Friday Morning

Well Thursday started out with unseasonably cool temps that were down into the low 50's, yikes and it was after 8 when we finally rolled out due to watching the meteorites flash across the skies until nearly 1'ish in the morning, wow I haven't been up that late in quite sometime. After our usual morning routines and a few quiet moments I whipped up some oatmeal with honey, cinnamon and fresh blueberries for breakfast before heading out to check on the gardens. The dew was exceptionally heavy this morning as it dripped from the upper dormer onto the tin roof; so I donned my gum boots for the walk around outside in the wet grass.

The beetles seem to be the biggest culprit so far this year along with the slugs and I found a few worms once again on the kale plants. I dusted them with a little Sevin dust after squashing several between my fingers and picked several Japanese beetles as well. I ended their eating frenzy with a thumb nail across their heads. My neighbor on top of the mountain uses these bags which attract them in droves but for some reason I haven't used them. The deer have been nice to me this year so far. We saw the same 2 bucks and a doe several times as we head out the lane leaving Keys McGee's yard. They are looking fit and well filled out and yesterday we saw another 3 deer on top of the mountain and one of those was still about half way grown. So we have plenty of deer around and so far have stayed away from the gardens except for eating the blooms off of a few cone flowers. The hunting season opens next month and I can vision a few packages of venison in my freezer for this winter. It's the best meat ever and with no hormones or steroids.

Well we made our daily trip to the top and I exchanged a few cucumbers for some delicious salad tomatoes with Jetta. Her tomato plants while aren't large are very prolific with upwards of a dozen or more baseball size fruit. She is having a banner year while mine are just starting to show some color finally. It nothing to brag about so far but at least a couple are finally turning and ripening. I gave our "mountain mom" a couple of beets which were very nice in size and she said they were delicious. I picked a squash from a plant given to us by Karin and we are unsure of the type but it's very unique in color and size. I think we will bake it in the oven like acorn squash. The yellow crooked neck squash never made in the lower garden but this squash plant did and I have another small fruit starting to grow as well. I picked a mess of half runner beans and since I stopped watering them with the garden hose much of the red spots have disappeared from the bean. I'm still somewhat disappointed with their out put as the vines looked great. I use to give beans away but so far I've only picked enough for our second mess of them, oh well. I think some of the seeds I sowed were ones I dried out and saved from my Florida garden last year and maybe that is the reason, oh well.

We sat and read for a couple hours on the porches after lunch as I don't have any major projects I want to under take except for taking out two more trees this summer in the backwoods yard. I may throw one of them down next week and dig the stump out depending on the shoulder. It's still giving me some pain and discomfort at times and luckily its the left shoulder and not my pickle ball playing one. I've always been a physical or active person that loves working, especially here in the mountains. Sometime I invent things to do to keep busy but being outside is what I love to do most.

We took off for Sparta to meet up with the Dalton's and Luffman's for a

supper at the Pizzeria. Kallie got back from her 5 week medical assistant job in Peru and we were excited to hear all about her work and travels there with a group of students from college. The pictures she shared on her adventures were awesome as well as her experience with helping the indigent folks in that country. She is leaving today for Raleigh as she enters into her second year of study. She has blossomed into a beautiful young lady and we are excited for what she is doing and becoming. We will miss her this Fall as she is several hours away.

Well we headed home just before dusk started to settle and it was rather nippy by our standards so we closed all the windows and settled in with a hot chocolate while watching the news and the first pre-season football game. I made it to half time then hit the showers and it wasn't long after a couple chapters in a Lee Child book that it was lights out for me at 10:30, LATER