Ice

Yesterday morning we awoke to this. Ice was everywhere. We think the fog froze as we had lots of fog. It was slippery here but once we got on the road it was fine. We awoke this morning to sleet. YUCK! Thankfully, the temps warmed up enough to melt the sleet before Hubby left for work. The rest of the day so far has lots of rain and fog but no sleet. The girls and I had planned on going to Sam’s today but we have postponed that trip until later in the week, for just in case. I do not want to take a chance on running into slick roads.

We have been doing school today and, of course, a little house cleaning as well. Supper tonight will be beef roast with potatoes and carrots and homemade rolls (which I better get busy making). I will leave you all with one more picture. This was taken yesterday about 5:00 p.m. while we were on our way to church. Still a little icy with a little fog.

Enjoy your day and God bless.

January 23, 2012 7

Chuck’s Visit

Today, Chuck and his family came for a visit. We had a very nice day. We ate baked ham, mashed potatoes, green beans, corn, sweet potato casserole, homemade rolls and biscuits with peaches for dessert. He loved his swing. I am hoping it makes it home safely. He left with it tied on the top of his Pathfinder. The kids played with the kitties most of the day. The other big entertainment was clothes pins. Children have such imaginations.

A picture of the food table.

Here we all are getting ready to eat. Julie is hiding behind Chuck.

I pray you all have a wonderful Christmas and God bless.

December 23, 2011 5

My Christmas Gift

Hubby has been working on my Christmas gift. I love it!!!

This is a side view.

Front view and

all folded up. It will hold lots and lots of clothes. I will take a picture later of it full of clothes.

He has also been working on Chuck’s gift.

A porch swing. I think it is very pretty. I really like the two colors together. Chuck and his family are coming up tomorrow. I have to get busy today to finish his “goodie basket”. We will be having ham, mashed potatoes, green beans and homemade rolls.

The Horn’s are coming over this evening. For supper, we will be having 15 bean soup, rolls and a peppermint cake. I got the recipe from http://nadinesnook.blogspot.com/2011/12/peppermint-cake.html I hope you all have a wonderful day and God bless.

December 22, 2011 10

Wednesday

Today, we have been busy with school. We did a batch of apples in the steam juicer. We got 1 gal and 1 qt. of juice. We then run the apples through the Roma sauce maker and got enough applesauce to make 3 qts of applebutter. YUM! I also made a batch of homemade laundry soap.

Colors here are at their peak this week. I hope to get more pictures to share. We have been having rain but it looks like it will clear up this evening. Hubby has been busy making a king size bed for Jess and Dave. I will show you all pictures when he gets it finished. I think it looks beautiful. Here he is working on one of the posts for the headboard. I think I actually managed to get this picture without him knowing it. He was deep in concentration.

Tonights supper will be baked pork chops with potatoes and carrots, pumpkin pie for dessert. I guess I better get busy, I think everyone is getting hungry. Enjoy your day and God bless.

October 12, 2011 5

Campfire

While the kids were up this weekend, we had a campfire Friday night. We love doing campfires, smores, wieners-sometimes potatoes. Sometimes we just sit and watch the fire. So relaxing. Grace took this picture for me and I thought you all might like a little campfire too.

Hubby and I have been busy today working on building a shelving unit for the new room. All my stuff is just piled up on the floor in there. Such a mess. Hopefully, by tomorrow, it will look much neater.

I gathered quite a few cucumbers this morning and I am planning on making some pickles this afternoon. I have to check my pantry and see if I have all the ingredients. I got a new recipe from a friend of mine that I want to try out. The recipe is:

Crispy Pickle Slices- 4 qts cuc. sliced, 1/3 cup salt, 6 med onions sliced, 4 cups sugar, 1 1/2 tsp. turmeric, 2 tsp. celery salt, 2 tsp. mustard seed, 4 cups vinegar. Sprinkle sliced cuc. with salt. Stir with hands until salt is dissolved. Cover with crushed ice. Let stand 3 hr. Drain. Add onion. Mix remaining ingredients with vinegar. Pour over drained cuc. & onions. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and gently cook for 5 min. Makes 6 pts.

So now that you all have heard the recipe, I have a question. Have any of you ever mixed squash and cucumbers together to make pickles? I was thinking of doing that and just wondered if anyone else had tried it.

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

July 7, 2011 5

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

Spirea Bush

Our spirea bush is also in full bloom. I love spring!

Yesterday, my Grace did not feel well. She felt worse as the day progressed. I finally ended up taking her to Urgent Care late yesterday evening. She has strep throat. Not good. We are praying for a speedy recovery and that the rest of us do not get it.

On now to more pleasant things. We have lots of sunshine today and the forecast is for warmer temperatures. Yesterday was a mix of rain, snow, and wind. It was chilly all day. We are looking forward to warmer temperatures the rest of the week. Last nights menu was meatloaf, mashed potatoes, green beans and rolls. Grace, however, did not eat very much as her throat was hurting.

I plan on only doing half school today. Sickness and school do not go well together. I hope you all have a wonderful day and God bless.

April 6, 2011 5

Spring Time

Our forsynthia bush is in full bloom. I love the bright yellow color, so cheerful. Today is beautiful here in Floyd. Temperature is mid 50’s, the sun is shining and the wind is not too aggressive. Very nice. I have one load of clothes on the line and another on the way. We are busy with school and have plans for outside time this afternoon.

Yesterday was a nice day too. Church was very nice and our evening study went very well with lots of discussion. Our menu last night was beef roast with potatoes and carrots, green beans, macaroni salad, cookies and peaches. Very good. We did hamburgers on the grill for lunch yesterday, with grilled onions and asparagus. I love cooking on the grill. I think it makes everything taste so good.

Enjoy your day and God bless.

April 4, 2011 3

More Farm Pictures

This is a far off picture of the graveyard that is on the farm. This picture was taken from the top of our driveway.

This is a closer shot. Right beside the graveyard is a hay barn.

I’m sure Jess will recognize this picture. On the left of this picture at the bottom of the hill is an old farmhouse. Dave and Jess lived there for several years before they moved to N.C.

Today will be school as usual, though we have not gotten our early start. We are running a little behind as Hubby and I did not wake up as early as usual. Saturday, we worked on cleaning up an area where we used to have the swimming pool. This was a major job which required almost 5 hrs. to finish. We had the back of the truck completely full of trash to haul to the dumpster. We had to cut the pool liner in pieces. It was too heavy to move in one solid piece. We kept the parts of the pool we thought we might could reuse. We were all muddy from head to toe, including the “bumpy truck”. But I am so glad to get this job done. Vicki and Quintin are giving us some strawberry plants and we plan on putting them in that space.

Yesterday’s menu at church was pork tenderloin, mashed potatoes, green beans, cole slaw, beef strogonoff, key lime pie and cookies. We started our new study on Galatians. I think it will be a very good study. I better get busy or school will be starting really late. Enjoy your day and God bless.

March 21, 2011 4

“New” Books

Yesterday, we stopped at Goodwill while on our way to the eye doctor. The girls found these Narnia books. They were so happy. It is the complete set except for book 2 “The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. We will have to be watching for it. Grace got a good report at the eye doctor. Her vision had improved some. She will be picking out new glasses next week. We have been blessed so much with improvement in her vision. She will probably always have to wear bifocals but she has definitely come a long way. We are extremely grateful to God for this blessing.

Today is still chilly here with a chance of rain for this afternoon but the rest of the week is supposed to be really nice-much warmer. We are doing school as usual. Later we will be going into town for piano lessons. Tonight’s menu is kielbasa, cooked cabbage, and potatoes. I think I will make a batch of rolls to go with it. Enjoy your day and God bless.

March 15, 2011 5