A New Day

We were blessed with a beautiful sunrise this morning. Thank you, Lord! I just love sunrises and sunsets. They make me feel so special.

We ended up getting some sleet and ice on top of the snow the other day. Hopefully, it will start to melt today. I have some errands I want to get done tomorrow. We have warmed up nicely-30 degrees. So much better than the other day. Hubby and I walked down to the barn yesterday to get our milk. Old Red (our truck) wouldn’t start and we thought the road was way to slick for the van. It was a nice walk though. I really enjoyed it. I so much prefer walking outside to exercising inside.

I think I’ll get upstairs and do some sewing. I have a few projects I want to get done before Christmas. Enjoy your day and God bless.

December 17, 2010 2

Snow

We are getting snow here this morning, hoping it stays snow and not ice or sleet. Predictions are for 3-5 inches. I don’t think it will accumulate that much though but we will have to wait and see. This picture is from our bedroom window upstairs. If you look to the right of the picture, you can see the pond with the snow that has laid on the ice. The good news is that it has warmed up! Temperature of 15 this morning when we got up and hardly any wind. YEAH!

Last night our youth did their Christmas play at church. We were scheduled to do it Sunday but since we have had to cancel two Sundays in a row, the youth leader thought we should do it last night, just in case. It went very well. The kids did great. I should have taken my camera and got some pictures but, of course, I forgot. We did school yesterday, caught up on some laundry, wrapped some gifts, all the ordinary things. There is a lot to be said for just doing ordinary things. It brings a sense of peace, I think.

We experience some smoke problems the night before, so we let the fire go out yesterday. Hubby checked the pipes when he came home. All was well. Not sure what caused it. Maybe just the direction the wind was blowing. This summer, we put a topper on the chimney pipe. It is supposed to turn with the wind to keep the wind from blowing the smoke back down the chimney. We had such a problem with that last winter. Anyway, all looked well yesterday so hopefully it will not happen again.

Well, we have things to do. I pray your day will be full of joy. God bless.

December 16, 2010 3

Praise!

Praise the Lord! Water is once again flowing in the Dawson home. We got it unthawed this morning. We are so happy. It truly is amazing how much water we use during the day. Temperatures are still cold here. 8 degrees this morning with a wind chill below zero. Tomorrow though it is supposed to warm up a little and not be too bad until Sunday, then it is supposed to turn cold again. We will be having an all day play practice Saturday for the Youth Christmas play at church. We will be doing the play on Sunday-weather permitting.

We have decided no school today. We are going to our friends, the Horns, to make some more candy. I will be making peanut butter balls and Vicki is going to make oreo truffles. We are looking forward to a day of fun. Hope your day is as blessed as mine has already been. God bless.

December 8, 2010 3

Our Mantle Nativity

This little Nativity set is the star attraction on our mantle during Christmas. It is already sitting in its place of honor. It has been to cold too go to the building to get out our other decorations but we did venture out to get the Nativity. Hopefully, it will warm up some so we can get the other stuff down soon. Very cold here last night. Acutual temperature 7 degrees with a wind chill of about -5. Our water is frozen. So sad. Hubby thought he had fixed every little crack that the wind could get into but I guess we were wrong. Remember last year, our bathroom water was frozen for about 1 1/2 months. We were hoping to avoid that this year. Well, this morning all the water is frozen, nothing coming into the house anywhere. Definitely not good. Hubby is going to work on it this evening as soon as he gets in. Pray it will not be too hard to get it running again. Then I guess we will just have to keep a small trinkle running at night to keep it from freezing again. I am so grateful I went up yesterday to the cellar and covered up our pototoes and our canned green beans with quilts. Hopefully they are in good shape. Last year they froze in the cellar. I do not want a repeat of that. The green beans are closest to the door so I guess there must be some wind that gets in at the door. Oh well, this is all part of winter, I know. I can’t say I like it though.

I do have good news. A local bakery, The Bread Basket, has graciously agreed to display my aprons for sale. I am so excited!!!!! I took her 9 aprons this morning. I pray they sell quickly and that perhaps I could bring her more. This would be so much better than trying to sell them myself. All in God’s hands.

Well, I have things to get done-not laundry though. Can’t do laundry without water. Stay warm and God bless.

December 7, 2010 2

Christmas Dishes

Our cheerful Christmas dishes. These were bought for us several years ago. We get them out every December to use. I love cheerful, happy dishes. After December, we get out our snowman dishes. We use them through winter.

Temperatures were too cold for any outside pictures today. After the snow, our Floyd county wind moved in. Gusts of 50-60 mph put the wind chills down at zero. I don’t think our actual temperature will get to 20 degrees today. Very cold! We didn’t have church yesterday, the roads were too slick. We spent the day snuggled in doing fun stuff and keeping warm. I watched a movie on INSP channel-The Perfect Gift. It was kinda like the “Joshua” books. It was a pretty good movie to watch.

I know I have showed pictures of rolls before but I don’t think I’ve ever shown loaf bread before. I use the same recipe as for the rolls. Actually, I use this recipe for lots of different breads. I tried a new hamburger bun recipe yesterday. We did not like it as much as our old recipe. I am cooking a beef roast on the woodstove today. I think I will add some potatoes and carrots in the pot. Then maybe open a can of homegrown green beans. Nice hot fresh baked bread. YUM! I also have a peach pie in the oven. I hope I made everyone hungry. I sure made myself hungry.

Well, school is calling. Take care and God bless.

December 6, 2010 4

Gingerbread House

Every year the girls and I try to do a gingerbread house for our centerpiece at Christmas time. We did this one last night. We always have so much fun decorating it and last night was no exception. Good family memories. I think it looks very festive on the table.

We had a dusting of snow this morning. Enough to excite the girls anyway. It actually was warmer this morning than it has been. We are already at 32 degrees. I did my walk this morning, which felt really good. I have had to do inside exercises this week due to the weather. I much prefer outside but, you know, you got to go with the flow. I am not dedicated enough to walk in 3″ of water with 40 mph wind gusts. Maybe someday but not today.

Here is a picture of the new study we are starting today. I think it will be very good. This week’s lesson was on Eve. Next week we will be studying Rahab and Mary Magdalene. Well, I better get busy. The ladies will be here in just a few minutes. God bless.

December 3, 2010 5

Gilbert

Daniel’s little kitten, Gilbert, taking a much needed rest under the Christmas tree. He certainly is a cute kitten. Very fuzzy. Sam’s eyes light up every time he sees Gilbert. He would love to sink his chubby little hands into all that fur.

We had a fun day yesterday. We went over to our friends, the Horns. Vicki fixed us lunch, then while the kids played, we make some gingersnap cookies. They were very good. We also tried our hand at making some breakfast bars or as we call them energy bars. They did not turn out near as well as I had hoped. Not too bad just not as I envisoned them being. We all had a lot of fun though. God is so good to provide us with friends like the Horns. We feel very blessed that they are in our lives.

We had so much rain here the first of the week. I have no idea how much but I know it was a lot. Everything was soaking wet. Water was standing in so many places in our yard. After the rain, temperatures took a drop. It dropped about 20 degrees from yesterday morning till this morning. The sun is shining though so hopefully things will warm up some. I would like to hang my sheets on the line.

The girls and I have lots to get done today so we better get busy. God bless.

December 2, 2010 3

Pinwheel Candy

It is raining outside today. We did not want to go to the building to get decorations so we just decided to make some candy. I usually make this only at Christmas time but I should make it more often as it is one of everyone’s favorite. This recipe came from a dear friend of mine and I have used it now for about 25 years. Wow, that makes me feel old(maybe I should leave that sentence out). Anyway the recipe is:

1/4 cup butter-softened, 1 tsp vanilla. Gradually add in 1 box powdered sugar. You will need to add a little evaporated milk at the end-only add about 1 tbsp at a time. 1-3 tbsp should be all you will need. It needs to be a little dry. Roll out and spread on peanut butter. Roll up candy length wise and put in fridge until chilled. Cut and enjoy.

Just a little note about the lady who gave me this recipe. Her name was Vanessa Looney and she was one of the finest Christian ladies I have ever known. When it became obvious to those who loved her that it would soon be time for her to be with the Lord, she made a profound statement to me. We were talking and she said “You know, I am not afraid of dying. I have lived my entire life for this moment. I will finally see my Jesus.” I consider this one of the most important statements a Christian could ever make-that we would all live our lives for the moment we will see Him. Just a little remembering on my part.

Well, I best be going. My girls want to play a game of cards. Enjoy your day and God bless.

November 30, 2010 5

Our First Decoration

This is our first decoration of the season. I like to use decoration that will work for all winter, not just for Christmas. This is due to laziness on my part. I so enjoy putting them up but not so much taking them down. This way I get to leave them up longer. Both my girls are sick, so today has been a rather slow day for us. We only did what we call “half school” which was bible, math and language. Then we took a break, went up to the building and found our little village. This village sets every year on this table. When the girls were younger, it was continuously getting rearranged. They would play with the houses and the people for hours. My dad built this table for my mom when they first got married. There is a shelf underneath and when I was a little girl, my golden book collection sat on the lower shelf. Funny, the things we remember. After decorating, we enjoyed a game of cards and now they are upstairs playing a board game. I so enjoy days like today-just sorry my girls don’t feel well.

It is chilly here with rain moving in. A good day for enjoying the fire and each other. I pray your day has been as enjoyable as mine. God bless.

November 29, 2010 2

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