MerryHeartCrafts.comMountain Momma… Country Living

Today is a beautiful day here in Floyd.  The sun is shining.  Temperature is 55 degrees.  I LOVE IT!  I know there are lots of people who enjoy winter and cold weather.  I am not one of them.  For my part, it could just stay like this until spring.  I’m pretty sure it won’t though.  We have lots of geese on the pond today.  Probably close to 50.  They seem to be enjoying the warmer temps too.

We have been busy today making treats for Jessica’s “goodie” basket.  So far, we have made chocolate chip cookies and Russian tea cakes.  We still have Martha Washington balls and peanut butter balls to make.  She always wants ritz crackers with peanut butter spread between them, dipped in white chocolate with an m & m on top(I have no idea what this is called but it is one of her favorites).  Tomorrow I will be baking a ham and making homemade rolls.  Other things on the menu (as of right now)-pasta salad, green beans, cocktail weiner, angel punch and sausage balls. 

I guess I better get busy-more candy to make.  I love this time of year.  Enjoy your day and God bless.

The girls picking tomatoes. 

You all hear me talk about sitting on the green swing.  Well, this is the view from it.  As you can tell, there is lots of shade there, which is one of the reasons I love it. 

This is a little bit closer view of the pond.  See all the geese.  Our pond has had lots of activity all summer. 

A picture of the house as you turn down the driveway.  To the left of the yard is the pond.  Well, the yogurt turned out great.  I think it is the best homemade yogurt I have ever made.  I definitely will be making more.  Also, the plum juice was very good.  We enjoyed a cold glass of it this morning with our breakfast.  I went to help Hubby today and the girls spent the day with the Horn’s.  They had a great time.   Temperatures here are still nice-upper 70′s today with a good wind.  I hope you all enjoy your evening and God bless.

This is an old barn that is at our pastor’s house.  I love old things, even old barns.  Yesterday we worked with the corn.  We got it all shucked.  We put some up in the freezer on the cob and some we are cutting off the cob. We will be finishing working it up today and then we will start on the peaches.

Our temperature this morning was 50 degrees.  Amazing!  All indications are that we will have an early fall.  Yesterday, we noticed the geese were forming groups.  Several groups flew over with about 40 geese in a group.  They were flying in the “V” formation.  So pretty!  This is another picture from our pastor’s house.  I hope I don’t bore you all too much with these but the girls took lots of pretty pictures at his house that I want to share with you all.

This is the view from his front porch.  Lovely!  Well, our little break is over so I guess I should get busy.  Enjoy your day and God bless.

They sure have grown!  Every time I see them they look so much bigger.  We discovered this morning that we have a female mallard duck nesting on the island now.  We are so excited!  We have wanted ducks to nest there since we moved here.  We’ve not sure why the ducks and the geese have decided that the island is now nest worthy but we sure are glad.  There is a big difference between the ducks and the geese.  The ducks are more secretive and the male is less aggressive.  Papa Goose is always on patrol, keeping away all others. 

I know it has been a long time since I made a post.  I have been busy this week helping Hubby with a job he had building a fence.  The girls took their school books and did school in the van while I helped him.  Last night the girls had their piano recital.  It all went very well.  They did a good job on their songs.    We have been busy this morning getting the yard mowed and other things that needed doing around the house. 

On Tuesday, I attempted to make homemade cottage cheese.  It DID NOT  turn out.  I’m not sure what I did wrong.  I followed the directions I got from the internet.  I think I need a different recipe.  Have any of you all ever made cottage cheese?  I sure would appreciate all info I can get. 

The girls found new kittens today in one of the old buildings.  It is always so exciting for them when they find new kittens.  These belong to one of our wild cats so we have no idea if she will leave them where they are or not.  Only time will tell.  We have much to do so I better get busy.  Enjoy your day and God bless.

Here are a few of the turtle pictures we took while at Pandapas Pond the other day.

They were pretty skittish so we had to sneak upon them to get the pictures.

Grace did a great job! 

A beaver lodge on the pond.  Several geese were resting on top of it. 

We have several things planned to work on today.  Rain is in the forecast though so we may not get any of it done.  We’ll just have to wait and see.  I am going to use the remainder of the pork tenderloin this evening to make bbq sandwiches for supper.  I have enough rolls left from last night to use for buns.  I think I will do homesfries and coleslaw with it.  I like to cook enough meat to make several meals from it.  This makes it a little easier I think.  We have dentist appointments tomorrow in Roanoke, then we are going to Sam’s Club to pick up a few things.  After that, we are going to pick out Grace’s frames for her new glasses.  The Horns are supposed to come by tomorrow evening  to visit.   YEAH!  It has been a while since we have got to visit. 

I better get busy.  Hubby and I are working on a big outside project.  I’ll try to show pictures next time I make a post.  Anyway, he is wanting to get started so that hopefully we can get some of it done before it starts raining.  Enjoy your day and God bless.

This morning as Hubby and I were having our morning coffee together, we saw what we thought were tracks on the pond.  Then we thought maybe it was just where the wind had blown the snow in swirls.  Later in the day, Grace took these pictures.

They look like they are having fun!

Maybe this is a sign of early spring.  They do seem to be here kinda early this year.  Maybe it is just wishful thinking on my part.

Yesterday, for dessert I made an oatmeal pie.  This is one of my favorites, also Julie and Jess.  The recipe is:

2 eggs beaten, 2/3 cup sugar, 2/3 cup uncooked oatmeal, 1 tsp vanilla, 2/3 cup melted butter, 2/3 cup corn syrup, 1/4 tsp salt.  Mix all ingredients together and pour into uncooked pie crust.  Bake at 350 degrees for l hr. 

Okay, so my crust is not too pretty but I promise you it tasted delicious!  It tastes a lot like pecan pie.  Temperatures here are warm-mid 30′s.  We have some sun right now but a storm is supposed to be moving in.  One forecast said 4-5 in of snow.  We’ll see.  Right now though it is nice.  I have clothes on the line outside, hopefully, they will dry before the clouds come in.

Tonights menu is deer bbq, made from the roast yesterday, home fries and slaw.  We still have some pie left for dessert.  Enjoy your day and God bless.

Today we have been busy with peaches.  We had 11 qts of peaches.  After peeling them, I decided to try out my new helper.  I put the peelings into the steamer juicer and got 2 qts of juice.  From that juice, I made 6 pts of jelly.  I think they look really pretty in the jar.  It was  easy to do.  I think it was a wise investment.  Supper this evening was fried chicken, gravy, corn and biscuits.  Of course, peach jelly for dessert. 

A new visitor to our pond.  He (or she) arrived the other day for a short visit.  Hubby says he thinks it is an egret.  Of course, he stood out with his white color.  I think the geese were a little amazed.  We have been having rain lately.  It is raining now as I am doing this post.  I had hoped to go to the garden and check on things but I don’t think that will be happening.  Oh well, maybe I’ll just rest.  Take care and God bless.

What are beautiful sight!  The geese are back.  They look so pretty on the pond with the sun shining on them.  We heard our first frogs peeping Saturday night.  Spring is on its way.  I will be posting pictures this week of other signs of Spring.  I am sooooooooo glad.  Yesterday was a good day.  Pastor Tom had a good message, then we had a team leaders meeting afterward.  Our Sunday School Director retired and George accepted the position.  We really have no idea what his duties will be as of it but I’m sure we will learn as we go.  Last night’s menu at church included a hamburger casserole, baked beans, potato salad, pretzels and dip, a peach jello salad, and brownies.  I took something no one from church had ate before, pickled corn.  It was a success.   Most seemed to like it.  I guess its kinda like kraut, you either like it or you don’t, not much in- between ground.    Today will be school as usual.  Tomorrow both girls have eye doctor appointments.  We plan to leave early in the morning so as to do some shopping for shoes.  Recital is this Sunday.  I hope to hang clothes on the line today.  It  gives me an opportunity to be outside, plus saves us money.  Temperature is supposed to get in the upper 40′s today.  Things are drying up from all the melting snow.   It will soon be time to start preparing the garden for summer.  I get excited just thinking about all this.  Well it is time to begin working.  Take care and God bless.

Fall must be quickly approaching Floyd.  The geese are back.  Lots of geese.  We counted at least 40 this morning on our pond.  They are very interesting to watch however they are quite loud.  I haven’t posted anything in a day or so as we have been really busy.  We went back to Jess on Monday and worked more on her bathroom.  It is started to look more like a bathroom now.    We were planning on going back tomorrow but they all have a cold so I think we will just stay here.  We went on a picnic today with good friends of ours at a little park here on the parkway.  We took the puppy so all the kids had a great time playing together(especially the puppy)

I wanted to show you this strange cucumber(yes it is a cucumber)  I raised it on the back porch in a large pot.  The plant did fairly well but this one is pretty strange.  I put some tomatoes and cucumbers in pots this year.  They did okay but required me to remember to water and I am not really good at this.  All in all though it was a good experiment.  Night has fallen here on the farm.  Katydids and crickets are making a joyful noise unto the Lord.  I think I will go out on my swing and enjoy.