Tuesday Morning

Well Monday turned out to be a complete surprise for us as we had planned on a trip to Elkin for some blood work but found out this facility was not affiliated with our lab in our health program so we had to go to Winston-Salem to have Nancy's blood drawn for analysis. Well that turned out to be a big shopping day as we visited several places in the high heat of the lower 90's, Yikes!! It was such a relief to get back on the mountain where it was close to 79 when we got home which was our highest temp so far this summer.

The day started with me awake at my usual before 6 with a cup of hot turmeric drink then my quiet time to honor my Creator and the posting of this ramble. We spoke with a daily reader to this ramble and she really enjoys this ramble when we are in the mountains as we are always doing something interesting and are busy bodies. I headed out to check on the gardens and had to don an extra shirt as it was a cool morning with temps still in the high 40's and low 50's yikes did it ever change as the day progressed. There was plenty of sunlight in the tall trees surrounding the cabin and the the gardens looked great as well. I have noticed some significant growth to the tomato plants, finally and the yellow squash is setting fruit, yumm fried squash is a favorite for both of us!!. Nancy was doing a fast for her blood draw so we headed down the mountain around 8:30 to the hospital in Elkin when we learned despite this facility using the name Quest it wasn't what her doctor in Florida was use to.  We pay nothing using that lab at home but here a couple years ago it was a bunch of money out of pocket for the same labs so we decided what the heck lets go on to the big city which was another 40 miles or so away but worth the couple hundred bucks compared to a tank of gas.

Well we finally figured out how to program the GPS which we hadn't used in a year and low and behold it took us right to the facility somewhere around 10'ish. Nancy was a walk in but we only spent a half hour despite the gal working the front desk was also drawing the blood. She was a hoot as Nancy was mimicking her the rest of the day with her sayings; one of which was "they were working her like a Hebrew slave". She was a character and very friendly. Well after the draw we found an IHOP eatery because I had a two year old gift card I needed to use and the GPS took us to one that was very busy which was a good sign. The food was fantastic and plentiful after we hadn't eaten since Sunday evening for Nancy and Sunday lunch for me. You would think I would be a stick with all of the up and down these hills and not eating for 24 hours, but NO!!!

We headed to an Aldi's which is also a very busy store which we use frequently in Florida. They had the best fresh corn in the shuck and we load up on their chips, crackers and can goods for when our company arrives in less than two weeks. The vino is also cheap as well and comes from Napa Valley. I was surprised they have two stores in the area and both have an officer working off duty during hours of operation. We chatted and learned this is a company policy and they pay good as well. We then headed to Sam''s Club for more goodies and some necessities as Nancy calls them. We needed new sheets and frozen Salmon fillets as well as more goodies for the kiddos. We then headed back towards the mountain for another stop at Lowes in Elkin and Wal-Mart.

The Lowes store in Elkin was extremely hot as their a/c was not functioning so we got what we needed and headed for Wal-mart just a couple blocks away. There is was so cool and refreshing as we once again picked up some necessities before heading back up the mountain where the temps dropped precipitously the higher we went. By the time we got to the cabin it had dropped from 91 to 79 in degrees, Ahh!!! Well we spent the next hour or so unloading and putting away necessities and goodies then decided to make several missed phone calls. I hadn't spoken with Paw Paw as he was gone on Father's Day so I caught up with him, then Amy called and then my pickle ball buddy called as well as the Orkin bug man who wanted to set up a date to where we would be at the cabin for some inside spraying.

Well I had eaten such a big breakfast/lunch we just decided to have a couple ears of fresh corn and a small salad for supper. Afterwards we headed out to the top of the mountain for our daily hike and on the way up I spotted what looked like the fawn I nearly ran over a few days ago.  It was standing so still in a small copse of trees alongside our path and we were within just a few feet of it. It was so tiny and beautiful with its spots. It watched us as we walked along both sides of the trail until we were out of sight. We never saw the mother but did see her tracks where she had abandoned her baby in the trees.  It was gone when we came back through on our way back to the cabin.

We did stop and chat momentarily with Jetta who was pulling weeds and an overgrowth of flowers from her beds. The gnats were hungry so we didn't visit long before heading back down to the cabin. Well we checked out all of the flowers and I hand watered the new okra seedlings I had transplanted yesterday and they looked like they might survive. It was nearly 8:30 when we headed in for the night and watched a little of the Fox News channel. I soon headed for the shower and then curled up with my book and it was lights out for me by 10'ish, LATER