so I was late getting home and another customer was waiting in the driveway on her cake order.

I got unloaded and then d-in-love picked up RL and we took IR out to the middle school where g-son was having a purple and gold first wrestling match.

We were so glad we went to see him because he looked fantastic as he pinned an older more experienced opponent . G-son has the green leg band on.

From there we took IR and went over to the high school to watch daughter's JV basketball team play their first game. Unfortunately they lost by 2 points but played hard.

We left after the game and came home to get chores done. IR was pooped and crashed on the couch as soon as we got home.

It was funny because d-in-love sent me this pic of RL doing the exact same thing at the same time this evening.

Whew , what a day and I would love to do the same thing the girls are doing but I need to get some paperwork done and the weekly bills paid and ready to mail tomorrow.

Son-in-love picked up IR when she woke up.

Thankful for a day filled with blessings and the business He blessed us with this holiday.

God Bless and Good Night.