Well I must say the 41 year celebration of marriage was done on a beautiful sunshine day thats started out chilly and eventually warmed up to tee shirt temps by the afternoon. It also was a work around the cabin day that started with a 6 ish roll out to my usual routines of a handful of Nutrilite Vitamins and supplements washed down with a cup of hot green tea while I posted this ramble and then spent some quiet time with my Creator and Lord giving thanks and lifting several up by name for comfort and healing. The Dillion Family went through a traumatic few days of losing their mom who was buried on Monday in a beautiful celebration of knowing she is home with the Lord and with her deceased husband Ken. What a grand gathering of family and friends in a peaceful setting and the renewing of relationships and love of those who she was responsible for as we all gathered to say goodbye.
First after a breakfast of oatmeal with honey, pecans and fresh blueberries from my bushes I headed out on this beautiful sunshine morning on a quick hike to the top of the mountain without stopping. We would later take a hike together, but I wanted to start getting back into shape and build my stamina up before our company arrives on Friday. The temps were in the low 40's with dew dripping from the roof top which reminded me I had a couple screws in the tin roof that needed to be replaced and caulked. I would eventually get around to that chore after the sun dried the roof, but first since the truck was covered in dew which helped to loosen the dirt and grime, so I decided to give it a bath. That kept me busy for an hour or more as it really was dirty and needed to be cleaned.
I decided since I had removed all of the weeds and few flowers in the fire circle bed to give it a good coat of mulch which hopefully will help keep the weeds down from next years planting and give it some compost as it will have the whole winter to break down into plant food. I still have plenty of leftover mulch and I'm considering putting some in the other flower beds out by the back yard, but will delay that for now. After loading and unloading two golf cart loads of mulch I had worked up an appetite and it was noon.
We settled into a fresh salad with some greens from the garden and some tomato' as well. They didn't do great this year with all of the rain but what few I did get are tasty and I still have some green ones turning. After giving the lunch some time to digest I put up the ladder to the back porch are and heading up onto the roof which was now dry and it reflected the heat from the bright sunshine. I replaced several screws that were not grabbing the wood and inserted a larger and longer screw and coated the holes with a silicone caulk. Hopefully this will stop the slow leak that follows down the PVC vent pipe into the basement. many years ago the snow and ice broke off that vent pipe and ripped the tin roof. Myself and a friend replaced that section of the tin roof and did away with the vent pipe to the outside since we have another vent pipe in the upper dormer which vents the drains to the septic tank; anyhow just the past year or so we occasionally get a little water coming down the vent pipe into the basement. I learned the tin roof does move a little due to the heat and cold expansion and when we got our first cold snap we got a little drip, Oh well. Lets hope this chore solves the water coming into the basement which is very little but still coming in.
After fixing that issue I fired up the riding lawn mower and spent the next two hours mowing the yards . I must say mowing all the yards is a chore but with the loss of the several trees in the backwoods yards its so much easier. The grass in that area has really surprised me with its growth whereas before it was mainly green moss due to all the shade. The new grass seeds are starting to show some color and will hopefully take over by next spring/summer when we arrive for the summer. I'll give it a good coat of fertilizer before leaving for the winter and then some lime next summer. Well Nancy had been busy inside and mentioned it was after 4 so lets take our daily together hike. We headed up the back steep trail and walked across the top to the new construction site and there we saw Bertie, Ed, Bennie and Laura and the new owners Lanny and Dorothy. We kidded them about building a hotel as the base or floor plan is around 2300 sq. feet not counting the huge front porch or garage area. We had a good time sharing and taking pics and mentioned it was our 41st togetherness. Once again we were the talk of the gathering as many shared their years together. Bertie of course was sad since her Barry had passed a few years ago and we knew him a well.
We headed on down the mountain and I fired up the grill as Nancy had a couple boneless rib eye's thawing in a marinate. Bobby called to wish us well and to congratulate us while we grilled. It was a delicious supper with tater tots and broccoli to accompany the medium rare rib eyes. Well I must say it was an eventful day with most of it spent outside for me. I just love being outside working, piddling and smelling the fresh air even when the temps get down to Florida wintertime temps, LATER
