Vanilla Yogurt

4 cups milk (your choice whole-skim)
1/2 cup powdered dry milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
4 -6 tablespoons sugar (Splenda or honey) = 1/2 cup
1/2 cup yogurt starter (unflavored plain yogurt with active cultures)
Directions:

1
Set 1/2 yogurt starter out to warm to room temperature.
2
Heat the milk to almost a boil.(I like to microwave in a glass bowl for 5 minutes on high then 2 minutes on medium). About 180 degrees. Cool the milk-about 110 degrees- (to a “barely warm”/ babies bath temperature) (cool water bath works well). Add dry milk, vanilla and sweetener of your choice; stir well.
3
Stir in yogurt starter (do not whip but mix very well!).
4
“Cook” the yogurt using your preferred method and time (longer makes a firmer, more tart yogurt. I like to cook about 12 hours). Chill 4 hours before eating.

March 18, 2013 0

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

Miss Katie!!!!

Hello everyone. May I introduce Miss Katie Lee! Isn’t she beautiful? She was born Wednesday evening at about 6:30 and weighed 7 lb. 7 oz. No complications-THANK YOU, LORD!

We got the first call about 2:30 A.M. Wednesday morning. Things progressed steadily. The girls and I watched the boys Wednesday and David stayed with Jess. God always works out the best timing. After Katie was born, we took the boys to the hospital to see Jess and Katie. Daniel is so excited to have a sister. He loves babies. Then David brought everyone home and stayed with them overnight while I stayed with Jess and Katie. The next morning we traded out again. Then David brought his girls home last night.

She seems to be a very content little girl. I want to thank all you ladies for your prayers. God is so good! Enjoy your day and God bless.

November 4, 2011 10

Christfest 2011

Every year our church has a halloween alternative. We call it Christfest. It is a big outreach. Lots of children come to play games and get candy. Last night was no different. Our fellowship hall was overflowing with children and adults, laughing and just in general having a great time. This little lion (Kaleb) is adorable.

Chocolate candy is always abundant. As a matter of fact, in the bulletin when we are requesting donations of candy, it actually specifies individually wrapped chocolate.

This young man was just a doctor, then he got the glasses at one of the games, and instantly became a mad scientist.

Everyone participates. From clowns,

to hunters,

to fun loving,

to one needing a small nap. Our pastor (regrettably I did not get any pictures) asked the children bible questions. If they answered correctly they got to throw a whipped creme pie at him. I’m not sure who had the most fun with this game, him or them. It actually was his idea-go figure. And last of all, my baby girls. No longer babies, except to me.

Enjoy your day and God bless.

November 1, 2011 5

Ducks and Geese

The ducks and the geese were in the yard together this morning. Look how much they have grown. The mama duck has 5 babies that have survived. One goose is missing. We are hoping it is not mama or papa. From what I can understand they mate for life. If something has happened to one of them it would mean no more babies, which would be very sad.

Our VBS has been a lot of fun so far. 2 more nights to go. Thursday night is family night. We went with Hubby yesterday. He had a little repair job at this house on Claytor Lake. We worked on school while he did the job. Then we went down to the lake for a picnic. It was a nice day. I, of course, forgot the camera so no beautiful lake pictures.

Today is a beautiful day here in Floyd. Temperature is in the lower 70’s as of now. The sun is shining and we have a slight breeze. Very nice. We are hoping for nice temperatures this weekend as Dave, Jess, and the boys are coming up. We hope to go into town on Saturday night and watch the fireworks.

I have clothes ready for the line so I better get busy. Enjoy your day and God bless.

June 29, 2011 4

Horseshoe Picnic

Yesterday was our second annual horseshoe pitching picnic. I thought I would share a few pictures with you all. We had a great time with lots of good food (of course), good fellowship and good music. I think that hammock is calling my name!

A few of the people sitting around enjoying themselves.

What do you think he might be looking at?

Deer, right across the river from where we were.

The creek.

The Lord blessed us with a beautiful day.

Our VBS starts tonight. The girls will be playing the music all 5 nights. Julie is in charge of the games tomorrow night. When did my babies become workers instead of just participants? Well, it does this mama’s heart good to see them serving the Lord.

Enjoy your day and God bless.

June 26, 2011 4

More Babies

We have more babies!! This morning Mama Goose came off her nest with 6 little ones. Very exciting. I could hardly wait to get pictures and show you all. They had six little ones last year and we so enjoyed watching them grow up. We are looking forward to watching these grow up as well.

Saturday we had a great visit with my aunt and uncle-just didn’t seem long enough. The time went by so quickly and we had so much to catch up on. We hope to get to see them again soon. Yesterday’s church message was very good. He preached on how the Jews missed recognizing Jesus as the Messiah and how the same reasons still apply to the world today. It was very interesting.

We will be doing school today as usual. I have to help Hubby fix the drivers window on the van. It has somehow managed to get off track. He has to take the door panel off. Hopefully, it will not be too difficult to fix. I know I have said this before but I am so thankful Hubby is talented in the area of fixing things. I think it is going to be a fairly nice day here in Floyd. It is a little overcast but I think the forecast is just partly cloudy.

Enjoy your day and God bless.

April 18, 2011 5

Babies

We have kitties! The girls are so happy. These four belong to Stripes. Babies are always so exciting. Temperature this morning was pretty chilly, mid 30’s. Hopefully it will warm up and we will have some sunshine. We worked outside yesterday afternoon on the chicken run. It is almost finished. Then it started to rain so we had to hurry and put everything away. Oh well, every little bit helps get us closer to being finished with it.

David’s sister had her baby yesterday. I will post a picture as soon as I figure out how to get it off my email. She had a little girl, Emily, and she weighed 7 lb. 9 oz. They both seem to be doing well. As I said earlier, babies are so exciting.

Enjoy your day and God bless.

April 13, 2011 3

Grandbabies

This MawMaw’s heart is full to overflowing. I have had lots of MawMaw time this weekend. Thank you Lord! First, a picture of Sam. It will not be long until this swing is too small for him but he sure does enjoy it.

Daniel and Gilbert taking a small rest. Gilbert is Daniel’s kittie, an early Christmas gift. He loves Gilbert very much-sometimes maybe a little too much. Gilbert is a very good kittie though and takes it all in stride.

Alexius and Branson. Playing with kitties. Kittens and kids just go so well together.

Landon-wearing PawPaw’s hat. We went down to Jessica’s for Thanksgiving. She had a wonderful meal. Turkey with all the trimmings. Of course, we all ate too much. Then we did a little shopping on Friday. When we came home Friday evening it was very cold here. A huge change in temperature. At her house it was fairly warm but not here. The wind was fierce with gusts of about 40 mph. Inside our house it was very cold, 56 degrees. Needless to say, we hurried up and built a fire.

Yesterday when we came back from practicing at church, we had a message on our machine. Chuck was coming for a visit! He lives in West Virginia so we do not get to see him or his babies very often. It was such a nice visit. We had canned deer, mashed potatoes, green beans, blackberry cobbler and homemade rolls.

Today, we will be doing the music at church. The girls will be playing a congregational each and each will be doing one special. Hubby and I will-with 3 others- will be doing 2 specials. Pray that all goes well. I hope you all enjoy your Sunday and God bless.

November 28, 2010 3

A Fun Day

Yesterday was a fun day. Baby Sam came to MawMaw’s house for the very first time.

He seemed to enjoy himself. I know MawMaw and PawPaw certainly did enjoy it.

Sam investigating the world from PawPaw’s shoulder.

Just one more picture. Don’t he look content and happy.

Daniel had a great time with a bottle sprayer filled with water. All MawMaw’s plants needed a drink and he had a great time giving it to them.

I think this is my favorite picture of the day. Ain’t he soooooo cute?

What do you think they are looking at?

A frog of course.

My Julie. The gift my Lord surprised me with at 40.

At 41 my Lord gave me another gift. Grace. I never imagined the Lord had more babies for me. My daughters(all 3) have taught me so much about life and love. I am such a blessed woman. Such joy He has given me. My family is so important to me and I cannot never thank the Lord enough for allowing me to be part of their lives. God is so good. Enjoy your day and God bless.

July 11, 2010 3