Well Monday was basically a work day but I didn't get much done in the late afternoon except read and play cards before supper and then again after eating as we had the Tracy's over at 4 for orderves and then a spaghetti and meat ball supper around 5'ish.
I started the day much the usual with a 6'ish roll out to much cooler dry temps and it stayed that way most of the day with highs reaching the low 70's. It was almost a perfect day except for a few drops of rain and rain clouds around the time the Tracy's arrived at 4'ish. Thankfully the few drops were the extent which wasn't enough to settle the dust if there was any. I did my usual routines with tea, prayers for many and the posting of this ramble before heading out to check on the gardens. The dad gum skunks tore my yards up overnight looking for grubs and worms that come up out of the wet ground due to all of the soaking rain. It looked like someone took a grubbing hoe and made divots all over the place. I'm amazed they could do that much damage in one night, oh well. At least they didn't come back again last night(Mon).
I grabbed an apple for my breakfast and walked the yards and noticed the morning glory vine on the lower side of the arbor has finally reached the top whereas the other side vine has extended itself totally across the top and now has several extending vines twisting in the arbor top. I'm still waiting for the blooms but so far none have appeared. The cucumbers are finally producing just when we are getting ready to leave for a week and so are the beans which are loaded with blooms and little beans. I should have plenty by the time we get back in about a week. So far none of the green cherry tomatoes have started to turn but when they do I should have plenty to give away.
I fired up the golf cart and headed down the driveway to rake out the ruts from the past couple of gully washer down pours. It wasn't too bad as the ditches on both side of the drive and the across cut outs have helped tremendously with keeping the water off of the middle of the road. It took me an hour or so to put the drive back in shape, redig some of the cut outs and side ditches before once again loosen up the compacted soil in the circle flower bed as well as all of the gardens. Once those beds were hoed I decided to once again rake moss in the back woods yards and gathered up several golf cart loads of the green stuff which just loves the weather we have been having. There are several large shade trees in that area which helps with keeping the grass shaded and moist which is necessary for the growth of moss as the area doesn't get enough direct sun light. I will need to lime and fertilize this Fall which seems to help along with freeing up the grass that was being smothered out by the moss. That kept me busy until nearly lunch time when we took a hike to the top of the mountains.
We had an uneventful hike but did see Bertie Moore who mentioned she is selling several lots down near our portion of the mountain but on the other side of the main road into our cabin. She has had it since '76 and since her husband died a few years back she knew she would never develop it and wanted to let us know that if any of our friends were interested to let her know. I think the total is some where around 2 acres in 3 or 4 lots but it does have a spring fed very small trickle of water on it. We came back and Nancy had a garden salad which I just harvested in the early morning hours while it was cool and crispy out and I reheated a frozen burger from dasy ago. Afterwards I headed out to finish the area I was raking the moss in and hauled it away and then decided to haul one of the large oaks trees I had cut up into pieces that could be handled, to the wood stack along the top of the back woods yards so it could easily be reached with a truck and trailer in the future when and if Joe needs the wood for this winter. I haven't heard how his stress test when yesterday as he wasn't up to par the past week or so.
Well after cleaning up in the basement I settled on the back porch and read for an hour or so until the Tracy's came for supper. We played some Kings on the Corner before supper and a round of Spades afterwards and this time the men won in a very close game. They headed out before dark and we will see them today(Tues) at a small local eatery for lunch as I have pickle ball at 6 at the Roaring Gap Club. The weather is supposed to be perfect once again with no rain and while it almost rained yesterday we had a dry day and the stars were out in their full display after dark. We so needed a day with no rain as the yards and gardens are saturated from the daily rains this past 10 days or so, LATER
I will be away from this keyboard tomorrow as we leave early for Cleveland, Ohio and hope to catch up some time in the next days as we will be staying in AirBNB's the next week or so. We are planning on attending a wedding in the Detroit are of Michigan and then spending some time with Nancy's mother before heading over to the Shenandoah Valley to visit with my family for a couple of days before returning here some around the middle of next week; but as most of us know plans can change at a moment notice. Keep us in your thoughts and prayers for traveling mercies.
