Sunday Morning

Well Saturday was a fun day with temps that reached the low 80's. A nice breeze made for mostly comfortable conditions except after a late afternoon hike to the top of the mountains which saw a little sweat on the brow. We were busy during the first part of the day as we awaited sister Dee and Mike to arrive.

It was somewhere around 2'ish when they made it after circumventing the Hillsville area due to the thousands who ventured out to what must the largest yard sale on earth. They usually like to travel the back roads from Roanoke which runs through that area and so they took off on roads which really slowed down their travel time. We had lunch waiting and all most started without them when they arrived. They brought beautiful picture perfect tomato's from their garden, corn on the cob and sweet peaches.

After a delicious lunch of chicken salad on homemade bread, pickles and chips we took off for the top of the mountain on a hike. We saw several folks on top who were up for the long weekend and made introductions. We headed back down to watch a little college football and sit and visit. The smoker was still smoking and the meat looked superb and despite the late lunch our mouth was watering for the smoked ribs and deer roast.

The ribs and deer roast were perfect and the corn on the cob was superb and along with the fresh salad and we had a feast. We decided to lounge around watching football until it was time to hit the showers and finally some horizontal lab around 11. We did Skype with Kelly, Jordan and little Eli after supper, LATER

Saturday Morning

Well Friday was a  day that started with bright sunshine and blue skies and maybe just a little warmer by early afternoon but the gentle breeze kept it bearable in the direct sunlight. I worked outside all day long that ended around 4:30 as we got ready to head out to Sparta around 5:30 to pickup a bread order from Becca's Backwood Bean Shoppe then a stop for supper at the Dalton Farm. After supper we got into a raucous game of Sequence before heading home around 10 o'clock.

The day started with a sleep in until nearly 8, this is now becoming the norm instead of the exception. After my usual routine's and then a few quiet moments to lift up several on my mind and reflect on life's circumstances I finished up the cantaloupe for breakfast. I tried to eat sparingly for the day as I knew we were eating heavy for supper at the Dalton's. I posted my ramble and then we headed out for our daily hike to the top of the mountain before I started to mow. We saw Mike and Nancy on top and chatted a few minutes, we saw lots of cars but no one else out and about.  After getting back down from the hike I fired up the riding mower. It's been a couple weeks since I've mowed all of the yards and weed whacked. The backwoods yard was really needing mowed as the new grass was 6-8 inches in places over the stump burn outs.

I stopped around 12:30 for a small salad before heading back out to finish mowing. It was 2:30 before I finished with the tractor and then picked up the weed whacker and did the driveway as well as around all of the perimeter, trees and gardens. Needless to say I got almost as much exercise doing that as another hike. It felt great to hit the shower afterwards and the nice breeze made it conducive for a 10 minute power nap after showering. I spoke with Paw Paw up in Winchester and learned Uncle Frankie(his younger brother) was in the hospital with some nose bleeds. We hope all he is well as he has suffered from some long time illnesses. We also learned that our nephew Jeremy Tharp has been moved to Portland Oregon by the Nike Company he works for. They have furnished him with a home and moved all of his household furnishing as well as flew the family out there, many congrats to him and the family. I know he will be missed by his mother, sister Pat and brothers John and Justin.

We headed out for Sparta and picked up 2 loaves of bread and a blueberry coffee cake for when our company arrives today(Sat) for the week end. I know where all of that good eatin' will go; right to the spare tire. Oh well!!! I'll just have to do 2 hikes a day next week. I took out baby back ribs to thaw for the smoker as well as a small deer ham. I've never done a deer roast on the smoker and I'm excited to see how it will turn out as well as a new recipe for ribs. It's called 3-2-1. You place the ribs on the smoker for 3 hours then take them off and wrap them in tin foil for 2 hours with either apple juice or beer(my favorite) for 2 hours then unwrap them for another hour in the smoker uncovered but covered with your favorite barbeque sauce. We love Sonny's sauce on our smoked meat.

Sister Dee and hubby Mike are expected sometime around mid-morning today so Nancy was in her prep mood all day long as one of her gifts is hospitality. We will have some great eatin' the next couple of days and I will try to post pictures. We had some great burgers at the Dalton's with home grown beef, wow what a difference from what you purchase in the store. The meat was superb almost as good and wholesome as fresh venison which of course is my very favorite. Nancy made a colorful and delicious pasta salad and there were other goodies as well. I hate to report the gals once more won at Sequence but at least it wasn't a skunk as we pulled out a lone game. We had a newbie in Frank playing for the guys as he is Karin date and she of course has played several times while unattached. Kallie was home from UNC for the first time since school started and she spoke about her first couple weeks away in college. She seems to be adjusting quite well, LATER

Friday Morning

Well Thursday once again was another beautiful day however the temps and humidity seemed to be on the rise. It wasn't uncomfortable but it required us to run the ceiling fans in the late afternoon and evening. It was in the high 80's in Galax but quickly dropped down about 10 degrees the further we got back on to the parkway.We slept in again to start the day and ate lite as we were meeting our friends in Independence for lunch at 11:30 at the El Grande for some south of the border cuisine.

After our morning routines and a few quiet moments I posted my ramble then headed out to wonder around the yards and gardens. The recently sowed grass seeds from the stump burn outs are doing great and now I'm waiting on the new seeds sowed a couple days ago to sprout. The additional sunlight is starting to take effect as the area where it was shaded almost constantly has now come to life.

We took off for Sparta and made a stop at Becca's Shoppe to order some home made breads and coffee cake for the weekend on our way in to Independence. It was such a beautiful day with the deep blue skies and bright sunshine. We met up with the Tracy's and the Carlan's and had a sumptuous lunch; chips and salsa to start with and then the lunch specials were very generous and quite reasonable. We all had something different to eat and the desserts were huge as both Patrick and Sam indulged. Yikes neither of them could finish theirs and the rest of us were too full to help. Nancy and I ate for less than 9 bucks and with the tip we where out the door for under 12. Not bad for chow that held me through the rest of the day and evening.

We headed to Wal-Mart afterwards for some last minute shopping for this coming weekend's activities. We are entertaining youngest sister Dee, hubby Mike and doggie Bonnie for the weekend as they drive down from Woodstock, Va. The weather is supposed to be nice and with a scent of Fall in the air. Perfect for football weather of which both of them are big fans of college ball. After filling the shopping cart we headed back to the cool cabin as Galax was close to 90 degrees in town with all that asphalt, cars and parking lots. What a difference right away as we got on the parkway.

Well we decided to sit and read on the porch until it cooled down even more for our daily hike. It was after 6 before we headed out to the top and we saw no one except for a few cars at several of the summer homes. I piddled around and watered my gardens and then headed in to watch some sports while Nancy surfed the Internet. The Rays blew a lead with the Orioles and the Panthers were barely beating the Steelers when I decided to hit the showers and then read for the rest of the evening around 10, LATER

Thursday Morning

Well Wednesday turned out to be just another gorgeous day here in the mountains. The temps were down into the low 50's to start the day then by late afternoon it reached the middle to upper 70's with bright sunshine and deep blue Carolina skies. A gentle breeze kept it quite comfortable throughout the day. We were awakened by a call by our son Bobby around 7:30 as he drove his daughter Annsley to school. We spoke with her and she was all chipper and sounded excited. She and Gabe spent the past two nights with their dad.

We started the morning routines after our phone call from Bobby then shortly after that Amy our daughter called for a long morning chat as well. We did our quiet times and then I posted this ramble before we got ready to eat lite for breakfast. I cut a fresh cantaloupe and Nancy had oatmeal. After our lite breakfast I headed out to check on the gardens when neighbor Gerald came by and we headed up the back road to check on a large tree that had broken off during the last wind storm and partially blocked the golf cart trail. With his tractor we pulled it the rest of the way to the ground and I used a chain saw and cut it into small pieces while he removed them from the trail. That job was rather easy with the two of us and took very little time as well. I decided I wanted to try to burn the brush pile that has really grown with all of the trees I've taken down this summer.

It's not to often I can't get a fire started using just one match, a little newspaper and some liter knot but I tried my best to get this pile burned up. I did get it started and burned some of the branches but deep down into the pile is was still too damp from all of the rain this past couple weeks and despite using a gallon or so of burnt oil as an accelerant it still would not burn up, oh well . I gave up after a couple hours and let it burn it's self out. We took off on our daily hike to the top of the mountain. Once again we saw Norm sitting out in the sunshine speaking with his neighbor Rex which is a great sign he is feeling better. We stopped and spoke with Jetta and Joe before heading back down to the cabin. We decided to eat lite for lunch as we were heading to the Tracy's along with our new friends Sam and Marsha Carlan for supper at 5.

We got cleaned up and then headed out around 3 to run some errands in Sparta. I wanted to renew my newspaper for another couple years and Nancy did some shopping at one of the stores. I headed to the library for some new reads and then we headed out for Patrick and Kathryn's. The Carlans arrived just as we did so we had some dips and chips before feasting on a one Mexican dish casserole along with a fresh garden salad Nancy made from our garden. We sat out on their deck and ate on their picnic table in the fresh afternoon shade. Wow what great fare Kathryn prepared. Afterwards we had homemade cakes with strawberries, ice cream and whipped cream while enjoying the ambiance of the mountains in the background. We got to know the Carlan's a little better and then we got into a game of Balderdash after watching the hour long DVD on the decoding of the book THE HARBINGER. What a powerful message to us all from Isaiah 9:10 and the warning to America as Israel was warned in this prophetic scripture.

Wow is all I can say about this DVD and so we lighten the mood with a game of  Balderdash and before we knew it was nearly 10 PM and nearly bedtime for a couple of us. We had a 30 minute plus drive as did Sam and Marsha in opposite directions and it was once again a dark night in the mountains. We made plans to try out a new eatery in Independence, Va. which Patrick and Kathryn raved about the fare; so we will all meet for lunch before heading on to Galax, Va. to due some last minute shopping for the weekend. We are expecting youngest sister Dee and Mike for the weekend, so we are planning our meals with them and then for a crowd on Monday Labor Day with a wiener roast and games. It wasn't long after getting back before 11 that it was time to read a couple chapters from a new author Julie Garwood  who writes similar to Sandra Brown, LATER

Wednesday Morning

Well Tuesday felt like a Fall day to start. 52 degrees here on the mountain and it may have reached 70 by late afternoon. The breeze made it feel even colder but it was a fantastic day for heavy work outside. I managed to saw up 3 more trees in the back woods yard and pile the brush, rake the grass and stack all of the wood. That kept me busy for most of the morning and early afternoon. I took off around 6 with neighbor Gerald for a couple hours of pickle ball with 6 other guys. What a workout for the day.

The day started with my usual routines after a few quiet moments and the posting of this ramble. I know a couple of you readers have been making comments about the ramble but for some unknown reason I'm unable to see them. I can't figure out what or why they don't show up and that could be a good thing, just kidding! I made egg sandwiches for breakfast with these delicious home grown tomato's, onion and dill pickles on pumpernickel bread slathered with mayo, yikes that held me until we decided to eat a big meal around 3 o'clock and forego a supper. I didn't want to eat big as I would be on the pickle ball court.

We took off mid-morning for a hike up to the top of the mountain where once more the buildings in Winston were visible. We stopped and took the mail up to Norm who was sitting in the warm sunshine. He seemed a little stronger and his speech was much more clearer as well. We headed on across the top and saw no one at the Browning's. We headed back down and Nancy helped me top a rather large tree that was shading one part of the yard. I climbed a ladder and managed to use a pole saw to hang a rope around the trunk of the tree and she pulled while I sawed off the tree about 5 feet above the ground. We didn't want the tree to hit our red shed so that was the reason we needed a rope to pull the tree in a different direction from the way it was naturally leaning. She also helped me top a rather large Holly tree which is miserable to work up as the leaves are very prickly, yikes what a job! We have so many Holly trees on our property at one time we were going to call the place Holly Hill but opted for Black Bear Ridge instead.

Nancy took some of our fresh green beans along with a cut up piece of beef and made beef and beans with gravy over rice. It's resemble in both looks and taste to be oriental in nature. This is a fabulous meal in itself and we licked the pot clean and that held us through the rest of the day and evening. I sat and read until it was time for pickle ball. We had 7 players at the court and the play was fast and furious with some great rallies. The caliber of play has surpassed what I envisioned when we first started this sport here a couple of years ago.

Well that was about it for the day as I finished my last Sandra Brown book and so we are headed to Sparta this afternoon to have supper with the Tracy's after a stop at the local newspaper for a renewal and then at the local library, LATER 

Tuesday Morning

Well Monday was one of the finest days we've had in quite a spell. The overcast skies and fog from Sunday's weather were gone by day break and the beautiful Carolina blue skies were evident throughout the day. Despite the 55 degree morning to start the day by late afternoon we saw some low 70's but then again as dusk fell the temps quickly headed back down into the low 50's by this morning.

After our morning routines and a few quiet moments I had a bowl of oatmeal with cinnamon, honey and a fresh peach after posting this ramble. I headed out to check on the gardens wearing my gum boots as the dew was so heavy if looked as if had rained overnight. A slug made a feast out of one of my recently transplanted Romaine lettuce plants so I opted to sprinkle a little slug poison around the edge of the upper garden. The weeds of course had a field day with the inch of rain we had Sunday and so has the grass in all of the gardens. It is so green and lush and will need to be mowed before the weekend. I sowed some sugar peas seeds and fed all of the new lettuce and spinach after hoeing the weeds and loosening the soil due to the rainfall.

We took off on our daily hike to the top of the mountain and once again I could see the high rise buildings in downtown Winston-Salem despite some haze as the sun warmed up the hollers and valleys. We stopped and sat a spell on Norm's porch as he was enjoying the warm sunshine. He looked a bit stronger and said he felt the best he has felt in days. We visited until the mailman came and then we ran that up to him before taking off across the mountain. We saw no one at the Browning's so we continued on down the mountain. We decided to eat our supper for lunch and then later in the evening had our lunch for supper as we wanted to clean up the leftover Mexican dishes. After eating I headed out to the backwoods yard and decided to dig out another small gum tree that was about 8 to10 inches in diameter. I dug down in the soft wet soil around the roots until it finally keeled over then sawed it up in stove length pieces for the camp fires. I then hoed out the area where the woods had taken over with Galax plants and other vegetation that precluded the ability for grass to grow and then once that was cleared of the woods debris I sowed new grass seeds. This job will make it much easier to mow and will allow a little more sunlight into the shaded backwoods yard.

That kept me busy until after 4 PM when Nancy decided I had better call it a day. She had clothes on the line and while she folded them I checked out my next yard improvement I will work on today(Tues.). I want to cut the tops out of a couple trees near the fire circle especially the Holly tree as its leaves are murder on your hands and fingers after they dry. The stickers are sharp and quite painful. There is also another gum tree that has a tremendous amount of foliage near the Holly tree so I will top that tree as well and use the wood for campfires. That project should allow a lot more sunlight in that area where moss likes to grow which crowds out the grass.

After supper we headed out on the golf cart to visit the couple Russ and Linda from Ohio. He installs furnaces and a/c units as a side job as both of them are retired. They make the nearly 400 mile trip several times during the summer with their 2 dogs. He has installed both units in their one story cabin and hopefully one day move here permanently. We visited with them until dusk started and the temps starting dropping. I was still in shorts and luckily brought a flannel shirt along as the golf cart ride back to the cabin was a chilly one. It wasn't long until I was in the hot shower then retired to the reading room for several chapters in a new Sandra Brown book titled TEXAS, LATER  

Monday Morning

Well Sunday was wet, soggy, foggy and rather cool day for the end of August. Where did the summer go? I understand for every foggy day in summer there is a correlation to a snow day during winter, yikes if that is true it's going to be a hard winter for the mountains. As much as I love the mountains I only like to see the snow on the ground in pictures from Florida.

We started the day with a 7'ish roll out to the sound of rain on the tin roof and it was that way most of the morning as we headed out for worship at Cornerstone in Sparta. There was a nice crowd on hand despite the weather and Pastor B had a fantastic message and the praise music was awesome as well. We hugged lots of necks and once more saw our new friends Sam and Marsha from Elk Creek who we befriended a couple weeks ago while visiting Cornerstone. They were looking for a church and we introduced ourselves and invited them to join us for lunch after the service. They came back last week while we were in D.C and now again this week. Looks as if we have not only helped them to decide where to worship but have new friends as well. We all met up after the service with Dalton Gang, Kaitlyn and Curtis, Patrick and Kathryn at the Pines Eatery for lunch which turned into a 2 hour plus eat and chat session. It was going on 3 PM before we left for the cabin still in the fog and mist.

Our road was wet and muddy so there goes the clean truck from yesterdays detailing, oh well. We spent the rest of the afternoon watching the team from South Korea beat the team from Chicago in the final game for the Little League World Series. We can't wait to see our grand kids play the game as they get older and who knows may even be able to reach that pinnacle as little leaguers. I played one year when we lived in Winchester when I was in the third grade but was pretty much a bench sitter except for the final innings as I was the youngest player on the team for B&M Cheverolet. Wow that was many moons ago but I will never forget that experience at the age of nine.

Nancy did Face Book and I tuned into the 49'Niner vs the Chargers NFL game and saw some pretty good play from the second stringers, oh well I like to watch football as I played it 5 years in high school and I would enjoy watching any football at any level. It was a stay in the cabin day as the temp's were wet and cool, down into the low 60's. I popped a big bowl of pop corn and we just snacked for supper after our lunch out. I had the chicken stir fry over rice with lots of fresh broccoli, sugar peas and other veggies which was quite good and she had the buffet which had lots of choices. Everyone left the place comfortable.

Well we had a nice chat with Amy and heard little Eliza in the background with all of her noises. Tyler starts his new job with BayCare today in Clearwater and Ava and Sam are back in school at Keswick Christian School. They both seem to like school and are eager to attend. We didn't hear much from Bobby over the weekend. It wasn't his weekend with the kiddos. We gave Pastor B a copy of Bobby's book The Great Darkening from his trilogy The Epic Of Haven. This week will find me playing pickle ball on Tuesday evening and then at the Tracy's for supper on Wednesday evening. Sister Dee and Mike are coming next week end over Labor Day for a long week end visit so that will be fun and exciting with some great eating as well as some fun card games, LATER

Would someone make an attempt to comment on this post as I can't seem to find out why I can't receive any comments, ever..Thanks!!!

Sunday Morning

Well Saturday turned out to be almost summerlike with high humidity and warm temps that reached the lower 80's by the afternoon. We saw the sun sporadically throughout the morning so that made for a good time to wash, wax and detail the truck. Wow did it ever feel good to ride around in a shiny vehicle when we headed out around 5 for the surprise 50th anniversary party for our friends the Crouses at the River House.

We started the day much the usual with a 7'ish roll out. After our quiet time and the posting of this ramble we made egg sandwiches with fresh ripe 'maters. I must say nothing makes an egg sandwich like a slice of home grown tomato. That held us until lunch when it was time for a fresh salad; again loaded with tomato's as we have been given several over the past couple days. I'm getting an occasional cucumber to add to the mix along with fresh beet greens and kale from my garden.

We took off on our morning hike to the top of the mountain and saw a few cars on top but saw no one, not even Zeke came out to greet us. The temps had started to warm up and I had a good sweat by the time we got back. I had spent the best part of the morning cleaning up the truck and Nancy vacuumed it out as well. It sure looked good all spit and shined and I even did all of the rubber seals with a protectant.

We decided since the temps were rising to sit in the shade on the back porch and read for a couple hours. I finished CRUSH by Sandra Brown which had a better than expected ending and then we tuned into the Little League World Series and watch an hour or so until it was time to clean up and head out to the river house. Well all of the food was catered except for the homemade desserts. We had pork barbeque, chicken breasts, slaws, salads, taters, green beans which were all delicious. We mingled with family and friends most of whom we knew already. There was a good number of our church family there as well. We headed out around 7:30 and took a couple new roads on our way home. We found some beautiful farm lands and river bottoms off of Quincy Road and ended up out around the Glade Valley School House. What a beautiful drive with huge rolling thunder clouds off in the distance on the mountain tops. The deer was out as well in most of the meadows.

We got back to the cabin just before dark and settled into the TV and laptop. I watched some football and she was on Face Book. We saw a new video of our youngest grand daughter Eliza Faye as she is now trying to crawl and is moving around on the floor, so cute. We will see her in just about another month or so as we head back for birthdays the end of September for a week or so. Where did this summer go as we head back permanently for the winter the first week in November, LATER

Saturday Morning

Well Friday turned out to be almost a summer like day with warm temps up near 80 but we didn't see the sunshine until late afternoon so it remained rather nice to be outside. We did get a rain after dark and once more left everything drenched. The gardens and yards are loving this weather and since I spread some lime and old fertilizer the other day the grass has really greened up, especially backwoods yard. It's difficult to differentiate the new grass seedlings from the old grass when looking out from the back porch.

We started the day again with a sleep in until after 7'ish. We didn't have anything really planned so after our quiet times and the posting of this ramble we decided to walk out to the mailbox for our hike for the day. The mailbox walk has lots more of up and down hills than our one long pull up the back trail and while it encompasses only about a total of 2 miles the hill up our driveways is always the most difficult and strenuous. I think we will stick to the hike up to the top of the mountain as the distant scenery is much more appealing plus we will bypass our driveway at the end of the hike, oh well.

Since the skies were overcast with thunderheads around I thought this would be a good day for some bass fishing at our "mountain mom's" pond. Well Nancy caught a nice bass on the first cast using a plastic purple worm and had several more on. I finally landed 2 other bass through out the 3 hours or so we fished with lots of hits. I even had a big bass on that broke my 10 pound test line but never managed to turn him. It was a good day of lots of hits but even better was when we fried them up for our supper to accompany a fresh garden salad, yikes was that ever some good eatin'.

After fishing we stopped and visited with Helen for an hour or so before heading back to the cabin. It sure looked like rain at times but held off until after dark. Nancy was on the laptop and I vegetated in front of the NFL game between the Panthers and the Patriots. The Panthers sort of remind me of the Bucs as they have a ways to go to be a contender once again after last nights whuppin' by the Pats, oh well! I'm ready for the season to start and to get away from this pre-season mentality of only playing the good players half of the time. We both got a hankering for something sweet about 9 o'clock so Nancy made us a couple smores in the microwave and they really hit the spot. That's the first one of those I've had in many a moon. I thought having them so late would keep me up after hitting the sack, but after a hot shower and few chapters with Sandra Brown it was lights out for me, LATER

Friday Morning

Well Thursday was another busy day as we were entertaining the gang for a Mexican theme supper. We had to postpone this meal a week or so ago due to some black ant infestation in the cabin so we didn't want to lose the ingredients and last night was the best time we could come up with to put on the "feed bag". We ended up with just 8 folks as 4 had to work late and one came down with a migraine and since school started 5 of the gang had to leave early to get Caleb ready for his daily routine during school days. We had eaten and cleaned up the mess all before 6:30 and after Kathryn left around 7  we took off on another abbreviated hike. We sure do miss our raucous games after a big sit down supper, oh well!!!

We started the day with a 7'ish rollout. After our quiet time and the posting of this ramble I settled for a bowl of oatmeal with a fresh peach and banana as well as a little cinnamon to get the gastric juices flowing. We got a load of laundry on the clothesline then decided to take our hike while it was still rather mild. We did get some warm temps in the early afternoon which made it feel almost summerlike for a change but by the time eaters showed up around 5 the skies clouded up and a nice breeze kept it quite comfortable. We did get a sudden thunder storm around 9'ish with gusting winds and heavy rain for about 10 minutes then it went away. Sorta of what happens in Florida all the time.

We saw neighbor Norm on top of the mountain out on the porch with his neighbor Rex. We sat and chewed the fat for 30 minutes or so and Norm was in and out of consciousness several times as he nodded off. He looks rather peaked and very frail but he was out on the porch which was a good sign and did make good conversation though his speech was rather weak. Joe at a young 80 was hauling split wood from Norm's who had a huge tree limb cut off awhile back. He was stocking up for the winter as he and Jetta burn mainly wood for warmth and if it's any indication they will have a cold winter once again.

We visited with Jetta before heading back down and had a lite lunch. I finished the last slab of meat loaf on pumpernickel with tomato, onion and mayo, yikes was that ever tasty along with a cold Yuengling.  After the cleanup I headed down to the lower garden and decided to get that ground ready for some mustard green seeds. The ground was still quite damp so it was easy to breakup and loosen the weeds for planting. Once that ground dries out the red clay becomes like concrete to work up by hand or even with a rotor-tiller. I worked up a complete wet shirt sweat so I headed for the basement to cool off and decided to sweep it out and shake the rugs. It didn't take long to cool off in the low 60's temp of the basement. I then vacuumed the upstairs for Nancy and helped with washing up some last minute prep dishes before our guests arrived.

Kathryn arrived first with her 4 delicious dips all with the Mexican theme; there was a pico de gallo, salsas, guacamole and buffalo dip which was superb. They added to the chicken enchiladas, refried beans and Mexican rice and to Kay's Taco salad. There was Key Lime Cake for dessert and I must say it was delicious as well. What a feed and some of us waddled away from the table. We sent plates home and still have enough leftover for at least one supper and a lunch. Everyone out did their selves and the only thing missing beside several folks was a raucous game to work off this meal.

Well we tuned into the Little League World Series and the young girl who played with the team from Pennsylvania was eliminated from the competition. I didn't see anything spectacular about her individual play except she was a girl playing in a boys game; but the team as a whole did pretty good making the final score rather close in their loss. It wasn't long afterwards it was hot shower time and then a couple chapters with Sandra Brown's book CRUSH, LATER

I heard from a couple who mentioned they make comments about some of these rambles but I never see them for some reason, so I went into the settings and changed one item so now maybe your comments will appear!!!

Thursday Morning

Well Wednesday started out with rain early on then the sun came out and it warmed up close to summertime temps. We stayed around the cabin except for our noon time hike. I got a load of laundry out on the clothesline which turned out to be a perfect day for drying outside. On our hike to the top of the mountain we saw the Cline's and they blessed us with some fresh picked green beans and tomato's and then when we got back neighbor Gerald had dropped off a bag of okra and tomato's from Raleigh. So we are "tomatoed up" with the bag we picked up from Joe's yesterday.

After our morning roll out around 7'ish, quiet times and the posting of the ramble we had breakfast burritos. I of course added jalapenos to mine along with tomato and onions and lots of Chrystal hot sauce. Yeow was that ever tasty and the pepper was very hot. That held us until nearly two when we got back from visiting on top of the mountains with several folks at the Cline's. The Heglar's were there along with her mom and their neighbors Russ and Linda also Jetta Browning and then Dean Todd came by as well. We had a good old fashion sit down talk with everyone for nearly an hour or more.

We came back with our bounty to find more bounty on the porch then decided to have meatloaf sandwiches for lunch once again. I shared some of the bean bounty with neighbor Gerald and some of the okra and bean's with our "mountain mom" Helen. We fried up the okra for supper and was it ever delicious along with some fresh beans and a pork chop.

I decided to lime and fertilize the back woods yard so that kept me busy while working up a good sweat. It got ready humid there for awhile before an afternoon breeze cooled things down. We could hear it rumble in the distance and a few clouds gave us a reprieve from the sun but no rain fell and by late afternoon it was pleasant out once more. I sat on the porch and read until neighbors George and Gail came by for a sit down spell on the back porch. We all had a glass of vino until it was time to start some supper. They headed out and I fired up the grill for the chops and Nancy got the okra ready for the frying pan. I love to munch on okra raw as it has a clean taste and one that I really enjoy but frying is the best way to eat it. Nancy cuts it length wise before dipping it in egg and cracker meal which really speeds up the frying process. I could eat okra and egg plant like that until it comes out my ears.

We took a couple laps around the yard after the clean up as we didn't get to finish our hike across the top of the mountain due to the big meeting at the Cline's. So we had a good walk up and down the back woods yards before heading in to catch the little league baseball game at 7:30. Seems one of the PA. teams has a girl pitching and she is getting lots of notoriety for a girl playing on an all boy sport. Well she and her team got clobbered by a very good team from Nevada. Well that was about it for the day as we spoke with both Bobby and Amy. School is being liked by 3 of the grand kiddos. We hear little Eliza as Amy holds her when we talk and she is becoming a jabber box but still hasn't any teeth coming through which keeps her waking up several times during the night. Tyler is getting ready to start his new job next week and they are looking for a house to settle into permanently, LATER   

Wednesday Morning

Well Tuesday found us in beautiful Galax, Va. for a shopping trip. The temps were great to start the day with lots of sunshine and eventually another late evening rain shower. I managed to mow the yards in the afternoon as the sun finally dried out the grass. I had a great 2 hours of pickle ball play at Roaring Gap with 3 other very good players one of which is 21 years of age and is quite athletic. Needless to say with that kind of youth and coordination he is a tough one to beat but that makes the game all that more challenging for me.

We slept in to start the day and now it seems that has started to become the norm. The quietness is just exhilarating for undisturbed sleeping. Nancy has taken it a step further and now rises around 8 ish whereas I'm looking at the clock around 7ish. After our quiet times and the posting of this ramble I head out to check on the gardens. It seems for the last couple weeks the deer have stayed away and we just have the rabbits and beetles to contend with. I did notice several rabbits, more than ever before in the yards munching on the clover.  At times they are funny to watch as they chase and actually play with one another.

We got ready and headed to town with a garbage and gas stop on the way. We paid $3.14 a gallon but up into the interior of Va. last week we saw $3.03. I think the big oil companies are trying to help the dem's get re-elected this next election by keeping the price low to make this crooked bunch in D.C. look good. The price of gas effects all working people and that's one thing they can manipulate to their benefit and what we pay at the pump, oh well! I had new Michelin tires installed at Wal-Mart which I ordered on line and had them shipped to the Galax Store. We did some shopping then headed out of town around 1:30 for the cabin with a stop at our friend Joe's place. He had several tomatoes and peppers on the wall for us to use so that was a real blessing. His tomato's are the best ever in taste. Mine are still not turning at any record pace but when they do I will have plenty to give away as well.

We had cold meat loaf sandwiches on pumpernickel bread with sliced onion, mayo, tomato and lettuce, yeow that is one fine sandwich and I washed mine down with a cold Yuengling. That held me until after pickle ball when I had a bowl of pineapple/vanilla ice cream around 9:30 after a hot shower. I checked on the Ray's game and it was tied in the bottom of the 9th so I'll read about it today. After a couple chapters of Sandra Brown it was lights out for me around 11'ish, LATER

Tuesday Morning

Well Monday was one of those lazy days that found us sleeping in as we caught up on sleep that was missed over the weekend. I have a difficult time acclimating to new beds over night for some reason as I grow older; when I was flying in the 60's I could sleep anywhere and usually anytime as our flights varied. It even takes me a night or two to get use to my own bed when we head back and forth between the cabin and Florida, oh well! We had rain early in the morning before daybreak and we had off and on rain showers throughout the day as well. All total was a little more than 3/4 of an inch. The newly sown grass seeds were up and just loving this weather as well as the established lawns. Its the best they have looked all summer.

After our morning routines it was going on 10 o'clock so we made do with a bowl of oatmeal. I do miss those hearty breakfasts we had at the hotel but not the 5:30 wake up to eat them. I ventured out in between the rain showers and checked the gardens and yards. I picked a couple tomato's that finally were turning towards red, a cucumber(the first of the year), some kale, spinach, beet greens and my first cabbage. The cabbage was small but we needed it for the salad and for some reason they were taking a rather long time to head. The deer seemed to have stayed away while we were gone but the rabbits have multiplied as I saw several. We use to never see any in the yards.

We read while it rained and spoke with several on the phone as well as caught up on some paper work. Neighbor Gerald came by for a visit and stayed and ate salad with us for lunch. We had a good visit with him and he is getting antsy about getting back on the pickle ball court. I'm playing this Tuesday evening with the gang from church and maybe the doctor will release him to play as well. We managed to get a hike to the top of the mountain in the late afternoon after a supper of meat loaf, green beans and mashed taters. Yeow was that ever tasty and we have enough leftover for sandwiches for lunch. That was about it for the day as we spoke with Bobby and Amy. Tyler has a week off before starting his new job and they(Bobby and Amy) both got together with their kiddos on Sunday at the Rays game.

We watched the Little League Series until it was after 10 PM and I was ready for a good nights sleep after a hot shower and one chapter with Sandra Brown, LATER 

Monday Morning..back at the cabin in N.C.

Well Sunday morning found us still in D.C. at the Parkview Marriott. We had a wake up of 5:30 to start the day as we wanted to visit Mount Vernon and then later in the afternoon Monticello. There was a couple hours of travel time between the two venues; so we started the day with once again a very tasty and complete breakfast compliments of the hotel. The buffet was awesome that started with a veggie omelet cooked to perfection by a chef, a waffle, sausages and then some great fruit and yogurt washed down with fresh squeezed orange juice. My what a spread they have on the weekends and that seems to be the time to come to D.C. as the industry is geared to the weekly folks to come to this area and so they try to fill the hotels on the week ends with special rates and complimentaries.

We headed south to Mt. Vernon to explore this beautiful plantation which takes about an hour or less depending on traffic. The I-95 corridor coming and going into the area was blocked with traffic even at the time of the day so we made many detours thanks to Kathryn's GPS and her ability to steer us away from the congestion. Well I must say Mt.Vernon sitting atop the high banks of the Potomac River was quite the grand place of its time and still offers a beautiful view of the gardens and the surrounding areas. We took tours through the house which was interesting, we did learn that much of the furnishing were not original but were in tune with that period of time. Washington was a rather large man at over 6'2" in height which was unusual for that time as well. We visited the grave site which was very impressive for both him and Martha and many of their family members. We also was part of the laying of a wreath between the two marble mausoleums that contained their bodies in a short ceremony. The fields and outbuildings were consistent with his first desire as a farmer with the many innovation's evident for that period.

We witnessed one of those by the use of horses trampling the dried wheat from their stalks in a round building thus threshing the grain causing it to fall between narrow cracks in the floor where it was then scooped up and placed into containers for the gristmill and later for baking bread and other dishes. This plantation was one of the finest for that period and later became a showplace for when he became the president and father of our country. We spent 3 hours and could have spent the whole day but we wanted to visit Monticello near Charlottesville which was about anther 3 hour or so drive south and into the heart of Virginia.

The drive to Monticello took us through what appeared to be horse country with some magnificent farms and beautiful old homes. We took a 2 lane road and went through some small towns with beautiful scenery as we approached the mountain top plantation at Monticello. Jefferson like Washington was a farmer at heart but was more mechanically inclined with his innovations for both his mansion and the farms. His house has more of the original furnishings as well and while it's not quite as large to the eye what you didn't see was the underground areas where much of the daily activities took place with not as many out buildings. His view was spectacular as well with the mountains off in the distance. We were able to see his private study and bed chamber where he passed away on July 4th and on the same day that his friend and adversary at times John Adams passed as well. Both Washington and Jefferson were responsible for much of the success our nation received at the early stages of independence from England and the beginnings for the birth of our nation. Jefferson to was a rather tall man for that period at well at over 6 feet in height and while his burial place is not as ornate as Washington it is on his plantation. Both of these plantations are a must too see and while restorations are being made to maintain these building which are well over 200 hundred years in age many of the original facets are in place especially at Monticello.

Well it was after 5 before we left and our feet were barking for some sit down time so we headed over to Cracker Barrel for a sumptuous supper. Wow did we ever do so walking the past 3 days. We stopped in Waynesboro to eat heartily after skipping lunch again for the third day in a row. Seems were had such great breakfasts and we were so enthralled with what we were seeing hunger never entered out minds except for an occasional icee( Patrick's weakness) and ice cream cones. We had weather that was perfect throughout the trip. One afternoon we sought a little shade on the Mall but it wasn't really that uncomfortable despite walking continuously with thousands of other tourists. We had great fortune with parking, no long lines and just an ideal trip and of course we had a fabulous time with Kathryn and Patrick and the eating was superb with great waiters throughout.

We got to their cabin around 10 and then transferred our luggage and headed to the cabin around 10:30. After a hot shower it was bedtime with lights out just before midnight. Oh how good it is to sleep in your own bed and this morning we awakened to rain on the tin roof, LATER

Just a note the active duty soldier in the red shirt standing by the marble mausoleum of Washington who had the honor of placing the wreath in a small ceremony. This was very moving to us all and what a privilege for him to tell of this instance.   
        

Sunday Morning in Washington, D.C.

Well we walked a couple miles yesterday around the mall and saw some very interesting sites and even some that was gut wrenching, heart breaking and some awe inspiring. Wow, is all I can say too the planners of preserving the past and present aspects of shaping our America. I wonder if the present planners of preserving this era has ever looked back at what started the future of this nation and how our Almighty GOD was the focal point of this once great land and her people.

We were up at 5:30 in the AM to start the day at the beautiful Marriott at Parkview. The buffet breakfast was just the best ever with an omelet chef, lots of fresh fruit and of course bacon, sausage and all typed of tasty pastries as well as hot cakes and waffles. This delicious fare held us until we headed out to an Italian eatery around 6'ish. The food there was great as well and once again the service was unforgettable and our waiter gave us our desserts on the house. He generated a rather nice tip as well as did our female law student the night before at Outback. Everyone here has been polite, friendly and very courteous especially in all of the museums.

Speaking of museums we first headed down to the mall and got there around 9'ish. We found a place on the street to park for free right near the mall. Actually it was in sight of the Washington Monument. We headed down to get in line for the Archives which opened at 10. While the girls held our place in line Patrick and I walked around the area and saw several of the legal buildings; the Justice and the FBI. We then met up for the visit to the archives where we spent another hour or so looking and reading what is barely visible our Constitution, the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights documents as well as some other public records and mementos from years past.

We then headed out to the Air and Space Museum which seemed to be a favorite of lots of folks. It was rather busy and we spent an hour or so looking at what made us a super power in the world with our military mite and space exploration. The real aircrafts were within this gigantic building, awesome exhibits and we saw only about half that we could actually enter into. We walked about a half a mile or maybe more to our next museum. It was starting to warm up but through out the day the weather was just perfect and in the shade of the beautiful trees it was quite pleasant.

Well despite all of the books and documentaries I've seen on the holocaust I wasn't expecting this complete no holds barred exhibit of the inhumanity by a people against other humans many of which helped that nation become prosperous in the world. What was displayed at the Holocaust Museum will break your heart in so many ways and to think the majority of the Germans were God fearing people and where led down the road by another group of genocide elitist. Wow I never would have imagined this could have happen in a society of rational folks but the times were ripe for that to happen in that day. We must guard against that happening today as we see strains of what the Germans did to turn the common everyday folks against a section of their population. We see some of the divide among the classes today perpetuated by our own gov't in pitting those who don't work against the hard workers, oh well. Hopefully we will never let those in power do that to us.
At times I was in tears and in horror to what happened to not only individual families but even complete towns and villages were completely gone forever except through photos and memorabilia.
We spent 4 hours in this free exhibit and could have spent hours longer as the info was ghastly at times.

We headed out to find a specific restaurant and then afterwards we headed out to Embassy Row section of town

 where the houses were just magnificent. We then spotted the National Cathedral and stopped and photographed it before heading back to the Mall to spot the WWII memorial and then back to the hotel by 9'ish. What a full event filled day and today we head to Mount Vernon for a 3-4 hour tour of Washington Home on the Potomac and then onto Monticello before heading back to the mountains, LATER  

Friday and Saturday Mornings..We are in beautiful Washington, D.C.

Well Friday morning found us waking up at the Tracy's cabin in western Alleghany County at 5:30. We actually didn't sleep to well due to a strange bed but the accommodations were very nice after a relaxing supper and then the gals won again in Spades; but at least the score was close and the final hand determined the winners. We headed out just at day break and had an uneventful trip up I-77 to I-81.

We stopped in Christiansburg for a delicious breakfast at Cracker Barrel around 9'ish. That held us until late evening supper at Outback after a very busy afternoon. We headed into D.C. on route 50 which runs through the area and west to Winchester which I drove on most of my teen age years. Kathryn got us passes into Arlington Cemetery as her mom and dad are interred there. I also remembered an old childhood friend from Mt. Falls who served during WW11. Col. Kurstedt had a young daughter who was a year older than me and we played together daily before I went to live with my uncle away from the small community where they came to live during the summer from Pittsburg. We eventually went to high school together when their family moved permanently to Mt. Falls and stayed life long friends until we all went our separate ways in life. He and his wife Betty are both interred there.

We framed around the cemetery for nearly 4 hours looking up other important or significant soldiers from the various wars these men and women served their country. When one gazes upon the rows after rows of various tombstones the reality of the price of freedom become self evident. We also were fortunate to see the changing of the guards at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier which was very solemn. To think these men who guard the tomb is a 24/7 and 365 days a year honor. We then were able to motor around this huge complex whereas most visitors were on foot. We visited the Civil War area as well as the most recent grave site of the general killed in Afghanistan. We also happened upon a cortege with a 6 white horse caisson with complete honor guard and the burial of another soldier being interred into this hallowed ground.

We visited the Eternal Flame and graves of the

Kennedy's and learned the mansion on the property was at one time before the Civil War belonged Gen. Robert E. Lee. The cemetery property overlooks the Potomac River and the Pentagon is just across the way. What an unbelievable beautiful site with the perfect placement of tomb stones. Well we could have spent more hours there as we visited some grave sites and I learned I am eligible for burial there as well after serving during the wartime of the Vietnam era. What an honor bestowed upon these who gave their lives for their country. Only those who served during a war time event can receive this final honor of burial as well as their wives can be interred with them as well.

We had an awesome supper at Outback before heading to our Parkview Marriott. Wow the hotel is  first class and were on the 14th floor. The Tracy's made this a birthday present to me and wow did they ever do great, LATER

Thursday Morning

Well Wednesday turned out to be a beautiful day but just a wee bit on the chilly side as temps never reached the high 60's. At times there were a some clouds that looked as if they could produce some rain but the breeze them pushed out of the area. It was a great day for working and hiking and just being outside. The bugs that usually pester you for the most part were no where to be seen.

We slept in until the 7'ish hour as the bed was warm and snuggly with the outside temps down into the low 50's, yikes this is the middle of August and the summer is quickly leaving us behind here in the mountains. I know Florida is under a blanket of heat and humidity which is the norm but not here in the mountains. We usually have several days where we must retreat to the cool basement for some relief but not so far this summer. The over abundance of rainfall has the grass a deep green but played havoc on my gardens as most of the nutrients washed away leaving many plants wilted, washed out and covered with mud. My tomato plants are still loaded with green tomato's but so far will not ripen. I did work in the garlic bed and sowed about 30 bulbs for next years crop.

We took off to the top of the mountain before lunch and saw a couple workers at Mike and Nancy cabin. They were resticking some of the rocks that loosen from their foundation wall with fresh mortar. We then saw Wilma(Ray Todd's sister) who was looking for some land for their cattle and horses, we informed her about Eddie and Kimberly's place that was for sale and the 25-30 acres with barns was perfect for what they were looking to purchase. Hopefully something will come out of this meeting as they want to sell their place and move to Virginia full time when Eddie recovers. We stopped at the Browning's garden and picked a mess of beans on the way home for supper.

Nancy fried up an egg plant for lunch and I picked lots of fresh herbs for the garnish and my oh my was that ever a treat for us. That is the first egg plant we have had in ages and thanks to Karin who brought them for us and along with fried yellow squash those two are excellent when battered and fried. We did a meatless supper and had fresh green beans, sautéed yellow squash and a fresh garden salad.

Well I piddled around in the gardens and then fixed a broken pick handle. It was still pretty chilly out so we decided to set on the deck and read in the sunshine until it was time to fix supper. After the cleanup I decided I needed another hike so up the back trail we went and we walked along the back of our property line and then back down. I transplanted some spinach that needed thinning out and then weeded until it was time for the O'Reilly Factor on Fox News. I do believe a few Americans are starting to put down the Kool-Aid and wake up to what an inept leader and administration we have in Washington. He is not only ruining us with all of this debt but now putting us in harms way with failing to corral these terrorists that want not only the US but Israel to be annihilated. History repeats itself much like Nero who fiddled away while Rome burned and now this POTUS plays golf, does fund raisers and vacations spending tons of our tax money while the nation is being over burdened with deficits, illegal immigrants and challenged in the world community. The scandals are another story as well. I say throw all of those in D.C. out and lets start over with new and fresh minds and folks who love America and not their own personal future and pocketbooks.

Well I'm down off my soapbox but I fear for this nation and what it will hold for my grand children and what we will leave for them after this bunch of crooks are I hoped voted out of office. Wake Up America before the battle ground is here on our own soil with those whose philosophy is to destroy us and our way of life. All of you gals better hope sharia law never comes to this nation as you will be less than a second class citizen.

On another somber note we are saddened that a very funny Robin Williams took his life the past day or so and that we also loss another neighbor here on top of the mountain. We got word that Helen passed away on Monday as well. We would see her most everyday on our hikes and chat with here and play with her cat, Teddy. She was advanced in age and has been gone from here the past year or so except for an occasional visit. We saw her just a week ago and had a nice chat as she was leaving her place with her daughter and son. That makes 5 folks who have passed that we knew since we started hiking the mountain, LATER
  
Just a note I will be away from this keyboard for a few days as we are going on vacation to the Nations Capital to see what was once our heritage before this last administration ruins it completely. We have never seen many points of interest such as; Arlington National Cemetery, Mt. Vernon, Holocaust Museum, Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Archives and the WWII memorial. We plan on traveling with our friends Patrick and Kathryn over the week end and hope to tour Monticello as well on the way back to the mountains on Sunday, LATER

Wednesday Morning

Well Tuesday saw the rain finally stop and the overcast skies opened up to let the sunshine in and once more we saw the beautiful Carolina Blue skies. Wow was that ever awesome but the heat returned as well especially down off the mountain as we were in Winston-Salem most of the day. We met up with our friends the Tracy's and did some sight seeing in the old Salem area for several hours and then headed to Baptist Hospital for a visit with our old friend Eddie whom most of you have been praying for as he recovers from a broken neck.

We started the day with a 7'ish roll out to soggy ground and foggy skies. After our usual morning routines we had a lite breakfast before getting ready to head down the mountain to the big city of Winston-Salem. I checked the rain gauge from last nights downpour and we are up to over 7 plus inches of rain since Friday. The forecast is for much better weather this coming week and a total beautiful weekend. The trip down was uneventful and we could at times see a little streak of sun light peeking through as we got down to a lower elevation. We met up with Patrick and Kathryn at Costco's at 11 as they were having new tires put on their Prius which we will take on our trip Friday. That car gets around 50 plus miles to a gallon of gas, yikes that is awesome. I wish they made a truck that would get that kind of mileage, oh well.

We headed to Old Salem and they were taken back at the beauty of the buildings and the quaintness of a still functioning part of history. The college still has about 400 on campus women students with another 400 or so day students from the area. This college was started by the Moravian Church in the early 1700's before our Declaration of Independence was signed. Our first president visited there to understand how this functioning community operated and why this college was so successful. We saw some of the earliest rooms, kitchens and meat storage lockers which have been preserved in a small museum but all or most of the building are still in use today as dormitories and class room facilities. The town is laid out perfectly and the gardens still provide some fare to the local Tavern eatery where we had lunch. The fare was superb and period dress was worn by all the employees. The building was at least a couple hundred years old. We of course stopped by the bakery and sampled some of their wares as well and took some with us. We were unable to visit the old church as a funeral was being conducted.

We toured many of the buildings and spoke with many of the college faculty and employees. The trees that surround the buildings are majestic in their height and beauty while they provide great shade to the campus as well. It did get a little warm and humid there with temps into the upper 80's but it felt good to finally dry out. Some of the buildings built in the early 1800's looked awesome and are now private residences with great workmanship of the stone fences and sidewalks. This is just not only a historical relic but a still working and functioning town and college. The grounds and gardens are meticulously groomed and produce is in abundance. We love to visit this place and it was the first time we had ever eaten there. We were lucky to be seated when we did as there was a waiting line when we left around 1'ish.

We took Patrick and Kathryn back to Costco and then headed to Baptist Hospital to see Eddie. Well we were greatly encouraged by the progress he has made with his physical therapy in just a little over a week of him being there. He now has voluntary movement in all of his limbs and he even fed himself for the first time since the injury. He is still bed fast except for the therapy and easily tires but his goal is to walk out of the hospital by September 2. With the progress we saw we believe he will do it. It great to know he is not totally paralyzed but still has some areas in his legs without feeling but he can move most everything and with his determination he will achieve his goal. We need to keep him in our thoughts and prayers as well as he attributes his success so far to those who constantly remember him in prayer for healing. We brought him some cinnamon buns from the Old Salem bakery and he was thrilled as was Kimberly.

We headed back to the mountain and ran into rain showers at times and by the time we got home the temp had dropped from 86 down to 71, it was awesome to walk around outside and see the sunshine for a change. LATER    

Tuesday Morning

Well it's still raining for the fifth day in a row. The yards and gardens are so soggy you can't even get into them. It's time for some sunshine and warm weather because summer is about gone here in the mountains. We noticed some Maple and Gum trees that are already turning for the fall colors, yikes where did the summer go??

We started the day with a sleep in to the sound of rain once again on the tin roof. I really like that sound but not 5 days in a row; how about every third day a nice rain shower but no all day and all night ones, oh well. We are in some type of weather pattern that is conducive to all this fog, rain and overcast skies but this is much better than a hurricane that is showing up in all places like Hawaii. We did our usual routine(s) then played around on the computer and spoke with everyone back in Florida where they could use some of this extra wet weather. Today was Ava and Sam's first day of school at Keswick Christian and it was just a half day for Ava. They both enjoyed it and want to go back tomorrow.

The rain let up for about 30 minutes around noon so I was able to ride the gold cart to the top of the mountain and pick enough green beans around the outside of the Browning garden fence to give to our newest friends we were meeting at 5 PM. No sooner did I get them picked the skies open up once again and at times fell rather heavy through out the afternoon. We headed out around 3:30 for Sparta as we had some errands to run before meeting Sam and Nancy Huff in the Piney Creek area. We made a stop at the post office to mail a package of newborn outfits to our newest grand niece in Michigan who was born a couple weeks ago. Then we headed to the library for some new reads by Sandra Brown and Julie Garwood. It was going on 5 by then so we headed out to the Huff's place.

This area of the county has a lot of cleared hills and was once a great farming area and the views are majestic especially looking back into Virginia. They are 2 miles from the line and they can see White Top Mountain which usually holds snow in the winter thus its name. Their place is near the top of a hill that has a grand view of Turkey Knob and the surrounding community which is absolutely gorgeous. We had met Sam and Nancy at Becca's Café a couple weeks ago and hit it off immediately as they live part time in the Crystal River area of Florida, so we decided to meet for a bite and a glass of vino before attending a monthly meeting at their community club house for a show on the flora and fauna in this area. The presenter is a retired educator from the Salisbury school district and now travels all over taking these beautiful photos especially of the unique and seldom seen wild flowers. She had some awesome photographs and did a laptop presentation. There were probably 25-30 folks in attendance and the show lasted close to an hour including the discussion afterwards and mingling. We met a new couple visiting his folks who now reside in Bozeman, Montana.

I almost forgot to mention that (Sam's) Nancy had prepared prosciutto wrapped asparagus spears and a tomato tart that was much like a large slice of pizza only much lighter and delicious. She also had some finger foods as well and a two kinds gelato for dessert. The cuisine was light and delicious. We talked and dined for nearly two hours before traveling about a 1/2 mile to the community building. We left the area before darkness set in and when we headed towards the cabin on the east side of Sparta it was nearly a complete white out of fog and drizzle. Yikes that was some ride home and we saw very few cars on the road. Nancy got somewhat nauseous due to the lack of being able to see the road. We made it home safely but at times we lost sight of the road and navigated by feel especially in our road as there were no white or yellow lines to help with the edge of the road.

Well after hot showers it was horizontal time with a new read until 11'ish, LATER   

Monday Morning

Well Sunday was once again another wet soggy day with fog, heavy mist and at times a steady down pour. We are ready for some sunshine as it now is going on day 3 days in a row of no sun. I'm a Leo which means I love the sun and some rain within reason but this is fast becoming unreasonable, oh well. The day started with a heavy rain shower to awakened us sometime around 7'ish. There goes the recently sown grass seeds down the yard and into the gully with the heavy run off of rain.

After our usual morning routine(s) we headed out for Cornerstone around 9:30 and of course the crowd was some what reduced due to the weather. Pastor B had a great last message in a series of reality checks from the book of Peter on humility. We met a new couple from over near Elk Creek, Va. who had visited us before and was back for their second visit. We invited them out to lunch with us at the Pizzeria which has turned out to be one of our favorite eateries in town on a Sunday. They have a hot bar, salad bar and pizza bar all buffet style on Sunday for a reasonable price but the food is excellent, fresh and very tasty. Sam and Marsha the new couple are a little younger than I am but a little older than Nancy but about the same age of Patrick and Kathryn and we all had a great visit with them and hope to get together again in the near future not only at church but in a social setting as well.

We headed for home after stopping by the Baptist Church in town to make a donation to the youths from the local Christian School who were having a spaghetti luncheon to raise funds for a trip to the D.C. area. We got a couple meals to go and ate them for supper. We decided to stop in and visit our "mountain mom" Helen on the way home who was taking a nap on this cool, damp afternoon and so we interrupted her siesta. It was a great day for napping as you had to be in doors due to the weather. I tuned into some pre-season football and vegetated the rest of the afternoon and evening in front of the tube. I had finished all of my Sandra Brown books so I was without anything to read. We will stop at the library on Monday for some new reads on our way out to Turkey Knob to meet with another new couple we met at Becca's dinner last Saturday. I love meeting and getting to know different folks. This is another Sam and Nancy couple who also reside part of the year in the Crystal River area in Florida as well as out in the Piney Creek area west of Sparta. What a coincidence that Bobby writes about a Piney Creek area in his trilogy the Epic of Haven.

Well that was about it for the day except for popping some corn the old fashion way around 9 PM as we had a hankering for some popcorn while watching Mountain Man on the history channel. We went to sleep with the sound of rain on the tin roof and awakened today Monday with once again the patter of rain. Shall we do a sun dance today, LATER   

Sunday Morning

Well its been days since we have actually seen the sun and now we are looking forward to a little heat and sunshine. This current weather pattern reminds me of San Francisco with the fog and Seattle with the days on end of wet weather and no sunshine. I know I shouldn't complain as we needed the wet weather but after 2 full days of no sunshine I'm mildewing, oh well!!!

We started Saturday off with a sleep in to the sound of the rain dripping onto the tin roof; such a comfortable feeling when your all snug under the warm covers. We lounged around until the rain stopped but the fog was like a ghost that surrounded the cabin. After my usual routine(s)  and a few quiet minutes then the posting of this ramble I slipped on my knee high gum boots and headed outside. The fog allowed me to work outside and despite it being only in the low 60's I soon worked up a sweat while digging out an old stump that I had grinded down many years ago. It seems this stump every time I mow had become a nuisance as it showed above the ground and sometimes it would catch the edge of the mower, so with the ground being soft from all of the rain now was the time to tackle that problem.

After removing much of the stump that was visible I headed to my back yard dirt pit and hauled a load of good dirt to cover the area I had dug out and then planted grass seed. I checked several areas in the back woods yard for bare spots and loosened the ground and sowed grass seed on them as well. That kept me busy until 2 PM with a short stop for our daily hike and a lite lunch before calling it a day. A light rain started once again during the afternoon and continued through most of the evening and night.

We headed out around 4 PM for the Tracy's cabin on the other side of Sparta for a supper of marinated grilled salmon, baked taters' with all the trimmings and asparagus with a hollandaise sauce all of which was delicious. Kathryn is a fabulous cook. Nancy brought an egg custard pie which topped the meal off superbly. Afterwards we play a game of Spades with the gals vs guys and once more the gals were victorious in a rather large way as we were in the minus all night long. We then play a round of 5 Crowns and finally the guys had something to add to their list of wins which has been nonexistent so far. It was a rather foggy drive as we headed back to the cabin a little after 9 which usually takes at least 30-45 minutes. I learned one thing the deer don't seem to like the fog either as we saw nary a one along the road on our trip back, LATER  Nancy took her camera out on our hike yesterday!!!

 

Saturday Morning

Well Friday was a very wet and soggy day which helped to raise the aquifer. This summer so far has been rather dry except for the past couple of weeks. We never saw the sunshine at all on Friday but the rain did let up around 6:30 so we could get our daily hike in to the top of the mountain. The view off the top was really different as the clouds and fog made the scene look like you were on an mountainous island if we didn't know the difference. It was almost ghostly and spooky as the daylight was fading as well. It wasn't long after our hike the skies opened up once again and it was a steady rain all night long with the patter of the rain drops on the tin roof. Now today(Sat.) I'm ready for some sunshine but the weather pattern is much the same as Friday, oh well!!!

I slept in until 8'ish to start the day and noticed the rain had stopped briefly so I made plans to sow some grass seed and cover it with some old hay after my usual routine(s). After the posting of this ramble and a few quiet moments I headed out with my gum boots on to the back woods yard. The new grass  looked good on the areas of the stump removals but I had to sow it sparingly as I was nearly out of seed. I picked up a large bag and now have plenty  but it looks as if the hard rain that was a gully washer later in the morning may have washed what I sowed today away. We had a hard rain for about an hour that saw water running down the drive in a small stream and with it I think went my grass seed, oh well!!!

We have been having our share of large black ants come into the cabin especially since I cut down the old black pine in the backwoods yard. That pine was loaded with ants and despite burning the wood and the stump I think maybe they were able to move a nest into the cabin. Well we have been spraying and finding several dead each morning and of course a few alive during the day. I removed a piece of molding over near where I thought they maybe hiding and sure enough I uncovered a nest of the them. Well needless to say that sparked a controversy about how to rid the cabin of the ants so Nancy took it upon herself to call Orkin Pest Control and for a rather high fee they came out. The technician sprayed a different pesticide into the area I had uncovered which is supposed to keep them away and then they will come every other month to treat the outside for a year under the contract for another fee.

Well after the cleanup of the dead ants that I killed and the spray he used to drive more out of the walls; we didn't seen another ant dead or alive the rest of the evening. Nancy cancelled our supper get together scheduled for Sat, evening right away when the ants came out of the wall so we were invited by the Tracy's to their place instead to eat and to spend the night if necessary due to the ant problem. I found out carpenter ants don't actually eat the wood they use the shaving for nest building and they can move their nests in hours to a new location, oh well I should have researched this better when I first saw a few ants on the porches and decks; but I always thought since we built the cabin in the woods you would have a few ants no matter what, occasionally wondering around looking for food, etc.

We spent the rest of the afternoon reading and cleaning up from the dead ants. I put the molding back into place after the technician sprayed some powerful residual pesticide into the walls. It did have a smell but dispersed with the windows open and then he treated the outside in the rain with granules that supposedly is water activated. Hopefully this make life a little more pleasant that we paid a ton of money to correct instead of a do-it- yourself job, oh well!!! I watched a little of pre-season football on the tube and both the Bucs and the Panthers loss; of course these games aren't supposed to mean anything but they do to a teams psyche. It's hard to believe the season is upon us already and I'm ready for football a couple nights a week, LATER