Well this time next week we will be on our way back to Florida until next May. The weather here has been tolerable the past couple days except for some cloudiness. We did get some wind last evening and some rain overnight and the temps dropped a little but nothing to severe as I make this ramble.
We started the day around an 8'ish roll out of those warm flannel sheets. I've kept the gas heater on at a very low setting which just keeps the chill and dampness out of the cabin. We did our quiet times then had oatmeal and fruit for breakfast before I headed out to store the porch furniture into the shed. The golf cart is such a big help with transporting all of the rocking chairs, tables and smoker. That took me a couple hours as I have to stack the items for maximum space along with my riding mower and eventually the golf cart which goes in last.
We decided after hanging a load of sheets on the clothesline to get our daily hike in to the top of the mountain. The leaves are everywhere as we walk through nearly a foot of them that have fallen on the back trail. Lots of the trees are completely bare and the signs of winter are becoming more predominant everyday. We can see the trees down off the mountain top and many of them are now rust and brown in color. We stopped and visited with Jetta and Zeke and he walked with us for awhile. Joe is still taking care of his nephew in Charleston and hopes to bring him back here on the mountain so he can at least have some home life while assisting him during his convalesce.
I finished up the leftover sauerkraut and pork for lunch then headed out to rake pine leaves and leaves then mulch them up for the flower gardens. The flowers love the acid soil as well as do my garden veggies. Nancy was making a pot of chili, corn bread, brownies and a salad to take over to our friends Eddie and Kimberly in Ennice. He is suffering greatly with his right leg as the joint was removed which had gone septic a week or so ago. They filled his joint with antibiotics and cement hoping to save the leg as it became very infected. He is on his back 23 hours a day and in excruciating pain and fevers was time to time. We experienced one of his bouts that left him shivering and in terrible pain until his medics kicked in.
We stayed and visited for a couple hours before heading back to the cabin. The temp's were still moderate but the wind was howling throughout the hills. This AM there are pine needles and leaves covering everything. We are getting together with our "mountain mom" and her siblings at a local restaurant this evening for supper after heading to Galax to make some product exchanges and pick up some buckwheat pancake flour mix to bring back with us to Florida.
We are down to our last full week here in the mountains and we are daily getting the cabin ready for the winter. I still have collards which look great as well as some of the herbs and lettuce, arugula and spinach. I think we will have a mess of collards next week and have our neighbor Gerald up for a meal before heading out, LATER
