Pan-Pan

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.

April 11, 2011 3

Easy Pie Recipe

I thought I would share with you all this super easy pie recipe. I don’t know the name of it but years ago when I worked, one of the ladies I worked with used to make this a lot. It uses simple ingredients and takes very little time.

I used 1 store bought graham cracker pie crust. For the filling use, 1 container cool whip, 1 pkg cream cheese-both at room temperature. Add 1 tsp. vanilla and 1/2 cup powdered sugar. Mix with your mixer until well blended. Pour filling into pie crust. Then for the topping I used fresh strawberries and a little strawberry glaze. Set in fridge for a little while to chill, then enjoy. You can make this with blueberries, peaches, almost any type of fruit. If you do not want to use the store bought glaze you can always just add sugar to the fresh fruit and let it make its own glaze. Its all up to your taste.

Well, Julie ended up with strep throat. She started running a fever yesterday. I called the doctor’s office and he called us in a prescription. Needless to say, we will not be going to church today. Just staying home and recuperating.

I hope everyone has a great Sunday and God bless.

April 10, 2011 3

Blue Bird

Yes, I know, I have another bird picture but I couldn’t help myself. He and the Mrs. come every morning to our catawba tree. They swoop down get a bite of something and go back up to their limb. It is always entertaining to watch. Sorry about the flash glare that is present in his eye. I did not know how to correct that. Anyway, the picture shows how brilliant his color his.

We had some major storms come through here last night. Jess called to tell us we had a tornado warning for our area. Thank the Lord, that didn’t happen. We did have lots of lightning and some rain. This morning is calm but the fog is very thick. Grace tells me she likes fog so today will be her kind of day. We are supposed to go do our annual spring cleaning at church today. I’m not sure if we will still be doing it or not. We could clean inside but I don’t think we will be doing any outside cleaning.

Yesterday we went to pick up Grace’s new glasses. We did a little shopping in Sam’s and then came on home. I didn’t want to overdue as Grace is still not back to 100 percent. Hopefully today she will be feeling much better. I hope you all have a wonderful day and God bless.

April 9, 2011 4

Goldfinch

These beautiful yellow birds are one of my favorites. For years, I tried to get them to come into my feeders with no success. I bought the expensive thistle seeds that they are supposed to love. They were not interested. Then David’s grandmother, Doris, told me to buy the black oil sunflower seeds. Not to buy the wild bird mix, just the sunflower seeds. That was several years ago and she was absolutely right. We get all kinds of birds at our feeders and all I ever use is the sunflower seeds. Today was the first spotting of the goldfinch. Isn’t he breathtaking? I love the cheerful yellow of his feathers and of course their song is so pretty. We have had several male and females at the feeders all day. If you look closely you can see the sunflower seed in his mouth.

Grace is feeling some better and so far she is the only one sick. Thank you all for your prayers. Today our thermometer says 70 degrees!!!! I am so happy! After school, we plan on cleaning the inside of the car before taters start growing in there. Just kidding, its not that bad but it does need a good cleaning.

Enjoy your day and God bless.

April 7, 2011 5

Spirea Bush

Our spirea bush is also in full bloom. I love spring!

Yesterday, my Grace did not feel well. She felt worse as the day progressed. I finally ended up taking her to Urgent Care late yesterday evening. She has strep throat. Not good. We are praying for a speedy recovery and that the rest of us do not get it.

On now to more pleasant things. We have lots of sunshine today and the forecast is for warmer temperatures. Yesterday was a mix of rain, snow, and wind. It was chilly all day. We are looking forward to warmer temperatures the rest of the week. Last nights menu was meatloaf, mashed potatoes, green beans and rolls. Grace, however, did not eat very much as her throat was hurting.

I plan on only doing half school today. Sickness and school do not go well together. I hope you all have a wonderful day and God bless.

April 6, 2011 5

A Cozy Corner

This is a corner in what we call the “sitting room”. It is a wonderful place to sit and read or look out the window and just rest. Remember yesterday when I said our wind was not too aggressive, well, that certainly did change. By lunch, we had 40 to 45 mph wind. By afternoon, 50 mph and by the time we went to bed 65 to 70 mph. Needless to say, we did not get any outside time. Too windy. We did walk down to the barn to get milk. It was just too much wind to do anything. Before we went to bed the rain started. It rained most of the night with lots of lightning. When we got up this morning, our temperature was 51 degrees. In less than 2 hours, our temperature has dropped down to 36 degrees. Big change. I may soon have to build a fire. Hopefully, things will warm up after today.

Enjoy your day and God bless.

April 5, 2011 5

Spring Time

Our forsynthia bush is in full bloom. I love the bright yellow color, so cheerful. Today is beautiful here in Floyd. Temperature is mid 50’s, the sun is shining and the wind is not too aggressive. Very nice. I have one load of clothes on the line and another on the way. We are busy with school and have plans for outside time this afternoon.

Yesterday was a nice day too. Church was very nice and our evening study went very well with lots of discussion. Our menu last night was beef roast with potatoes and carrots, green beans, macaroni salad, cookies and peaches. Very good. We did hamburgers on the grill for lunch yesterday, with grilled onions and asparagus. I love cooking on the grill. I think it makes everything taste so good.

Enjoy your day and God bless.

April 4, 2011 3

Happy Birthday, Alexius

Today we will be celebrating our granddaughter’s 6th birthday. It is amazing how quickly they grow up. Weather here this week has been pretty chilly. Yesterday’s high was about 35 degrees with lots of wind. COLD! We have had some snow, rain, ice and lots of wind. Hopefully today will be better, at least the sun is shining. I have one load of clothes on the line and another washing as I type. We have had to dry clothes inside all week. YUCK!

I better get busy. Lots to get done before party time. Enjoy your day and God bless.

April 2, 2011 5

Finished

The front porch is finished. I wanted to show you the finished product. I’m not sure the picture does a good job of showing it or not.

I rolled the blinds down some so you all could see them too. When we do school out here, we roll them down some to eliminate the glare. They also help keep it cooler in the summer. We now have cleaned and mopped the floor and returned all the furniture to the porch. It is so nice. Thanks, Hubby.

Yesterday was spent down at Jessica’s watching the boys while she went for her ultra sound. She saw the heart beat so all is well in Mama’s world. She is 8 weeks and her due date is Nov. 9th. Very close to Grace’s birthday. Today will be catch up at school and getting the house cleaned for tomorrow’s bible study. It is my turn for dessert and I am planning on making cinnamon rolls. We are going over to the Horn’s tomorrow evening to eat and visit with them. I am making enough cinnamon rolls to take over there as well.

Enjoy your day and God bless.

March 31, 2011 6

Our Big Surprise

Remember a while back I said we were working on a big surprise. Well, here they are. We have baby chicks!!!!! Aren’t they sooo cute? The girls and I are so excited. Hubby is a little more reserved but we know he’ll come around. Our friends, the Horns, gave us the red ones. The others came from Tractor Supply. We got them Saturday. They spent the weekend inside as it was extremely cold here. We moved them out to their coop yesterday. We pulled a quilt down over the roost and put a light inside so they stayed nice and warm. I will be posting more pictures all along to let you all know of their progress.

It is a little warmer here today. At least no snow or ice. Hopefully, we will be able to hang clothes outside to dry. Today is supposed to be our warmest day of the week. Colder with rain for the remainder. Oh well, this is the last week of March. In April, things start warming up more. We will be doing school as usual today, with breaks to go check on the chicks. The girls have already been out once this morning. They want them to be used to them and not be afraid.

I made a new recipe yesterday for pumpkin muffins. They turned out pretty good. The recipe I used is:

Original Recipe Yield 1 dozen muffins

Ingredients

2 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
2/3 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1/3 cup white sugar
1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup applesauce
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
1/3 cup buttermilk
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1/4 cup golden raisins (optional)
1/4 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Directions

Preheat an oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease 12 muffin cups, or line the cups with paper muffin liners.
Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and pumpkin pie spice; set aside. Combine the brown sugar, white sugar, oil, applesauce, pumpkin, buttermilk, and beaten eggs and mix until well blended. Pour the pumpkin mixture into the dry ingredients and stir until combined. Fold in the raisins and pecans, if desired.
Divide the batter evenly in the prepared muffin pan. Bake in the preheated oven until the tops spring back when lightly pressed, 15 to 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool the muffin pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes before removing the muffins from the pan.

Footnotes

Cook’s Tip
If you don’t have buttermilk on hand, add 1 teaspoon vinegar or lemon juice to 1/3 cup milk; let stand for 5 minutes before using in the recipe.

I got this recipe from www.allrecipes.com It is definitely worth making again (in my opinion). Enjoy your day and God bless.

March 29, 2011 3