Christmas 2011 Cards

I so love the cards we get at Christmas, I fill they are each a gift in their own way and I love each and every one of them. This is a updated photo of our Christmas card wall.

 

I thought I show you a photo of past the past 4 years of cards below And when the  new ones come off the wall after New Years they will be going with these cards to be put up in a safe place.

I like to say Thank you to everyone who sent a card to add to my treasure  box of cards. They are great gifts of love to me.  Love to you all.                                                        

Christmas Gifts & Thanks

I had thought about posting photos of the gifts we have been receiving.  But that just didn't fill right to me because it not about the gifts, it is more about the special people who gave the gifts. That they thought about our friendship and how much we all care for each other. So I am going to make this a post to them. I want to tell them, Thank you very much for your friendship and all the love you have shared with us this Christmas and threw out the year.  

Kristin & Mike

  Penny & Bernie

  Karen & Danny

  DeAnna & David 

  Jeremy & JB 

  Julie & Spanny 

 Josh T.

  Andy H. 
Mom Dot
Wayne A.
Missy B & Mike Z.

May God bless each and everyone of you. And may you have the best and Merry Christmas ever.

We also wish you a great New Years. 

From  Charlotte & T.

Living with Tinnitus

  4 am

    I have been up sense 8 am yesterday now. I'm so tired and very sleepy but the ringing in my ears is so loud tonight sleep will not seem to come. I am having a bad night with Tinnitus.  I'm starting to have a couple more nights a month as I get older with it keeping me awake.  Use to be maybe 2 nights, now sometimes up to 5 nights a month.  I think I am lucky my ring stays low to medium most of the time, some people have the loud ringing all the time.  Mine has only gotten louder over the past few years. I have grew up with mine so I have more or less learn to live with it.  I hurt for the people who suddenly get it. I have met a few soldiers who have it now and my heart breaks for them.

My sleeping pill is kicking in at last so I just may get a few hours sleep in before time in get up and feed my critters and going to work.  Sweet dreams my friends.

Christmas 2011

I am having a hard time getting into the Christmas spirit this year. It seem like the stores were already getting out stuff for Christmas right after Halloween here. And then a few days before Thanksgiving I was already seeing Christmas tree stands going up with trees for sale and that just didn't fill right to me. So I am last getting my tree up, I usually put ours up 2 weeks before Christmas and but was having a hard time decorating it this year. Finely got it done after I kind fell into the it a couple times, I spent a couple days decorating it. I did a more simple tree this year with no lights and lots of little red bows.

Love the Christmas cards we got this year, They make it Christmas and for me each is a gift in its self. I so look fore ward to the cards they remind me of my childhood. The one thing I so enjoyed doing with my mom. We would spend a day doing ours cards up to mail out. And she let me open each 1 we got back and put it on our wall of cards. And I so love all the cards we get this time of year. I am one of those people who keeps my cards from year to year. They are all very special to me, I have a couple boxes of past cards put up.  The card below was a very special card I got, it teared me up big time and the Lady got some big hugs from me.

Karen, bless your sweet heart

And now on to some of the gifts I will be giving this year to go with the quarts of green beans that I canned from this years garden. I find gifts of food like these mean a lot to our family, because they come from the heart.

Friendship cakes

The first starting of fudge and I still have a couple more batches to make.

Man does it take a lots of stirring and a long time to reach temp.

And then on to cooling down time in the fridge before cutting.

1 down and a couple more to make.

I remember my mom only made this Hershey's cocoa fudge at Christmas time and my little sister & I am trying to keep that tradition going. And if we wanted walnuts in it my granddad would find and bring us nuts to shell out for it. I remember busting my fingers with the hammer more then the walnuts.  I think we were given the nuts more to keep us out from under foot while she made the fudge.  She made another candy from egg whites, sugar and vanilla she called sea-foam but I never got that recipe from her because she lost it in 1 of their moves. I so loved that candy and have not been able to find that recipe yet. I loved how it seem to melt in your mouth.   

         Wishing you all many Blessing in your celebrate of the season, from us to you

        Merry Christmas &  Happy New Year.

Some of my canning

I have been canning 3 years now and thought it would be nice to share some of those years canning photos with you. The first year I started out with tomatoes, jams & lots of pickles. Then last year we got an Excalibur 9 tray Dehydrator to dry some fruits & vegetables & for my man to make deer jerky. Which I never seem to see again once he has packaged it up, unless it is needed. I am hoping to get some photos of the jerky this year as it goes in & comes out before he packs it up. This year I only got to can some more pickles, make some stocks, 58 quarts of green beans & dry kale for soups.

The start of my first year of canning 2009

Salsa

Apple-grape jelly

the end of my first year of canning 2009

Jerky,Banana chips & apple chips

Dry yellow squash

Roasted vegetable stock

New potatoes

Chicken Stock

Dry tomatoes

Salsa & dried tomatoes

 Quarts of apples & peaches

Pints of spiced peaches & apples

Pints of green beans

Dried apples,pickled peppers,dried tomatoes and dried green beans

The end of 2 year of canning 2010

Jalapeño pickled eggs

apples & peaches

Picked Jalapeños

Apple pie filling

ether apple sauce or pear sauce

Beet pickled eggs

Dill,sweet, bread& butter, hamburger chip pickles

Quarts of green beans

Apple sauce

Drying kale

Dried kale all ready to add to soups

the end of this years canning 20011

The last few jars of 58 quarts of green beans found a home.

  I think my photos got a little mixed up. I am still learning how to get them to post. It is hard for me to believe this last 3 years is the first time I have done any canning in over 30 years. I was so hooked after my first few time of canning Bread & butter pickles,  I remember eating them when my mom & aunt made them before they ever made it into jars. And after I open the first jar that winter, I sat down and ate the whole jar remembering child hood times helping my mom can at my aunts house. Jars of tomatoes, Jams, Jellies, Dill pickles & lots of Bread & Butter pickles.   Thank you aunt Betty for being there to teach my mom and me.

Happy Surprises

Thought I would share some photos of our pond while it was holding rain water for now, it will all be gone again soon. I got a nice surprise after taking the pictures when I viewed them to see the refection of the sky & trees in them. I hope you like them.
                          

My drypond farm is a wetpond farm for a couple of weeks, only when we get a good rain for more then a day.

Christmas Past

I thought I would share some photos of our past Christmas trees & some of the special ornaments that go on to the tree each year. This tree was all I ask for the first Christmas in our new place, so I would be able to use my special ornaments.  I will not be putting up our tree for this year for at less a week or so yet but want to share these for now.

2006

2007

2008

                                                                 2009 

This are the in memory ornaments for my son & daughter 

This one is in memory for pops

This one was from my friend Kelly

From my mom's friend Scott

The very first 1 my wonder man brought for me.

These were from my grandma

Past down to me from my mom, I can remember them being on our tree as a kid

This was from pops tree

The wooden ones were a gift for my kids

1 of the wooden clocks

Wooden toys

Old St. Nick

I love this Santa

This bench was from our little friend Kim

I love hummingbirds & had to have the set of 6 I got 10 years ago.

The White 1 another handed down from my mom.

Some of my family

 My mom who always tried to make Christmas special just like she was with lots of love,hugs and togetherness time. 
To me it does not matter if there is anything under the tree at all. 
Only that it is up and I can remember those I love and the times we spent together with family & friends those are the best gifts in life.