Wednesday

Hello everyone! I hope you all are having a good day. Things are kinda slow here. Hubby is still sick-YUCK! He has a doctor’s appointment tomorrow. I would appreciate your prayers for a healing for him. He does feel better today than he has in 2 weeks. I can see an improvement every day just not as fast as we would like.

Yesterday another ice storm came through. Everything was covered with ice. This morning though all is gone. YEAH! We have some sun with temperatures in the upper 30’s. We are supposed to get more snow come through Thursday and Friday. I know, though, spring is just around the corner. The birds are singing so pretty and the air just has a different feel to it.

Not much else going on here. School, laundry, housework. You know, just the usual stuff. Enjoy your day and God bless.

February 27, 2013 4

Spring

Friday these beautiful red winged blackbirds stopped by our feeders for a little snack. They are usually the first birds to return in the spring. They are a week earlier this year than last year. Hopefully, that means an early spring. However, this morning was no indication that spring is on its way. Wind chill temperature -10 degrees with snow on the ground. Well, the snow is gone now and the wind chill now is 5 degrees so we are warming up some.

Not much going on here. I have started work on Sam’s quilt. I have all the 5 x 5 in. squares cut out and am ready to start sewing them together. School has went well this week. Did I mention to you all about the last batch of homemade laundry soap I made using the laundry bar soap instead of fels naptha? Well, those of you who have been reading my blog for a while know that in the past I have had trouble with the homemade laundry soap. My clothes seem to get a dingy look and the towels became really non-absorbent. I know, strange stuff, but strange happens a lot here. I guess it is our water that causes these problems. Well, so far I have had no problems using this batch. It is a little bit different recipe than I have tried before but I think the real difference is using homemade laundry bar soap. I will try to remember to keep you all updating as to how it is doing.

Well, I better get busy. Church tonight and the menu is baked potato bar. Sounds delicious to me. I really like baked potatoes. Enjoy your Sunday and God bless.

February 17, 2013 3

Around the Pond

The other day we all decided to take a walk around the pond. It has been absolutely beautiful here in Floyd this week. Our morning temperatures have been mid 40’s. Amazing!! Wonderful sleeping weather. The days have only gotten into the mid 70’s. I love it. For my part, the Good Lord could just let it be this way all summer and I would be happy.

The girls had lots of fun. They came in the house and got their wading shoes and spent lots of time wading in the pond. Jasper even joined them for a while. He doesn’t care much for water. I suppose after his accident the first winter, he thinks water isn’t much fun.

Lots of cool bugs were flying around the pond.

I have no idea what they are but if you look closely you can see the tiny blue bugs that were hovering around the blade of grass.

We have so many of these birds. I couldn’t tell for sure from the picture if they were barn swallows or tree swallows. Both birds are abundant here. They will fly down to the pond and touch the water. It is amazing to watch. Sometimes as many as 50 or more just skipping above the water. I’m not sure if they are getting a drink or catching bugs but it is one of our favorite evening passtimes to watch them.

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

June 27, 2012 4

Saturday

Hello ladies, I hope everyone is having a great weekend so far. We worked today on putting a fence around the gardens.

The “ladies” were very glad. They had not been free all week as we had not had time to get the fences up. We knew the minute they were turned loose they would head straight to the gardens. To express their dislike of not being turned loose they cut back on their laying. We usually get 11 or 12 eggs every day. This week we got 7 or 8. I told them I expected full quota next week. No excuses.

We found this drift netting at the barn, rolled it out and cut it in two pieces. The posts are cut from old wood we got from the job site. Not bad-zero expense. I am hoping the plastic bags that you see will keep the birds away. So far it seems to be working. I replaced the 14 plants they had eaten and so far all is well. It took us 4 hrs to put this fence up. Hubby helped or it would have taken much longer.

The rose bush at the green swing is in full bloom. I think it is lovely this year.

Another picture of the rose bush.

I realized it had been a very long time since I put a picture of Jasper on here.

He is our farm dog in training. Shadow has been teaching him all the tricks. (Most times, Shadow just tolerates him). Well, that’s about it for today. Supper was hotdogs and beans. Simple because Mom was tired. I hope you all have a great Memorial Day Weekend and God bless.

May 26, 2012 4

Rainbow

Hello everyone! Sorry that I haven’t posted as much as usual. Things just seem busy here right now. Anyway, yesterday evening the Lord gave us this beautiful rainbow. If you look close you can see it was a double rainbow but the one on the left is fading. This picture was taken at the top of our driveway.

Yesterday, we went to help Hubby on the job site. It is coming along nicely. After school, the girls were entertained by this guy. He and a few of his buddies were very busy in the walnut tree.

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We did get some much needed rain yesterday evening. The garden is all in, however, the birds have already discovered it and destroyed about 1/3 of the tomato plants. They love the tender young leaves so all that is left is the stem. Has anyone else experienced this problem? Any solutions?

Hubby has been working all week on my car. He has replaced the rotors on the front and today we picked up rotors for the back. I am so thankful he knows how to do all this. His knowledge saves us lots of money. Well, I will leave you ladies with a picture of the purple flowers that are blooming everywhere here. I don’t know the name of them but we think they are beautiful.

Enjoy your day and God bless.

May 22, 2012 8

Birds and Spring Cleaning

The other day when we went to work with Hubby, Grace got these pictures.

I think she did a really good job. Today was spring cleaning day at church. Every spring we set aside one Saturday to come and clean the church. Heavy duty cleaning. We had a great time and the church looks and smells really nice. We were hanging up the freshly washed curtains when I noticed how nice they smelled. I commented on it and was told they had been washed in the homemade lavender laundry soap that I made. How about that!

Here are a few random pictures taken today.

This picture is looking directly across the road from our church. See how green the trees are getting.

Grace cleaning the windows.

Steve cleaning the ramp.

Not sure what Ross is doing.

And they think we women talk a lot. Enjoy your day and God bless.

April 14, 2012 4

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

Crocuses

Look, everyone, what is blooming at our home!!! We were all so excited today when we saw them. I just had to share them with you all. Also yesterday, the red winged blackbirds came back. They are always one of the first birds to return to our area in the spring. Every year, they stop at my feeder in the dogwood tree and spend the day there. We wanted to get a picture of them but everytime we would get close to the window they would fly away. Grace did however get a picture of this sparrow.

Today has felt like a spring day. Warm temperatures-60 degrees right now. Amazing! I LOVE it.

Enjoy your day and God bless.

February 23, 2012 6

Eagle

Our first eagle spotting of the year. So exciting! We think they must travel through here every year. They are so pretty. I remember the first year we lived here. The girls were very young. We were sitting outside talking about the different birds we had saw that day. One of the girls said “Oh, Mommy, I wish we could see an eagle”. I remember thinking that would really be something to see an eagle in the wild. Then that fall we saw them. We were SOOOO excited and we still get excited every year when they come through.

My Grace is sick with strep throat. Yesterday we went to the doctor and got antibiotics. Today has been a pretty rough day for her. We are praying that by tomorrow she will start to feel better. She is sitting in her favorite chair enjoying a new book she just got with her birthday money.

Hubby has been busy this morning working on the brakes on the van. He was having trouble with them but thinks he has gotten the problem fixed. I am so thankful he is able to work on our vehicles himself. Hubby and I will be going up on the hill later to cut a load of wood. Then he wants to work on Jess and Dave’s bed. He wants to work on the stain color to make sure he has it just right. Then it will be time to stain and poly. YEAH. I can’t wait to show you ladies how it looks. It looks beautiful!

Well, I have lots to get done so I better get busy. Enjoy your day and God bless.

November 18, 2011 6

Raspberries

Our raspberries are getting ripe! YUMMY!!!! Black raspberries are one of my favorite fruits. We have a few vines we have been working on getting established and it looks like this year we might get enough to make a cobbler at least. (if we can keep the birds out of them)

Yesterday was a nice day. We came back from church and cooked steak on the grill in honor of Dad’s day. Steak on the grill is Hubby’s favorite meal. We had fries with it, rolls and ice cream for dessert. Our pastor’s sermon was very good. It was of course directed mostly to the men in the church. He preached on Ezekiel 22:30. The verse says “I looked for someone who might rebuild the wall of righteousness that guards the land. I searched for someone to stand in the gap in the wall so I wouldn’t have to destroy the land but I found none.” He challenged our men to be the one that could stand in the gap. It was a very powerful message.

Temperature here this morning is wonderful. Low 60’s with a pretty strong wind. Great for drying clothes. I have one load ready to hang out and several more to go. The girls and I have many errands to run today plus piano lessons. I guess I better get busy. Enjoy your day and God bless.

June 20, 2011 5