Grapes

This picture of our grapevine was taken on April 12. This is what it looked like last week.

It seems to be growing every day and full of baby grapes!

This makes me very happy. I hope to make some jelly this year and lots and lots of grape juice! We so enjoy having our own juice to drink.

Our weekend was a busy one. I didn’t get to tell all about it on yesterdays post. It was late and I was tired. Anyway, on Friday, our church had a mother/daughter banquet. It was lots of fun with about 25 ladies attending. Then on Saturday, we had to go to Jessica’s to start working on some things her ins. agency said needed to be done. After we got there, Hubby realized we would need the scaffold, so we came back home Saturday evening. We went back down on Sunday and finished it up. Jess, the kids, myself, Julie and Grace went to the Farmers Market on Sunday. We had a great time just walking around looking at everything. Okay, so I have to tell you, we rode Jessica’s van to the market. 7 of us. We took the double stroller and the small stroller, plus, of course, all the other stuff you need for small kids. Needless to say, her van was packed. Then when we get there, the first thing Jess sees-2 HUGE hanging baskets, that would look just perfect on her front porch. Now if you would like to have seen something funny, you should have been there in the parking lot watching us try to get all that stuff back in the van. It really was hilarious!! We finally did it though and didn’t even damage her new hanging baskets. I guess we are just talented.

Our lunch break is over and so I must get back to school. Enjoy your day and God bless.

May 8, 2012 5

New Home

The little chicks new home is ready!! We worked on it all day today-running the fence and putting up the gate. Hubby helped or we would not have finished it. They have 150 feet of fenced in area to run in.

Check out their gate. It was an old baby crib spring.

They seem very happy to have more room. We are planning on leaving them in the building part tonight to give them time to adjust. Tomorrow we will open the door and see how they do in the fenced in lot. Needless to say, we are all tired but SO happy to get this big job done.

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

May 7, 2012 6

Snowball bush

Some of you all might remember this picture from last year. Last year’s post was titled “Snowball bloom” because it only had one bloom on it. This year it looks like this.

It has lots and lots of bloom on it.

Today is foggy here. Very damp. I was hoping to hang clothes outside on the line to dry but I don’t think that is going to happen. It is fairly warm though-55 degrees. We are working on school this morning. Then I have an appointment to get two tires put on the car and get an inspection sticker. I guess that will fill up my afternoon. By the time I get back it will be time for supper. We are having homemade soup this evening with grilled cheese sandwiches. I used the remainder of the pork that I cooked Saturday for the soup. the girls and I are having chocolate gravy for lunch. It is one of their favorites.

Well, it is time for me to go check math problems. I hope you all have a great day and God bless.

April 30, 2012 6

Goslings

I thought I would show you all how big these goslings are. It always amazes me how fast they grow. They are however ravenous eaters. We also have ducklings (we think). She hatched them off and took them up into the field. We have not seen them since. Mama and Papa Duck are still around though so we are confident the ducklings are too. Mama is just keeping them well hidden.

I forgot to mention in yesterdays post about the chick house, all the planks and the door are from the old farmhouse we are working on. He said we could have all the old wood. We have been thinking of ways to reuse it. I think some of it will go to box in the remainder of our back porch. Today is a nice day here in Floyd. Temperature is 66 degrees. We have had some sun but it is overcast now and I think rain is coming.

Tonights menu at church is kraut and weiners, pinto beans, cornbread, cole slaw and strawberry rhubarb pie. (Thats just what I know about). For a class of 10-12 people, we sure do eat good. Time for me to start getting everything ready. Enjoy your evening and God bless.

April 29, 2012 4

Little Chicks New Home

We’ve been busy getting the little chicks new home ready for them. They are growing so fast. They have outgrown their little coup and are in need of a bigger home. We decided this building would work great for them. It was a metal shed we built several years ago to store the lawn mower in. It needed planks on the inside to keep it warm in the winter. The girls and I put them up Friday evening. Then this morning, we all went out and got started fixing the front. It now has a nice door and a window and is fully enclosed. All we lack now is making some nests for them and putting up the fence and building the gate. Okay, so that sounds like we lack quite a bit but we are one step closer now than we were yesterday. You can see one of the old hens in front of the house. They were so curious as to why we were blocking off the shed as it is one of their favorite places to take a dust bath.

Today was cool here. Temperatures were in the high 40’s-lower 50’s. We wore light jackets all day while we were working. We came in and ate supper. I knew today would be a long day outside working so this morning I put some pork in the crockpot and some pinto beans in another crockpot. All I had to do when we came in was fry some potatoes and make cornbread. I then decided to build a fire as it was about 60 degrees in the house. We are nice and warm now. There is just something very comforting about a wood fire. So relaxing.

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

April 28, 2012 4

Ouch!!!

I thought I would show you ladies what happens when a cinderblock falls on your toe. Thankfully, I was wearing boots or it would have been lots worse. I must tell you all though, I really hesitated about showing you this picture. I did not realize I had such strange looking feet until I took this picture. Oh well, they are what they are, I guess. It didn’t get me out of work though. I had to go with him this morning to texture the ceiling on the sheetrock job. That job is finished now so we can go back to working just the remodeling job. He has been going to the sheetrock job in the mornings and the remodeling job in the evenings. Doesn’t that sound wonderful!!! 2 jobs at one time. We are so blessed.

Our temperatures did warm up some today. I think we actually got to about 50 degrees. It is supposed to be cold again tonight. I just finished building a fire to keep us toasty warm. I kinda thought we were finished with fires for this season but I guess I was wrong. I hope all this cold doesn’t destroy the fruit harvest.

I hope you all have a great evening. God bless.

April 24, 2012 8

Snow

Hello ladies! Just a quick post to let you all know we are getting snow. It has been snowing here all morning. Nothing has laid on but it sure is pretty to look at. Temperature is 32 degrees with lots of wind. Feels like winter not spring.

Well, I am off to help Hubby. He is already on the job site waiting for me. School is almost finished. The girls will do history after lunch. Enjoy your day and God bless.

April 23, 2012 8

Grapevine

Our grapevine is coming along nicely. Remember last year we cut it back too much and didn’t get not one single grape from it. We are hoping for lots and lots of grapes this year.

We have been busy this week with school and other miscellaneous things. Nothing too big. We went to help Hubby yesterday. The room he is working on needs lots of work on the floor. It is sagging very badly. He has to take the floor up and get under the house to jack it up. It had little linoleum squares on it that had been put on with some kind of heavy duty glue. We had to take the heat gun to each individual square and then use a shovel to get them up. It took most of the day.

We are having a little cold spell here. We call it dogwood winter as the dogwoods are in full bloom. We have been in the upper 20’s at night with frost. Yesterday’s high was low 40’s with lots of wind. Chilly but today has been nice. Sun and temperatures in the low 60’s. I like that much better.

Well, that’s about all that is happening here. I hope you all have a wonderful evening and God bless.

April 12, 2012 4

Questions

Look at our new toy! Grace and I put it together this evening. The thing is I’m not sure how to use it. Do we leave it inside when we start the seeds or do we put it outside? I am totally unfamilar with one of these. I tried to find out how to use it on the internet but could’nt find exactly what I was looking for. Have any of you used one? If so, could you share your knowledge. Grace is really excited about starting seeds so I would really like to make it work. I have tried starting seeds for many years but never have success. They grow up tall and “spindly” and then die. Last year we tried starting them like this: https://merryheartcrafts.com/2011/04/20/our-greenhouse/ They looked really good until we transplanted them and they just died. So sad! All that work and then nothing. I REALLY want Grace to be more successful than I have been over the years, so as I said earlier, any advice would be appreciated.

Enjoy your day and God bless.

April 10, 2012 8

Egg Hunt

Yesterday we went down to Jessica’s to celebrate Easter with them. We enjoyed a great meal of honey baked ham and turkey, potato salad, green beans, potatoes, baked beans, deviled eggs and several different types of dessert. After we ate, the kids were ready to hunt eggs. I think the look on Sam’s face says it all.

On the way back home we stopped at this little spot on the parkway. Grace wanted to get a few pictures.

I have forgotten the name of this little spot but I think it was a grist mill at one time.

Grace and Julie. It’s not very often I get a picture of them together. We then went for a little walk down to the creek. It was very pretty.

Enjoy your day and God bless.

April 9, 2012 6