More Progress

Yesterday we finished all the outside trim. He still has to put metal over the big board at the bottom and paint but other than that the outside is done. We worked some on the inside trim but did not get it all finished. He had gotten the redwood from a jobsite several years ago and decided it would make for nice trim. I think it looks really good.

Temperature has been a little chilly for the past several days. Hopefully it will warm back up soon. I like warmer temperatures better-days without having to keep a fire. I hope you all enjoy your Saturday and God bless.

March 26, 2011 5

Busy Days

We have been very busy this week. Dave, Jess, and boys came up for a visit. We have been watching the boys while she had some business to take care of. The first evening they were here, part of her back tooth broke off. She has been in quite a lot of pain from this. She has a dentist appt. tomorrow to get it checked. We will be going down in the morning to watch the boys while she gets this taken care of. I’m not sure but we might stay a few days so Hubby can put up the chair railing in her livingroom.

Temperatures here have been very nice-warm, sunshine, and just a slight breeze (20 mph wind). Daniel has had so much fun playing outside. He has “helped” MawMaw with all her work. He is quite an eager helper. Sam, of course, has helped too. He is crawling now and loves to get into everything, especially places where he is not supposed to. I love MawMaw time.

Enjoy your day and God bless.

March 2, 2011 3

What Should I Do With This?

I know. I’ll make tea. Yes, it is sassafras root. We found quite a lot of it up on the hill where we cut wood. They had pushed over a few sassafras trees so we got the roots, brought them down and made tea. First you wash the root. They usually are pretty dirty.

Then I broke them into smaller pieces. Put into a kettle with water. I used about 1 1/2 qts of water to this amount of roots. Bring water to a boil and let simmer for about 15 min. Then strain the water, add sweetener of your choice and you have a delicious cup of tea. We love it. It is probably Hubby’s favorite.

We went to visit Jessica over the weekend. They have much warmer temperatures than we do. They have some forsynthias that are already blooming. Her Easter lillies are almost ready to open up. We even saw some creeping phlox blooming. Then we came home, temperature was 34 degrees, very overcast. YUCK! We even had a slight dusting of snow this morning. I don’t want to complain though. I am working on enjoying the seasons without complaint. It is still cold but the sun has come out so that makes it all seem so much nicer.

Lunch break is over. Enjoy your day and God bless.

February 23, 2011 3

Moon

We had a beautiful moon last night. Grace and I attempted to get a picture that would do it justice. Obviously, there is something special one must do to get a good night picture. We tried lots of different settings on our camera. This is the best one we could get. This in no way shows how amazing it actually was.

Temperatures are warm here again today-lower 50’s. We have lots of wind though. I am going to try to hang clothes outside. I know they will dry (if I can keep them on the line.) We are doing bible study today at one of the other ladies house. My house is still in construction zone. Everything is scattered all over the house. Today, he hopes to finish the trim in the bathroom and cut a load of wood.

Enjoy your day and God bless.

February 18, 2011 5

New Wall Colors

This is the new color of the old laundry room. The trim is white and the door is antique white. Hubby has to finish the trim and then it will be all done. He is also working on painting the bathroom.

The inside wall of the old laundry room is the original outside of the house. Jess had this paint left over from her bedroom. I think it looks very good on this wall. I wish I could figure out a way to take a picture that would show how it looks all together but it is a work in progress. Hubby will paint the trim today. After that we plan on going over to a friends house for a visit and a haircut.

Temperatures here are very nice. It was 42 degrees when we got up this morning. We decided to let the fire go out today. YEAH! That always makes me feel a little “springy”. I have clothes to hang on the line (of course). Don’t we always have laundry?

I changed my supper menu last night to fried chicken, potato salad and green beans. It was so nice and warm. It reminded me of picnic days. Tonights menu will be chicken stir fry with egg rolls. I fried enough chicken last night to have left over for tonight. I like to do that. It makes the cooking a little easier and faster if I the meat is cooked in advance.

Time to hang my clothes outside and listen to a little praise music from our birds. They are starting to sing such beautiful spring songs. Enjoy your day and God bless.

February 17, 2011 3

Tuesday

Sorry that I haven’t posted anything for a while. We have been very busy. After coming back from Jessica’s last week, we left to go to Grundy. Hubby’s parents are in the process of building a new house and we went down to help move everything out of their old house. After we returned home, Hubby became working some more on our new room. This project is getting closer to completion. YEAH!

Temperatures here are a little chilly today but it is supposed to get a lot warmer as the week goes on. I have clothes on the line outside, hoping they will dry. It feels good to hang them outside again. I try to enjoy each season the Lord gives us but I think I am really ready for warmer temperatures. So I thought I would post a flower picture to brighten the day.

Enjoy your day and God bless.

February 15, 2011 3

Jerky

Monday we made jerky. Jerky is one of our favorite things to dehydrate. As some of you may remember, we were blessed last year to have a beef given to us. As it was an old bull , we made hamburger out of most of it. Above is a picture of our dehydrator, our jerky shooter and the type of jerky mix we use. All this came from Wal-Mart. There a lots of jerky mixes out there, this is just the one we use.

This is what it looks like after it has dried. The rack is not necessary. I just put it on it to take the picture. I thought it would show the jerky better.

When finished, it all fits neatly back into this basket and off the the attic it goes to be stored until next time. We have dehydrated apples and peppers too, a few bananas and grapes. We used to dry our green beans on a string in the attic when we lived in Grundy. I wonder how green beans would be dried in a dehydrator. Anyone out there ever tried this? I think I will try it this summer and see how it turns out. We just called them fodder beans but I have heard them referred to as leather britches. I know they are good no matter what you call them.

We did get a storm last night but it was only rain. YEAH! Temperatures are very nice today. Mid 40’s already. Lots of sunshine. I have clothes outside on the line. The wind is supposed to pick up after lunch, about 30 mph with gusts in the 50 mph range. Typical wind for Floyd. It helps the clothes dry and makes them soft as long as you can keep them on the line.

Enjoy your day and God bless.

February 2, 2011 5

A Nice Surprise

Last night during our fellowship meal, one of the ladies told me she had something for me out in her car. She had gotten me this beautiful material. She found it a Wal-Mart. Our Wal-Mart does not sell material but they had this on clearance, probably from another store. Each bolt has 5 yards of material on it. Lots of aprons! Sometimes God amazes me, the way He leads us to encourage each other. I was feeling a little down about messing up the other material and then He surprises me through a generous friend. God is good.

Temperatures here have changed drastically from yesterday. Mid 20’s with lots and lots of cloud coverage. We are not getting any snow yet but it definitely feels like snow.

Time for school. Enjoy your day and God bless.

January 31, 2011 4

Evening Sky

Yesterday after the snow stopped, our sky was gorgeous. I tried to take a picture of it. This does not really do it justice but it was the best one I took. The wind picked up considerably after the snow stopped, 30 to 40 mph. We have wind here almost always but after snow storms it usually kicks up quite a bit. This wind is a blessing though in the summer as it keeps our temperatures cooler than surrounding areas.

We have decided not to have bible study tomorrow due to road conditions. I miss those ladies when we don’t meet. Today will be school as usual. We hope to finish health by the end of next week. Then we can double up on another subject and get it finished. I have already been looking at next years books. So exciting! How blessed we are to be able to homeschool. I love teaching my girls, spending time with them. We have so much fun.

Enjoy your day and God bless.

January 27, 2011 4

Monday

Good morning! No picture today. I just couldn’t find anything I thought was interesting. We had a really nice weekend. We went down to Jessica’s on Saturday, planning on coming home that evening. Things happened and we ended up staying the night and coming home on Sunday. It was a nice visit. I got to play some games with Daniel and got plenty of beautiful smiles from Sam. I just wish I had taken my camera then I would have some pictures to post today.

Temperatures are chilly here-about 14 degrees with a little snow falling. Lots of cloud coverage. I have a deer roast simmering on the wood stove. It smells so good! I think we will have mashed potatoes, gravy and green beans with it and, of course, fresh baked rolls. I have two new aprons cut out and hopefully I will get to work on them today. It is matching mother/daughter waist aprons.

Enjoy your day and God bless.

January 24, 2011 6