Gingerbread House

Today was spent doing a very fun project. Our gingerbread house. Last year the girls and I made our first gingerbread house. We decided it needed to be a tradition at our house. So much fun. Here’s a picture of our gingerbread house. Not competition material but great for our house. This will be our centerpiece until Christmas. When I do things like this with my girls, I can’t help but be thankful for our lives together. The laughter, the Christmas music, a warm fire. I am a very blessed woman and I thank God for his blessings. George had some work to do today so we didn’t get to go to Jessica’s this weekend. The girls and I are doing girl stuff today, the gingerbread house, some Russian Tea Cakes and maybe some peanut butter roll candy. Temperatures were cold again last night. 7 degrees when we got up this morning. Not much wind though so it doesn’t feel as bad as yesterday. The weather forecast says freezing rain for tonight and early Sunday morning. YUK! Hopefully it won’t happen so we can go to church. Oh well, I guess we’ll see what tomorrow morning brings. Well time to make some more memories (Russian Tea Cakes). God Bless.

December 12, 2009 2

Fire

For those of you who do not have the comfort of a wood fire to enjoy, I thought I would share ours. One of the girls(I’m not sure which one) took this picture. I thought it looked so warm and cozy. Today I cooked chicken and dumplings over that wood fire in my cast iron kettle. YUM! Very cold temperatures this morning made us really appreciate that wood fire. The temperature was around 8 degrees with a below zero wind chill. COLD!!! Today it warmed up to the mid 20’s and the wind has laid down some but it is still very cold. Oh well, I quess it’s that time of year. Today was bible study day here at my home. One of the ladies brought some wild rice soup to share with everyone. Thanks, Barbara. We have about 2 weeks left on our Peter study and then in January we plan to start Beth Moore’s Esther study. We will be taking a 2 week Christmas break. Well I guess I better get some work done. I am working on a quilt. I will try to post a picture when it is finished. God Bless.

December 11, 2009 0

Ice

It appears as if winter might be here to stay. We awoke this morning to ice. Not too bad but enough to be pretty. I would much rather have the snow from the weekend but I’ll have to take whatever God sends our way. Not a lot happening here in Floyd. Just winter coming on. School as usual. Getting ready for Christmas. The tree and all the decorations are up. Christmas music, which I love, playing on the radio. Life if good! I know I say that a lot but I really believe it. I am so blessed. God has given me so many blessings. My husband, my kid, my grandkids. I live in a beautiful home and have a wonderful church. For me, life really is good and I am thankful to God for His blessings. (My sermon for the day). The ice is melting quickly and temperatures are warming up. Our next spell of winter mix is for Saturday. I had hoped to go visit Jess on Saturday but I guess that might not happen. Depends on the weather. Well, break time is over and school time begins. Have a wonderful day. God Bless.

December 9, 2009 2

Snow

Our first snow! The snow started about 6:30 this morning and is still coming down at 2:00. The girls are so happy. They have been out several times to play. The Horn family is supposed to come over later this afternoon for a visit. The girls can hardly wait. Playing in the snow with their best friends. Vicki is bringing homemade potato soup. I am making homemade rolls and dessert. Our tree is up and snow is falling. It’s starting to look a lot like Christmas around here. I love this time of year. God Bless

December 5, 2009 1

Mantle Decorations

Our mantle. The girls and I spent the morning putting away fall decorations. Then we decided to decorate the mantle for winter. We think it looks pretty good. What do you think? I like to use snowmen instead of Santa Claus, that way I can leave them up all winter. Not just for Christmas. I know I’m kinda lazy when it comes to decorating. I really enjoy the putting up of decorations, its the taking down I don’t like. Anyway the mantle was fun. We had egg nog and enjoyed being together. Life is good. No, life is GREAT! I so enjoy my girls and being at home with them. We plan on putting the Christmas tree up Saturday. More egg nog, Christmas music, hot chocolate. I can’t wait! They are calling for a chance of snow Saturday here. Maybe some ice. I prefer snow, however we’ll see. It will probably just be cold. I hope you all have as much fun as we do this time of year. God Bless.

December 3, 2009 0

Remember This

Who remembers these? Obviously I do. This machine was given to me by my mother-in-law several years ago. And yes we do still use it. Last summer, we had very little rain. Our water source is a spring. So in order to save the spring water, we washed our clothes on the wringer. Wringer washers use much less water than automatic washers. It was a lot of fun. The girls really enjoyed it. Now however it will be much easier to use. My hubby hooked it up in his wood working shop. Am I special or what? It now has hot and cold water at the touch of a faucet. It also has it’s own drain. No more carrying water to fill it up and then carrying water to empty it. I know the body of the machine looks pretty “rustic”. It works great though and thats what counts. Well, I thought some of you might like a trip down memory lane. Have a great day and God Bless.

December 1, 2009 0

Thanksgiving Fun

We spent the holiday with Dave and Jess. I managed to catch Daniel as he was running with Grace and took a quick picture. Ain’t he cute! One of his favorites things to do is run with Grace. As soon as we come in, he says “Hey Grace, Run.” Of course, Grace loves to run so this is much fun for them both. We had lots of good food and very much enjoyed our time together. No work this trip just fun. We went shopping on Friday and Jess got some really good deals. She loves to shop. Well today was the big day for the girls. They played the music for the entire church service, sunday school and all. They had 3 songs each. Big Job. They did great. Today also was the first day for our new pastor. All went well. I think we have chosen according to God’s will. He seems to have a heart for the Lord. No bible study tonight. We don’t have it on holiday weekends. I think we will just rest and enjoy some time together. It is a beautiful day here in Floyd. Temperatures are in the lower 60’s. Very little wind. BEAUTIFUL! It was a different story yesterday. We had been gone for several days with no fire in the stove. We came home the outside temperature was 47 degrees and inside the house the temperature was 45 degrees. I guess next time we go visit we should turn on the gas logs. Anyway, it didn’t take long to get a fire going and get it warmed back up in the house. No need for a fire today though and I’m glad. I so enjoy these last warm days. I think I’ll go sit on my green swing and enjoy some outside time. God Bless.

November 29, 2009 0

Before and After

Never give up on cast iron. We made a trip to our homeplace over the weekend. My mother-in-law knows how much I love cast iron. She had purchased these kettles in a set many years ago. Maybe as many as 50 years ago. I think she told me it was a 20 piece set and it cost about $20.00. ( thats says it was a long time ago) She had stored them in a building many years ago. We went on safari to search for them. When we found them I thought “Maybe they are too far gone”. But I brought them home and searched the internet for ways to clean them up. First I used an equal part of salt and oil. Rubbed that in(really good) with a cloth. Then for the really stubborn spots of rust, I used a brillo pad. Washed them in soapy water and reseasoned them. ( To season cast iron, coat the kettle with a light coat of oil. Turn upside down on a cookie sheet and bake at 250-300 degree oven for about l hour) I was so pleased with the result. I couldn’t wait to post about it. The largest kettle she called a pinto bean pot. I can just taste how good beans will be cooked on our wood stove this winter. Thanks so much, Judy. So don’t throw that old cast iron out. Re-do it. It’s worth the effort. God Bless.

November 24, 2009 1

Another Cat Picture

Another picture of Stripes. Maybe she wants a shower. Grace took this picture of Stripes in one of her strange places. She lays in the sink quite frequently. She also loves to get a drink from the faucet. I think the word “spoiled” might come to mind. Yesterday was lots of fun. I went to my friend Vicki’s and we made our own hot cocoa mix. It is really good. Much better than the powdered mix bought from the store and I’m sure much healthier. We read the ingredients of the store bought instant mix and it contained lots of things we couldn’t pronounce. In case anyone is interested in making their own here is the recipe. 16 cups powdered dry milk, 1 1/4 cup cocoa powder, 5 cups sugar, 1/2 tsp. salt. In a large bowl mix all ingredients well and store in an airtight container or zip lock bags. To use measure 1/3 cup of mix into a cup and add hot water, stir. This will make about 1 gal. of mix, perhaps a little over. Vicki and I halved this recipe. The powdered milk will be your biggest expense, so shop around for the best price. I hope you enjoy this as much as we have. God Bless.

November 24, 2009 1

Christmas Cactus

What do you all think about my Christmas cactus? Ain’t it pretty? It was given to me several years ago by a dear friend. I’m not very good with indoor flowers but this one has been beautiful every year. I quess I just have it in a good location. Thanks, Barbara! I really enjoy it’s color so I thought I would share it with everyone. Today is a very dreary day in Floyd. Rainy, foggy, windy, chilly. Yuk. No outside activities today, except carry in some wood for the fire. Oh well, it could be much worse. School has went very well today. We are learning about writing reports in language. Not very exciting but necessary information. Tonight is church night and the girls always look forward to Team Kids. They have lots of fun and learn about scripture too, so it makes them and us happy. If anyone wants to learn more about Team Kids, it is a program through Lifeway. You can go to their web page and find out all about it. We are still doing the Beth Moore study on the Fruit of the Spirit on Wednesday night. Pretty good study. Well lunch break is over and I better get busy. God Bless.

November 18, 2009 1