Family fun time!!!
written by Sue, January 23, 2011
We have been busy counting sheep around here, the count is now 16 and still climbing.
January is the month of birthdays in our family, we celebrated three this weekend, My mother, brother, and brother-in-love.  Twenty of us gathered at a favorite restaurant and had a great time, I had the privilege of baking the cake for our gathering. just a few pics.

The birthday girl!!

Birthday brother!!

Birthday Brother-in-love!!

Lots of hugs!!! some of us have not been together in a year!

When these two are together, no telling what mischief is in the air!!

Our niece just adores her uncle!!!

She is the matriach  of our family! I am so thankful for Mother, she is a friend, example to all of us.

One of m favorite photos...

This one is another favorite.. look at great grandson looking at his grandmother...

 Sis, and her family...

 Other sis and her sweetie!!

I love and adore my family, we have always enjoyed times like this,.
Thank you for allowing me to share.

I am still walking my 2.5 miles a day, and needed it after this get together.

Kissed by the Sun!!
written by Sue, Thursday January 20, 2011~
When I opened my eyes this morning I says to me... " I want to sleep under sun kissed sheets tonight," so I got busy and stripped the bed, and started the laundry. Now, when I strip the bed, I take everything off and wash  or air it, yes even the pillows.

Speaking of pillows, this is what is left of one of my pillows, it came apart in the washer and I had a mess. I loved this pillow too, it was so soft.

 I love to sleep on linens and lay my head on pillows that have been washed and kissed by the sun.

I also said to me, "I will stay put inside except to hang clothes out, and walk, I will, I will no matter what."
When I got the bed linens going in the washer, I decided to start cleaning the bedroom, you know dusting, cleaning out the dresser drawers, etc. I was doing fine until a phone call from Mr. P asking me to hurry to the barn,...

that the second ewe of the day was having her lambs, one born and she was fixing to have another. So I grabbed my camera and here I went. It took about an hour for her to have them and clean them up. Usually it is a good thing if you are around to make sure they nurse. Dh and I stood there so amazed at the wonder of how these lambs and mother related to each other, and how the babies new exactly where to go to get their first nourishment, the colostrum is the most important first nutrient for any newborn.....

I absolutely did not want to walk today, but I pushed myself, and put one foot before the other, and did get it done. I had done so well with being faithful, but today was one of those days where I didn't want to, but because of making a public commitment here on my blog, I knew I needed to stick with it. And when I finished I was so glad that I did, and it was strength from the Lord, that helped me too.

Now here's another one for you, I didn't want to fix dinner tonight as I was tired from cleaning, helping out at the barn, not to mention walking 2.5 miles. So what is a girl to do when she feels this way?
Ask for help from the One who will give it so freely every time. I asked the Lord to give me strength.
Isaiah 40:31~but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles, they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. There are so many verses in the Bible about strength and how God will strengthen us. It is there for a reason, many times I quote these scriptures when I am weak, whether physically, spiritually, or emotionally.


 I came in the house and went straight to the kitchen, got the homemade meat sauce that I had canned last summer, added tomatoes, a few more spices,cooked the spaghetti, mixed with the sauce,put cheese on top and broiled it, hence baked spaghetti, so delicious.

 made cole slaw, and that was it. I won't tell you what we had for dessert, you might chastise me. lol

Canning during the summer really pays off in the winter, especially on days like today. lol
I am so thankful to be  sleeping under these sun kissed sheets tonight, and  believe me  I will be sniffing away.lol

Hugs,
Sue

This is how my day went.
written by Sue, january 20,2011
Yesterday the sun kept calling my name to come out and play, and I didn't disappoint her! The weather has been cold, overcast and gray lately, but he afternoon sky was a beautiful Carolina blue, I tried I mean I really tried to stay focused on my work, but everywhere I looked this brilliant sun just kept calling me. I finally yielded to , and went....

 I went because I felt this strong urge to stop and get outside, bask  in the sun, and visit the real SON, if only for a few moments  so with my journal and devotional book I went and sat by the pond, I didn't do a lot of reading, Just needed some alone time with the Lord. Have you ever felt like this? It is such a wonderful worshipful experience.
Psalms 116:1-2~ I love the Lord,because He has heard my voice and my supplications,~ because He has inclined His ear to me, Therefore I will call upon Him as long as I live.

Later I visited with the donkeys, sheep, and ducks,

and this guy, who was doing some cleanup from the ice storm. It looked like the sun was calling him too.

I hung around the hay barn and inhaled this  sweet aroma. One mark of a true farm girl is~ she loves farm smells! lol

We stayed out and played until the sun went down, I didn't want  to come in, because  it was so nice. I did finish my week of walking with 3 miles , that was a total of 18 miles.

Had long conversations with our daughter and son # 2 , both had a lot to talk about. Another highlight of my day. To me one of the best inventions ever is the telephone, there is no better feeling than to pick up the phone and hear that loved one's voice, unless it is talking in person. I guess you can tell this mama hen is missing her little chicks.
Enjoy your day.
Hugs,
Sue

Guess who got a haircut today?
Written by Sue, Tuesday January 18, 2011
Moi!! 

Do you like? Hubby did, he said I looked 15 yrs younger,.... well I think I will go back tomorrow!

Guess what came... by UPS today, I love to see that little brown van coming down my driveway, cause I know he is bringing me some goodies!

My FoodSaver is finally here... if you don't have one of these please get one. It is the best for keeping your foods so fresh and for a very long time. This is the  second one that I have had, they certainly have improved since I bought my first one ten years ago. Now.... let me see what can I put in the freezer? I am sure I will be sharing a lot about my new toy.

Didn't get a lot of house work done today as I got a late start, and I had the haircut, but that is okay, I will begin tomorrow. I did get my 2.5 miles today..15 miles in 6 days.

Last night  when we went to bed, I asked dh if he would remind me of my appt. today, I have been known to forget overnight. lol As I was walking I looked at my dh and he said "you have an appt. and you might  be late." I said "it's okay" and kept walking, when I came back around where he was at, he was making all kinds of motion with his hands and tapping on his watch, "it is 2:15."He is a stickler for being on time, I am too, but will push the limit. lol I shook my head in agreement and kept walking. I'm thinking "thank you Lord for sending me such a caring husband." I am also thinking how he and I balance each other out.
The temps were in the 50's and to me it was enough to work up a sweat, I like to sweat when I walk, I know it is doing me so much good. lol
Hope your day was filled with many blessings.
Hugs,
Sue

This is how my day went!

written by Sue, January 18th, 2011

Monday I got a late start, but am happy to say that I finished cleaning the kitchen and it is now back in order. If my kitchen is in order I feel like the rest of the house is okay!

The peels on these bananas were really dark, so I peeled them and put them in the freezer, to use for smoothies, If I was going to use them for banana bread, I would have mashed them up first. I was amazed at how good they looked... Goes to show you that you can't judge a book by its cover.

 My plans were to start on the breakfast room next but didn't because my cheerleader called twice to ask if I was going to walk  before it started raining. I kept saying "yes, but I want to finish this kitchen before I go." I knew if I didn't finish it before I walked that it would not get done. because I had already looked out the window and saw another fire burning, and when I see a campfire it just draws me like a magnet. lol.
As I walked, I called to my cheerleader to keep it going , because when I was finished I wanted to sit by the fire and chat. He smiled! Two reasons..... I was walking,.... and he loves the chats by the fire too.

I didn't take my camera because it is too large, and missed some great shots of the donkeys eating the apples I took them. I found the apples in the bottom of the frig, that came from our orchard, they were a little shriveled, and I decided it was time to let go.

 They loved them, and so did I, I decided to taste to see if they were as good as the donkeys thought. Oh so sweet, I almost brought them back to the house and saved them,for us but yielded to their happy faces.lol Maybe I will take  my cell phone next time.
I finished with 2.5 mies, now let me see, I have walked for 5 straight days and logged 12.5 miles. I walked 3 mi. one day.

Enjoy your day.
Hugs,
Sue

Mama said there would be days like today!! LOL

And she was right.!!LOL

written with love by Sue, January 12, 2011

Would you like to know how I ended up baking two, 

yes two chocolate cakes today?......

Our church had a meal planned for one of the ladies in our church who had surgery. I committed to baking a layered chocolate cake, usually very simple....

Dh asked if I had all my ingredients,as he didn't want me out on the slick roads, and he would be off and on the farm today. I made a mental check... 1st. mistake..... I told him all I needed was some eggs, since these ladies have gone on strike! No not the rooster he is just the egg counter.

2nd. mistake...I forgot to take my butter out to soften. so I thought  "nothing to it,I will let the mixer soften it," it did but took longer than what I had planned, finally got all ingredients in and mixed it. I thought everything was doing well.

I sprayed the pans with Pam, and then lined with wax paper, sprayed again. put the batter in, and since this is a ten layer cake, I put very little batter in my pan, put them in to bake, everything seemed to be going well,,

 took them out and the wax paper stuck to the bottom of some the layers, as I tried to peel it off the layers began to tear apart.  I began to think Pam had let me down. Truth is I had left them in the oven to long. lol I knew I couldn't send a cake to someone's house with wax paper on the layers. So I had to start over again. "Reputation to protect, don't you know?"

I bake my cakes from scratch 98% of the time, but I keep several boxes of cake mix on hand for emergencies. So I decided that this was one of those emergencies.. I was short on time too, so out came the cake mix, which I altered somewhat and it really is quite good. I got the next layers in the oven, and decided to mix my icing.

Colossians 323~ And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men.~

3rd.mistake..... didn't check to see if I had evaporated milk for icing. so I called dh on his cell phone, and guess where it rang, yes, inside the house, he had forgotten to take it. At this time I am reminding myself.... "you can make it easy or you can make it hard." I kept going back and forth to the window to see if dh was back at the barn,

 trying not to let these layers over bake. Just about the time they were done, I saw the truck coming down the lane... sweet relief. I went on the porch and motioned for Mr. P to come to the house, I was wondering what he would say about me forgetting to tell him I needed evaporated milk. You see we live in the country, I can't run next door, or I would have ran over and borrowed some milk. Anyhooo. Mr. P said nothing, but I won't show you the look he gave me. lol

This is the best icing soooo goood, sooo easy, did I tell you delicious it is?

I got the icing made, two batches for two cakes.

this one went to the other family

You see family will forgive you if you serve them cake with wax paper between layers where as others will tell everyone who knows you. lol.

Some might be thinking "she was just looking an excuse to have some cake for her and Mr. P.... hee hee.

When Mr P. came in I told him what happened, he just had to have a piece of His cake before he left to deliver, "thanks hon", I must say he was grinning, and couldn't figure out what was wrong with it... Just made up for two trips to the store.lol We girls know its a girl thing, don't we!!

Romans 8:28~ And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

Enjoy your day,

Sue

Good Morning Friends
written with love by Sue January 11, 2011
Lets catch up since we last visited.....
I have since had a bout with vertigo, which was no fun at all, of course no illness is fun, put vertigo puts me down, and when something puts me down I do not like it. Mr. P really took very good care of me, and I am so blessed to have him.
When I was up and about again dh and I took the decorations down these are all packed and put away in a small closet in an alcove upstairs.Such a great feeling!

These are waiting to be put away in the garage, yes, they are sitting all around the house. lol

But before we could get them put up we had a snow storm, and we are not able to get to the garage. There is ice in the breezeway, and we are snowed in. lol The snow is beautiful both falling and on the ground. But once it quit snowing it began to sleet, and now this beautiful snow has  a coating of ice on top.We did take some pretty pictures yesterday. Hope you enjoy!

We had our first lamb born during the snow, isn't he cute? This ewe is a first timer so she produced just one, we are looking for the older ewes to have at least twins, triplets would be nice. We once had ewe who had triplets , and she raised them all. These are Katahdin sheep other wise known as hair sheep.

 It snowed all day we finally finished with 6 inches of snow.

 The cardinals love this cedar tree, how many can you find? click to enlarge if you like.

We all live such fast paced lives, and I was wondering yesterday, if maybe  the Lord sends  the snow for people like me to slow down and enjoy the view. So for today, we, that is dh and I, with our hot orange spice tea are reading, he about the care of sheep, me, catching up on blog reading.
Enjoy your day,
Sue

Meet Jasper the flea...
written with love by Sue January2, 2011.. 
This is how 2010 ended for us....
After dinner we talked, and watched a very funny, old movie ... You Can't Take It With You with James Stuart and Jean Arthur. At first dh and I thought we had chosen a not so good one, but as the story went on we really enjoyed it, so much so we want to watch it again.. It has a very profound message that we all should learn, hence the title of the movie. We get most of our movies from the public library to which I am most thankful for.

After the movie we went to see the town drop their flea at the stroke of midnight.

 This is a very small town and has only come into existence this past year. I was pleasantly surprised at the turnout, and we did run into some old friends which was so nice.

The flea, whom we all are familiar with, was a great annoyance in this community many years ago. I mean an infestation like no other, so much so the community became known as Flea Hill.  It is quite an interesting story to which it would take to long to tell.

 What a pleasant surprise to see my friend, Betty, she is  holding a souvenir of the event. I had not seen her in quite a while.

Anyhow when this community became a town last year the town officials really wanted to put the town on the map so to speak. lol So they came up with the idea of having a flea drop on New Years Eve, much like the one in the big city of NY, except they drop a ball! The had a contest to even name him, so meet Jasper the flea!

The mayor is a great artist,and a fine man, both dh and I went to school with him and his wife. he drew the design and others made it... thus the big flea drop of 2010!!
What I found so wonderful about being there among all these people was the real down home feeling I felt, it was like we were all family. There was no rowdiness, drinking at all., people fellowshipping and music playing,all wonderful people out celebrating the ending of a year and the welcoming in of a new one with family.

 I felt so peaceful and joyous. They ended this celebration by having a prayer blessing on everyone there. Our souvenir, This one I like, the flea,  not dh Him I love, LOL , this  flea minds it's own business and doesn't bother anyone. LOL

We came home had hot chocolate watched one of our favorite shows... The Waltons.. went to bed.
To some this would seem to be a very boring night, but to us it was simply perfect.
I hope your evening was just as wonderful too.
Did  you have your black eye peas and greens yesterday? We did and oh! so good!
Love to you,
Sue