An Unusual Visitor

Hello ladies! I just wanted to thank all of you for your prayers. The visit at the doctor today went well. The doctor is treating him for a kidney infection which she thinks is definitely part of his problem. She also wants him to come back in 3 weeks for more blood work. There is a possibility he is a diabetic. Thank you all again for your prayers.

I also wanted to show you these pictures of a visitor we had at the pond the other day. Our pond has been seeing LOTS of activity. The morning this guy came in we had about 60 geese and several ducks there. They are lots of fun to watch.

I have no idea what type of goose this is, maybe he is a domestic breed. I don’t know but he sure did stick out from the rest. We also had a visit from these quys.

There were 2 males and one female. The males were so aggressive. They fought most of the day. I’m not sure which one ended up being the victor but today when the ducks came back there was only one male and one female. I guess one of the males finally gave up.

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

March 11, 2013 5

Monday

Hello everyone! I hope you all had a great weekend. Ours was very nice. Not much going on. We didn’t have church yesterday as there was no power at church. Lots of people here in Floyd have been without power since the storm. I spoke to a lady at our local supermarket this morning and she is still without power. I certainly pray everyone gets power restored before tonight. We are supposed to get really cold-single digits with wind chills at zero or below. So many people have electric heat. It would be hard for them to stay warm without electricity.

Yesterday, I spent most of the day cutting out quilt pieces. I have been inspired by my blogging friends, Blessings and Cheryl. I am doing a simple block quilt. The block pieces are 5″ X 5″. Then hopefully I will sew them all together (using the sewing machine). We’ll see how it goes. I have made quilts before but always using panels not something I have to cut out and sew together. I thought this would be the simplest to do. If I calculated correctly it will take 216 5″ X 5″ blocks to make a twin size quilt. Okay, so maybe I am already overwhelmed. I think it will be a fun project though-something different for me.

Well, that’s about it for us. School is finished for the day, the outside chores are done and the girls are going for a walk on the tractor road. Two dogs and several cats are walking with them. The geese are swimming happily on the pond, the sun is shining. I am SO blessed. Enjoy your day and God bless.

January 21, 2013 5

Sunrise, Geese and Jasper

Not much going on here this morning. Grace is practicing piano and Julie has already practiced. Then we will do the regular morning chores of sweeping, shaking rugs, etc. Then time for school.

It is a beautiful day here. Lots of sunshine. We were a little cool last night-mid 30’s. I will probably have to build a fire by this evening. It is chilly in the house-62 degrees-but I am hoping it warms up in here as the day goes by. I have clothes in the washer ready to go on the line to dry.

I took this picture of Jasper this morning as he was on duty. There are calves that get out continuously. Jasper takes his duty very seriously. He makes sure they know their boundaries. He does not allow them in the yard. He has learned well this summer. I think he will be a very good farm dog.

Well, Grace is almost done practicing so I better get busy. I hope you all have a great day and God bless.

October 16, 2012 4

How Many Snows?

There is an old saying that if you count the number of fogs you have in August, that’s how many snows you will have that winter.

I’m not sure how true that is but so far this month we had have 3 mornings with fog.

The geese don’t seem to mind though.

The girls and I picked a bushel of corn this morning. We put 40 ears in the freezer, keep out enough for supper, and had a few bags of corn cut off the cob for the freezer. We also picked almost 1/2 bushel of tomatoes. We will be using these to make spaghetti sauce one day this week. I am also trying a recipe for sourdough bread using my bread machine to work the dough. I’ll let you all know how it turned out.

We had a great weekend with the grandkids. Chuck brought these scooters for everyone to ride.

And a toy for him to play with.

We then went for a ride in the bumpy truck. Irma had never ridden in the back of a truck before. (I know, I just couldn’t believe it either). Sunday we had our church breakfast at Smart View Park. David and Jess came up. They had Katie dressed in the little dress and hat the girls had made her. She looked so cute in it. Later in the afternoon, we all went for another ride in the bumpy truck. Daniel so loves riding in “his” bumpy truck.

Well, that’s about it for now. I hope you all have a great evening and God bless.

August 6, 2012 5

Geese

Today is a beautiful day here in Floyd. The sun is shining. Temperature is 55 degrees. I LOVE IT! I know there are lots of people who enjoy winter and cold weather. I am not one of them. For my part, it could just stay like this until spring. I’m pretty sure it won’t though. We have lots of geese on the pond today. Probably close to 50. They seem to be enjoying the warmer temps too.

We have been busy today making treats for Jessica’s “goodie” basket. So far, we have made chocolate chip cookies and Russian tea cakes. We still have Martha Washington balls and peanut butter balls to make. She always wants ritz crackers with peanut butter spread between them, dipped in white chocolate with an m & m on top(I have no idea what this is called but it is one of her favorites). Tomorrow I will be baking a ham and making homemade rolls. Other things on the menu (as of right now)-pasta salad, green beans, cocktail weiner, angel punch and sausage balls.

I guess I better get busy-more candy to make. I love this time of year. Enjoy your day and God bless.

December 15, 2011 6

Picking Tomatoes

The girls picking tomatoes.

You all hear me talk about sitting on the green swing. Well, this is the view from it. As you can tell, there is lots of shade there, which is one of the reasons I love it.

This is a little bit closer view of the pond. See all the geese. Our pond has had lots of activity all summer.

A picture of the house as you turn down the driveway. To the left of the yard is the pond. Well, the yogurt turned out great. I think it is the best homemade yogurt I have ever made. I definitely will be making more. Also, the plum juice was very good. We enjoyed a cold glass of it this morning with our breakfast. I went to help Hubby today and the girls spent the day with the Horn’s. They had a great time. Temperatures here are still nice-upper 70’s today with a good wind. I hope you all enjoy your evening and God bless.

August 24, 2011 6

An Old Barn

This is an old barn that is at our pastor’s house. I love old things, even old barns. Yesterday we worked with the corn. We got it all shucked. We put some up in the freezer on the cob and some we are cutting off the cob. We will be finishing working it up today and then we will start on the peaches.

Our temperature this morning was 50 degrees. Amazing! All indications are that we will have an early fall. Yesterday, we noticed the geese were forming groups. Several groups flew over with about 40 geese in a group. They were flying in the “V” formation. So pretty! This is another picture from our pastor’s house. I hope I don’t bore you all too much with these but the girls took lots of pretty pictures at his house that I want to share with you all.

This is the view from his front porch. Lovely! Well, our little break is over so I guess I should get busy. Enjoy your day and God bless.

August 17, 2011 7

Goslings

They sure have grown! Every time I see them they look so much bigger. We discovered this morning that we have a female mallard duck nesting on the island now. We are so excited! We have wanted ducks to nest there since we moved here. We’ve not sure why the ducks and the geese have decided that the island is now nest worthy but we sure are glad. There is a big difference between the ducks and the geese. The ducks are more secretive and the male is less aggressive. Papa Goose is always on patrol, keeping away all others.

I know it has been a long time since I made a post. I have been busy this week helping Hubby with a job he had building a fence. The girls took their school books and did school in the van while I helped him. Last night the girls had their piano recital. It all went very well. They did a good job on their songs. We have been busy this morning getting the yard mowed and other things that needed doing around the house.

On Tuesday, I attempted to make homemade cottage cheese. It DID NOT turn out. I’m not sure what I did wrong. I followed the directions I got from the internet. I think I need a different recipe. Have any of you all ever made cottage cheese? I sure would appreciate all info I can get.

The girls found new kittens today in one of the old buildings. It is always so exciting for them when they find new kittens. These belong to one of our wild cats so we have no idea if she will leave them where they are or not. Only time will tell. We have much to do so I better get busy. Enjoy your day and God bless.

May 7, 2011 2

Turtles

Here are a few of the turtle pictures we took while at Pandapas Pond the other day.

They were pretty skittish so we had to sneak upon them to get the pictures.

Grace did a great job!

A beaver lodge on the pond. Several geese were resting on top of it.

We have several things planned to work on today. Rain is in the forecast though so we may not get any of it done. We’ll just have to wait and see. I am going to use the remainder of the pork tenderloin this evening to make bbq sandwiches for supper. I have enough rolls left from last night to use for buns. I think I will do homesfries and coleslaw with it. I like to cook enough meat to make several meals from it. This makes it a little easier I think. We have dentist appointments tomorrow in Roanoke, then we are going to Sam’s Club to pick up a few things. After that, we are going to pick out Grace’s frames for her new glasses. The Horns are supposed to come by tomorrow evening to visit. YEAH! It has been a while since we have got to visit.

I better get busy. Hubby and I are working on a big outside project. I’ll try to show pictures next time I make a post. Anyway, he is wanting to get started so that hopefully we can get some of it done before it starts raining. Enjoy your day and God bless.

March 23, 2011 5

Geese

This morning as Hubby and I were having our morning coffee together, we saw what we thought were tracks on the pond. Then we thought maybe it was just where the wind had blown the snow in swirls. Later in the day, Grace took these pictures.

They look like they are having fun!

Maybe this is a sign of early spring. They do seem to be here kinda early this year. Maybe it is just wishful thinking on my part.

Yesterday, for dessert I made an oatmeal pie. This is one of my favorites, also Julie and Jess. The recipe is:

2 eggs beaten, 2/3 cup sugar, 2/3 cup uncooked oatmeal, 1 tsp vanilla, 2/3 cup melted butter, 2/3 cup corn syrup, 1/4 tsp salt. Mix all ingredients together and pour into uncooked pie crust. Bake at 350 degrees for l hr.

Okay, so my crust is not too pretty but I promise you it tasted delicious! It tastes a lot like pecan pie. Temperatures here are warm-mid 30’s. We have some sun right now but a storm is supposed to be moving in. One forecast said 4-5 in of snow. We’ll see. Right now though it is nice. I have clothes on the line outside, hopefully, they will dry before the clouds come in.

Tonights menu is deer bbq, made from the roast yesterday, home fries and slaw. We still have some pie left for dessert. Enjoy your day and God bless.

January 25, 2011 6