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.
