We started the day with a 6 'ish roll out for me and my helpmate stayed in the sack until much later. It seems she is staying up late at night on the Internet or watching RFD T.V. My busy work days have me in bed before 11 at the latest. After my usual start with my hot cup of green tea, a few quiet moments and then the posting of this ramble so my grand kids will know who and what we did on a daily basis I headed out to check on the gardens. Finding no damage from the slugs as its been so dry I headed in for a glass of V-8 with Chrystal hot sauce and a piece of toast to start the gastric juices. That held me until it was time for a light lunch of peanut butter and onion crackers. Yeow that combination is one taste that to me is ambrosia.
I did find in the garden the recently transplanted seedlings from Karin garden were showing some promise that they will make. They did get a little wilty later in the day but the rain shower perked them up. On a sad note I checked as to why only one potato plant broke the ground and that's because the other 11 hills of seed taters rotted in the ground so I moved the one plant down into the lower garden to make room for some new lettuce seedlings that are about ready for transplanting into that bed.
I helped neighbor Gerald move a large pile of brush from his driveway up and onto my brush pile in the ravine behind the backwoods yard. This spot is ideal for burning and I will burn this huge pile when the ground gets a little wetter. I decided it was time to remove the stumps in the backwoods yard so I approached this job with a different plan. Instead of using a sledge hammer and wedges to break it apart which had me using a lot of unnecessary swinging motion I decided to dig it out with a post hole digger and a digging iron and then just saw the roots off below ground level. This requires a whole less energy and is much faster as well. I nearly finished the digging part on the first stump within a couple hours then Nancy made me give it up during the hot part of the day. I did work up a good sweat and the arms and shoulders did get a good workout, much better than using the heavy weights in the gym.
I actually sat on the porch and read as the thunder storm approached for an hour or so and the rain at times was heavy with lots of thunder and lightning. We unplugged everything just in case of a strike. We were having Patrick and Kathryn for a supper of fresh caught trout that our fishing buddy Caleb Dalton provided for us. We were preparing half of them using the Bonefish Grille recipe and the other half were pan fried in olive oil, Yeow is all I can say!!!! We had black beans and rice along with a fresh salad. The eatin' was mighty fine to say the least.
After the cleanup we took off on a climb to the top of the mountain. The views were awesome with the fog that mingled in an around the mountains from the recent rain. The temp had dropped down into the 60's from the 80's and the smells emanating from the woods and flowers were perfume to our noses. We saw our new neighbor on top, Shawnee and her daughter Allie who was visiting from Charlotte. We chatted them up a few before heading on across the top to chat up Joe and Jetta. Joe is back from Logan, W.VA. where it looks as if the state is going to take up the cemetery where Devil Anse Hatfield who is Joe's grandfather is buried and make this more accessible for tourists.
Well we came back and Kathryn made the hike albeit at times we were wondering as she is a cancer survivor and her stamina is somewhat suspect. Many kudos to her for even attempting this hike as it is quite strenuous. We are getting use to it as we do it every day but for her to complete the journey was quite a feat. After getting back Nancy drug out the fixins' for a brownie with hot chocolate sauce, ice cream with whipping cream and toasted pecans. I passed on this belly building concoction and stayed true to my conviction to lose some of this spare tire by summers end. I did have a handful of roasted pecans rolled in sugar and cinnamon that Kathryn made for us. They are like potato chips you just can't eat one.
Well we had a nice call from our son Bobby and he seems to be in better spirits despite the heartbreak in his marriage. He still goes by the house each evening and prepares a supper for the kids, bathes them and gets them ready for bed and spends a little time with them. After a hot shower it wasn't long before it was lights out
