Monday

Today has been a beautiful day here in Floyd. Plenty of sunshine with a good breeze. Perfect for drying clothes on the line. I love to see clothes flapping in the wind. This means they will dry quickly and will be so soft.

I tried a new homemade coffee creamer today. It is Almond Coffee Creamer. I changed the recipe some to suit our tastes. 3/4 cup powdered sugar, 3/4 cup non-dairy coffee creamer, 3/4 cup powdered milk, 1/2 tsp. cinnamon, 1 tsp almond extract. Put all ingredients into blender and blend well. I must admit I had some trouble getting it to blend together but I just keep on trying. I like almond extract in other things so I thought it would be worth trying. I do like it and think it would definitely be worth making again. I was wondering if I could use this same recipe with different extracts, peppermint for example. I’m not sure how the cinnamon would go with the peppermint though.

Enjoy your day and God bless.

November 14, 2011 7

Finished with Deer

No picture-just wanted to let you all know we have finished working up the deer. We got 20 qts canned, 16 roasts in the freezer and 15 bags of tenderloin. YEAH! We are all tired and so I think tonights supper will be left over homemade chicken noodle soup. Enjoy your day and God bless.

November 12, 2011 7

Sunset

Hello ladies! I was sitting here trying to think of a picture to use for this post. I looked out the window and there it was. BEAUTIFUL! and to think I almost missed it. God is so good to allow me to see such glimpses into His character. Obviously He loves color.

Today started off pretty warm. When we got up the temperature was 49 degrees. It has however dropped all day. Now it is 35 degrees and the wind has picked up all day. I think we are forecasted to be in the teens by morning. YUCK! Well, outside may be getting chilly but inside our fire is keeping us nice and warm.

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

November 10, 2011 5

A Splash of Color

My Christmas cactus is blooming. I don’t think it has ever bloomed at Christmas but it’s very pretty no matter when it blooms. I love the bright pink color. It always makes me feel happy when I look at it.

Temperatures here this morning were mid 20’s with a heavy frost. It has warmed up already to low 30’s and the sun is shining. I think it will be a nice day. We will be doing school as usual, then we have some wood to unload. We also need to go into town to get some chicken feed. Thank the Lord, we have once again sold enough eggs to pay for the feed.

Jess and Katie are doing well and big brothers are adjusting nicely to having a little one in the house. Katie seems to be (as of right now) a very content little girl. She sleeps very well at night, 3-4 hrs between bottles. Amazing! David will be going back to work on Thursday. He took a week vacation during Katie’s birth.

Well, it is almost time for school and I have clothes to hang out. Enjoy your day and God bless.

November 8, 2011 5

Happy Birthday, Grace!

Happy birthday to my baby! 12 wonderful and amazing years. God is so good. I never ever dreamed He had you waiting for me. Thank you, Lord.

Not much else happening here this morning. Just planning for Grace’s celebration. The Horn’s are coming over and we will be having homemade pizza and birthday cake.

Enjoy your day and God bless.

November 5, 2011 6

Christfest 2011

Every year our church has a halloween alternative. We call it Christfest. It is a big outreach. Lots of children come to play games and get candy. Last night was no different. Our fellowship hall was overflowing with children and adults, laughing and just in general having a great time. This little lion (Kaleb) is adorable.

Chocolate candy is always abundant. As a matter of fact, in the bulletin when we are requesting donations of candy, it actually specifies individually wrapped chocolate.

This young man was just a doctor, then he got the glasses at one of the games, and instantly became a mad scientist.

Everyone participates. From clowns,

to hunters,

to fun loving,

to one needing a small nap. Our pastor (regrettably I did not get any pictures) asked the children bible questions. If they answered correctly they got to throw a whipped creme pie at him. I’m not sure who had the most fun with this game, him or them. It actually was his idea-go figure. And last of all, my baby girls. No longer babies, except to me.

Enjoy your day and God bless.

November 1, 2011 5

A Few More Festival Pictures

I thought I would share a few more festival pictures today. These handmade baskets were beautiful! Too pricey for me but very, very pretty.

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Darling sheep. They had a sheep herding demonstration. The dogs were very well trained.

And a horse pulling competition. Huge horses. 16 pair of them altogether. They had some in a trailer and you could come by and pet them. Julie loved it. There was one pair of mules but they did not pull anything. They hooked them up to the load but the mules just stood there. I’m not sure if it was too heavy for them or if they were just being stubborn.

Believe it or not, we actually had some snow flurries this morning. Our temperature is in the lower 30’s. We have a fire built in the wood stove, with homemade beef stew simmering on it. I am getting ready to make some rolls to go with the stew. It is a snuggle in kind of day. I hope you all have a great day and God bless.

October 29, 2011 7

The Pond

I thought I would show you all a few different views of our pond. You have seen this view many times.

I took this picture from the tractor road looking toward the house.

We had a little wind yesterday, so I thought I would show you the waves on the pond. So relaxing.

Today has been very nice here. Our temperature is mid 60’s with a slight breeze. We did school and worked on some more apple juice. Not a lot going on. Jess had a doctor’s appointment yesterday. All is going along nicely. She has to go back Monday(if not before!) Please continue to pray for her and Katie. Your prayers are so appreciated.

It is getting time for me to start supper. Tonight we will be having canned beef with noodles, green beans, corn and pone bread. Dessert will be fresh made applesauce. Enjoy your day and God bless.

October 27, 2011 8

Mullein

I thought I would show you all a picture of mullein. The girls and I went gathering it this morning. We got quite a lot.

I then looked it (I think this might be a mountain term) and removed any that did not look good. I have the first batch in the dehydrator now. As I said yesterday, this is the first time I have tried drying it. I will show you all pictures of it after it is dryed. I usually just gather the leaves and make a tea from them, add sugar or honey and use it as a cold tea. It is very good cold with a minty taste. The problem with this is there are no leaves to gather in the winter. I have never tried this as a hot tea but according to what I have read on line, you use 1 tbsp. dried mullein to a cup of hot water. Let it steep for about 10 minutes and strain the liguid through a coffee filter or cheesecloth. You will need to add honey to this, as it is bitter without a sweetener. This is good for coughs and respiratory ailments.

I have finished drying the mullein and I thought I would just add the picture of it here on this post.

I will store this in an airtight container to enjoy over the winter. It actually yielded much more than I thought it would. Enjoy your day and God bless.

October 26, 2011 7

More Festival Pictures

I have so many pictures to share. Here are a few more from our day at the Festival.

Here the horses are grinding the cane into juice for making molasses.

The man in charge of making the molasses was very nice. He took the girls through the entire process step by step. He even let them have a turn skimming off the foam.

Spinning wool.

An old baby cradle.

Today we have been busy with school. I did a batch of apples in the steam juicer. Washed several loads of laundry. I have a roast in crockpot for supper. We will be having potato gravy, green beans and homemade rolls with it. Enjoy your day and God bless.

October 24, 2011 6