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 time with my Creator lifting up several by name and giving thanks for our blessings. All seem as well as can be expected at this time. I headed out to check on the gardens after Nancy awakened some time around 7:30. All seem well with the flower and veggie gardens as more flowers open each day and the vegetables plants seem to be holding despite all of the rain. I try to loosen the soil each day after the rains so the roots can get some air and not rot. I did purchase a parsley plant yesterday and put that in the ground and the soil wasn't too saturated.
I called our internet/tv provider in Seminole to check on the status of our services being on seasonal and once again they gave me the run around of having now a 2 year contract whereas they continued to raise my rates after the first year so I'm looking to ditch them come December. It's really disgusting how they continue to change their polices in mid stream, oh well. We took off around 10 to Sparta which is the shortest route to Elk Creek. Our old friends Sam and Marcia use to live there and we passed by their huge real log home they sold last year or maybe it was two years ago.
The sheep farm was on their road but well beyond so we did not know it existed. The place had a very large lodge or house that is rented out at 3 grand a week so we met a family there who gave us a short tour of the dwelling. It has its own soccer field and huge separate pool area and a trout stream which is stocked with large trout that runs through the area. There were several large out buildings and barns and of course the white sheep dotted the fields and pastures. We purchased frozen vacuum packed ground lamb and some lamb Italian sausages. Its a bit pricey at 9 and 12 bucks a pound but its grown locally and so we wanted to try it. They were out of the leg of lamb which we all love but now we will be informed when they butcher again.
We stopped for lunch then headed to Galax which is another 20 minutes or so from Independence. Our next stop was Lowes for a new kitchen faucet as we want to get rid of the one which has the separate sprayer which leaks a little and get the one with the sprayer in the handle and we will use the space where the old sprayer was for a soap dispenser. I'll change that out today before the family arrives tomorrow. We also needed a new toilet paper holder as the homemade one is just too large for the small area now taken up by the new shower as well as a new seat for the toilet. We next headed to the super Wal-Mart for grocery items and filled two carts of merchandise. I'll never know where we put all of the items but Nancy found a place. One last stop for gas at 2.35 a gallon before heading back to the mountain.
It was overcast all day long which kept the temps in the low 70's but very humid. We noticed three boxes on the front porch from Amazon, Wal-Mart and Amway so the delivery trucks were busy today while we were away. It almost like Christmas around here these past couple of weeks. We decided to get in a hike to the top and stopped and visited with Billy for a few. He and Paula were heading to Galax to their favorite Mexican eatery which we have never tried. Next time we must try them out as we both love that cuisine from time to time or at least weekly as we make our own guacamole and salsa almost weekly. Our friends and family love that type of eating as well.
We headed on across the mountain and saw no one else. We were talking about how so many we first knew who lived on the top were either passed away or sold out. Bertie is the only one left from the original folks we met back in the 90's. We headed on down through the back woods trail and we noticed this white mushroom growing out of the moss on top of a rock, very unique so Nancy took a picture and I'll post it. We cleaned up the leftover zucchini pie for supper around 7'ish as we had a huge lunch of salad and pizza. I tuned into the Wimbledon highlights and then some of the All star game before hitting the shower. It was going on 10 when I called it a day, LATER
