MerryHeartCrafts.comMountain Momma… Country Living

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.

I want to share with you all our wonderful news.  We just found out this morning that Jessica is pregnant.   We are not sure how far along she is.  She will be going to the doctor on Wednesday for her first appointment.   God is SO good!  His kindness toward His children always amazes me.  Thank you Lord!  I would so appreciate it if you all would be in prayer for her and this new life she carries.

We have sunshine today with wind gusts of about 50 mph.  Temperature is cold.  Actual temperature is 35 degrees.  I’m not sure what the wind chill is but I know it is cold.  I have one load of clothes on the line but I have to keep going out to pick them up off the ground.  The wind keeps blowing them off the line.  I think I’ll probably just go bring them in.  I wanted to do some trimming today but I think I’ll have to postpone it until tomorrow.  Hopefully it will be warmer then.

We had our first lesson today in our new study, NO OTHER GODS by Kelly Minter.  It seems to be a good study.  She asks a lot of questions that cause us to search ourselves for the answers.  I think these are hard studies.  I guess I’m just not very good at self evaluation.

Tonights menu will be ham biscuits, the leftover kale and potatoes.  I made fresh rolls today for the ham however half of them have already been eaten.  I love to cook things that get eaten quickly.  It makes me fill happy inside.  I also made a fifteen bean soup with ham for tomorrow.  I like to make soup a day ahead when I can.  I always think it taste better the next day. 

Enjoy your day and God bless.

This is a picture from several years back.  I was reading one of my blogger friends post and she was looking for a modest dress pattern.  I commented about how I had made these dresses before but I felt like my instructions were lacking.  I dug in my old pictures and found this.  I hope this makes it a little easier for her to understand.

Today has been cold and very windy.  Wind gusts of about 40-50 mph.  We are doing school as usual.  I hope to get some sewing in after school.  Supper tonight is homemade pizza.  Yesterday was very busy cleaning the attic.  We use this space as storage and every year it seems to get way out of hand.  It looks very organized now.  Not for long, I’m sure.  I’ve been trying to do some cleaning and organizing this week.  Eliminating some clutter.  I seem to have an over abundance of clutter. 

Well, time for school to start back.  Lunch break is over.  Enjoy your evening and God bless.

Every year the girls and I try to do a gingerbread house for our centerpiece at Christmas time.  We did this one last night.  We always have so much fun decorating it and last night was no exception.  Good family memories.  I think it looks very festive on the table. 

We had a dusting of snow this morning.  Enough to excite the girls anyway.  It actually was warmer this morning than it has been.  We are already at 32 degrees.  I did my walk this morning, which felt really good.  I have had to do inside exercises this week due to the weather.  I much prefer outside but, you know, you got to go with the flow.  I am not dedicated enough to walk in 3″ of water with 40 mph wind gusts.  Maybe someday but not today.

Here is a picture of the new study we are starting today.  I think it will be very good.  This week’s lesson was on Eve.  Next week we will be studying Rahab and Mary Magdalene.  Well, I better get busy.  The ladies will be here in just a few minutes.  God bless.

Today along with my many other duties, I will be processing these beautiful cushaw and pumpkin.  There were 3 cushaws altogether but one is already in the steamer.   I plan to steam them enough to cut the peeling off, puree them in the sauce maker and then freeze the puree. You see the pumpkin in the box,  I have never tasted this type of pumpkin.  The lady who gave it to me said she thought they were called cow pumpkins.  She said they were very good for pies.  The cushaw was a gift from my mother-in-law.  Thanks, Judy. 

We had a nice afternoon yesterday.  Hubby needed a haircut so we went over to our friends house who cuts our hair for us.  We shared coffee and an excellent dessert she had made.  Then after he got his hair cut, Hubby and Faye got out their guitars and we enjoyed singing some old hymns.  I so enjoy these times.    The dessert she made was very simple.  4 large apples, 2 containers of store bought crescent rolls.  Quarter the apples and place a quarter in each crescent roll.  Roll the crescent around the apple.  Put into baking dish.  Heat 1 stick butter, 1 cup sugar, cinnamon (to taste) and 1 1/2 cups water until melted.  Pour this mixture over the apple dumplings and bake at 350 about 45 minutes or until cresents are golden brown.  Serve warm topped with whipped creme.  They were delicious.  I guess since I am working up pumpkin today I thought this recipe would work with pumpkin instead of the apples.  I think I would change the sugar to brown sugar, also add a little nutmeg.  Maybe I’ll try that today.  We’ll see.   Sunday is our Thanksgiving dinner at church.  I need to get started making rolls.

The sun is shining here today.  Lots of wind-gusts of about 30 mph.  This made walking a little more difficult.  Hubby went with me though and that made it much more enjoyable.  Enjoy your day and God bless.

I apologize for not posting anything is several days.  Things have been a little busy here.  Julie is sick with a sore throat and head cold.  We took her to the doctor yesterday.  Thankfully it is not strep throat.  But she feels yucky just the same.  Rest and lots of liquids for her.  Also we have been doctoring Jasper’s (young dog) paw.  He seems to have stepped on somthing and run it through his paw in 3 different places.   The first day it happened he just limped, the second day it was swollen 3 times normal size, the third day it bled alot, then finally it has started ( I hope) to improve.  The swelling is down, he still can’t put any weight on it, but it looks much better.  Of course, he has been allowed to sleep on the enclosed porch, which I am thinking he likes WAY too much.  Cold temperatures here-below zero wind chills.  Wind gusts of about 60 mph.  We had to let the fire go out in the wood stove.  It was just too much smoke coming in the house, especially with Julie sick.  This is definitely on Hubby’s to-do list to fix this problem this summer. 

The pictures are of drifts in our side yard.  They are a little darker than I had hoped but you can get the idea anyway.  I estimate them to be over 4 ft.  Yesterday when we took Julie to the doctor,  the main road was pretty bad.  3-4 ft. drifts blocking one side of the road.  Lots of places had only 1 lane open.  When we came back, the road crews had cleared them.  Our road crews have definitely spent a lot of time working this winter.  Speaking of work, I guess I better get busy.  Take care and God bless.

I made cinnamon rolls yesterday.  Sorry for the small picture.  I am having trouble with my blog pictures.  I need some help, Dave!!  Anyway this was my first attempt at cinnamon rolls.  Jess has made them several times so I thought I would try my hand at them.  They turned out pretty good.  Well, it is still cold here.  About 5 degrees with a wind chill of about -15 or more.  Wind gusts of about 40 miles an hour today and tomorrow.  Needless to say our water in the bathroom is still frozen.  The girls had their first experience with washing their hair the old way today.  Not a lot of fun but better than nothing, at least we are clean.  It’s time for school to start so I better get busy.  Stay warm and God Bless.