Sunday Morning

Well after a wet soggy overcast start for Saturday the skies cleared and nice breeze arrived and by late afternoon the temps began to drop which made it quite pleasant to be outside. The Carlson Family minus Emily arrived somewhere close to 1 from the Clemmons area which is about an hour south of us towards Winston-Salem. We have known this sweet family since they were just married and there 3 curly headed girls have been family since then. All of them have gone to college or in college and the oldest Corrine is engaged to married next June. So we will attend that gala.

We started the day by sleeping in until after 7ish. We ate lite for breakfast as we knew a large meal was occurring in the afternoon. After our quiet times and the posting of this ramble I headed out to check on the gardens and yards. It

had rained off and on most of the night but at least the heavy fog was gone that blanketed the area last night. I actually began to see a little blue sky at times throughout the morning until all of a sudden the weather moved out and the sunshine arrived about the time the Carlson's drove up. They were somewhat surprised to see us out in the yard doing the sun dance(actually pulling weeds from the flower gardens as we strolled along waiting for their arrival). The sun felt so good and was greatly welcomed after not seeing it for the last several days.

Its been a couple years since we last saw the girls except for pictures. We see DJ as he visits this area for his job. He is an area supervisor for "what can big brown do for you" UPS and occasionally stops in while in the Sparta area. DJ and I took off on a hike to the top of the mountains as the gals all had sandals on and they aren't appropriate for hiking. We had a great hike and I turned him on to chicky pins. They are a miniature chestnut that grow in the wild and are quite tasty. Getting them out of their prickly hull is a chore but with all of the rain the hulls had burst open exposing the small brown seed. He pocketed a handful to bring back with him. We had clear views off the mountain almost to Winston for the first time in days.

We came back and the gals took the golf cart on a ride to the top while we sat down under the deck in the shade. When they came back we got into a game of croquette and all had a fun time for an hour or so. It was going on 4 so Nancy put taters in to bake and then put together a green bean casserole while I fired up the grille for marinated chicken breasts. We sampled some of my home made vino along the way as well. After feasting we played several games of Sequence with the integrated teams and the gals won overall 3-1. It was going on 9'ish before the Carlson's headed down off the mountain.

We had a grand time and their visit is always refreshing with good snacks and eating. The time just flew by and where did the 8 or so hours go they were here. It wasn't long until it was shower time and then I watched a little of the Texas vs UCLA game before hitting the sack and lights out for me around 11, LATER