Well Wednesday was overcast and cloudy with just a peep of the sun from time to time, actually every time we saw our shadow we made a comment. It was rather chilly most of the day so much so I had to put a sweater on while working outside until I started a fire on one of the stumps. I was hoping I could burn it out and while doing so I cleaned up several loads of limbs and debris from the back woods.
The morning started with us snuggling under the covers until 7:30 or so as the outside temps were down close to the 40's. The cabin was snug as well since I installed the sheets between the upstairs which keeps the warm air down below. We did our usual morning routine with our hot drinks, quiet times then I ate a couple of the leftover buckwheat cakes with honey and butter before heading outside after posting this ramble.
The rabbits have now decided they like the taste of my sweet tater' vines but have left everything else alone. There are lots of new leaves starting on the Swiss chard and beets and if they are left alone by the animals we should get at lease another mess of them. I picked another mess of 1/2 runner beans of which I'm still seeing some blooms. I'm disappointed in the collards as two of the plants aren't going to make it for some reason. The leaves are just curling up and dying while the other to plants are thriving and they are within a foot of each other, oh well. The new lettuce and spinach seedlings are doing well and seem to really love these cooler temps.
We headed out for a daily hike to the top of the mountain and once more spoke to Nancy and Mike who are staining the outside walls of their cabin and then we stopped and visited for 1/2 hour with John and Shirley before heading on across the top. Norm had already got his mail which was a good sign he was up an about and we passed by the Browning's who were gone. We walked up through the Cahoon place and then up to the Leslie's and wow what an addition they added onto their place. It looks as large as the original house. We headed on back down to a lunch of salad loaded with fresh herbs and some nasturtium blooms for me.
After lunch I had some burnt oil(used oil from oil changes) and poured the holes in the oldest stump full of the black stuff then set a fire on top of the stump. Nancy came out and helped me keep the fire going for 3-4 hours while I gathered sticks, pine cones and all kinds of debris from the backwoods and loaded it on my golf cart. I hauled several large loads and we had quite a fire on the stump. It will be interesting to see if that made any difference after I dig out the ashes once the coals have died out. They were still alive as darkness fell. I had placed large rocks around the stump to contain any sparks that might go astray but the ground still had lots of moisture from all the past rains.
I grilled a couple Kobe beef steaks and Nancy sauteed green peppers and onions and we made fajitas to go with blackeyed peas and rice, yeow was that ever good eatin'. After the cleanup I ventured out briefly to check on the stump as it was starting to get dark and the temperature was falling with heavy dew in the air. We tuned into the Ray's vs the Rangers game and what a barn burner that was. We flipped in between innings to our favorite show Duck Dynasty and what a hoot that was. I stayed up until the 11th inning when the Rangers were about to go ahead on some sloppy play from the Ray's so I cut the TV off and went to bed around 11:30. Well I checked this morning and the Rays won the game in the 12th inning, Oh well I should have stayed up!!!
We are off to Galax this morning for some shopping and a hair cut as we need a few things for our get together on Friday night with our old gang for Sequence. That should be a raucous time and then again on Saturday for cookout at the Dalton Ranch and Sequence once again for another raucous time. There is never a dull moment here in the mountains as tonight I'm scheduled for pickle ball with several fellows, LATER
