Happy Mother's Day!

I hope you ALL have a very wonderful day, all you mothers out there! You all deserve to be spoiled.

This is for all the wonderful ladies in my life.

This is my mother, Iris. She is THE best mother ever! I love her so much. She is always there when I need her, no matter what. She is the hardest worker too. She just did retire on her 81st birthday. She and my step dad moved up here a few years ago to be closer to us and to doctors and hospitals. Gary, my step dad, had prostate cancer and needed to be nearer to the place where he would be getting radiation. So they found a house that was close. And they love it here. They have the cutest house right in town. And mom has her pretty yard she has filled with flowers and rose bushes and azaleas and so much more. All herself. She mows the yard with a push mower and weed eats too. Rakes leaves. She loves it though. All while looking beautiful! She is always getting compliments on how gorgeous she looks. She's one of those shoppers that can find things that fit ON SALE. And has the perfect shoe size too. She is just amazing. Happy Mother's day, mom! I love you!

And this is my first born, Heather. She has 3 daughters, Chloe, who will be 14 the end of May, Coryn, who is 11 and Kansas, who just turned 10. She is a very hard working woman. Always doing something around here. And is very sensitive and helpful. And she's a great mother. I am proud of her. And I love her very much. Happy Mother's day, Heather! I love you!

This is Abby, my youngest. She and Jason have been married 2 1/2 years now. No kids yet but some day. Right now, they have Daisy. She's so much like a kid. They dress her up for Halloween. She's so spoiled. They have family pictures made with her. She is the best behaved dog out there. And loves everyone she meets. She's my little grand dog. I am so proud of Abby. She works so much and doesn't have much free time, but when something needs to be done, there she is. She is very kind hearted and so sweet. I just love her so much. So I wish her a happy Mother's day too. I love you!

And here is Mrs. T. She is so like a mother to me. She's an amazing lady. 95 years old. She's always saying she's nearly 100 years old. She'll be 96 in July. I was sitting there one day with my camera while she was looking through her memoirs she wrote, snapping pictures of her. This is a picture of her when she was younger. She's a beautiful lady. A real Southern lady in all her ways. She was a teacher for 10 years and an artist and potter. She made some beautiful pottery. I have a lot of her work. She taught my kids art when I home schooled them. I still have some of the things they made. She's a little unsteady now and gets tired and forgetful. But she still keeps us all on our toes for sure! She said yesterday that she's old and not much fun anymore. I had to tell her she is far from dull. She is so funny and me and the other 2 ladies that take care of her have some stories we could tell! I am always going on about something she said or did. She's an amazing lady, Mrs. T. And I love her so much. I wish her a very happy Mother's day. She deserves the best.

Abby

This is my youngest, Abby. It was her birthday yesterday. And I can remember the day she was born like it was yesterday. My parents had come up the week before to help with our first child, Heather. Abby was due the 2nd of May. So we waited and waited and waited. And waited some more. All week we waited on that baby to come. But she didn't want to. She was apparently quite happy where she was.

So we went about doing every day things. We loved to go to yard sales and flea markets back then. So that's what we mostly did. Then on Saturday, May 9th, the day before my parents had to leave to go back home,  Abby decided to show herself. And that she did. Very quickly!

We were going to yard sales that morning. I felt a little different. Then things started happening. And fast! We called the doctor. He was at the hospital. He said to come on in, they were having a big baby party. So we went on over. I mean, there were ladies all over that maternity ward, screaming and hollering like crazy! You'd think it hurt or something. When I had Heather, I didn't want any drugs at all. All natural. And she was born after just 12 hours labor. So when I heard all that screaming, I thought it was kind of funny. They took me back in and didn't even have time to do the enema. Right into the delivery room. I remember some of those women glaring at me.

She was born after just a 6 hour very easy labor. And she was just perfect! When Heather was born, she had all this black hair all over her body. Like a little monkey. But Abby was the total opposite. All light and no hair at all. She was a Sherrill all the way. And so beautiful.

All the nurses and doctors were amazed that I got up right away.  Abby had some jaundice, so she had to stay a few extra days. And back then, they let the mother stay too. So I got a lot of rest while there. And this hospital had the best food ever. So it was all good. Daddy was taking care of Heather. I wish I could get some of their baby pictures on here. Because when they took Abby's pictures at the hospital, she was making a peace sign with her right hand. So cute. And it was Mother's Day. So she was my Mother's Day gift. Heather was born the day before my birthday, so she was my birthday gift.

Anyway, happy birthday, Abby! I am SO proud of you and who you have become. I love you so much!

Sourdough starter

Yesterday I got a sourdough starter from a friend. It's a really well established starter. I got home after market and fed it. I wanted to feed it in the morning so fed it again this morning. It was bubbling away already. And really smells like sourdough. I can't wait to make some now. She also gave me a loaf of bread she had made. We swapped goat milk for the bread and starter.

In this picture, you can see how it was already bubbling this morning before I fed it again. And tonight, it's really looking good. I so hope I can keep this going.