Direct my footsteps according to your word. Psalm 119:133

Well, I was right, this last week was crazy busy!!  The first couple of days I tried to make sure laundry and regular stuff was done up.  Wednesday I started baking some quick breads, Thursday I did muffins and more quick breads, Friday I made pies and hubby got the cinnamon rolls started and I finished them.  Wow, that sounds so easy..........but it was a lot of work actually.  I wanted extra baked for Saturday's Farmers Market as it usually is a good one for us.  There was a car and tractor show downtown that morning along with the dog contest, baby show and other activities on the 4th.  July 4th is a big celebration in our little town every year.  One of the high school classes has a pancake feed in the morning, so that seemed to cut down on my cinnamon roll sales.  I sold out of pies, had some bread left and rolls.   But all in all it ended up being a good day for us.

I made cookies for the cookie contest.....but didn't win anything this year.  A couple years ago, Mom won first and I won 3rd out of 35 entries!

After Market we went home and started working on our float for the parade on Saturday evening.  We had quite a bit done, but needed to get it finished up.  Everything went smoothly and we got to town and set up in plenty of time.  We got honorable mention.......which would actually be 4th place, but we were surprised with a $25 prize even for that!  The theme was fairy tales, our float was The Three Billy Goats Gruff.  We made a bridge out of palets and had 3 of our goats on the float.  A friend of ours dressed up as the troll and did a great job!!!  I haven't downloaded pictures yet, but will try to post soon.  It was a lot of fun to do, and people enjoyed the goats.

We rushed the goats home and went back for the fireworks at the park.  It was a really nice display and there were tons of people there. 

Friday evening our church hosted a free bbq, it was the first time to have this event, but will not be the last.  It was an amazing evening.   We provided the hot dogs and hamburgers and everyone brought a side dish.  After the meal there was a Christian band outdoors, with homemade ice cream following the music and then fireworks at dark.  It was for our whole community and there was a great turn out, guessing over 200 people!   I worked really hard to make sure I finished my baking early that day so we could go and it worked out fine.  I made a couple of cakes after we got home.

The most wonderful thing about the weekend was the weather.......there was a threat of rain all weekend, but it didn't rain at all!  It was cloudy and very comfortable, in the 80's ............we so enjoyed it and appreciate it after the heat wave  last week!!  God is Good in All Things!

Tomorrow starts a new week, back to somewhat of a regular schedule around here.  I really hope we can get some fence put up so the goats can have a new area to be moved to.  Also need to worm the does and some kids.

Oh, one more thing to share.  A farmer friend called a week ago and had run into some turkey nests while swathing alfalfa, he wanted to know if I had any hens setting.  I had two, so we ran over and got the eggs and put them under the hens.  On Friday morning 9 had hatched out of 11 eggs in one nest!  The other nest has 11 eggs also, but no way to know how long that hen had been setting, so we will see if they hatch too.  The little ones seem to be doing great.

Country Blessings,

Marilyn~at Heritage Hill Homestead

Hi all.  Three days since surgery and do I ever hurt.  All over but my ankle is surely the worse right now.  Earlier tonight I was swollen really bad.  Hubby loosened the bandage for me.  If I'm still like this tomorrow I will call the Doctor.  I know i'm not walking that much and especially not on the foot.  Right now it surely looks a lot better.  Think I will have to start taking my tylenol 3 with codeine again.  I really don't like taking medications.  I have a rolling chair that I use for sewing and placed it in our kitchen to help me get around there but I cant use it on our carpet.   

My dear friend and neighbor Agnes went shopping at joann's for me today.    She bought me embroidery needles for the fabric I have with pictures and I thought that could help me stay busy besides knitting.  Our bathroom door was so narrow and hubby made it 4 inches wider and believe me that helps out ALOT!!!  Thank you honey.  I had to go in there sideways and was that ever hard.  I haven't been outside yet.  I miss taking care of all of my plants.  Doesnt look like we're getting any rain again.  Maybe we'll get what Louisiana is having now.  Hopefully!

I better go and elevate my legs again.  I'll talk to ya all soon.  Late Happy 4th of July.   Jeanne

Let me tell you of a story about a little boy who turned one year old on Thursday. He really enjoyed his birthday cake ..... really!!!!

Let me show you the story of how it went.

All gone!!!

Happy Birthday Sweetie Pie!

We have had warmer weather and the kids have enjoyed it.  They spend their days outside and can hardly believe that I would ask them to come in.   Our backyard gets quite a bit of shade and this helps them to enjoy their play time.  Our trampoline broke, so they have ventured into the land of roller-skates, creating gardens for me,  and squirt guns.  They planted a flat of pansies for me underneath our pine tree.  It was supposed to be a surprise, but then they got distracted and forgot to tell me.  So, I had to peek so I could water them.  I appreciate the thought.  I just hope that the flowers flourish.  It will be lovely to have pansies growing in a patch of dirt that is barren of any life due to being under a huge tree.  We'll pray that the Lord blesses their efforts.

We went camping this weekend.  We got to the campground late Wed. evening just as the sun was setting.  The people kept coming and the campground was almost full by Thurs. morning.  If we had waited until Thurs. as we had planned, I don't think we would have gotten a spot.  The kids loved being next to a shallow creek.  It was quite hot, so we spent quite a bit of time splashing around.  Even Gideon got in on the act.  He loves getting wet and didn't hesitate to imitate his older siblings by sitting in the cold mountain water.  We had some "how long" competitions for who could sit in the water the longest.  Jael demolished Keren's record by sheer will power while sitting in the icy cold water.  Of course, the oldest can not handle defeat, so she too had to try and set a new record.   We shared our campsite with a mouse and a rabbit.  The mouse was quite brave and would come out and scour our campsite as soon as the children were tucked away for the night.  We did pack it in a bit early though and decided to come home and enjoy the 4th at home where it wasn't quite so hot.  Hubby is already planning another trip in two weeks. 

Already starting to plan for school next year.  The younger kids are really looking forward to starting up again.  I look forward to seeing their growth and hope that their excitement continues. 

No fancy firework displays near our town or closest city, so we will be spending a quite evening at home watching a movie with the kids.  Quiet is of course a relative term on the fourth because many of our neighbors have backyard fireworks.  The kids are excited about what they might see.  Maybe next year we can plan to travel to some place that has a display.  I think , no I know, the kids would enjoy it. 

I'm starting to look at paint chips for the different rooms in the house.  I need to take advantage of the warmer weather because fall will set in before we know it.  I look forward to refreshing the rooms.

We continue to enjoy going to our new church.  They have been extremely friendly and the kids are enjoying their time there.  The messages have been sound and biblical and the pastor has a sense of humor, which we enjoy.  They have many ministries that we can get involved in, even a quilting one.  So, we are hopeful that we have finally found our church home. 

The chickens continue to grow and we all enjoy watching them.  I chuckle when they try to jump over the few blades of grass left in their yard.  We are looking forward to their laying eggs, even though it is quite a ways off. 

Have a blessed day and enjoy this special time with family and friends. 

God bless,

Denisa