MerryHeartCrafts.comMountain Momma… Country Living

I thought I would show you all how big these goslings are.  It always amazes me how fast they grow.  They are however ravenous eaters.  We also have ducklings (we think).  She hatched them off and took them up into the field.  We have not seen them since.  Mama  and Papa Duck are still around though so we are confident the ducklings are too.  Mama is just keeping them well hidden.

I forgot to mention in yesterdays post about the chick house, all the planks and the door are from the old farmhouse we are working on.  He said we could have all the old wood.  We have been thinking of ways to reuse it.  I think some of it will go to box in the remainder of our back porch.  Today is a nice day here in Floyd.  Temperature is 66 degrees.  We have had some sun but it is overcast now and I think rain is coming. 

Tonights menu at church is kraut and weiners, pinto beans, cornbread, cole slaw and strawberry rhubarb pie. (Thats just what I know about).  For a class of 10-12 people, we sure do eat good.   Time for me to start getting everything ready.  Enjoy your evening and God bless.

One of our favorite drinks in spring is mullein tea.   It is so refreshing and has a slightly minty taste.  The other day Grace had gathered some leaves from the tractor road.  We have already drank that up so I thought we better make some more.  Mullein has many medicinal purposes.  We drink it because we just think it tastes good.

After gathering the leaves, I break them apart and put into a large kettle.  Kettle size is based on how much mullein we have  gathered.  Cover the leaves with water and bring to a boil.  Turn heat down and simmer for 10-15 min.  Strain and sweeten to taste.  This can be used hot or cold.  I made a post last fall about drying mullein.  You can read about it here.  http://merryheartcrafts.com/?s=mullein

Today has been a nice day here in Floyd.  We had some morning rain but the skies are clear now.  Our temperature is upper 60′s with a good breeze.  If you notice, we almost always have a breeze here.  This is good in the summer, not so good in the winter.   Anyway, clothes are on the line drying in the breeze.  I love it. 

I hope you all have a great day and God bless.

Our rhubarb is coming up!!!  We love rhubarb.  This variety comes in early in the spring.  We have another variety up in the garden that comes in  later in the summer.  Today has  been a nice day here in Floyd.  Sunshine and temperatures in the mid 50′s. 

Jess had to do some more work on our soap.  We did some research and tried something called rebatching.  We think (hope) it is going to work.  I wanted to let you all know I really like the orange cleaner I made.  It smells really nice and cleans good.  I have another batch making now. 

Well, not much going on here today.  I just wanted to let you all know about our rhubarb.  Enjoy your day and God bless.

Today has been chilly here in Floyd.  Wind gusts of 30-40 mph with temperatures in the mid 20′s.  We let our chickens out every evening so they can scratch and peck.  Well, this evening they just wanted to come up on the back porch and hide from the wind.  We all laughed and said soon they would be wanting to come in the house. 

Other than cold, today has been a nice day.  We started school back today.  After a 3 week break, I thought it would be difficult to get going again but it went well.  We had a nice visit with Jess and the kids yesterday.  David needed to work on his book and so Jess brought the kids up to play at MawMaw’s house for a while.  We were sitting around talking and Daniel looks at me and says “MawMaw, we need to go cook something”.  He dearly loves to help cook so we decided we needed to make chocolate chips cookies. 

Well, I guess that’s about it.  I need to go put more wood on the fire.  Enjoy your evening and God bless.

Today, Chuck and his family came for a visit.  We had a very nice day.  We ate baked ham, mashed potatoes, green beans, corn, sweet potato casserole,  homemade rolls and biscuits with peaches for dessert.    He loved his swing.  I am hoping it makes it home safely.  He left with it tied on the top of his Pathfinder.  The kids played with the kitties most of the day.   The other big entertainment was clothes pins.  Children have such imaginations. 

A picture of the food table.

Here we all are getting ready to eat.  Julie is hiding behind Chuck. 

I pray you all have a wonderful Christmas and God bless.

My Christmas cactus is blooming.  I don’t think it has ever bloomed at Christmas but it’s very pretty no matter when it blooms.  I love the bright pink color.  It always makes me feel happy when I look at it.

Temperatures here this morning were mid 20′s with a heavy frost.  It has warmed up already to low 30′s and the sun is shining.  I think it will be a nice day.  We will be doing school as usual, then we have some wood to unload.  We also need to go into town to get some chicken feed.  Thank the Lord, we have once again sold enough eggs to pay for the feed. 

Jess and Katie are doing well and big brothers are adjusting nicely to having a little one in the house.  Katie seems to be (as of right now) a very content little girl.  She sleeps very well at night, 3-4 hrs between bottles.  Amazing!  David will be going back to work on Thursday.  He took a week vacation during Katie’s birth. 

Well, it is almost time for school and I have clothes to hang out.  Enjoy your day and God bless.

I think it has been a long time since I made a post but things have been kinda busy here.  Jess and the boys came up on Thursday.  We spent Friday doing some shopping and then Dave came up Friday evening.  He and Hubby went over to our pastor’s house for a men’s shoot on Saturday.  Today Dave, Jess and the boys went with us to church.  It was pastor appreciation day.  We had a fellowship meal after church with lots and lots of good food.

Today has been a very nice day here in Floyd.  Sunshine, a slight breeze and a temperature of about 65 degrees.  Very nice.  I hope to get some fall pictures this week to show you all.  The trees are starting to get beautiful colors here.  Tomorrow the girls and I will go down to play with the boys while Jess has one last ultra sound.  She only has about 3 weeks to go. 

This is a picture of some flowers that are blooming beside the road on our way to church.  Aren’t they pretty?  Well, I have a lot of posts to read to get caught up on what has been happening in everyone else’s life.  Enjoy your day and God bless.

I wonder what they are doing?

Someone is feeding them.  I see a hand behind the tree.

Of course, it is my sweet Julie, who can’t resist feeding cows no matter where she is.  We went with Hubby today to help him hang ceilings.  The girls went in search of something to do.  What do farm girls do when they are bored?  Feed cows, of course.  We had a nice day, enjoyed a picnic lunch with Hubby, then came home and went to piano lessons.  Temperatures here have been nice.  Upper 70′s with a  nice breeze.   Feeling more like fall every day.  Enjoy your day and God bless.

When Dave & Jess were up for the weekend, we all went riding in the “bumpy” truck.  This is one of Daniel’s favorite things to do when he comes to our house.  It also is one of Grace’s favorite things to do.  She took this beautiful picture of the sunset. 

Yesterday, we went to a friend’s house.  Her sister has thornless blackberries and she had said we could come and pick.  We picked about 1 gal.  They are very easy to pick.  No thorns-I really like that.  We then went back to my friend’s house and had a cookout.  We had hamburgers, pinto beans, cole slaw and watermelon.  It was a really nice day.  We got 3 pints of blackberry juice and 4 pts of blackberry jam, plus saved back about a quart to eat. 

I have some aprons to deliver today, then we will be going over to the Horn’s for a visit.  After that, the girls have piano lessons.  I need to get one more apron made before we leave so I guess I better get busy.  Enjoy your day and God bless.

The ducks and the geese were in the yard together this morning.  Look how much they have grown.  The mama duck has 5 babies that have survived.  One goose is missing.  We are hoping it is not mama or papa.  From what I can understand they mate for life.  If something has happened to one of them it would mean no more babies, which would be very sad.

Our VBS has been a lot of fun so far.  2 more nights to go.  Thursday night is family night.  We went with Hubby yesterday.  He had a little repair job at this house on Claytor Lake.  We worked on school while he did the job.  Then we went down to the lake for a picnic.  It was a nice day.  I, of course, forgot the camera so no beautiful lake pictures.

Today is a beautiful day here in Floyd.  Temperature is in the lower 70′s as of now.  The sun is shining and we have a slight breeze.  Very nice.  We are hoping for nice temperatures this weekend as Dave, Jess, and the boys are coming up.  We hope to go into town on Saturday night and watch the fireworks. 

I have clothes ready for the line so I better get busy.  Enjoy your day and God bless.