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

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

Finished Health

We are finished with health! Isn’t that great? The girls decided yesterday that since we were so close to being finished, they would just work on through to the end. (This decision was made all on their own, I didn’t even suggest it) I think that is amazing in itself but so typical of homeschool kids.

Today is a very nice day. Lots of sunshine. Temperatures are in the low 40’s. Amazing! I have clothes on the line, I love it. The girls and I have been walking down to the barn to get milk this week. Today’s walking should be fairly nice except for the mud. I know, complain, complain. But I really do not like walking in mud. Good exercise though.

Tonights menu will be kielbasa with sauteed mushrooms, onion, garlic and green peppers served over brown rice. I haven’t decided what to have for dessert yet , maybe a peach cobbler. I have made little progress on the matching aprons. I am very frustrated with myself. I made an unfixabe error on the little girl apron. I will have to transform it into a doll apron. At least, it will be usable for something. Well, that’s how you learn, I reckon.

I hope you all have lots of sunshine today and warm temperatures and that you are able to go outside and enjoy the beauty of the day. God bless.

January 29, 2011 3

Remembering Summer

I thought we might all enjoy looking at some summer pictures. I think I like summer better than winter but thats just my personal opinion.

Yesterday was kinda exciting for me. I sold 6 dishcloths and a little girl apron! YEAH! Makes me want to get busy making more. I think the next two I make will be waist aprons instead of full aprons. I want to see how they sell. They seem to be pretty popular.

School today as usual. Tomorrow is Ladies bible study. This week we are studying Mary, the mother of Jesus and Mary of Bethany. This has been a really good study guide so far. I would definitely recommend it. Tonights menu is London Broil, homefries, green beans, homemade rolls and banana pudding for dessert.

Time for school. Enjoy your day and God bless.

January 20, 2011 6

Beautiful Sky

Today has been a very pretty day here in Floyd. Beautiful sunshine and as you can see the sky is just amazing. Such a bright, vibrant blue. It is warmer than it has been. 25 degrees with very little wind. All in all, this makes for a fairly nice day.
I wanted to put a picture of my latest apron on, but for some reason I am having difficulties with my pictures. I think I will need some help, Dave.
Tonights menu will be pinto beans(cooked on the wood stove) Kielbasa with cabbage, cornbread and the buttermilk chocolate cake for dessert. Pintos cooked on the wood stove are just sooooo good. I guess they prefer slow cooking.
Enjoy your day and God bless.

January 14, 2011 3

A Finished Project

I finally have Grace’s quilt finished. I started it last year after I finished Julie’s. Gardening came upon us and I had to put the quilt away until winter. I now have made all 3 girls a wall hanging/quilt that I sewed by hand. I am not very skilled at sewing things by hand so these will probably be the only ones I do.

Temperatures are still cold here. Actual temperature this morning was 10 degrees with a -10 wind chill. When the cold wind blows here it is very difficult to keep the house warm. The wind seems to find its way inside in places we never thought possible. Anyway, our wood stove is working overtime. I am very grateful to have this stove. It certainly puts out a lot of heat.

I am working on a new apron and hopefully will be able to show you all a picture of it soon. School as usual today. The ladies are coming tomorrow for bible study and it is my turn to make dessert. I am thinking of making a buttermilk chocolate cake. I got the recipe from a blogger friend and it has become a favorite of ours. I like buttercream frosting with ours. It reminds me of a cake that was served at school when I was a kid. They called it wacky cake. I do not like chocolate very much but this cake is really good.

Enjoy your day and God bless.

January 13, 2011 4

Tuesday

Today we are getting back into the swing of school. We had too many errands yesterday to start. We also visited some with the Horn’s yesterday. For Christmas, the Horn girls had received a kit from Wal-Mart to make a little girl apron and a little doll apron. I took some interfacing over and Vicki and I traced out the pattern. So I now have a little doll apron pattern to make. I want to make a mother, daughter, and doll apron to match.

Temperatures here are much nicer than they have been however yesterday morning was pretty cold. Temperature yesterday was 14 when we got up but it did warm up nicely with lots of sunshine. Cloudy today though, of course, because I am home and could hang our clothes on the line today. Oh well, thats how it goes. Hubby worked on getting some more wood yesterday while the girls and I ran errands.

Tonights menu is something I really don’t have a name for. I brown hamburger meat, add onions, cabbage, and potatoes. The options are limitless as to what you can add. I sometimes add fresh peppers, zucchini, squash, mushrooms. I like fresh baked cornbread with it. I got some cushaw from the freezer this morning. I think I will make a pie for dessert.

Enjoy your day and God bless.

January 4, 2011 3

Cinnamon Rolls

I think I’ve been a little crazy this week as far as cinnamon rolls are concerned. This is my third batch. One I shared with my friend Vicki, the other with my friend Faye, and today was my turn to make dessert for the ladies study. Guess what I made. Thats right more cinnamon rolls. I had never made them to share with the ladies so I thought today was a good time. They were very good and everyone seemed to enjoy them.

No school today. National Holiday. My Grace’s birthday. As part of her treat, I let them out of school. I think they have enjoyed their day off. We are having our version of “Crazy Bread” for supper as this is one of her favorites. We are almost finished with our Ruth study. It has been very good. While I was browsing on Net Flix I discovered they have a movie called “The Book of Ruth”. It looked to be very good. I ordered it and we are thinking of watching it next week after we finish the last lesson. This would be something new for us. I don’t think we have ever watched a movie together.

Today has been a nice day here in Floyd. Partly cloudy. The sun is shining now though. Temperature is about 45 degrees. Pretty nice. Well, I better get busy on that crazy bread. Enjoy your evening and God bless.

November 5, 2010 2

More Christfest Fun

For the first time this year, the kids got to play some of the games outside before it got dark. This was a lot of fun and much cooler than in the basement. I, for one, was extremely hot downstairs but then I should have known not to wear a long sleeve shirt. We girls got our hair cut yesterday. I decided to make a batch of cinnamon buns to take to the lady who cuts our hair. We all sat down and enjoy them while they were still warm before we started our haircuts. It was a nice visit.

Today it has been pretty chilly here in Floyd. We have kept a fire going all day. While the girls worked on school, I have been busy making pumpkin puree to put in the freezer. I used part of the puree to make a pumpkin pie for supper. It is in the oven now. The recipe I used is:

2 cups pumpkin puree, 3/4 cup sugar, 1/2 cup evaporated milk, 1 egg beaten, 1/3 cup plain flour, 1 tsp vanilla, 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice. Stir all ingredients together and bake at 350 degrees until done. Pie is done when toothpick stuck in middle comes out clean. Start checking for doneness at about 45 min. Years ago, we were at a farmers market and this older lady was selling pumpkins, cushaw and other fall squash. I ask her about a pie recipe for them and she just told me all the ingredient and their measurements, right from memory. I was of course very impressed. I hurriedly wrote them down (before I forgot them) and have used this recipe ever since. It is a favorite fall dessert around here.

Take care and God bless.

November 3, 2010 1

Potatoes

The girls and I took the morning off from school to dig our potatoes. If we did not count wrong, we had 8 drywall buckets of potatoes. YEAH! I think homegrown potatoes are so much better than store bought. But then I think everything homegrown is better. The temperature here is still chilly. Around 50 degrees. Feels like fall. I guess I will have to build another fire this evening. The girls and I also gathered about 2 gal. of peppers this morning. We just gathered them all as it is sure to frost here soon.

I think tonights menu will be hot roast beef sandwiches with green beans. Maybe some chocolate chip cookies for dessert. Take care and God bless.

October 5, 2010 1