Egg Hunt

Yesterday we went down to Jessica’s to celebrate Easter with them. We enjoyed a great meal of honey baked ham and turkey, potato salad, green beans, potatoes, baked beans, deviled eggs and several different types of dessert. After we ate, the kids were ready to hunt eggs. I think the look on Sam’s face says it all.

On the way back home we stopped at this little spot on the parkway. Grace wanted to get a few pictures.

I have forgotten the name of this little spot but I think it was a grist mill at one time.

Grace and Julie. It’s not very often I get a picture of them together. We then went for a little walk down to the creek. It was very pretty.

Enjoy your day and God bless.

April 9, 2012 6

Happy Easter

I pray each and every one of you have a wonderful Easter filled with many blessings. Enjoy your day and God bless.

April 8, 2012 3

Mama Goose

I thought I would show you all Mama Goose on her nest. She is nesting on the little island on our pond. Somewhere close to her but invisible to us is Mama Duck. From what we can figure, they both starting setting at about the same time. We look forward to seeing babies soon.

The girls and I had a fun day yesterday. Julie does have to start wearing glasses though. The eye doctor called them part time glasses. He said for her to wear them when she was doing school, reading, doing computer work, etc. To which I said well, that’s pretty much full time glasses. But anyway, she was just glad they didn’t put drops in her eyes. She was SO dreading that. After the eye appointment we went to Goodwill, Wal-Mart, Barnes and Noble, Home Depot and Lowes. We were looking for a certain color of stain for outside but we couldn’t find the color we have always used. We then ate lunch at Little Caesar’s (the girls favorite eat out place). After that, we came towards home-stopped and spent some much needed time at the Horn’s. It had been so long since we had been able to get together. We had a great visit but time just went by too quickly. It seemed like we had been there no time and it was time to go. She made me a nice hot biscuit so I could sample her dandelion syrup. It was really good. You can read about it here on her new blog http://oneandahalfacrehomestead.wordpress.com/2012/04/01/dandelion-syrup-tastes-like-honey/ My dandelion jelly did not set up. I used powdered pection that I had on hand instead of the liquid (Sorry, Mrs. Faye, I will listen to you next time) so my jelly will now be called syrup. I used some this morning to sweeten coffee and it was very good.

We had rain early this morning. Everything is very wet and the temperature is chilly-low 40’s. I think we will probably get a frost tonight and maybe tomorrow night. I am hoping it doesn’t damage any of our fruit. When I walked out toward the pond to get the picture of Mama Goose, I turned back toward the house and took this picture of our hens.

Enjoy your day and God bless.

April 5, 2012 6

Apple Tree

Our apple tree is in full bloom. It certainly looks like we will have lots of apples on it-if the warmer weather holds out with no frost. Our temperature was 36 degrees this morning. It has already warmed up to lower 50’s. As I type, the birds are singing, the sun is shining, clothes are drying on the line. I truly have a blessed life. Thank you, Lord!

We will be starting school in a little bit. After school, I need to go into our little town and get a few things. Then hopefully get home and get a few things done here. I want to get our seeds started this week. Tomorrow, Julie has an eye appointment in C-burg. This usually is an all day thing. We want to visit Goodwill while we’re over there. The girls are hoping to find a few books. Our Goodwill has an actual used book store in a separate building. It will be a fun girls day out.

Our back road is full of wild spring flowers. We see something new blooming every time we travel that way. Yesterday, the columbine was blooming. I so enjoy seeing all the spring flowers come to life.

Enjoy your day and God bless.

April 3, 2012 5

Miss Katie

I wanted to share with you all this picture of Miss Katie. She is all dressed up on her way to her cousin’s birthday party. Ain’t she cute?

The girls and I will be going with Hubby today so this will be a very short post. I have lots and lots to get done in a short amount of time when we go with him. Enjoy your day and God bless.

April 2, 2012 5

Fresh Mullein Tea

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. https://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.

March 31, 2012 2

Dandelion Jelly

I heard about this jelly for the first time last year however I did not get to try making it. Our dandelions are popping up everywhere so yesterday the girls and I gathered some blossoms. We picked all the green off however I forgot to get a picture of that. We then poured boiling water over the petals and let it steep overnight.

It isn’t very attractive at this stage. I must admit this was a time consuming jelly. It took a while to get the green off the bloom. The end result though is beautiful in the jar.

This picture doesn’t really show how pretty it is. Every thing I have read about this jelly says it tastes like honey. We tasted it when it was hot and it DID taste like honey. Amazing! You can read more about dandelion jelly here http://theblessedhearth.blogspot.com/2011/06/another-jelly-recipe.html She also has a recipe for apple blossom jelly that I am thinking about trying.

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

March 30, 2012 4

Fruit Trees

Yesterday evening the girls and I planted 6 fruit trees. Grace dug every hole. She was very excited about getting fruit trees. As you can see, she has good helpers- the cats and the chickens.

And, of course, our ever faithful Shadow.

We planted an asian pear, bartlett pear, plum tree, golden delicious apple tree, golden transparent apple tree, and a nectarine tree. We hope to get 2 cherry trees in April. While we were working on the trees, Hubby was busy trimming the blackberries.

It was a nice, productive evening. After we finished planting, we went to get the clothes off the line and a huge flock of geese flew directly over our heads to land in the field. Of course, we had already put the camera up so I couldn’t get a picture. It would have made a beautiful picture though.

Today will be school as usual. Hopefully, with more outside work afterward. Enjoy your day and God bless.

March 29, 2012 4

Daniel, Sam and Katie

We went down to Jessica’s today and I finally got a few pictures to show you all-thanks to Grace.

Sam was saying “cheese”.

Miss Katie. Hasn’t she grown? She had a well visit check up today and she weighed 15 lb.

We went to work with Hubby yesterday. I will try to get some pictures of his progress next time we go. Tomorrow after school, we will be going to get Grace’s new glasses. I am so glad. For those of you who do not know, Grace has worn glasses since before she was a year old. Last year, when she got a new prescription, I noticed she was wearing them down quite far on her nose. I questioned her and she said they hurt her eyes if she wore them up farther. I should have taken her back but to be honest I guess I thought she had just got in the habit of wearing them down on her nose. WRONG! They had put her bifocal up way too high in the glasses. So I know she will be so glad to get her new ones.

We had a tremendous amount of rain over the weekend. Lots of areas close by had large amounts of hail-3 to 6 in. I’m very thankful we didn’t have any. Temperatures dropped considerably after the hail. This morning it was 28 degrees with a heavy frost. I think I will have to build a fire this evening. It is fairly chilly inside the house.

I’m not sure if this worked or not. I was hoping to show you all a picture of the hail at the shooting range nearby. This is where Hubby and others from church go to shoot clays.

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

March 27, 2012 4

Spirea Bush

I wanted to share with you all this picture of our spirea bush. I think it is the fullest this year it has been in many years. So bright and cheerful. Not much happening around here. We went with Hubby to work yesterday. Today we went down to Jessica’s but we forgot to take the camera. I want to remember it next time. You all will not believe how much Katie is growing. She just grins and grins. I love it.

We have been getting rain almost every evening this week. Just enough to keep us from working outside. Oh well, I know rain is really needed. Everything is really popping out green here, so the rain and the warm temperatures are doing their job. Our pastor said his peach trees were in full bloom. I certainly hope they are not too early.

I guess that’s about all for today. As I said, not much going on. Enjoy your day and God bless.

March 23, 2012 4