O Brussels Sprouts

"And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins."

Matthew 1:21


We hope everyone had a blessed and joyous Christmas focused on our Savior's birth and the reason He came ~ the true meaning of Christmas!

"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross."

Philippians 2:5-8


Among the many festivities, Mom decided to do something a little bit different.......just for Sara! : ) While doing her grocery shopping, she had found a stalk of Brussels sprouts and thought it was just the thing. Sooooooo on Christmas Day, Mom told Sara she had a special surprise for supper. And Sara's response? "Just as long as it's not Brussels sprouts!" ; )

We were all seated around the table, and in Mom marches bearing the festive centerpiece.

And Sara's response?

How's that for gratitude!?! : ) It was so much fun watching her face when she saw it!

"Tis NOT what I wanted for Christmas!"

"Smile anyway!"

She finally reconciled to the idea when she found out she did not have to eat them ~ although we did find out that fresh ones taste much better than the frozen ones you buy in the store.

What a beauty!

Applesauce Popsicle, Anyone?

When we think of Allison, several things come to mind........

Definitely a homebody always loving to have her family close by.......laughing hysterically at even the littlest things........enduring much and saying little about it.......toe socks, toe socks, toe socks.......bright and colorful, sparkly and bold ~ that spells "exciting"........and, of course, the flare for the out-of-the-ordinary. : )

She has always chosen the "different" cup, or the "fun" spoon ~ you know, the one that has the ridges (ahem, that's the sugar spoon, dear!), or the polka dotted flip flops........the list could go on and on. : )

At the Farmer's Market earlier this year, we had purchased a jar of herbal tea along with a tea diffuser. As Valerie was washing it and putting it away, she said (out of Allison's earshot), "Just watch....next thing we know, Allison will be eating with THIS!" Well, what do you think we found her eating her applesauce with this morning?

She said it worked well.....a lot like an applesauce popsicle.

"Open wide!"

**Weather Watch** (cont.)

This was our front yard this morning. It doesn't look like much, but considering the fact that this is 99.9999999 % sleet....... The ice made traveling not an option and heat a must! : ) The night was still and quiet with not a sound except for the frequent truck scraping the roads.

We woke up to this.....

Ice may not be the choice of winter weather, but it sure does make everything look like a Winter Wonderland!

**Weather Watch**

IT'S SNOWING!!!!

The Next Post

Okay, okay......so what happened the evening that it rained???? We got back from Wilmington early afternoon just in time for Dad, Ray, and Sara to don their camo and head into the woods. They've gone hunting on our land several times with no success, but always with high spirits and the assurance that "we'll get him one of these days!"
The rest of the "girls" (Mom included) took a drive to Clinton to pick up some things at Wal-Mart. While shopping at another store we found in the area, Mom got a phone call from Ray. His voice sounded almost as if he were crying and his introductory statement was, "She's on the ground! I shot her!" Now put yourself in her motherly shoes......recalling who all had gone hunting and thinking of what he said, what would you think?????

Ray's doe

Well, all the girls knew was that Mom was standing in the middle of the store on the phone saying, "Ray, what's wrong? What happened? Is everything okay?" in a voice that says, "Something is bad wrong." There was a HUGE sense of relief when Ray explained that it was the doe he shot, and not Sara, that was on the ground. Then it was time for a grand celebration!

Poor Ray.......so excited........and the van, coolers, and camera all were in Clinton ~ 30-45 minutes away with the girls who hadn't paid for their purchases yet. Soooooo.......about an hour later, after many phone calls asking, "Are you almost here???" they arrived on the scene. There were pictures, and, of course, the whole tale of how everything happened coupled with preparations to field dress her.

It was as the darkness was deepening that they got a call in a quiet female voice over their radios......."Hey, ya'll.........there's coyotes over here.......I see them."
In their haste, Ray and Dad hadn't thought about Sara being left at the other side of the property.......alone.......with the coyotes.

We had meat for the freezer and plenty of excitement to make this a memorable occasion!

Let The Work Begin!

"But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you."

Jeremiah 7:23

Finally! Along with all the work, it actually LOOKS like we've made some progress!

~ Day 1 ~

By the time we got out there Monday morning, the driveway had already been cleared of a lot of the trees. We did find that the DOT had put the tiles in right next to the lower property line (so much for the mandatory 10' set back) making our driveway come in at an angle. Very difficult....and in some scenarios, impossible.....to get in from the other direction. They said they would correct that. Actually, it probably is already done by now.

The beginning of our driveway. Yes, it is very long, but at least we don't have to haul in any gravel. The sand packs down to made a nice, hard road.

Dad and Sara with Clyde, the man who cleared our land.

Big machinery to do a big job....

From only about a third of the way back. The trackhoe is sitting near the entrance.

We have several different types of sand on our land.....white sand found on the sand rim of the bay (you can Google "Carolina Bays" -- it's not the typical type of "bay" that you think of), yellow sand -- something like what you would use to mix mortar, and a lot of stiff dirt -- the kind that is perfect for growing a garden. It was neat to walk along and see the streaks of different sands.

Oooooops! The chainsaw got in a bind......then as the other came to help, it got in a bind as well. Trackhoe to the rescue! : )

Thumbs Up!

Back to the program.....until the chains messed up.

This is not a roadside picnic in progress.

First changing one chain...

...then the other.

Is it working????

Getting it just right

"I'm all ready, Gertrude!" : )

They weren't the only ones having to fix their equipment.

Lunch Time!!!! They picked out a nice, aromatic place to take their lunch.....right on a pine tree!

In front of the crater Clyde had created when he pulled that huge tree out of the ground.

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Clearing.....from a different perspective : )

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This is our creek nice and full. At the most six feet wide and one foot deep.

~ Day 2 ~

A little more progress. There were many huge piles along the driveway.

Everyone was busy doing anything from making more piles...

...to sawing and hauling logs for firewood as well as timber for our house.

Allison finally got to see the creek! She had only been able to make the long trek back to it once, and that was during the drought when it was only damp dirt.

Looks like we had a visitor from Loony Tunes...

...and her sister. : )

The crowd of spectators

Everything was going smoothly until he tried to take this monster of a tree out. It's roots seemed to go all the way to China! He dug and dug and dug and pushed and dug and dug and dug and pushed some more, but it wasn't budging. However, we did discover something.....

....an underground spring! It was quickly filling the hole with water.

Clyde

It was obvious that it wasn't going to be dug out, so the next best thing was to cut it down. The tree was approximately 3 1/2 feet in diameter!

As he pushed the tree over, Clyde jokingly said, "See! I told you I could do it!"

After watching the show, Christina and Allison went ahead and walked back to the van while Mom and Valerie stayed behind to take some more pictures before they left. As Mom and Valerie neared the van, they saw Christina and Allison standing still, staring at the ground. Christina warned them to approach cautiously. Why?

There was a snake in the path. Actually, Allison had already passed it before Christina saw it. It was curled up with its head raised. Valerie tried everything to try to get a good closeup picture, but it wouldn't take its eyes off of her. She even tried going around it while Mom and Christina tried to distract it, but to no avail. Every time she tried to get closer, it would get in striking position. Not exactly the friendliest terms.

We made a quick phone call, and Ray and Sara came to our rescue. The first question Ray asked as soon as he was within earshot was, "Now this isn't a joke, is it?" Huh! Like he's the one to ask that question!?!?! : )

~ Day 3 ~

It had rained 2 inches throughout the night and was supposed to continue throughout the day. Everything was wet. Clyde had come out to work, but after an attempt, he decided to wait until it dried up some. Our crew decided to do the same.

Our creek now. Remember those pictures of the 6' wide creek? No longer so!

The pink ribbons signify where the nearest creek bank used to be. Now we know where we will NOT build!

Wouldn't you want to get stuck in this mess?!?

The land beside the road was completely dry the day before.

Since they weren't going to be working on the land for the rest of the day, the whole family packed into our van and we headed to Wilmington.....only about an hour's drive to the east. We wanted to see what all they had there as far as shopping was concerned (for future reference). Our choices for groceries are VERY slim within a large radius of our land, so we will have to go to either Fayetteville (an hour to the north) or Wilmington to do any extensive grocery shopping. We did find a Super Wal-Mart in Clinton......only about 30-45 min. away.

We saw this funny sight while in Wilmington. By this time, the rain had stopped, but the wind was blowing. The birds had covered two sides of the roof.

We quickly returned to the trailer, and the rest of the evening will be left to the next post. : )
(Is the suspense mounting yet????)

~ Day 4 ~

Well, this was to be the big day. we were going to be able to drive our van back to the clearing for our cabin. The driveway was to be finished. Our excitement was mounting, and we couldn't wait to see the finished product! It was said to be smoother and drivable, so the ladyfolk drove out there with their spirits soaring. As they neared the entrance to the driveway, it was apparent that it still was very rough looking. They made a pass and pulled into a drive not far up the road. Now to make a decision.......do we? or do we not? It didn't look passable, but they said it was. Very well......we shall try. They made it about 15' and started spinning. This was not good! Thankfully, reverse worked. They decided the side of the road was much safer!!!

Our driveway now....
Maybe soon we can get it all smoothed out ready for driving.

Braving the cold with a fire......

......and with toe socks, of course!

"O LORD, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things; thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth. For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall."

Isaiah 25: 1,4