Thursday started out with me sleeping in until my usual before 6 roll out to start the day. It always starts with a cup of hot green tea laced with turmeric and a slice of fresh ginger root while I make this post and then spend a few quiet moments with my Creator in thanksgiving and lifting up several by name for healing and comfort during their time of need. All seem as well as can be expected as I've heard nothing to the contrary. I ventured outside putting on my knee high rubber boots to walk around the property as the morning dew is usually heavy; thus the rubber boots were another good investment in saving my foot wear from being soaked. I know it sounds so trivial but rubber boots are a must especially on the farm where you have lots of mud, manure and here in the mountains with the occasional torrential rains.
We decided to head over to Galax, Va. which is about 30 or so minutes up the Blue Ridge Parkway to do some shopping, get some ideas on some renovations and have lunch out at Applebees which is in the super Wal-Mart shopping center. I also gassed up on the way out of town at 2.39. Their prices are so much cheaper than N.C. and one reason is the sales tax. We headed to the Super Lowes for a new shower head and then to price flowers and hydrangeas for the front of the cabin. Well they had absolutely beautiful gallon size plants which were in full bloom and multi colored. We decided to come back after lunch and grocery shopping at the Wal-Mart because the heat from the bed cover on the truck would cook them. We next headed to Applebee's for a delicious filling lunch from the 2 for 22 menu. We both love their spinach/artichoke dip and then I had the pork ribblet plate and Nancy the 3 cheese penne pasta with grilled chicken, yeow what a delicious fare for both of us and it held us until about 6:30 when we had a salad for supper.
We made a stop on the way home to briefly visit with our dear "mountain mom" who will be 92 this year. She is such a sweet and independent gal and we love her dearly. She still drives her golf cart daily around doing yard work and still has her riding tractor which she mows with as well as hand trims her shrubs. We try to help her out as much as possible but she is quite the worker and lives alone year round here in her beautiful real log cabin. She picked me up some onion sets for the garden as they were all gone last year when we got here. I had enough to plant probably 30-40 hills and I did get them in the ground just before dusk.
We got back to cabin just in time for a couple fellers to come by and tell me if they want the job of helping me to add a shower in the upstairs bathroom. They are local folks and christian at that. We know lots of folks in common and he and son agreed to do the job of adding a custom tiled shower. I agreed to do the tear out of the floor and remove the vanity and commode so they can start the plumbing. They agreed to guarantee to have it completed before July when our son and daughter and their family starts to arrive around the 10th. They agreed to work by the hour which is reasonable compared to what one group wanted to charge per hour. I will start today Friday on taking out the floor and the back wall boards and getting it ready for them next week.
After they left we decided to take our first full hike to the top of the mountain and visit with the birthday girl Paula and her husband Billy but they were gone and so were Ben and Laura who lives just across the road. We did not see anyone on top and then we hiked past the old Browning place where we sat and chatted with Joe and Jetta for many years. We still haven't met the new owners but they can't be as great as the Browning's were and our heart strings were playing melancholy. Anyhow we headed back down the mountain going in a circular different way which brought us back to the start of the steep back trail to the cabin when it began to rain lightly. We were in the woods so the tree leaves kept us from getting soaked and by the time we reached the cabin it had nearly quit raining so we decided to work in the front planter.
The deer had eaten all but a few of the small cone flowers and I dug them out to be replanted in other beds which were also eaten down. I took the weed whacker and cleared out the bed except for two rose bushes one of which looked as if the deer had eaten off all the new growth. I left them in the bed and began digging holes for the 5 hydrangeas. It was unbelievable the number and the size of some of those rocks which seem to grow in the mountains. It took us a couple hours to complete the job which had me digging 5 more hole and transplanting some other perennials in different spots in the flower beds. I gathered buckets of dirt from my compost pile to add to the holes while transplanting. I then add brown mulch to help with weed control and to give the bed a good look. Now if the deer would stay away and not munch on these beautiful flowering plants.
We stop and chilled for a few and had a glass of the "fruit of the vine" before having a salad for supper. It was still plenty of daylight so I gathered up all of dug up plants and moved them to a flower bed along the back rail fence. It too was eaten down by the deer so I had plenty of room to add these flowers which where starting to show some growth. I then hand watered the new garden seedlings and headed in for the night. I checked the ball scores and the Ray's won 2 out of 3 from the Tigers. I installed the new shower head in the main bathroom which has 4 settings and is an improvement over the last head. The water here is such a delight and so soft and it leaves your hair shinning. Well after a hot shower I hit the sack a little before 10 and read for about 5 minutes before falling asleep while reading. I have no idea what time Nancy came to bed, LATER
