Our first eagle spotting of the year.  So exciting!  We think they must travel through here every year.  They are so pretty.  I remember the first year we lived here.  The girls were very young.  We were sitting outside talking about the different birds we had saw that day.  One of the girls said “Oh, Mommy, I wish we could see an eagle”.   I remember thinking that would really be something to see an eagle in the wild.  Then that fall we saw them.  We  were SOOOO excited and we still get excited every year when they come through. 

My Grace is sick with strep throat.  Yesterday we went to the doctor and got antibiotics.  Today has been a pretty rough day for her.  We are praying that by tomorrow she will start to feel better.  She is sitting in her favorite chair enjoying a new book she just got with her birthday money. 

Hubby has been busy this morning working on the brakes on the van.  He was having trouble with them but thinks he has gotten the problem fixed.  I am so thankful he is able to work on our vehicles himself.   Hubby and I will be going up on the hill later to cut a load of wood.  Then he wants to work on Jess and Dave’s bed.   He wants to work on the stain color to make sure he has it just right.  Then it will be time to stain and poly.  YEAH.  I can’t wait to show you ladies how it looks.  It looks beautiful! 

Well, I have lots to get done so I better get busy.  Enjoy your day and God bless.

Our raspberries are getting ripe!  YUMMY!!!!  Black raspberries are one of my favorite fruits.  We have a few vines we have been working on getting established and it looks like this year we might get enough to make a cobbler at least.  (if we can keep the birds out of them)

Yesterday was a nice day.  We came back from church and cooked steak on the grill in honor of Dad’s day.  Steak on the grill is Hubby’s favorite meal.  We had fries with it, rolls and ice cream for dessert.  Our pastor’s sermon was very good.  It was of course directed mostly to the men in the church.  He preached on Ezekiel 22:30.  The verse says “I looked for someone who might rebuild the wall of righteousness that guards the land.  I searched for someone to stand in the gap in the wall so I wouldn’t have to destroy the land but I found none.”  He challenged our men to be the one that could stand in the gap.  It was a very powerful message.

Temperature here this morning is wonderful.  Low 60′s with a pretty strong wind.  Great for drying clothes.  I have one load ready to hang out and several more to go.  The girls and I have many errands to run today plus piano lessons.  I guess I better get busy.  Enjoy your day and God bless.

This cat’s name is Panther but somehow Grace started calling him Pan-Pan and now everyone  calls him that.  He is a very loving and playful cat.  Here he is thinking about “attacking” another cat that is walking by.

We seem to be on the mend here.  Grace (I think) is almost over it and Julie is feeling better than she was.   Hopefully we will soon be completely better.   Jess had planned on coming up this week with the boys and spending a few days with us while David is gone on a business trip.   This won’t be happening now.  Oh well, we hope to go down on Easter Sunday to spend the day with them.   Yesterday was a beautiful day here.  We had sunshine and warm temperatures after the fog lifted.  Today is slightly overcast but the temperature is warm.  I have clothes on the line outside to dry.  Our birds are singing beautifully.  I think it will be a nice day. 

Enjoy your day and God bless.

Yesterday we decided to take the day off from school.   Hubby had to run a few errands in Blacksburg.  This little pond is close to B-burg so we thought it would be a nice to have a picnic and hike around the pond.  We had a really fun day.

This is one of the side trails you can walk on.  We stayed on the main trail that goes around the pond.

We saw lots of ducks and geese.  Also turtles.  I will show the turtle pictures and some more of the scenery tomorrow.   Temperature is so nice here this morning.  The birds are singing beautifully.  I have bread rising and a pork tenderloin roast ready to put in the oven for supper.  I think it is going to be a good day. 

Enjoy your day and God bless.

This is one of our brush piles to be burned or as some of the old time Grundy people would say “brash”.  I am assuming this would be some of our celtic roots coming through.  I have no idea really.  I do know the older people had a different word for lots of things.  Help was hope, cover was kiver, boiled was biled.  These are a few that come to mind right off the top of my head.   Anyway we have this one piled in the first garden to be burned as soon as we can catch a day with not too much wind. 

We are supposed to get much warmer today-upper 50′s I think.  We will hopefully be doing more outside work after school.  The sun is shining beautifully but it is still chilly right now-30 degrees.  I have clothes that are ready to go to the line.  I love it when we can dry them outside.  The birds are telling me to hear out so I can hear them sing.  God is so good!

Enjoy your day and God bless.

This is the new color of the old laundry room.  The trim is white and the door is antique white.  Hubby has to finish the trim and then it will be all done.  He is also working on painting the bathroom.

The inside wall of the old laundry room is the original outside of the house.  Jess had this paint left over from her bedroom.  I think it looks very good on this wall.  I wish I could figure out a way to take a picture that would show how it looks all together but it is a work in progress.  Hubby will paint the trim today.   After that we plan on going over to a friends house for a visit and a haircut. 

Temperatures here are very nice.  It was 42 degrees when we got up this morning.   We decided to let the fire go out today.  YEAH!  That always makes me feel a little “springy”.    I have clothes to hang on the line (of course).  Don’t we always have laundry?

I changed my supper menu last night to fried chicken, potato salad and green beans.  It was so nice and warm.  It reminded me of picnic days.  Tonights menu will be chicken stir fry with egg rolls.  I fried enough chicken last night to have left over for tonight.  I like to do that.  It makes the cooking a little easier and faster if I the meat is cooked in advance.

Time to hang my clothes outside and listen to a little praise music from our birds.  They are starting to sing such beautiful spring songs.  Enjoy your day and God bless.

The girls and I finished the apples yesterday.  You can check out our logs at the right to see our total.  I really like cooking the apples in the microwave.  So much easier.  It makes the applesauce thicker too.  When I cook them on the stove, I have to add a little water to keep them from sticking, so it makes the applesauce a little thinner.   Today we will be canning a bushel of green beans.   Also working on cleaning the house  as tomorrow is bible study day. 

Beautiful weather here in Floyd this week.  When we got up this morning about 6:00, the temperature was 59 degrees.  This makes it so much more comfortable for sleeping.  I would guess yesterdays high was in the low 80′s.  Very nice.  Days like we have been having remind me why I like living in Floyd and especially here on the farm.  God was very good to bring us to this place.  Thank you Lord.

The birds are singing such beautiful praises this morning.  I think I’ll join them in their worship.  Breakfast outside sounds wonderful.  Enjoy your day and God bless.

This is a picture of our butterfly bush and our rose of sharon.  I think this is a very pretty spot in our yard.  The butterflies and the hummingbirds really love this area so there is always lots of activity here.

Just one of the many who enjoy.

Our gooseberries.  This bush has been loaded this year.  The girls and I so enjoy eating them.  I looked them up on the internet once and read that they are a dessert gooseberry.  They are very sweet and delicious.  I am thinking about looking up a recipe for gooseberry pie.  I think it would be good.

Yesterday for “ lupper” we enjoyed steak on the grill, french fries, steamed carrots and broccoli.  The broccoli was our first from the garden.  So very good!  I know lots of you think I misspelled supper, but “ lupper” is our name for a late lunch and an early supper.  We just combine lunch and supper together and got the word “lupper”.  We have “lupper” a lot when Hubby is home and then have just a little snack later in the evening. 

Time for me to go hang some clothes on the line, enjoy God’s sunshine and the birds beautiful songs.  Enjoy your day and God bless.

My Grace took this picture the other evening.  The clouds were beautiful.  Thanks for the picture, Grace.  Today looks as though it will be another beautiful day here in Floyd.  The sun is shining, the birds are singing praises.  Beautiful!  I am getting ready to hang clothes on the line.  So much fun.  I also just finished making some homemade yogurt.  I have not made this in a long time.  I usually make kefir.  However I am having difficulties getting it to thicken.  I think it has something to do with temperature.  Without the fire, I don’t think it is warm enough in the house for it to set.   I had this same problem last year in the spring.  So maybe I’ll just make yogurt for a while.   Must be time for a change.  School today as usual.  Hopefully we will finish getting the garden ready to plow today.  I am really ready to play in some fresh turned dirt.  Get some early crops in the ground.  Onions, lettuce, peas, cabbage. YUM!  I don’t think I’ve told you all, but we have a mama goose setting on the island on the pond.  Much excitement.  We have never had one make a nest here before.  We are certainly looking forward to seeing babies swimming around.    We have always said when the birds were singing they were singing praises to the Lord.  On another blog, I read about listening to their praise songs.  I so much like that thought.  So it is time for me to go hang some clothes on the line and listen to some beautiful praise music.  May your day be filled with the sound of praise.  God bless.

The field above our house has come to life.  Several new calves have been born.  They run and jump through the new grass.  They have so much fun and are such a joy to watch.  Today we worked outside most of the day,  picking up in the yard, getting the garden ready.  David, Jess, and Daniel came this afternoon.  We had hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill.  Ate them outside at the picnic table.  The sun was shining brightly.  A beautiful day. 

The girls enjoyed some fishing time.  It was one of those days that I just thank the Lord I live where I do.  Clothes blowing dry in the wind.  The birds are singing so  beautiful.  Frogs peeping.  It makes me want to do all my work outside.  I even open my window just a little bit at night so the frogs can sing me to sleep.   Wonderful time of the year in Floyd.  It’s been a really hard winter but spring in sweet.  Just like life.   Sometimes life is hard but the Lord is good and brings us through to spring.  Well, I must go.  My baby boy is here.  Take care and God bless.