Saturday Morning Nov 30th

Well Friday was another beautiful day with plenty of sunshine and it did get rather warm in the early afternoon, the a/c is still on as the humidity is hanging around. There is a cold front coming through sometime this weekend and the temps next week are supposed to be in the 60's for highs or there about's. It was a great day for working outside and I did that all day except for an hour or so reading outside under the shade of the big oak.

I started the day much the usual with a before 6 roll out to my cup of hot green tea laced with turmeric while I posted this ramble and then spent some quiet time with my Creator and Lord lifting up several for comfort, healing and even a miracle in a couple cases. All are about the same as I've heard nothing to the contrary. Since there was no pickle ball as the Rec. was closed for the holiday I headed outside with my morning breakfast, an apple as I surveyed the new transplanted seedlings and they all seemed to be just fine. I decided to remove the small fence around the area I had closed off from the squirrels when we first got home where I had sowed seeds. I now wanted to transplant some of those bedding lettuces in to rows as most had at least two leaves. That kept me busy until lunch time.

After a cold turkey roll up and a piece of pumpkin pie I headed out to put the outside Christmas lights up on the front of the house. I needed to trim some of the Confederate Jasmine as well as some of front bushes before laying the many strands of red and white lights across the front of the house. That kept me occupied for a couple hours and by then the heat was stiffing in the direct sunshine. These are times when I miss the big oak in the front yard as now there is no shade whatsoever, oh well. I headed into the back yard with a new read for an hour or so until the sun started sinking into the western sky.

I hand water the gardens a couple times a day especially the new seedlings and they are starting to add new leaves almost over night. Thus far the squirrels haven't been so destructive as they don't come into the yards when I'm out and about. I now have collards ready to harvest and we are planning on a mess next week. The leafy greens are thriving and I've blessing our neighbors with plenty. I spent the next couple hours on my knees pulling this wire like grass which somehow infiltrated my yards and it spreads so rapidly. I have no idea where it came from but slowly but surely I'm removing as much as my knees and back can stand daily by pulling it out. I'm hoping with fertilizer and water the grass with smother it out. I notice my crepe myrtle tree has a bloom on one limb. I find that most unusual this time of the year but it reaffirms the tree is alive. Daily waterings have helped to revive it since we've been home.

I grilled a couple ribeye steaks, medium rare we brought home with us from the cabin and along with some leftover tater cakes and a garden salad we ate "high on the hog" as the old country saying goes. We still have some delicious turkey from the night before which make great lunches for the next couple of days. After the clean up I settled into the Lightning game and they let the Caps come back from 3-1 down to win 4-3 in overtime. The Lightning seem to be playing in a funk this year as they traded some really good players during the off season, Oh well. In college football the local USF team was getting beat by the UCF rather handily when I shut the lights off around 10'ish, LATER

Friday Morning Nov 29th

Wow this month is just about gone and we have been back from the cabin for over a month and now Thanksgiving Day has come and gone as well. My oh my how time flies especially as we grow older. Thursday was a fantastic day but a little on the warm or hot side after a very pleasant morning to start the day. The a/c was cranked up by the afternoon and never stopped until everyone left around 8'ish. It was a day of gastronomic delights with order'ves, fine wine and a huge main course and then a ton of desserts. More later on the menu in this post.

I started the day much the usual with a before 6 roll out to my usual routines that start with a cup of hot green tea laced with turmeric while I posted the ramble then spent some quiet time with my Creator and Lord in humble thanksgiving and lifting up several by name. All seem well as can be expected. I piddled around on the computer catching up on some emails, paying some bills and then just browsing until it was daylight then headed out to work in the gardens since the Rec. was closed. I spaded up another section of the garden removing some pesky grasses and their roots then got it ready to transplant the 39 lettuce seedlings into 4 rows. I had 2 rows of bibb, 1 row of romaine and 1 row of iceberg lettuces. That kept me busy for a couple hours and by then I had worked up a sweat as the sun broke through the overcast skies which had held the temps down to to the low 70's and made it great for working.

Tyler came and I dug up some Swiss chard seedlings and a rosemary plant that I started last year from my main plant which seems to love it where it is. I've started several new plants from cutting for lots of different folks from this plant. After he left I headed into the house to help Nancy get ready for the crowd coming around 3'ish. She had the 25 pound turkey in the roaster and had peeled 10 pounds of taters sitting in water ready for turning them into smashed taters. Betsy was bringing the candid sweet taters as well as the dry stuffing which we all love better than the wet stuffing from inside the bird. Amy was bringing two pies; pecan and apple as well as vanilla ice cream. Nancy had made 2 pumpkin pies earlier in the morning and they were giving off that pumpkin pie smell as you walked into the kitchen. Bobby brought fresh Brussel sprouts as well as pork jowl to make into dish that accented both and then we had the frozen corn and dinner rolls. We ran out of the stuffing and the delicious gravy which never happens and usually is the best part of next day's leftover, oh well.

We guys sat and watched some of the three games on the TV featuring NFL football. None of the games were exciting as we had "no dog in the fight" except to see how far down in the standing the home town team the Bucs were. The grand kiddos had a marvelous time together and we all stared at Katie's huge tummy as the twins get closer to delivery day which should happen in about 4 weeks or so. We all are excited for their arrival and I'm sure we will be making some overnight stays to help with them. Katie seems ready for their lives to be changed with these new arrivals and of course we will do all we can to help. It would be nice if they were closer instead of the hour or so away especially this time of the year with the heavy traffic in the bay area, oh well.

That was about it as I was on kitchen duty after supper hand washing all that would not fit in the dish washer. It helped to digest standing up washing pots and pans for an hour or so; I even had a piece of Amy's pecan and apple pie and both were just so delicious. We sent two plates home; one for Braden who did make it here and one for his brother Garrett who never comes to any family dinners. Braden is now an R.N. while his brother stays in his room playing some games on the internet. He seems to have no ambition, doesn't drive and has no job. He is typical of this new generation of 20 year old millennials living in their parents house doing nothing but playing internet games, oh well.

That was about it as we put the house back together after everyone left around 8'ish. I soon hit the shower and was horizontal in the bedroom watching some of the last NFL game when I decided to shut the lights off before 10, LATER

Here are a few pics from yesterday

Thursday Morning Nov.28th Happy Turkey Day

Well Wednesday was another beautiful day with cool temps in the early morning to a really warm almost hot afternoon with high humidity. Needless to say the a/c is back on which is just about right for this time of the year. The sunshine was plentiful as well as I played nearly 2 1/2 hours of pickle ball outside as we had so many B players in the gym. There were 4 of us A players and we played 6 sets of regular scoring outside and when we left we all were soaked with sweat as the morning really started to heat up outside in the bright sunshine. I think the 4 of us will make this our venue as we had great games with lots of action and we all are fairly well matched despite me being the oldest of the 4; but I was on the winning team 5 out of the 6 sets. Age is just a number when it comes to pickle ball.

I started the day with a well before 6 roll out as Nancy had her chain saw running, so I headed into the spare bedroom for a couple hours of rest. Not much sleeping but I did rest in the strange bed which I have to visit occasionally when she just will not respond to quit snoring. I think the added weight is the culprit which came as a result of menopause, oh well. I did my usual routines that start with the hot green tea laced with turmeric while I posted this ramble then spent some quiet time with my Creator and Lord while lifting up several by name. All seem as well as can be expected. I got ready and headed out to the Rec. on my bike and got in a couple games inside the gym when the flood gates opened with B and C players so as I mentioned above, the four of us took our game outside and once there we can play as long as we want as there is no time limit on the outside court.

I stopped off at the library for a couple new reads before heading home to hand water the new seedlings and then work in the garden until lunch time. I set out three tomato seedlings which finally got large enough for the garden. These were also volunteers but I knew where these came from and it was a large tomato that turned rotten in the mountains that Kay had given me. I should have brought more of them back as small seedlings but at least I got three that lived. I also sowed some old tomato seeds as well as some marigold seeds. For some reason all of the marigold heads I saved from last years crop here in Florida never germinated. Maybe it was just too hot in the shed over the summer.

It got so hot after lunch that I had to sit in the shade of the back yard oak and read for a couple hours until the air cooled down with a nice breeze. I started again around 4 'ish hand watering the gardens and then pulling weeds again in the front yards where I had been watering. I stayed out until 5:30 when Nancy mentioned lets eat some spaghetti squash which was so much better than the last one we prepared at the cabin; most of which went into the compost pile but his one last night was delicious with ginger and honey that accompanied a really nice salmon filet she baked in the oven since it was already hot from the squash.

I did give away a couple messes of Swiss chard and kale to aunt Betsy and neighbor Carol as these two veggies are exploding with growth. Tyler is supposed to come this morning and get some extra Swiss chards for his garden as well as some herbs and whatever else he has room for. The kale, collards and lettuces from seeds have given me so many seedlings I have no space left in the garden  to plant them. I'm hoping Bobby will take some home with him when he leaves after supper tonight.

Well after the cleanup we tuned into the Fox Cable News and once more see where the failing liberal dems are sinking with their hoax impeachment plans. Americans are wising up to their bias against this potus and its showing in the polls. I headed in to watch the Lightning lose to St.Louis 4-3 at home, oh well. Today Thanksgiving there will be plenty of football on the TV which will help with digesting the awesome meal Nancy is preparing for the family. along with dishes from Amy and Betsy. It will be just the immediate family for a change and 13 places will be set using the kitchen table for the kiddos. We as a nation have so much to be thankful for and I can never understand why the libs want to change our culture to a failed socialist ideology and economy. It just blows me away when there are so many who enjoy this lifestyle but want to change it in a power grab to reduce others to a failed way of life. Power corrupts absolutely and the dems are trying their best to achieve that with this agenda of destroying our duly elected Trump. We ALL must show up at the voting booths next November to reassure this nation will never become like Venezuela and Cuba just to mention a few. God Bless this nation and those who want whats best for ALL, LATER

I'll reminisce a little as this day growing up we always butchered our hogs on Thanksgiving day. It was always very cold and sometimes even a lite snow on the ground. I would gather barrels of water from a local small creek the night before as a lot of water was used for this process. The sloshed water would freeze in the bed of the truck as I use a bucket and rope to bring the water up from the bridge into the barrels. The fires were started around 5 in the morning with kettles of water boiling as well as a fire under the scalding tank which was to loosen the hair and dirt from the hogs which had been shot and killed. There were triangle poles which had hooks to hang the scalded hogs of their hair and dirt and which allowed the head butcher to open the stomach cavity and let the intestines fall into a washing tub. We did this usually to at least 4 and mostly 5 hogs through out the early morning hours until all were cleaned of their hair and dirt.

Several other neighbors were splitting the hogs in half as they cut the meat into hams and shoulders for curing and tubs were being filled with red meat parts for grinding later into sausage. Kettles were heating for the fat parts as well other black iron kettles were cooking some meats that would be used for another process called pudding meat and then scrapple was made which was a process where cornmeal and herbs were added to the broth from these pudding meats later in the day. We always had plenty of cracklins which were the skin portion of the belly fat that were rendered into lard and poured into 5 gallon cans. This was our shortening for the year. This was an all day job that saw as many as a dozen folks preparing the various steps in this butchering process. Lots of the meat was distributed to these helpers. We always had fresh pork liver for the thanksgiving day dinner and what we did not eat went into the pudding meat kettle along with the hearts and other lean meats. That in a nutshell was butchering day that started around 5 and lasted well unto the night by the time the process for curing the hams and shoulders were completed with brown sugar, red and black pepper wrapped in brown paper and placed into cloth sacks and hung in the smoke house. We never smoked anything but the building was called the smoke house any how. I do miss that day some what as it was exciting to have fresh meat and this event allowed me to know how to butcher large animals for our food, LATER

Wednesday Morning Nov.27th

Well Tuesday was another almost perfect day with cool temp's in the morning and by late afternoon we had the a/c on again as we were having the Ross Family for supper. I played pickle ball from 9'ish until close to noon and then worked outside in the garden until it got too hot in the bright sunshine then again close to 4'ish when I transplanted my beet seedlings into the garden. I only lost a couple out of the 24 seedlings which was quite good since beets are difficult to grow from seeds and then transplant while they are still small. Once they get some size on them they are usually one of the easiest as I usually bring back several from the cabin for my garden here but the deer ate all but three this year.

I started the day much the usual with a before 6 'ish roll out to my cup of hot green tea laced with turmeric while I posted this ramble then lifted up several during my quiet time with my Creator and Lord for comfort and healing. I have another classmate who is in severe health issues with cancer through out her body. Everyone else seems to be doing as well as can be expected. Nancy had the Ross girls here along with aunt Betsy all day long as they made grape leaves which was quite the process. Ava was a big help and the four of them made enough leaves for everyone to have an abundance, plus we all ate them for supper. They are good but nothing to write home about as they have a little too much lemon flavor and very tart. Now I love lemon flavor as I always order water with lemon when eating out but with ground meat and all the herbs rolled up in a grape leaf is just not my cup of tea.

Well it seems the dems are having second thoughts about their sham impeachment attempt because most Americans with any common sense are seeing just how divisive these hearing have been with no evidence our potus did anything wrong. What is wrong is the pay for play by the Bidens and the shake down by them to garner millions from a corrupt gov't for his son by using the VP office in the Obama administration; now that smells. Our potus knew of this corruption and wanted to see it stopped which is his right to do so and he ask the new president of Ukraine to investigate. Will someone tell me what's criminal about seeing that our tax money is used wisely when given to a foreign nation. I think their reason they are doing this sham event is to cover for their own corruption not only here in the Ukraine but else where. The big news is coming about the collusion of the dems, bias msm and the Obama deep state in their attempt to abort a duly elected potus Trump in a coup.

Well I did set outside in the shade of the oak in the back yard and read for a couple hours while the girls put together hundreds of rolled stuffed grape leaves. It's a book about the resistance in France to Hitler by a few women to sabotage the war effort. It's titled D-DAY GIRLS bySarah Rose. Very interesting and I learned a lot about that era and how these few women parachuted in behind enemy lines and set up a network to help defeat the Nazis. It's a great read and full of the history that led to the defeat of Hitler.

Well that was about it for the day as the supper was good. The Ross family is so busy with kids activities and work. It was nice to see them twice so far this week since school is out and they will be here again on Thursday with Bobby's family for a big dinner as we celebrate Thanksgiving together, LATER

Tuesday Morning Nov.26th

Well Monday was another nice day with some chill in the air in the early morning hours and at times with the high clouds it remained some what cooler than the normal high 70's and low 80's. We did have sunshine for most of the day and it made for great working outside after pickle ball until lunch time. After lunch it was time to catch up on some reading until Nancy got home from shopping for the Ross girls; Ava and Eliza.

I started the day much the usual with a before 6 roll out to my cup of hot green tea laced with turmeric while I posted this ramble then spent some quiet moments with my Creator in thanksgiving and lifting up several by name. All seem as well as can be expected due to their ages and health issues. I got ready and headed out on my bike wearing an extra flannel shirt on this cool in the 50's morning to the Rec. for two hours of pickle ball play. We had a huge crowd but I managed to continually win with different partners so I stayed on the court throughout the session. There were a few A players but mainly B's and a couple C's which just gives you exercise but that is the reason I'm there; to stay active and on the courts. Today Tuesday we have the gym until after lunch whereas on MWF its just until 10, but on TT it's much later so many of us A players come later and don't have to play with those B's and C's. Oh well its all fun in the game and I do enjoy giving hints and instructions to the less experienced players, most of who love the tips. Their one goal is to make a winning shot against me, not to brag which doesn't happen very often and very seldom to I ever lose a game, again not to brag.

I transplanted some of the bedding lettuces into separate areas of the garden and then fed most everything with some miracle grow as the new seedlings are starting to take off. The nice rain Sunday morning was a blessing as well. I piddled around pulling more of this wire type grass that has invaded the back yard as it was a perfect day to be outside. I also decided to take a couple of my garlic kernels from the mountain harvest last summer and see it they will grow here. I found a couple garlic bulbs that had sprouted in the compost pile which gave me the idea to see if they grow here, anyhow everything else is doing quite well. The collards are almost big enough to harvest which are the three plants I brought back from the mountains. The three tomato plants I brought back I believe are going to be the small cherry ones which came up in the compost. I have 3 other tomato plants that lived out of the 6 very small seedlings that started from one of Kay's tomato's in the mountains, which I know are regular tomato's. I will set them out in another week or so into the garden.

Well after a supper of shrimp and pasta we settled into the FOX News Cable channel and then I hit the showers before the NFL game game on around 8'ish. I do believe the Ravens have a legit team this year as they were whupping the Ram's at half time and thats when I shut it down for the night. The Ross girls(Amy Ava and Eliza) and aunt Betsy are all coming to the house today to make Greek grape leaves which is quite the process. It's an all day job but the results are delicious. We had a nice chat with our mountain mom Helen and she is doing fine despite the cold, LATER

Monday Morning Nov. 25th

Well Sunday was a busy morning early as I headed out on my bike at 5:30 'ish to the college to help with the load in and set up of the college for BridgePoint Church. We were a couple volunteers short but managed although it took us a few minute longer than normal. I got back to the house before 7:30 then got ready to leave again just after 8 for the morning huddle and then to start greeting folks as they arrived for the 9AM first service. We had a really nice crowd for a holiday weekend with several new faces as many of our regulars were gone for the week and the second service had a nice crowd as well.

After the second service which both Nancy and I worked we helped to pack up the outside greeting tent then headed to Willie Jewels for some barbecue for our big meal of the day. She had the brisket and me the chicken, both were delicious and plentiful and we brought enough home for lunch today(monday). That held us except for a fresh ground ham sandwich around 6:30 which Nancy and Betsy did grind up after getting back from shopping all afternoon. I chilled on the couch watching the NFL and the hapless Bucs beat another hapless team in Atlanta. There were a couple of good games later in the day but the weather was something else up north with cold rain evident throughout one game. I know there will be some sick folks this next week from sitting out in this pouring rain where you could see your breath. They saw their team the Patriots win again with Brady at QB.

Well there wasn't much to write about except the services at BridgePoint were very telling and convicting. Our nation needs to hear this message and its archived at bridgepointfl.com if anyone is interested. It's all about your perspective from GOD's point of view and how we view things in life and make our choices. Our lead pastor Tim Whipple was back to end up the series titled Half Full.

Well this is the Thanksgiving holiday week so our grands are out of school and the Rec. is closed on Thursday and Friday. There goes the spare tire with all this good eatin' and lack of pickle ball, oh well, LATER

Sunday Morning Nov 24th

Well Saturday was a total fun day that started with a 6'ish roll out to my usual routines that start with the cup of hot green tea laced with turmeric while I posted this blog then spent some quiet time with my Creator in thanksgiving and lifting several up by name. All seem as well as can be expected due to their ages and health issues. We got ready to head over to Tampa for Ava's basketball game at a private school called Berkley prep. This school looks like a college campus with 3 gym's. The one we played in was first class. Ava scored a dozen points and played great on defense with several rebounds and many assists. She plays forward and it not the main ball handler but she did a couple drives to the net and scored with lay ups. Her team won by 15 points and at one time up by 20+. We decided to stay and watch the 8th grade team and they got smoked by the Bucs and then the girls varsity team won big over the Berkley Bucs. It was going on 2 before we headed out for Seminole and nearly 3'ish by the time we ate some lunch.

Well I hand watered the gardens after lunch then settled into some college football until it was time to head over to our Life Group's meeting at the Nymark's huge house which is the place for our huge gatherings. It was movie night and everyone brought snack or finger foods and we watched the movie Fireproof. We had seen it years ago and it was a tear jerker but had a great message for married couples. I really enjoyed the acting and the message was right on for couples sharing their issues and attempts at saving a marriage and making it work.

Well we got a storm during the night causing the power to flicker thus resetting the alarm as I needed to get up around 5:30 to head to the college for the load in for BridgePoint this morning. We were short handed but still managed to get the job done by 7'ish and then I headed home on my bike to make this post and get ready to head back to church around 8'ish for the morning huddle, LATER

Saturday Morning Nov.23rd

Well Friday was another beautiful day but some humidity came back into the picture so the a/c is back on, oh well. It was a bit chilly on my ride out to the Rec. before 8 but quickly warmed up into the upper 70's and probably low 80's. The sun was shining with clear blue skies. Except for the two hours of pickle ball I spent the rest of the day basically outside piddling in the yards and gardens and even sat under the oak in the back yard for a couple hours reading and cat napping. Such a pleasant breeze until Nancy started baking cookies for the care package to our dear friend Caleb in Washington State where he is stationed in the USAF. The house heated up so on went the a/c. plus we were having the Ross Family for a supper of deer burgers and tater tots.

The day started with my usual before 6 roll out to my cup of hot green tea laced with turmeric while I posted this ramble then spent some quiet time with my Creator in thanksgiving and lifting up several by name as well as our duly elected potus Trump, the military and our law enforcement family. The facts are coming out about the corruption from the last administration and indictments are being handed down. I really think this sham impeachment hoax was to divert attention away from the dems and their corruption which is now coming to light and lessen that impact on the dems and their leaders like Obama, Hillary, Brennan, Clapper and those in the FBI and justice department. That is their only hope is charge Trump with exactly what they are guilty of committing and have committed over the past decades.

The deer burgers were just absolutely the best ever as I grilled them and everyone was thrilled with the flavor especially the grand kiddos. (Neighbor Gerald at the cabin blessed us with several packs of the meat which is fabulous.) We hadn't seen them in a week or so as everyone is busy with after school activities and now that Amy is working full time at the school we only speak with her daily as she has a house to run, shopping, homework, etc. They have next week off so they will be here probably everyday and then again on turkey day. Tyler helped me with some computer issues after supper and then they headed out around 8 for home. Ava has a 10 AM game in Tampa so we will head that way and then I want to give Tyler some plants for his garden on the way home.

Well it wasn't long after a hot shower and then some Fox News that I was ready for some horizontal lab a little after 10'ish, LATER

Tyler was able to get pictures from Nancy's new phone onto my blog so I can now post pics. Here are just a few since we've been home.

Friday Morning Nov. 22nd

Well Thursday was another busy day that found me on my feet most all day with pickle ball for 3 hours straight and then after lunch outside piddling around in the yard and gardens. The weather was ideal with a nice breeze and lots of sunshine.

I started the day with a seldom after 6 roll out. I knew I wasn't leaving for the Rec. until 9'ish because of the late session in the gym with really good pickle ball players. It was a great time of play and we had some visiting players from St.Pete Beach whose facility was closed so they came and played with us. All 4-5 of them were really decent players and and I teamed up with one a couple times to win. Our usual 8 AM crew was there which many of them are just average and it was nice to have different good players for a change. I left around 12:30 whupped and with a wet tee shirt for a change.

I had a bite of lunch and then Nancy got back from shopping once again with several items and one was a 20+ pound turkey. We will have every one here next Thursday for the big day and meal except for Annsley who is going to N.Y. with her mom and grand mom to see her aunt, but everyone else will be here.

I headed outside to hand water the gardens then move 24 beet seedlings into 6 packs. They are one of the hardest to save when they are small but once they get a couple of inches they usually transplant well as I brought 4 back from the cabin and I'm already harvesting their leaves for our salads. I also harvested Swiss chard, lettuce and kale to add to the salad bowl. The collards and kale seedlings I moved into the ground seem to be taking a hold as well. The carrots are showing more color each day and the cucumber seedlings are adding another leaf as well.

The back yard developed this weed which is like wire in texture and sends out runners and the root is 8 to 10 inches in depth. It is a job ridding the St Augustine grass of this pest as well as another grass which gets in the garden. I spent a couple hours on my knees in the shade pulling these weeds and grasses by hand and my fingers are sore as well as swelled from this chore. Oh well it was just great to be outside without the heat and humidity. We had the windows and doors open for most of the day until Nancy got a hot flash after her shower, so I headed under the covers while trying to stay awake watching Fox until 10'ish.

The one good thing for being outside all afternoon on my feet is I've lost several pounds around the middle. I'm down 5 pounds and staying in the 185 range and have been as low as 183. I enjoy a beer with lunch which is fattening but good for your cholesterol and a single glass of red wine with my supper which is also healthy. We have been trying to eat no carbs with proteins and staying away from decadent desserts which is probably the hardest of all to do.

On the political scene Trump wins again as the radical dems can prove nothing he said or did which does not lead to any high crimes for impeachment. The dem's had a debate with their 17 candidates which I didn't watch but all of them are just total idiots to think Americans are going to support their anti-America agenda and hate for this our duly elected potus Trump. I'm hoping the repubs take back the house as well as keep the senate and re-elected him for four more years then maybe the nation will be saved from this globalist ideology proposed by the dems and keep America first and strong.

I'm hoping some of the big name dems in the last corrupt administration are heading off to jail for their duplicity while serving in the major agencies like the CIA, FBI, NSA and the state dept. and for their attempted coup of this potus Trump. Seems the evidence is mounting, LATER

Thursday Morning Nov. 21

Well Wednesday was another beautiful day with a little chill in the air to start the day but plenty of bright sunshine and a gentle breeze kept the humidity down and made it incredibly beautiful to work outside; and that's what I did after getting back from pickle ball a little after 10. I did help Nancy with decorating the new Christmas tree in the afternoon for an hour or so when it did a little warm outside and in the house. We actually turned the a/c back on as she was having hot flashes, oh well.

I started the day much the usual with a before 6 roll out to my cup of hot green tea laced with turmeric while I posted this ramble then spent some quiet moments with my Creator giving thanks and lifting up several by name. One of my class mates got some devastating news of having cancer in several areas of her bones from at one time having breast cancer. She will start chemo immediately in hopes to save her life and arrest this insidious disease. Everyone else is doing as well as can be expected.

Our Potus Trump was once again found to not have any of the dem's accusations of holding up funds for info on the Bidens; however the dems fail to investigate their own crooks who use pay to play when Hillary was the top diplomat during the Obama administration. These in the dem party are doing all they can to destroy this non politician who was duly elected and who destroyed their chances of regaining power. They have compromised several agencies in the gov't mainly the DOJ, NSA and CIA and with the top heads in the FBI with an attempted coup of Trump. I can hardly wait until the report of the investigation of the crooked investigators come to light and how many from the last Obama administration are indicted. Remember the mantra of the dems who are trying their best to impeach Trump is "No one is above the law" and that should scare all of those players who attempted this gov't coup. I do believe several will be thrown under the bus all the way to the top; even Obama himself.

Well the new fake tree is perfect for our small living room and it looks awesome. We finally found one perfect for house and it gives us more living space as well. We had lots of ornaments left over from our collection as this tree is much smaller but so compact. At first I thought the cost was more than necessary but I'm sure for what we paid for real trees that were so bad looking after a week or so this tree will more than pay for itself. Nancy did a great job decorating with just a little help from me when she needed 4 hands. The biggest thing I did was getting the boxes down from the attic and holding the strings of lights which she placed around the branches.

I grilled a couple bone in pork chops coated with fresh rosemary from the garden for our supper, delicious to say the least along with some canned beets and fresh cauliflower. After the cleanup we settled into the FOX Cable News channel and then eventually some college volleyball before I hit the showers around 8'ish. I'll be glad when this hoax or sham of a hearing will be over and we can get back to the real news. The dems are so out of control with their questioning of folks who have said all along they had no first hand knowledge of our potus doing any thing wrong and only those who want to destroy him have made presumptions to that point. Such bias from so many, its no wonder they look like deer in the headlights and are failing to give light to those who made up this story for cross examination by those on the right.

Well that was about it for the day and we all must continue to pray the real corruption is exposed about those on the left and in the dem party and that our duly elected potus Trump is re-elected to save this nation from those like Schiff and his radical dem's in the congress, LATER 

Wednesday Morning Nov 20th

Well Tuesday was another beautiful not to hot of a day with a nice breeze and plenty of sunshine. It was my kind of day that started with nearly 3 hours of pickle ball play, gardening and working outside while Nancy was gone until nearly 6:30 in the evening.

I started the day with my usual before 6 roll out to a cup of hot green tea laced with turmeric while I posted this ramble then spent some quiet time with my Creator in humble thanksgiving and lifting up several by name. All seem well as can be expected. Our calendar is filling up quickly with grand kiddo dates for sleep over's, cookie making with Nancy, basketball games, etc. What a joyous time of the year with huge family dinners and get togethers that start with a Thanksgiving gathering here next week. I've got the yards and gardens looking good and we are starting to really eat out of the garden for our salads which is always nice.

I headed out to hand water the gardens and kill sometime until nearly 9:30 before leaving for the Rec. Tuesday's and Thursday's are for the better players on the court after 10'ish until 2 as the gym is for pickle ball play. The gang of B players fill up the courts at 8 until 10 then Paul one of our players brings his canned music to play while we are playing and yesterday we had 2 courts of decent good players until after 12 playing. It was actually 12:30 when I finished my last game after starting around 9:30. I like playing at 8 but did enjoy the late play with the better players on these two days; so I think I will continue in this mode.

I got back to the house a little before 1'ish  and had a lite lunch with a roll up and a beer before heading out to work in the garden and yards. I transplanted the collards and kale seedlings from the 6 packs into the ground after turning the soil over with a shovel. They each had put on 3 leaves which is a good standard for showing growth since moving them with two leaves into the 6 pack containers. Hopefully they will all make and I have a couple spare 6 packs of each just in case. I'll give what I don't need to Tyler so he can plant in his garden. I usually just share the veggies when they are harvested but this way since I started these from seeds he can have his own plants.

It worked outside the rest of the day pulling weeds from the back yard, hand watering and hoeing. I love being outside and never sat down until 4 ish when I came in from taking the laundry off the clothesline. I hung a load in the morning before going to the Rec. and for some reason seeing it drying outside on the clothesline is comforting, oh well. That scene takes me back to my young days on the farm when we had no clothes dryer, no running hot and cold water except what I pumped from the well. It was later in my life on the farm when we got one cold water line coming into the pantry which was off of the kitchen for running water. There never was a bathroom or a hot water heater in the old farm house until after I left home in '64. We heated water on the kitchen stove from the wood I had to keep cut and on the porch all my life.

Well supper was easy as we ate leftover vegetable soup for our supper along with some buttered saltines. They just go together so well especially using real butter. After the clean up we settled into the Fox Cable News for the real news and once again the impeachment hoax is in the news as the dem's are still trying to find some reason to destroy this duly elected Potus Trump. They are falling flat on their faces and looking like the idiots they really are. There is so much corruption to investigate within their ranks starting with Hillary and the Obama administration but the dems since they won the majority in the House are focusing on our potus. Despicable and laughable at the same time and I do believe most patriotic Americans are seeing through their charade of impeaching him for making America number one again. The real investigations are happening behind the scenes and when they are complete, we all are going to see the corruption within the dem party, LATER

Just a note Ava's team won their first game and she scored 6 points.

Tuesday Morning..Nov.19th

Well Monday the sun came out at day break which was awesome for the first time since Friday. I'm a sunshine guy even when its boiling hot. I know in the mountains when we get those all day rain and fog, its just so depressing after about 24 hours. Thats maybe a reason I'll probably never move from Florida in the winter as it gets that way a lot up north, oh well. The warmth of the sun brought back tee shirts and shorts so I folded my long pants and stored them again. This past weekend set a record for this time of the year as being the coldest day in many years  in Nov. It was cold especially with the wind.

I started the day much the usual with a before 6 roll out to my cup of hot green tea laced with turmeric while I posted this ramble and then lifted up several by name to my Creator for comfort and healing. All seem as well as can be expected at this time as I've heard nothing to the contrary. I got ready and headed out at 8 to the rec. on my bike for two solid hours of pickle ball. I never lost a set so I was on the court with a different partner for each set during the two hours we had the gym. Today the pickle ballers have the gym all morning until noon so I will go in late and play with the more advanced players who have started to come late to play. I'm such an early morning person I usually head in early but I'm going to go in at least an hour later so as to get in play with the more advanced players so they say. We have a couple who play as well as I do that do come early but we will see what today brings.

I stopped off at the library for a couple new reads before heading home to work outside until noon and then for most of the afternoon outside. Nancy was off with her sister Betsy who is on vacation from the post office. They were shopping and dreaming up ways to spend money. They did get some inheritance money when their mom passed a year ago which they never thought they would get for various reasons so its burning a hole in their pockets, oh well. The old saying is you can't take it with you leave this life and they are living it up now. She and Betsy are off to some mall in Tampa for the day as well. I ask what's so different about Tampa when Pinellas has tons of shopping malls.

Nancy did make a huge pot of vegetable beef soup which we had for supper and it was delicious and I could eat soup everyday even in the hot months. That will be easy for supper again tonight since she will be gone all day. The garden is doing alright and all of the recent transplants look as if they will survive. I have some plants for Amy and Tyler's garden which he just got his plot ready for planting. I have extra Swiss chard and collards as well as some kale and a rosemary plant for him that I started sometime ago.

Well we tuned into the FOX Cable News after the cleanup and see where the dems are still pursuing their sham investigations into impeaching our duly elected Potus Trump. This is a coup on democracy as they try to overturn a duly elected potus with bogus charges as well as put forth radicals on the left who want to drastically change our culture and policies. I sure hope common sense Americans whether you like this potus or not will never vote these leftest dems into positions of power. We already have several terrorist loving congress folks in the gov't now with this "squad" as they are called. They are pure vile and hate mongrels to everyone who doesn't agree with their radical agendas.

I tuned into the NFL game played in Mexico and fell asleep as it was that boring. It seems that league has become less than honorable as well with the violence on the field and their anti patriotic stances toward our flag and anthem. Well now that Gabe's games are over we will attend Ava's basketball games. There is one Thursday and again this Saturday in Tampa. So that means fighting the traffic again over the weekend, yikes, LATER

Monday Morning ..Nov.18th

Well Sunday started very early for me as I rode out on my bike to the college which is next door to the Rec. at 5:30 AM for the load in for BridgePoint Church. We are so good at it with several volunteers I was back home before 7 to get ready to head out at 8 for the first service which is at 9. It was a bit nippy at that time of the day and it stayed in the 50's most all day and over cast which made it feel even colder. We had two services and both were well represented with more new faces every Sunday.

We served the first service as Nancy was helping in the Kidspoint area with the 3-4 year olds and I was a greeter outside at the front door for both services but managed to slip in the auditorium for the message and some awesome praise and worship music. We headed out after the second service and got back to the house around noon for a bite of lunch which featured our leftovers from the night before's supper out. We chilled the rest of the day or I did on the couch watching the hapless Bucs once again lose to the division leading Saints. We have no QB or any pass defense so I'm, sure our season is over with just 3 wins for this year. There are just too many mistakes and lack of hustle on the team in my humble opinion, oh well. I know I would never spend money to go and see them play so poorly on the field.

Nancy has the fever for putting out Christmas decorations so we open the artificial tree box that she ordered months ago and I put the stand together and the tree. The final results are not quite what the picture depicted for the cost of this tree but it will be fine once she gets all of the decorations on. The several live trees were a mess that turned brown and the needles fell off in the first two weeks the past couple of years. Hopefully this tree will pay for itself the next 10 years or so as I think its a perfect fit for our small living room.

We had a garden fresh salad for supper which was delicious to say the least. I'm harvesting tons of green leafy veggies for the salads and if my three areas of cucumbers make I'll be giving the away. The radishes are up as well and the three other lettuce seedlings are doing well also. That will give me 4 lettuces, Swiss chard and beet greens for those garden salads we so much love. I did give the garden garden a hand watering after lunch but there has been no sunshine since Friday morning with this cold front that brought some welcomed rain so the garden has not dried out, LATER

Sunday Morning..Nov 17th

Well Saturday was basically a funday as I started with some pickle ball for an hour plus, then a trip to Brandon for Gabe's championship baseball game then out to supper with the Botbyl's at a new eatery. Wow what a fun day despite it being over cast and down right chilly and we never saw the sunshine at all. It's that way this AM as well as I just got back from the load in for BridgePoint Church at the local college that stared at 5:30 for me.

I started the day on Saturday with my usual before 6'ish roll out to a cup of hot green tea laced with turmeric while I posted this ramble and the did my every morning quiet time to give thanks to my Creator and lift up several by name. That list is growing everyday and I'm just thankful I can do that for others. At this point in time all seem well. I headed out a little before 8 to the Rec. and met up with several new players on the pickle ball court and a couple of them were quite experienced players. It was a fun hour or so of play before I had to leave to get ready to head over to Brandon which takes about an hour give or take a few minutes. The outside temps said 60 degrees which is normally nice but the stiff breeze and no sunshine made it feel even colder in the wide open spaces of the ball field. The game started at 11 and lasted for 2 1/2 hours and we were cold for the most part despite wearing some extra clothing. Gabe's team managed by son Bobby were down in the first two innings but they rallied and won big at 19-6. They are now finished until spring ball sometime in February. We will now visit Ava's basketball games which start soon.

We got back to the house around 3'ish and I had a cup of hot chocolate to warm up and then took a 15 minute power nap in between games on T.V. Dan and Carol picked us up at 5 and we traveled down to the old Outback Steak House building which has now been converted into a sports type bar and grill. There must be 20 huge large screen T.V.'s with every sport being shown. Patrick joined us for dessert as he had been down visiting his son who now lives just a few minutes from us in Seminole out near the beaches. We had a good visit with him and the food was delicious and plentiful. We brought half of ours home as Nancy had the meat loaf and I the chicken wings.

We got back and decided to watch a talk on the new World Order about globalist and how they are trying to take over the world with one government which is prophesied in the Bible. That all changed when Trump got elected as he is a nationalist. The billionaires Soros and the Rockefeller's are the biggest push for this concept along with the Bush's and the liberal dem's but Trump stopped that with his America First election and policies. He is the biggest obstacle to this push and that is one of the reason's he is being excoriated in the MSM and by those who want this socialist ideology. Thankfully GOD intervened in the last election for his becoming our potus and really the most powerful man on earth. The globalist hate Jesus/God and any form of the Judeo/Christian beliefs. We must make sure he is re-elected again in 2020 and those who want to keep America First afterwards.

Well it wasn't long after they left and a hot shower I was ready for some horizontal lab. 5' ish came early this morning and it was a chilly ride out to the college on my bike at 5:30 AM, LATER

Saturday Morning ..Nov.16th

Well Friday was the first day since I've been back to Florida from the mountains I did not hand water the gardens or yards. We had rain during the night and early morning and it stayed cloudy with rain clouds around all day. I don't believe the sun ever showed it face through out the day and the temps stayed in the low 70's through out as well. We are supposed to drop down into the 50's today Saturday with highs only in the upper 60's.

I started the day much the usual with a before 6 roll out to my cup of hot green tea laced with turmeric while I posted this ramble then spent some quiet moments with my Creator in thanksgiving and lifting several up by name for comfort and healing. All seem as well as can be expected. I got ready and headed out on my bike to the Rec. around 8'ish and stayed for two solid hours of great pickle ball play and left whupped. It was an awesome day of play as we were able to have a challenge court with the top 5 or 6 players and the rallies were long. Four of us closed out the session with a hard fought match and once again our skills were evident with a victory.

I decided since Nancy was off to shop for the Operation Christmas Shoebox that I would mow the yards and piddled around in the garden. All of my transplants look good and I found using some Black Kow dirt which is basically cow manure dried and composted is a must when transplanting seedlings. It's a little expensive but oh so well worth it over the cheaper bags of raw manure which still have a raw smell. I worked outside until noon then took the rest of the afternoon off reading. I did watch a little of the sham hearing put on by the biased dems and they really only made an ambassador the star witness who was relieved by our potus to air her grievances and to make him look bad. So what, she wasn't really doing a good job when she knew of the Biden's corruption in the country and looked the other way. She was an Obama holdover and a sycophant of the dem's and wasn't even employed when Trump made the phone call. It was a complete joke once again by the dems and Schiff.

Well we finished up the salmon from last nights supper along with some beets and then tuned into the FOX Cable News. I decided since I had watched some of the hearing to head in and shower and then read for a couple hours until bed time at 10'ish, Later

Friday Morning ..Nov 15th

Well its hard to believe this month is half gone and Thanksgiving will be in less than 2 weeks, oh well, time just seems to fly by the older you get. Thursday was another busy day that had me on the pickle ball court for 2 plus hours of non stop play then I worked outside until nearly 4 before taking a break except for a lunch break. We did go to Sam's Club to gas up, to stock up and picked up a nice fresh salmon filet for supper, delicious.

I started the day with a before 6 rollout to my usual routines that start with the cup if hot green tea laced with turmeric while I posted this ramble then spent some quiet time with my Creator giving thanks and lifting up several by name especially our potus Trump. What the dem's and libs are doing to destroy this man is so unfair and criminal, its heartbreaking. This man has done more good for this nation in 3 years than everyone put together since potus Reagan, yet there are those who hate this man for attempting restore America to the city on the hill which the world once looked up to before the Obama's and Hillary's tried to destroy it.

I worked hard for nearly two hours on the court at the Rec. and we had a full slate of players as many snow birds have returned to play. Most have improved over last year and gave good matches. I managed to stay on the court the nearly full time with different partners for each match. I left whupped around 10:30 as I'm getting my stamina back. It was rather cloudy for most of the day which was great for working in the gardens and yards. The temps were in the upper 70's and we finally got some much needed rain during the night and its raining this morning as I make this post. I may have to drive to the Rec. this AM as its coming down rather strong.

I moved up several lettuce seedlings to 9 packs in hopes they will make as well as some cilantro and dill seedlings into containers. I did harvest beet greens, lettuce, Swiss chard and kale to add to the salad bowl. All of these are just beautiful and are growing nicely. The tomato plants are rising up and staring to add several new leaves and limbs. They should be setting blooms soon as well. All of these plants I brought back from my garden in the mountains and they are doing splendid.

Nancy grilled the salmon in the oven due to it raining and along with fresh asparagus we dined magnificently accompanied by a glass of vino. After the cleanup we headed in to watch the FOX Cable news channel and then I turned to watch the Lightning Hockey Team destroy the N.Y. team 9-3, what a great game for the team despite all of the penalties by the N.Y. team. It wasn't long until I hit the shower during the intermission and was soon in my den watching the rest of the game and then Fox again until 10'ish, LATER

Thursday Morning ..Nov. 14th

Well Wednesday except for 2 hours of pickle ball in the morning was a total outside in the yards and gardens work day. It was chilly to start the day with temps in the middle 50's and some high clouds which made for great afternoon work that may have reached the low 80's. A slight breeze made it very nice with little or no humidity. Nancy was gone all day so I could work uninterrupted and I loved it.

I started the day with my usual before 6 roll out to a cup of hot green tea laced with turmeric while I posted this ramble then spent some quiet moments with my Creator in thanksgiving and lifting several up by name. All seem well as can be expected due to their issues and ages as I've heard nothing to the contrary. I got ready to ride out to the Rec. for a couple hours of pickle ball play and it was a wow moment when I stepped outside. I headed back in to put a long sleeve flannel shirt on as it was cold. Now I know 50's isn't cold compared to the single digits but when you are use to the upper 90's with high humidity for days, 50's with dry air is rather cold. It was a cold ride to the Rec. but by 10'ish it had warmed up greatly and it was tee shirt and short's the rest of the day.

I transplanted a couple dozen kale and collards that I had started from seeds and then transplanted 3 cucumber hills as well as sowed a row of sugar peas. I mover the 6 tomato plants that were just barely seedlings up into larger pots. Most of these I will give away as I already have 3 large tomato plants they have reached nearly 2 feet in height. I can not get my marigolds to germinate from seeds saved from last years crop here in Florida. They must have been killed by all of the heat but they usually are very hearty and grow anywhere. They are a natural deterrent to nematodes which live in the warm soil and attack several of my plants roots especially tomatoes. I placed several dried up heads in the holes when I set the 3 tomato's out; so far so good.

Well Nancy was gone from mid morning until 4'ish with sister Betsy who is on vacation from the post office and recuperating from her toe surgery. They seemed to have had a grand time shopping and they did stop at the newly renovated Aldi's near us in Seminole. We use a lot of their products which are much cheaper than Publix. Nancy said it looked great inside and seemed much bigger. I watched on the internet some of the days impeachment hearings and it was a total joke and a hoax. The dems are so filled with the TDS they are embarrassing themselves and I'm sure it will come back to bite them next November.

We had a nice garden fresh salad with the grilled chicken cut up on it for our supper along with a glass of the fruit of the vine before hand. We settled into the Fox Cable News after the clean up until I started nodding off around 8:30. It was shower time and then I watched a little more TV until 10'ish then it was lights out for me, LATER

Wednesday Morning Nov.13th

Well Tuesday was another hot and humid day here in Central Florida with temps close to 90 and lots of bright sunshine. It was a great day for pickle ball in the morning and then yard and garden work afterwards until lunch time. Afterwards I chilled staying indoors reading until it was time to grill for our supper.

I started the day much the usual with a well before 6 roll out to my morning routines that start with a cup of hot green tea laced with turmeric while I post this ramble then spend some quiet time with my Creator lifting several up by name. All seem as well as can be expected. We all need to lift up our nation as we see the democrat party which has gone bonkers with their hatred for our duly elected potus Trump and are doing all they can to discredit him to change the next election. They are terrified he is going to expose their corruption as he promised he would when elected and thus far he has carried out all of his promises. He is truly a man of many words and has backed them up with action and policies to help this nation despite what the naysayers publish and speak in the biased media. This impeachment hoax is nothing more than to take away the press by exposing the corruption with the dems and the last administration. Common sense folks should see the collusion and the shakedown by the Biden's to fill their bank accounts and the dems have done that throughout. All of them have become very wealthy at the expense of the nation and Trump is exposing their duplicity.

We got word Bobby's baseball team won last evening and now go to the championship game on Saturday so we will attend that event. It's just so hard to get over to Brandon during the week with the bad traffic conditions. I cut up a whole chicken like we use to do back when the kids were young and we were just starting out. We loved the flavor of the slow grilled chicken and while it looked beautiful Nancy used a rub which I did not care for; anyhow it should be good cold on a salad the next couple of days. I worked in the garden before lunch transplanting and moving some seedlings into bigger pots before putting them in the ground. Everything is coming along nicely especially after watering at least twice a day. The heat doesn't seem to be a big factor thus far since they have established some roots.

We watched the Fox Cable News to get the real unbiased scoop about the hoax impeachment against our potus. We are learning more everyday how dishonest the dems are with this event by not allowing certain folks to give testimony or a chance to rebut the biased non facts, oh well. I'm hoping Americans will see through this fake proceeding for just what it is, LATER

Tuesday Morning..Nov 12th

Well Monday started out with a sleep in until nearly 7'ish for a change due to Veterans Day and the rec. was closed so I had nothing on the plate except some yard and garden work after breakfast. The temps were still rather nice pleasant for being outside in the bright sunshine. The high heat and humidity was at bay until later in the day.

I did my usual routines that start with a cup of hot green tea laced with turmeric while I posted this ramble then spent some quiet time with my Creator lifting up several by name for healing and comfort as well as giving thanks for my many blessings. All seem well and I did have a good talk with Paw Paw the other evening, he seemed in good spirits and Pat indicated the CBD oil gummy's have made a positive difference in his attitude and sleeping habits. Everyone else is about the same as far as I know except I did lose another classmate a couple weeks ago and just got word of his passing.

Nancy made a semi-mountain breakfast with sausage and eggs for a change as its usually just an apple for me in the mornings before heading out to the rec. for pickle ball. I do believe in the old saying "an apple a day keeps the doctor away" up to a certain extent. I headed out after reading all of the comments made on my old USAF picture Nancy shared on FB. I was back from California on leave to visit family and an old friend noticed how dusty my shoes were and that was because of the dusty roads we lived on back when I hitch hiked home after catching several military hop's from the west coast. Those were the days when it was still an adventure on riding your thumb to get where you were going in uniform.

I spent 4 years active duty as an air crew member on the first jet cargo plane in the USAF called a C-141 that was the best and fastest plane in the inventory for carrying material and soldiers to Viet Nam as well as bringing them back on medivac's and in coffins. It was a time when the limits of flying time were pushed to the limits and I was in country(Viet Nam) 3 to 4 times a month and even more depending on the shuttles from the Philippines. I was 19 and never gave it a thought as we carried out our orders and got to see parts of the world so much different that what I was use to in my upbringing. What an experience for a teenager who had never been any further from home except N.C. when I graduated at 17 from high school in 1964.

I was fortunate to serve 3 more years after the regular USAF in the reserves flying on the same plane at the same base during the summer month's on weekends and holidays while I was attending college full time in California. I did that until I graduated from California State University in 1973 then moved to Florida where I have made this state my home since then except for the summer months in the mountains of N.C. I have been blessed unmeasurably.

We decided since hearing the Texas Roadhouse was offering a free lunch to veterans between 11-4 PM to head there around 2'ish; well the line was out the door and no parking spaces anywhere so we nixed that and headed to Chickfilet where they too were giving a free meal to veterans. The fare was perfect and just enough. We later in the evening had a frozen pizzas around 7'ish. We chilled after getting back from lunch and I caught up on a my first book since getting back about a cold case that went almost 40 year without getting solved about two young sisters who were kidnapped, raped and murdered. The bodies where never recovered but the investigators finally found a clue and pursued and solved the case enough to keep the bad guy in prison where he was already serving time for another crime. The title of the book is THE LAST STONE by Mark Bowden. Great work although there are still some unanswered questions never fully exposed; but there was some closure for the family.

I tuned into the FOX Cable News until the NFL came on the TV and watched a pretty close game until half time. It was soon shower time and some horizontal lab for me, LATER

Monday Morning..Nov 11th..Veterans Day

Well Sunday was a busy day until after lunch then it was vegetate on the couch watching the NFL until it was lights out for me around 10'ish. I was up earlier than usual with the load in at the college for BridgePoint Church that started with a 5'ish roll out. It was a bit chilly as I rode my bike to the college which is next door to the Rec. where I ride just about every morning to play pickle ball. I think the temps may have reached a low of 60 for the morning ride which is perfect most of the time especially when it in the 90's and humid.

The worship was awesome once again and both of us served one service and mingled while greeting our many guests. Its great to serve again as we both sat together in the first service which once again had a packed house and the second service was 2/3 full of worshippers. Our new music director is fantastic with a voice that is the best ever. We are still doing simulcast to the three campuses from the main campus at Tyrone which seem to be working out just fine. Our goal is to have 10 campuses throughout the county as we try to reach this heavily populated area called Pinellas County for Christ.

Our series on on your view of either "half full or half empty"and how we perceive things which has an effect on your beliefs and attitudes. Check us out at... bridgepointfl.com as all of our services are archived. We got back to the house at noon after starting with an 8:15 gathering of the early volunteers and leaders before the first service which now starts at 9 AM and the second starts at 10:30 AM.

The Bucs did everything they could to lose this game against the Cardinals which are not world beaters but for the life of me I had a feelings they were trying to lose the game but they won. It was a day of upsets in the NFL as the Falcons beat the Saints. The Panthers game in Green Bay was a snow out by the end of the game and they lost by just a couple inches so say the refs which was very hard to decipher at the very last second, oh well. Anyhow there in no more controversy that I know of regarding our anthem and the kneeling but I noticed lots of empty seats in all of the games being televised especially at the Bucs game which they have a poor record and QB and its understandable half the place is empty.

Well today is Veterans Day and we patriotic Americans must honor those who have sacrificed so much for our liberties and freedoms. The radical libs I'm sure are less than thrilled as they want to take away those rights to have power and control over the country. We must never let them win anymore elections especially to the congress. We see just what they are doing with this impeachment hoax and it they ever get control again the stone cold crooks like Hillary, Obama and his sycophants will destroy US(A) from within which is their goal now to destroy our duly elected Potus Trump. We who love GOD, Family and our Freedoms must get out an vote next November for the this Potus and all republicans, LATER

Sunday Morning..Nov 10th

Well Saturday was a busy day that started with my usual before 6 roll out to a cup of hot green tea laced with turmeric while I posted this ramble then spent some quiet time with my Creator. Afterwards I got ready and headed out to the Rec. for an hour plus of pickle ball before we had to leave for Brandon to watch Gabe play ball. Bobby is the teams manager and he an Gabe are a great father/son duo. They won their game by 8 runs or more and now are tied for first place in the league. They will play sometime during the week and if they win will play again next Saturday which we plan on attending.

It was close to 2 before we got back to Pinellas and had a bite of lunch. We were attending a fund raiser dinner for a pro life organization titled New Life Solutions. It was semi-formal and the place was packed with 5-600 attendees to a sit down dinner and guest speaker who happened to be Bob Goff. He has written several books but his most famous book is "LOVE DOES". He was fabulous and very personable and a lover of Life, Christ and Babies and his non profit is world wide. He reminded us of the energizer bunny as he is constantly in motion with his laughs, stories and experiences.

The dinner was to write home about with it being served to so many folks. Delicious fare to say the least. It was a very organized affair with many local dignitaries and we were honored to being invited. BridgePoint had two assigned tables and we were among friends and Christ Lovers. It was close to 10 before we got back to the house and I learned LSU had defeated "Bama in what must have been a close second half, LATER

Saturday Morning..Nov 9th

Well Friday was another hot and muggy day with temps in the low 90's once again but by late evening it had started to cool down to the 70's as a cold front came through. Well its what the forecast called a cold front but in all actuality it was cool down; not a cold front. The mountains got a cold front from this arctic air heading south with temps in the 20's, yikes.

I started the day on Friday much the usual with a 6'ish roll out. I finally got the bowels holding off until the new 6'ish instead of the old 5'ish but at least I'm training the body once again, oh well. I had my cup of hot green tea laced with turmeric while I posted this ramble then spent some with my Creator in thanksgiving and lifting several up by name. Please keep our Potus Trump in your thoughts and prayers and our nation as the deep staters are attempting another coup to destroy him. It's hard to believe this is happening in America by a political party that wants to destroy US(A) from within. Take a step back and think hard of what the dems are doing to cover their corruption by fabricating lies about our duly elected potus to bring him down so he won't expose their corruption as he drains the swamp. America is at a point where all our freedoms and liberties are lost because if they succeed the nation will become a third world country. He and those who are exposing their duplicity need our prayers that GOD will intervene and save the US(A).

I headed out on my bike for the Rec. and got in two solid hours of pickle ball play once again. I left around 10'ish and the heat was once again making its presence known. The early mornings on the ride to the Rec. is beautiful with lots of dew on the grasses and very comfortable but by 10'ish that changes and then by noon its very hot and too muggy to be outside so I'm reading the afternoons until late evening just before dusk and then venture out to do some yard work. The gardens are doing fantastic and I harvested by first mess of Swiss chard, kale and lettuces for the salad bowl. I did piddle around after hand watering the gardens, pulling some stubborn long rooted weeds in the back yard. I'm not sure where they came from but they spread out in the grass and their roots are nearly a foot long and very difficult to pull out.

Betsy came by for a visit and had lunch with us as she is on vacation for a month from the post office. She had both feet operated on for hammer toes which were giving her a fit. She seemed to be able to walk O.K. but was still in pain at times as they inserted a rod in one of her toes, yikes. Nancy had an ultra sound on her thyroid during the afternoon so they both left around 3'ish. I just stayed inside as the heat was unbearable outside and read until Amy dropped Eliza Faye off before 5. Tyler and Ava are off to a retreat near Brooksville with the church and Amy took Sam to his Ju-jitsu class and then they all stayed for a supper of zuppa das cana soup. The kiddo as do all of us love this soup. It was very delicious and Sam had three bowls along with crusty bread.

Well they left around 8'ish so we watched the FOX Cable news channel until I started dozing and then I headed to the showers and eventually watched a little of the GOLD RUSH show until bedtime at 10'ish, LATER

Friday Morning..Nov. 8th

Well this week has just slipped by and already it's Friday and there is supposed to be a break in this heat and humidity later this afternoon; it's about time as this is feeling more and more like July. Thursday was a mixture of play in the morning and then some garden and yard work until lunch and then I read for a change during the hottest part of the afternoon until 4'ish.

I started the day much the usual with a before 6'ish roll out to the usual cup of hot green tea laced with turmeric while I posted this ramble then spent a few quiet moments with my Creator giving thanks and lifting up several by name; all seem well as I write. I headed out a little before 8 on my bike for two hours on the pickle ball court and got in some really good play before heading out to the library to pick up a couple of books; one was a novel but the other was a cold case that happened in the early 1970's which had never been solved of the missing two young sisters in the Maryland area. So far it is a real page turner.

After getting back to the house I hand watered the gardens, transplanted my two egg plants and the jalapeno pepper into the east garden and pulled a few weeds before sowing new lettuces seeds and a few hills of cucumbers. The transplanted seedlings are looking great as well and I will be harvesting several of the leafy green veggies for our next salad bowl. I've decided to use a little 10-10-10 bagged fertilizer for a change to dress some of my seedlings and I do think its helping with their growth as well as giving the yards a little. I think the good dressing I gave it last summer before leaving for the cabin helped as the grass really took off.

We had deer meat tacos that neighbor Gerald blessed us with before leaving the cabin for supper and oh my was that ever tasty and there was enough leftover for me today for lunch. We are having Amy, Sam and Eliza for zuppa soup tonight as Tyler and Ava are off for the weekend with the church retreat. We tuned into the FOX CABLE NEWS to get the real scoop on the political news and what the dems are trying to pull on Trump once again. This one will too backfire on them and their corruption just like the Mueller hoax. It so sad to see what these who are so filled with the TDS will do to ruin the nation and cause so much divide, LATER

Thursday Morning. Nov.7th

Well Wednesday was another hot day with high humidity but I'm finally acclimating to it, so it was another work day outside in the yards and gardens after a couple hours inside the gym at the Rec. for pickle ball. I got in two solid hours of play and left whupped a little after 10.

I started the day with a 5'ish roll out as the body is trying to get use to the time change to my cup of hot green tea laced with turmeric while I post this ramble then spend some quiet time with my Creator in thanksgiving and lifting up several by name for comfort and healing. I've heard nothing to the contrary so I'm assuming all is well. I must say being active is a plus for ailments and old age. The body is remarkable in self healing if we just do not lay around and then eat right and not over indulge in any one thing.

I came back and hand watered the seedlings and weeded some areas in the garden where I'm about to transplant. Years ago I use some concrete pads for stepping stones alongside the driveway and the grass has just about covered them, so I decided to remove them and then fill in the space with garden dirt and let the grass takeover. Now these pads were about 2ft x 2ft and very heavy and several of them had cracked and broken in half over the years and were just about covered with the grass which has really taken off in the front yard since I removed the big oak tree a couple years back. Well that was a bigger job than anticipated which kept me in the full sun and by the time I finished around noon I had sweated by shirt soaking wet.

Nancy got back from her workout and we cooled down and had a bite of lunch. It was stay in the house until around 3'ish when she headed out shopping for a dress for this Saturday benefit dinner which is semi formal. I have to wear a tie to give money away and she had to buy a dress, shoes and purse. I would rather save that money and give it away, oh well. She mentioned she can use the dress on our first cruise next September to Alaska, oh well. She wasn't sure which dress fit the occasion so she bought two. Thankfully I have a jacket I seldom wear and while I'm not the clothes horse like she is I'm easy to please.

Well we had left over flank steak I grilled on Monday night which had been in the marinate for a couple days and wow what flavor along with fresh steamed broccoli and beets. Did you know the beets and their greens are a super food and most folks do not like them. We love them fixed anyway especially the young tender leaves in a salad and they are so inexpensive as well. We like the sliced beets on our salads and I love them pickled as well or just plain with a little butter. The 4 plants I brought back from my summer garden are producing new leaves and the row of seeds I sowed are now up. I'll leave them until they get a little size as beets can be tricky when transplanting them from seedlings.

I worked outside again until dark pulling weeds from both yards as well as watering the yards. Its amazing how fast the weeds can overtake a yard especially in the back yard which has a different variety of grass from the front yard. The front yard grass smothers out the weeds and just the opposite occurs in the back yard with a different grass; but once I get it established I think it too will smother out the weeds.

Well I tuned into Fox News and once against watched our duly elected Trump give a speech in Louisiana. He is letting the chips fall where they may with telling just what the dems are doing to his administration. This is another bureaucratic coup with this sham impeachment inquiry by those filled with the TDS while letting those in the former administration get a complete pass on their corruption and influence peddling and the msm is letting them do it. The msm is so corrupt we are learning they could have saved many young underage girls from Epstein and his buddy Bill Clinton when they squashed the story by one of their investigators and we all know the Clintons had him murdered while in prison to keep him from telling on them. In a way I hope she does run then just maybe all of her crimes will be exposed for all to see. This new AG Barr is looking into this corruption as well as a couple other investigators and we are learning just how crooked Obama and his sycophants are, oh well, LATER

Wednesday Morning ..Nov.6th

Well Tuesday found us again with temps near 90 and the humidity was back especially in the early afternoon. There was some clouds in the area which helped a little but once again a good day for drying your laundry outside on the clothesline.

I started the day with a well before 6 rollout. Seems this time change has my bowels moving at the old time around 6'ish when its really 5'ish. I'm just glad they are working properly, oh well. I just stay up for the day as Nancy has her chain saw running wide open. I'm thrilled I usually sleep through the night so I'm getting plenty of rest and sleep. I did my morning routines that always start with a handful of Nutrilite vitamins and supplements washed down with a cup of hot green tea laced with turmeric while I post this ramble then spend some quiet time with my Creator. All seem as well as can be expected for those I lift up daily by name as I've heard nothing to the contrary. I lift up our patriotic potus Trump as well as he is being excoriated by those on the left and in the dem party to cover their corruption which they are accusing him of doing. Our nation is at a turning point if these libs get into office.

I headed out a little before 8 on my bike to the Rec. for a good solid two hours of pickle ball play with non stop action. We had three courts in action and some really great rallies. I'm getting built back to my old standard of play which is good for the body and the burning away some of this spare tire. I'll be glad when all of the left over desserts are gone and then I can work on my weight that way. I just can not see food go to waste even if its not the best for you such as cheesecake, oh well. One more day and that will be gone as well.

We took off after lunch to vote for a fellow who was running against an incumbent mayor who has done nothing for our firefighters and who we know as a church member. The last word we heard was she had beaten him out to stay in office for another term but now that he has his feet wet with this running for office maybe he will prevail later. We stopped by the post office to look into getting passports as we will need them for our trip next September to Alaska on a cruise with fellow friends. I still had my old passport from the service and that can be used to assure my citizenship. They are not cheap to get either which is a little surprising at a cost of over 300 bucks for the two of us, oh well and its good for only 10 years.

We will make an appointment later in the Spring around April  as they usually take 5-6 weeks to obtain and we will need them before we leave for the mountains next June. It was too hot to do much outside until late evening so I did hand water the gardens and yards a couple times during the afternoon. I now have radishes up after just 3 days in the ground as well as a couple cucumbers seedlings. I'm slowly but surely getting the garden going but hand watering a couple times a day. Thankfully the well is doing O.K., LATER

It seems the pics are back using Nancy's new phone. This is a scene of the orchids and fern our mountain mom Helen gave years ago which continue to grow without any attention. The orchids are now in full bloom and this was from a few days ago.