Trout Fest

Remember a similar picture from last year. Same little girl perched on the drainpipe. Obviously she really likes the spot.

Now its brothers turn to sit for a while. We really had a nice day with about 90 people showing up all total. After we came home from the fishing we worked in the upper garden. Hubby tilled, and the girls and I set out the plants. They looked great. But then they wilted badly. We watered them when we planted them, again the next morning and again yesterday evening before we went to church. Last night the Lord watered them for us so we are hoping they look better now. I haven’t went up to the garden yet to check on them. If they do not perk up, I am afraid they will not survive. We’ll just have to wait and see.

We plan on going over to the Horns today for lunch and some play time then on to piano practice. I don’t think I told you all but we have ducklings now-12 of them. They are very shy and it is hard to get a picture of them. Mama duck keeps them hid most of the time. I’ll keep trying though.

Time for us to get busy. I have a load of clothes to hang out on the line and several more to get done. Enjoy your day and God bless.

May 23, 2011 5

Free At Last

Our chicks. Look how big they are getting. Today we finally finished their fenced in area and let them out from their little house. They were very excited and loved pecking in the grass and dirt. They are so much fun to watch. Now when Daniel comes up, he will be able to see them much better.

Today has been nice here. We worked on the fence and made the gate. Then Hubby and I went to get haircuts. A lady from our church cuts our hair. She does it at her home and always has home baked goodies to share with us. It’s like a visit instead of just a hair cut. We always sit around eating a snack, drinking coffee and talking after our hair is cut.

Tomorrow is our church’s trout fest day. Hopefully I will get some good pictures to share with you all. Maybe, after we get back, our garden will be dry enough to do some work in it. I hope to get the plants in the ground from the greenhouse. They are definitely ready to be planted. Next year, though, I don’t think I will plant any pepper or broccoli seeds. They just did not do well at all. The tomatoes, squash, and cucumbers though are huge.

Enjoy your evening and God bless.

May 20, 2011 3

Little Tomatoes

Aren’t they so cute! These little guys are on the big tomato plant we bought. Makes my mouth water just looking at them. Today has been dry at least. No rain. We were able to hang clothes on the line. YEAH!

We received a wonderful blessing yesterday. Billy gave us a quarter of a beef. You will notice on my canning log a new entry. Thank you, Lord. My computer is out of commission-so sad. Dave says he thinks it is the hard drive. I will be using Hubby’s computer for a while. I miss my computer already. Hopefully, we will be able to get it fixed before too long.

Time to take one of the canners off. Enjoy your day and God bless.

May 19, 2011 4

Parkway View

We had a really nice weekend here in Floyd. Dave, Jess and the boys came up to celebrate Hubby’s birthday. Jess and I went to a yard sale in town. Later that evening they took us all out to eat at a local Mexican restuarant. We had a great time. On Sunday we went on a picnic down the parkway. This is a picture we took from one of the lookouts.

Today, we went down to watch the boys while Jess went to her doctors appointment. All is going well with her and the baby. Thank you, Lord. She will find out next month if she is having a girl or a boy. Daniel said they don’t want any “gwirls” there. Jess told him “but what about Mommy.” Daniel said “You’re not a “gwirl” , you’re Mommy. We are just praying for a healthy baby-boy or girl.

We have been getting lots of rain here. We have had a little sun this evening but mostly overcast. We still do not have our plants in the garden yet. It has just been too wet. We don’t have the brush pile burned or the lower garden tilled. I still have lots of flower seeds to get in the ground too. Oh well, all in God’s time.

Enjoy your evening and God bless.

May 16, 2011 3

Snowball bloom

We have a very small snowball bush that was given to us last year by a friend from church. I was not sure it would survive the winter but it did and now has one beautiful bloom on it. It also has several new starts coming up from the root. Next year we are hoping for lots of bloom.

Yesterday the girls and I went to big town. We needed chicken feed and a few other things. We went to Books-A-Million, which is a big treat for us. We used to have one in Christiansburg but they moved to Blacksburg. The girls had some money they had been saving. They each bought a new book with their money. I found this documentary in the bargain DVD basket. I am thinking of using it some for next year’s history course.

We have had several days of fog and rain. Today, though, the sun is peeking through the fog. Hopefully the weekend will be nice. Dave, Jess, and the boys are supposed to come up for the weekend. Our church is having a clay shoot tomorrow. Dave is going with Hubby to shoot and the rest of us are going to a big yard and craft sale here in Floyd. We hope to picnic Sunday and celebrate Hubby’s birthday.

Enjoy your day and God bless.

May 13, 2011 4

Baby Gooseberries

Our gooseberry bush promises to have lots of fruit on it this year. We’ve glad as we really like them. We spent today making a swing for our neighbor. She is in her upper 70’s and loves to swing in her yard swing after working in the garden. We first intended to repair her old swing but it was just too far gone. Hubby made her a new one exactly like her old one. We took it down and hung it up for her. She was very happy. We so enjoy doing things that make others happy.

Today has been a nice day here in Floyd. A slight breeze with warm temperatures. You all will not believe how much our plants have grown in the greenhouse. I will try to take a picture of them soon to let you see them. Well, it is late and we are all hungry. I’m frying chicken for supper with gravy, corn and biscuits. Enjoy your day and God bless.

May 9, 2011 2

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

Grundy Visit

This weekend we went down to Grundy to move my in laws into their new house. It was a long hard weekend but well worth it. I have a few house pictures but for some reason they did not load correctly. I will try again later but here are a few pictures that did load. This is looking out her kitchen window.

A view from the back yard. The new house was built in the exact location of the old house just laid out differently.

View from the side yard.

Her azelea bush. We bought her this bush several years ago as a mothers day gift.

One of her snowball bushes. She definitely has a green thumb. We had a good visit and got lots of their stuff moved into the new house. We were hoping to get them in completely but time ran out. Hopefully they will spend their first night in the new house tonight.

I did finally get the other pictures loaded. This is their kitchen. She has never had built in cabinets. Very exciting for her.

Their floors. I’m not sure what is going on with the 3 pieces that do not match. They ran out of the other and used those. Hubby was appalled. Of course, the contractor in him found all sorts of flaws. This one though is very obvious.

Their bathroom. They are so excited to have a bathroom. This new house is set up handicap ready as my father in law has to use a walker. I know this will make their life so much easier.

Well, enough for now. It is past time for school to start. I just wanted to show everyone a little of what we’ve been doing over the weekend. Enjoy your day and God bless.

May 2, 2011 2

Tomato Plant

Yesterday, while in town, we visited our local greenhouse. We bought some cabbage plants and this tomato. See the bloom at the top. Hopefully, we will get tomatoes early from it. I put it in a bucket (dry wall ) and as of now it is on the front porch. I plan on moving it out on the front deck, then moving it back in a night. For today it will probably stay on the porch-too windy outside. I tried to leave it out some yesterday but the wind kept blowing it over.

The other day when my brother in law came, he brought us over some morel mushrooms. It was a very nice treat. These grow in the wild and are only available in early spring. Some people call them dry land fish. Anyway, after eating the ones he brought us we decided to go looking for some here. Hubby thinks it is still a little too early for here but we had a lot of fun looking. It was so nice to get out in the woods and walk around.

Time for school. Enjoy your day and God bless.

April 27, 2011 3

Baby Emily

This is Baby Emily, David’s neice. She is a very hardy eater and seemed very content in Daddy’s arms.

Daniel and his cousin Zack riding bikes. Zack is Emily’s older brother.

And baby Sam held prisoner in his walker. We all had a lot of fun with lots of good fun. Jess had ham, mashed potatoes, green beans, rolls and banana pudding. YUM!

Yesterday we went to get the inspection sticker on my car and found out the tie rods ends were bad. We had to make a run to C-burg to get new ones. Hubby and his brother put them on yesterday evening. We went back in this morning and got the inspection sticker. Hubby still does not have his window fixed on the van. This has given him much trouble. He of course is trying to fix the old one instead of buying a new one. For some reason, the wire is not winding up on the spool correctly.

We are getting rain today. Temperatures are warm though so it will be very good for everything. The girls and I checked our seeds out yesterday underneath our greenhouse. We have a few tomatoes coming up, cucumbers and broccoli. Very exciting. Well, our lunch break is over. Time for school to start. Enjoy your day and God bless.

April 26, 2011 3