Hello Everyone!

I think it has been a long time since I made a post but things have been kinda busy here. Jess and the boys came up on Thursday. We spent Friday doing some shopping and then Dave came up Friday evening. He and Hubby went over to our pastor’s house for a men’s shoot on Saturday. Today Dave, Jess and the boys went with us to church. It was pastor appreciation day. We had a fellowship meal after church with lots and lots of good food.

Today has been a very nice day here in Floyd. Sunshine, a slight breeze and a temperature of about 65 degrees. Very nice. I hope to get some fall pictures this week to show you all. The trees are starting to get beautiful colors here. Tomorrow the girls and I will go down to play with the boys while Jess has one last ultra sound. She only has about 3 weeks to go.

This is a picture of some flowers that are blooming beside the road on our way to church. Aren’t they pretty? Well, I have a lot of posts to read to get caught up on what has been happening in everyone else’s life. Enjoy your day and God bless.

October 9, 2011 5

A Dirt Road

I love dirt roads. Yes, for those of you who live or have lived on a dirt road, you are probably thinking that I’m a little bit crazy. Well, yes, I am that but I do think dirt roads have a yesterday feel to them. Forget about the fact that your vehicle is always dirty, either with dust or with mud. They just have a slower type atmosphere about them, which I love.

Yesterday, we went to play with the boys while Jess went to the doctor. She and Katie are both doing well. Time is ticking down for them, just a few more weeks to go. Well, I’m going to tell you all, those boys sure know how to pull on MawMaw’s heart strings. I made the comment that it was getting time to go and Sam immediately wants MawMaw, following me everywhere, wanting me to hold him. Daniel doesn’t want us to leave either. We finally get out the door and I am almost to the car when Daniel opens the back door and says “MawMaw, I wish you could just stay forever and ever.” I tell you, I sure love those boys. They will be coming up this weekend. Saturday, our pastor is having a men’s shoot at his house. David and Hubby will be going to that.

I will leave you all with a sunrise picture Grace took the other morning. She was standing on our front porch when she took it. Enjoy your day and God bless.

October 5, 2011 5

Homemade Pumpkin Pie Spice Coffee Creamer

I thought I would share with you all my recipe for pumpkin pie spice coffee creamer. I got the original recipe from http://drink.betterrecipes.com/pumpkin-pie-spice-coffee-creamer.html I have altered it a little to suit our taste. I use 1 cup plain non dairy coffee creamer, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 cup powdered milk and 1 tbsp pumpkin pie spice mix. Mix together with a whisk. After mixing, I put the mixture in my coffee grinder and grind it up a little finer than it already is, just to make sure everything is incorporated. This creamer goes wonderful with the pumpkin spice coffee I told you all about yesterday. This jar is for Jess, per request. We will be going down on Saturday for her baby shower.

I have clothes to get on the line and school to start so I guess I better get busy. I hope you all enjoy your day and God bless.

September 29, 2011 7

Pirate in Training

Sorry, I have no picture to share today. We went down to Jessica’s yesterday for Daniel’s birthday party and I forgot to put the card in the camera, so no pictures. He had a great party though. At this point, pirates are very big in his world so he had a pirate party. Now I’m getting ready to tell you what was (in my opinion) the best part of the party. Jess had bought “pirate sword and shields” for all the kids at the party. There was about 8 kids there. They are all playing pirate and here comes Daniel with a sword and a shield for MawMaw. “Come on, MawMaw, we got pirates to get”. So here we go around the house with our swords and shields ready. I am sneak attacked by a pirate. I said to Daniel, “help, I’m under attack!” Here he comes, so serious. “Don’t worry, MawMaw. I’ll save you”. Now how cool is that. All those kids to play with and he wanted to play with MawMaw. God is so good. Enjoy your day and God bless.

September 18, 2011 7

Stack Cake

It’s not very often I make two posts in one day, but I thought this was worth sharing. Tomorrow we will be going down to play with the boys while Jess has another doctor’s appointment. She asked me if I could make her a stack cake. This cake goes by different names. Some call it a stack cake, others a “lassie” cake (molasses). No matter what you call it, it is GOOD! In the mountains where I grew up, this cake was common at most all family get-togethers. It is not as common now, as the art of making them has all but disappeared. It took me many years of trial and error, but I finally got it. (I think, anyway.) These cakes are best eaten the next day. Most like them with a cold glass of buttermilk. In Grundy, these sell for $15.00-$20.00 and worth every penny. The layers are thin and between them is a good amount of homemade applebutter. Well, I just wanted to show you all my accomplishment for the day. Just kidding, it didn’t take me all day to make it but it did take a long time to clean up afterward. Enjoy your day and God bless.

September 15, 2011 8

A Glimpse of Fall

Just a little glimpse that fall is on the way. Dried corn stalks are definitely a sign. Yesterday, the girls and I went to play with the boys while Jess went to have another ultra sound. This time Katie was in the birth position instead of breech. Praise the Lord! I want to thank you all for praying for her and ask that you continue to pray. She has about 9 weeks to go.

Today, we will finish up the pears. I think I will make juice from what is left. I may end up canning some more. I’ll wait and see. Tomorrow we plan on spending the day with the Horns. We are going to Paint Bank. I will hopefully get lots of pictures to show you. We are so looking forward to this. It has been several years since we have been there and the Horns have never been. I hope they enjoy it as much as we do. Our hens have picked up some on their laying. Yesterday, we got 5 eggs. We haven’t gave them any scraps (except just a few little treats).

This lone tree sits in the field behind our house. If you look closely, you can see the leaves are starting to change. It has been so dry here, I’m not sure if we will have very much color. I hope so, though. I so enjoy the colors of fall.

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

September 2, 2011 5

He Needs A Name

Well, we have decided to give Mr. Rooster a chance. If he is a good boy, I guess we’ll keep him. We all think he sounds so cute when he crows. We have decided his crow adds a little something to our day. Wow, we really DO need to get out more. Anyway, we’ll see how it works out.

Yesterday, we worked with blackberries. We made some blackberry juice. Then took the berries we had cooked down to make the juice and put them in the Roma sauce maker. The sauce maker takes out all the seeds. We then make blackberry freezer jam. We had some blackberry puree left over and I wondered what I would do with it. Then I thought HOMEMADE BLACKBERRY ICE CREAM! It was so good. I tried to take a picture to share with you all but I couldn’t get it to turn out right. I got the recipe online at Cooks.com but altered it some to better suit us. Anyway, here is the recipe I used:

2 cups blackberry puree, 2 cups sugar, 3 eggs beaten, 1/4 tsp salt, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 6 cups milk, 1 can (12 oz) evaporated milk. I mixed all the ingredients together and put it into the ice cream maker. I plan on making peach ice cream this weekend when Dave, Jess and the boys come up.

I went to work with Hubby this morning and helped him until lunchtime. Then came home and the girls and I started working on the peaches. We made some peach freezer jam and then canned some of the peaches. We saved the peelings again and got 2 more qts of peach juice. We also had a peach cobbler for supper. I love peaches.

I am looking forward to tomorrow as Sam and Daniel will be coming up to spend the day with us. Enjoy your evening and God bless.

August 3, 2011 3

Sunset

When Dave & Jess were up for the weekend, we all went riding in the “bumpy” truck. This is one of Daniel’s favorite things to do when he comes to our house. It also is one of Grace’s favorite things to do. She took this beautiful picture of the sunset.

Yesterday, we went to a friend’s house. Her sister has thornless blackberries and she had said we could come and pick. We picked about 1 gal. They are very easy to pick. No thorns-I really like that. We then went back to my friend’s house and had a cookout. We had hamburgers, pinto beans, cole slaw and watermelon. It was a really nice day. We got 3 pints of blackberry juice and 4 pts of blackberry jam, plus saved back about a quart to eat.

I have some aprons to deliver today, then we will be going over to the Horn’s for a visit. After that, the girls have piano lessons. I need to get one more apron made before we leave so I guess I better get busy. Enjoy your day and God bless.

July 12, 2011 2

Surprise!

Yesterday, we went down to watch the boys while Jess went for her ultrasound. This time the baby was not shy. Jess will be having a little girl in November. All seems healthy which of course is the most important thing. About 2 months ago, while in Goodwill, I found this darling little dress. I thought it was so cute I just had to buy it. You know, just in case it was a girl. I figured I could always give it as a gift to someone.

We had quite a lot of rain last night and today has been alternately overcast and then sun. I have clothes on the line hoping to get them dry. It is very humid here with a temperature of 90 but we do still have a slight breeze.

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

July 6, 2011 9

Fun Weekend

We had a really fun visit with Dave, Jess, and the boys this weekend. Our hammock got lots of attention. This is Sam and Daddy. Sam says he’s not ready for a nap yet.

Looks like Daddy won!

As I said, the hammock got lots of attention this weekend. I hope you all have a great 4th of July. Enjoy your day and God bless.

July 4, 2011 6