Friday

Well Thursday turned out to be a dry day for us  despite the high humidity and thunderheads that built during the evening. We needed another dry day after the frightening storm that swept through the area last evening dumping an inch and a half of rain with hail mixed in. Our driveway washed the worst I've seen in years. We sorta took the day off as we headed to the big city of Galax, Va. around 10:30 in the morning for some necessities.

I was awake rather early around 6 'ish so I started the day with this ramble then a few quiet moments before a hearty breakfast with a couple fried eggs. I headed out to the yards to check on the rain and hail damage and noticed some of the wine berry's had white spots where the hail struck them, although very few were on the ground so that's a good sign. We can make jelly out of the ones that were damaged. The veggie plants in the lower garden especially the newly transplanted lettuce seedlings were plastered to the wet ground and looked rather pathetic. I took a garden hoe and tried to stand them up while loosening the packed clay soil around them so some air could get to their roots. They looked a little better as the day progressed. My cilantro and dill were all but dead and the basil looked sad as well and what is left had several Japanese beetles eating away on them. So I took my bowl of water and went on safari against those munchers.I gathered about 75 of them and gave them the boot on a flat rock. I did that safari again when we got home in the afternoon and captured at least that many more; sending them away with the boot as well. I wish I knew where they laid their eggs and the larva hatched as these are mainly mature beetles so I could spray for them, oh well!!!

It was in the high 80's while we were in Galax and we even ran the a/c on the truck as the humidity was high. That's the first time we have used it since being here on the mountain except for when we headed down off the top when our company was here a couple weeks ago. The closer we got to the parkway on the way back from Galax we noticed the temperature dropped precipitously about 8 degrees. The shaded parkway reminds us of our friend Daisy who once remarked the "parkway was like a vegetable crisper in the fridge". The reason for the temp's to drop so quickly is the higher elevation. It's always around 10 degrees cooler here on the mountain than down below and the same holds true for the colder weather in the winter.

We got back to the cabin somewhere around 1:30 for a lunch of sauerkraut and hot dogs on a soft burritos roll up( we are trying to stay away from bread and desserts for a week or so) which were quite tasty. Ever since we did the pork roast with sauerkraut, kielbasa and dogs we've had a hankering for more kraut. The dogs are Oscar's top of the line and they are great with no fillers, nitrates or junk and the taste proves it to us. After a late lunch I headed out to piddle around outside working up once more a wet shirt. It had cooled down a little so we headed out for a hot afternoon hike. It was great while walking in the woods that were shaded and a nice breeze helped but once in the open the sun was rather warm. We saw where Norm hadn't picked up his mail but the door was open. I always dread finding him incapacitated so I took his mail up to his door and he was up and around and appreciated not having to venture down to his box. He has several steps to navigate as well as the hill to the mailbox.

We headed on across the top and stopped and visited for a spell with Joe and Jetta. We sat on their front porch in the shade with a nice breeze as the many hummingbirds darted in and out amongst us. They are such feisty critters and always in some kind of dispute with one another over the hanging feeders. The cold glasses of water were a blessing as we chilled and it was close to 5 o'clock before we got back down to the cabin. I potted up a cilantro plant I purchased at Wal-Mart and decided I will keep it in a pot on the back porch instead of the ground. Nancy decided on a couple of the ground beef burgers from our Delicious Ribbon Gift order we had ordered with our sirloin steaks.(Don't forget that all the  Ribbon Gifts are bogo until the end of July from our website) The meat was very tasty and not greasy at all and grilled up nicely. We had black beans and Jasmine rice to accompany them.

After the cleanup we headed out to piddle around in the gardens and I worked around the fire circle area until nearly 9 PM. All of this rain has grass growing where I don't want as well as more moss than what I know what to do with. I worked up another wet shirt and it felt great doing so. I headed right for the showers and it wasn't long until it was time to hit the sack, LATER    No pictures today via Nancy!!!