Hello!

I thought I would share with you all a few pictures. Things are really coming to life here in Floyd. This is a field not too far from our home. Look at how green it is!!!

Yesterday, we went to check on a job. We took a few pictures along the way.

I love goldfinch. These were certainly enjoying their feeder.

Today is a nice day here in Floyd. Temperature is 66 degrees. The sky is overcast though. Dandelions are popping up all over the place. I think it is getting close time to make some dandelion jelly.

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

April 17, 2013 4

Friday

Hello everyone! I hope you all are having a good week so far. We have definitely had an assortment of weather types here this week. The first of the week was beautiful, warm. Our temperature one day was 70 degrees. It felt like spring. I hung clothes out on the line. Then the rain came-in buckets. We had heavy downpours of rain and high wind. Now the cold is here. Our temperature this morning is 10 degrees. We have wind gusts of 50 mph, wind chill temps below zero, and snow on the ground. It is very cold.

School has went well this week. On Wednesday, we helped a friend by changing some light fixtures. They are moving into a new place and are doing some small upgrades to the place before they move in. We took our school with us. As I have said before, this is one of the things we love about homeschooling. School adjusts to our schedule not our schedule adjusting to school. It was a nice day. We did a lot of catch-up as we had not really seen them in a while.

Well, I guess that’s about it. Stay warm and God bless.

February 1, 2013 3

Monday

Hello everyone! I hope you all had a great weekend. Things were kinda slow for us-just the way we like it. We didn’t do much of anything on Saturday, just normal cleaning chores. Yesterday, we had a nice day at church. My Secret Sister gave me a tin of homemade cake pops. They were delicious. We came home, ate lunch and then the girls and I went to the movie theater. We very seldom go to the theater. It is reserved for big treats. We usually try to go at Christmas time as part of their Christmas gift. We then went to Wal-Mart and finished up some shopping. Everyone is coming to our house Saturday for our Christmas get together.

Not much else going on here. I am making another batch of homemade yogurt. This time using the pureed fruit. Supper tonight is cabbage casserole, pintos and cornbread. We are warm here today-mid 40’s. I do not have a fire as of yet. We are holding off as long as possible.

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

December 17, 2012 3

Monday

Hello everyone! I thought I would share a few sunrise pictures from yesterday morning. It was a beautiful sky.

Saturday was very cold here. We ended up not doing much outside as it was just too cold. Sunday was cold in the morning but warmed up nicely as the day went on. A good thing too as it was parade day here in Floyd. We LOVE our Christmas parade. It is always so much fun. Pastor Tom and Mrs. Sally came home with us after church. We had taco soup and applesauce for lunch. Then we left for the parade. Our church did a float this year for the first time. Julie, Grace and several others walked behind the float and gave out candy. It was a lot of fun.

In this picture is Pastor Tom, Mrs. Sally, myself, Julie and Grace. Our float was one of the earlier ones, so everyone got to watch the remainder of the parade.

We are getting back into our routine today after a week break from school. We are working on science now. We have already finished bible and history. It promises to be a nice day here. It has warmed up already. Our temperature is upper 40’s with lots of sunshine.

Well, I better get busy. Enjoy your day and God bless.

November 26, 2012 5

Friday

Hello everyone! I hope you all are having a wonderful Friday. Things are good here. School is finished for the week. The girls and I are getting ready to clean out the chicken house. Definitely not a fun job but necessary. It is a nice day here in Floyd so that will make it a fairly pleasant job to do. We have been really cold here in the mornings though. Temperatures all this week have been mid to upper teens when we get up. CHILLY! However it warms up nicely during the day.

Chuck is coming tomorrow to help Hubby do some maintenance repairs on my car. I don’t think I have mentioned it before but please be in prayer for him as he is laid off from his work. We are praying he will get called back soon.

Well, I have lots to get done. Enjoy your day and God bless.

November 16, 2012 6

Blueberries and Squash

The girls and I picked a gallon of these beautiful blueberries yesterday. It was a nice day for picking. It rained on us before we got to the blueberry place but stopped before we got there. The bushes were wet but the temperature was not bad and the bugs even left us alone.

Today we made this zucchini pineapple recipe. We used yellow squash instead of zucchini. It actually tastes like pineapple. You would never know it had squash in it. I got the recipe from here. http://www.thefamilyhomestead.com/zucchinipineapple.htm A blogger friend of mine had made it the other day. She posted about it here. http://holcombhappenings.wordpress.com/2012/07/11/a-day-of-canning/ I think it will be really good.

Now, question time. I found out from the internet this squash is called a patty pan squash. Do any of you ladies have a recipe for it? Our pastor gave them to us and I really would like to try them. Online it says it pairs good with tomatoes but I thought I would ask you all.

Our weather change here has been amazing. We had rain yesterday which we so much needed. We laughed and said the plants in our garden were doing a happy dance for God. The temperatures have cooled off so much. We are right now at 73 degrees!!! Thank you Lord.

Well, that’s about all. I hope you have a great evening and God bless.

July 12, 2012 5

What’s Blooming

I thought I would show you ladies a few pictures of what is in bloom around our home. First, these lilies are huge this year.

I wish I could tell you the name of these, but I have forgotten what it is.

I love yellow and purple together.

I know the name of these-strawberries!!! We just planted these this year but they are doing very good.

Our raspberries are looking good this year. We love raspberries. They are just now starting to ripen. YUM!!

Today is a beautiful day here in Floyd. Our temperature is in the mid 70’s with a good breeze. Nice day for sitting in the shade and relaxing. We are having chicken and veggies on the grill for lupper and homemade ice cream is churning as I type. I hope you all have a wonderful day and God bless.

June 10, 2012 6

Birthday and Cherries

Today we celebrated my Julie’s 14th birthday. My, my, how time has flown by. Seems like just the other day, my Lord was surprising me by giving her to me. God is SO good. We celebrated at Groundhog Mountain with hamburgers, hotdogs and chocolate cake. The Horn’s came with us and Dave, Jess and the kids met us on the Blue Ridge Parkway at Meadows of Dan. We had a wonderful day!!

Mrs. Vicki bringing trucks for the boys to play with. You will notice she has on a jacket. It was kinda chilly here this morning. 42 degrees when we got up. I think it is supposed to be about that chilly tonight too. It was a nice day though-definitely not too hot.

Daniel seems to be deep in thought.

Jess and Katie. Katie is staying warm in her blanket.

From the picnic area, we went on down the Parkway to Levering Orchard to pick cherries.

The trees were loaded with cherries.

Can you tell Sam loves cherries!

If you look closely in this picture, you will see a man in the top of the tree picking.

We all had so much fun. I can’t think of a better way to spend the day than with family and best friends. Enjoy your day and God bless.

June 2, 2012 7

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

Fresh Mullein Tea

One of our favorite drinks in spring is mullein tea. It is so refreshing and has a slightly minty taste. The other day Grace had gathered some leaves from the tractor road. We have already drank that up so I thought we better make some more. Mullein has many medicinal purposes. We drink it because we just think it tastes good.

After gathering the leaves, I break them apart and put into a large kettle. Kettle size is based on how much mullein we have gathered. Cover the leaves with water and bring to a boil. Turn heat down and simmer for 10-15 min. Strain and sweeten to taste. This can be used hot or cold. I made a post last fall about drying mullein. You can read about it here. https://merryheartcrafts.com/?s=mullein

Today has been a nice day here in Floyd. We had some morning rain but the skies are clear now. Our temperature is upper 60’s with a good breeze. If you notice, we almost always have a breeze here. This is good in the summer, not so good in the winter. Anyway, clothes are on the line drying in the breeze. I love it.

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

March 31, 2012 2