Well its been rather chilly here on the mountain with winter temps for us thin blooded flatlanders from Florida. Nancy had the heat on most of the morning and then again last evening before retiring for the evening. It was down into the high 40's and then again this morning (Thur.) it's down once again to the low 50's but the afternoon were just awesome for working with the highs reaching the upper 60's and low 70's. We did get a light shower of rain around 4'ish with what we call a dust settler.
I started the day once again on Wednesday with a much earlier roll out than usual as my mind is constantly planning on the days activities while horizontal. Nancy is a heavy snorer and I'm a light sleeper so that did help much after about 4 AM when she usually wakes me up. I try to stay in the sack especially with the warmth from the extra blanket against the cold cabin but to no avail. Anyhow I can get by on 5 to 6 good hours of sleep. I had my cup of hot green tea laced with turmeric and fresh ginger root 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 can be expected except we do have a good friend who is having some issues due to addiction and its hurting their marriage to add to that list. The love of Christ can fix any issue but you have to ask HIM into your life for that to happen.
The tile/plumber fellers came by around 8 and checked out what I had accomplished with the tear out and they took measurement on what they needed to set the plumbing for the shower. They were pleased with what I had accomplished and made a few adjustments. Hopefully they with start this afternoon(Thur.) and I have enough work to keep them busy for the next two weeks or so as they also will help me install the vinyl plank flooring in the upstairs bathroom and two rooms. This is becoming a major renovation and a costly one as well; but we have been blessed with using our funds wisely over the years. I headed out to check on the gardens and flower beds.
The zinnias are popping up everywhere in the circle drive bed and all of the hydrangeas look great even after the beat down of the rain coming off the roof into that bed. I lost another tomato plant to the ground being so packed for so long from the rain, but I think three will be plenty of the large fruit plants and all 6 of the larger cherry tomato plants survived. I still have 5 jalapeno plants and I moved two of them into a single row to make extra space for some radish seeds as well as beets seeds in the backwoods garden beds. The scallions are up as well and all of the herbs look good. I moved up to the upper garden bed and sowed okra, Swiss chard and kale seeds. I have enough room to move the lettuces which are up in the pots and as soon as they garner another leaf I will move them into the garden beds. I'm still waiting on the cucumbers to pop through the soil in a pot so I can move them into the garden.
Well that was about it for the gardening so I headed upstairs to rip out another section of the flooring for the plumbing and the shower drain and water lines. That was easiest day of this renovation for me. I gathered up my saws in the basement and brought them to the front porch to aid in the construction process as well as some lumber I had stored under the front porch. We took a break and had a late lunch after a huge semi mountain breakfast of bacon, egg and cheese biscuits with a fresh jalapeno on mine. We chowed down on a leftover fajitas and bean burrito around 1'ish. Nancy brought some frozen prime rib bones with lots of meat on them with us to make a pot of soup for supper and my oh my was it ever delicious on this cool evening. She of course always adds celery, carrots, some pasta and white beans so it was almost like pasta fouzelle in texture and awesome in flavor. We have enough leftover for lunch today.
We did take a golf cart ride out to the mail box round 3 then took a hike to the the top of the mountain where we saw no one. It was like a ghost town up there. We did set a spell on the Browns front lawn and gander at the distant views which were awesome. We could see the buildings in down town Winston Salem which is 70 miles away. Pilot mountain looked so close as well and was once used by the pioneers to find their way through the area; thus its how it got its name. It was a strenuous hike up the back woods trail through our property but once on top it was well worth it. Nancy always has her phone so she did snap a few pics.
I took off the lawn mower blades and sharpened them for the next cutting which will probably happen in the next day or so then I took the golf cart and the weed whacker down the steep driveway to clear away the high grasses that border our drive and give it a manicured look. I did neighbor Gerald's side of the drive as well. That exercise will make you appreciate flat ground. One of my pickle ball buddies called to see if I wanted to play later in the evening but I was whupped and beside it had started to sprinkle rain and the temps dropped once again. I didn't have the energy to go back out and play until 8'ish plus it was cooling off rapidly. I postponed until next week when I have more of an idea how this renovation is coming along but we want to get the flooring before the kids come on the 10th.
I tuned into the Ray's game on the internet and they blew it again with poor relief pitching. The Blues were up 2-0 in the final game for the quest for the Cup when I was nodding after my hot relaxing shower. I'll check the box scores this morning on who won. Lets hope the Blues were victorious, LATER
