Am I Cute?

This is one of our new kitties. You may remember there are 3 of them. The other two were being shy. This one the girls call Fuzzy Wuzzy. I wonder why. He is so chubby and fuzzy he waddles when he walks. Very cute.

Today has been a beautiful day here in Floyd. All week has been really, really nice. The mornings have been pretty chilly-mid 20’s. The days however have warmed up nicely with lots of sunshine-low 60’s. Amazing! We have hung our clothes outside on the line all week. How good is that! Almost mid November and this warm. I like it.

Today was ladies bible study day. We finished our study on Ruth. Our next study will be on Women Who Believed God. It looks like it will be a very good study. I always love starting a new study. I think it is so exciting. I can hardly wait to see what the Lord will reveal to us.

Lots to do so take care and God bless.

November 12, 2010 2

A Slight Breeze

We have a slight breeze here in Floyd today. Well, okay maybe more than a slight breeze but not a hard wind. Just perfect for drying clothes on the line. When the wind is blowing like this, the clothes are so soft when they get dry. We had a busy weekend but lots of fun. The girls and I went to Sam’s Club Saturday and picked up a few things. Before that we went to one of our local malls and walked around, just looking. This is something we never do, so that made it special. They have already started putting up their Christmas stuff. It was so much fun. Yesterday was church day. The pastors sermon was very good. He compared being a soldier in the Armed Forces with being a soldier in God’s army. He did a really good job. Last nights menu was soup, pinto beans, cornbread, tator tot casserole, cooked apples and carrot cake. Very good.

Today we are doing Grace’s birthday party. We are going over to our friends the Horns to celebrate. Vicki is making the cake and I am taking some homemade chicken noodle soup. We are all looking forward to a great day. I know I have said it before, but we are very blessed by the Lord to have the Horns in our life. We so appreciate their friendship.

Well, I gotta go party. Take care and God bless.

November 8, 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

Christfest

Anyone for pie in your face? I know you can’t see it very well but yes that is our pastor in the background with whipped creme all over his face. His game was to ask the children bible questions and if they answered correctly they get the throw a whipped creme pie in his face. It was, of course, a big “hit”. The kids stood in line for the opportunity to play his game. He is a really good sport. To be honest, it probably was his idea.

Will the real bumblebee please stand up? I think PawPaw needs a bigger costume, don’t you?

Sam had a lot of fun getting passed from person to person. It doesn’t take long for your arms to get tired holding this boy. He is constantly in motion. Well, more pictures next time. We all had fun.

Yesterday, we made cinnamon rolls and shared them with our best friends, the Horns. It was a nice visit, just not long enough. Today the girls and I are going for haircuts after school. I am going to stop to vote on the way. Hope all of you have a great day and God bless.

November 2, 2010 1

Outdoor Fun

We decided to surprise the girls today and do a picnic lunch. This area is one of their favorite picnic spots and it is close to home. We had a great time. We took so many pictures. I will share them with you all over the next few days. This is the road leading into the park. After lunch we came home and had some difficulties with our stove. As you all know, we have been using it a lot this summer. Hubby only recently replaced all the stove eyes and their receptables. Well, today as the steamer/juicer was busy with our second batch of cider, the receptable shorted out and caught on fire. Praise the Lord, Hubby was here and got everything under control quickly. This does mean, however, that until he can fix it the biggest eye on my stove is not usable. Well, “all things worketh good”. He has been wanting to fix us a place outside to use the propane burner to can on. So today, prompted by need, he got the burner set up and I used it to cook the second batch of apples on. It works really well. I’m not sure how it will do using the pressure canner though. We haven’t tried that yet.

We now have 2 gal. of apple cider. YEAH! We have been running the apples that have cooked down through the roma sauce maker. Yesterday we just used it for applesauce. It is really thick though as all the juice has been cooked out. Today, we decided to try something a little different. We make applebutter out of it. No cooking involved-no simmering for hours praying it does not stick. Just added the sugar and spices AND put it in freezer bags and froze it. I’m not sure how it will be but it certainly was easier. It tasted just like applebutter that had simmered for a long time so I think it will be good.

Well, I am tired so I think I will rest for a while. Oh, I almost forgot, Hubby got the room painted today. I guess the next step is to lay down the rug. Getting closer every day. Enjoy your evening and God bless.

October 21, 2010 2

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

Chilly morning

The girls and I are off to Sam’s Club this morning. I think I am going to like this click and pull idea. I just wanted to post our temperature this morning. 37 degrees. I think we might need to wear long sleeves today. I’m sure it will warm up as the day goes on. Take care and God bless.

October 2, 2010 2

Update on Repairs

I have no pictures to post today as I forgot the camera at Jessica’s. The girls and I came home to check on everything and wash some more clothes. We are leaving this morning to go back down. Hubby stayed at Jessica’s so he could get the drywall hung on the ceiling after David got in from work. They decided since the damage was so major they should just redo the entire laundry room. A redo was on the to-do list anyway. This just speeding it up a little.

Saturday was Daniel’s birthday party day. We had lots of fun. I have pictures of his party on my camera. I will post those next time, if I don’t forget my camera again. Well, I just wanted to let you all know where we where on the repairs. Enjoy your day and God bless.

September 8, 2010 1

Black Eyed Susans

I think these are such cheerful flowers. I like their bright color. They are among the last of the flowers to bloom in one of my flower gardens. Fall is definitely in the air here in Floyd. Cooler temperatures at night. Upper 50’s lower 60’s. We even spotted one tree that is starting to change colors. I love fall! Many people say summer has long lazy days. This is usually not true for me. Fall is more of a slow down time for us. Most of the canning is done. We can slow down and enjoy the cooler days. I love it! Of course, I have had to slow down a little earlier than planned this year but I think I have learned a lot from this experience. What have I learned? I need to slow down a little, enjoy life more, laugh more, do more things with my girls. There is much to be said for teaching my girls how to can and take care of the house but also there is much to be said for picnics under oak trees and hikes down favorite trails. Balance-I think it is all about balance.

Yesterday the girls and I made homemade vegetable beef soup with homemade rolls. It is starting to feel like soup weather. I told the girls the other day, these cooler temperatures makes me want to open up new school books. Amazing-cooler temps does not have the same effect on them. We wanted to make chocolate chip cookies yesterday but did not get them done. I think that will be a project for today. If we get to make them, I will try to post the recipe we use. We have some corn that needs to be pulled and worked up so I guess that too will be on the list for today. My list is not near as long as it was before the back pain.

Enjoy your day and God bless.

August 26, 2010 1

Sweet, Juicy Corn

Our corn is ready! I love fresh garden corn. We have been working some of it up this morning. So far we have put 58 ears in the freezer and 9 pts cut off the cob. I have a vacuum sealer which I use for the corn and other stuff. It is a very handy thing to have. I purchase items at the store in bulk at a discounted price and then separate them out into portions we can use. Then seal them with the vacuum sealer. It really makes a difference. No freezer burn.

The type of corn we raise is called Merit Corn or where I’m from they call it Garden Creek Corn. The man who had the seed for it lived on Garden Creek, thus the name. It is an excellent corn, very sweet. It is called the silkless corn because when you shuck it the silks just fall off with the shucks. I LIKE THAT! Makes working the corn so much easy.

We have been getting quite a lot of rain here this week. The temperatures have cooled down some though because of the rain. Yesterday, the girls and I worked on apples. 16 quarts to be exact. I used my new steamer juicer and extracted over a qt of juice from the peelings. We had fresh apple juice with breakfast this morning. Very delicious!

Better get busy. Enjoy your day and God bless.

August 19, 2010 2