Happy Thanksgiving!

I am thankful for all my wonderful blessings... for my husband and family, my home, my health, my animals, and most of all, for God's mercy and love.

I'm also thankful for you, my wonderful blog friends, who have made me laugh, made me cry, and brightened up many days for me by your sweet comments. I hope all of you have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

I'm amazed.....

I could have never imagined when I started blogging nearly 2 years ago how many wonderful people I would meet... some I've grown to love like family even though we've never met in person. I'm also amazed at how many people I've met who are so generous and kind and willing to share not only their lives with other bloggers but also giving their time and gifts to complete strangers. Such is the case with a wonderful blogger I've only known for a few months- Julie, from her blog, The Harward's Circle Cliff Views. She was having an incredible giveaway a couple of weeks ago, and much to my surprise, I won!! The 2 boxes arrived from Julie and when I opened them I couldn't believe all the wonderful things I found- it was like Christmas morning!

My first surprise was a handmade card from Julie attached to this adorable tote bag!

Inside the bag were more goodies that Julie had taken the time to wrap in beautiful paper and ribbons just for me!!

Once I unwrapped everything, I couldn't believe how many wonderful things she sent... and this was only the first box!
A CD of beautiful Christmas music, some gorgeous ornaments and cute Santa salt and pepper shakers, and just look at the "JOY" blocks... and the cutest little cheery cherry pin I've ever seen! *squeeal* (And she really won my heart with a box of chocolate truffles....)

But best of all... in the bottom of the box...

Was this beautiful apron made by Julie herself! Isn't it wonderful?

Inside the second box was this beautiful Thanksgiving platter.... I think it is so pretty and will look wonderful as a centerpiece on my table!

All I can say is WOW- I feel so blessed! Thanks so much, Julie- you are the sweetest thing ever! If you've never been to her blog, you should definitely stop by for a visit... she is a beautiful lady inside and out (not to mention talented) with a wonderful heart for God, her family, and her animals!

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I've been a bad blogger lately... I've had too many projects going at one time leaving very little time for the computer. I'll be running errands today, so this will be a short post, but I do want to let you in on some exciting news... we've added some more woollies to our flock! Meet Sweetie and Tiny!

This is Lucy, an older ewe we also added. She is a little camera shy....

The biggest news is that Baby and Lucy will be having babies in a month or so.... if everything goes okay, we will have some new little lambs born this Christmas!

Baby is looking rather full already.....

Hubby is off from work this week so my computer time will be limited but I am going to make time to visit all my blog friends.

I hope all of you have a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving Day!

Dehydrating the days away

Fall sunrise over the sheep lot

Lordy, Lordy, I guess I'm finally 40.... but that's okay, especially when you have a little Birthday money burning a hole in your pocket.... *squeal*

My first purchase was-

the Pioneer Woman's new cookbook!

It has some wonderful recipes in it, including some I've never seen on her blog, and of course lots and lots of her beautiful photographs. I even caught hubby looking through it the other night... the pictures of their ranch and all the gorgeous horses just amazed him. So I guess it's a good book for girls or guys!

My other purchase was something I have wanted for a LONG time-

a food dehydrator!

We went to the Bass Pro Shop in Sevierville, TN and found this one- I paid a little more for it than I had planned on, but hopefully this one will last me a long time. By the way, have you ever been inside one of those places? I know I'm a country bumpkin, but I'm in awe of that place every time we go. You can easily spot me in there- I'll be the one standing in the entrance with my mouth open.

In fact, here is a picture I took as we walked in....

I was so amazed, I forgot to take anymore pictures.

Anyway, back to the dehydrator....

Hubby loves jerky, so I tried it out by making him a batch of spicy deer jerky....

I've also been drying lots of apples with it- I've had this little contraption for years and it makes peeling and coring lots of apples at one time a snap! I would have never been able to cut up that many without it.

It even cuts them into thin slices which makes drying a lot faster.

I have lots of recipes in mind for these apples, but if I don't keep my hand out of the bag, I won't have any left.

The book that came with my dehydrator had lots of wonderful recipes and ideas, even for crafts like drying flowers and modeling dough! I would love to hear from you- do you have a dehydrator and if you do, what do you use yours for?