Birds

The birds are starting to come in to the feeders now. Different ones than we get in the winter. They make such a joyful sound to the Lord. As soon as I get up in the morning, they are already singing. I go hang clothes on the line, their music fills the air. Such blessings the Lord gives.

Our weekend weather was a little different. It started to rain about 7:00 a.m. Saturday morning. It rained all day Saturday, all night Saturday night and most of the day Sunday. All our little creeks were overflowing. Several places the creek was running across the road when we came back from church Sunday afternoon. Then it started to ice, then it snowed some and finally it got bitter cold. When we came out from church last night, the side doors to the van were frozen shut. Julie and Grace had to get in the the front doors. We had some fierce wind so I guess that made the doors freeze. This morning it was 20 degrees when we got up. The wind has slowed down to a more manageable breeze, the sun is shining and hopefully it will get warmer. I just checked and it is 32 degrees now. I already have 2 loads of clothes on the line and another load ready to go out. I love clothes dried outside.

We finished our study of II Corinthians last night. Next week we will begin in Galatians. Our supper menu last night was pigs in a blanket, mashed potatoes, corn, baked beans, cornbread and a sour creme pound cake for dessert. I tell you, we sure do eat good. Our pastor says if you like to eat and shoot this is the church for you. As you may remember, our church does a lot of clay shoots as a men’s outreach. Lots of the women shoot too. We certainly have a lot of fun at our church. Hopefully, I haven’t made it sound like a social club. We are very dedicated to worshipping and serving the Lord. We just believe the Lord wants us to have fun too.

Well, it is time for school. Enjoy your day and God bless.

March 7, 2011 3

More Daniel and Sam

So here are the other pictures I could not get to load yesterday.

Today we are getting much needed rain. The fog has already come in so it promises to be a dreary day here in Floyd, a good day for a inside project. Temperature is about 35 degrees. Hopefully, this will all be rain. I am hoping next week to get some outside work done here. All the trees and bushes need trimming, along with the grapevines. We also need to do some cleanup in the blackberries. Not my favorite job. The thorns are hard to work with but it has to be done if we want to enjoy the berries. I love outside work. In my opinion, so much more fun than cleaning house. I am already looking forward to enjoying fresh fruit and veggies.

I added a little bit to my menu last night. One of our favorite things to eat in the spring is wilted lettuce and green onions. Hubby likes pinto beans with his. So I purchased some fresh baby greens at the store, put a little chopped onion on top. Then I heated olive oil (shameful but I did not have bacon grease). Next step is to pour some of the hot oil on top of the greens and onions, then top it off with pinto beans. A big chunk of cornbread finished it up. It was not as good as it would have been fresh from our garden but it definitely was good.

Enjoy your weekend and God bless.

March 5, 2011 4

Daniel and Sam

Daniel is doing some serious thinking about something, probably something he can get into.

Baby Sam is definitely growing. I have other pictures but for some reason I could not get them to load correctly. Hopefully, I will be able to post them tomorrow. Today is sunny here but kinda chilly. Temperature is 30 degrees. It was 18 degrees this morning when Hubby went to work. I am going to hang clothes outside in just a few minutes. I’ll need a coat and gloves though. I can’t stand for my fingers to get cold. I know I’m becoming wimpy in my old age.

We are planning to go to our friends, the Horns, after lunch. It has been too long since we got to spend time together. Supper tonight is cooked beef chunks with potatoes, pinto beans and corn bread. I already have the beef in the crockpot. Before we leave to go to the Horns, I will add the potatoes. I also have the pintos cooking in another crockpot. Hopefully all will be done when we get home except baking the corn bread.

Enjoy your day and God bless.

March 4, 2011 2

Busy Days

We have been very busy this week. Dave, Jess, and boys came up for a visit. We have been watching the boys while she had some business to take care of. The first evening they were here, part of her back tooth broke off. She has been in quite a lot of pain from this. She has a dentist appt. tomorrow to get it checked. We will be going down in the morning to watch the boys while she gets this taken care of. I’m not sure but we might stay a few days so Hubby can put up the chair railing in her livingroom.

Temperatures here have been very nice-warm, sunshine, and just a slight breeze (20 mph wind). Daniel has had so much fun playing outside. He has “helped” MawMaw with all her work. He is quite an eager helper. Sam, of course, has helped too. He is crawling now and loves to get into everything, especially places where he is not supposed to. I love MawMaw time.

Enjoy your day and God bless.

March 2, 2011 3

New Ladies Study

This is the new Friday Ladies Study. I think it will be really good. We have done one by this lady before. The study of Ruth. It was a really good so hopefully this one will be also. I love starting new studies-so exciting.

We are getting some rain today with high winds. I hung the clothes on the line outside but we had to hurry out and get them when the rain started. They got about half way dry though before that happened. Temperature is extremely warm for us, 57 degrees. I love warmer temps. Everything is starting to get green already. We traveled to a little town close by Saturday, Rocky Mount. On the way we saw some forsynthias blooming and a few Easter Lillies. We also saw fields that were really green. Very exciting.

Lunchbreak is almost over and I haven’t even ate yet. I better get off this computer and get busy eating. Enjoy your day and God bless.

February 28, 2011 2

New Study

This is a picture of the book for our new study on Sunday night at church. We are working our way through the New Testament. They have all been good studies so far. We also will be starting a new study for the Friday Ladies Group. I will try to take a picture of that book tomorrow to show you all.

Today has been very windy here. We started out the morning with rain, then some sun, then rain again. After that it has been fairly sunny. Our wind has been about 30 mph with gusts of about 50 mph. I have towels on the line. The hardest part is keeping them on the line. They will be so soft when they dry with all that wind.

Tonights supper is pizza and bread sticks. This is a favorite of the girls. Enjoy your day and God bless.

February 25, 2011 3

An Old Lamp

As you all know, I love old things. My mother-in-law gave me this old lamp while we were down helping her move. It needed a new shade and a little cleaning. Grace cleaned it for me and we are on the lookout for a shade that will do it honor. I have it on top of my treadle sewing machine for now.

We are getting some much needed rain here today. I understand we are about 4 in. below normal on our water level. It seems very cozy, the rain on the tin roof, a warm fire. I think I need to light some candles to make it even cozier.

We are working on school today. Also cleaning house. The ladies will be coming tomorrow for bible study. Tomorrow will be our last lesson in this study, “Women who believed God”. It has been a good study. Tonight’s menu is sloppy joes, french fries, green beans and a peach pie with homemade whipped creme for dessert. YUM!

I hope you all have wonderful day and God bless.

P.S. In answer to the question about what sassafras tea tastes like, it resembles a root beer or birch beer taste. You can drink it hot or cold. We prefer hot but it is good cold.

February 24, 2011 4

What Should I Do With This?

I know. I’ll make tea. Yes, it is sassafras root. We found quite a lot of it up on the hill where we cut wood. They had pushed over a few sassafras trees so we got the roots, brought them down and made tea. First you wash the root. They usually are pretty dirty.

Then I broke them into smaller pieces. Put into a kettle with water. I used about 1 1/2 qts of water to this amount of roots. Bring water to a boil and let simmer for about 15 min. Then strain the water, add sweetener of your choice and you have a delicious cup of tea. We love it. It is probably Hubby’s favorite.

We went to visit Jessica over the weekend. They have much warmer temperatures than we do. They have some forsynthias that are already blooming. Her Easter lillies are almost ready to open up. We even saw some creeping phlox blooming. Then we came home, temperature was 34 degrees, very overcast. YUCK! We even had a slight dusting of snow this morning. I don’t want to complain though. I am working on enjoying the seasons without complaint. It is still cold but the sun has come out so that makes it all seem so much nicer.

Lunch break is over. Enjoy your day and God bless.

February 23, 2011 3

Moon

We had a beautiful moon last night. Grace and I attempted to get a picture that would do it justice. Obviously, there is something special one must do to get a good night picture. We tried lots of different settings on our camera. This is the best one we could get. This in no way shows how amazing it actually was.

Temperatures are warm here again today-lower 50’s. We have lots of wind though. I am going to try to hang clothes outside. I know they will dry (if I can keep them on the line.) We are doing bible study today at one of the other ladies house. My house is still in construction zone. Everything is scattered all over the house. Today, he hopes to finish the trim in the bathroom and cut a load of wood.

Enjoy your day and God bless.

February 18, 2011 5

New Wall Colors

This is the new color of the old laundry room. The trim is white and the door is antique white. Hubby has to finish the trim and then it will be all done. He is also working on painting the bathroom.

The inside wall of the old laundry room is the original outside of the house. Jess had this paint left over from her bedroom. I think it looks very good on this wall. I wish I could figure out a way to take a picture that would show how it looks all together but it is a work in progress. Hubby will paint the trim today. After that we plan on going over to a friends house for a visit and a haircut.

Temperatures here are very nice. It was 42 degrees when we got up this morning. We decided to let the fire go out today. YEAH! That always makes me feel a little “springy”. I have clothes to hang on the line (of course). Don’t we always have laundry?

I changed my supper menu last night to fried chicken, potato salad and green beans. It was so nice and warm. It reminded me of picnic days. Tonights menu will be chicken stir fry with egg rolls. I fried enough chicken last night to have left over for tonight. I like to do that. It makes the cooking a little easier and faster if I the meat is cooked in advance.

Time to hang my clothes outside and listen to a little praise music from our birds. They are starting to sing such beautiful spring songs. Enjoy your day and God bless.

February 17, 2011 3