Well Thursday found me outside bundled up with long pants and a lite jacket as the temps were down into the high 40's. That felt so good for a change except the skies were clouded with fog until about noon, then we got some brilliant sunshine with that Carolina blue sky. There was a slight breeze which in the shade had a very cooling effect. (All of that has changed as I sit here posting this ramble to the sound of a light rain on the tin roof)
The day started much the usual for me as my internal alarm had me wide awake at 6'ish despite the blackness surrounding the cabin. I've also noticed that by 7:30 in the evening it's nearly pitch black outside as well. That's a sure sign we are heading into the winter as summer and fall quickly pass by, oh well. I must say I haven't missed those 95 degree and high humidity days we experienced the past couple of weeks we were in Florida. It was brutal there and I often wonder how I ever worked in a uniform out on the road all those years after this past trip to Seminole. After a breakfast of eggs, sliced tomato's and a fresh jalapeno pepper I headed out to work the yards and gardens. Most of the gardens were very dry as we had very little rain rain and I noticed the rain barrel had only a small amount of run off; so I hand watered for awhile before cranking up the mower. The grass had grown somewhat but not nearly as high as I had anticipated. I spent the next couple of hours mowing and weed whacking. Most of Nancy's flowers were dead and the brown heads and straggly stems looked rather awful so I whacked them down to the greenery about 8-10 inches from the ground.
I gathered several dead heads of Zinnias and saved them to the basement for drying as I will use them for next years planting. While these heads didn't get as large as the ones in the veggie garden they will produce seeds for resowing. I probably saved close to a hundred heads and have that many more that are still blooming. Nancy was out hanging a load of laundry on the clothesline which is always a comforting sight. We both enjoy the fresh clean smell of our laundry dried in the sunlight. It was lunch time so we settled into a salad with some of our cucumbers and tomato's added to the mix. The cabin was warm and toasty after using the tower heater all morning which did a great job getting all of the inside wood warm and by late afternoon it was almost too warm inside for me. Nancy was still in her sweats as we decided to get in a hike to the top of the mountain. We could see off in the distance the buildings in downtown Winston-Salem which is nearly 70 miles away. We didn't see any real color change in the trees but did notice some were a lighter green. This rain we are getting and these cool temps should bring out the color. We did notice a lot of leaves on the ground already.
We stopped and visited with our dear friends on top of the mountain The Browning's and Zeke their faithful dog. We sat and chatted before we both became chilled despite their porch thermometer reading 68. We headed back across the top of the mountain which was in the sun and so much warmer than the back road which is shaded and feels oh so good when its really hot on top. We forgot about the extra hilly road and the hike up it when changing our minds about heading home in the shaded back road. Whew did we ever get a good workout for our first hike in nearly three weeks. It was going 4'ish when we got bak down so I put the golf cart up and Nancy got took the laundry off the line. It was wine time for me while she had her dark chocolate fix.
We both had been checking to see if this huge hurricane was going to impact Florida as we have friends and family on both coasts. Those in Miami seem thus far to have escaped a direct hit and it looks as if the storm may just skirt the coastline after being down graded to a Cat 3. Our newest friends in Charleston is still in the line of its projected path but may not be as powerful as once predicted. We are praying it blows itself out at sea before causing the loss of life and property. The models show this storm may do a 360 and come back across Florida at a later date, oh well!!!
We had a delicious supper of chicken fajits and some Gold Rice we purchased in Charleston with black beans as the topping. Gold rice was the cash crop for the area for centuries which made most of the plantation owners very wealthy and contributed to the city at one time as being one of the wealthiest cities in the nation. This 2 pound pack was 17 bucks but it was very tasty and looked like any ordinary rice; personally I like Jasmine rice which is a whole less expensive but the idea we ate some of history was awesome. You can not find this item in regular stores. We sure hope this city is spared from the brunt force of this storm and rising tides as it sits just a few feet above sea level.
I tuned into the Fox Cable news then it the shower time and afterwards it wasn't long until I was horizontally reading a Ken Follett book until the sandman calleth, LATER
