Sunday

Well Saturday was another rainy day and at times we were in torrential down pours which I only thought happened in Florida. We had a little over 3 inches in less than 12 hours which made for soggy ground and flooded creeks. We decided to head to Galax, Va. after our morning quiet times and lite breakfast. During the night I awakened several times with excruciating pain in my left shoulder and bicep. I pulled a muscle deep in my blade area and it radiated down into my arm. I loaded up on a sports cream gel which helped and the ibuprofen. I went all day long without any serious pain and thought I had the problem taken care; I even forgot about it most of the day.

We stocked up on some goodies, toys for the grand kids, clothes and even dog treats for Star their puppy dog. It poured rain while we were in Galax but did see some lessening of the rain as we ventured back toward the cabin after a lunch stop at the Mountain Surf Restaurant. We had a late lunch as our tummy's were growling and the food was delicious and plentiful. So much so we skipped our planned supper and had a soft beef taco with sour cream, onion and lettuce and of course I had a jalapeno pepper on mine. The restaurant we ate at had pintos on the menu and when Nancy tasted them she was instantly reminded of the taste of the beans Maw Maw(Aunt JoAnn/Mom) use to make for us with bird egg beans as we called them, but in reality they were October beans. The flavor was awesome as she let me taste them as I had opted for fried okra with my lunch. The manager of the place stated her husband made the pintos from dried beans he prepared himself along with a little fatback(pork).

We came back and unloaded the truck and the rain actually ceased with only an occasional sprinkle for the rest of the afternoon. I actually saw the outline of the sun through the overcast and fog. We could hear the water running down from the top of the mountain into our usually dry gully behind the cabin. I did a walk around the gardens and they(lettuces, beets,spinach and Swiss chard) looked terrible as they were plastered to the ground and waterlogged. It will be difficult to revive them especially if it stays like this many more days. I hope who ever is praying for rain(as I have done on numerous occasions) ceases for a few days.

We decided we needed to take a hike as Nancy purchased some new gum boots while we were shopping. It was a good time to try them out so we headed up the mountain trail behind the cabin and then onto the back road which had water running down the middle from the run off on top. She splashed in the water and christened the new boots while walking in every mud puddle along the way. We saw no one on top and then headed back down. I went on safari and captured 50 or more Japanese beetles and gave them a proper send off for a critter eating my plants. We then turned a couple quarts of wine berries into a liquid pulp as we removed most of the seeds and then froze the pulp into plastic bags for later use. Its hard to believe how many seeds these delicate berries have and at one time Nancy thought they were seedless as the seeds are very small.

After that cleanup I tuned into the Rays vs the Yankees on the Internet and watch the Rays win 1-0 in another complete game by a rookie pitcher. Well it was after 6 so we decided to have a lite supper then we channel surfed and I finished a good read by Karen Robards titled SLIVER. She is an action packed novel writer and I will look for more of her books. I headed for the showers and made a mistake of hot water on the muscles of the shoulder blade; because sometime after midnight this morning, I awakened with that terrible pain once again. I know better and should have iced the area instead of the heat; oh well and I once took a course in the care of athletic injuries and ice is always the best treatment for any muscle injury until the inflammation is gone and then heat is added slowly while alternating with ice. We are our own worst patient when it comes to smart treatment as I would have told any number of people to always ice first, Oh well!!!

It's worship day at Cornerstone, our local church in Sparta, N.C.  So after our quiet time and a lite breakfast we will attempt to "ford the creek"( an old country saying) and head out. We have a couple stops to make while in Sparta after church before making the cabin ready for Bobby and family who are driving from Florida after he conducts a service at Element Church in Tampa. They should get in sometime before or around midnight. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers for safe travel,  LATER