daniel

I received this picture from Dave and could’nt wait to put it on my blog. Ain’t he just the cutest thing? Nothing says boy more than a baseball cap and a truck. Temperatures here have warmed up greatly. Highs in the upper 40’s to low 50’s. The girls have spent much time outside playing which of course Jasper (the pup) loves. The forecast however is calling for freezing rain Thursday night and Friday morning. Oh well, it is just the middle of January. Grace did find a dandelion in bloom yesterday, just to remind us spring is coming. Not much longer until we see some flowers in bloom. We normally have some early wildflowers that bloom here about the end of March- blood root, colts foot, and periwinkle. We get so excited when we see them. Only about 6 more weeks to go. In the mountains where I was raised, my Mom always planted lettuce, peas and onions on Valentines day. Can’t do that here. We have had frost as late as the end of May. I guess I better quit dream about spring and garden food and get to work. God Bless.

January 20, 2010 0

My Sticky Buns

Well, what do you all think? Not to be bragging, but they look pretty good, huh. Okay so maybe I am bragging a little! They did turn out pretty good though and they tasted good too. The good news is we finally have water in our bathroom. On Wednesday, our temperatures got above freezing, finally. I’m not completely sure but I think we have not been above freezing since Dec. 18 when the snow came. Actually there were many days were didn’t get out of the single digits. I know you all have heard this before, but I really don’t like cold weather. Anyway, yesterday, we got in the lower 40’s. The girls thought it was spring time. On Wednesday we went to visit our friends, the Horn’s. We returned to find no water pressure in the house, which of course indicates a problem. Usually this means a water leak somewhere. After much checking, we discover a busted water line in the little house building (where my wringer washer is). The line had frozen and when it thawed the old pipe just couldn’t take the pressure. This required much quick thinking on part of Hubby, as water is gushing out of the pipe. Thank God for hubbies! He quickly fixed this problem and before the night was out our bathroom thawed also. Thankfully, no leaks. School today as usual. We are not meeting for our Friday Ladies Class. One of our ladies is gone on a trip and the other one has car trouble. Hopefully next week all will fall back in place. I really miss when we don’t get to meet. These ladies are like family to me. Well, I better get to work. Oh, I wanted to let you all know, it is 9:00 A.M. and the temperature is already 30 degrees. WOW! God Bless.

January 15, 2010 1

Cinnamon Rolls

I made cinnamon rolls yesterday. Sorry for the small picture. I am having trouble with my blog pictures. I need some help, Dave!! Anyway this was my first attempt at cinnamon rolls. Jess has made them several times so I thought I would try my hand at them. They turned out pretty good. Well, it is still cold here. About 5 degrees with a wind chill of about -15 or more. Wind gusts of about 40 miles an hour today and tomorrow. Needless to say our water in the bathroom is still frozen. The girls had their first experience with washing their hair the old way today. Not a lot of fun but better than nothing, at least we are clean. It’s time for school to start so I better get busy. Stay warm and God Bless.

January 8, 2010 0

Apron

My first out of state order. Okay, so it goes to my cousin in Kansas but it counts anyway. Well, the big news here is Jess went yesterday for her ultra sound and IT’S A BOY!!!! My heart is happy. It amazes me to think of how good the God I serve is. To come from being a woman who thought she would have no babies to being blessed with children is just an example of how God loves to surprise His children. God is good!! Temperatures here are still cold. The high today is 24 degrees, wind chill of about 15. This is the warmest temperatures we have had in about one week. We have managed to keep the water running in the kitchen, but the bathroom has been frozen for several days. Oh well, at least we still have water. We went down to Jessica’s yesterday to watch Daniel while she went for her ultra sound. It was 32 degrees when we left her house, got back home to 16 degrees with a wind chill of about zero or below. Have I mentioned I do not like cold weather? This will make me appreciate spring more when it comes, right. I am making homemade rolls today and it is time to put them in the oven. Better go. God Bless.

January 6, 2010 1

Wall Hanging

This is my latest project. What do you’ll think? I have never been very good at hand sewing, however I have decided to hand sew each of my girls a wall hanging. Notice I did not say quilt(much too big a project). I thought though that a wall hanging would be do-able for me. I gave this one to Jess and plan to start one for Julie soon, then Grace. It really was a lot of fun. I guess because it was kinda different for me. I always enjoy trying new projects. Well the big news around here is the temperature. COLD!!! The actual temperature was around zero this morning with a wind chill of somewhere around 15 or 20 below. VERY COLD!!! Dave and Jess and Daniel came up this weekend. Of course, they are now accustomed to more southernly temperatures so they were very cold. But then we were very cold too. I really pray it doesn’t stay this cold all winter but I do recall one January about 5 years ago, the temperatures stayed like this for the entire month. Have I mentioned I don’t really like cold. Oh well, maybe this will kill out all the squash bugs that attacked our garden last year. We will (hopefully) find out Tuesday if Jess is having a boy or a girl. Sometimes those babies are shy and don’t want to let anyone know. Anyway she is starting to show her pregnancy and getting some flutterings which is very exciting. It was very good to have them up this weekend, they had not been here since Halloween and thats way too long. It’s almost time for our Sunday Night Study so I guess I better get busy. I’m taking leftovers from yesterday’s feast. God Bless.

January 3, 2010 0

Doll Bunkbed

Hubby’s latest project. A doll bed for Barbara’s grandchild. I hope she likes it. It was a lot of fun making. It fits the American girl dolls or any 18″ dolls. We will deliver it this evening. We are going over to our friends, the Horns, for tacos tonight. The girls can hardly wait. The ice storm predicted for this morning didn’t happen. I’m glad. Dave, Jess, and Daniel will be here tomorrow about lunch time. I think we’ll have ham, baked beans, pasta salad and homemade rolls. Maybe red velvet cake for dessert. Sounds pretty good! Guess I better get started on some of that food. Happy New Year and God Bless.

December 31, 2009 0

More Ice

The ice storm did come on Christmas morning. Not as much as they predicted but enough to do damage. So far, Praise God, we still have electricity. As you can tell from one of the pictures, one limb is hanging over the power line. George will have to work on this after the ice stops. Christmas dinner did occur. Lots of good food. Turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans, baked beans, sweet potatoes and homemade rolls. I wish all the family could have been together to enjoy it. Oh well, I guess we’ll just have to eat another big meal next weekend. Life is tough sometimes. Today has been spend playing board games, cards, and other fun activities. I pray your Christmas has been as enjoyable as mine. Maybe next post, I’ll put something summery and cheerful. God Bless.

December 25, 2009 0

Snow

Today is a beautiful day here in Floyd. Lots of snow. It’s really hard to get an accurate measurement here because of the wind but we know we got at least 8-10 inches, drifts are much deeper. The girls have already played in the snow and we have made snow cream. For those of you who do not know what snow cream is, you put snow in a large container, add sugar, vanilla and evaporated milk. Stir it up with a mixer and you have snow cream. Very good! The amount of ingredients vary so just keep tasting until you get it right. This is a favorite of ours whenever we get snow. I think today is a quilting day. You know one of those days where I just snuggle in with a project and enjoy the life the Good Lord has given me. I guess there will be no church tomorrow. I really miss going to church but it just can’t be helped. The roads are too bad to go anywhere. Jess even got snow in N.C. I wish I could see Daniel’s face when he gets to play in it. They do not get snow very often there. So it will be a treat for him. Well, I think I hear my quilt project calling my name. Enjoy your day and God Bless.

December 19, 2009 0

Flowers

I thought with winter so hard on us, we could use a little summer. These are from my flower garden this summer and I thought they looked very cheerful. The girls and I did something new this week. We made butter. This was a new experience for us. It was a lot of fun. We collected cream from our milk, added a little salt, put it in a quart jar and began to shake. No we did not have a churn, but it was not necessary for the small amount we made. We had about 1 cup of cream to begin with and ended up with about 1/2 cup of butter. Pretty exciting stuff. I also made a batch of laundry soap this week. We all went yesterday and got much needed haircuts. Gotta look good for those Christmas pictures. The weather forecast for this weekend is snow. Perhaps many inches of snow. I love snow! Hopefully we won’t have to postpone our visit with Chuck and the grandkids. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see. The other morning our pond was completely frozen. A goose was walking across it. I ran to get the camera, however by the time I got back the goose was gone. It would have made a great picture. It’s time for us to start working. School and all that fun stuff. God Bless.

December 17, 2009 0

Fire

For those of you who do not have the comfort of a wood fire to enjoy, I thought I would share ours. One of the girls(I’m not sure which one) took this picture. I thought it looked so warm and cozy. Today I cooked chicken and dumplings over that wood fire in my cast iron kettle. YUM! Very cold temperatures this morning made us really appreciate that wood fire. The temperature was around 8 degrees with a below zero wind chill. COLD!!! Today it warmed up to the mid 20’s and the wind has laid down some but it is still very cold. Oh well, I quess it’s that time of year. Today was bible study day here at my home. One of the ladies brought some wild rice soup to share with everyone. Thanks, Barbara. We have about 2 weeks left on our Peter study and then in January we plan to start Beth Moore’s Esther study. We will be taking a 2 week Christmas break. Well I guess I better get some work done. I am working on a quilt. I will try to post a picture when it is finished. God Bless.

December 11, 2009 0