Apples, Woodsmoke and Sunshine



My Sister

As tradition goes, we spent another beautiful Autumn day at the Apple Festival at Graves Mountain Lodge. While some may go for the apples, yummy treats, bluegrass, hayrides, crafts and such, we go for some other reasons...

The Girls Chatting with Papa

Memaw with the Girls

Kenna

We go to spend time with the grandparents, enjoy the beautiful mountainside and get PLENTY of pictures.  
 After-all, every family day is a photo shoot- just ask my kids! ;)



Elaina

The weather was grand!

The sun was shining, the leaves gave up their gorgeous colors for all to marvel and...thanks to memaw,

we came stocked with overflowing picnic baskets.



Brittany and Joshy being silly

We found a beautiful spot by the lake for our picnic and enjoyed the bounty.

Once lunch was over, we went out to explore...



Papa took the boys out walking around the lake and all of us girls explored the old houses and canning sheds.



My Abby



Kenna



Once we had taken all the pictures that could be endured, we set out for the festival grounds.



 

 

 

 

There was bluegrass in the background, the smell of woodsmoke cooking up fresh apples, turning them into dark, rich apple butter and children running from hay bale mazes and pony rides.



Apple Butter- The Old Fashioned Way

 

 

Overall, we had a wonderful day and enjoyed enough memories to last for years to come. 

My Mom




 

 

The Substance of Chicks Hoped For...

If anyone knows me well, they know that I have recently acquired some chickens. Not only have I recently acquired them but I simply love my little chickens! Before you draw any conclusions that I am just an old country girl, I must tell you that I am a city girl that is slowly warming up to this country thing.

Yes...working in the garden until my hands and fingernails are covered in rich brown dirt, growing our own food, cooking a meal of fresh vegetables and knowing that you are giving your family the very best, canning with my girls, baking fresh loaves of bread for my family, gathering fresh eggs everyday, sitting on the swing with my husband after a hard day of yard work, sipping a glass of lemonade...I mean REALLY! Who could resist such a wonderfully rewarding lifestyle?

And so, I am enjoying this life...
COUNTRY I am happily becoming!

I am really learning allot. One endeavor I have undertaken is trying to hatch 3 little eggs. We have 11 chickens- all hens. I am happy as can be to have my chickens but we sure would like to have a rooster. So, a friend is letting me borrow a small dome incubator and has given me 3 fertilized eggs. Of coarse, we don't know what each of these little treasures will become. I mean, there's nothing like a little ultrasound machine out there to scan to find out if "it's a boy" (just in case you city folk were wondering).

This is a terrific project for me to do with my children BUT I am a bit selfish. With it being the first time I have ever attempted hatching my very own little chicks, I have kept the incubator in my bedroom, daring anyone to lay a finger on them. :)

I have come to the conclusion that hatching these eggs is a wonderful illustration of faith. Seriously! Each time I go to turn these warm little things, I pray,

"Lord, please One Rooster, Two Hens, help these live...

Lord, PLEASE one ROOSTER, two HENS, PLEASE HELP THESE LIVE..."Several times a day, I have to turn them. Praying the same prayer every time. You know, I don't know if I'm spending my time flipping "duds".

"Lord please one rooster, two hens, help these to live..."

Perhaps, something went wrong: the temperature wasn't just right, the proper humidity level was not maintained, they weren't turned enough, they were turned too much, the list goes on and on. Yet still...

"Lord, please one rooster, two hens, help these live..."

Really, if these things live it will be a miracle.

By the way, ALL life is a miracle of God. Think about it. God has designed the egg to hatch under it's mother who instinctly knows how to turn her eggs, keep them warm, protect them, hatch them. I am merely trying to do something that God has precisely designed a chicken to do.

And so I will continue to pray,


"Lord, please one rooster, two hens, help these live..."

Six days and counting!


"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Hebrews 11:1