Thursday Morning

Well Wednesday was a work morning and then we hooked up with the Tracy's around 2'ish for a trip down the mountain. We made four major stops. One was to see the manufacturing of custom made saddles, bridles with inlaid silver at the Harris Company in State Road. Eddie the owner gave us an in depth tour of the plant where each piece is created from start to finish. Some of these show saddles run into thousands of dollars and his business is only one of two of its kind in the nation. All of these workers are really artists in this profession as they create piece meal custom leather and silver works. Just beautiful end products. We spent over an hour there watching 30-35 workers individually doing their part on these creations; its no wonder they are so expensive due to the man hours which usually take about a month to create one saddle.

We headed a few miles away to the Shelton Vineyard which is just beautifully landscaped. There are 90 acres of grape vines that grow 10 different varieties of grapes and now this is the start of the harvesting season. We left there and traveled about 20 miles over to the top of Pilot Mountain where we can see out mountain where we take our daily hikes. This mountain just suddenly arises out of the rather level surface of the area and was used back in the days to help direct the pioneers on their journeys; thus the name Pilot Mountain. It was 92* in that area. We left there and headed to the town of Dobson where we ate supper at The Depot in Cody Creek. The ambiance is awesome with a covered bridge to enter the property that houses a wedding chapel, country store and a huge dining room that will seat hundreds at one time. The entry of the dining room had an operational waterwheel with several stuffed animals indigenous to the area. The food is very tasty and plentiful and is a must for any and all special occasions at reasonable prices. Our last stop was at the super Wal-Mart in Elkin on our way back up the mountain.

The morning started much the usual with a 6'ish roll out for me to my routines that started in the pitch black of the morning. I had my cup of hot green tea laced with some turmeric while I posted this ramble then spent a few quiet moments with my Creator as I lifted up by name those I know and love and gave thanks for all the blessings of life. We all need to pray for some competent leadership in our government and for folks who are honest, trustworthy and hasn't forgotten about our roots which are based in the Judeo-Christian philosophy and the tenets of the Bible. After a rather hearty breakfast of a couple cackleberries, a tomato and a jalapeno pepper mixed together I headed out to harvest once again cucumbers and tomato's and to walk the property. I gave the zinnias a drink as well as a bit of liquid food. They are showing off their beauty and I want large flower heads for their seeds to have for next years planting.

I drug out the garden hose and hand watered the gardens as I've just about emptied the rain barrel. We need a little rain as the ground is starting to crack from the lack of water. I loaded up a bucket and all of the soaps, sponges, chamois and waxes to give the truck a bath which was long over due. That kept us busy for a couple hours as Nancy did the inside once I was finished on the outside. The truck looked a whole lot newer despite it being 10 years old without the dust and mud splatters. I even washed out the rear bed as we will be heading back to Florida in a couple weeks.

Well that was about it for the day as it was after 9 before getting back to the cabin and unloading our goodies. It was hot shower for me and then a few minutes with a new book. By 10'ish I was ready for some horizontal lab, LATER