Thursday Morning (July 31st)

Well, Wednesday was a busy day that saw the morning temps into the 40's, yikes this is the end of July and we really haven't had any extremely hot days where I've had to rest in the cool basement during the hottest part of the day. We have been here at the cabin for nearly 2 months already. Now I know it's miserably hot and humid in Florida and they are getting record amounts of rainfall some of which we certainly could use up here at our place. It seems there is rain all around the areas but just not any substantial amounts here at the cabin. I'm still hand watering the gardens daily and I haven't mowed the yards in over 2 weeks.

I've been sleeping in until the 7'ish hours instead of my 6'ish rollout to start the day especially when it's been this chilly in the morning. After my hot tea, handful of vitamins and supplements, a few quiet moments and then the posting of this ramble about what we did the day before, I headed out to check for deer damage. I've noticed lots of tracks in the area but maybe the yellow crime scene tape is having some effect and maybe they have just decided the dried up garden is not that delectable any longer.

I piddled around outside until Nancy was ready for our daily hike to the top of the mountain. We both had on long pants and she a sweat shirt. It was a gorgeous morning with temps in the 60's and it stayed that way until late afternoon when we finally hit the 70 degree mark. I headed back up the mountain on the golf cart to gather up some hickory tree trimmings I saw while hiking. One feller up there trimmed his trees and just let the limbs lay along side the road so I gathered the hickory limbs and then sawed them into small pieces for use in my smoker.

I dug up the yellow squash seedlings and transplanted them into pots with some fertilizer in hopes I can get a harvest. Seems the lower garden is getting too much shade and the seedling weren't growing so I wanted to try a new approach instead of letting them waste away. The recent wind seems to have set back my green beans as many were flattened to the ground. I do see some improvement after hoeing dirt up around the stalks. Maybe we will get enough for a mess.

Well I grilled bone-in pork chops for supper along with a baked sweet tater and fresh garden salad. The tomato's haven't ripen yet but I do have a multitude of them on the vine as well as new spinach seedlings breaking the ground. I did transplant some lettuce seedlings into the upper garden as it gets more sunlight than the lower garden. The herbs are doing fine this year all except for the sweet basil which usually is a great producer. I think the lack of rainfall has hindered their growth despite my hand watering.

We took a golf cart ride over the mountain and visited with Ray and Audean after supper until nearly 8 o'clock. We filled them in on all of the happenings on the mountain as its been 4 years since they left their cabin near us. Ray is still suffering from his legs and feet after the back operation and Audean is still working in the kitchen at the hospital in Sparta. We did see an old friend, Helen on the mountain today as we hiked. She has moved down with her daughters in Greensboro and only visits occasionally as her health is in decline due to her age. She lived on the mountain with her cats for many years alone and we saw her on our daily hikes.

Well that was about it as we snuggled in the cozy cabin after our evening golf cart ride. We could feel the temps dropping as we headed down the mountain just before dark, LATER

Wednesday Morning

Brrr this morning as the temps dropped down into the 40's, yikes this is the 30th of July, Oh well it made for great snuggling under an extra blanket.

Tuesday was another great day with temps starting out in the low 60's and stayed that way for most of the day. I doubt if it reached the high 70's at all during the afternoon. I started the morning with a 7'ish roll out to blue skies and the only sound was the dew dripping from the dormer onto the tin roof. The wind we've had the past couple days has abated and the quietness was calming. After a few minutes of quiet time with my maker and my usual routine(s) of posting this ramble I indulged in a bowl of oatmeal with cinnamon, honey and a few blueberries to start the gastric juices flowing for the day.

I headed out to check on the gardens and saw a few deer tracks in the new grass coming up on the stump burnouts. I've watering the grass there daily and the ground was soft enough to let me know they are still around. I noticed some lettuce was missing from the herb garden but nothing else except maybe some new cone flowers that are starting to head once again. Normally deer don't eat cone flowers but they have taken exception to that this year. The wind earlier this week was brutal to my beans, tomato's and peppers as they were tall and the wind just bent them over. It was back to me hand watering daily once again as we are very dry.

I had some small jobs I wanted to do and the first one was an area by the driveway that had a large rock surface under ground. Years ago I tried to remove the rock and it wouldn't budge so I brought out the digging tools and finally removed the 100 pound rock or so and rolled it down the hill and then headed out to the back woods where I have a dirt hole to fill in the rock hole. That was easier than I anticipated and didn't take all morning so I headed up to the last stump and finally finished digging completely under it so when the burning day comes it should go quickly. All I need now is a good soaking rain to lessen the fire danger in the woods which is nearby.

We decided to get our hike out of the way so up the mountain we went. We learned overnight Barry the feller I mentioned in yesterday's ramble had passed away last evening due to pneumonia and other various ailments. The Clines, Ann and Sandy also mentioned they had a good prospective buyer for their cabin as well. So it looks as if this year will bring lots of changes to the top of Rich Hill Mountain. We stopped and chatted with Joe and petted Zeke on our journey. Joe blessed us with a mess of green beans which were just perfect for the vegetable soup Nancy was preparing for supper and our "mountain mom" Helens brother Joe also blessed us with some home grown tomato's and a couple sweet onions. It was a good day for us from fellers by the name of Joe.

Helen and Joe came for a supper of beef vegetable soup, corn bread and salad and home made chocolate cookies for dessert. After they left and the clean up Grant and Shirley from down the road along with two of their grandkids came by for a visit. Grant and I took a hike up the back trail and then down by Ray's old place which helped to digest the delicious supper. The temps were falling and they were on their golf cart so about 8 they headed out for their place down by the creek. We settled in to the Fox News channel with O'Reilly and Megyn Kelly before hitting the hot showers. I managed to find the box scores for the Ray's and they beat the Brewers 5-1 and now have the best record in baseball after the All Star break. It wasn't long until it was time for some horizontal lab with Sandra Brown's book SMOKE SCREEN and then lights out for me around 10:30, LATER

Tuesday Morning

Well Monday was one of the windiest days we've had on the mountain for many moons. It blew hard all day and made havoc of my garden especially the tall plants as many were laid over and still despite this front that moved through no long lasting rain. Sometime during the early morning hours it stormed for a few minutes with the wind blowing the rain sideways against the cabin and left us about  2/10 of an inch. A little is better than none but the dang wind dried it up in no time, oh well!!!

We started the day with a 7'ish roll out to cool temps which felt even colder with the strong wind. I don't believe it got much over 70 the entire day and as evening approached it dropped quickly and this morning in was close to 50 yikes this is the dog days of summer and it's already this cold so maybe it's a fore warning of what's coming this winter. So much for the global warning nuts. We did our usual routine(s) and then had an egg sandwich for breakfast before I headed out to check on the gardens. I took some twine and tied what tomato plants I could in the wire cages to the fence to keep them from blowing completely on the ground. A few beans plants were laying down on the ground and that's is too bad as they were loaded with little beans and blooms. Hopefully the roots weren't damaged too bad and they will recover as the taste of home grown beans are delightful.

I headed down to check on neighbor Gerald and his schedule for removing his chicken coup to Kathlyn and Curtis's place for their birds. We decided since it was such a cool morning to do the job and it took us some "shade tree engineering" and a couple hours to get it onto his trailer without damaging it. After a quick lunch we hauled it through the back roads and delivered it without a hitch. Actually unloading it was much easier than jacking it up and getting on his trailer as we just tied a rope around a large tree and pulled the trailer forward letting the coup drop to the ground undamaged. We headed home shortly thereafter then took a ride over to the back road where were heard chainsaws and a heavy piece of equipment running.

The folks from S. Carolina were up who own this small stilt cabin and decided to have all of the surrounding trees cut down and have some of them run through a chipper. There were several huge trees they left lying on the ground that will be great for firewood. Gerald had the men working there come by his place for an estimate on several trees he wants taken down in the future. Nancy and I decided to get our daily hike out of the way and was it ever chilly as we got to the top of the mountain. We stopped and visited with Ann and Sandy Cline as they were waiting a prospective buyer for their cabin. We had a nice long hour or so visit before heading on across to finish our hike. We got some news about one of the long time cabin owners that wasn't very good as Barry's health has rapidly declined to where he is back in the hospital and is facing long time care in a facility, on a lighter note Tommy who was very ill for quite a while is doing much better in a new assisted living place. Sandy seems to be much improved but still wants to get rid of the cabin. Barry and Bertie still have their cabin here but haven't been up to it in quite a spell. Sandy thinks he will never be able to visit it again.

I made a guacamole for supper and we ate that about 5 PM and then sat out on the deck in the sunshine and read until it was time for me to get ready for pickle ball at 7. There were 5 of us and after an hour and half I let the 4 younger guys wear each other out and headed home for a hot shower. Despite the cool breezy conditions I worked up a good sweat and the play was fast and furious. It was nearly 9 before I headed into the warm snuggly cabin as we had all of the windows closed. I started a new Sandra Brown novel and this reads like another good thriller with lots of twists in every day drama. It wasn't long after the hot shower and a couple chapters until the sandman calleth, LATER

Here are a couple photos from the weekend and yesterday!!

 

Monday Morning

Well Sunday turned out to be a nice day weather wise with pleasant temps and the threat of rain but just a few lite showers. It did rain enough to settle the dust in our lane; but we were hoping for a more substantial rain fall. The temps really cooled down over night especially with the wind and of course the wind dried up the sparse rainfall so we are back to square one, being dry. We had a busy day at church and then headed to another church for a Blue Grass Concert where we caught the last 5 numbers before the music ended.

We slept in to start the day and it seems that is now becoming a norm for the past week or so. After a 7'ish rollout we did or usual routine(s) and then got ready for worship at Cornerstone. There was a rather large crowd on hand as many folks are returning from vacations and Pastor B finished up a series in 1Peter with a reality check on relationships. Great message and afterwards we headed to the Pizzeria for the first time in years after being disappointed the last time we were there. Well it seems they have changed hands once again and under new management and everything was great so much so I think we may eat there more often. There was a hot buffet with lasagna, chicken and dumplings, smashed taters, pulled pork , mac and cheese and hot apples along with pizzas and the salad bar was superb as well and very fresh. We could barely find a place to sit as they were doing the business and the price was great as well.

We stopped off at the grocery on the way home for some goodies as Nancy is doing Mexican food on Tuesday evening and needed a few items. We came back and I piddled around refurbishing a couple pickle ball paddles while Nancy made a double batch of chocolate chip cookies for the picnic at church later in the afternoon. We had a local couple give an hour presentation on their missionary work this past year and they will return to continue next year in their effort to bring the Gospel to that country. Nancy and I helped in the kitchen to feed everyone hot dogs and burgers, chips and lots of desserts. We managed to get away after the kitchen duty for the picnic to another local church where a Blue Grass Band was performing gospel music in concert before heading back to the cabin around 8. We saw several familiar faces there as well.

Well it was Mountain Man on the History Channel for us until I turned in for the night around 10 to read until lights out at 11 for me. The Ray's lost a close game 3-2 to the Sox's after winning 9 games in a row and climbing back into the race for the division pennant. They still have a ways to go as the second half of the season just started, LATER

Sunday Morning

Well Saturday turned out to be rather hot day by late afternoon so it was sit on the porch and read after getting back from the big metropolis of Sparta where we along with the Tracy's visited several touristy type activities. There was a festival of crafts and arts going on as well as yard sales all along the major route of 21 and a farmers market at Crouse Park with some old mountain music to entertain those who sat in lawn chairs or just pulled up a piece of the grass. People were friendly along with many church's selling lunch. We met at JB's pizza for a delicious lunch of pizza and I must say that is always a winner  with us as well as a lot of other folks. They were one busy place and all of the food we saw and tasted was delicious.

We started the day with a 7'ish roll out as we knew we had nothing going on except to meet at 11:30 at JB's the Tracy's. I did my usual routine(s) and then a lite breakfast of cereal with fresh wine berries on top. Afterwards I headed out to the yards and gardens to check for deer damage and seeing none I decided to hand water once again. The dry wind and lack of rainfall are starting to take it's toll on the grass in the lower yard by the shed. It's turning brown and parts of the backwoods yard is showing some brown spots as well. I've been watering daily the newly sown grass seeds where I removed the tree stumps and just since I spread some old hay over the seeds to help hold the moisture I can see some green peeping through.

We had a grand time in Sparta as we played the tourist thing. We visited the old Senators House that was one time a fancy gourmet eatery. We ate there with some friends many years ago and its now a retail outlet for baked goods, ice parlor and whatnots. The house was built in 1917 and has stayed pretty much the same both inside and out except for the addition of a large commercial kitchen on the back. The lady who was manning the place was very informative and allowed us to look around and told us of some of the local history of the place. The setting was ideal as well.

We headed down to the Crouse Park area and met up with a neat farmer from Poland who raises veggies in Independence, Va. and sells his produce here on Saturdays. We purchased a beautiful head of Bibb lettuce from him and saw another veggie called celery stock. It grow like korabi or turnip but according to another customer the French people use this in all of their soup stock. It smelled like celery and the leaves were very similar but the strength of the veggie was powerful in taste as I of course tasted it. We wondered around and Nancy purchased a children's book and the author who is from Elkin(just down off of the mountain) signed it. It's a neat story about the birth of Jesus as seen through the eyes of a mouse. She also purchased a small cream pitcher from the daughter (who is now in the pottery business) of our neighbors George and Gail Redmond. We walked around and looked at all the displays of creative arts and whatnots but Patrick and I gravitated to the music on stage by the mountain music makers. The fiddle and banjo pickers were our favorites on the stage.

We hope to head to Galax the first weekend in August for the Fiddler Convention which is a week long affair that draws thousands from all across the country to display their talent. We are saddened to learn that sister Dee and Mike are now not going to be able to come down as planned due to an unexpected visit from old friends from out of the country. We changed our plans to visit the Gravel Springs Picnic near Winchester so we could attend the convention together and now they can't attend, oh well. Patrick and Kathryn seem to enjoy that type of music and we will make an appearance as well as we are planning a couple days to visit the Va. and D.C. area a week or so later towards the middle of August. That should be fun and we are looking forward to this visit as they love the history and the landmarks of our nations capital.

Well we ate a salad and some leftovers for supper then we took off on a major hike which included the walk up the back road. Neighbor Gerald mentioned he heard someone sawing down what appeared to be several large trees on the back road earlier while we were gone to town. We decided to hike up that road and sure enough the cabin directly across from us had several large trees down on the ground around their cabin. It sure let in some sunlight as huge trees grew next to the building and porches. We continued on to the top and saw no one. I decided to burn trash and then water the gardens again before dark after our return. I watched the Ray's beat the Red Sox's again on the Internet and shortly thereafter it was shower and some horizontal lab time. Lights out around 11'ish, LATER       

Saturday Morning

Well Friday turned to be another gorgeous day here in the mountains of North Carolina. It was in the middle 50's to start the day with a few clouds, but by afternoon brilliant blue skies and a gentle breeze to keep the high in the low 80's quite pleasant. We started the day with a sleep-in as my tired body from pickle ball the night before needed the extra hour or so. After my usual routine(s) of a few quiet moments and the posting of this daily ramble so my grand kids will know what their grandparents did on a daily basis we made breakfast burritos to start the gastric juices flowing, Yeow where they ever good especially with a little jalapeno pepper on top and a splash of Chrystal hot sauce.

I ventured outside to check on the gardens for any damage from the local critters and so far the past couple of nights we have been left alone except for some critters that likes to dig around in the compost pile. We decided to not start any really big projects as we were heading out to Patrick and Kathryn around 4 PM with a stop at the library on the way. I hand watered the gardens and the grass seeds in the backwoods yard where I had removed the stumps. The grass in the yards have just about stopped growing due to the lack of rainfall. It's been over 2 weeks since I last mowed which is really unusual for this time of the year. We have been having some heavy dew overnight which has kept it green thus far. I picked about a quart of win berries for the Tracy's but we forgot to bring them with us when we headed out.

We took off on our daily hike to the top of the mountain and visited with Jetta and Zeke for a few before heading back to the cabin. I picked beet greens, kale and spinach to add to the store bought lettuces for a crisp salad to take with us later in the evening. I then filled up the bean sprayer with a little miracle grow solution and gave everything a little bit of nourishment and especially the lettuces. So far they are looking good and we hope to start picking the leaves in the next day or so and shy away from the grocery lettuces. For some reason the sandy soil in Florida is great for growing this vegetable but most difficult here in this clay packed ground.

I noticed I will have green beans to pick in a couple days and the tomato plants are loaded with green fruit and the cabbage is starting to head up. This is another vegetable that does well in my Florida garden. The hot pepper plants are finally blooming  and the herbs are still doing wonderful as I use some just about every day. The Zinnias are beautiful with multiple heads on each plant and some are over 2 feet in height. That's about al the garden news except for the watermelon is now baseball size and I have the vine growing on a trellis to save space. Nancy thinks the melon will drop off before it ripens and she is probably right but these are miniature melons, so we will see.

We had an awesome dinner at the Tracy's with bowtie pasta and such tasty goodies along with shrimp, spinach, tomato, broccoli and cheeses as the entrée and local grown green beans and a salad with some homemade biscuits and then a strawberry short cake with whipped cream and ice cream for dessert. Well afterwards we taught them the card game Spades and they picked it up rather quickly. It was a fun evening and where did the time go as 10 PM quickly came upon us. We made plans to visit the festival in town on Saturday and start with a lunch at JB's pizza place. We haven't had one of their pizzas yet this year and for a small place it has always been one of our favorites.

It wasn't long after a hot shower and a few minutes with Sandra Brown the writer that I was ready for some horizontal lab, LATER

Friday Morning

Well Thursday was a busy day that saw us with warm temps to start the day and by late evening after a front moved through the mountains the temps dropped down considerably overnight. We sure could have used some rain but none came to our mountains while everywhere around us received some rain and even some deadly storms up in Virginia.

I started the day off with a 7'ish roll out and the temps were in the upper 60's. There was a heavy dew as I could hear the dew dripping down from the bump out onto the tin roof. There was such quietness in the area and the few rabbits that have moved into our yards where everywhere when I pulled the blinds up. They sure like to eat the clover that has moved into my grass and so far have left the veggie gardens alone. After my usual cup of hot green tea used to wash down a handful of vitamins and supplements I spent a few quiet moments then posted this ramble before heading out to wonder around the gardens and yards. After a bowl of oatmeal with cinnamon, honey, wine berries, a peach and some blueberries I headed out to unload the manure from the truck. I loaded up the garlic patch with 4 bags of the good stuff then worked it into the ground. I'll let that set for a couple weeks then plant by garlic bulbs sometime around the middle or last of August so they can get a good start on next years crop.

I composted the rest of the manure and hope to get another load sometime later this summer for the gardens. I spread some old hay onto my recently sowed grass seeds in the backwoods yards where I had burned out the stumps. Hopefully with keeping the hay damp the seeds will sprout and get a good start for the fall growing season. Nancy was ready for the morning hike by now so we took off to the top. We saw our old friends John and Shirley Cottle on top and stopped and visited with them for nearly an hour. It was great to see them again as they have been busy with her mother and their moving into a new house. They had friends, grand daughters and family in for a visit from California and Virginia the past several weeks. We sure miss talking and sharing life experiences with them.

We headed on back down and decided to have our supper for lunch so I fired up the grill and while that got hot I made a delicious guacamole. Wow was that every tasty and we demolished that while the marinated chicken breasts cooked. We put them over a bed of fresh salad and called that our big meal of the day. Afterwards I did some piddling around until it got rather hot before the clouds moved in so I sat on the back porch and read for a couple hours. Sandra Brown is an awesome writer with great story lines and this local library has many of her books. Neighbor George Redmond came by for a visit and blessed us with a couple yellow tomato's. There is something about yellow maters' that aren't maters' to us but we were thankful anyhow. They do have less acid than the red ones and look good in a pasta salad but just not the same as red ones, oh well. I picked beet greens, spinach and kale for the fresh salad Nancy put together for today's lunch and tomorrows supper at the Tracy's cabin.

Well we read until it was time to eat a mater' sandwich with some sweet tater chips for our lite supper. I was playing pickle ball at 7 so I wanted to eat lite and it's a good thing as we had some great play on the court. There were 4 of us and we played non-stop for over 2 hours with great rallies and the despite the temps in the lower 60's we were soaked with sweat. What a great workout and these younger guys never seem to get tired or at least they don't want to admit it to me as I'm their senior by 20 years or more, oh well it was a hot shower for me and then some horizontal lab short thereafter with a book until 11'ish.

Nancy was out with her camera catching some great photos of the beautiful insects that love her flowers, LATER The flower photo is of the "magic lilly."

Thursday Morning

Well we are receiving some much needed rain this AM as I awaken to start the day. Do we ever need it as the earth is parched and I'm hand watering my gardens every day. Wednesday started out with me being awake most of the night due to eating some trail mix with chocolate covered coffee beans the evening before because we had skipped supper due to a large lunch. I didn't feel tired from the lack of sleep but did sleep in this Thursday morning.

After my usual morning routine(s) I headed out to check the gardens for deer, slug and beetle damage. Luckily the critter that could be a real pest, rabbits so far have just stayed in the yards eating the clover which is in abundance this year. The slugs are leaving holes in my cabbages and the kale has a new crop of green worms. I smash them with my fingers as I try not to use any pesticides. The deer have stayed away for the past couple nights. I ate the last buckwheat cake for breakfast slathered with strawberry freezer jam Kay brought me. Yeow was that ever tasty.

I headed out to pick wine berries and picked at least a quart. There aren't as many this year due to the lack of rain but the ones we do have are delicious and beautiful. The Japanese beetles are usually in full swing by now but I kill maybe a dozen a day whereas last year it was hundreds a day. Not sure why there aren't as many and of course the plants don't miss there voracious appetites. The sunshine was out so we washed two loads of laundry and hung them on the line to dry.

We decided we would get our daily hike out of the way before it got too hot so up the mountain we went. We saw no one on our hike and on the bright side of the mountain it was very hot. We could see Pilot Mountain clearly but Winston was hazy and we couldn't make out the buildings. It was such a difference on the back road in the shade of the trees that it felt like the crisper in the fridge. What a difference a few trees make.  We came back and decided to eat our big meal around 1 PM for a change so I fired up the grill and put two bone in pork chops on to cook. We have fresh green beans from the Browning garden and store bought broccoli, yeow was that ever some fine eatin'. After the clean up we decided to visit with our "mountain mom", Helen and take her and her brother Joe some wine berries. Joe blessed us with a nice bag of Jalapeno peppers from his garden. We visited for an hour or so with her before heading back to the cabin.

I sat on the back porch and finished another good read by Sandra Brown and have one more to go before these 3 are due back at the library. I did harvest my home grown garlic and worked that bed up for the August planting in the afternoon. I didn't get as many this year but they were a little larger. I want to get that bed ready with a good top dressing of manure that we gathered from the pasture of the Dalton Farm last evening. We scooped up several bags and buckets of horse, alpaca and cow patties. It was close to dark before we got home so I have that job of unloading the "prized droppings" later today.

Well after a hot shower we tuned into the Fox News channel and learned once again the leadership of our country is null and void and we see the effects of the lack of leadership as the radicals have taken over Iraq, Russia is telling the USA to go pound sand and we are doing all we can to stop Israel from defending herself against those terrorists who have in their charter that Israel must be destroyed. Wake up America and see what is happening with this administration and his plan to change America which is definitely occurring and it's definitely not for the good. We are no longer the country idolized by many who sought a better way of life as this administration is doing everything it can to make us a third world country. Mark my words unless we get rid of this bunch of power seekers and vote responsible liberty loving representatives into the leadership of the nation we are doomed, LATER 

Wednesday Morning

Well Wednesday turned out to be day of travel down to the Winston-Salem area after our regular morning routine(s) and it was after 3 PM before we got back on the mountain. It was also the first night that sleep evaded me for the whole night since the night before we leave to come to the cabin in May. Yikes was I ever wide awake and I blame that on a couple reasons; a large lunch at Chili's and skipping supper all except for an energy drink when we got back from our trip and a packet of trail mix when we usually have supper that has chocolate covered coffee beans in the mix. Wow is all I can say about never getting sleepy the whole night through, oh well!!!

Wednesday was also my baby sister, Dee's birthday. Best wishes to her and husband Mike and now they have a grandson Elijah. There is nothing like grand kids. Anyhow we got ready and headed out to the Winston area mainly to visit with our friend Eddie who has now been in Baptist Hospital some 50 plus days or more with a broken neck and other ailments which have left him mostly paralyzed. We learned yesterday he may be moving to the VA Hospital in Salisbury and there was the chance we would miss him. Well he was still at Baptist as of 10 AM so we decided to go ahead and head down and do some shopping after our visit. Well we missed him by about 15 minutes as he was gone when we got to the city limits. The VA hospital is about 85 miles from Sparta so we will have to chance a trip there sometime later this summer for a visit.

We headed to Aldi's to do some shopping and to stock up on some items as they have a great prices; for example avocado's are 1.25 each everywhere else, but .69 cents there as is their mixed nuts which saves $5 bucks on the large container even off of Sam's prices. We love their variety of canned beans for our salads and they are cheaper with great quality than from Wal-Mart, anyhow we stocked up and then headed to Chili's for a late lunch of burgers and fries. We were bad but oh it tasted so good and that held me until this morning except for the packet of trail mix. We originally were going to the Bonefish but some how got turned around and all of sudden there was Chili's looking at us and we were hungry so we stopped. After eating we headed to Sam's club for few items before heading back out of town. We did make another stop in Elkin for just a couple items we needed we couldn't find anywhere else before climbing the mountain. It was rather warm at 86 dowm below but not to humid but the temps dropped precipitously as we climbed upwards to a comfortable 74 at the cabin.

After stowing all of our goodies we were both sleepy from the trip and the greasy burgers and fries so I popped an XS energy drink from Amway and we headed out for our daily hike. We saw no one on top then headed back down but on the way I talked Nancy into an extra trip to the top up the golf cart trail as I was energized and she to talked of the lunch we had and how to work it off by the extra hike to the top. We came back and I hand watered the gardens as once again the rain by passed us despite all of the rain clouds around. It is really starting to get dry here. We sat on the porch and read until it was time for Fox News amidst a couple conversations via the phone with Bobby and our "mountain mom", Helen. Nancy made herself a salad and I passed as the drink had me wired so I opted for a small packet of trail mix. That was a big mistake as caffeine wires me up and I'm still wired as I write this post, Yikes. Maybe this will help me shed an ounce or too.

We watched the Ray's beat a very good team in St. Louis 7-2 and then we read until after midnight. I tossed and turned and finally got up around 2'ish and read on the Internet until 3:30 and then tried to make myself get some shut eye but to no avail. I heard the neighborhood dogs barking several times throughout the early morning hours and then finally gave it up around 7 to start today, LATER 

Tuesday Morning

Well Monday started out around 8'ish, what a change for me as I'm usually up, bright eyed and raring to go at 6 or a little before.  It did feel good to sleep in as I have nothing big on my plate until we get a good soaking rain so I can burn out the last stump. Luckily it's somewhat obstructed from view by the red outhouse so it isn't really a big eye sore at this time.

After rolling out of the sack I did my usual routine(s) with my vitamins and supplements, a few quiet moments to give thanks and lift up those in need of some special considerations in their time of need and then the posting of this ramble all before Nancy made a mountain breakfast of buckwheat cakes with a banana in the batter and a couple of fried cackleberries on top. I slathered my cakes with raw honey, yeow what a feed and it held me until nearly 1:30 when we got back from our daily hike to the top of the mountain. We had stopped and visited Joe, Jetta and Zeke and of course our conversations all seem to end with talking about food and it's preparation. Jetta blessed us with a nice mess of fresh picked Kentucky Wonder green beans and I picked and took her a mess of wine berries fresh from our patches.

There wasn't much on the agenda today so I piddled around in the yard and gardens and I did notice where something got into my 2 small rows of sweet corn and dug every hill up leaving the stalks lying dead on the ground. I have a feeling it was a field mouse as Jetta explained the same thing happened to her a few years ago before she caught a couple of the critters in a trap. I have a couple small rows of corn just breaking ground so maybe I need to set a trap to see if that is the culprit and put an end to that mystery. I picked beet greens, kale and some lettuce for Nancy's salad fixin's and then did a little hoeing and weed pulling.

We spoke with neighbor Gerald late in the afternoon as he just got back from Winston. He had gone to visit Eddie and was quite impressed with his progress despite all of the other debilitating injuries. He is able to carry on a conversation and has some limited movement in a his right arm and leg. The VA is thinking about moving him to their hospital in Salisbury and may do so before we get back down there today for a visit. We are certainly happy to hear he is showing some improvement. Eddie did mention they are selling all of their horses which I think number around 20 plus; so if your a horse lover here is the chance to obtain some pets and good horse flesh. Just let us know and we will pass the word on to him.

Well we still need some rain and it looked as if it would pour at times throughout the day. We did get a 5 minute shower during the night but that was about all despite the overcast conditions. Nancy made tacos for supper and afterwards we checked the flower beds for beetles and Nancy found a "Magic Lilly" protruding about 10 inches upwards amongst her cone flowers. We haven't seen one of them in a couple years. We had planted it down by the shed and it came up 75 feet from the original planting, hence the name Magic Lilly. There is a different name they are called by depending where you are from and one name is Resurrection Lilly. They are beautiful to observe and we are excited we may have more somewhere in our flower beds. Our "mountain mom" Helen gave us the original a few years back. I will enclose a photo once it opens.

Well today Tuesday we are heading to Winston to visit with Eddie and do some shopping and have lunch at the Bonefish Grill; this will be an all day trip as it's close to 70 miles one way, LATER

Monday Morning

Well Sunday was a great day of worship both in music and the word. It was a bit on the chilly side as once again the day started with temps down into the low 50's and stayed that way until the middle of the afternoon when the sun broke through the overcast and it quickly warmed to the low 70's. We both had on long pants, long sleeve shirts and socks on in the cabin the past 24 plus hours. This is the middle of July and it fell like the middle of September.

Nancy awakened around 6 and looked out into the back yard and spotted a very large deer just standing there looking back at her. I jumped up and scared it away and would have liked to have powered it's backside with some birdshot but it jumped down off the back yards into the woods. It did break off a couple of corn plants but didn't seem to bother anything else in the garden. We did our morning routines then got ready for worship at Cornerstone.

Priority Blue which is a home grown Blue Grass Gospel Quartet did the opening music and they were awesome in their praise music. After a great sermon on a reality check for relationships we decided since most of our usual lunch gang were either out of town, coming down with a bug and having some intestinal issues we would forgo lunch out and pick up fried chicken from Lowes grocery. Well that was the best fried chicken we've had in many a moon and we had a salad to accompany it as well. That meal held me the rest of the day except for some watermelon late in the evening.

We got some visitors around 3 o'clock as Carson and Carter Todd came by on their Pa's(Ray Todd) golf cart. Carson has grown into a fine young man and Carter now has a bit of the younger Carson in him. We can't believe that Carter will be in the third grade and Carson is a freshman in high school this coming year. They have moved permanently down to Mt. Airy where they now have a new little brother as their mother Angel married. After they left we changed out of the warmer clothes into some shorts and headed for the top of the mountain on a hike. The top was desolate all except for Joe, Jetta and Zeke. We visited for a short while before heading back to the cabin to await for a phone call from Bobby.

He had the kids this weekend at his new condo and did supper with Amy's family so the cousins could spend some time together and play on Saturday afternoon. They all had a grand time in the condo's pool and I understand the eatin' was fine as well. Seems everyone had a good visit and Bobby's kiddos love his new place and adjusted very well. It really been an adjustment for everyone and we are hoping only the best for both of them in all of this life changing turmoil of living with both parents separately.

Well I worked with this GPS for a couple hours trying to put some new places into it and it's frustrating to say the least as we are heading to Winston-Salem to visit with Eddie at the hospital on Tuesday and to stop by several places for some shopping. Our friends Patrick and Kathryn are heading to Blowing Rock for  a reunion with some of his fellow retired friends this week. I'm seriously giving the body a few days rest from all the hard work from last week except for some daily hiking and pickle ball on Thursday evening. I noticed some strain on both of my arms the past day or so with wielding that heavy digging iron and lifting those heavy blocks of wood onto the log splitter.

Bobby called after he had the kiddos in bed as they spent another night with him before he took them back early this morning on his way to work. Afterwards we settled into the "mountain man" show and learned the Ray's swept the Twins in baseball for a good start on the second half of the season. Pre-season football starts in just a couple weeks and I'm looking forward to that, LATER

Sunday Morning

Well Saturday turned out to be a Fall like day with temps staying in the 60's for a high and down in the low 50's. We never saw the sunshine at all and at times there was a lite rain and lots of damp conditions. The yards and gardens needed this type of weather as we have been dry. I was able to work outside until lunch time and then decided since it was wet and damp to spend the rest of the afternoon reading and napping. I did head out about 6:30 for the pickle ball court where I got in 2 plus hours of play on the non skid surface despite it being damp and wet.

The morning started with me sleeping in until 7'ish for a change as the cool and damp air made for an extra blanket and the snugness was conducive for sleeping in. After my usual routine(s) I ventured out to check on the gardens and flower beds for deer damage and saw none. Nancy wanted to fry up the leftover parsley taters for breakfast along with a couple cackleberries and I washed it down with a V-8. ikes was that ever tasty with a little Chrystal hot sauce to add to the flavor.

I noticed a little smoke coming from the burned up pine tree stump so I broke up what was left and buried the coals filling in the hole and then sowing grass seed. I took the chainsaw and cut off the roots of an old stump behind the red outhouse that I had dug out from around the day before and pulled it from the ground. I then filled in that hole as well. I have just one more stump to get rid of and Nancy is trying to talk me into not burning it as it's rather close to the woods. I may work on it another day and see if I can dig out from underneath it and then cut it off and have neighbor Gerald lift it out of the hole with the front end loader on his tractor. We will see!!

We got in our hike today to the top of the mountain and drizzle stayed with us most of the way and fell even harder as we headed down the back trail. After a salad for lunch the drizzle had rain dripping from the roof and the dampness made for staying inside so I finished a Sandra Brown book called the CHILL FACTOR. She is a good author and keeps your attention throughout the many twists and turns in her story telling. We had steak fajitas for supper then I headed out to Roaring Gap Club to meet up with 3 other players for some pickle ball. We played under the lights outside and despite it being damp and cool we all had soaked shirts by the end of the nights action as we played 12 sets of regular pickle ball scoring which means you only score when your serving. That scoring makes for a longer game than does rally scoring where someone scores a point on every play regardless of who is serving. My tank was on empty as we finished up around 9'ish.

Nancy found the Ray's on one of the higher channels and we watched the Ray's beat the Twins again and could possibly sweep this series today with a win. This would be a great comeback after a miserable first half of this season. The hot shower felt great and then I read until the sandman calleth around 11, LATER

Saturday Morning

Well Friday was another work day for me that started with a 6'ish roll out. It was quite chilly with temps down into the low 50's and overcast to start the day and it may have reached 60 for the high and by late afternoon a lite drizzle which lasted well into the night. We certainly needed a good soaking rainfall.

I did my usual routine(s) after arising but was anticipating neighbor Gerald to bring his wood splitter at 8 AM, so I could split up not only the recently sawed up black pine tree but some oak logs that I've had piled up since last year.  Gerald had to leave to pick up Gabe in Boone by 8:30 where he has been to an athletic camp this past week. He showed me how to operate the splitter which was easily explained as I had helped him last Fall to split up his wood for the winter. It took me about 2 hours to complete the job and I wound up with 2 nice piles of split wood. The pine wood I used to burn the pine stump as then piled the rest to use when I burn the oak stump sometime next week. I need for the woods to have had some rainfall as it's been very dry before burning out the last stump.

I started the pine stump fire shortly after 8 and it continued to burn throughout the day and finally about dark the stump burned off and down to just a few coals. The rainfall keep the coals in check throughout the night and I noticed this morning a little smoke from the roots down into the ground. I have one more stump to go and then my landscaping will be through for the backwoods yard this summer. This chore is much like the folks in colonial times cleared the land and made it ready for farming. This type of work is better than working out in a gym and so much more rewarding. Neighbor Gerald was amazed at how much I changed the landscape the old fashion way and except for the chainsaw used to down the trees everything else was accomplished with hand tools.

We missed our hike once again as I didn't want to leave a blazing fire unattended but I had plenty of exercise and then the rain kept us in doors later in the evening. We finished up the leftovers from the past 2 nights of entertaining and then settled into the Fox News Channel. After my hot shower and a cup of tea I was nodding off until Nancy found the Rays playing the Twins on T.V. so my attention span picked up and we watched the game. We both wanted to snack so I made a batch of popcorn the old fashion way and it was delicious and the Ray's were winning in the bottom of the 8th. I decided to call it a night at 11 o'clock and hit the sack, LATER

Here are a few pics of the past couple days.

Friday Morning

Well Thursday started out with being a work day and then we had a large gang here for supper and games which lasted close to 10 PM. The food was awesome as I smoked 2 large chickens and the gang brought the side dishes except for The Pioneer Woman's (Ree Drummond's) twice baked tater's Nancy prepared. The games of corn toss ended with darkness but Balderdash lasted until there was a winner who was Kaitlyn by a hair. What a raucous gang of players.

I started the day with a 6'ish roll out to temps down into the low 50's and it may have even been the high 40's, yikes was it ever great for working outside as the humidity was non-existent. After my usual routine(s) of a cup of hot green tea to wash down a handful of vitamins and supplements, a few quiet moments for those who are in dire need of some special considerations and to just give thanks and then the posting of this daily ramble I ate a bowl of oatmeal with fresh picked wine berries from our patch along with some wild huckle berries, cinnamon and honey for breakfast. Yeow was that ever tasty.

I headed out to check on the gardens and flower beds for deer damage and found no new eatin' by those critters; so I loaded up the golf cart with my digging iron, shovel, ax, post hole diggers and headed for the backwoods yard and the recently felled black pine tree. I had the dirt dug out from around the stump to about a depth of a foot and half deep in just a couple hours. Pine trees have a small root system compared to the oak stumps and so much easier to dig out and around and the root system is much shallower and with nearly as many roots. I did work up a good sweat though and plan on burning it out on Friday morning.

We never did get to do our hike for the day as I put a couple whole chickens filled with fresh rosemary and thyme set on a half full can of beer in the smoker loaded with hickory wood and later some peach wood that neighbor Carl brought me about mid morning. He had cut down his dying peach tree and shared some of the wood with me for my smoker.  Nancy was busy cleaning house and preparing the baked taters as well as making a cinnamon sugar cake. Our total number of guests was 14 for supper and there was very little leftover. I did grill a couple dozen hot dogs just in case the younger teens wanted something different. The chicken was gone and one dog remained as well as one tater and a spoon full of green beans. Everyone raved about the chicken and I pulled the meat off the bones as it was that tender and moist. I had never used peach wood but heard any fruit tree was great for smoking and it was awesome as well is any fruit bearing tree along with hickory.

We played several games of corn hole(toss) and Gerald(Mechelle's dad) was the big winner for most of the time with who ever was his partner. He and I got into playing singles and I managed to squeak one win out of 5 games against him. He and his son in law Andy seldom ever lose when they team up together and constantly together are the big winners in all of the competition around these parts. They even go down off the mountain to compete in tournaments and usually come back with the big prize money. A couple folks left early after eating, so Gerald and I sat on the porch after it got to dark to toss the corn bag and talked. There were 10 players at the table playing Balderdash and the laughter noise was loud until the game ended with Kaitlyn winning in a squeaker over Nancy.

It was around 10'ish when the last folks left and then we cleaned up the dishes and it wasn't long before it was a hot shower for me and then some horizontal lab with a book until lights out at 11, LATER

Just an update on Eddie he is now showing some much improvement with breathing finally on his own and he was able to take some nourishment through the mouth albeit was liquid. This is surely  miraculous in and of itself. Still keep him and Kimberly in your thoughts and prayers as he has a long road ahead to attaining any semblance of his old self.

Thursday Morning

Well Wednesday morning was rather chilly for us with temps in the 50's, yikes was it ever nippy in the cabin when I awakened around 6'ish as we had left most of the windows partially open over night. I wore long pants and a flannel shirt most of the morning when I headed outside to work after my usual routine(s). I did oatmeal with a fresh peach, cinnamon and honey to start the day after my handful of vitamins & supplements, a few quiet moments with my Maker and then the posting of this ramble.

I decided I wanted to take out the big black ugly pine tree in the backwoods yard so I managed to get a rope about 18 feet up the trunk and secured that to a large oak nearby to use as a fulcrum for Nancy to pull on while I sawed. I didn't want to let it hit our arbor as it was somewhat leaning in that direction but down hill. Well it was just enough of a tug as it began to fall that we placed it where we wanted it to fall with the top almost on the brush pile down below in the gully. Well that was a great start to this project. I will also dig around this stump for burning at a later date. I wanted to use this pine wood when I burn out the last oak stump sometime next week after we get some rain. I had to chainsaw the remaining small section of oak stump number three that failed to burn completely and then I filled in that hole and now I'm ready to sow some grass seed.

We decided to get our hike out of the way as it was around 11 before I worked up the downed tree into stove length pieces. The air was quite clear for a change and we could see the buildings in downtown Winston-Salem from the top of the mountain. We spoke with Norm and Dean as they were heading back to the doctors at Baptist Hospital. Norm is still very weak and not doing great but he is one tough feller for his age with a bad heart. Dean has been a blessing as a neighbor as he drives him 3-4 times a week down off the mountain to the VA and the doctors offices in Winston. We chatted up Joe and patted Zeke as Jetta was off the mountain. Her garden is producing beautiful beans and some cukes so there is hope for mine.

We came back around noon and decided to have a quick lunch of a peanut butter wrap with onions for me. I know that sounds weird but the taste of the two together stimulates my taste buds and I love it more so than chocolate and peanut butter. After lunch I headed out to change the chainsaw blade and then I worked up the downed tree. I made several loads with the golf cart to the top of the hill with the cut up wood and that machine is a work horse. It was after 3 before I made the last load then it was time to rake the hill side down to the gully and pile the last of the debris from the tree.

After cleaning up in the basement I watered the gardens by hand and then we got ready as we were having neighbor Gerald for a supper of grilled bone-in pork chops, salad, black beans and Jasmine rice. Yeow was that ever tasty and we ate outside on the deck in the cool evening air. After Gerald left around 7'ish we headed out to the mailbox on the golf cart and then decide to visit with the Carl and Donna Hudson as we noticed their gate was open which meant they were back at their cabin. We hadn't seen them in a year or more and hadn't had a good talk with them in a couple years. We sat outside on their front porch and viewed the mountains off in the distant with a little vino until nearly sunset. You could feel the temperature dropping as the sun slid below the mountain top. It was a chilly ride back to the cabin in the golf cart.

Well it was time to close up the cabin when we got back just as darkness was fast approaching. The chill was in the air and it wasn't long before I was in the hot shower. I watched a little of the Fox News channel with Megyn Kelly before grabbing my book and heading for the bedroom to read until lights out for me at 10:30, Nancy followed sometime later as she likes to watch the RFD channel and the horse shows, LATER

Wednesday Morning

Brr this morning with temps in the 50's, yikes this is the middle of July. Well Tuesday turned out to be a fun day with decent weather and temps. It never got much out of the 70's and there was clouds around for the biggest part that showed the threat of rain and we could use a little of the wet stuff. I started the day with my usual 6'ish roll out and then my routine(s) of a hot cup of green tea used to wash down my handful of vitamins and supplements, a few quiet moments to reflect and give thanks and lift up those in need of some prayerful considerations and then the posting of this daily ramble. I also give our "mountain mom" Helen a daily jingle after the posting to check on her and what she has in store for the day.

After a leftover buckwheat cake with some fresh wineberries picked from our patch, I headed out to check for deer damage to the gardens and flower beds. It looked as if my new fence around the herb gardens has maybe scared them off for now as I didn't notice any new damage. I checked the smoldering stump in the backwoods yard and while it didn't completely burn out I knocked the remaining smoking area off with a shovel as we were leaving the cabin around 10 and while the smoking area was below the ground level I didn't want to chance a fire into the woods. We got ready and headed to Sparta  first to refill a couple prescriptions for Nancy.

We then headed to Galax via route 18. That is the first time we have taken that route in some time and it was a nice ride. We stopped at the Waddell Rehab and Nursing home to visit with a dear friend and church member Clayton Galyean. He and his wife Betty are extremely nice folks and he is rehabbing from back surgery and a broken ankle. He looked good despite his ailments and we had a good visited with him and Betty. Afterwards we stopped and had lunch at Macadoo's in Galax. The fish tacos were awesome and they came with an abundance of the best French fries ever. We met a really sweet server from our area Hannah Stephens who lives in Ennice with her folks. She was home schooled and just graduated this year. We invited her to church with us as she at present isn't attending regularly.

We then gassed up and headed to Wal-Mart for some necessities and goodies. My electric shaver has finally worn out after several years and the replacement parts cost as much as a new one so I did the smart thing and bought a new one. We are having a large gang here on Thursday evening for supper and games so I'll do beer-in the -rear chicken on the smoker with some hickory wood. That is always a favorite for everyone except for our friend Joe who doesn't eat chicken, oh well! We got back to the cabin somewhere around 3'ish then decided to take a hike to the top of the mountain.

We never saw anyone and even Zeke must have been taking a nap as he usually barks when we walk by on our daily hike. We came back and it looked once again like rain at any moments but none came our way. I had purchased a yellow squash plant that had 4 seedlings in the pot so I separated them and set them out in the lower garden. My yellow squash seeds never sprouted but I do have a couple small zucchini's on the vine. I checked my late sowing corn seeds and they have sprouted but just not through the ground yet. The watermelon have set fruit about the size of pea and I picked some kale, beet greens and spinach for Nancy as she made a nice salad for supper. The radishes never made but I did have nice tops. I must have planted them in the wrong cycle of the moon, so I pulled them up and will sow Swiss chard in its place.

Well I headed out around 6:30 to meet up with 4 other guys from church for some great action on the outside pickle ball court at Roaring Gap; we did get a few sprinkles at time and it looked as if it would pour but it never did. The surface of the metal court had a non skid surface so play was never interrupted by the sprinkles. I played for an hour and half then gave it up to the 4 younger guys to continue to wear each other out. The play has developed into a higher level with some long rallies and all of us had wet shirts in no time. It was close to 9 before I got back to the cabin.

Well I caught the Fox News channel for an hour or so then hit the hot shower before reclining with a new read from Sandra Brown in a horizontal position and by 10:30 I was ready for lights out and nighty, night, LATER  Nancy was out after I left for pickle ball with the camera and we just purchased a new Old Glory today and couldn't resist a photo op with it and the flowers the deer haven't eaten off.

Tuesday Morning

Well Monday was a work day as I burned out another stump so that meant collecting wood and down debris from the surroundings woods. Wow did I ever work up a sweat and it took me about 10 hours as this was one large oak stump that was about 3 feet across. It's smoldering down in the ground this morning as the roots run deep despite a light rain shower just about dark.

I started the day with a 6'ish roll out and after my usual routine(s) of a few quiet moments and the posting of this ramble I ventured outside to check on the gardens. Well those dang deer were back after a couple nights reprieve and once more got into the garden but it seems they only ate and pulled the beets up in the one garden. I decided to put some poles up around that patch and string some of my yellow "do not enter" tape. I'm getting desperate to keep them out as my 1/2 runner green beans are blooming and they love to eat them as well.

Nancy made great buckwheat cakes for breakfast with fresh picked huckleberries and I slathered mine with real butter and honey and then a couple cackleberries on top, yeow that held me until suppertime with just a couple peanut butter crackers for a lite lunch. I had a raging inferno around the stump down into the ground and this of course throws off some extreme heat and with walking uphill and into the back woods for burning materials I was soaked with sweat and getting plenty of exercise. We passed on the hike after supper as I had plenty of uphill walking during the day and beside it looked as if the skies were going to open up with a heavy rain but we got just a sprinkling. The clouds were showing some unusual cloud formations and Nancy took a couple pictures.

Well for supper I grilled some of the recently replaced range fed aged beef from Grayson County and it was delicious. I chose one rib eye and one New York steak and we split them between us and the rib eye definitely had more flavor but both were very good and tender and I grilled them almost rare with a little Canadian's best seasoning and fresh rosemary on top to go along with fresh garden green beans and parsley tater's. What a feast.

Neighbor Gerald came by with his daughter Kari around 5 PM who drove him from Winston-Salem after knee surgery this morning to repair a meniscus in his left knee. He will be out for at least 4 weeks from pickle ball but he is already walking and getting around great and was riding in his mule with Kari driving. That was about it for the day except for a clogged drain in the bathroom that required me to take apart the vanity sink drain and remove a clod of hair that was 6-7 inches long. Yikes no wonder the water wouldn't go down and that is first time in about 19 years I've ever had this problem. It wasn't long after the "Spin Stops Here" with O' Reilly that I hit the hot showers and then watched Megyn until it was time to read a little before lights out at 10:30 for me, LATER

 

Monday Morning

Well Sunday turned out to be a great day of worship, good eatin' at a Mexican Restaurant in Sparta and then some visiting and a day of rest except for a hike later in the evening.

I stared the day with a sleep in until nearly 7 o'clock then did my usual morning routine(s) of a few quiet moments after my vitamins and supplements and then the posting of this ramble. We were thrilled to get a late evening phone call alerting us to the safe return from Kansas of our daughter and her family to Seminole after an exhausting 2 full days of travel. We laughed at the many photos they posted on FB of their vacation with Tyler's family. Each of the grand kids have so changed in just the 6 weeks since we have last seen them and especially Eliza Faye.

We headed out around 9:30 for Cornerstone to hear a good sermon on the duties and responsibilities of a man to his wife found in 1 Peter 3:7. Pastor B was close to getting some rotten tomatoes flung upon him from the audience(just kidding) but what he had to say made a lot of sense when dealing with rational women; unfortunately its hard to follow these sermon guidelines when there are women out there with split personality disorders.

After church we met up with Mechelle and Caleb for lunch for some good Mexican cuisine. I had fajitas and Nancy enchiladas. The food was superb, reasonable and more than enough; enough so I didn't eat the rest of the evening. We stopped off at our "mountain mom's" for a visit on the way home and once I sat in her rocker recliner I could barely keep my eyes open. We had a good visit in between my cap naps. We headed out somewhere around 5'ish and then I laid down on the bed for a short nap while starting a new book. That was cut short by a call from Bobby and then Amy and finally by GG, Nancy's mom. Seems she is getting some unexpected overnights guests from her grand daughter Erica and her 7 youngun's later this evening as they travel back to Miami from a vacation somewhere in N.C.

I decided I needed to get in some exercise after all of the good eatin' the past couple days so we headed up the back trail to the top of the mountain. The place was desolate with no week enders' and even the Browning's were gone as they do church on Sunday evenings. We had a nice hike and I finally worked up a sweat as well. We came back and piddled around in the garden and flower beds and even picked a few huckle berries and finally some wine berries. The huckle berries will disappear in the buckwheat batter in the morning as Nancy makes hot cakes for breakfast and the wine berries quickly disappeared down the throat. Huckle berries are wild blue berries and about one third the size and it takes a bunch to get a good taste, but oh how to they ever taste, great! I have a large stand of bushes right next to my domestic blue berries the deer constantly keep pruned. I may get a handful of them by summer's end. It was close to 8 when we finally came in for the day despite it staying light outside as we wanted to tune into the Mountain Man shows on the history channel. We watched that until 10 then headed for a hot shower and then for some horizontal lab with a new read before the sandman come'th  around 11'ish, LATER   No Pics today!!!

Sunday Morning

Well Saturday started out as a work day but ended with a social get together and celebration of our young friends 19th birthday with lots of good eatin' and socializing. We got to know her beau's family and had a tour of an old farm house built around the 1900's. The character of this old house is awesome and it sets on a nice piece of land just a few hundred yards off the main highway.

I rolled out around 7'ish to start the day as my muscles ached from all the digging and sawing on Friday. I'm sure I have those stumps ready for the burning this coming week. I decided to burn them one day at a time and Monday is the first day set. After my usual routine(s) I headed to check on the gardens and it once again found no deer damage. The yellow tape is working thus far. I fired up the weed whacker and commenced to edging the property all except for the backwoods yard. That kept me busy until nearly lunch time when we decided to get our daily hike in before lunch. I wrapped up the steaks for Joe and Jetta in newspaper and we headed to the top of the mountain.

We sat and visited with them when we noticed the smell of homemade bread baking. Well low and behold she had yeast dinner rolls baking in the oven and she shared a pan full with us. My that was some awesome eating and we had 2 each. It's been awhile since we have had such a delicacy and treat. We headed on back down and then ate a nice salad for lunch. After lunch I fired up the riding mower and spent the next couple hours mowing. The sun was shining brightly and the smell of fresh cut grass was perfume to my senses.

After mowing I cooled off on the back porch and read for an hour or so before we got ready to head over to Curtis's house for a birthday celebration for Kaitlyn his girlfriend. Nancy had a vegetable casserole in the oven for the occasion. I'm almost finished with Nicholas Sparks book THE LONGEST RIDE and while he is a great writer he always has me in tears at least once during the read. This book had me in tears nearly every time I picked it up to read, Oh well.

We arrived at the party around 4:30 and visited with the group. It seems our old post mistress is Curtis's mom so we knew her from years past and Kaithyn is friends with the Dalton Gang so we met her and her mom Karin through them. Karin folks were there as well as her old beau Frank who seemed to be a nice feller. We sat out beside the old house in the shade of the porch and huge chestnut tree. There was all kinds of grilled meat and casseroles. This county has some mighty fine cooks and the food was plentiful and delicious. Curtis and Kaithlyn have chickens, rabbits, horses and a goat who thinks she is a person along with 2 dogs; both are animal lovers as well as gardeners.

We stayed around and helped herd the chickens into their new chicken coup and played with the goat and dogs which seem to have a playful relationship. It was a fun evening and we stayed until nearly dark. We took the scenic route home and saw lots of deer on the way back. It was around 9'ish when we finally pulled into the driveway. After a hot shower I finished the Spark's book and the ending was superb. I must classify it as a love story with a manly twist and unrealistic ending; but of course anything is possible in the world of human interactions with good intentions, LATER  Here are some pics of the yellow tape around the yards which act as a deer deterrent and some of the animals at Curtis's place. Nancy and the goat Leila were pals and it was funny to watch the dogs lead her around by a rope.

Saturday Morning

Well Friday was another work day for me that started with a 6'ish rollout. It was a bit foggy to start the day with cool damp temps into the high 50's. Around mid morning it burned off and we had bright sunshine at times through out the day enough so that Nancy got 2 loads of laundry out on the line to dry. There is nothing like the smell of clean sheets that have been dried in the sunshine.

I did my usual routine(s) after rolling out; a handful of vitamins and supplements washed down with a cup of hot green tea, a few quiet minutes and then the posting of this ramble before a bowl of Cheerios for a change with a banana and a peach. After breakfast I ventured out to check for deer and slug damage. It seems the yellow "do not enter" tape Joe Browning gave me that I strung around the yards and gardens made a difference for at least a couple nights or these are highly educated deer that can read. Oh well!!

 I decided to work on the two remaining stumps with a hammer and a small digging iron. I realized from the last burn that loosening the dirt and rocks from beneath the stumps will help immensely; so I was on my hands and knees working the dirt out from under these last 2 stumps. Well I worked up a good sweat but got the job done by early afternoon. Now I'm excited to put the fire beneath these 2 huge remaining eye sores in my backwoods yard and I'm contemplating taking out an ugly large pine tree and stump later this summer. Pines had rather shallow and much smaller root system; nothing like these mighty oaks.

After a cooling off period I loaded up the bean sprayer with a little miracle grow and fed all of the porch plants and my leafy green veggies. I noticed the okra has put on a new leaf so that's a good sign we will have some pods later this summer as long as the deer continue to obey the tape. For some reason they love okra when it's small. I noticed I may have to use a little Seven dust on my cabbages as they are starting to show some insect damage despite not seeing any worms. I try to grow without pesticides but may have to break the rule as the butterflies are in such abundance here and we know the damage they can do when they lay their eggs on a leafy plant like cabbage and kale, oh well!

Nancy was making a potato salad to take with us when we meet up with the Dalton's at the farm around 6'ish for supper and games. We got cleaned up and headed off the mountain for Sparta around 4:30 as we had several errands to run. We made a stop at the library for some new reads as I'm about finish with the Nickolas Sparks tear jerker. We then stopped by the Backwoods Bean coffee shop and picked up some replacement steaks left there for the Browning's and us from Grayson County, Va. Seems last year we ordered some range fed aged beef and they were shoe leather tough and not aged so they voluntary replaced the meat this year. I will have to do business with these folks again if these replacements are what they are purported to be; aged, range(grass) fed and organic beef(no hormones).

Well Andy had a nice deer roast as well as home grown beef in the form of burgers on the grille and my were they ever tasty especially the marinated deer. We cleaned the platter as usual along with Nancy' tater salad. Kay had made a delicious peach and berry cobbler of which I had to sample. We wobbled away from table and sat on the back porch while the gals cleaned up. Caleb and his buddy Ethan and Kallie's beau Juan entertained us with their shooting skills. What a beautiful evening as we gazed out over their pasture with horses and black Angus cattle in the distance. The sunset over the mountains and the Blue Ridge Parkway made for easy viewing and the serenity was priceless as evening shadows fell. The full moon was just gorgeous as it toppled the mountains and the fireflies making their grand entrance as they added to the surroundings.

We headed in to play the best of 5 games in Sequence and the gals destroyed us so much I'm not sure we will ever recover; 5 to zip was the score despite Juan making a valiant effort as he made most of the scoring. We still haven't been able to catch the gals cheating but they did catch us a couple times as we inadvertently played the wrong card, oh well!! It was close to 10 PM when we finally headed for the cabin and by now the moon was mesmerizing with its orange glow in the clean night air. WOW, it was like 3-D as you wanted to reach out and grab it. Well it wasn't long after a hot shower and a little reading before some horizontal lab took over, LATER