Flowers in February!I

      Wow! What a winter! Or should I say Spring? One can hardly tell these days! One day its cold, windy, cloudy, rainy. The next day it's warm, sunny and 70! So many fluctuations in a week! Thus, the reason we have flowers blooming outside! Daffodils, shrubs, fruit trees, tulip trees, and so on. In town, there are a lot more blossoms. Out here, not as many. Things seem to bloom much later here on the homestead than in town. I'm not sure why.

      I've been battling sickness for almost two weeks! It's getting old! I don't want to go to the doctor for fear of catching more disease! I think I got this germ when I went to the emergency room to see my Dad. He was having severe pain in his side. It's not like my Dad to go to the emergency room! I don't think he's ever been! So I know he was hurting! They didn't find out what was wrong with him, of course. Our local hospital is not always the most efficient when diagnosing patients. It took my Mom's persistence in calling doctors to get him checked. Finally, a surgeon diagnosed him right away with a hernia! Now what was so hard to determine that? He will be having surgery in early March to have it removed. But I had to go and contact this crud! It has been nasty! I want so bad to be OVER it! I also had the privilege of caring for Riley and Gavyn last week. They are so sweet! I wished I  hadn't been sick while I was caring for them! But they were so good! I miss those little buggers!

      I want so bad to have a good garden this year! I ordered seeds from Baker Creek, Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, and Marie Seeds. These are mostly heirloom seeds that seeds can be saved from. Plus, varieties that can't be purchased at the local farm store or big box store. I also purchased seeds from them. The ones I planted last week have germinated! All but the pepper plants. The temp needs to be warmer for them. I am so excited to see the plants popping up! Now, to get the trailer of woodchips unloaded! I'm not up to that! I'm doing good to do a few things inside. I don't like resting! I want to be doing! Oh well, got to rest to get over this, I guess.

      I hope ya'll stay warm and well! And don't forget to get those seeds started! Have a great week! Blessings from Bama!

Feel better soon Dad!

My one and only daffodil.

Green juice drinkers!

One flower I lacked on the homestead was our state flower, the Camelia. Now I have one! It is the most beautiful flower I have ever seen! Thank you Randy, for my Valentine gift!

You can't see them, but the tea olive tree has little fragrant flowers all over it! Wished I could smell them!

Sprouted seeds!

Just planted.

A plum tree in bloom!

The other part of my Valentine's gift, eight raspberry plants! Thanks Randy!

The trailer that needs emptying. We will need about eight more loads to cover the garden.

A New Year's a Coming!

      I just thought I'd pop in and say hello! I have not written in awhile because of so many things going on. But now that the new year is embarking upon us, I feel like I need to get back to blogging. Funny how I have pushed it to the back burner. I really enjoy sharing my life with ya'll! I've even been contemplating Youtubing! If that is a word. I'm not sure about that yet. I'll let ya'll know.

      The holidays have been nice. But we lost a dear loved one. My husband's father. He was 75, and died with lung cancer. He battled it for a long time. He smoked all of his life, but quit about 15 years ago. That wasn't enough. The damage had been done. We will miss you, H.L.!

      Since the drought has ended, although we're tremendously still in need of rain, the weather has turned cooler. It was quite cold the last couple of weeks, but this week has been quite warm! I wore shorts and raked leaves Saturday, which was Christmas Eve! Air conditioners were on Christmas Day, for awhile! We do have odd weather here in the South. I never really get used to it cause it's always changing! The heat this year, though! I still can't believe how hot and dry the past few months have been! But I'm ready to start gardening again! I lost total interest in the garden during the drought and heat! The cooler temps have gotten me outside and digging again! I turned up some large sweet potatoes in the garden today. One looks like some sort of animal fetus or something! It's huge! I probably won't do anything with it because it will be so hard to cut. The others are in my pantry, curing. I hope they will be edible. Time will tell!

      Speaking of the garden, I really hope to get wood chips brought in soon. I know where a pile is that is in the decomposing process. We can get it any time. There just hasn't been time! Randy has been re-doing our heat. We had a power surge in this area and it demolished our downstairs unit! Randy has been wanting to switch back to a heat pump, so that's what he works on in the evening. We're running strip heat, which makes the power bill very high, but at least we have heat when we need it. 

      I pray that ya'll will have a wonderful holiday season and a safe and prosperous New Year! Thanks for reading and commenting! Blessings from Bama!

One load of the many I raked Saturday!

My new 'Christmas shoes'! I just need to wear socks next time. Got a blister!

The tree has some of my homemade ornaments.

Our lovely 2016 Christmas tree!

Gold and silver wreath I made. The bow is on a  wreath on the other side of the door.

Another wreath I made.

A nice set of two from my sister-in-law.

The silly goats kept jumping into the wheel barrow while I tried to scoop their poop!

Santa brought a trampoline for the girls! I love it! It is the best baby sitter!

My sweet potatoes! I'm going to dig and see if there are more.

My new profile pic.

Sherry and Gavyn.

Three of my sweeties!

Smoky Mountains.

I love this man!

Smoke on the mountain!

I love the mountains, even if I got vertigo driving around in them!

Hey Ya'll! Happy Fall!

      In my area, it's late summer! As I write this, it is 91 degrees! Yikes! No wonder I'm in the house! We have been enjoying much milder temperatures the past couple of weeks, with the highs only in the eighties. And low humidity! It really felt nice! Then all of a sudden, the thermometer started rising again, as well as the humidity! I am so, not happy! I was actually able to go outside and enjoy being there! I can't work the ground because of the drought, but I can do other things like paint projects in the shade. Oh did I mention we're having a drought? It has been so dry! No rain since early September and that was only a slight drizzle! The ground is so hard! I won't even think about a fall garden! Or plant mums! What I've got will have to do. At least the leaves are finally turning pretty colors! I was afraid they would all dry up and fall off! The leaves on the trees I shared in the last post did fall off. Those trees are bare now. I hope your weather is better where you are!

      October is birthday month for our family. My baby turned 21 Saturday! I can't believe it! It just seems like we brought him home yesterday! Where does the time go? He's a hard working young man. He is training and learning how to be an air/heat tech. He seems to be excelling in his work, from what I hear. He also loves to do mechanic work on cars and trucks. He gets all that from his dad, who does the same. Happy Birthday, Skylar! 

      April and Amber also has a birthday this month. They are the Moms of all those beautiful little girls who spend time here. Happy Birthday Amber and April! Randy's Mom also had a birthday this month. Happy Birthday Helen! Michael, Randy's brother had a birthday this month. Happy Birthday, Michael! I'm sorry if I left anyone out. Happy Birthday just in case!

      I am enjoying learning more about my Cricut. It is an amazing machine! It is helping with my card making endeavors. I believe it will help me with much more than that in the long run! I am embarking on a new craft that I hope the Cricut will help me with. I haven't gotten started actually making anything, just buying up the items I need. I hope to have some things made to share with ya'll soon. 

       Ya'll enjoy your mild temperatures and the amazing color God has blessed us with this Fall! Blessings from Bama!

My brother, Cliff, is sitting in Sandy's chair. She's such a big pet!

The mums are getting taken over by a climbing black-eyed Susan.

I love the color of this mum!

I made this simple wreath.

I just wanted to show ya'll the beautiful ferns at the front door.

Too bad this isn't smell-a-blog! The rose smell is outstanding in aroma!

If I wasn't watering these flowers, they would be dead by now!

The beautiful and awesome smelling gardenia!

The dog wood trees are so beautiful this time of year!

More fall color.

Wrong time of day to see the beautiful colors! But they are beautiful!

I absolutely love this spraggling rose bush! It smells good too!

Little Riley gluing and coloring!

This handsome fellow is Gavyn!

Pretty Winterlynn and her great coloring!

I made the kids plaques with their names. Each one was different. I don't know what happened to the pictures of the others.

Pictures and Projects on the Homestead!

      Hello all! Hope ya'll are well! It seems I have more and more to do as the weather warms up here! Sorry I haven't written in awhile! I just sit down randomly and decide to write. That is, of course, after I've taken a series of photos. It is a very sunny, windy day here in the South! It seems the wind hasn't stopped blowing since January! It's not too bad though, since the temperature is in the mid 60's. We've actually had warmer weather before now. It fluctuates from week to week. Sometimes, day to day! We are having the earliest Spring, ever! I had a rosebush to bloom this week! I don't think I remember one blooming until late April! Quite different from last year, when everything was late!


      I have started yet another healthy eating lifestyle! Have ya'll heard of the 21 Day Fix Program? It has been advertised on television and elsewhere. I just stumbled upon it on YouTube. I really like the way it helps me portion out my food. After reading about it and printing lists and tally sheets, I decided to do it. Then I found the container system at Walmart. I decided to purchase them. They are different from the 21 Day in servings and teaspoons. The colors are different; however, the sizes are the same. I like to combine the two programs on most days. I find it very difficult to eat four, five ounce servings of protein everyday! I can't eat eggs, and I'm somewhat sensitive to dairy! That makes it difficult to get in the servings. The Perfect Portions I purchased at Walmart says for my caloric intake that I only need three servings of protein. It also allows me to have more fruit. That is a little difficult to get in too, cause so many fruits are not in season. Strawberries are still a little crunchy; apples are green tasting; watermellon is crunchy. You get the idea. Leaves me with bananas and frozen fruit like berries and mango. I did find some jars of canned pears in the pantry I can eat. I guess canned is better than none? I go by these programs as best as I can. The main thing is portioning out my food correctly. I wasn't eating enough of some things and too much of others! Now I know! Since December, I have lost 10 pounds. I haven't taken my measurements lately, so I don't know how many inches, but my clothes tell me I'm slimming down. Since this is my first week on the containers, I can tell a difference in the way I feel. I am exercising three days a week and walking on the alternate days. One must exercise to tone. Yes, you can lose weight without it, but it's so good for you! I think I'm having sugar withdrawals or carb withdrawals! I get so little carbs now! Plus, I'm trying not to eat carbs after 6:00 P.M. When I say carbs, I mean like tortillas, bread, rice, etc. I didn't think I ate that much before until I used the containers. I think measuring my food with the containers gives me the right perspective on portion size, so I'll know how to eat the rest of my life! I would highly recommend this program to anyone who is concerned about their health, losing weight, or just knowing the correct amount of food for their lifestyle.

      We haven't plowed our garden yet! The reason is because we are going to transplant our grapevines. Randy has been working on getting posts in the ground to hold them up. The grapevines, including muscadines(yay) have itty bitty grapes!!! I'm so excited! I hope transplanting them at this stage won't hurt them! He hasn't finished running the cables to attach to the posts. 

      I hope ya'll enjoyed reading about my weight loss and healthy eating habits as well as what's going on garden-wise! Have a nice day! Blessings from Bama!

My pitiful ponytail before I cut my hair!

After I cut my hair.

My almost final haircut. I went with shorter layers in back.

Baby boy Gavyn and big sister Riley.

Loving my salads!

Getting ready for grilling season!

The beautiful Keria.

The nectarine tree was in full bloom a couple of weeks ago. Now there are nectarines where the blosoms were.

Beautiful red tips were blooming a couple of weeks ago!

The forsythia was so pretty this year!

I never tire of daffodils even though they're long gone.

The peach blossoms look like the nectarine blossoms.

My beautiful great-nieces Easter Sunday!

The irises are blooming now.

The Fugi apple tree has numerous blossoms.

The photo does not do the Spirea justice!

The Japanese maple is so colorful and full!

All of our apple trees have blossoms this year!

The cherry blossoms are lovely!

Muscadine grape vines.

The fennel didn't really die back this year!

Rosebud.

Spring view.

The wisteria was so vibrant this year!

Today's yummy salad.

I used this to portion my salad.