Well Thursday saw us finally with a day of NO rain for a change, wow was it ever nice outside as well as we turned off the /c and opened the windows and doors for fresh air and comfortable temps with a nice breeze throughout the day. I worked all morning and then piddled and basically loafed the rest of the day except for a mid day hike to the top of the mountain.
The day started much the usual for me with a 6'ish roll out to my cup of hot tea with turmeric and ginger while I posted this ramble and then spent some quiet moments with my Creator lifting up several by name. I just learned our mountain top friend Joe is having some health issues from a fall he had a couple weeks ago while picking wild berries. His hand has just not healed properly and despite being on antibiotics its maybe the cause of some major other issues and his being 85 isn't helping any. All of the others I mentioned by name to the Creator for healing and comfort are about the same as I've heard nothing to the contrary.
I had a light breakfast of oatmeal with a banana for a change with honey and cinnamon before donning my rubber boots and heading out to check on the gardens. The dew was very heavy and I love my rubber boots which save my work boots and shoes from all of the wetness. The gardens looked good but I did notice more of my lettuce plants are starting to show the effects of the soil not drying completely despite me hoeing and keeping them as loose as possible from the packed, rain soaked ground. I hoe every day the plants as much as possible to help with getting some air to the roots. I noticed most of the zinnias are now blooming with their beautiful colors of all shades. It amazes me each plant can have different colored blooms as the zinnias send out extra limbs with all different colors on the same limb, wow.
I fired up the golf cart and loaded my new chainsaw as well as the sledge hammer and wedges and headed up to the huge downed oak tree I wanted to cut up and split for my dear neighbor Joe.( I didn't know he was having serious issues until later in the day on our hike). The new saw cut through like it was butter and it took me no time to finish the sawing of the huge trunk. The big job was turning the saw chunks over and splitting them with a wedge into 4 pieces so I could cary them out of the woods to the golf cart and the transport them to an area for Joe to pickup later when he had time. The chunks when split into the 4 pieces each weighed 30-40 pounds, yikes where they ever heavy and I could only transport 5-7 pieces at a time to a stacked pile. I managed to complete the job by noon and was soaked in sweat despite the cooler temps and breeze.
Nancy had two loads of laundry drying on the clothesline. There is something so satisfying about clothes drying outside which takes me back to my childhood on the farm and a simply way of life. I changed out of my work clothes which were soaked and dirty from lugging these huge chunks out of the woods, so we got ready for a hike after an energy bar. The hike to the top was uneventful except for chatting up first with Sarah who just arrived for a few days from Charlotte, then Billy who was working on cleaning some fresh corn on the cob and then speaking with Bertie who was sitting on her front porch staring off into the mountain ridges below. What a beautiful day with great views.
We came back and had the last of the smoked beer in the rear chicken on a bun with lettuce and the last of the tatter chips which I seldom consume with the last of the French onion dip, yeow what a combo. Nancy wanted to read on the front porch so I piddled around on the internet as I had read the last new book I had checked out from the library. She decided that maybe it would be a good idea if we are invited to the rehearsal dinner in Michigan which is going to be an 11 hour drive from the cabin to maybe leave a day earlier and stay somewhere closer to Michigan; so I began searching for an AirBNB near Cleveland, Ohio and found one not to far from the Great Lake Erie for a reasonable price for one night. So I booked it for Wednesday night which means we will only have to drive 8 hours or so the first night then another 4 hours the second day. I think we will take a scenic route the second part of the trip to the next AirBnb in Michigan.
I find them so much more exciting than motels and our first experience was fantastic in Whitmore Lake with Christine who was really great. We will leave a day earlier than planned and if we aren't invited to the dinner we will sight see that area of the country. Neighbor Gerald blessed us with some frozen packs of ground venison he wanted to get rid of as hunting season approaches in just a couple months and the deer this year are huge from all of the browse which is plentiful from the rain. We see several in the area and noticed how beautiful and filled out they are. I'm sure Gerald will bless us again before we leave in November as he hunts our land each year. We grilled some venison patties to go with our tatter soup for supper and sat outside on the deck. What a beautiful evening. We had to turn the a/c back on and close the windows as the night time insects were so loud we couldn't hear the TV. We decided to play Kings on the Corners and Nancy whupped me big time after the whupping I gave her the night before while watching the Ray's on TV because they televise the Orioles games here; the Ray's finally won.
Well it wasn't long after the game I hit the shower and was soon ready for some horizontal lab a little after 10 which seems to be my hour for bedtime. I have no idea what time Nancy came to bed as she sleeps in, in the mornings when I'm wide awake at 6 and start the day, LATER
