I started the day off with a wakeup before 6 but lingered because it was so dark outside and now its really staying dark longer in the morning and by 7:30 at night it's dark again. I'm a light person especially in the mornings when I can write this ramble while looking into the woods from our cabin. What a setting to lose one's self in the quietness of reflecting on what happened the day before. Well anyhow Wednesday found us with our first full day on the mountain. There was so much to do to beautify the yards and gardens, pick and sort out what veggies were still salvageable and get in a hike to the top of the mountain.
I fired up the weed whacker just after day break. I had already spent a few quiet moments with my Creator, posted this ramble and had a bowl of oatmeal with honey and cinnamon, so I was raring to go. Nancy wanted all of her flower heads and stalks whacked down in her gardens and to make the job easier than with a pair of hand clippers the weed whacker worked perfectly and in just a fraction of the time. Well that sure evened out the flower beds but did leave a lot of the debris in the beds which I think helps with composting and getting the beds ready for next years plants. She thinks the dead debris should go so I handed her the rake. Nothing has changed so far. It was really warming up outside after a chilly 48* start so I was down to just a t-shirt and shorts by 10 AM. It did eventually reach the low 70's with the brilliant sunshine and the deep blue Carolina sky. Yikes!!!
We took off on our hike just before lunch and after several stops to get our breath and these flat land legs adjusted to the steep back woods incline we made it to the top. We saw several on top and chatted briefly and even saw a few we haven't seen all summer. They were out mowing and weed whacking their properties in this beautiful weather. We headed on across the top of the ridge to visit briefly with the Brownings before they had to leave for a trip down off the mountain. We came back and had a fresh crisp salad for lunch. Our "mountain mom" Helen called earlier in the morning and was having an issue with her garage door so we headed over to her beautiful real log cabin on the golf cart. It's only a couple miles and except for a short drive on the parkway the drive in on the back roads. Well the views were awesome with cattle and sheep in the green pastures and as we approached her place the fields surrounding her land was dotted with thousands of orange pumpkins. I mean thousands upon thousands of pumpkins and we learned the harvesting was over for this year. These pumpkins will literally be plowed under and forgotten. We forgot to bring the camera to capture this scene.
We fixed her door and then decided since the harvesting was over to load up the golf cart with a few of these abandoned pumpkins to adorn our cabin. We managed to gather a dozen or so perfectly good pumpkins but for some reason they didn't suit the specs needed for selling commercially; also the pumpkins are not suitable for making pies, too bad!! We sat on her porch and looked off in the distance at the mountains which were showing some color as the leaves begin to change. It will be a another couple weeks before the peak according to my calculations unless we get a killing frost. The warm temps yesterday had us heading for a shady spot at times.
We noticed the morning glory vine on the arbor had a couple blooms which is really surprising. They seemed to be finished several weeks ago but this rain of nearly 15 inches and warm temps have awakened them. I certainly hope they come back but I was under the impression they were annuals and not perennials, oh well. I spent a couple hours mowing the yards and then weeding the upper gardens. Nancy had a pot of vegetable soup on the stove and the aromas drifted out in the yards causing me to salivate. She knows how to put a pot of soup together with just the right ingredients. Well we took a break and dined on this delectable dish and afterwards we headed out to piddle around with decorating the oval flower bed as you come up the driveway with dried corn stalks and orange pumpkins.
Well it wasn't long after dark that it was some Bill O'Reilly and FOX News that I headed for the showers. I did manage to sneak in a little MLB playoff game with the Cubs beating the Pirates while Nancy did some social media. By 10:30 I was curled up with Willie Nelson's auto biography and after a few chapters I was finally headed for a good nights sleep as the sandman calleth, LATER
