New Years Greetings!!

written by Sue with love,  Friday December 31, 2010

It is early evening this New Years Eve, and I wanted to wish all of you a most blessed and happy new year!May all of your hopes,dreams and wishes be fulfilled this new year.May the peace of God fill your hearts, as  you take this new journey.

At midnight tonight we will all close another chapter in this book of our life, and our hearts and minds will be set on writing a new chapter. I close this chapter tonight with a lot of mixed emotions and am looking forward with great anticipation on what new adventures God has in store for me as I write the new one.
God has been, is, and will always be faithful to us, and I am so thankful for this assurance!

We are spending a quiet evening at home tonight as we usually do, dinner, reflecting, and watching an old movie but have also added a new adventure, we will be going to a little town nearby after the movie, they will have their first flea dropping at midnight!!! Then we will come home and start the new year with prayer.
Hope your evening is filled to the brim with much happiness. To each of you who take the time to stop by and visit, I want you to know how much I treasure your friendship, and how truly thankful I am for you.
Much love,
Sue

Snow around the farm, it has truly been a winter wonderland, our first Christmas snow in a very long time.

Good Saturday morning!
written by Sue, Saturday December 4,2010


It is Saturday, isn't it?
 I have been so busy this week, finishing projects that have been on my "to do" list for a long while. It took us two days, yes, I said two days to get our garage cleaned and organized. Oh! I am one  happy camper that it is completed!


Before we started Mr P said "oh! we will have this done in three hours." I just smiled and said to myself , "I wish." And would have taken a picture to show you but was to embarrassed to do so. lol


We were so tired from this job, that we took the next day off, and loafed, lol and then we were even more tired, but  both  were a "good kinda tired".There is a feeling of accomplishment after completing a job like this that I can't find words for except this one "relief."
When going through all of that stuff, I mean treasures, I found a hidden one.

Let's see, what could be hiding in all this bubble wrap?

Have you guessed yet?

A plant stand! I have been wanting one to put some of my plants on in the M-bath, but is wasn't priority on my shopping list, as having food, electricity  in the house was priority, besides the Lord knew I already had one and He knew where it was and had me find it.


This plant stand has been bought for years, and was put in the garage, why I don't know. It must have  really been on sale, as  I don't buy unless it is on sale, and then marked down some more. Truth is I  just forgot about it. Now I know you ladies have never done anything like this, now have you?lol 
My plants are so happy, and so is my bathroom. Plants add so much to a home, even though some around here think I might have gone a little overboard. lol

....Do you remember my goal, of having all Christmas decorations up, and cards addressed by Dec. 1st. Yank! not done! The garage saw to it that this was postponed. lol. I have finished inside,(well almost) and cards are going to be done tonight. That is if I  don't get  side tracked by another project. lol
Enjoy your weekend!
Hugs,
 Sue
Ecclesiastes 2:24~There is nothing better for a man, than that he should eat and drink, and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labour. This  also I saw,that it was from the hand of God.

And what have I been up to?
We celebrated our Thanksgiving dinner last Sunday at my mother's home. Here are my siblings and their families. Because of such busy lives we seldom get together unless it is holidays. But when we do we try and make up for lost time when we are together.

My oldest sister lives out of town, she and her dh stayed over for a few days, we spent some  time together catching up.


I have been trying to finish decorating the inside and helping Mr P with the outside. When Thanksgiving day came we just had a very layback day, as our children live so far away and could not get home, we went for a long drive after lunch, as we passed so many homes with so many cars parked in their yard, we knew that families had once again gathered together to give thanks for their many blessings. Yes , we had a bit of nostalgia for a moment, but our hearts are filled with lots of wonderful memories of past Thanksgivings.....


I am a goal setter and I have a goal to have all decorations up inside and out, to have Christmas cards ready to be mailed, by Dec. 1st. I happened to mention this to Mr. P today, and his reply was "Do you have any idea what todays date is?" says me "yeeees, and I work better under pressure." lol
Enjoy your evening.
Hugs,
 Sue

Would you like a peek?...


My home has been undergoing a new look over the past week, I have gone from having pumpkins, gourds, pilgrims and autumn  leaves all about the house, (after all it has been out since the last of August.) to putting glitter and shine, in as many nooks and crannies that I can find. And Perry Como and Bing Crosby have already been singing up a storm


Christmas will be here and gone before we know it, I like to have all my decorations up, and my pantry stocked with lots  of goodies  that will be turned into all kinds of concoctions for family and friends to enjoy!


I find that if I get this all done by Dec. 1st, that I have all of the month of Dec. to enjoy our family,....time for reading,...watching all of our favorite Christmas movies, thus creating less stress, and the season is so much more enjoyable. I don't get so busy that I forget why we are celebrating Christmas, which is the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ....

after all He is the reason for the season...

This is what I put in the foyer, but was not quit satisfied so I did some changes and will show later.

This is the victorian tree in our bedroom before it is dressed for the holidays, it is one of our favorite trees, I unwrap each ornament and place on the bed, at this point there are still  some in the boxes. I enjoy decorating our home for the holidays.

These ornaments hold special memories in my heart, a lot of them were made by our daughter many years ago as a young bride far away from home, and when I hang them I am filed with many memories of how she presented them to me.and we hung them on the tree together, there are some antique ornaments too, but as long as I have been saving them they are probably all antiques by now! LOL

 I love these victorian dolls ,see, how she is looking at the nativity. Just blesses my heart.

Please don't think I have thrown Thanksgiving aside, it  will be celebrated as I am so thankful for all of my blessings.James 1:17~Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above,and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. 

I love to see the wide eyes of children before being served turkey.

We will have our traditional turkey and dressing, with sweet potato casserole, green beans,turnips all kinds of salads and lets not forget the pumpkin pies, which will be served on these...  and will have hearts full of thankfulness.

Thank you so much for taking the time to stop by, and for leaving me such sweet and endearing comments.
Much love to all,
Sue

Can you guess what we have been up to?  
written by Sue...

It's that time of year when farmers begin to think, and prepare for the next year's growing season. Our strawberry sets arrived this week and we got them in the ground with no problems. We use black plastic with drip irrigation....All 500 plants.

Hopefully by the end of April we will have plenty of luscious berries.....


We had a group of friends from our church here on Wednesday evening, for our Thanksgiving-Christmas  dinner. There was seventeen of us, and we had a great time of fellowship. DH and I have been busy getting ready for this occasion, we love to have our friends over to eat and fellowship. 

 I was elected to carve the turkey, but if you look closely there is a shadow standing beside me just waiting to grab the knife, and finally ended up with it, when I was called to another room by dh. The ladies in our church can really put on a spread.

The dining room waiting for guests to sit down and enjoy time together. Remember I said I combined Thanksgiving and Christmas decorations together. I like to have everything done so to enjoy time with family when they come home!


I took my camera and went out on the farm yesterday for some photos...

The Bradford pear trees were in their full glory, while standing beneath these beautiful trees I was in awe of God's handiwork. and would you believe I found this....

by the pond sitting in a pot on the deck, dh said that the trees had protected it from the cold and frost. Quite a contrast wouldn't you think so?  They are both so beautiful.


Before I leave I must show you a photo of two of my favorite people...

This is my sweetie and a very dear lady at our church, she is very special to us... This photo was taken a few weeks ago, when dh crashed a baby shower that I attended. Aren't they cute, yes they both have their pacifiers. lol My dh is such a good sport about everything.


And now dear friends, may I wish you and your family a most blessed Thanksgiving. This is the season when we are especially thankful for our many blessings, and I have so many that I cannot count them, but please know that you all are among  my most thankful blessings, and what a privilege to know you.
Much love, 
Sue
Psalm 103:1-2 Bless the Lord, oh my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name!
Bless the Lord, oh my soul, and forget not all His benefits;

I made the best bean soup this week, I am a soup person myself. I could eat it all year, but I especially enjoy it this time of year. The weather has finally gotten really cool, and I would like to share this soup recipe with you.....


I took a 1 lb. bag of 16 different  beans,(I usually have a mix of beans that I make myself on hand, but haven't made any in a while.) looked for stones, and washed them. I let them soak for about 6 hours, and then I put them in my slow cooker, with 1 qt. water, added  some chopped lean country cured ham and cooked them until they were tender.

To this I added 1 pt. of tomatoes, 1 1/2 cups of chopped onion, 1 diced chili pepper, juice from 1 lemon, 1 chopped garlic clove,salt and pepper. cook for 30 mins more. I like to pre measure all of my ingredients before hand, it makes the recipe easier to make, plus  it keeps me from  scrambling all over the kitchen trying to find something. And it makes cleanup a breeze, that I especially like. lol

this is the best soup with a sandwich.... I think what makes it so good is the kick you get from the red chile pepper.

Hope you enjoyed my bean soup, and if I could I would have invited you over for a taste.
I have a lot of irons in the fire right now, getting ready for the holidays, if I told you what I had been up to you might laugh, so I will save that for later. lol (hint... it has to do with Christmas) Plus I have been doing a few outside project too. I should have named this the "never done farm blog" but someone else has cornered that name. lol
Hugs, 
Sue 

Today was one of those days where you just wanted to curl up with a good book, and a nice warm cup of cocoa, and that is my simple pleasure for today. It was cold and rainy, I do enjoy fall days like this as well as the bright, sunny ones.I didn't curl up though until this evening after dinner, it was a nice simple pleasure that I looked forward to all day. I even put on my Christmas pjs.  lol......

When November comes, I greet it with  much anticipation,fall is my favorite season, but Thanksgiving and Christmas are my favorite holidays. I have been saving holiday books and magazines for years, and at this time I get them out and begin to read and make my plans. So today was a a very good simple pleasure, these books have seen a lot of wear and tear, but I never get tired of reading them.


I like to decorate for the holidays early, and I combine Christmas and Thanksgiving decorations. It is a personal preference, one I learned from my Mother, she always made our home sing when the holiday came.

It is sometimes the simplest things in life that we find so much joy.
Hope your day was filled with many simple pleasures.
HUgs, 
Sue


Proverbs 3:5~ Trust in the Lord with all thine heart;and lean not unto thine own understanding. 
I am linking up with Dayle for Simple Pleasures, please feel free to join and share or go and read more simple pleasures (HERE). or click on the icon.

My day.....
Written by Sue.


 DH and I read a chapter in Proverbs each  day beginning on the first day of the month. I have decided to go a little further in my personal devotion and find a verse in the chapter that really speaks to my heart.


 I wrote it on the card with my to do list and carried it with me as I did my work all the while memorizing it. My verse for today is this....Proverbs 1:33~But whoever listens to me will dwell safely, and will be secure, without fear of evil. I really like this verse because my heart's desire is to listen to the voice of God, and to do what His Word says....


After devotions I started my laundry, made the bed,cleaned the bathrooms, watered houseplants, and straighten the house. I stepped outside on the porch for just a moment to bask in the sunshine as it was so beautiful today, and when I reached for the door knob to go back in I noticed a job that I have been wanting to get done  for months, I said' today is the day!"

Ugly huh? I really didn't think I would be able to do anything with it, but remembered that my dad used Brasso on his military pins when they needed cleaning, and many times helped him shine his pins and buttons. I  found some in the cabinet that was really old, but decided to try anyway. After applying and  a lot of rubbing and more rubbing this is the result....

Not bad huh?  I am so pleased with the result. It took a lot of trips out on the porch to get this.  I even had time to clean the screened porch today. I might try some newer cleaner, as Miss perfect wants it perfect. lol


When we started finishing the porch I suspended my walking as I was working very long days, and since it is now finished I have no excuse to not exercise.


 So last Friday I started again, and today I tried to talk myself out of walking, because I was a little tired, but the phone rang and guess who was calling, My coach aka dh,reminding that if I was going to walk I might want to before it got to cool. So I put my tennis shoes on and here I went. Got 2 miles done. Yea! 

So how was your day? Hope you had a great one!
Hugs,
 Sue

Yesterday it was 89 degrees with high humidity, today we were in the low 60's, what a difference a day makes. I worked getting the house cleaned and in order for the weekend. Days like today I like to have some comfort food.....

These are N.C. sweet potatoes, and they are just so yummy, and good for you too.

I pricked them with a fork, wrapped them in aluminum foil, and baked at 350 degrees until soft to touch. Sliced the potato, look at that rich color. Now you can eat it  just like this, 

Or you could dress it up a bit, a small pat of butter, a smidgen of brown sugar, and top it with cinnamon.  Now if you really want to taste something great put some miniature marshmallows on top and broil until brown, Oh! so yummy and good for you too.

The weatherman said we would be having our killing frost tonight, Now why can't they say  something nice like frost on the pumpkin? lol... so I went to the garden one more time, I saw a few okra and I decided to cut them and while out there I noticed that some other creatures like okra besides us.. I hate the thought of what the frost is going to do to this blossom.

Isn't this okra blossom beautiful?  the photo doesn't do it justice. 

The lady bugs were looking for their dinner too, not okra, they are our good bugs.

Look at this red wasp,he looks like he is laughing at me.

Even Mr Spider wanted to get in on the photo shoot

And what  would a walk in the garden be like without one of these, why it's Mr stink bug of course. I don't think there is anything they won't eat. My friend, Kim over at My field of dreams will appreciate this guy, as she has had a lot of them this year in her garden 

 I met Kim earlier this summer, and I been so blessed by her blog, she writes so beautifully of her days as a Christian wife, mother, and she is so gifted with her hands. You will enjoy  meeting, and getting to know  her. click (HERE)  to visit her. "Kim", if you read this post, I always remember your stink bug post, lol so funny. They really are pests and they do stink. Lol

I am always amazed at the intricate details that God took to create everything, (if you click on photos you will see what I mean) and I enjoy watching them so much. I am even more amazed at how He fashioned us , making us  in His image.
May your day be filled with many blessings.
HUgs,
Sue
Genesis 1:27~So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. 

My Simple Pleasure this week is spending time with my dh gleaning the last of the veggies for this growing season. This included pumpkins,gourds okra,a few watermelons,butter beans and squash. To some this might seem like work, and if I was gathering by myself it would be. lol

We had so much fun, laughing and reminiscing of times when we did this with our children, and of how small our pumpkins were this year, due to the hot , dry summer. He even stole a kiss or two from me. 


   Most of the time he is out on the farm doing his chores and I am busy around the house, (unless we are on a major project like the porch, which is now finished.)Yea! However he is never to far away, one of the things I love about farming.

This is the last of the season's fruits and veggies. Not bad for a couple of hours work. Time spent together, whether working or playing is time well spent. A marriage is something that has to be worked on each and every day. I am so thankful for the simple pleasure of dh's company.
Blessings,
Sue 
Song of Solomon 2:16~My beloved is mine, and I am his. He feeds his flock among the lilies.
I am linking up with Dayle for Simple Pleasures, please feel free to join and share or go and read more simple pleasures (HERE). or click on the icon.

Simple Pleasures

If I wake during the night, and get up, I always go around and look outside my windows, (just a little quirk of mine). lol 


Sometimes there is a full moon, other times the sky will be filled with stars that sparkle like diamonds. And then there are times like last night, when the fog was so thick, you could slice it with a knife, or it was as thick as pea soup. I know you have heard these sayings before. ... And I knew it would be here for me to enjoy this morning and it was.....


At the back porch, I could see the fog dancing with the fruit trees in the orchard.

 This was taken out on the front porch, the cows were wandering through the fog,as if it was not there.

By these photos you can see it was not as thick as pea soup, the fog had lifted somewhat, and as the sun came up it burned the fog away. But what a simple pleasure it was to enjoy one of God's many gifts to us.

Please enjoy, and share your Simple Pleasures today,

Sue

I am linking up with Dayle for Simple Pleasures, please feel free to join and share or go and read more simple pleasures (HERE). or click on the icon.

Did I ever tell you that I grow garlic? Of all the herbs I grow this has to be my favorite, I probably use it more too. It is not only great in cooking, but it truly has medicinal properties. If I feel a cold coming on or have a sore throat, I will squeeze the juice from a lemon, chop a clove of garlic, add a teaspoon of honey, pour a cup of boiling water, drink and chew the garlic. Helps every time. I am also told that it lowers blood pressure, and  lots of other good things.


Here is the garlic dh brought from the barn where I was drying it in small bunches.

I took the garlic cloves, and placed them in a nylon stocking, tying a knot after each one.  This makes it easy if you want just one, just cut below the knot, and there you have it.

I then hung them in the pantry, they need to be in a cool, dry, and dark place.

We have now planted the new garlic bed, and it is growing just fine.  It will be harvested next summer. We still have to put the straw down. I am also thinking  about next years garden lol  Just can't start to soon. lol

We have been busy this week bedding our perennials for the winter, and adding some  finishing touches on our porch.  Yesterday was so sunny, a beautiful fall day,today it is sprinkling rain and cool, just a great day to make some comfort food. I  made my version of baked spaghetti  tonight. Sooo yummy.

Hope you  had a great day today, and are enjoying beautiful autumn weather. We found out that this little one, is a girl, and we named her Jennie, isn't she adorable and growing like a weed.



Thank you for stopping by for a visit, and taking the time to say hi. 
Hugs,
Sue
Genesis 8:22 While the earth remaineth, seed time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.

To be able to just do nothing today, was shall I say "Wonderful".  We had an extra busy week on the farm this week. I can happily say that we finished the porch this weekend. 


 While scraping paint off glass, and cleaning them I had this encounter with a friend."Don't even think about going in there" says me.

I am a country girl through and through, The only critters I am afraid of here on the farm are snakes, and mice. lol  

 After I told him he couldn't go inside, he then decided to go to the next lamp post. I think we were playing what you would call "a cat and mouse game". I had so much fun, having fun while working always makes time pass more quickly. lol

He dug his heels in and decided I was not going to run him away from his new found home. I continued to scrape paint and I know it must have been annoying to him, but to my surprise he stayed.

We have also finished picking and freezing our beans, for the season. These are green butter beans, hummm so good

So thankful for my seal-a-matic!

These are speckled butter beans, they turn almost purple when cooked, and have a stronger flavor, also very delicious. 

Our temps. here have been up and down this week, but I think we have seen our last 90 degree until next year. I am really enjoying the fall foliage as it changes it almost seems daily.
Thank you for coming by and saying hi, I look forward to getting to know you.
HUgs,
Sue
Matthew 11:28~"Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.