Spring

Forsythia in full bloom.

The only thing missing here is my bench!

Gooseberry bush.

More forsythia bloom.

I just love spring! I think yellow is such a bright, cheerful, happy color. Busy day here. Piano practice, shopping, a little school. Beautiful temperatures. I have clothes hanging on the line to dry. Everything is getting green quick. I pray things don’t get in too much of a hurry. Frost is still very likely. Tonights menu is shimp stir fry. Dessert will be jello with whipped creme. Simple. Easy. I hope to get some outside work done this evening so I want to keep the cooking at a minimum. Hopefully more spring pictures tomorrow. Take care and God bless.

April 5, 2010 0

Dreaming of Summer

I’ve probably posted this picture before, but I thought we might all need a little color today. The Butterfly bush and the Rose of Sharon are always full of brillant color. The rocks came from over the hill on the farm. I got Marvin to bring them over on the tractor. He said this was a first for him, usually people want to get the rocks out of their yard not put them in. I think however it adds to the charm. Today temperatures will probably be in the upper 20’s. They say a chance of wintry mix for Friday. February is almost here though. Somehow in my mind, in February, my thoughts turn to spring, gardening, flowers, sunshine. Winter,however, does allow more time for things like sewing, quilting, crocheting. I am almost finished with Julie’s quilted wall hanging. I will post a picture of it when I’m finished. I attempted to make homemade hamburger buns yesterday. I do not own a hamburger bun pan so I thought I might could put them in my cast iron biscuit pan. Not a good idea. The tasted good, however, they looked like jumbo muffins. We ate them last night covered with cooked deer and gravy and mashed potatoes. No one seemed to mind how they looked. I don’t like to give up though so I will try another approach next time. Well, better get started on school. God Bless.

January 26, 2010 0

Ice

Well the forecast for freezing rain was correct. Not as much as they first thought but enough. The first picture is from my dining room window. It shows the accumulation on the trees. The second picture is from our kitchen door. Yes, I know it looks like water running down the yard but it is actually ice. I’m not very good at guessing ice accumulation but I would think at least a 1/4 of an inch. Oh well, temperatures are supposed to get above freezing tomorrow so maybe this storm will be short-lived. More rain coming in on Sunday, though. School has went very well this week. We have stayed on schedule and this always makes school more fun. No bible study today because of the ice. I certainly do miss those ladies. It’s been several weeks since we met. This does happen frequently though in January. I guess I better get busy. No bible study means school day. God Bless.

January 22, 2010 0

daniel

I received this picture from Dave and could’nt wait to put it on my blog. Ain’t he just the cutest thing? Nothing says boy more than a baseball cap and a truck. Temperatures here have warmed up greatly. Highs in the upper 40’s to low 50’s. The girls have spent much time outside playing which of course Jasper (the pup) loves. The forecast however is calling for freezing rain Thursday night and Friday morning. Oh well, it is just the middle of January. Grace did find a dandelion in bloom yesterday, just to remind us spring is coming. Not much longer until we see some flowers in bloom. We normally have some early wildflowers that bloom here about the end of March- blood root, colts foot, and periwinkle. We get so excited when we see them. Only about 6 more weeks to go. In the mountains where I was raised, my Mom always planted lettuce, peas and onions on Valentines day. Can’t do that here. We have had frost as late as the end of May. I guess I better quit dream about spring and garden food and get to work. God Bless.

January 20, 2010 0

My Sticky Buns

Well, what do you all think? Not to be bragging, but they look pretty good, huh. Okay so maybe I am bragging a little! They did turn out pretty good though and they tasted good too. The good news is we finally have water in our bathroom. On Wednesday, our temperatures got above freezing, finally. I’m not completely sure but I think we have not been above freezing since Dec. 18 when the snow came. Actually there were many days were didn’t get out of the single digits. I know you all have heard this before, but I really don’t like cold weather. Anyway, yesterday, we got in the lower 40’s. The girls thought it was spring time. On Wednesday we went to visit our friends, the Horn’s. We returned to find no water pressure in the house, which of course indicates a problem. Usually this means a water leak somewhere. After much checking, we discover a busted water line in the little house building (where my wringer washer is). The line had frozen and when it thawed the old pipe just couldn’t take the pressure. This required much quick thinking on part of Hubby, as water is gushing out of the pipe. Thank God for hubbies! He quickly fixed this problem and before the night was out our bathroom thawed also. Thankfully, no leaks. School today as usual. We are not meeting for our Friday Ladies Class. One of our ladies is gone on a trip and the other one has car trouble. Hopefully next week all will fall back in place. I really miss when we don’t get to meet. These ladies are like family to me. Well, I better get to work. Oh, I wanted to let you all know, it is 9:00 A.M. and the temperature is already 30 degrees. WOW! God Bless.

January 15, 2010 1

Apron

My first out of state order. Okay, so it goes to my cousin in Kansas but it counts anyway. Well, the big news here is Jess went yesterday for her ultra sound and IT’S A BOY!!!! My heart is happy. It amazes me to think of how good the God I serve is. To come from being a woman who thought she would have no babies to being blessed with children is just an example of how God loves to surprise His children. God is good!! Temperatures here are still cold. The high today is 24 degrees, wind chill of about 15. This is the warmest temperatures we have had in about one week. We have managed to keep the water running in the kitchen, but the bathroom has been frozen for several days. Oh well, at least we still have water. We went down to Jessica’s yesterday to watch Daniel while she went for her ultra sound. It was 32 degrees when we left her house, got back home to 16 degrees with a wind chill of about zero or below. Have I mentioned I do not like cold weather? This will make me appreciate spring more when it comes, right. I am making homemade rolls today and it is time to put them in the oven. Better go. God Bless.

January 6, 2010 1

Wall Hanging

This is my latest project. What do you’ll think? I have never been very good at hand sewing, however I have decided to hand sew each of my girls a wall hanging. Notice I did not say quilt(much too big a project). I thought though that a wall hanging would be do-able for me. I gave this one to Jess and plan to start one for Julie soon, then Grace. It really was a lot of fun. I guess because it was kinda different for me. I always enjoy trying new projects. Well the big news around here is the temperature. COLD!!! The actual temperature was around zero this morning with a wind chill of somewhere around 15 or 20 below. VERY COLD!!! Dave and Jess and Daniel came up this weekend. Of course, they are now accustomed to more southernly temperatures so they were very cold. But then we were very cold too. I really pray it doesn’t stay this cold all winter but I do recall one January about 5 years ago, the temperatures stayed like this for the entire month. Have I mentioned I don’t really like cold. Oh well, maybe this will kill out all the squash bugs that attacked our garden last year. We will (hopefully) find out Tuesday if Jess is having a boy or a girl. Sometimes those babies are shy and don’t want to let anyone know. Anyway she is starting to show her pregnancy and getting some flutterings which is very exciting. It was very good to have them up this weekend, they had not been here since Halloween and thats way too long. It’s almost time for our Sunday Night Study so I guess I better get busy. I’m taking leftovers from yesterday’s feast. God Bless.

January 3, 2010 0

Gingerbread House

Today was spent doing a very fun project. Our gingerbread house. Last year the girls and I made our first gingerbread house. We decided it needed to be a tradition at our house. So much fun. Here’s a picture of our gingerbread house. Not competition material but great for our house. This will be our centerpiece until Christmas. When I do things like this with my girls, I can’t help but be thankful for our lives together. The laughter, the Christmas music, a warm fire. I am a very blessed woman and I thank God for his blessings. George had some work to do today so we didn’t get to go to Jessica’s this weekend. The girls and I are doing girl stuff today, the gingerbread house, some Russian Tea Cakes and maybe some peanut butter roll candy. Temperatures were cold again last night. 7 degrees when we got up this morning. Not much wind though so it doesn’t feel as bad as yesterday. The weather forecast says freezing rain for tonight and early Sunday morning. YUK! Hopefully it won’t happen so we can go to church. Oh well, I guess we’ll see what tomorrow morning brings. Well time to make some more memories (Russian Tea Cakes). God Bless.

December 12, 2009 2

Ice

It appears as if winter might be here to stay. We awoke this morning to ice. Not too bad but enough to be pretty. I would much rather have the snow from the weekend but I’ll have to take whatever God sends our way. Not a lot happening here in Floyd. Just winter coming on. School as usual. Getting ready for Christmas. The tree and all the decorations are up. Christmas music, which I love, playing on the radio. Life if good! I know I say that a lot but I really believe it. I am so blessed. God has given me so many blessings. My husband, my kid, my grandkids. I live in a beautiful home and have a wonderful church. For me, life really is good and I am thankful to God for His blessings. (My sermon for the day). The ice is melting quickly and temperatures are warming up. Our next spell of winter mix is for Saturday. I had hoped to go visit Jess on Saturday but I guess that might not happen. Depends on the weather. Well, break time is over and school time begins. Have a wonderful day. God Bless.

December 9, 2009 2

More Fall Pictures

Here’s a few more fall pictures. The maple tree is in our yard close to the house. It gives wonderful shade to one of my swing areas. The other picture is in the field behind our house. The leaves are almost all gone now but the maple is still holding on to some color. Today is a big day in our house, my baby girl’s birthday. We will be having a little party tomorrow with friends. I let them off with half school today. You gotta do something special on birthdays. Another beautiful day here in Floyd. Sunshine, wind, (almost always wind) temperatures in the 50’s. Chilly enough to have a fire this evening-around 40 degrees now. Inside the house is nice and toasty thanks to our hard work yesterday. I think Saturday has been set aside as another wood cutting day, if weather permits. It is a wonderful feeling to enter winter knowing you have enough wood to keep you and your family warm. I think these are blessings we sometimes take for granted. Well time for me to get to work. God Bless.

November 5, 2009 0