Mrs. Sally’s Decorations

We love to visit Mrs. Sally and see all her Christmas decorations. Her walls are covered with these beautiful wall hangings she has made.

She also has so many nativity scenes.

This one came from Israel. I think it is my favorite.

She has lots of snowmen.

We had a really nice visit. She cooked a beef roast with potatoes and carrots. I took fresh made rolls and an oatmeal pie.

Not much going on here. Just normal stuff. Hubby is gone to work and I am letting the girls sleep in a little bit. Clothes are in the machine washing and dishes are waiting.

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

December 19, 2012 6

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

A Ride Down The Parkway

Hello everyone! I thought I would share a few pictures from along our beautiful Blue Ridge Parkway. It is lovely this time of year.

I have always loved this church sitting upon the hill. Saturday was a wood cutting day here. Chuck and his family came over to help. We brought down 2 huge trees. We got them all cut and brought home. We still have to split them though. It was a really fun day. Chuck’s girlfriend had never been part of wood cutting. (She’s a town girl). I think she had a good time though. The kids had lots of fun.

Today the girls and I went to Roanoke to pick up a few things. We went walking through the mall, which is something we don’t do very often. I stepped into Macy’s-my first time. You all remember that I have been looking for a hard anodized pot to use for cooking down my sauces. One like Mrs. Sally let me borrow this summer. Well, they had one on sale for 1/2 price!! Yeah, me!!! I was very happy. I very seldom come across deals like that. I certainly am glad I walked into that store.

Well, that’s about all that’s been happening here. I hope you all have a great day and God bless.

October 15, 2012 3

New Canner and Homemade Deodorant

This is my new canner. I stopped at a yard sale a few weeks ago and the lady had this canner for sale. One of the handles was missing so she sold it to me for $5.00. Yesterday, I stopped at Farmers Supply here in Floyd to see if they could order new handles. I had no idea if they could or not as the canner appears to be old. Well, they could and they only cost me $8.00. I then went to the extension office and had them calibrate the guage. It was off 1 and 1/2 pounds so I thought I probably should get a new guage too. This cost $l8.00. Amazing. These parts will be in by Friday. So for roughly $30.00 I got a new canner. This one is much taller than my other ones. It will hold 1/2 gallon jars which I plan to use for our juice that we can.

Then we went on over to Vicki’s and had a great visit. We ate lunch together and then Vicki and I made homemade deodorant.

We used tea tree oil in the solid deodorant and lavender in the powder. I really like it. It smells so fresh and clean. I am impressed. I definitely will be making it again.

Today the girls and I are making spaghetti sauce. This will be our last batch of spaghetti sauce. I think the rest of the tomatoes will just be used to make tomato juice. Our tomatoes are doing very well this year. I think this isthe best ours have done in a long time.

I better go stir the spaghetti sauce as I do not have Mrs. Sally’s good kettle any longer. I took it back to her Sunday. Enjoy your day and God bless.

August 21, 2012 3

Tuesday

This picture was taken on the back side of the farm. If you look in the right hand corner, you will see the little white house Dave and Jess lived in for a while.

Today we have to go to Rocky Mount to get Grace’s nose piece put back on her glasses. She has not had these glasses very long. I hope this is not an indication of how they are going to hold up. Yesterday, we picked the last of our beans and got about half of them worked up. We hope to finish them today when we get back. We also pulled the last of our corn and got all of it put into the freezer. We picked about 1/2 bushel of tomatoes. I am borrowing Mrs. Sally’s kettle for this week as well. I am definitely on the lookout for one of those kettles. I really liked it. I hope to make salsa and another batch of spaghetti sauce from the tomatoes we picked yesterday.

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

August 14, 2012 4

A Beautiful Sunset

For the last few days, we have been enjoying beautiful sunsets. We thought this one was exceptionally pretty. My thanks to Grace for taking the picture. It looked like a highway and it stretched almost all the way across the sky. God certainly is awesome.

We have been doing the usual around here. Cleaning, canning etc. Tuesday evening we visited with the Horn’s. Vicki made her delicious potato soup. Madison made a tomato pie, with fresh tomatoes and herbs she had raised and dried herself. It was delicious. It tasted amazingly like pizza. We all loved it.

Today, I am meeting Mrs. Sally in “little town”. She has a stock pot she is going to let me borrow for making spaghetti sauce. I think the brand name is Calphalon. She says it is wonderful and that her sauce never sticks. I am excited about giving it a try and grateful to her for letting us use it. Mrs. Faye from our church will also meet us there in town. I picked up an outdoor canner for her yesterday and she wants to get started using it as soon as possible.

Well, I thinks that’s it for now. I have lots to get done so I better get busy. Enjoy your day and God bless.

August 9, 2012 4

A New Dress for Katie

Remember how I told you all Mrs. Sally (our pastor’s wife) is teaching my girls how to sew. Well, this is their latest sewing project. Julie made the dress and Grace made the hat. I think they did a great job.

It has been a busy but productive and fun week for us. Monday we went down to Jessica’s. Tuesday, I helped Hubby and then the Horn’s came over for a visit on Tuesday evening. We had a great visit. We had hamburgers on the grill. The wind was blowing so hard though that we had a little trouble keeping the grill lit. It was a beautiful evening with temperatures in the mid 70’s. We sit outside on my green swing and enjoyed the breeze. You wouldn’t know that today though. It has been hot and humid. Oh well. Yesterday, the girls and I made sweet pickle relish. I have never made relish before. I think it will be very good. Today, we worked on green beans. We canned 28 quarts. It really helps to have two canners going. Grace has an eye appointment tomorrow in Salem. Tomorrow evening we are going to the pastor’s house to cook out, then we will be picking beans as they are so generously sharing with us. I hope to remember my camera so I can show you all some pictures. His apples trees are loaded with apples this year.

Well, it is time for the last canner to come off. YEAH! I think we are all tired. I hope you all have a great evening and God bless.

July 26, 2012 5

Julie and Grace’s Sewing Projects

The girls finished their Sunday night sewing projects. I have mentioned before that Mrs. Sally, the pastor’s wife is teaching the girls to sew. The above picture is the dress Julie finished.

This is Grace’s shirt.

Look at the cute little label they made for Grace’s shirt. I think they both did great jobs. I wonder what their next project will be.

Enjoy your day and God bless.

January 30, 2012 7

Chair

Here’s the chair Hubby has been working on.

I’m not too sure about the color though. It was paint left over from Jessica’s bed so we thought we would use it on this prototype. What color do you ladies think I should paint them. I wanted to paint them red but I know it would look terrible in my dining room. We have a large brick chimney in the room and our floors are mahogany.

Here’s a picture of the brick chimney.

The floor.

The table I want to use the chairs with (until I talk him into building a new one). Please let me know your ideas as I am not very good at decorating but I really would like to brighten it up some.

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Here is a picture of the color I think I would like. I have always liked the idea of red chairs. I’m not sure where this picture came from, maybe Lowes.com. Well, while I’m at all this table and chair stuff, I might as well show you all the table I think I would like. Notice all the ‘I think’.

I got this picture from www.soulemama.com I think it would look good in my dining room, don’t you all. Well, it’s almost time to get ready for church. Tonight’s menu is baked spaghetti, slaw, green beans, homemade rolls and dessert. Dessert is unknown as Mrs. Sally said “I’ll bring some kind of dessert”. I love surprises! Enjoy your evening and God bless.

January 8, 2012 11

Mrs. Sally’s Home

Thursday evening we went to our pastor’s home for a visit. We ate supper with them and had a wonderful visit. Mrs. Sally, pastor’s wife, had lots of beautiful Christmas decorations up. This nativity scene was purchased in Israel. It is made of olive wood. Very pretty.

This carousel came from Germany. You can’t really see it but on top of the carousel are propellers. The heat from the candles cause the carousel to go around.

This is Miss Izzy. Pastor Tom tells her all the time she is the most beautiful cat God ever created. I think she believes him.

Julie and Sadie had a great time together.

Mrs. Sally is a great seamstress. I think I have mentioned before she is teaching my girls to sew. This quilt was so bright and colorful. I thought you all would enjoy seeing it too.

We have still been having vehicle troubles. Today, we took the girls over to church for play practice. Our youth christmas play is tomorrow. Hubby thought the alternator was going bad on the van. We were going over to C-burg to Auto Zone to have them check it. We started having more serious trouble with it, so Hubby thought we should just try to make it home. We didn’t make it. About 4 miles from home, the van decided that was just all it could do. It stopped right in the middle of the road. I’m here to tell you all God is good! Not more that 5 min. after the van quit a young man came by that we used to go to church with. He went up to his Grandpaws and got a pickup truck and a chain. He and Hubby hooked the van up to the truck and he pulled us all the way home. No charge! Anyway, it is the alternator. So I guess the van will have to be parked for a few days until Hubby can get it fixed.

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

December 10, 2011 8