Getting Caught Up....

Ok....so I just wrote out this long, looong post about our Christmas, I saved it...then "tried" to post it. I hate those little "We're sorry but there was an error..." messages! I have counted to 100 and am trying to post it again. Unfortunately because of time now, you'll end up getting a more condensed version of the first post! Oh well.
So anyway, the week before Christmas, Jacob made the 8 hour trip by himself to visit with my Mom and Dad. My dad had planned to take him on a trip to my hometown of Graniteville, SC. He introduced Jacob to aunts, uncles, and cousins....many of whom Jacob had never had the pleasure of meeting before. He got to see some of the places where my Mom and Dad grew up, and he also got to see the church where Matt and I were married almost 29 years ago! (this is the same church my Mom grew up in also) Here are a few pictures of the church...it's very beautiful and old...
After their 2 day visit to Graniteville, Jacob stayed with my parents for a few more days. Just look at this big ol' starfish he found on the beach...
After enjoying a few days at the beach, Jacob and my parents then journeyed over to our house to spend Christmas with us. What a treat that was! We had so much fun and enjoyed their company so much.
A brief synopsis of Christmas gifts this year...for Katie they included games, books, jackets, a stocking full of stuff, and cowgal boots...
For Rachel, she requested money, a few special music cds and some much-sought-after violin accessories...
For Jacob, he was surprised with an ipod shuffle, some size 13W boots that were too small, and totally bowled over with a Sony Vaio laptop computer (from his grandparents)!
And guess...just guess what I got!?!?! I got my long-awaited-for butter churn! It's just what I had been looking for...not sure how old it is, but it has the handcrank and the wooden paddles and it works like a charm!
All you have to do is add fresh cream....
Convince an energetic 10 year old how much fun it is to turn that crank....
Check on it in about 15-30 minutes....
Then before you know it you'll see that rich creamy fresh butter floating on top....
Isn't that just the neatest ol' thing you ever did see in all your life?
The only "down side" to Christmas this year was that Amy didn't get to come in. But we're hoping for a visit soon...and then we can have Christmas all over again! :O)
I hope your Christmas was as enjoyable as ours and that you got to spend it with those you love.

Has it really been 3 weeks?

Wow! Has it really been three weeks since I last posted? I didn't realize it had been that long. Oh well...nothing really earth-shattering has been going on. Let's see...we had the flu/plague/bad-cold-thing for a while. Call it what you wish...it was one nasty bug and I, for one, am glad it's dead and gone! We all got it...Katie was the last man down, and somehow she managed to survive with the least damage done.

Hmm. What else have we been doing? We enjoyed some good company this past weekend. There's nothing like a visit with some long-time special friends. These folks were in Germany at the same time we were....he and Matt were in the Army together. But what makes it even more special is that Jeff and I were saved within a few months of each other. We all went to the same church (of course, Americans are pretty limited where they can go to church in Germany...if they want to understand the service, that is!) Anyway, we've stayed in touch all these years and get to see each other once in a blue moon. It was a nice visit.

We are counting down the days til Christmas vacation!!! Eight days left and the first semester will be behind us! Jacob finished up his Economics college class last night. He had to take a test and also his final exam last night. Should find out his first semester grade soon. We'll be registering him for the second semester today. He's taking Introductory Accounting and he also wants to take another class...just hasn't decided which one yet.

Rachel had another recital this past weekend. She could not have done a better job! She played the Mozart Sonata and it was just wonderful. There was a really big crowd there...we estimated at least 120 people! That's the biggest crowd so far at one of the recitals.
Here's a picture of the weather that day...this is what it looked like as we headed out the door...
Here are a few "before" pictures....waiting to be seated before the recital begins...
Nervous? Who...me? :O)
Here's a "during" shot...right in the middle of her song....
And finally, an "after" picture....does she look glad that it's over?
And last but not least, here is a picture of Rachel with her teacher...
So I guess that's about all for now. I'll try not to wait another three weeks to post again! :O)

Fort Katie

Since Matt plowed up the garden behind the house, Katie has been steadfastly working on a "fort". She's had quite a time with it...we've had some windy days and some rainy days. Combine those two factors and she's had a few "collapses". :O) So when she told me today that she had finally gotten it rebuilt, we quickly grabbed the camera lest we should lose our opportunity to immortalize it. So without further ado, we present to you on Katie's behalf...Fort Katie.
The view from behind...
and the view from the front...
I'm hoping to be able to post another video soon (as soon as I can get back to town to get wireless access so I can download it in less than 24 hours! haha!) I'll be posting a video of the song Rachel has finally (hopefully) decided on for her recital, which is Dec. 6. She's changed her mind a lot! But pending teacher approval this week, she's about got it nailed down now. Other than that, nothing new to post about this week. Thought I'd throw in one last picture for good measure....Johann Sebastian Bach, our singing dog. :O)
So long until next time!

5th grade Math and College Economics

Katie (age 10) has started doing algebraic equations in math. Well, actually she started learning them last year but is getting more in-depth with them this year. So anyway...after learning a new process yesterday and practicing a few problems, she said (and I quote), "Hey, Mom! These are fun!" Ah! Those words are music to a homeschool mama's heart. :O)

If I've personally talked to you in the past few days, chances are you already know this. But just in case you don't *wink* I'll just go ahead and blog it....Jacob made an A (with an exclamation point) on his Economics article!!! Ooh-ee doggie! That does a homeschool mama's heart good, too!

Don't mean to brag and run, but I gotta go! There's work to be done! Bye for now!

Happy Monday!

No special reason for this post, I just wanted to put up a few new pics. Yes, I've been driving my kiddos nutsy again with the camera. In fact, I was walking around outside with them and I had my camera case over my shoulder...keeping it handy for those "just in case" photos. :O) So anyway, I got a bright idea for a picture and I reach for my camera. It's gone. Oh, the case is still there hanging over my shoulder, but the camera has disappeared. Come to think of it, one of the kids had disappeared too. Hmm. So when everybody starts chuckling and snorting at me, I knew something was up. Somehow Rachel had managed to get the camera out of my case (while it was still on my shoulder!) and run off with it. Finally after I demand to know where my camera (and my other kid is), Rachel pops out from behind a hay bale with the camera in her hand. Oh, they all thought that was just so funny. THAT, my friends, is just how bad they hate my picture-taking. Ah, but they'll never stop me. ;O) Anyway...
Matt plowed up the garden behind the house today. It's not really good soil, but we always grow our cabbage, a few tomato plants, some peppers, and greens.
Jacob let the chickens out for the day today. They've all but stopped laying for the winter. We get an occasional complimentary egg, but for the most part, they're on vacation. :O)
And then below are just a few pics I took of the kids. I got the last laugh after all. :O) They can run but they can't hide...at least not for long.

For Your Listening Pleasure....

Another little Irish Fiddle tune entitled The Cliffs of Moher. I love this song. Hope y'all enjoy listening! :O) Please let me know if there are any problems viewing, ok? Thanks!

Election Day and a Little Bit of Braggin'!

Matt and I went to vote this morning...in fact, we were second and third in line. :O) They signed me in as Voter #2 for our precinct. Of course, I didn't win any prize for that or anything. But I am glad for the privilege to vote. Yes, I did vote for McCain, but it was really a vote against Obama. I did my part. That's all I can do. The rest is in the hands of the Lord. (Romans 13:1...the powers that be are ordained of God.)

Are y'all going to watch the election results? Not me. I wanna to be able to sleep tonight and I'm afraid if I see the results, I'll be up all night. :O) Of course, Jacob's gonna be on the edge of his seat watching...he can tell me what happened in the morning. :O)

Oh by the way, a mother has a right to brag a little now and then, so it's time for an announcement....Jacob did a SUPER job on his very first college test...not just any old test either...this was an Economics test, at that! Tell someone you're taking an Economics course in college and watch for their reaction. They'll gasp and say, "Oh no! I failed that class!" or "All my friends made D's and F's in that class!" :O) At least, that's what we kept hearing from people. Even one of the college staff said, "I don't want to discourage you but this is a very difficult course and you may want to consider taking something else." Yikes! We weren't sure what to expect after all that hullabaloo! :O) But Economics really interests Jacob so he went for it. So then, that's all the more reason for me to say "Yay and hooray, Jacob!!"

And while I'm in "brag mode", let me just slip one in there for Amy too. She's really enjoying her job as certified personal trainer. But a few weeks ago, she applied for, and got a short term position that she was really interested in. She's working as head coach for the girls' junior varsity volleyball team at a really nice prep school!! She's really excited about that, and I'm excited for her. So "Yay and hooray for you too, Amy!!"

I won't tell you about Katie's math test that she made an 'A' on yesterday....and I'll not bore you with details about Rachel's violin playing...at least...not today. :O) We'll save some bragging for another day.

Y'all come back now...ya hear? :O)

Just some random pictures...

Another fall photo...taken in the holler behind the house :O).....
One of our persimmon trees...can you see all the persimmons on it? A really good picture of Jacob.....
Cute picture of Rachel and Katie.....
And a spur-of-the-moment picture of Katie and me taken before church Sunday morning (don't we look alot alike? Oh yes, yes, I know.....IF I was alot younger and alot cuter!) Anyway.
Aren't y'all so glad I got my camera working again??!!??!! I've been trying for several days now to upload a video of Rachel playing the violin but can't seem to manage it. I have a feeling our SUPER SLOW DIALUP is causing the problem! Ugh! Hopefully I can get that up and going soon though.
Bye for now! Be back soon!

Making Butter :O)

I was just in the kitchen making my weekly batch of fresh butter and thought it might be interesting to post the butter-making process on the blog. (What? You mean you're not interested??? Hmmm, better scroll down and read something else then.) :O)

So it all starts with fresh milk....yep, as Rachel puts it, "right outta the cow." :O) Let the milk set long enough for the cream to settle at the top...normally I just leave it in the fridge overnight. Then next morning, I skim the cream off the milk. Usually in the half gallon jug like you see in the picture below, there is about a 3-5 inch layer of cream...sometimes more, seldom less.

The above picture is what cream I got off of less than two gallons of milk. I let it set out on the kitchen counter for about 12 hours....it all depends on the the temperature. The warmer it is, the quicker it's ready. More often than not, I will skim the cream off the milk in the early morning, then it's typically ready by that evening after suppertime. You'll know it's ready when it's just a bit soured. You learn to judge when it's "ripe". :O)

When it's ready, make sure it's in a jar big enough that it's about half full. Put the lid on good and tight, find a comfortable chair, then shake, shake, shake. And then...shake some more. :O) It takes about 15 minutes (sometimes a little more). This is where the size of the jar comes in handy...you want enough shaking room so that the cream really sloshes hard against the jar. That's what makes the butter. At one point in the shaking process, it'll get a heavy feel to it while you're shaking. You're getting close then. :O) You'll know it's done when you see the butter floating on top.....here's a picture to show you what I mean.....

Scoop the butter out of the jar and plop it into a bowl. What's left in the jar is buttermilk and makes awful good biscuits and cornbread. :O) Put the buttermilk in the fridge and use it rather quickly because it doesn't seem to keep as long as store bought cultured buttermilk.

Here's a picture of the butter I just scooped out of the jar...

The next step is to turn on a steady trickle of cold water. Put the bowl under the water, scoop up the butter with your hands, and sorta knead the butter in your hands while holding it under the stream of water. What you're doing here is squishing all the milk out. Do this until the water runs clear. If you leave even a trace of milk in the butter, you'll have quite a nasty smelling and tasting butter in a few days. Been there, done that....once. Ew! So once the water is clear, you're finished and all that's left now is to squeeze the water out of the butter. At this point, you can salt it if you like...sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. The butter is good and soft at this point, so you can easily stir in salt with a spoon. Put your butter into a little bowl, dip a finger in and get a little taste. Nothing beats the taste of fresh, homemade, creamy butter. :O)
Oh, there is one final thing.....grab a hot, fluffy, right-out-of-the-oven homemade biscuit ....slather on some homemade preserves...smother it in a big ol' glob of your freshly made butter...keep a napkin handy...and oh my! Yum. Yum. :O)

By the way, I'm on the lookout for a butter churn. :O) Sometimes the shaking gets to be a little much if I have alot of butter to make. Anybody know where I can get one?

A Fall Tour

Can't make it to Tennessee to see the leaves this year? No problem! Sit back and relax...I'll take you on a tour. :O) (You can save on gas this way.)
Quite a few of the trees, mostly walnut (which you'll see in the foreground of the picture below) have already lost their leaves. The picture below was taken from on top of the hill behind the house. You'll notice the house as the tiny speck in the middle, near the bottom of the picture.

You can see how dry things still are here. :O(

Below is a view of the really old house on our property. From what we hear, it was originally used for sharecroppers. It's in pretty bad shape now. You can stand on the inside and look at the outside without using the window. :O) Get the picture?
Here's another tiny view picture of our house, in the bottom right corner.
We're setting out hay for the cows now, but they're just sorta picking at it because there is still some grass in the pasture. But it won't be there for very much longer...we've had some heavy frost that is sure to kill what grass is left.
And last but not least is a picture I think is pretty. It was taken at the bottom of the holler in front of the house. We have a trail that goes to the top and this is the beginning of that trail.
And so, that's the end of the tour. Wish you could all see the leaves in person...a picture rarely does the scenery full justice, but it's better than nothing. :O) I'll be back again soon! Y'all be good.

Finally. Batteries for my camera :)

The batteries in my camera have been dead as a doornail for a few weeks now and I have felt so lonely without it. I love taking pictures. My kids have felt quite liberated with no flash going off in their faces! BUT....today I got new batteries and I am ready to start clicking! :O) You can tell from the photos below...taken as soon as I got my batteries home...that they were thrilled beyond measure to have their camera-fiend mother back to normal! (Had it not already been dark outside, I'd have taken alot more pics...those will have to wait til tomorrow...the leaves are gorgeous!)
Poor Jacob...he's still petrified I'm going to show up at college one day to get a picture of him with his professor.

I was quite fortunate last week to get my hands on a bushel of pears from a friend. I've spent several days getting them worked up. Let's see, I have 15 jars of pear butter, 8 jars of pear preserves, and I-don't-know-how-many quarts of cooked pears for pies, dumplings, cobblers, or just eating. :O) They are sooo good. Below are the preserves (I did have 10 1/2 jars of preserves, but 2 1/2 got gone within just a few days)....
and the pear butter....
Now y'all be honest...I bet you've missed seeing pictures of my canning ventures, haven't ya? Go ahead...admit it. ;O)

Don't know what the weather is like wherever you are, but here we have suddenly exprienced winter. It's been c-c-c-cold! This morning we even had a few snow flurries and some sleet....no accumulation....just enough to make it feel even colder!

Anyway, no need for a big long post today. But rest assured, now that my camera is back in action, I'll be back soon with pictures! Tootaloo!

Happy Birthday!

Today is Matt's birthday! When he woke up this morning, he asked me what I was going to do for his birthday. I said, "Honey, I'm going to treat you to one hour of physical therapy!" After all, there's no better time to start physical therapy than on one's birthday, right?! :O) We'll have a bigger celebration this weekend.

Today's therapy was pretty much to get the preliminaries out of the way. We were hoping he'd only have to go to one or two sessions, and then do the rest of it at home. But, it looks like he'll be going twice a week for a little while anyway. They measured several things today....they measured the distance he could turn his head to the right and left (there was about a 10 degree difference), and they also measured the strength in his right and left arm...there was a huge difference there...almost half, in fact. His right arm is alot weaker than the left....all because of those herniated discs. They did a little bit of traction to see if it would ease the numbness and tingling in his arm....so far, it didn't. They gave him some exercises to do at home with a strict warning not to do more than they gave him. He goes back Friday for more therapy. We're hoping/praying it'll help.

I still don't have batteries for my camera so sorry, still no pics. I'm hoping to get some tomorrow. I've got to get fall pictures before the leaves all go away! We're still having very chilly mornings....down in the mid to high thirties with frost. The days are just beautiful and up in the 60s or so.

Hope to be back posting in a few days with some pictures. A blog can be rather boring without them, huh? :O) (Don't answer that!) See ya soon!

Doctors and Apples and Pears :O)

Matt's visit with the spine doctor went well yesterday. He was pleased to know that the injection had helped with the pain. He was not so pleased to see that the weakness/numbness in the arm and thumb were no better upon examination. He recommended that since the injection did lessen the pain, now would be a good time to try some physical therapy along with a prescription anti-inflammatory (meloxicam). He started the meds today and will begin therapy on Wednesday morning. He'll go back to the doctor in about 8 weeks (early December). The doctor said that by then, Matt will know if he's going to be able to just "live with it" or if it's time for surgery. Matt's feelings? "I ain't getting cut on until I just can't stand it anymore." :O) I agree. The doctor said that if he does have the surgery, it won't just be a cut and dried procedure where they go in and fix one disc. Because there are "multiple levels of problems, it would be a more complicated procedure." (translated longer recovery time and possible loss of neck movement) So we won't even think about that unless it just has to be. He's still able to work (praise the Lord!) but then again, because half the plant is still shut down, he's just not having to do alot of work at all. Business is so bad that they're even extending the shutdown, unexpectedly, for another week. Yay for Matt...bad for business. Still, we're thankful for a little extra downtime so these discs can hopefully have more time to heal.

We've been blessed with apples again! It's been a wonderfully cool and rainy day here so we've all been inside peeling apples. (and doing a little taste-testing too! They're yummy!) I'm making more cooked apples for the freezer. We were also given some pears, and as I write, I have some pear butter in the making. :O) Between the apples and the pears, my house smells wonderful! :O)

Wish I could post some pictures but the batteries are dead in my camera, so it'll have to wait til next time. So until then, y'all be good! :O)

Just a quick howdy-do!

Well, all is well at the Ferguson Farm and we hope things are fine with you too. :O) Matt is still feeling better, sleeping better, and hurting less....three things we are most grateful for. He still can't do as much with his right arm as he wants to, but perhaps with time....

Not much else new here. Still no rain. Below is a picture of our "pond"...I guess you can still call it that. It's really more like an algae puddle. :O) They're saying we might get rain Thursday and/or Friday. Sure hope so.
Oh, and we're sure enjoying big bunches of turnip greens lately. I've been stashing some away in the freezer too.
Lord willing, I'll be posting an update about Matt Thursday or Friday after his doctor's appointment. He says as long as he's feeling better, he's not going under the knife. :O) Can't say as I blame him. Soooo...that's all for now folks! Be back in a day or two!

Back at work!

Matt went back to work this past Tuesday. He has done better than I thought he would. He says he does hurt more at work, but things are slow now so he isn't terribly busy. Bad for business but good for him right now. Half of the plant will be closed for 10 days, starting today, so that'll make things even easier. It was a good time for him to try going back to work. Next week is his appointment, so I'm anxious to see what the doc says. Still has alot of weakness in that right arm.

Onto other news...we did get some rain this week. It rained slow and steady almost all day Wednesday. What a blessing that was! The ground just soaked it right up. Our front pond is SO low now, even the dogs are "catching fish"! Now THAT'S low! Not sure what the weather forecast holds but I hope it includes alot of water! :O) It seems the fall leaves are all of a sudden getting just beautiful! Reds, yellows, and oranges everywhere! I love this time of year! Hope to post pictures next time.

School is going great. We're taking a day off today! Yippee! (Yet another advantage of homeschool! You can plan your own schedule!) So with that in mind, I'm off to enjoy the weather, the beautiful scenery, and my good family. Wishing y'all well! Until next time...

We're Still Here!

Well, I haven't updated in a little while. I've sorta been waiting around to see what was going to happen with Matt before I blogged. But since things just seem to be sorta dragging along, I thought I'd just go ahead and blog anyway. :O) Matt had an epidural steroid injection this past Wednesday. He got some relief on Thursday morning...and it last until about Thursday afternoon or evening. Not exactly the results we wanted. Nonetheless, he is still going to "try" to go back to work next Tuesday...just to see if he can handle it. He'll be back at the doctor's office on the 17th of this month and we'll see what's what then. So that's the short version of where we stand with that situation.
Fall is definitely here in Tennessee. The leaves aren't really changing yet but it won't be long. We're certainly enjoying much cooler weather. We've been down in the high 30s two nights this week. This morning, we have a nice toasty fire in the woodstove. I love it! I'm definitely a fall/winter kind of gal. We've gotten no relief from the terribly dry conditions here though. The creek has been nothing but a dry creek bed for quite some time now. Even the old timers around here say they have never seen it dry for this long. Remember I told you we were having to pump water out of the front pond because the cow pond was dry? Well, now even the front pond is almost dried up. It's nothing more than a big puddle. So, Jacob is making trips to the river (which is just about 1/2 mile down the road) to get water. I sure am thankful for a big ol' 17 year old boy who doesn't mind a little work...especially since Matt's out of commission right now! Jacob's really been a huge help. With water supplies drying up, I feel sorry for all the wild animals. Last night we heard a bobcat...I'm sure all the animals are on the lookout for water. Have you ever heard a bobcat? To me, they sound just like a woman screaming! That can be a little unsettling at nights. :O)
Below are a few pics we took yesterday. You'll be able to tell how dry it is by looking at the pasture.




I'm looking forward to the first frost...our persimmon trees are loaded this year! I can't wait to make some persimmon butter.
We're still trucking right along with school. We're already about 9 weeks into the school year...halfway through the first semester! Yay! I've noticed this year that the kids (especially the girls) are much more independent with their work now. That's a good thing.
So I'll be back with an update soon. Y'all take care!